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K Griffiths

Publications and source records attributed to K Griffiths.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1994

Transforming growth factor beta 1 expression in benign and malignant prostatic tumors.

The expression of transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-beta 1) in prostate specimens obtained from patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH, n = 32) and prostate carcinoma (n = 66) was investigated using Northern blot analysis and immunohistochemistry. Northern blot analysis revealed TGF-beta 1 message (2.5 kb) in virtually all of the samples examined, reflecting the ubiquitous nature of this growth factor. No statistical difference was found between the levels of mRNA detected in benign and malignant tissues due, in part, to the inherent heterogeneity of prostate tissue. Immunohistochemical methods using an antibody to native TGF-beta 1 revealed a novel pattern of immunoreactivity. Staining observed only in certain epithelial cells of benign glands was associated with areas of infection rather than tumorigenesis. Interestingly, intense staining was also seen in polymorphonuclear leukocytes. No correlation was found with the mRNA results, suggesting that this antibody is binding to TGF-beta 1 activated in response to infection rather than detecting sites of synthesis of latent TGF-beta 1.

Blotting, Northern↗
PubMed1994

Determination of lignans and isoflavonoids in human female plasma following dietary supplementation.

Plasma levels of the lignans enterodiol and enterolactone, and also the isoflavonic phyto-oestrogens daidzein, equol and genistein, are reported for postmenopausal Australian women consuming a traditional diet supplemented with linseed, soya flour or clover sprouts. Analysis was performed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, after enzymatic hydrolysis and ion-exchange chromatography. Following linseed supplementation, combined levels of enterolactone and enterodiol reached 500 ng/ml, whereas after soya flour or clover sprouts the respective concentrations of equol, daidzein and genistein reached 43, 312 and 148 ng/ml. Not all subjects were able to produce equol from daidzein. The possible relationship and role of these weak dietary oestrogens as restraining factors in the development of hormone-dependent cancers in Asian populations is discussed.

4-Butyrolactone↗
PubMed1993

Is there a best castration?

Androgen ablation by bilateral orchidectomy has long been considered the gold standard against which other forms of treatment for the management of advanced prostate cancer can be evaluated. It now is recognized that the use of luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone analogs provides a form of primary endocrine therapy that is as effective as surgical castration for the treatment of disseminated disease.

Androgen Antagonists↗
PubMed1993

An immunocytochemical analysis of TGF alpha expression in benign and malignant prostatic tumors.

Transforming growth factor alpha (TGF alpha) expression was analyzed immunocytochemically on formalin-fixed wax-embedded sections obtained from 24 benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) specimens and 76 prostatic carcinoma tissues, 3 human prostatic tumor xenografts, normal kidney, and salivary gland. Low amounts of TGF alpha immunopositivity were encountered in the epithelium of BPH glandular tissues, whereas in the prostatic adenocarcinoma samples, a greater heterogeneity and intensity of TGF alpha immunostaining was observed. The most intense staining was exhibited by the least differentiated tumors, although a few of these were weakly stained. Statistical analysis of the relationship of histopathological grade of tumor with TGF alpha expression in the carcinomas showed a significant correlation of these parameters, 0.01 > P > 0.001. The expression of the proliferation markers Ki-67 and PCNA was also analyzed in the carcinoma specimens, and the relationship of these to TGF alpha expression indicated that there was no significant correlation in this series of tumors between increased growth activity and TGF alpha expression (p approximately 0.25 with both markers). The prostatic carcinoma xenografts TEN12 and TEN15 contained low levels of immunoreactive TGF alpha, which was uniformly distributed, whilst heterogeneous immunostaining was observed in the uroepithelial xenograft TEN16. In the normal human kidney, TGF alpha was concentrated in the epithelium of the distal convoluted tubules (DCT) and the collecting tubules (CT), and lower amounts were identified in the proximal convoluted tubules (PCT). As in the prostatic carcinomas, the immunostaining was eliminated by prior absorption of the antibody with pure TGF alpha and not with human or mouse EGF. No crossreactivity of the TGF alpha antibody with salivary EGF was demonstrated. This study concludes that, in prostate carcinoma, the least differentiated tumors more often expressed greater amounts immunoreactive TGF alpha; however, no relationship between TGF alpha expression and cellular proliferation markers was found.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed1993

Correction processes in early reaching: reaches by infants to prismatically displaced targets.

A comparison was made between trajectories of reaches to visual targets by 6-months-old infants, with and without lateral prismatic displacement. In the No Prism condition, the major element of the movement veered towards the target, confirming the results of Mathew and Cook (1990). In the Prism condition, the prism did not affect hand position or movement direction at the beginning of the major element, but a lateral displacement was evident by the end of the element. This is taken as evidence that shifts in trajectory during the element were not due to visual guidance. It is suggested instead that these shifts may reflect correction based upon somatic feedback about position in relation to the visually specified goal of the movement. Evidence that the hand approached the virtual target supports the suggestion that any visual guidance was confined to the approach phase of the reach. Nevertheless, it appears that visual guidance was operating at this stage, since movement direction was displaced away from the virtual target and towards the real target.

Attention↗
PubMed1993

The luteal heat cycle of the breast in health.

Wearing a special thermometric brassiere, twenty-five normal women self-measured their breast surface temperature. The subjects averaged 39 years of age and all were parous. Observations were made for one hour each evening for one menstrual cycle under semi-standardized domestic conditions. They also collected daily samples of saliva for radioimmunoassay of progesterone concentration. The surface temperature of the breast is relatively cold around mid-cycle; thereafter, and without interruption in averaged data, the temperature increases steadily by about 1 degree C over the 12 days of the luteal phase; around the time of the menses, it falls rapidly. This heat rhythm does not occur in peri-menopausal low progesterone menstrual cycles or in patients where the breast tissue has been irradiated for cancer treatment.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

How common is the atypical mole syndrome phenotype in apparently sporadic melanoma?

BACKGROUND: Although patients from some families with the atypical mole syndrome (AMS) are predisposed to melanoma, it is not known how frequently this underlies the apparently sporadic presentation of melanoma. OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to estimate the frequency of the AMS (dysplastic nevus or FAMMM syndrome) phenotype in a population-based study of patients with melanoma in the United Kingdom and to determine the prevalence of the phenotype in the relatives of the patients with AMS. METHODS: The nevi of patients with melanoma and controls in a case-control study, and the nevi of some relatives of patients with AMS, were examined. An AMS scoring system was used to define the AMS phenotype. The familiarity of the AMS phenotype was then determined by screening first-degree relatives of persons with the AMS phenotype. RESULTS: Forty of 266 (15%) of patients with melanoma had the AMS phenotype compared with 7 of 305 (2%) of the controls (odds ratio 7.5, 95% confidence interval 3.4-16.8). Screening of relatives of patients with melanoma who had the AMS phenotype identified the same phenotype within the families, providing evidence that the AMS phenotype in patients with melanoma is predictive of the same phenotype in relatives, consistent with so-called type D1 AMS. CONCLUSION: The AMS phenotype is a potent risk factor for cutaneous melanoma and is present in 15% of patients. Melanoma in the United Kingdom is more common in women than in men, but the AMS phenotype was more frequent in men in this study. It is our hypothesis that the effects of the putative AMS gene are diluted by environmental factors in U.K. women. Screening of relatives of patients with melanoma who have the AMS phenotype may identify persons at increased risk of melanoma.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Saliva as a medium for chronobiological studies: its particular potential in steroid endocrinology.

This paper indicates the potential of saliva as a medium for chronobiological studies. It has principally focussed on the work of the Tenovus Institute for Cancer Research, at the University of Wales College of Medicine over the past decade or more, particularly for steroid hormones, so as to give an authoritative viewpoint based on practical experience. The article discusses issues ranging from technical to clinical aspects of hormone assay in saliva, showing disadvantages and limitations of use. Increasingly, many other investigators are developing and applying assays for salivary steroids and it is timely that such assays become tools in the hands of the chronobiologist. The clinical-biochemical importance of saliva resides also in the fact that in its context it is possible to assay enzymes, toxic substances and drugs.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Relationship of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) in prostatic carcinomas to various clinical parameters.

Proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) expression was determined immunohistochemically, using a monoclonal antibody PC10, in 102 prostatic carcinoma samples and in prostate tissue from 21 patients with benign prostatic hyperplasis (BPH). The percentage of cells with stained nuclei ranged from 1% to 58% in the carcinoma specimens and 0% to 10% in the BPH specimens. A semiquantitative scoring system was devised for the degree of PCNA positivity observed in the tumors. Statistical analysis of the PCNA score in relation to the histological grade of the tumors gave a significant positive or negative correlation between these parameters P less than 0.001. No significant correlation between PCNA score was, however, seen with metastatic status, T category (TMN classification) of the primary tumor, or the patient's age at diagnosis. In 65 prostatic cancer patients of known survival, those individuals whose tumors had a PCNA score of +/- (less than 10% of nuclei stained) were compared with those patients whose tumors were either 1+, 2+, or 3+ (greater than 10% of nuclei stained). Life table analysis of the two groups indicated that the patients with the lower PCNA score survived significantly longer than those with the higher PCNA scores, P less than 0.04. Comparison of the Ki-67 expression in frozen sections with the PCNA expression in wax-embedded tissue of 86 prostatic carcinomas was also undertaken. A significant correlation between these two parameters was found, P less than 0.001, although the growth fraction estimated by Ki-67 expression was generally lower than that given by the PCNA scoring system.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗