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Biomedical subjects

Jill Smith

Publications and source records attributed to Jill Smith.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Actinophyllic acid, a potent indole alkaloid inhibitor of the coupled enzyme assay carboxypeptidase u/hippuricase from the leaves of Alstonia actinophylla (Apocynaceae).

Bioassay-guided fractionation of the aqueous extract of the leaves of Alstonia actinophylla with use of a coupled enzyme assay, CPU/hippuricase, to detect carboxypeptidase U inhibitors led to the isolation of a novel indole alkaloid, actinophyllic acid (1). The structure of 1 was determined from detailed 2D NMR studies. Actinophyllic acid was found to be a potent inhibitor of the coupled enzyme assay with an IC(50) of 0.84 microM. Actinophyllic acid possesses a unique 2,3,6,7,9,13c-hexahydro-1H-1,7,8-(methanetriyloxymethano)pyrrolo[1',2':1,2]azocino[4,3-b]indole-8(5H)-carboxylic acid skeleton.

Alstonia↗
PubMed2003

The social context of gastrointestinal cancer pain: a preliminary study examining the relation of patient pain catastrophizing to patient perceptions of social support and caregiver stress and negative responses.

A number of studies have shown that catastrophizing is an important predictor of pain and disability in persons having persistent pain conditions. The newly developed communal model of catastrophizing maintains that catastrophizing is a part of broader, interpersonal style of coping in which coping efforts are directed at interpersonal goals, rather than solely at pain reduction. This study examined the potential interpersonal correlates of pain catastrophizing in a sample of 70 patients having gastrointestinal cancers and their caregivers. Measures of pain catastrophizing, perceptions of social support, pain level, and pain behavior were obtained from patients. Caregivers completed measures that included their judgments about the patient's pain level, caregiver stress, and their tendency to engage in negative responses (critical or avoidant behaviors). Overall, patients who engaged in catastrophizing reported receiving higher levels of instrumental support. Caregivers of patients who catastrophized, rated the patient as having more pain and engaging in more pain behavior. Caregivers of patients who catastrophized, also reported higher levels of caregiver stress and critical behaviors. Taken together, these preliminary findings suggest that pain catastrophizing has interpersonal correlates and support the need for additional research examining the social context of pain catastrophizing.

Aged↗
PubMed2003

Deletion of the virion host shutoff protein (vhs) from herpes simplex virus (HSV) relieves the viral block to dendritic cell activation: potential of vhs- HSV vectors for dendritic cell-mediated immunotherapy.

Herpes simplex virus (HSV) infects dendritic cells (DC) efficiently but with minimal replication. HSV, therefore, appears to have evolved the ability to enter DC even though they are nonpermissive for virus growth. This provides a potential utility for HSV in delivering genes to DC for vaccination purposes and also suggests that the life cycle of HSV usually includes the infection of DC. However, DC infected with HSV usually lose the ability to become activated following infection (M. Salio, M. Cella, M. Suter, and A. Lanzavecchia, Eur. J. Immunol. 29:3245-3253, 1999; M. Kruse, O. Rosorius, F. Kratzer, G. Stelz, C. Kuhnt, G. Schuler, J. Hauber, and A. Steinkasserer, J. Virol. 74:7127-7136, 2000). We report that for DC to retain the ability to become activated following HSV infection, the virion host shutoff protein (vhs) must be deleted. vhs usually functions to destabilize mRNA in favor of the production of HSV proteins in permissive cells. We have found that it also plays a key role in the inactivation of DC and is therefore likely to be important for immune evasion by the virus. Here, vhs would be anticipated to prevent DC activation in the early stages of infection of an individual with HSV, reducing the induction of cellular immune responses and thus preventing virus clearance during repeated cycles of virus latency and reactivation. Based on this information, replication-incompetent HSV vectors with vhs deleted which allow activation of DC and the induction of specific T-cell responses to delivered antigens have been constructed. These responses are greater than if DC are loaded with antigen by incubation with recombinant protein.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

Epidermal growth factor receptor mRNA in peripheral blood of patients with pancreatic, lung, and colon carcinomas detected by RT-PCR.

The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is overexpressed in many solid tumors. An RT-PCR assay was used to detect EGFR mRNA in the blood of 43 patients with pancreatic, lung (NSCLC), colon, and renal carcinomas. After an initial serum tube was drawn to clear the line of detached epithelial cells, a 3 ml sample of EDTA-anticoagulated blood was collected from each cancer patient and healthy control. Total RNA was isolated from each sample and from cancer cell lines. After reverse transcription using specific priming, outer and nested primers for EGFR were employed for cDNA amplification. RNA integrity was confirmed with RT-PCR amplification using beta2-microglobulin primers. PCR products were electrophoresed on agarose gels containing ethidium bromide and visualized. The assay was validated using Southern blotting and was capable of detecting a lower limit of 100 fg of total RNA from the A431 cell line. EGFR-positive cells were detected in 3/10 (30%) non-small cell lung cancer patients, 2/11 (18%) pancreatic cancer patients, and 2/16 (12.5%) colon cancer patients, but in 0/6 (0%) patients with renal carcinoma (16% of solid tumor patients overall). All 23 healthy controls were negative. This study is the first to apply RT-PCR for the detection of EGFR mRNA in the peripheral blood of patients with pancreatic and renal carcinomas, and it lends further support for the use of EGFR mRNA as a marker of CTCs in the blood of patients with certain types of solid tumors.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed2002

Save our skin.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Education, Nursing, Continuing↗
PubMed2002

An audit of provision of long-term oxygen therapy for COPD patients.

Long-term oxygen therapy can reduce morbidity and mortality in COPD patients with chronic hypoxaemia. However, there is a need to provide ongoing support for these patients, ensuring that they receive appropriate information and education, and that their condition is fully monitored to prevent any unnecessary complications and improve their overall quality of life.

Humans↗