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Biomedical subjects

E Marth

Publications and source records attributed to E Marth.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1989

[The pathogen spectrum of the conjunctiva of inhabitants of refuse disposal sites in Cairo. I].

In Cairo's waste disposal sites conjunctivitis is frequently found resulting from the burning process of plastic, paper, etc.. Recurrent secondary contamination of the conjunctiva by pathogenic and non-pathogenic microorganisms often takes place; however, in certain germ species, the differentiation between pathogenic or non-pathogenic organisms within a damaged mucous membrane cannot be made. Furthermore, in this study, we have attempted to investigate germ reproduction during the application of PVP-eyedrops. However, our results cannot be conclusive because of the high environmental contamination, very low personal hygiene resulting from contaminated water and the constant exposure of samples to environmental contamination. Studies will be continued.

Air Microbiology↗
PubMed1989

Different species of corynebacteria in human investigations in Cairo.

In investigations undertaken in Cairo of ocular smears the following Corynebacteria were isolated: Corynebacterium A4, Corynebacterium A5, Corynebacterium bovis, Corynebacterium aquaticum, Corynebacterium diphtheriae, Corynebacterium equi, Corynebacterium F2, Corynebacterium kutscheri, Corynebacterium minutissimi, Corynebacterium renale, Corynebacterium xerosis, Corynebacterium Group I, Corynebacterium spec. (at present not classified). In this study the hitherto isolated species and possible human pathogenesis are discussed. Studies will be continued.

Conjunctiva↗
PubMed1988

[Blastocystis hominis--intestinal parasite or commensal?].

Blastocystis hominis has long been classified among Blastomycetes. It was considered to be an apathogenous fungal organism which was very frequently detected in routine stool examinations. Following the first studies with an electronic microscope in 1967, Zierdt et al. (34) classified Blastocystis hominis among the protozoa. Since then, there have been increasingly frequent reports that Blastocystis hominis can be an important cause of intestinal diseases especially diarrhea. For a definite taxonomic correlation and for an identification as pathogen, more investigations are greatly necessary.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Sialic acid as a marker for differentiation between benign and malignant intracranial tumors.

One of the characteristics of malignant tumor cells is the production of glycocompounds with a high content of N-acetylneuraminic acid (sialic acid). Total sialic acid concentration was determined in the serum of 136 patients with an intracranial tumor. The concentration was determined enzymatically and using HPLC. Both methods had a relatively high specificity (90%), provided an inflammatory process due to an infection could be excluded. Sensitivity was 72.6%; the cut-off level of sialic acid concentration was determined to be 2.75 mumol/ml. There was a significant difference in the average sialic acid concentration of benign and malignant tumors. The test was least reliable in determining whether the growth of an astrocytoma is malignant.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

[Aircraft noise: changes in biochemical parameters].

The effect of stress caused by aircraft noise was studied on 14 female and 11 male volunteers, who were of a age ranging from 21 to 42 years and of a mean age of 25 years. The volunteers were exposed to an aircraft simulator that stimulated the low level flight of an air force plane and produced a maximum noise level of 105 dB(A) for 3 sec. in a short time. Before and immediately after the exposure, the concentration of ACTH was measured by means of a radioimmunoassay. The ACTH is a hormone, responsible for initiating a chain reaction that is characteristic for a stress reaction. In 100% of the cases the concentration of this hormone increased. It reached a pathological level in 28% of the cases. The effect on the lipid metabolism was expressed by an increase of total cholesterol and a decrease of the triglycerides in the serum. A slight increase in blood sugar which, together with the free fatty acids, is relatively quickly reduced to energy, could be determined. The aircraft noise did not influence the activity of the liver transaminases in any way. A short-term exposure to aircraft noise is able to stimulate a stress reaction, whereby, the determination of the ACTH offers valuable informations.

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone↗
PubMed1987

Metabolic changes following oral exposure to tetrachloroethylene in subtoxic concentrations.

Mice were exposed to very small quantities of Per (0.05 and 0.1 mg Per/kg body weight per day) administered orally for 7 weeks. It was shown that Per was transported through the body by two separate mechanisms and was finally stored in the adipose tissue. On the one hand, Per reaches the interior of the membranes of red blood cells, leading to changes in the entire erythropoietic system. The membranes of the red blood cells are destroyed prematurely and its fragments are increasingly phagocytized in the spleen. The result is a high level of Per stored in the spleen. The increase in haemolysis was also demonstrated by showing an increase in LDH activity and the accumulation of haemosiderin in the macrophages in the spleen. Only 8 weeks following discontinuation of Per, these changes were reversible. On the other hand, Per is also transported with the chylomicrons. Since the lipoprotein lipase is inhibited by Per, these molecules are broken down to a lesser degree. The concentration of triglycerides (the major component of the chylomicrons) in the serum was elevated, and the chylomicrons were increasingly integrated into the adipose tissue, Per also reached this depot fat. It took as long as 16 weeks after discontinuation of Per until these changes were fully reversed and the experimental mice no longer differed from those in the control group.

Alanine Transaminase↗
PubMed1987

Oncolysis by Clostridium oncolyticum M55 and subsequent enzymatic determination of sialic acid in serum.

Since the discovery of the "Clostridium tetani phenomenon", various apathogenic clostridia have been used for tumour lysis. Experiments have been conducted to achieve a tumour diagnosis using radiolabelled antibodies to clostridia. In addition, a method has been described that distinguishes, with variable success, between healthy and tumour-carrying animals by means of hemagglutination. The method outlined here uses the fact that malignant cells produce a multitude of sialic acid compounds which lie on the cell membrane and are also connected to the lipid layer of the tumour cell membrane. The apathogenic Clostridium oncolyticum M55 only germinates and multiplies in the malignant tumour tissue. Thus; bacterial hydrolases can enter the tumour tissue and lead to oncolysis. Subsequently the glycocompounds which can be detected by means of an enzymatic determination of the concentration of neuraminic acid (one of the sialic acids) in the serum are washed out into the peripheral blood. We observed these processes in mice in the Ehrlich ascites solid carcinoma and in the Lewis lung carcinoma. Using this method it was possible to detect tumour growth at an early stage with impressive accuracy. The Lewis lung carcinoma which secretes only small amounts of sialic acid glycocompounds cannot be distinguished from the control group by determination of sialic acid concentration. It was possible to detect a 52% increase in the amount of sialic acid after administration of spores of clostridia. This method makes it possible to increase the tumour marker sialic acid through manipulation of the tumour, using apathogenic clostridia, and to measure of sialic acid concentration as an indicator of the metabolic products of the tumour.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

A comparison of serological tests for the detection of HIV-antibodies. The clinical and serological course of one AIDS patient with seroconversion.

240 serum samples originating from various AIDS risk groups were tested for HIV-antibodies comparing an immunofluorescence test with the Western Blot and ELISA methods. In 95% of cases the results of the Western Blot and the immunofluorescence test were in accordance. In 12 samples the immunofluorescence test yielded positive results whereas there was no reaction in the Western Blot. Four of the sera were confirmed by the RIPA and yielded results which were in conformity with the immunofluorescence findings. A noteworthy case is a patient under observation since 1975 who had repeatedly shown negative Western Blot results but positive immunofluorescence responses and who had developed already marked clinical manifestations of AIDS. These findings indicate that the immunofluorescence test, employed as a confirmation method, is comparable to the Western Blot in its specificity (95.6%) but superior as far as sensitivity is concerned. Simplicity of performance and duration of test are the same for the immunofluorescence test and ELISA.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1986

Apolipoproteins AI, AII and HDL phospholipids but not APO-B are risk indicators for occlusive cerebrovascular disease.

A variety of lipids, lipoprotein (Lp) lipids and APO-Lp were measured in 72 patients of both sexes suffering from cerebrovascular arteriopathy and compared with a control group matched for age and sex. The best discriminators by univariate analysis were serum concentrations of APO-AI, followed by APO-AII, high density lipoprotein phospholipids and HDL cholesterol (HDL-C). Low density lipoprotein cholesterol and serum APO-B values were lower in the patients than in the controls. With APO-AI only, patients and controls could be classified with 88-91% certainty. By combination of some of the variables which were selected by a stepwise discriminant analysis, several models were calculated resulting in 93-97% segregation of patients from controls. By multivariate analysis, APO-AI, APO-AII, HDL-C, and triglycerides in combination with the blood pressure or the body weight index were independent variables (in a mathematical sense). By comparing the present data with published results of previous studies it is concluded that cerebral atherosclerosis differs from other forms of atherosclerosis by several major risk indicators.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

[Tetrachloroethylene: effect of low concentrations of 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethylene (perchloroethylene) on organisms in the mouse. I. Laboratory chemical research].

Tetrachloroethylene in a concentration of 0.05 resp. 0.1 mg/kg bw/d was offered in drinking water to a group of NMRI-mice. Besides a decrease in bodyweight an increase in the relative weight of the spleen resp. of the kidneys could be determined. The liver and the brain remained uneffected. In the offered concentration, tetrachloroethylene influenced the lipoprotein metabolism in the liver in the sense of a chronic-alcohol-toxic liver change, whereas the liver cell was not destroyed in toto. The unchanged rate of the synthesis of liver cells could be established sufficiently through the normal serum-glutamate-pyruvate-transaminase, an unchanged serum electrophoresis as a measure for the efficiency of the protein synthesis of the liver cells, furthermore a swelling of the liver and/or an enlargement of the liver could not be diagnosed. The erythropoietic system was found to be most susceptible to tetrachloroethylene. We could detect a defect like in the case of hemolytic anemia, this manifested itself in a very high increase of the lactatdehydrogenase, in an increase of the LD-isoenzyme-1, as well as in the occurrence of reactive initial stages of erythrocytes in the bone marrow and in the moderate degree of a hyperchrome anemia in the peripheral blood-count.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed1985

[Tetrachloroethylene: effect of low concentrations of 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethylene (perchloroethylene) on the mouse. II. Study of tetrachloroethylene in various organs and demonstration of histological changes in the examined organs].

Perchlorethylene in subacute amounts in form of contaminated drinking-water was given to a group of NMRI-mice (group A = 0,05 mg PER/kg BW/d and group B = 0,1 mg PER/kg BW/d) over a period of seven weeks. The histologic changes of various organs and the perchlorethylene-residues in the examined organs have been determined. We only could establish the light-microscopic perceivable histologic changes in the spleen. Thus the pulpa cords were rich in erythrocytes and the area of the red pulpa contained plenty of blood-formation-centers with megakaryocytes. In the spleens of group B a siderin-storage in the red pulpa in macrophages could be established. These results are indicative for an increased hemolysis. In all of the examined organs, the heaviest accumulation of perchlorethylene we could be established in the spleen, whereby the concentration in the spleen amounted to several times as much as the residue-examinations of the other organs. In the liver for instance an insignificant amount of PER was stored. The erythrocytes and the fragments of them, that have been changed by the storage of PER are being decomposed in the spleen, and perchlorethylene reaches the spleen via the erythrocytes.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed1984

[Lipoprotein Lp(a) as a risk factor for heart infarct--a family study].

Lp(a) concentrations, apolipoprotein A-I and B, and various lipid parameters were measured from members of 3 families in which myocardial infarction frequently occurred. No correlation could be found between Lp(a) concentration and other lipoprotein parameters. It has been demonstrated that myocardial infarction and atherosclerotic diseases occur only in patients with Lp(a) concentrations higher than 70 mg/dl. An unfavourable Apo B/Apo A-I relation or LDL/HDL relation, associated with high Lp(a) concentration seems to play a decisive role in the development of atherosclerosis or myocardial infarction. The study suggests that subjects with Lp(a) values higher than 100 mg/dl could suffer from a special form of hyperlipoproteinemia ("Hyper-Lp(a)").

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

Serum concentrations of Lp(a) and other lipoprotein parameters in heavy alcohol consumers.

The serum concentration of lipoprotein Lp(a) and of other lipoproteins of 64 individuals consuming more than 200 g of ethanol per day for several years was measured. 42 of the propositi with no clinical signs of alcoholic liver cirrhosis (ALC) had an apoAI/apoAII ratio twice as high as the control group. The apoAI values of the consumers of alcohol were higher and the HDL-C and Lp(a) levels were lower than those of the control group. 22 alcohol drinkers with ALC exhibited strikingly reduced values of all serum lipids and lipoproteins and the lowest Lp(a) concentrations of all. It is suggested that alcohol drinking lowers serum Lp(a) what might be an additional reason why this group of people seems to be a lower risk of atherosclerosis.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Proteolytic enzyme activity in patients with severe head injury and the effect of a proteinase inhibitor.

A study was performed to detect the inhibitory effect of intravenously administered aprotinin (Trasylol) on brain and CSF protease activity in 25 patients with severe head injury. The data presented include measurements of CSF protease activity, alpha-1-antitrypsin, alpha-2-macroglobulin, haptoglobulin, polyacrylamidgel-electrophoresis pattern, total protein and hemoglobin content. The results indicate that increased protease activity is present and that this induces autolytic processes which can be inhibited by aprotinin treatment. The survival rate was higher after aprotinin treatment. Total CSF protein content was significantly higher in nonsurvivors than in survivors.

Aprotinin↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Rapid detection of Chlamydia trachomatis in conjunctival, pharyngeal, and urethral specimens with a new polymerase chain reaction assay.

GOAL OF THIS STUDY: The Amplicor polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay for the detection of Chlamydia trachomatis (Roche Molecular Systems, Branchburg, NJ) was evaluated on conjunctival, pharyngeal, and urethral swabs. STUDY DESIGN: A total of 515 conjunctival, pharyngeal, and urethral swabs. The reference system was culture with McCoy cells in shell vials with fluorescent immunostaining. One swab was used for both cell culture and the molecular assay. Initial storage took place in 2-SP medium. After transfer to Amplicor specimen transport medium the molecular assay was done using the Amplicor Chlamydia trachomatis amplification and detection kits. RESULTS: The total positive rate was 6.6%. Specificity of culture was 100%. The evaluated molecular assay gave a specificity of 99.8%. Sensitivities of PCR and culture were 100% and 85.3%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Because of the high sensitivity, specificity, and ease of use, the molecular assay was found to be a good alternative to culture for detection of C. trachomatis in conjunctival, pharyngeal, and urethral specimens.

Adolescent↗