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Biomedical subjects

J Perez

Publications and source records attributed to J Perez.

228 records · Page 13Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Altered Rap1 endogenous phosphorylation and levels in platelets from patients with bipolar disorder.

Previous studies have reported abnormalities either in the cAMP-dependent endogenous phosphorylation or in the levels of Rap1 in platelets from bipolar patients. One limitation of these findings was that they come from different groups of patients in independent studies. To overcome this limitation, we designed the present study in which both these biochemicals parameters were assessed in the same cohort of euthymic bipolar patients and healthy subjects. The results showed that the cAMP-dependent phosphorylation of Rap1 was significantly higher in platelets of bipolar patients with respect to healthy subjects. Furthermore, immunoblotting experiments revealed that also the levels of Rap1 were significantly higher in bipolar patients than in control subjects, thus supporting that the abnormal phosphorylation can be ascribed to the increased levels of Rap1. Taken together the results of the present study further support that downstream components of the cAMP signal cascade could be involved in the pathophysiology of bipolar disorders.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Alternative mating strategies in Atlantic salmon and brown trout.

By screening variable number of tandem repeat (VNTR) loci, multiple paternity within clutches has been found in wild populations of southern European Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) and brown trout (Salmo trutta). For Atlantic salmon, we determined the relative contribution of alternative male phenotypes to the next generation. Individual males that are morphologically juvenile yet sexually mature fertilized a large proportion of eggs, and they thereby contributed to an increase of genetic variability in wild populations via (1) balancing the sex ratio, (2) increasing outbreeding, and (3) enlarging the effective population size, in part a consequence of (1) and (2). In addition, these precocious males ensured that interspecific spawns involving Atlantic salmon females and brown trout males (a fairly common occurrence in southern Europe where the two species are sympatric) resulted mostly in Atlantic salmon progeny. For brown trout, preliminary genetic results indicated that multiple paternity, when present, was not due to alternative mating strategies by males, but rather to successive fertilizations by adult suitors.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Patient perceptions of prandial oral therapy for type 2 diabetes.

PURPOSE: This survey was conducted to assess patient perceptions of glycemic control, convenience, and flexibility of a prescribed prandial oral therapy for type 2 diabetes mellitus. METHODS: Questionnaires distributed by physicians yielded baseline responses from 3696 patients who were beginning repaglinide treatment. Data were analyzed from 1233 respondents who also completed follow-up questionnaires after 4 weeks of treatment. RESULTS: Among respondents, 60% were taking repaglinide with other antidiabetic agents in combination therapy; 59% were taking metformin, and 24% were taking troglitazone. Most respondents (84%) indicated that they were "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with repaglinide therapy, 92% wished to continue its use, and 60% believed that the treatment had improved their attitude toward taking antidiabetic medication. Patients perceived that fasting blood glucose levels were reduced during treatment, as was the incidence of hyperglycemia. Corresponding changes in perceived frequency of hypoglycemia during repaglinide treatment were minimal. CONCLUSIONS: Patient perceptions of prandial oral therapy with repaglinide were predominantly positive, due mostly to the perception that glucose control was achieved, with minimal perception of any increase in hypoglycemic episodes.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Nuclear grade and DNA ploidy in stage IV breast cancer with only visceral metastases at initial diagnosis.

AIMS AND BACKGROUND: The presence of early metastases to distant sites in breast cancer patients is an infrequent event whose mechanisms are still not clear. The aim of this study was to evaluate the biologic and clinical role of DNA ploidy and cell nuclear grade of primary tumors in the metastatic process of a series of stage IV previously untreated breast cancer patients with only visceral metastases. METHODS: DNA flow cytometry analysis on paraffin-embedded material and cell nuclear grading of primary tumors was performed on a series of 50 breast cancer patients with only visceral metastases at the time of initial diagnosis. RESULTS: Aneuploidy was found in 28/46 (61%) of evaluable cases and was independent of site of involvement, clinical response, time of progression and overall survival of patients. Of the 46 cases evaluable for nuclear grade, 5 (11%), 16 (35%) and 25 (54%) were classified as G1 (well-differentiated) G2 and G3, respectively. Nuclear grade also was unrelated to response to therapy and overall survival, whereas time to progression was significantly longer in G1-2 than G3 tumors with the logrank test (P < 0.03) and multivariate analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Our results seem to stress the difficulty to individualize different prognostic subsets from a series of breast cancer patients with only visceral metastases at initial diagnosis according to DNA flow cytometry and nuclear grade.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Methadone medical maintenance (MMM): treating chronic opioid dependence in private medical practice--a summary report (1983-1998).

BACKGROUND: Methadone Medical Maintenance (MMM) was implemented in 1983 to enable socially rehabilitated methadone patients to be treated in the offices of private physicians rather than in the traditional clinic system. Over a period of 15 years, 158 methadone patients who fulfilled specific criteria within the clinic system entered this program in New York City. Participating patients reported to their physician once a month and received a one-month supply of methadone tablets rather than a one-day liquid dose in a bottle. METHOD: Of the 158 patients who entered this program, 132 (83.5%) were compliant with the regulations and proved to be treatable within the hospital-based private practices of internists participating in the program. Compliant MMM patients found it easier to improve their employment status and business situations, finish their educations, and normalize their lives in MMM as opposed to the traditional clinic system because they had simplified reporting schedules and fewer clinical restrictions. Twelve (8%) compliant patients were able to successfully withdraw from methadone after an average of 17.7 years of treatment in both the traditional clinics and MMM. Twenty compliant patients (13%) died from a variety of causes, 40% of which were related to cigarette smoking. None of the deaths were attributable to long-term methadone treatment. Other causes of death included hepatitis C, AIDS, cancer, homicide, complications of morbid obesity and meningitis. RESULTS: The 26 noncompliant patients (16.5%) were referred back to their clinics for continued treatment or were discharged for failure to report as directed. A major cause of failure in MMM was abuse of crack/cocaine. CONCLUSIONS: Stigma concerning enrollment in methadone treatment was a major social issue that patients faced. Many refused to inform employers, members of their families, friends, and other physicians who treated them for a various of conditions that they were methadone patients. The methadone medical maintenance physician, therefore, functions as a medical ombudsman for the patient, educating other physicians who treat the patient about methadone maintenance and its applicability to the patient. Our results can serve as a model for the expansion of office-based MMM treatment.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Long-term treatment with carbamazepine affects CSF somatostatin immunoreactivity in epileptic patients.

A number of pharmacological evidence supports the view that somatostatin (SS) may be importantly involved in the seizure susceptibility both in humans and in laboratory animals. In a previous report the Authors have provided the finding that a short-term carbamazepine (CBZ) administration is able to reduce SS-CSF-IR in epileptic patients. The present study has been carried out to investigate whether a long-term treatment with CBZ affects in a similar way SS-IR content in CSF from temporal lobe epileptics (CPS). The results confirm and expand previous evidence suggesting that CBZ lowering effect on CSF-SS-IR may be relevant to its anticonvulsivant action.

Carbamazepine↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Organization of a pedodontic residency in the interior of the country].

Since 1981 there is an Odontopediatric residence in Azul, Pcia. de Bs. As., Argentina. The resident accomplish a three year cycle and obtain a Scholarship payed by Health Ministry of Provincia de Bs. As. The educational curricula is basic and points to the essential aim of health preservation putting aside disease treatment as a way to achieve it.

Argentina↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Value of the assay of urinary gonadotropins in pediatric endocrinology].

An assay for urinary gonadotropins (UG) performed after acetone extraction is presented. This dosage was performed either on a sample of the 24 assay urine, or on the fractionated 12 hr/12 hr urines (night/day) in normal children whose ages ranged from 2 to 20 years and in children presenting with various endocrine diseases (on about 2,000 urine samples). Normal values were established according to sex and stage of puberty. In boys, the lack of overlap between values of LH (UI/24 hr) observed in stage I (prepubescent, 9-13 yrs) and those observed in stage II represents an obvious biological marker of the onset of puberty. The night/day ratio of LH also increases close to puberty, reflecting the onset of the well-known night secretion of LH, at the time of the first stages of puberty. In girls, the preferential increase in FSH is the best criterion for the onset of puberty. In children with endocrine diseases, assay for UG/24 hr is a valuable parameter of the gonadotropic function allowing 1. to separate delayed puberty from hypogonadotropic hypogonadism; 2. to confirm a diagnosis of precocious puberty and 3. to control a treatment with LHRH analogous.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Biotransformation of furosemide in patients with acute pulmonary edema.

Furosemide (20-80 mg) was administered iv over 5 min to 16 patients with the diagnosis of acute pulmonary edema due to left heart failure. Serum and urine samples collected during the 24 hr after administration were assayed for furosemide and its biotransformation products by gas-liquid chromatography. A biexponential decay of serum furosemide concentrations vs. time was observed. Recovery of furosemide and its metabolites from urine in 24 hr varied between 30 and 98% of the administered dose. The excretion of unchanged drug accounted for 22.6-73.4% of the dose. The excretion of the glucuronide metabolite and 2-amino-4-chloro-5-sulfamoylanthranilic acid accounted for 3.3-40.4% and from 0.13-3.92% of the dose, respectively. Urinary excretion of furosemide was less in patients with, than in those without, myocardial infarction. Urinary excretion of the oxidative acidic metabolite was increased in patients with reduced creatinine clearance. The glucuronide metabolite of furosemide was the major biotransformation product in these patients with acute pulmonary edema.

Acute Disease↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Effect of cycloheximide on glucan biosynthesis in the growth process of Saccharomyces carlsbergensis yeasts].

Biosynthesis of alkali-acid-insoluble beta-glucan was studied in the course of growth of the yeast Saccharomyces carlsbergensis IBPM Y366. Synthesis of this important component of the cell wall was shown to depend on the stage of the cultural growth. The rate of 14C-glucose incorporation into the glucan fraction was maximal at the beginning and in the middle of the logarithmic growth phase. Cycloheximide, an inhibitor of protein synthesis, at a concentration of 10 micrograms/ml inhibited glucan synthesis at the beginning and by the end of the logarithmic growth phase, but stimulated synthesis of this polymer in the middle of the logarithmic phase of growth of this organism.

Cell Wall↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Interim results of a phase II multicenter clinical trial evaluating the activity of a therapeutic allogeneic melanoma vaccine (theraccine) in the treatment of disseminated malignant melanoma.

A total of 139 patients with disseminated malignant melanoma were enrolled in an uncontrolled Phase II trial evaluating the activity of Melacine, allogeneic vaccine incorporating Detox, immunologic adjuvant. Nineteen patients, including 18 with progressive disease, dropped out of the study prior to receiving one full vaccination course of five injections over 6 weeks. Disease presentation among study participants included skin or lymph nodes (34%), pulmonary (24%), visceral (34%), and no evidence of disease (NED) (7%). One documented metastatic site was seen in 41%, two sites in 24%, and three or more sites in 27% of the patients studied. Objective clinical response rates for evaluable patients were CR 3%, PR 5%, minor response 4%, stable 23%, and progressive disease 65%. Median survival from time of diagnosis for patients treated with Melacine is presently estimated at 23 months (45/139 patients censored). Median date from diagnosis of metastatic disease to study entry was 3 months. Side effects were generally mild to moderate with pain at injection site (37%), granulomas (13%), erythema (6%), and flu-like symptoms (14-29%) predominating. Precursor antimelanoma cytotoxic T cell (pre-CTL) titers, in comparison with prestudy evaluations, clearly increased in 42% of the patients evaluated. Significantly extended survival characteristics were observed among patients who displayed an expansion of a population of CD57, CD8 co-positive lymphocytes during therapy in comparison with those patients not displaying this peripheral blood lymphocyte (PBL) population expansion (34 mo vs. 12 mo, respectively, p = 0.04) and among those patients displaying disease stabilization or better as a clinical response (p = 0.001).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adolescent↗