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Biomedical subjects

J Lang

Publications and source records attributed to J Lang.

At least 271 records · Page 15Linked to original sources
PubMed1992

High-dose recombinant human erythropoietin administered intravenously for the treatment of anaemia in myelodysplastic syndromes.

As the importance of recombinant human erythropoietin (r-HuEPO) therapy has been clearly demonstrated in anaemic patients with chronic renal failure (CRF), we carried out an open, non-randomized, non-placebo-controlled trial of high-dose intravenous (i.v.) r-HuEPO (100,000 U twice weekly) therapy in 14 anaemic, transfusion-dependent patients. Clinical response was defined by a rise in haemoglobin concentration to 9-11 g/dl and/or a reduction in the transfusion requirement during the treatment period compared with the 12 weeks before treatment. Eight patients completed the 12-week treatment and 4 were still under treatment, 1 at 10 weeks, 2 at 8 weeks and 1 at 4 weeks. Only those patients completing treatment were included in the efficacy evaluation. After treatment there was no significant change in haemoglobin concentrations, reticulocyte counts, or transfusion requirements. However, the number of patients included is too low to allow any definitive conclusion to be made.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

[Kinetic study of the lumbar vertebrae and the lumbosacral passage in German shepherd dogs. 1. Functional anatomy and kinetic foundation].

In the dog congenital or acquired stenosis of the lumbosacral region is commonly encountered. In humans the lumbosacral junction is the most often affected part of the vertebral column. Lumbosacral instability, one possible etiology for stenosis of the vertebral canal plays an important role in man. This study summarizes the functional anatomy and some important geometric and kinematic considerations necessary for the understanding of the motion (flexion-extension) between two adjacent vertebra.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Smoking and mortality among older men and women in three communities.

BACKGROUND: Although cigarette smoking is the leading avoidable cause of premature death in middle age, some have claimed that no association is present among older persons. METHODS: We prospectively examined the relation of cigarette-smoking habits with mortality from all causes, cardiovascular causes, and cancer among 7178 persons 65 years of age or older without a history of myocardial infarction, stroke, or cancer who lived in one of three communities: East Boston, Massachusetts; Iowa and Washington counties, Iowa; and New Haven, Connecticut. At the time of the initial interview, prevalence rates of smoking in the three communities ranged from 5.2 to 17.8 percent among women and from 14.2 to 25.8 percent among men. During five years of follow-up there were 1442 deaths, 729 due to cardiovascular disease and 316 due to cancer. RESULTS: In both sexes, rates of total mortality among current smokers were twice what they were among participants who had never smoked. Relative risks, as adjusted for age and community, were 2.1 among the men (95 percent confidence interval, 1.7 to 2.7) and 1.8 among the women (95 percent confidence interval, 1.4 to 2.4). Current smokers had higher rates of cardiovascular mortality than those who had never smoked (as adjusted for age and community, the relative risk was 2.0 [95 percent confidence interval, 1.4 to 2.9] among the men and 1.6 [95 percent confidence interval, 1.1 to 2.3] among the women), as well as increased rates of cancer mortality (relative risk, 2.4 [95 percent confidence interval, 1.4 to 4.1] among the men and 2.4 [95 percent confidence interval, 1.4 to 3.9] among the women). In both sexes, former smokers had rates of cardiovascular mortality similar to those of the participants who had never smoked, regardless of age at cessation, whereas the rates for all cancers, as well as smoking-related cancers, remained elevated among men who had once smoked. CONCLUSIONS: Our prospective findings indicate that the mortality hazards of smoking extend well into later life, and suggest that cessation will continue to improve life expectancy in older people.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1991

Natural versus haploscopic stereopsis.

Natural stereopsis is better with a large interpupillary distance (IPD). With haploscopic devices, depth perception is better with a small IPD. This apparently unknown fact has been trigonometrically calculated and experimentally shown by enlarging and diminishing the IPD in 20 subjects.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

The gonadotropin-releasing hormone (Gnrh) gene maps to mouse chromosome 14 and identifies a homologous region on human chromosome 8.

The murine gonadotropin-releasing hormone (Gnrh) locus has been mapped to mouse chromosome 14 using a mouse x Chinese hamster somatic cell hybrid panel. The equivalent human locus, known as luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH), has been previously mapped to 8p21-8p11.2. Four other loci mapping to the human chromosome 8 short arm have been mapped to mouse chromosome 8; two of these (PLAT, GSR) lie proximal to LHRH, and two (LPL, DEF1) lie distal to LHRH. The localization of Gnrh, the murine homolog of LHRH, to mouse chromosome 14 therefore defines a hitherto unrecognized block of homology between man and mouse. Furthermore, it indicates that the region of homology between the human chromosome 8 short arm and mouse chromosome 8 is composed of two separate blocks.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Retrosigmoidal approach to the posterior cranial fossa. An anatomical study.

An anatomical study was performed in order to obtain help for orientation regarding the retrosigmoid approach and its osteoclastic craniotomy. The insertions of the sternocleidomastoid, the splenius capitis, the longissimus capitis and the obliquus capitis superior muscles were measured. The relationships of the insertions to different landmarks were also ascertained (FHP, suprameatal spine). In 37 specimens 6 burrholes with a standardized relationship to the Frankfurt Horizontal Plane (FHP) and the external auditory meatus, were performed. Due to the results of the relationship between burrholes and the sigmoid and transverse sinuses it is possible to give an optimal position for the initial burrhole of the osteoclastic craniotomy. A burrhole performed according to the result of this study has a relatively small risk concerning iatrogenic bleeding from the sigmoid and transverse sinuses caused by the burrhead of the drill.

Cephalometry↗
PubMed1991

Anatomical landmarks of the Rhomboid fossa (floor of the 4th ventricle), its length and its width.

Described are: 1. Length and width values of the rhomboid fossa. 2. Number and development of the transverse and oblique striae in the bottom area of the fourth ventricle. 3. The course of the facial nerve inside the pons and the medulla oblongata. 4. Some fiber tracts and nuclei in the tegmentum pontis and the medulla oblongata. 5. A very thick arcuato-cerebellar tract. 6. The results of our investigations are compared with descriptions of other researchers.

Brain Mapping↗
PubMed1991

About the suboccipital part of the vertebral artery and the neighboring bone-joint and nerve relationships.

Length measurements, nerve-vessel relationships, and vessel relationships to articulations and the dura mater were examined in 65 head and neck halves. The paramedian distance of the vertebral artery (midpoint) is a mean of 15.8 mm on the right, and a mean of 17.3 mm on the left, in the area of the intervertebral symphysis C2-C3 at the transverse foramen of the axis the artery has a paramedian mean distance of 17 mm. After the exit of the artery from the axis four types of loop formations of the axoatlantal part and their occurrences are described. Also, the atlantal part of the artery was studied: the overlapping of the posterior arch of the atlas was 5.14 (0 to 13) mm. The length of the axoatlantal part of the vertebral artery was a mean of 39 mm, and the length of the atlantal part was a mean of 44 mm. Besides the measurements of the outer diameter of the artery, the branches and anastomoses of the V(3) segment, nerve-vessel and nerve-joint relationships of the artery, and some veins of the craniocervical junction are described. All findings are discussed in relation to their clinical significance.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1991

Recognition of a single hsp-60 epitope by an entire subset of gamma delta T lymphocytes.

We can conclude that a large subset of gamma delta cells, present in both murine newborn thymus and in adult spleen, respond to the stress protein, hsp60. hsp60 seems to be stimulatory whether it is derived from a foreign pathogen such as mycobacteria, or whether it originates from the mouse's own cells. The gamma delta cells that respond to this antigen bear very similar receptors, all expressing V gamma 1 and most expressing V delta 6, although their junctional variations indicate that not all members of the subset stem from clonal expansion of only one or a few cells. The hsp60-reactive subset has not at this time been shown to "home" to an epithelial location, in contrast to other known gamma delta cell subsets, and may rather carry out its functions while in circulation. Whether the hsp60 antigen requires a "presenting" molecule remains at this point unclear, but because the gamma delta cells all respond to a synthetic peptide representing an epitope of hsp60, presentation is implied. Human gamma delta cells that respond to PPD from mycobacteria, as do the mouse hsp60-reactive gamma delta cells, have also been described, many as members of a major subset in peripheral blood, although only rarely have these been reported to respond to mycobacterial hsp60. The antigenic source in PPD for these cells has not yet been determined, but as for the mouse, a low molecular weight peptide appears to be sufficient for stimulation (P. Brennan and R. Modlin, personal communication). The PPD-reactive gamma delta cells, when their receptors have been characterized, have been found to express a V gamma 9+ chain. Some evidence indicates that these cells can also recognize self hsp60; hence, in several ways, this human subset has characteristics similar to the mouse hsp60-reactive subset. Perhaps gamma delta cells that respond to hsp60 play an important role, in both mice and humans, in the detection of transformed self cells or cells containing intracellular pathogens, that escape detection by alpha beta T cells.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1991

Regulation of G proteins by chronic opiate and clonidine treatment in the guinea pig myenteric plexus.

G proteins have been implicated in the development of opioid dependence of the guinea pig myenteric plexus as chronic fentanyl elevates G0/i alpha and pertussis toxin prevents this phenomenon. Therefore, the present study investigates G proteins more closely in this peripheral nerve plexus after chronic exposure to addictive drugs of the opiate and nonopiate type. After 6 days of treatment with either the mu receptor ligand fentanyl, the kappa- agonist U-50,488H or the alpha-2 adrenergic receptor ligand clonidine, at doses which render the myenteric plexus tolerant and dependent, the G protein subunits Go alpha and G beta were quantified by immunoblot analysis by using polyclonal antisera. Regardless of the drug used, these G proteins were found to be significantly increased in particulate membrane preparations linked to nerve somata and nerve terminals. This increase in G protein subunits is developed maximally after 6 days, is dose-dependent and reversible upon termination of the drug supply. The concentrations found elevated return to control levels within 4 to 5 days after commencing withdrawal. The common increase of Go alpha and G beta subunits observed after chronic opiate or clonidine exposure is associated with the phenomenon of cross-dependence among all drugs studied. The findings may suggest that in the guinea pig myenteric plexus multiple inhibitory receptor types make use of a common pool of G proteins.

Adrenergic alpha-Agonists↗
PubMed1990

Determination of 6-mercaptopurine and its metabolites in plasma or serum by high performance liquid chromatography.

A sensitive and accurate reversed phase liquid chromatographic assay was developed for the determination of 6-mercaptopurine (6MP) (the active metabolite of azathioprine) in human plasma. The assay involved extraction into acetonitrile and dichloromethane from plasma pretreated with 0.038 M of dithiothreitol solution. The residue was analyzed by isocratic chromatography on a C18 analytical column with UV detection at 326 nm. The average extraction recovery of 6MP was 85%. The method has been applied successfully to the determination of 6MP and its metabolites in pharmacokinetic studies.

Azathioprine↗
PubMed1990

A case of "accessory falx cerebri".

We report on a 12-year-old boy who underwent a right frontotemporoparietal craniotomy for complete extirpation of three cavernous hemangiomas of the temporal lobe. On this occasion, an accessory dural septum was observed that spanned, in the direction of the corona, the temporo-occipital base upward to the lower parietal area. It produced a deep notch in the cortex, was supplied by a small leptomeningeal artery, and probably contained small venous sinus. Embryological considerations and clinical relevance are discussed.

Child↗