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Biomedical subjects

J Ortega

Publications and source records attributed to J Ortega.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources

Active components in Perezia roots.

The effects produced by perezone, which was isolated from Perezia cuernavacana Rob. et Greenm., and hydroxyperezone monoangelate, from Perezia hebeclada (D.C.) A.Gray, on intestinal motility in vivo and in vitro in animal experiments are reported. It is suggested that hydroxyperezone monoangelate is a laxative principle present in certain species of the Perezia genus, with use in Mexican folk medicine.

Animals↗

Tumors of the pineal and suprasellar region: Childrens Cancer Study Group treatment results 1960--1975: a report from Childrens Cancer Study Group.

Tumors of the pineal and suprasellar region form a rare and interesting group of lesions with germinomas accounting for over 50% of all lesions in this anatomic region. The Brain Tumor Committee of Childrens Cancer Study Group (CCSG) recently surveyed all CCSG member institutions to determine treatment parameters and assess the techniques. A total of 140 patients were seen during the period from 1960 to 1975; 118 patients were evaluable, having adequate treatment records. One hundred and one patients were less than 30 years of age with a 2:1 male predominance. Thirty-six of the 57 biopsied patients (63%) were found to have germinomas. The survival of patients in the germinoma group (72%) was comparable to that of the patients without biopsy (71%). The overall survival rate for all patients (biopsied and unbiopsied) was 65% with follow-up times ranging from 2 to 15 years. Nine patients developed spinal cord metastases (8%), two of whom also had simultaneous primary recurrence; none of these patients had received adjunctive spinal irradiation.

Adolescent↗

Effect of the septal lesion on the non-learned responses of the rat.

Effect of septal lesions has been studied in rats to find if they alter aspects of its SSDR. Results may be summarized as follows: 1. Animals with the septal syndrome tried to attack only when about to be caught, while they showed exaggerate freezing and submissive responses once caught. 2. A shock associated situation caused an increase in the freezing behavior and a decrease in the number of boluses excreted. 3. The septal animals never left walls of the open field, and did not explored its internal areas, showed in increase in thigmotaxis. 4. They showed an increase in the emergence time. The results are interpreted as due to an enhancement of the species-specific defence reactions.

Amygdala↗

Multiple agent chemotherapy including bleomycin of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma during pregnancy.

The association of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and pregnancy is a rarely reported occurrence. We describe the case of a female patient in which a wide-spread lymphoma of mixed lymphohistiocytic diffuse type was diagnosed in the second trimester of the pregnancy. Combination chemotherapy (cyclophosphamide, vincristine, prednisone and bleomycin) was started at approximately the twenty-first week of fetal life. A prompt remission was obtained and a normal full term infant was born. Chemotherapy of progressive lymphoma in women late in pregnancy appears to be rational with little risk of fetal malformation or morbidity.

Adult↗

Trace elements in sickle cell disease.

Trace elements in 84 adult patients (38 men and 46 women) with sickle cell disease (SCD) were reflected in clinical and biochemical data. Height was retarded in six men and five women. Eighty percent of the SCD patients in this sample were below the 50th percentile from the normal mean for weight. Twenty-eight men showed a lack of facial and body hair, and five additional subjects showed only scanty facial hair. Whereas zinc in plasma, red blood cells, and hair was decreased, the excretion of zinc in urine was increased in SCD patients as compared to the controls. We believe that one of the mechanisms accounting for zinc deficiency in SCD may be hyperzincuria and that growth retardation and hypogonadism in men so commonly seen in SCD may be related to zinc deficiency.

Adolescent↗

L-asparaginase reinduction and maintenance therapy in previously treated acute lymphocytic leukemia.

Four patients with acute lymphocytic leukemia previously treated with conventional chemotherapy received intramuscular L-asparaginase in combination with other chemotherapy for reinduction and maintenance therapy. These patients received the L-asparaginase for 8, 14, 27, and 34+ months without demonstrating any significant adverse effects. Only 1 of the 4 was clearly resistant to the other chemo-therapy, and 3 of 4 had recurrence of their disease while receiving L-asparaginase. L-asparaginase can be added to reinduction and maintenance regimens of patients resistant to other chemotherapy and is well tolerated for long periods when given intramuscularly weekly with other immunosuppressant agents.

Adolescent↗

Gonadal function abnormalities in sickle cell anemia. Studies in adult male patients.

Thirty-two adult patients with sickle cell anemia were evaluated endocrinologically. Secondary sex characteristics were abnormal in 29, and eunuchoidal skeletal proportions were present in all except one. The age at which different stages of pubic hair growth were attained in these patients was delayed in comparison to normals (P less than 0.005). Hormonal assays were carried out in 14 patients. Basal serum testosterone, dihydrotestosterone, and androstenedione values were lower (P less than 0.02) in patients than controls. Serum LH and FSH levels before and after stimulation with gonadotropin-releasing hormone were consistent with primary testicular failure. Erythrocyte and hair zinc concentrations were significantly decreased, and there was positive correlation between erythrocyte zinc and serum testosterone (r = 0.61, P less than 0.01) in sickle cell anemia. Our study shows that androgen deficiency in this disease is a result of primary rather than secondary hypogondadism. Further studies are required to establish the role of zinc in the pathogenesis of testicular failure in sickle cell anemia.

Adolescent↗

Intensive chemotherapy as primary treatment for rhabdomyosarcoma of the pelvis.

Twenty-six cases of childhood rhabdomyosarcoma involving the pelvis were treated at Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles between 1950 and 1972. The median survival of 17 patients treated up to 1970 was 6 months. Of a group of 9 patients treated with intensive chemotherapy (ICG) prior to surgery and/or x-ray therapy, 5 are surviving from 12 to 60 months and have a relative survival rate of 4.5 times that of the mixed therapy group (MTG) (p = 0.01). Deaths have occurred only in patients with Stage IV disease. The use of preoperative chemotherapy with or without x-ray therapy followed by local surgical excision when necessary can be as effective in prolonging the survival of children with pelvic rhabdomyosarcoma as those obtained with more traditional approaches; this limitation in use of surgery is likely to preserve the quality of life, should the child live to adulthood.

Adolescent↗

Zinc deficiency in sickle cell disease.

Clinical similarities between patients with sickle cell anemia and zinc-deficient subjects suggested a secondary zinc deficiency in sickle cell anemia. Zinc was assayed in various biological fluids and tissues by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Zinc in the plasma, erythrocytes, and hair was decreased and urinary zinc excretion was increased in anemia patients as compared to controls. Erythrocyte zinc and daily urinary zinc excretion were inversely correlated in the anemia patients (r equal to minus .63, P smaller than 0.05), suggesting that hyperzincuria may have caused zinc deficiency in these patients. Carbonic anhydrase, a zinc metalloenzyme, correlated significantly with erythrocyte zinc (r equal to plus 0.94, P smaller than 0.001). Plasma RNase activity was significantly greater in anemia subjects than in controls. We administered zinc sulfate, 660 mg per day, orally, to seven men and two women with sickle cell anemia. Two 17-year-old males gained 5 cm and 7 cm in height during 49 and 42 weeks of zinc therapy, respectively. All but one patient gained weight (0.5 kg to 4.1 kg). Five of the males showed increased growth of pubic, axillary, facial, and body hair, and in one a leg ulcer healed in six weeks on zinc and in two others some benefit of zinc therapy on healing of ulcers was noted.

Adolescent↗