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Biomedical subjects

F Simmons

Publications and source records attributed to F Simmons.

16 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1999

Thymosin alpha1 treatment of chronic hepatitis B: results of a phase III multicentre, randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study.

Previous clinical trials have suggested that thymosin alpha1 (Talpha1), an immunomodulatory peptide, may be effective in the treatment of chronic hepatitis B (CHB). The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of Talpha1 in a multicentre, placebo-controlled and double-blind study of 97 patients with serum hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA- and hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-positive CHB. Patients who had been hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) positive for at least 12 months entered a 3-month screening period prior to randomization. Forty-nine patients received Talpha1 (1.6 mg) and 48 patients received placebo, twice weekly for 6 months, and were followed-up for an additional 6 months. At inclusion, both groups were comparable for age, gender, histological grading, and aminotransferase and HBV DNA levels. A complete response to treatment, defined as a sustained serum HBV DNA-negative status (two negative results at least 3 months apart) during the 12-month study, with negative HBV DNA and HBeAg values at month 12, was seen in seven (14%) patients given Talpha1 and in two (4%) patients treated with placebo (P = 0.084). Five (10%) patients given Talpha1 and four (8%) patients given placebo exhibited a delayed response (defined as sustained serum HBV DNA negativity achieved after the 12-month study period with negative HBV DNA and HBeAg values at the last assessment). A total of 12 (25%) patients given Talpha1 and six (13%) patients given placebo showed a sustained loss of HBV DNA with a negative HBeAg value during or following the 12-month study period (P < 0.11). These results do not confirm observations of treatment efficacy reported in other clinical studies.

Adjuvants, Immunologic↗
PubMed1995

A randomized prospective trial of steroid withdrawal after liver transplantation.

The safety of steroid withdrawal in orthotopic liver transplant (OLT) recipients has been studied in a prospective trial with a comparison control group. Sixty-four recipients of ABO-compatible grafts (42 adults, 22 children) were randomized into a steroid withdrawal (SW) group and a control group. Inclusion criteria included survival > one year post-OLT and no rejection > six months after OLT. Exclusion criteria included previous graft loss secondary to rejection, > two episodes of documented rejection, patients transplanted for autoimmune hepatitis, and patients unable to receive azathioprine. Target HPLC cyclosporine levels in both groups were 100-200 ng/ml. Thirty-three patients entered the SW group and 31 the control group at a mean of 3.5 years after OLT; follow-ups were 592 and 527 days, respectively. Two patients in each group developed biopsy-proven rejection. In the SW group one patient rejected at three months, the other at nine months. Both rejection episodes resolved with only reinstitution of oral prednisone. Of the two patients who rejected in the control group (one at 7 months, one at 11 months) one required conversion to tacrolimus and the other intravenous steroids. There were no significant differences between the two groups for prednisone, azathioprine, cyclosporine doses, cyclosporine levels, liver function tests, and white blood cell counts at base line compared with 12 months. Fasting serum cholesterol in the SW group decreased from 194 +/- 44 mg/dl at baseline to 175 +/- 37 mg/dl at one year, whereas in the control group cholesterol rose from 180 +/- 48 mg/dl to 193 +/- 44 mg/dl. In pediatric patients no significant difference in age-adjusted height velocities over one year was seen between the two groups. We concluded that dual therapy with cyclosporine and azathioprine in stable long-term liver allograft recipients is not associated with an increase in rejection incidence. Prednisone withdrawal may be associated with an improvement in lipid profiles.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Fatal hepatitis associated with ketoconazole therapy.

A 67-year-old woman receiving ketoconazole, 200 mg daily for two months, had progressive jaundice, anorexia, and malaise develop. She had greatly elevated liver enzyme levels on hospital admission, and she died as a result of rapidly progressive liver failure. Histologic findings at autopsy disclosed acute hepatic necrosis. There was no clinical or serologic evidence of viral hepatitis. It is suggested that ketoconazole therapy was a causal factor in this case of fatal hepatic failure.

Aged↗
PubMed1984

The effects of time compression on feature discrimination as a function of age.

This study used 30 tape-recorded sentences taken from the Carrow Auditory Visual Abilities Test, then time-compressed by the Lexicon Varispeech II to 50%, in order to investigate age-related changes in auditory discrimination. Each sentence offers one or more phonemic contrasts (manner or place of articulation, voicing, frequency, or some combination). Overall group mean performance was not different between 6-yr-olds (N:14) vs 8-yr-olds (N:20), or between 10-yr-olds (N:16) vs 15 young adults, but the 2 older groups were each significantly better than each of the 2 younger groups. The ontogenetic progression of this auditory processing ability seems to mature in the early part of the second decade of life. Of 5 feature contrasts, only place of articulation was significantly more difficult, for all ages. Of 6 frequency contrasts, only that for high frequencies was significantly more difficult, for all groups, possibly due to an as yet undocumented damping of high frequencies by the time-compression apparatus.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

Pyogenic liver abscesses: successful non-surgical therapy.

Eleven consecutive patients with pyogenic liver abscesses were seen in a 20-month study period. Ten patients were treated with antibiotics alone. All ten had abscesses demonstrated by hepatic scintigraphy or sonography. In six patients purulent material was obtained by percutaneous aspiration of the liver. Blood-cultures were positive in each of the nine patients in whom they were obtained. Nine of the ten patients treated with antibiotics alone were cured; one died from complications of a liver biopsy. These results indicate that pyogenic liver abscesses can be effectively managed by medical therapy and that surgery is rarely required.

Adult↗
PubMed1980

Alterations of mitochondrial respiration induced by aminoglycoside antibiotics.

In vitro gentamicin treatment stimulates State 4 mitochondrial respiration and inhibits State 3 and DNP-uncoupled respiration. These effects are qualitatively similar in both hepatic and renal mitochondria. Threshold gentamicin concentrations for these effects were between 1 and 2 mM for renal mitochondria while hepatic mitochondria were slightly more sensitive. Neomycin, kanamycin, and streptomycin had effects qualitatively similar to those of gentamicin on State 4, State 3, and DNP-uncoupled respiration. The potency of the aminoglycosides in producing these effects strongly correlated with the number of ionizable amino groups present on the aminoglycoside molecule suggesting that cationic charge is an important molecular determinant of aminoglycoside-induced mitochondrial toxicity.

Aminoglycosides↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The reading comprehension abilities of dyslexic students in higher education.

The reading comprehension abilities of a group of dyslexic university students were compared with those of non-dyslexic university students. A 655-word passage, followed by literal and inferential questions, was used to measure reading comprehension. The text was designed to be syntactically complex, yet place relatively modest demands on decoding skills. Although dyslexic students performed at a similar level to the non-dyslexic students on the literal questions, their performance on the inferential questions was poorer. An index of the participants' ability to make inferences was calculated by subtracting the inferential question score from the literal question score. The groups differed significantly on this measure, indicating that the dyslexic students were specifically impaired in constructing inferences when processing complex text. It was concluded that dyslexic students in higher education have reading comprehension difficulties that cannot be accounted for by an inability to decode individual words in the text. The possible contribution that poor lexical automaticity and an impaired working memory make to this impairment is discussed. The implications for the assessment and support of dyslexic students are considered.

Adolescent↗