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Biomedical subjects

H Weiner

Publications and source records attributed to H Weiner.

At least 235 records · Page 13Linked to original sources

The illusion of simplicity: the medical model revisited.

Traditional medical models have been found to be linear, restrictive, and oversimplified. Only a truly biological model, encompassing evolutionary as well as molecular and cellular biology, can account for the complex origins, forms, and effects of disease, which are illustrated by a discussion of hepatitis B and slow virus disease. An updated biological model of disease takes into account predisposition to disease, the timing and route of infection, multiple disease forms, variable adaptive response, and the role of social and cultural factors and views disease as a failure of adaptation in one or more systems. Its application to psychiatry is shown in a discussion of stress, bereavement, and separation.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

Predisposition to gastric erosions in the rat: behavioral and nutritional effects of early maternal separation.

After early maternal deprivation (on postnatal day 15), the incidence of restraint-induced gastric erosions on day 30 increases to approximately 5 times that of rats separated at the customary (day 21) weaning age. These data suggest that factors in the mother-infant relationship during postnatal development in young rats can influence later susceptibility or resistance to gastric erosions. We present a series of experiments to test whether loss of behavioral interaction with the mother or loss of maternal milk results in this increase in gastric erosion susceptibility. The results show that the absence of maternal milk, rather than behavioral deprivation, is primarily responsible for the increase in susceptibility after early maternal separation. However, behavioral interaction with the mother can additionally modify this susceptibility.

Age Factors↗

Anorexia nervosa and gonadal dysgenesis. Further evidence of a relationship.

We report the ninth documentated coincidence of anorexia nervosa and XO gonadel dysgenesis (Turner syndrome) and the second confirmed coincidence of anorexia nervosa and XO/XX (mosaic) gonadal dysgenesis. Three other women who had anorexia nervosa and clinical stigmata of gonadal dysgenesis, but who were not karyotyped, are also described. We thus consider the possibility that patients with gonadal dysgenesis are at special risk for anorexia nervosa and discuss hypotheses to explain such a relationship.

Adolescent↗

The effects of ethanol on dopamine metabolism in rat liver and brain.

Levels of dopamine metabolites are drastically altered in the presence of ethanol in liver slices, however no change in brain metabolism of dopamine is observed in a conscious animal which has been administered ethanol. Though THP can be formed in the cell during the metabolism of dopamine, increasing DOPAL levels does not cause an increase in THP formation. Thus if this compound is important in the overall alcohol problem more subtle ways of looking at its formation in individual synaptic regions will have to be developed in order to determine if ethanol will alter its level.

3,4-Dihydroxyphenylacetic Acid↗

Some effects of a split litter cross foster design applied to 15 day old rat pups.

Rat litters were divided and cross fostered on a postnatal Day 15 so that each mother had 4 of her own pups and 4 pups of a second litter, until weaning at 21 days. Daily weight and body temperature measurements made between Day 15 and 21 showed no differences between foster pups and pups who stayed with their biological mothers. However, by the age of 30 days, foster pups weighed less than pups reared by their own (biological) mothers; and foster pups at that age did not survive food deprivation as well as the pups reared by their biological mothers. In their Day 30 weights and the capacity to survive food deprivation, foster pups resembled pups that had been permanently separated from their mothers on postnatal Day 15. We conclude that the split cross foster design may introduce variability rather than reduce it. Nonetheless, this design may be useful in the experimental investigation of maternal behavior and mother-pup interactions in the rat.

Animals↗

The association of HLA antigens A3, B7, and DW2 with 330 multiple sclerosis patients in the United States.

Reported associations of HLA antigens with MS have varied considerably. In this study we have examined 330 clinically definite MS patients from the United States. The frequency of DW2 (52%) was highly statistically significant in MS patients as compared to controls (p less than 0.00001). Neither A3 nor B7 was significantly increased in MS; however, the joint occurrences of A3-DW2 (20% vs 7%, p less than 0.001) and B7-DW2 (30% vs 13%, p less than 0.0002) are highly associated with MS.

Chromosome Mapping↗

An operant analysis of human altruistic responding.

Human altruistic responding (called give responding), which delivered a reinforcer to someone other than the responder, was compared to responding where the responder was the recipient of the reinforcer (called earn responding). The same type of response (button pressing), the same reinforcer (a point representing a penny), and the same reinforcer contingency (a 40-response fixed-ratio schedule) were used for both give and earn responding. Since points representing pennies were used to reinforce give and earn responding, responding for points not worth money was also assessed. Give, earn, and point responding were arranged as concurrent incompatible operants. Lowest rates were obtained for point responding. Compared to earn responding, give responding occurred at lower rates, was more susceptible to cessation when point responding was possible, extinguished more rapidly in the absence of money, and produced less responding during reconditioning compared to conditioning when reconditioning followed a period of nonreinforcement. Give responding was less when it reduced the giver's opportunity to earn. Finally, histories of getting reinforcement from others were shown to determine give responding.

Journal Article↗

Release of neutrophil chemotactic activity during immediate hypersensitivity reactions in humans.

Heat-stable, serum-derived chemotactic activity for neutrophils is shown in a human model of immunoglobulin E-mediated asthma. Twenty-six ragweed-sensitive subjects underwent bronchial provocation challenge using ragweed and Mecholyl. Increased neutrophil chemotactic activity was found in serum tested from 5 to 30 min after a positive ragweed-inhalation challenge, but not after negative ragweed challenge. The appearance of neutrophil chemotactic activity did not reflect the effects of bronchospasm alone, because it was not found after bronchospastic responses to Mecholyl in the same subjects. There were no accompanying changes of serum complement activity, nor evidence of inhibition of the chemotactic activity by proir exposure to antisera to the third and fifth components of complement. Ultrafiltration of serum showed chemotactic activity contained in fractions of at least 50 000 daltons. This appears to be the first demonstration of neutrophil chemotactic activity liberated during experimentally induced immunoglobulin E-mediated asthma in humans.

Adult↗

Rate-limiting steps for the esterase and dehydrogenase reaction catalyzed by horse liver aldehyde dehydrogenase.

Horse liver aldehyde dehydrogenase, like other aldehyde dehydrogenases, is capable of hydrolyzing esters such as nitrophenyl acetate. Pre-steady state and burst kinetics were performed using substrate levels of enzyme to determine whether the rate-limiting step occurred prior to or after the formation of an acyl enzyme intermediate. A burst was found by both techniques for the dehydrogenase reaction; but no burst was found for the esterase reaction. These data show that the rate-limiting step for the two reactions catalyzed by the enzyme differs. For dehydrogenase it occurs after the formation of the acyl intermediate, but for esterase it occurs prior to its formation.

Aldehyde Oxidoreductases↗

Coenzyme interaction with horse liver alcohol dehydrogenase. Evidence for allosteric coenzyme binding sites from thermodynamic equilibrium studies.

The techniques of fluorescence enhancement, fluorescence quenching, fluorescence polarization, and equilibrium dialysis are utilized to study the binding properties of coenzyme to horse liver alcohol dehydrogenase. Polarization of fluorescence and equilibrium dialysis show that NADH binds to alcohol dehydrogenase with a stoichiometry of 6 mol per mol of enzyme, in contrast to the value of 2 determined from fluorescence enhancement measurements. NAD+ also binds with a stoichiometry of six as was determined by equilibrium dialysis. The two NADH sites which bind coenzyme more tightly and which are revealed by fluorescence enhancement measurements are designated the catalytic sites. Binding of coenzyme to the four ancillary sites does not alter the quantum yield of NADH but results in a 20% contribution to quenching of enzyme's tryptophan fluorescence. From the emission anisotropy of bound NADH of 24.0% for the additional sites and 28.1% for the catalytic sites and their relative fluorescence lifetimes at the same wavelengths of excitation and emmision, we conclude that the nicotinamide ring of NADH bound to the additional sites exhibits a freedom of motion independent of the macromolecule, while that bound to the catalytic sites is more rigidly held. Polarization of fluorescence yields negative intrinsic free energies of 9.2 and 7.5 Cal M-1 for NADH interaction with the catalytic and additional sites, respectively. Although these values are 1.3 to 2.0 Cal higher than those determined by fluorescence quenching and equilibrium dialysis, the mean Hill coefficient of 1.76 plus or minus 0.06, the titration span of 2.4 logarithmic units and coupling free energies (in magnitude and sign) are the same for all these techniques. The above difference in the intrinsic free energies are attributed largely to the different modes of interaction of excited and unexcited NADH molecules with alcohol dehydrogenase.

Alcohol Oxidoreductases↗

Lymphangitic pulmonary metastases secondary to breast cancer with normal chest x-rays and abnormal perfusion lung scans.

Three patients with advanced breast cancer are described who developed lymphangitic pulmonary metastases with normal chest x-rays and abnormal perfusion lung scans. The abnormal lung scans can probably be attributed to embolization of the pulmonary vasculature, first described in association with lymphangitic pulmonary metastases in 1903. The importance of recognizing this condition in patients with breast cancer is shown by their frequently good responses to combination chemotherapy.

Adult↗

The interaction between counseling and methadone in the treatment of narcotic addicts: the challenge of the counseling relationship.

Despite the real and symbolic inportance of methadone to the drug addict, the counseling relationship is still central to the rehabilitative process. This paper discusses the unique aspects of counseling relationships in methadone programs due to the interaction of the physiological and counseling components of treatment. A point of view is presented which emphasizes the need for an open and honest discussion of the worker's role and the expectations of the program early in the treatment process as a means of establishing a therapeutic contract. Affirmation of the authority inherent in the worker's role, and in the structure of the program, lends structure to the counseling relationship and facilitates the rehabilitative process. The contract will also help the patient clarify his personal goals of treatment. It has been noted that methadone can speed up the rehabilitative process because it allows the addict to shift his attention away from the craving for drugs. While counseling staff view methadone as a tool to help patients achieve physiological stability so that psychosocial rehabilitation can occur, patients often view methadone as the primary component of treatment. This differing view of the role of methadone in treatment can lead to conflicts between patients and counselors. The skill of the counselor lies in helping the patients move away from a singular concentration on the drug (methadone), by encouraging a longer point of view and the first steps in the process of personal and social rehabilitation.

Attitude↗