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Biomedical subjects

H Meyer

Publications and source records attributed to H Meyer.

At least 145 records · Page 8Linked to original sources

Sequence and chromosomal localization of the mouse brevican gene.

Brevican is a brain-specific proteoglycan belonging to the aggrecan family. Phage clones containing the complete mouse brevican open reading frame of 2649 bp and the complete 3'-untranslated region of 341 bp were isolated from a mouse brain cDNA library, and cosmid clones containing the mouse brevican gene were isolated from a genomic library using a PCR-generated DNA fragment as probe. The obtained genomic sequence of 13,700 nucleotides revealed that the murine gene has a size of approximately 13 kb and contains the sequence of the mRNA for the secreted brevican isoform on 14 exons. The exon-intron structure reflected the structural organization of the multidomain protein brevican. No consensus TATA sequence was found upstream of the first exon, and RNase protection experiments revealed multiple transcriptional start sites for the brevican gene. The first part of the sequence of intron 8 corresponded to an alternative brevican cDNA, coding for a GPI-linked isoform. Single strand conformation polymorphism analysis mapped the brevican gene (Bcan) to chromosome 3 between the microsatellite markers D3Mit22 and D3Mit11.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Budget balance.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

American Hospital Association↗

Isolation, structure elucidation, and synthesis of a macrophage stimulatory lipopeptide from Mycoplasma fermentans acting at picomolar concentration.

Macrophages are typically stimulated by components of microbial cell walls. Surprisingly, cell wall-less mycoplasmas can also very efficiently stimulate macrophages. We showed recently that mycoplasma-derived lipopeptides constitute the active principle. We have now isolated a clone of Mycoplasma fermentans expressing mainly one macrophage-stimulating lipopeptide. This lipopeptide was detergent-extracted and isolated by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromotography, using nitric oxide release from C3H/HeJ mouse macrophages as bioassay for detection. In contrast to "conventional" bacterial lipoproteins, this lipopeptide had a free NH2 terminus. Amino acid composition, sequence, and the molecular weight of 2,163. 3 are consistent with the following structure: S-(2, 3-bisacyloxypropyl)cysteine-GNNDESNISFKEK with one mole C16:0, and a further mole of a mixture of C18:0 and C18:1 fatty acid per lipopeptide molecule. The sequence could not be found in either the protein identification resource nor the Swiss Prot data bank. We named this 2-kD lipopeptide, macrophage-activating lipopeptide-2 (MALP-2). Synthetic dipalmitoyl MALP-2 and mycoplasma-derived MALP-2 were compared with the bioassay. Both lipopeptides showed an identical dose dependency with a half-maximal response at 10(-11) M concentration. MALP-2 may be one of the most potent natural macrophage stimulators besides endotoxin.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Home care goes corporate.

Some 18,000 home health agencies dot today's landscape--one of health care's last cottage industries. But the spread of managed care, plus long-promised Medicare payment reform, will change all that. Waves of consolidation and cost-cutting won't be far behind.

Capitation Fee↗

Comparative study of the protective effect against Salmonella colonisation in newly hatched SPF chickens using live, attenuated Salmonella vaccine strains, wild-type Salmonella strains or a competitive exclusion product.

There is a need to prevent intestinal colonisation by Salmonella enteritidis and S. typhimurium in newly hatched chicks. Treatment with an undefined bacterial flora is not acceptable to regulatory agencies in some countries because of the potential risk of transmitting pathogens. A defined culture with a potency and stability equivalent to those of an undefined culture has not yet been developed. Since attenuated Salmonella vaccine strains could possess the colonisation characteristics but not the virulence of Salmonella wild-type strains, they could inhibit colonisation of the challenge organism. S. typhimurium live vaccines registered in Germany (Zoosaloral H, Salmonella vac T), S. enteritidis aroA and S. typhimurium aroA strains, S. enteritidis, S. typhimurium and S. infantis wild-type strains or a competitive exclusion product (Broilact) were used as pretreatment cultures and evaluated for their inhibitory effects against S. enteritidis and S. typhimurium colonisation in newly hatched SPF chickens. Day-old chicks were administered a pretreatment culture and infected orally with variants of S. enteritidis or S. typhimurium wild type-strains resistant to nalidixic acid or rifampicin 1 day after pretreatment. On days 2 and 6 after infection, viable numbers of the challenge strain in liver and caeca were determined. The results for birds pretreated with Broilact showed a distinct protective effect against both S. enteritidis and S. typhimurium at a challenge dose of 10(4) cfu/bird. After pretreatment of chicks with S. enteritidis and S. typhimurium wild-type strains, the greatest degree of inhibition of caecal colonisation was produced using isogenic strains. Colonisation after infection with non-isogenic strains could not be prevented but only reduced for a brief period. These effects were also observed after administration of aroA strains of S. enteritidis and S. typhimurium but the protective effect was considerably lower than after pretreatment with wild-type Salmonella strains. Inoculation with attenuated S. typhimurium vaccines resulted in a weak but significantly reduced colonisation by S. typhimurium. Colonisation by S. enteritidis could not be diminished by either of the S. typhimurium vaccine strains. The results indicate in principle the potency of Salmonella vaccine strains to inhibit Salmonella wild-type colonisation in newly hatched chicks. Potential vaccine candidates should be tested for their capacity to prevent intestinal colonisation in newly hatched chicks.

Animals↗

Results of heart transplantation in patients with preexisting malignancies.

Twenty patients with end-stage heart failure and preexisting malignancies underwent heart transplantation at a single center, with a neoplasm-free interval before the procedure of 0 to 240 months. Twelve patients were long-term survivors (2 to 72 months); there were 2 early and 6 late deaths, thus justifying heart transplantation in patients with preexisting malignancies in individual cases.

Contraindications↗

[Antibiotic use in necrotizing pancreatitis. Results of a controlled study].

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The clinical course and death rate in acute necrotizing pancreatitis (ANP) are largely determined by septic complications as part of bacterial invasion of the necrotic tissues. It remains unclear whether antibiotic prophylaxis reduces bacterial invasion of the necroses or septic complications. It was, therefore, the aim of this study to evaluate the effect of prophylactic administration of antibiotics to patients with ANP. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In a prospective randomized study 13 patients with ANP and sterile necroses (quantified by contrast-enhanced computed tomography) were given twice daily 200 mg ofloxacin and twice daily 500 mg metronidazole intravenously. The results were compared to those in a control group of patients with ANP (n = 13) who had not initially received antibiotics. In both patient groups fine-needle biopsies of the necrotic areas were performed on days 1, 3, 5, 7 and 10. If there was evidence of infection, antibiotics were then also given to patients of the control group. RESULTS: The extent of the necroses was the same, 40%, in both groups. These necroses became infected in a median of 9.5 (treated group) and 10 days (untreated group). The clinical course, documented by the APACHE II score, showed significant improvement under antibiotic treatment (days 1-5-10: scores 15-13.0-9.5). In the (initially untreated) control group the clinical condition deteriorated significantly (days 1-5-10: score 11.5-15.0-16.0). The changes from days 1 to 5, 5 to 10 and 1 to 10 were highly significant (Wilcoxon test, P < 0.01). None of the patients in the antibiotic group died within the first 3 weeks, but 2 of the 13 in the control group died. CONCLUSION: Antibiotic prophylaxis neither prevented nor delayed bacterial infection of the necrotic pancreas. But it significantly improved the clinical course if started before the onset of infection of the pancreatic necroses.

Adult↗