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Biomedical subjects

E Smith

Publications and source records attributed to E Smith.

At least 415 records · Page 23Linked to original sources
PubMed1976

Brief treatment of sexual problems.

Brief, behaviorally oriented treatment of sexual dysfunction is gaining increasing acceptance in medicine and psychiatry. However, relatively few clinics have published their treatment results. During a 2 1/2-year period, 36 couples with diagnoses of sexual dysfunction were treated with a modified Masters and Johnson protocol. The initial success rate was 83%, but the degree of improvement reported by the couples varied from marked to equivocal. Eighty-nine percent of the male partners and 83% of the female partners manifested psychologic signs or symptoms that either warranted a psychiatric diagnosis or were noted as significant traits or symptoms. With an average of 7.9 months of follow-up, the failure rate increased from 17% to 38%. This increase was attributed in part to the degree of combined psychosexual disorder identified in the patients. The etiologic relationships between psychiatric conditions and sexual dysfunctions are not fully understood and will require further study.

Adult↗
PubMed1976

Mitogenic properties of polyene antibiotics for murine B cells.

Two polyene antibiotics, nystatin and amphotericin B, were found to be mitogenic for mouse spleen cells as measured by induction of DNA synthesis and polyclonal antibody production. This effect was demonstrated on spleen cells from nude mice and anti-theta-treated spleen cells from normal mice. No effect was found on cortisone-resistant thymocytes or on spleen cells treated with anti-mouse bone marrow-derived lymphocyte antigen antiserum. Nor was there any effect on spleen cells passed through a nylon fiber column. Thus we conclude that nystatin and amphotericin B are murine B-cell mitogens.

Amphotericin B↗
PubMed1976

HL-A8 and LD-8a in patients with myasthenia gravis.

The frequency of HL-A8 in myasthenia gravis is markedly increased in women (60-80%) but not in men. The MLC determinant, LD-8a, is frequently associated with HL-A8. Of the 37 female MS patients, 15 were LD-8a positive (41%), whereas of the males only one of seven was LD-8a positive. The frequency of HL-A8 was 68% in women and 29% in men with the disease. We therefore conclude that the gene which is responsible for the increased susceptibility to myasthenia gravis in women and which is present in the MHS region, is more closely linked to the SD-2 than to the LD-1 locus.

Epitopes↗
PubMed1976

Inhibition of the mitogenicity of the carrier molecule results in loss of immunogenicity of a hapten-LPS conjugate.

Colistin methanesulfonate, a basic polypeptide similar to polymyxin E, has been shown to suppress the mitogenicity of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from E. coli. It also inhibits the immunogenicity of a hapten-LPS conjugate. The inhibition was neither due to interference with the expression of hapten determinants, nor was it due to crossreactivity between the hapten and colistin methanesulfonate. As mitogenicity and immunogenicity was similarly affected, we conclude that activation of bursa-derived lymphocytes, in specific thymus-independent immune responses, does not take place in the absence of a mitogenic (non-Ig mediated) signal, thus supporting the hypothesis of the "one nonspecific signal" for B cell triggering.

Animals↗
PubMed1976

Effects of some immunosuppressive procedures on myasthenia gravis.

Clinical Observations. A total of 53 MG patients have been treated with different immunosuppressive methods (alone or combined) with the following effects: Thymectomy was performed in 38 patients. The improvement was excellent in 15, and moderate or uncertain in 20. In three patients severe long-lasting deterioration followed the operation. ACTH treatment (n=32): Initial deterioration during the 5-7 days of heavy ACTH treatment (1000 IU) was followed by an improvement lasting on an average 4 months. The improvement was good or moderate in 78% of the patients. Betamethazone treatment has been tried in six patients where ACTH and azathioprine was ineffective. In four of these patients the results were excellent. Azathioprine treatment has been given to 26 patients for periods up to 7 years. An improvement is measurable after 6-12 weeks and it seems maximal after about 1 year. Of the 26, 80% responded favorable with reduction in the need for cholinesterase inhibitors. Severe complications were seen in three patients with one death. Drainage of thoracic duct lymph was initiated in 14 patients up to 4 weeks with rapid improvement lasting as long as drainage was performed. Long-termed effects of the drainage may be present, however. Retransfusion of homologous cell-free lymph precipitated a return of the myasthenic symptoms. Biochemical Studies on Myasthenic Lymph. Using a membrane preparation from the electric organ from Torpedo marmorata and tritiated Naja naja siamensis neurotoxin we demonstrated a decreasing binding of toxin to the receptor in the presence of MG lymph gamma-globulin fraction. Gammaglobulins from controls showed almost no inhibition of the neurotoxin binding. Immunological Studies. An increased frequency of HL-A1 and 8 was found in female patients. LD typing was also performed. During a period of three weeks of thoracic duct drainage 130X10(9) or about 10% of total number of lymphocytes in the body were removed. In the lymph an initial decrease in the proportion of thymus-derived lymphocytes (T cells) occurred, which was accompanied by a sequent increase in the proportion of bone-marrow-derived lymphocytes (B cells). Towards the end of drainage this effect was reverted. Mitogenic stimulation using lymphocytes from thoracic duct drainage revealed no differences as compared to normal cells. The proportions of T and B cells was studied in the peripheral blood in nine patients treated with ACTH. During treatment there was an initial decrease in the proportion of T cells accompanied by a subsequent rise in the proportion of B cells, which was maximal after 3-10 days. These proportions were reverted to normal 1-5 days after the maximal change. The effect of azathioprine on T and B cells has also been studied.

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone↗
PubMed1976

Changes in intestinal vascular diameter during norepinephrine vasoconstrictor escape.

The hypothesis that escape from norepinephrine-induced vasoconstriction in the intestine is due to relaxation of initially constricted vessels was tested in 18 anesthetized cats. Intestinal blood flow was measured by an electro magnetic probe on the superior mesenteric artery. Intestinal submucosal and muscle arterioles and small mesenteric arteries were studied by in vivo microscopy with an image-splitting technic. Continuous recordings of mesenteric flow and vessel diameter were made during the infusion into the superior mesenteric artery of norepinephrine (NE) at a rate of 1-2 mug/min for 3 min. Mesenteric flow decreased soon after the NE infusion began but then escaped. Microscopically, arterial constriction and escape were noted in submucosal, muscle, and mesenteric vessels with a time course similar to that for flow. Arteriovenous anastomoses were not seen. These findings support the hypothesis that escape from Ne-induced vasoconstriction is due to relaxation of initially constricted vessels.

Animals↗
PubMed1976

The effect of ACTH treatment on lymphocyte subpopulations in patients with myasthenia gravis.

Blood lymphocytes were collected before, at various times during treatment and after treatment with ACTH in patients with myasthenia gravis. The relative proportions of thymus-derived (T cells) and bursa-derived (B cells) lymphocytes were determined. Eight of nine patients had a relative increase in B cells, whereas T cells showed a relative decrease. Myasthenic symptoms in these eight patients also were relieved. One patient who was not thymectomized showed virtually no relief in symptoms nor any changes in the relative T and B cell proportions or numbers, indicating a close association between the disease and the thymus-derived immune system.

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone↗
PubMed1976

The effect of gastrointestinal hormones on the gastric microcirculation.

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effects of several gastrointestinal hormones on the gastric submucosal arterioles using an in vivo microscopy technique. Alteration in diameter of submucosal arterioles, 40 to 90 mu in diameter, in response to infusion of different agents into the celiac axis, was measured in the anesthetized cat. Pentagastrin, the octapeptide of cholecystokinin, natural secretin, and histamine produced arteriolar dilation. Only with histamine and the octapeptide of cholecystokinin did this occur with doses that might be considered physiological. Synthetic secretin had no vasodilator activity, suggesting the presence of a contaminating agent in natural secretin. Glucagon had no effect on the submucosal arterioles. In addition, the effect of glucagon on the smaller (10 to 30 mu) terminal and subterminal submucosal arterioles was studied in the rat by in vivo microscopy. Again no effect was observed with glucagon, but norepinephrine in small doses produced vasoconstriction.

Animals↗
PubMed1975

CNS regulation of metabolic rate in the kangaroo rat Dipodomys ingens.

Water-perfused thermodes were chronically implanted around the preoptic nuclei and hypothalamus (POH) of kangaroo rats (Dipodomys ingens). Responses in rate of metabolic heat production to manipulations of POH temperature (Thy) were measured in unanesthetized, unrestrained animals at ambient temperatures of 10, 20, 25, and 30 degreeC. The threshold Thy and the proportionally constant (alpha) for this response consistently decreased as ambient temperature increased, but alpha was not significantly different between any two Ta's. Average values of alpha for the three animals studied ranged between -.0024 W.g minus 1.degree C minus 1 and -.0034 W.g minus1.degree C minus 1. No influence of extrahypothalamic core temperature on the characteristics of the central nervous system regulatory mechanism was observed. Ahypothesis accounting for high POH and low peripheral thermosensitivities in small mammals is presented. An additional finding was that during sleep there is a profound depression or elimination of POH thermosensitivity in this species.

Animals↗