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Biomedical subjects

J Klein

Publications and source records attributed to J Klein.

At least 523 records · Page 29Linked to original sources

Natural history of left ventricular thrombi: their appearance and resolution in the posthospitalization period of acute myocardial infarction.

A series of 198 consecutive patients with acute myocardial infarction were prospectively studied before hospital discharge and during 24.0 +/- 8.6 months of follow-up. A predischarge thrombus was found in 38 (31%) of 124 patients with anterior infarction but in none of 74 patients with inferior infarction (p less than 0.001). Early thrombolytic therapy in 34 patients did not decrease the rate of thrombus occurrence. Acute anterior infarction, ejection fraction less than or equal to 35% and apical dyskinesia or aneurysm (but not akinesia) were significantly related to the appearance of thrombus during hospitalization by stepwise logistic regression analysis. Echocardiographic follow-up of 159 patients for at least 6 months (mean 26.6 +/- 8.4) revealed that thrombus disappeared in 14 (48%) of 29. Disappearance of thrombus was related to predischarge apical akinesia (but not dyskinesia) and to warfarin therapy during the follow-up period. A new thrombus first appeared after hospital discharge in 13 of 130 patients, and in 7 of the 13 it resolved during further follow-up. Thus, 30% (13 of 42) of thrombi in these patients appeared after discharge from the hospital. Three factors were related to occurrence of new thrombi during the follow-up period: deterioration in left ventricular ejection fraction, predischarge ejection fraction less than or equal to 35% and ventricular aneurysm or dyskinesia. Systemic embolism occurred in six patients, all with a predischarge thrombus (p less than 0.001). Mobility of the thrombus was the only variable significantly related to subsequent embolic events (p = 0.001) by logistic regression analysis. Thus, the predischarge echocardiogram identifies patients with thrombus and those at highest risk of embolic events. It can indicate patients who are likely to have thrombus resolution and those at risk of developing a new thrombus after hospital discharge. Follow-up echocardiograms may help in guiding the length of long-term anticoagulant therapy. Four additional patients with a predischarge apical mobile thrombus (not part of the consecutive series) received thrombolytic therapy. In two of the four, lysis of thrombus was achieved without complications, but systemic embolism occurred in the other two, and proved fatal in one.

Echocardiography↗

Organization of the chimpanzee C4-CYP21 region: implications for the evolution of human genes.

We prepared a cosmid library from chimpanzee DNA and screened it with a mouse probe specific for the complement component 4 (C4)-encoding gene. We isolated 29 clones and constructed restriction maps for 20 of these. The clones could be arranged into two overlapping clusters covering the entire C4 region of both chromosomes in this particular heterozygous chimpanzee. The region is about 100 kilobases (kb) long and contains two C4 and two CYP21 genes, the latter coding for the enzyme 21-hydroxylase. Using oligonucleotide probes we identified the genes as corresponding to human C4A, C4B, CYP21 and CYP21P genes. The last gene apparently contains an 8-base pair (bp) deletion (as does the corresponding human gene), which renders it a pseudogene. The genes are arranged in the order C4A...CYP21P...C4B...CYP21. Each of the two C4 genes is 16 kb long and thus corresponds to the short version of the human C4 genes. We suggest that the duplication of the basic C4-CYP21 unit that generated the standard arrangement of the human C4-CYP21 region occurred before the separation of the evolutionary lineages leading to humans and chimpanzees (i.e., more than five million years ago). We suggest further that the original form of the C4 gene was of the long variety and was generated by the insertion of a 6.8-kb element into one of the C4 introns. The element was subsequently excised in the ancestors of the chimpanzees and in at least one lineage of the human C4B gene. We speculate that the presence of the 6.8-kb insert in the human C4A and some C4B genes might largely be responsible for the great instability of this chromosomal region which leads to frequent duplications and deletions, some of which cause 21-hydroxylase deficiency.

Animals↗

Lipase production by free and immobilized protoplasts of Sporotrichum (Chrysosporium) thermophile Apinis.

Production of lipase by free and alginate-entrapped protoplasts was studied in batch culture. Cell-wall-degrading enzymes Novozym 234 and cellulase CP improved lipase secretion of normal mycelium by 25%-100%. The protoplast-regenerated mycelium exhibited several-fold higher lipase activity in batch replacements in TRIS buffer over normal spore-derived mycelium. The specific lipase activity of immobilized protoplasts was about four times higher than normal mycelial beads. Protoplasts beads were stable and retained high enzyme activity even after three buffer replacements lasting 120 h; TRIS buffer was better than acetate or normal glucose medium. A minimum of 8 h regeneration period was necessary for lipase synthesis. Triolein, olive oil, tributyrin and oleic acid butylester were able to induce lipase in immobilized protoplasts. Tween 80 enhanced lipase activity of the immobilized protoplasts. Partially degraded immobilized mycelium was nearly as effective as normal immobilized protoplasts for lipase secretion. Both free and immobilized protoplasts could be reused for up to 200 h with some loss in enzyme activity.

Cell Wall↗

Characterization of H-2 congenic strains using DNA markers.

Congenic mouse strains are widely used in mapping traits to specific loci or short chromosomal regions. The precision of the mapping depends on the information available about the length of the differential segment--the segment introduced from the donor into the background strain. Until recently, very few markers flanking the differential locus were known and consequently the length of the foreign segment could only be determined imprecisely. Now, in an attempt to construct a map of the mouse chromosome 17, we have produced a set of DNA markers distributed along the chromosome. These markers provide a new opportunity to measure the length of the differential segment of the congenic strains and thus increase their usefulness for gene mapping. Here we examined the DNA of 96 H-2 congenic strains using 30 DNA markers; of these, the most proximal is located roughly 1.5 centiMorgans (cM) from the centromere and the most distal is about 20 cM telomeric from the H-2 complex (the complex itself being some 20 cM from the centromere). The mapping depends on polymorphism among the input strains and can therefore establish only the minimal length of the differential segment. This point is emphasized by the fact that the average observed length of the differential segment is only about one half of the expected values.

Alleles↗

Degradation of phenanthrene, fluorene and fluoranthene by pure bacterial cultures.

Bacterial mixed cultures able to degrade the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) phenanthrene, fluorene and fluoranthene, were obtained from soil using conventional enrichment techniques. From these mixed cultures three pure strains were isolated: Pseudomonas paucimobilis degrading phenanthrene; P. vesicularis degrading fluorene and Alcaligenes denitrificans degrading fluoranthene. The maximum rates of PAH degradation ranged from 1.0 mg phenanthrene/ml per day to 0.3 mg fluoranthene/ml per day at doubling times of 12 h to 35 h for growth on PAH as sole carbon source. The protein yield during PAH degradation was about 0.25 mg/mg C for all strains. Maximum PAH oxidation rates and optimum specific bacterial growth were obtained near pH 7.0 and 30 degrees C. After growth entered the stationary phase, no dead end-products of PAH degradation could be detected in the culture fluid.

Alcaligenes↗

The oxidation of the highly tumorigenic benz[a]anthracene 3,4-dihydrodiol by rat liver dihydrodiol dehydrogenase.

Rat liver dihydrodiol dehydrogenase (DDH, EC 1.3.1.20) has been shown to reduce the mutagenicity of benz[a]anthracene (BA) in the bacterial Ames test. BA-3,4-dihydrodiol is a highly mutagenic and tumorigenic metabolite of BA. In order to test the hypothesis that this dihydrodiol may be a substrate of DDH, we established two novel assay systems for the NADP(+)-dependent oxidation of BA-3,4-dihydrodiol by rat liver DDH, an HPLC-based assay procedure and a radiometric assay with specifically labelled [3,4-3H]-BA-3,4-dihydrodiol as substrate. With the HPLC-based assay, the kinetic constants of the enzymatic catalysis were as follows: Km(app) = 21 microM for BA-3,4-dihydrodiol and Vmax = 20.0 nmol/min.mg enzyme. The reaction product was identified by cochromatography, fluorimetry and mass spectroscopy as BA-3,4-catechol, but interconversions between the catechol and the corresponding o-quinone during the analytical procedures were detected. With the radiolabelled substrate, a linear relationship between substrate concentration and reaction velocity was found. The V/K value for labelled substrate was 0.155 ml/min.mg enzyme and a (V/K)H/(V/K)T kinetic isotope effect of 6.7 was observed. The non-labelled substrate acted as a competitive inhibitor of the enzymatic oxidation of tritiated BA-3,4-dihydrodiol with a Ki value of 56.4 microM. The reaction rates determined in this study suggest an important role of DDH activity in the metabolism of BA.

Alcohol Oxidoreductases↗

Immobilization of microbial cells by adsorption.

Immobilized cells cover a wide area of applications and are essential components of many biotechnological processes. In general it can be distinguished between two immobilization methods: (1) entrapment into polymers and (2) natural adsorption onto porous and inert support materials. The immobilization by adsorption is discussed by the following criteria: biomass loading, strength of adhesion, enzymatic stability/specific activity of the biocatalyst, effectivity/reaction engineering and operational stability.

Adsorption↗

The major histocompatibility complex and human evolution.

Many alleles at the human major histocompatibility complex (HLA) loci diverged before the divergence of humans and great apes from a common ancestor. This fact puts a lower limit on the size of the bottleneck in human evolution: the genus Homo must have been founded by no less than ten and probably by more than 10,000 individuals.

Alleles↗

Lumbar epidural fentanyl infusions for post-thoracotomy patients: analgesic, respiratory, and pharmacokinetic effects.

Ten patients undergoing a thoracotomy were studied for 24 hours postoperatively to determine the effects of a continuous lumbar epidural fentanyl infusion on postoperative pain, arterial blood gases (ABG), respiratory pattern (respiratory inductive plethysmography, RIP), and fentanyl plasma concentration (CONC). Patients served as their own controls because RIP and ABG data were obtained the night prior to surgery during sleep. Epidural fentanyl was administered as a bolus of 1.5 micrograms/kg followed by an infusion of 1.0 micrograms/kg/h started 1 hour after induction. Insufficient analgesia was treated with a bolus of 0.5 micrograms/kg and an infusion increase of 0.25 micrograms/kg/h. Postoperative assessment included RIP, ABG, CONC, and visual analog pain score (PS). The average infusion rate postoperatively was 1.47 +/- 0.08 micrograms/kg/h (114.3 +/- 8.3 micrograms/h). A mean PS of 2.1 +/- 0.3 was achieved; however, there was a delay in attaining this. There was no significant incidence postoperatively of apnea or slow respiratory rate. A significant but clinically insubstantial increase in PaCO2 and decrease in pH occurred. A steady state CONC of approximately 2.0 ng/mL was reached after 9 hours. The PS correlated with CONC in half the patients (0.60 less than r less than 0.86), indicating a systemic component may have contributed to the analgesic effect.

Adult↗

Mapping of class alpha glutathione S-transferase 2 (GST-2) genes to the vicinity of the d locus on mouse chromosome 9.

Recombinant inbred strains of mice were used to localize the genes coding for the class alpha glutathione S-transferase 2 (Gst-2). The genes showed three distinct strain distribution patterns, indicating that they occur in at least three clusters separable by recombination. All three clusters are located in the vicinity of the d locus on mouse chromosome 9, but two of them are closer to d than the third. Linked to Gst-2 on mouse chromosome 9 are two enzyme-encoding loci, Pgm-3 and Mod-1. The human counterparts of Gst-2, Pgm-3, and Mod-1 map to 6p12, 6q12, and 6q12, respectively. Thus, the pericentric region of human chromosome 6 has its homolog in the segment spanning Gst-2, Pgm-3, and Mod-1 on mouse chromosome 9. The fact that the syntenic group extends across the centromere of human chromosome 6 can best be explained by a pericentric inversion postulated to have taken place in the primate lineage leading to Catarhini.

Animals↗

Mapping of the L-methylmalonyl-CoA mutase gene to mouse chromosome 17.

In humans, methylmalonyl acidemia is caused by a deficiency of L-methylmalonyl-CoA mutase (MUT) controlled by a gene that has been mapped to chromosome 6. The mouse homolog of this gene has now been mapped to mouse chromosome 17. Recombinant inbred and congenic strains place the mouse Mut locus 1.06 cM distal to H-2, between Pgk-2 and Ce-2. The relative order of syntenic probes flanking H-2 on mouse chromosome 17 and HLA on human chromosome 6 is shown to be different.

Animals↗

Interaction between trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and methotrexate in children with leukemia.

Because trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) causes neutropenia in children with leukemia, we investigated the possibility that pharmacokinetic interaction between methotrexate (MTX) and TMP-SMX causes accumulation of the antileukemia agent. We studied the pharmacokinetics of MTX given intravenously or orally to nine children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, once with and once without TMP-SMX. There was an increase in free MTX fraction during TMP-SMX therapy in all patients, from (mean +/- SD) 37.4 +/- 11% without TMP-SMX to 52.2 +/- 6.4% with TMP-SMX (p less than 0.01). Plasma clearance of total MTX did not change significantly, whereas clearance of free MTX decreased significantly (from 12.5 +/- 4 to 7.6 +/- 1.5 ml/kg/min; p less than 0.05). There was a consistent decrease in the renal clearance of free MTX (from 12.1 +/- 6.8 to 5.6 +/- 2.4 ml/kg/min; p less than 0.05). Elimination half-life of MTX was not affected significantly by TMP-SMX. There was a significant correlation between serum concentrations of TMP-SMX and the percentage of decrease in the renal clearance of free MTX (r = 0.91; p less than 0.05). These changes in protein binding and tubular clearance of MTX, caused by competition with TMP-SMX, result in a mean 66% increase in systemic exposure to MTX and may explain the myelotoxicity often observed with the coadministration of the two drugs.

Bone Marrow↗