Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to K Banks.
Hypersensitivity reactions are a documented complication of urinary-derived gonadotropin therapy. In this report, a patient allergic to these older products is successfully treated with recombinant follicle-stimulating hormone.
Pyrithiamine-induced thiamine deficiency (PTD) in rats is used to model the etiology, diencephalic neuropathology, and memory deficits of Korsakoff's amnesia. We assessed the performance of rats exposed to PTD on a test of object recognition--nonrecurring-items delayed nonmatching-to-sample (DNMS). PTD produced thalamic lesions similar to those of Korsakoff's amnesics and similar to those previously observed in PTD rats. PTD rats required more trials to master DNMS at a 4-s retention delay than did controls, and after they had done so, they performed more poorly than controls at delays of 15, 30, 60, and 120 s. DNMS deficits were also observed in PTD rats that received training prior to PTD treatment. These findings support the validity of the PTD rat model of Korsakoff's disease by demonstrating that PTD rats display object-recognition deficits that are similar to those reported in Korsakoff amnesics.
Endogenously activated CD8+ cells contribute to the aberrant immune regulation that characterizes SLE. Because stimulation of CD8+ cells with lectin/Ag triggers release of CD8-alpha molecules (sCD8), we measured, in patients with SLE, serum sCD8 content, its correlation with disease activity, and the in vitro release of sCD8 by SLE PBMCs. sCD8 levels, measured by ELISA in sera of 50 SLE patients, were higher than normal in 16 out of 21 mildly active and 15 out of 15 active SLE patients. sCD8 correlated positively with the clinical index for disease activity (r = 0.57, p = 0.001) and with sIL-2R levels (r = 0.52, p < 0.0001), and negatively with serum C3 levels (r = -0.5, p < 0.04). Freshly isolated SLE PBMCs had higher than normal CD8-alpha mRNA levels and secreted high levels of sCD8 in vitro (p < 0.05 vs control PBMC). sCD8 in vitro release by SLE PBMCs may be modulated by non-CD8+ cells. Thus, anti-CD2 mAb inhibited sCD8 release, whereas anti-HLA mAb increased it in unseparated PBMCs, but not in CD8+ enriched cultures. Moreover, sCD8 release increased significantly in PBMC cultures enriched for CD8+ DR+ cells by negative selection. Added-back monocytes decreased sCD8 to original levels, but not after glutaraldehyde fixation, nor in the presence of anti-HLA mAb. Further, lectin-induced IgG production and proliferation were reduced in the presence of sCD8, suggesting that the soluble CD8 molecules may be immunoregulatory. Because the high sCD8 levels in sera of active SLE likely reflect pathogenic cell activation, serum CD8 content may be an additional serologic activity marker, and its study could provide insights into mechanisms of disease.
Bombesin (BN) and its mammalian homologue, gastrin-releasing peptide (GRP), are potent satiety agents and have been implicated in the physiological regulation of food intake. The mechanism(s) of action of this effect remains unclear. There is a functional and anatomic overlap between histamine and BN in relationship to feeding, which led us to hypothesize that BN may mediate its satiety effects through activation of the histaminergic system. To assess this contention, we examined the effects of R-alpha-methylhistamine (alpha-MH) and Imetit, selective H3-receptor agonists that inhibit the release and synthesis of histamine, on BN- or cholecystokinin (CCK)-induced satiety. In this report we present the first evidence for the role of histamine H3 receptors in the mediation of BN-elicited satiety. During the first hour of the 4-h daily feeding session, BN reduced food intake by > 50% relative to the control condition; this suppression was blocked by prior treatment with the H3-receptor agonist, alpha-MH. This blockade of BN-induced satiety was dose related and selective to BN as alpha-MH failed to attenuate sulfated CCK-8-induced satiety. When alpha-MH was administered alone, it failed to significantly affect food intake. The specificity of this effect was further supported by the demonstration that another H3 agonist, Imetit, was also able to block the feeding-suppressant effects of BN. Furthermore, thioperamide, an H3-receptor antagonist, blocked these effects of Imetit.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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Although a substantial number of children experience serious parental illness and death, the adjustment problems attendant to the stress of having a fatally ill parent have not been examined systematically. This paper compares the psychosocial adjustment of 62 school-aged children with a terminally ill parent (study sample) with that of children in a community sample, using several standard rating scales. Study children had significantly higher levels of self-reported depression (Children's Depression Inventory) and anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory) and lower self-esteem (Self-Esteem Inventory). Parents also reported study children's significantly higher behavior problems and lower social competence (Child Behavior Checklist). Increased professional attention to this vulnerable population is encouraged.
In a multicenter clinical trial 300 patients were treated with Fibrel, 4 weeks following a negative skin test, for the correction of cutaneous scars. Fibrel treatment was restricted to one or two implants in a maximum of four scars. The scar corrections were evaluated by the physician, the patient, and also via an objective photogrammetric method. At the end of 1 year the percentage of scars with moderate, marked, or complete correction were 65, 63.3, and 85.8% according to physician, patient, and photogrammetric evaluations, respectively. A cohort of 111 patients were followed for up to 2 years and 87 patients were followed up to 5 years postimplantation. The physician and patient evaluations showed 55.1 and 50.6%, respectively, of the scars in the moderate, marked, or complete correction category at the end of 5 years with only one or two treatments. Safety evaluations included tests for antinuclear antibodies, rheumatoid factor, and presence of antibodies to Fibrel and their crossreactivity to human collagen I and III. These tests did not show any causal relationship to Fibrel treatments and the patients did not have any untoward immunologic symptoms. The data from these patients demonstrate that one or two Fibrel treatments are effective in maintaining greater than 50% correction of depressed cutaneous scars up to 5 years with negligible adverse sequelae and no untoward immunologic symptoms.
The purpose of the study was to evaluate the importance of the epithelium in determining the potency of exogenous vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) in inhibiting responses of isolated guinea pig trachea to vagal stimulation. Isolated innervated tracheal preparations (n = 56) were mounted in glass organ baths in Krebs-Henseleit (K-H) solution at 37 degrees C and gassed with 95% O2-5% CO2. The inside of the trachea was separately perfused with K-H solution at 1 ml/min. The vagal nerve trunks were stimulated (20 V, 1-ms pulses, 10-s trains) at low (0.5 Hz) and high frequency (15 Hz) alternately, and the contractile responses were measured as increases in intratracheal pressures. VIP (10(-8)-10(-7) M) inhibited responses to both high- and low-frequency stimulation. VIP was more potent in inhibiting contractions when administered to the outside than the inside surface of the trachea, and disruptionon of the epithelium abolished this difference. The endopeptidase inhibitors phosphoramidon and thiorphan (5 x 10(-6) M) potentiated the action of VIP. These data indicate that the epithelium reduces the efficacy of VIP. We suggest that the epithelium is a site of degradation of VIP by endopeptidase and may also be a diffusion barrier.
To evaluate whether the sugar moieties of short DNA duplexes exhibit local motion of sufficient amplitude to affect interproton distance measurements, we have carried out a series of time-dependent NOESY experiments at increasingly shorter mixing times on dodecamer DNA duplexes. By use of the cytosine H5-H6 vector as a known distance in the bases and the geminal 2'H-2''H vector as a known distance in the sugars, the corresponding apparent cross-relaxation rates were sampled at various mixing times. While the ratio of the inverse sixth power of these two fixed distances is in the range 6-7, when the system is sampled at 100 ms the apparent initial rate of growth of the 2'H-2''H NOESY crosspeak is only 1.9-2.0 times faster than that of the H5-H6 crosspeak--in agreement with the results of Clore and Gronenborn [Clore, G. M., & Gronenborn, A. M. (1984) FEBS Lett. 172, 219; (1984) FEBS Lett. 175, 117] and of Gronenborn and Clore [Gronenborn, A. M., & Clore, G. M. (1985) Prog. NMR Spectrosc. 17, 1]. This observation was interpreted to indicate the existence of internal mobility with a 3-fold shorter correlation time for the sugar moieties in DNA and led to the use of this shorter correlation time to estimate sugar-sugar proton distances and many sugar-base proton distances in subsequent DNA structure determination. We have examined 2'H-2"H cross-relaxation and H5-H6 cross-relaxation at 100, 90, 60, 30, and 15 ms in dodecamer DNA duplexes.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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Nursing staff development personnel are responsible for increasing the awareness of nursing staff of the problems caused by pressure ulcers and for supplying them with information needed for prevention and treatment. In answer to one hospital's needs, a hospital-wide, nurse-initiated, nurse-managed skin integrity program was developed and instituted. Protocols for treatment were standardized according to the latest concepts in wound healing. Basic components of the program were included in a comprehensive but succinct reference manual available on each nursing unit. Strategies for implementation were carefully planned to include feedback, approval, and support of selected physicians and nurses. Key for an effective, ongoing skin integrity program are the skin integrity clinicians and educated, confident, and enthusiastic staff nurses. Throughout the process of introducing this program, education of various groups of health-care professionals--physicians, staff nurses, skin integrity clinicians--by the Nursing Staff Development Department was pivotal in achieving a relatively smooth implementation of the program. Outcomes have demonstrated the success of this skin integrity program to both patients and staff. Creative planning, diligent research, skillful organization, and credibility of the specialists in the Nursing Staff Development Department were important elements in the development, implementation, and success of this skin integrity program.
During seemingly routine check-ups, the dental practitioner must be ever aware of "quiescent" abnormalities or irregularities. Knowledge of special problems occurring within a certain patient population is of great value to the practitioner when evaluating the individual patient. Numerous studies have been conducted evaluating the pediatric Caucasian population; however, no comparable studies for the Black pediatric population have been done. This study sought to establish prevalence rates for the Black pediatric population with regards to the following anomalies: congenitally missing teeth, supernumerary teeth, dens in dente, odontomas, dentinogenesis imperfecta, gemination, fusion and concrescence. The radiographs (panographs mandatory), history forms and treatment progress records of 2,267 children (1,136 males and 1,131 females) were analyzed. Radiographs of poor quality were eliminated and attempts were made to include only children of Black American heritage. Prevalence rates established for a predominantly Black pediatric population were: 4.4%, congenitally missing teeth; 1.49%, supernumerary teeth; 0.26%, dentinogenesis imperfecta (Brandywine type); 0.44%, odontomas; 0.22%, gemination; and 0.12%, fusion. Evidence of dens in dente was found in only one erupted supernumerary maxillary paralateral, and the detection of only one case of concrescence occurred; both have prevalence rates of 0.04%. No other study has produced such a high rate of dentinogenesis imperfecta (.26%), except that conducted within the tri-racial group itself. In addition, if assumptions are to be made from this investigation for the general population, supernumeraries and odontomas may be present significantly more often in the Black than Caucasian pediatric population.
Traumatic injuries involving the oral cavity in children often result from falls or collisions with stationary objects. Repair of lacerations involving the soft tissue structures within the oral cavity is described. These injuries often can be managed by emergency department personnel, with referral to an oral and maxillofacial surgeon for follow-up care. Initial management of more extensive injuries such as dentoalveolar fractures, penetrating injuries and burns is also described. Immediate consultation with the appropriate specialist is suggested, because significant deformity and/or morbidity may result from minor oral injuries.