Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

J M Murphy

Publications and source records attributed to J M Murphy.

At least 217 records · Page 12Linked to original sources
PubMed1983

Monoamine and metabolite levels in CNS regions of the P line of alcohol-preferring rats after acute and chronic ethanol treatment.

Levels of norepinephrine (NE), dopamine (DA), 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC), homovanillic acid (HVA), serotonin (5-HT) and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) were determined in 8 brain regions of the P line of alcohol-preferring rats following: (a) an IP injection of 2.5 g ethanol/kg body wt; (b) 8 and 15 weeks of chronic free-choice drinking of 10% ethanol; (c) 15 weeks of chronic free-choice drinking of 10% ethanol and 24 hours of withdrawal; and (d) 7 weeks of forced administration of 5% ethanol in liquid diet. One hour after IP injection of 2.5 g ethanol/kg body wt, the levels of DOPAC and HVA increased 209-45% in the cerebral cortex (CTX) and striatum (STR). A 209% lower content of NE in the CTX of the ethanol group was the only other statistically significant difference observed. Chronic free-choice drinking of 10% ethanol for 8 weeks (6.5 +/- 0.4 g ethanol/kg/day) or 15 weeks (7.8 +/- 0.2 g ethanol/kg/day) and the chronic forced administration of ethanol in liquid diets (up to 13.2 +/- 0.2 g ethanol/kg/day) did not produce any consistent pattern of alterations in the levels of the monoamines or their metabolites in the 8 CNS regions. After 15 weeks of chronic free-choice drinking of 10% ethanol, withdrawal from alcohol also did not produce alterations in the content of the monoamines or their metabolites. These data indicate that acute administration of hypnotic doses of ethanol increases the metabolism of specific dopaminergic neurons in the CNS of the P rat, but monoamine levels and metabolism are not altered after chronic (7-15 weeks) alcohol consumption.

3,4-Dihydroxyphenylacetic Acid↗
PubMed1983

Metronidazole in the treatment of intra-abdominal sepsis.

A study of antibiotic treatment of intra-abdominal sepsis was conducted between May 1978 and May 1981. In the first phase, clindamycin (C) was compared with metronidazole (M), each combined with tobramycin (T), in a prospective, double-blind, randomized study. Twenty-three patients received C + T and 34 patients received M + T. The two groups were similar with respect to age, gender, underlying disease, presence of abscess, clinical condition, severity of illness, duration of illness before treatment and bacteriology. Anaerobic organisms outnumbered facultative and aerobic organisms. Bacteroides fragilis and Escherichia coli predominated. In the C + T group of patients, 74% had a good response. In the M + T group, 83% had good results. Adverse effects were few and minor in the two treatment groups. Three patients on C + T and one who received M + T followed by C + T died of infections; two patients died of underlying disease. In the second, open phase of the study, M + T was used to treat 45 patients with 46 courses. Twenty patients had intra-abdominal abscesses, which represented all grades of severity of illness. Five patients received long-term corticosteroid therapy. Almost half the patients had peritonitis complicating appendicitis. Good results were obtained in 81%. One patient died of the underlying disease and one died of infection complicating severe trauma and hypovolemic shock.

Abdomen↗
PubMed1982

Regional brain levels of monoamines in alcohol-preferring and -nonpreferring lines of rats.

Regional brain levels of serotonin (5-HT), 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA), dopamine (DA) and norepinephrine (NE) were determined in alcohol-naive rats from lines selectively bred for alcohol preference (P) and alcohol aversion (nonpreference, NP). Based on comparison by a standard t-test, the P rats had 12% lower NE in the pons-medulla, 20% higher NE and 16% lower DA content in the cerebral cortex (CX) than did the NP rats. However, the predominant finding was that the levels of 5-HT and 5-HIAA were 12-26% lower for the P than for the NP rats in the CX, hippocampus (HIP), corpus striatum (STR), thalamus (TH) and hypothalamus (HY). Regional CNS monoamines from a group of independently bred, stock Wistar rats were also compared with the NP and P groups to determine if the selectively bred rats differed widely from an unselected population. In most instances, the NP and P rats fell within the range of the stock group. When the stock group was included in an analysis of variance of the data, post-hoc differences between the NP and P groups that remained significant were the lower levels of 5-HT (and in some cases 5-HIAA) in the CX, HIP, STR, TH and HY of the P group. In the HY and HIP, the 5-HT levels of the P and NP animals diverged significantly in opposite directions from those of the stock group, possibly suggesting an involvement of these regional serotonergic systems in alcohol preference.

Alcoholism↗
PubMed1982

Metronidazole and tobramycin in intra-abdominal sepsis.

In an open study of 49 episodes of intra-abdominal sepsis in 48 patients, metronidazole was used in combination with tobramycin, and each was given by intravenous infusion. All patients were also treated by appropriate surgical operation. The ages of the patients ranged from 21 to 89 years, and both sexes were equally represented. Twenty-two patients had abscesses drained. Thirty-eight of 49 treatment courses gave good results. Eight patients recovered, although slowly, and three were classified as failures. Of the failures, one instance was attributed to infection with Staphylococcus aureus, and recovery was satisfactory when cloxacillin sodium was given. The other two failures were due, in part, to shock caused by trauma and blood loss in one instance and disseminated anaplastic lymphoma in the other. No significant adverse effects were attributable to the antibiotics.

Abdomen↗
PubMed1980

Continuities in community-based psychiatric epidemiology.

Based on data gathered in 1952, the Stirling County (Canada) Study estimated that 20% of a general population needed psychiatric attention. The study used DSM-I as a catalog of qualitatively different kinds of disorders. However, the manual was adapted in light of several inadequacies and special needs that relate to community-based epidemiology. These modifications resemble some of the features that are embodied in DSM-III. It is suggested that the frame of reference for this early study has not become out of date. With certain improvements that follow on the model provided by DSM-III, an updated frame of reference is given as the foundation for future reporting of longitudinal cohort and repeated representative sample studies in Stirling County. DSM-III is superior to its predecessors as a manual for community research. Nevertheless, the use of comparable diagnostic approaches makes it possible to trace continuities between early and recent studies.

Community Mental Health Services↗
PubMed1980

Brain noradrenergic responses to training and to amnestic frontal cortex stimulation.

Rats were trained in a one-trial inhibitory (passive) avoidance task prior to receiving supraseizure electrical stimulation of frontal cortex, a treatment that results in amnesia. Forebrain and brain stem norepinephrine (NE) concentrations decreased by 23% 10 min after footshock training. Posttraining frontal cortex stimulation resulted in a potentiation of the forebrain NE response (to 31-33% below control values) and in attenuation of the brainstem response (0-5% lower than control values). These results are consistent with previous findings that indicate that good retention performance is predicted by training and treatment conditions that result in approximately a 20% decrease in brain NE content as measured 10 min after training; deviations from this optimal level, presumably reflecting more or less NE release, predict poor retention in comparably trained and treated rats. Thus, memory storage processing appears to be sensitive to many manipulations that alter the endogenous posttraining brain NE response to footshock.

Animals↗
PubMed1979

GABA-mediated behavioral inhibition during ontogeny in the mouse.

Although immature rats and mice generally demonstrate poor behavioral inhibitory capacities, some recent evidence may indicate the presence of substantial inhibitory control. The present experiment investigated the possibility that gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) systems may mediate some behavioral inhibition during early development. Mice 9-100 days old were injected with the GABA-elevating agent amino-oxyacetic acid (AOAA) and tested for behavioral activity. High levels of locomotor activity characteristic of immature control mice were attenuated following AOAA injection, whereas AOAA had little effect on the activity of adult mice. Moreover, AOAA produced a period of rebound hyperactivity for young but not for adult mice. These findings suggest that although GABA systems may mediate early behavioral inhibition, coordination between excitatory and inhibitory capacities matures slowly. In a second experiment the dopamine-beta-hydroxylase inhibitor FLA-63 prevented rebound hyperactivity in young mice pretreated with AOAA, suggesting that the excitatory component may be mediated by noradrenergic systems.

Aminooxyacetic Acid↗
PubMed1979

Immunotherapy in ocular equine sarcoid.

A modified Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) preparation was used successfully in the treatment of 7 cases of equine sarcoid. The BCG preparation was injected into the lesions. The longest period of remission has been 24 months, and the shortest period of remission has been 9 months, with no signs of recurrence of the tumor in any of the presented cases.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

Survey of conjunctival flora in dogs with clinical signs of external eye disease.

Bacteria were isolated 68% of the time from the conjunctival sacs of 120 dogs with conjunctivitis, blepharitis, dacryocystitis, or corneal ulcerations. Coagulase-positive Staphylococcus aureus was the most frequently isolated organism (68%); when both eyes were affected, S aureus was recovered from 29% of the dogs; and in dogs with 1 eye affected, S aureus was isolated from 23% of the affected eyes and in 18% of the nonaffected eyes. Other organisms recovered from eyes were coagulase-negative Staphylococcus epidermidis (27%), beta-hemolytic streptococcus (19%), alpha-hemolytic Streptococcus (17%), Escherichia coli (10%), Bacillus spp (11%), and Proteus spp (7%). It was concluded that S aureus may appear as a primary pathogen in ocular disease. When 1 eye is clinically affected, S aureus can be a potential invader of the normal eye.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

Relative aversion thresholds for shock in infant mice.

Using a spatial-preference technique, we tested separate groups of mice, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, and 15 days of age, for escape and avoidance of a range of shock intensities administered from AC contant current and fixed impedance shock sources. With intensities ranging from 0 to .2 mA and 0 to 70 V for the respective sources, near asymptotic escape and avoidance were obtained at .1 mA and at 50 V for ages tested. Although few differences in the relative aversiveness of particular shock intensities were noted across ages with each source, the fixed impedance source produced more consistent avoidance than did the constant source. The findings suggest that the motivational properties of shock remain relatively constant throughout the early development of the mouse and that the technique employed in this study should prove useful in assessing possible age-related alterations in sensitivity to shock as a result of physiological or pharmacological manipulations.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1977

Histone neighbors in nuclei and extended chromatin.

Histone neighbors in compact and extended chromatin have been investigated by cross-linking histones in nuclei and in nucleohistone extended with 6 M urea, using the bifunctional reversible reagent methyl-4-mercaptobutyrimidate (MMB). Similar histone dimers are found in both conformational states of chromatin. The dimers most frequently found are H2b-H2a, H2b-H3 and H3-H2a; dimers found less frequently are H3-H4, H3-H3 and H2b-H4. More H3-H3 is found in nuclei than in extended chromatin. H1 is found predominantly as poly-H1, although it can be cross-linked to H2b or H3. After reaction with MMB, native compact chromatin is no longer extendable in 6 M urea, which shows that the reagent is capable of linking together histones holding the chromatin in a compact conformation. Thus the histone propinquity in extended chromatin mimics and intimate histone associations in compact chromatin.

Cell Nucleus↗
PubMed1977

War stress and civilian Vietnamese. A study of psychological effects.

Psychological disturbance, measured by Macmillan's Health Opinion Survey, was assessed among 102 evacuees from a battlefront in South Vietnam. The amount of stress experienced was estimated by means of Cantril's Self-Anchoring Scale as well as by indicators of economic disadvantage associated with herbicide spraying and of family break-up by military service and casualties. Through comparative analysis with other groups in Vietnam and elsewhere, it is shown that the evacuees display a higher level of emotional disturbance than any group to whom they can be compared except for a sample of Vietnamese prisoners of war. The levels of disturbance exhibited by the evacuees are in turn correlated with indicators of various kinds and combinations of war stress. It is suggested that women who were bereft of a husband or son and who experienced economic reverses were especially vulnerable. The psychological response most characteristic of the evaucuated men and women has features similar to clinical depression, and it appears not to have been short-lived or transient.

Adult↗