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Biomedical subjects

J Hermann

Publications and source records attributed to J Hermann.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
PubMed1987

Improved treatment results in childhood acute nonlymphoblastic leukemia with the BFM-AML protocol 78 in a multicenter study in the GDR.

Eighty-seven children with acute nonlymphoblastic leukemia were treated with the AML protocol BFM 78 between June 1979 and February 1986 in a multicenter study in the GDR. Seventeen children (20%) died from early complications, eight did not respond to therapy. Fifty-eight patients (70%) achieved a complete remission. Twenty-three patients relapsed. The life table analysis revealed after 5 years a probability for event-free survival of 36% (SD = 6%) and an event-free interval of 51% (SD = 8%). Six patients were transplanted in first remission. Two of them died; one (M 1) on day + 19 from encephalopathy and one (M 4) on day + 60 from acute GVHD. The overall results are in good correlation with the original BFM study, but there are differences in the subtypes. Results are superior to other AML protocols in our group.

Actuarial Analysis↗
PubMed1987

Phase I trial and pharmacokinetic study of intravenous and oral alpha-difluoromethylornithine.

Eflornithine-HCl (alpha-difluoromethylornithine or DFMO), an irreversible inhibitor of ornithine decarboxylase, blocks polyamine synthesis and has demonstrated antitumor activity in cell culture and animal tumor models. This phase I study was designed to determine and compare toxicity and the maximally tolerated dose of a 4-day course of DFMO given to patients in oral, continuous intravenous infusion or pulse intravenous infusion forms. Twenty-four patients were entered into this study: 8 received intravenous pulse drug, 10 intravenous continuous infusion of drug, and 6 oral DFMO. The most frequent toxicity was nausea and vomiting which occurred in 9 courses of oral drug. Only two patients receiving intravenous DFMO had nausea and vomiting. Clinically significant thrombocytopenia and audiometric abnormalities were not encountered in contrast to previous experience with 28-day courses of oral DFMO. The maximally tolerated dose of a four-day course of oral DFMO was 3.75 gm/M2 every 6 hours. The maximally tolerated dose of intravenous pulse and continuous infusion DFMO was not attained. Pharmacokinetic studies demonstrated that the intravenous schedules achieved higher plasma levels of DFMO than those previously obtained with chronic oral dosing.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed1987

[Cryopreservation of bone marrow for the autologous transplantation in children].

In preparing the autologous transplantation of children a method for cryoconservation of bone-marrow was developed by means of investigating the donor's bone-marrow. This method is adapted to our conditions, can easily be practised and is cell-preserving. Quantity and quality of the stored bone-marrow cells were evaluated concerning their proliferation capability by means of CFU-c assays. The highest recovery in CFU-c (78%) and cells (98%) was observed if isolated mononuclear cells with cryoprotective addition of 5% DMSO, 20% of human albumin, and 20% of serum were slowly frozen at a controllable rate, stored in liquid oxygen and thawed very quickly. According to the elaborated method the remission marrow was taken from 15 children affected with malignant diseases for autologous reinfusion. The data gained here confirm the experimental experiences.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

Sex-differentiated enzyme levels and oestrogen uptake in adult rats treated neonatally with tamoxifen or CI-628.

Serum cholinesterase, hepatic histidase and monoamine oxidase activity levels are higher in adult female rats than in adult male rats. Exposure of neonatal rats to antioestrogen (tamoxifen or CI-628) resulted in increased serum cholinesterase in adult females only and no effect on hepatic histidase and monoamine oxidase in both sexes. Neonatal tamoxifen or CI-628 treatment resulted in reduced body weights in adult male rats and reduced uterine wet weights in adult female rats. Circulating oestrogen levels measured in adult female rats treated neonatally with tamoxifen were not significantly different from controls. Specific oestrogen uptake in the brain of adult male and female rats was found to be higher in the pituitary than in the preoptic-anterior hypothalamic area and the median eminence-basal hypothalamus than in the cerebral cortex. There was higher uptake of [3H]oestradiol-17 beta in male pituitaries than in female pituitaries. No other sex-difference was observed. Neonatal tamoxifen treatment did not alter the capacity of these brain tissues to take up oestrogen. It is suggested that neonatal antioestrogen exposure has altered the endocrine expression of serum cholinesterase in adult female rats by interfering with normal imprinting mechanisms.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

[Magnesium metabolism in chronic lead poisoning: influence of chelating treatment].

Thirteen patients with chronic lead poisoning were compared to 13 healthy subjects for magnesium in blood (plasma and erythrocytes) and in 24-hour urine, and serum and urinary Ca and P. Determinations were made before an infusion of 1 g Ca EDTA and on the following day. In the basic state, all the parameters were identical in both groups. Ca EDTA elicits a significant drop in plasma Mg only in the patients with lead poisoning, without modifications of erythrocytic or urinary Mg. Consequently, the drop in plasma Mg might be due to a shift from an extracellular to a tissue pool. This shift might be cause by the action of EDTA itself, or might be the consequence of removal of lead from cellular sites of fixation, where it could be replaced by Mg ions.

Calcium↗
PubMed1984

[Biological stigmata of lead poisoning from water and their peculiarities. Application to the choice of diagnostic tests].

We have studied the diagnostic efficiency of some biological tests in 59 consecutive patients whom we suspected to be poisoned by lead from drinking water. This diagnosis was confirmed in 30 patients in whom EDTA-promoted urinary excretion of lead was greater than 800 micrograms/24 hr. The measurement of delta-ALA (delta-aminolevulinic acid) dehydrase was the most sensitive test (89.7 p. 100). Sensitivities of protoporphyrin blood level (64.7 p. 100), of serum lead level (46.2 p. 100), of the presence of erythrocytes with basophilic stippling in blood (44.4 p. 100) were lower. The determinations of urinary coproporphyrin and of delta-ALA levels in blood and urine had no practical diagnostic value. We conclude that the best screening test for the diagnosis of lead poisoning by drinking water is the measurement of delta-ALA dehydrase activity. An increase of the EDTA-promoted urinary excretion of lead is required for a final confirmation of the diagnosis.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

In vivo effects of microinjected alkaline phosphatase and its low molecular weight substrates on the first meiotic cell division in Xenopus laevis oocytes.

Xenopus laevis oocytes were microinjected with low molecular weight phosphoesters such as 2-glycerophosphate, phosphotyrosine, phosphoserine, phosphothreonine, 4-nitrophenyl phosphate, and orthophosphate. These compounds were able to induce a considerable reduction in the time course of progesterone-induced maturation, with 2-glycerophosphate being the most effective. The basal level of cAMP and its drop during maturation were not affected by the microinjection of 2-glycerophosphate. The injection of alkaline phosphatase (EC 3.1.3.1.) from calf intestine at a low concentration (10 ng per oocyte) was able to decrease or abolish the effect of 2-glycerophosphate. At higher concentration (25 ng per oocyte) this enzyme totally blocked progesterone- or maturation-promoting factor-induced maturation. Alkaline phosphatase might behave in vivo as a phosphoprotein phosphatase active towards phosphotyrosine-containing proteins. In addition, our results indicate that phosphate or phosphoester-containing buffers should be avoided in the course of maturation-promoting factor purification.

Alkaline Phosphatase↗
PubMed1984

Phase I trial and pharmacokinetic studies of alpha-difluoromethylornithine--an inhibitor of polyamine biosynthesis.

alpha-Difluoromethylornithine (DFMO), an enzyme-activated, irreversible inhibitor of ornithine decarboxylase, blocks polyamine biosynthesis and has antitumor effects in animal tumor models as well as in athymic mice implanted with human small cell carcinoma. This study was designed to determine the maximally tolerated dose of oral DFMO administered every six hours for 28 days to patients with advanced solid tumors or lymphomas. DFMO levels were measured using an ion exchange chromatographic assay and pharmacokinetic studies were performed in patients treated at each dose level. Twenty-two patients received 24 courses of DFMO. The drug was generally well tolerated. Thrombocytopenia was the dose-limiting toxicity and gastrointestinal side effects were also seen. Thrombocytopenia developed in 11 of 16 patients who had received prior chemotherapy but the four patients who had no prior chemotherapy had no decrease in the platelet count. The steady state level of DFMO achieved at the highest dose (3 g/m2) were found to be within the range needed for inhibition of ornithine decarboxylase in cell-culture systems as well as for the inhibitory activity against various human tumors in vitro. A DFMO dose of 2.25 g/m2 every six hours is recommended for phase II studies in patients previously treated with cytotoxic drugs.

Adult↗