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Biomedical subjects

K C Smith

Publications and source records attributed to K C Smith.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed2000

Tuberculosis exposure in a day-care center: recommended management.

BACKGROUND: This article describes the contact investigation, clinical evaluation, and prophylactic treatment of the children and staff members in a day-care center after exposure to a teaching assistant with tuberculosis (TB). METHODS: The investigation included baseline and follow-up tuberculin skin testing, history and physical examinations, and chest radiographs. Directly observed prophylactic therapy with isoniazid was recommended for all exposed children with a negative evaluation and all children with positive skin test reactions and normal chest radiographs. Treatment was discontinued in children with negative skin test results at follow-up. Adult staff members were screened with baseline and follow-up skin tests and were referred for chest radiographs if skin test reactions were positive. RESULTS: In 3 of the 141 exposed children and 3 of the 41 adult staff members, tuberculin skin tests yielded positive results. No active TB disease was found. CONCLUSIONS: Isoniazid prophylaxis, administered by directly observed prophylactic therapy in the children, was effectively administered and tolerated in the day-care setting.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Systemic therapy of psoriasis using methotrexate.

If methotrexate were introduced as a new drug today, it would be hailed as a major advance in the management of psoriasis, as well as for a number of other conditions. Because the patent on methotrexate expired decades ago, this medication has not recently received the attention it deserves. When patients are properly screened and educated about the correct use of methotrexate, and appropriately monitored during treatment, this drug is a safe, inexpensive, well-tolerated and effective medication for the control of psoriasis.

Dermatologic Agents↗
PubMed2000

Treatment of acne vulgaris and prevention of acne scarring: canadian consensus guidelines.

Acne affects approximately 95% of the population at some point during their lifetime.1 This common disorder can range from mild to severe forms, cause sometimes extensive scarring, and can last well into the fourth and fifth decades. Effective therapeutic agents are available to both treat acne and prevent ongoing disease. Despite this, dermatologists frequently see patients with significant acne scarring because many patients delay seeking medical attention for acne and many practitioners procrastinate over using effective antiscarring options. In patients who already demonstrate scarring, repeated courses of antibiotics only result in recurring acne and additional scarring. This, in turn, exacerbates the despair and other adverse psychosocial effects of the disease. There are a variety of agents and devices to help acne patients with scarring. However, successful treatment cannot be guaranteed, and in most cases residual scarring will be evident. Thus, the most effective way of managing acne scarring is to prevent its occurrence in the first place. Although we currently have a number of effective antiacne agents to control the disease, such as antibiotics and hormonal agents, isotretinoina is the only agent that has been shown to induce long-term drug-free remission and curative potential.

Acne Vulgaris↗
PubMed1999

Abattoir survey of acquired reproductive abnormalities in ewes.

Abnormalities of the reproductive tract of female sheep were studied by examining 9970 reproductive tracts from cull ewes and 23,536 tracts from nulliparous sheep (prime lambs) over a period of 12 months in abattoirs in south-west England. Overall, 3.37 per cent of the tracts were pregnant (8.11 per cent of cull ewes, and 1.36 per cent of nulliparous sheep), with a peak incidence between September and December. A total of 655 ewes (6.57 per cent) and 459 nulliparous sheep (1.95 per cent) had acquired abnormalities of the reproductive tract. Within these totals, abnormalities of the ovaries accounted for 3.51 per cent (for the ewes) and 10.68 per cent (for the nulliparous sheep) of all the abnormalities, and abnormalities of the ovarian bursa and uterine tube accounted for 42.1 per cent (for the ewes) and 5.23 per cent (for the nulliparous sheep). In addition, uterine lesions (hydrometra and metritis) accounted for 9.92 per cent (for the ewes) and 13.51 per cent (for the nulliparous sheep); lesions of the cervix and vagina (total of 1.44 per cent) and Cysticercus tenuicollis cysts associated with the reproductive tract (total of 3.05 per cent) were less common. Among the ewes the most common ovarian lesions were ovulation tags, and follicular cysts were the most common in nulliparous animals. Lesions such as bursitis, parametritis and abscesses of the reproductive tract were much more common in cull ewes than in nulliparous sheep, probably having arisen from peripartum infections. Hydrosalpinx and hydrometra, in which the intraluminal fluid was clear, were present at relatively high incidence in nulliparous animals, but not in cull ewes. The proportion of tracts containing macerated fetal remnants (2.14 per cent of all abnormalities in cull ewes) was lower than expected. It was considered that the functional significance of many of the lesions, such as ovulation tags and C tenuicollis cysts, was likely to be low, although in some cases of the latter calcification of the cyst had occluded the uterine tubes. Other lesions, notably hydrosalpinx, bursitis and metritis were likely to have made the affected animals sterile. The acquired abnormalities were therefore more significant in terms of individual animal infertility than as a major cause of infertility in flocks.

Abattoirs↗
PubMed1999

Recombinant hyaluronate associated protein as a protective immunogen against Streptococcus equi and Streptococcus zooepidemicus challenge in mice.

The capsule of Streptococcus equi, the cause of strangles, and Streptococcus zooepidemicus, associated with equine lower airway disease, plays an important role in evasion of phagocytosis by polymorphonuclear leucocytes. It is composed of hyaluronate, making it non-immunogenic. A hyaluronate associated protein (HAP) from S. equisimilis, whose gene has been sequenced [1], was investigated (a) for its presence in S. equi and S. zooepidemicus and (b) as an immunogen able to interfere with capsule structure and protect against experimental challenge of mice. The purified capsule of S. equi contained a protein of similar molecular mass to the S. equisimilis protein (approximately 53 kDa). Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using primers derived from the published sequence of S. equisimilis HAP yielded a product from S. equi and S. zooepidemicus of the expected size and susceptibility to restriction endonucleases. Subcloning of two large in frame StuI/SspI fragments of the HAP gene from S. equi, approximately equivalent to the two halves of the molecule, into the expression vector pGEX-3X yielded only the carboxy half in the correct orientation. This latter recombinant produced a GST fusion protein (HAP-GST) of the expected size that was affinity purified. Antibodies in rabbit antiserum to the native protein in purified hyaluronate reacted strongly in immunoblots with HAP-GST. Antiserum to HAP-GST, when soaked into filter paper strips, caused a diminution of capsule production by S. equi cultured on blood agar. Antiserum added into fresh rabbit blood was not opsonic for S. equi. Immunization with HAP-GST significantly reduced rhinitis in Balb/C mice challenged nasally with S. equi and significantly increased survival time and clearance of bacteria in CBA/CA mice challenged intraperitoneally with S. zooepidemicus.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

Factors enhancing diacylglycerol acyltransferase activity in microsomes from cell-suspension cultures of oilseed rape.

Several factors, including an unidentified endogenous component, were found to stimulate microsomal diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT, EC 2.3.1.20) from a microspore-derived cell-suspension culture of oilseed rape (Brassica napus L. cv. Jet Neuf). At a concentration of 25 mM, MgSO4 and MgCl2 stimulated microsomal DGAT 25- and 10-fold, respectively. ATP and CoA at concentrations of 2 and 1 mM stimulated the enzyme 2.4- and 12-fold, respectively, although the effects were lessened in the presence of higher Mg2+ concentrations. Although microsomal DGAT activity was increased only slightly by the addition of exogenous sn-1,2-diacylglycerol to the reaction mixture, it was increased substantially by the addition of exogenous phosphatidate. sn-Glycerol-3-phosphate and other phospholipids tested did not have this stimulatory effect. DGAT activity did not decrease when microsomes were incubated with ATP in the presence of the cytosolic fraction. This fraction, however, contained a small organic compound(s) that stimulated microsomal DGAT activity.

Acyltransferases↗
PubMed1999

Synovial myxoma: magnetic resonance imaging in the assessment of an unusual canine soft tissue tumour.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the hindlimb of a 10-year-old Labrador retriever was performed preoperatively to define the limits and invasive nature of a synovial myxoma. This unusual tumour in dogs has also only rarely been reported in humans, although the use of advanced imaging techniques has been more widely reported in the assessment of soft tissue tumours in people. MRI was an invaluable aid in the delineation of the extensive pathological changes associated with this tumour and consequently its surgical treatment. Amputation was performed and the dog remained disease-free 18 months after surgery.

Amputation, Surgical↗
PubMed1999

Skin lesions caused by orthopoxvirus infection in a dog.

A seven-year-old male dobermann was presented for examination of a non-pruritic ulcerated lesion occurring at the site of a suspected rat bite on the muzzle. Biopsy revealed focal ulcerative dermatitis, with cells in the epidermis, follicular infundibula and interposed sebaceous glands undergoing ballooning degeneration and containing large acidophilic intracytoplasmic structures resembling poxvirus inclusion bodies. The diagnosis of orthopoxvirus infection was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy and immunohistochemistry. The biopsy site healed uneventfully, without evidence of recurrence or development of further cutaneous or internal lesions, and a serum sample collected eight weeks after first presentation had a low titre of poxvirus antibodies. This report demonstrates that orthopoxvirus infection should be considered as a cause of ulcerative skin lesions in dogs, particularly if there has been recent contact with rodents or other small mammals.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

Systemic infection by equid herpesvirus-1 in a Grevy's zebra stallion (Equus grevyi) with particular reference to genital pathology.

A severe multi-systemic form of equid herpesvirus-1 infection is described in an adult zebra stallion. There was multifocal necrotizing rhinitis, marked hydrothorax and pulmonary oedema, with viral antigen expression in degenerating epithelial cells, local endothelial cells and intravascular leucocytes of the nasal mucosa and lung. Specific localization of EHV-1 infection was seen in the testes and epididymides, including infection of Leydig cells and germinal epithelium, which would have facilitated venereal shedding of virus in life. The case provided a unique opportunity to study hitherto undescribed aspects of the pathogenesis of naturally occurring EHV-1 infection in the male equine genital tract. Restriction digests of the isolate demonstrated a pattern similar to that of EHV-1 isolates previously recovered from aborted zebra and onager fetuses.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

Equivocal notions of accuracy and genetic screening of the general population.

The explosive growth in genetic technology quickly will make possible an unprecedented number of tests for genetically based conditions. A necessary condition for the use of such tests without risk of harm to the patient is their accuracy. However, most discussions of test accuracy in the literature have equivocated between two importantly different meanings of the word. In particular, it must be remembered that a high analytic accuracy does not imply a high diagnostic accuracy. Questions about the diagnostic accuracy of genetic tests presently loom large because of our limited knowledge of the complex etiology of disease and the distribution within the general population of the causal factors involved. Our current inability to supply patients with accurate diagnosis based on genetic information, however, is less problematic when examined in the context of new reproductive technologies such as in vitro fertilization and intraplasmic sperm injection.

Attitude to Health↗
PubMed1997

Herpesviral abortion in domestic animals.

Abortion or neonatal disease may follow infection with several alpha, beta and gamma-herpesviruses. The alpha-herpesvirus, equid herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1), causes single or epizootic abortions or neonatal deaths in equids, and the closely related virus EHV-4 causes sporadic equine abortions. In cattle, the alpha-herpesviruses, bovine herpesvirus-1 (infectious bovine rhinotracheitis virus) and bovine herpesvirus-5 (bovine encephalitis virus), and a gamma-herpesvirus, bovine herpesvirus-4, have all been implicated as causes of abortion. In pigs, suid herpesvirus-1 (SHV-1: pseudorabies virus), an alpha-herpesvirus, and SHV-2 (porcine cytomegalovirus), a beta-herpesvirus, each cause abortion or neonatal piglet losses. Caprine herpesvirus-1, canine herpesvirus and feline herpesvirus-1, all alpha-herpesviruses, cause abortions or neonatal deaths in goats, dogs and cats, respectively. This review discusses the pathogenesis, pathology and laboratory diagnosis of these herpesviral abortions and neonatal diseases, with an emphasis on experimental studies of each disease. Alternative reviews covering other aspects of each infection, such as the genetic and antigenic structure of the viruses, host immune responses and approaches to vaccination and disease control are indicated at appropriate points in the text.

Abortion, Veterinary↗
PubMed1997

Use of transabdominal ultrasound-guided amniocentesis for detection of equid herpesvirus 1-induced fetal infection in utero.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate transabdominal ultrasound-guided amniocentesis for detection of equid herpes-virus 1 (EHV-1)-induced fetal infection in utero. ANIMALS: 4 Welsh Mountain mares. PROCEDURE: Pregnant mares were inoculated intranasally with EHV-1 during the ninth month of gestation. Amniocentesis was initiated on postinoculation day (PID) 12, and was performed at 2- to 3-day intervals in standing mares under deep sedation. Amniotic fluid samples were tested by virus isolation (VI), polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and immunoperoxidase cytologic examination (IC) for detection of EHV-1. RESULTS: Exposure to EHV-1 in the ninth month of gestation resulted in nasal shedding of infective virus, establishment of cell-associated viremia, and seroconversion. Equid herpesvirus 1 was detected by VI, PCR, and IC in amniotic fluid collected on PID 14 from 1 mare and on PID 16 and 17 from a second mare. Specimens of amniotic fluid from a third mare were VI negative until PID 18, when collections ceased, although this mare subsequently aborted an EHV-1-infected fetus on PID 28. The fourth mare aborted an EHV-1 infected fetus on PID 14. The 2 mares with VI-positive amniotic fluid were each carrying an EHV-1 infected fetus in utero, confirmed by examination of the uterus, placenta, and fetus, using specific immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization. Endothelial cells in the endometrium and allantochorion were often virus-infected, with accompanying vascular lesions. The fetus had been infected via the chorionic vasculature in the first and fourth mares, and by inhalation of infected amniotic fluid in the second mare. CONCLUSION: Amniocentesis permits specific detection of EHV-1-induced fetal infection in utero. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Amniocentesis may have a clinical role in the specific identification and isolation of mares carrying virus-infected fetuses during EHV-1-induced abortion epizootics.

Amniocentesis↗
PubMed1996

Mating patterns and reproductive wastage in commercial lowland ewes in west Somerset.

The reproductive performance of 5488 ewes in 34 commercially managed, lowland flocks in west Somerset was assessed by means of a questionnaire survey and flock inspections. The introduction of vasectomised rams before the breeding season (teasing) markedly affected the proportions of ewes mated in the first 16 days after the introduction of fertile rams. In teased flocks, 84.7 per cent (range 37.8 to 100 per cent) of the ewes were mated in the first 16 days, compared with 43.8 per cent (range 2.9 to 100 per cent) in unteased flocks (P < 0.0001). Conception rates to first service and the overall percentage of ewes that conceived were similar in the teased and unteased flocks (89.3 per cent vs 92.6 per cent and 99.2 per cent vs 99.4 per cent, respectively). The overall mean (1.59) and range (1.31 to 2.04) litter size, mean (146 per cent) and range (123 to 196 per cent) lambing percentage and mean (94.6 per cent) and range (88.7 to 100 per cent) proportion of live lambs were similar in the teased and unteased flocks. The causes of reproductive failure were anoestrus (0.3 per cent), failure to conceive after multiple matings (0.3 per cent), visible abortion (2.4 per cent) and barren, that is, failing to lamb (3.4 per cent). The total reproductive loss rate was therefore 6.4 per cent of all ewes. Further non-reproductive losses occurred as a result of culling (0.3 per cent) and death during pregnancy (1.5 per cent).

Animals↗