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Biomedical subjects

K White

Publications and source records attributed to K White.

At least 235 records · Page 13Linked to original sources
PubMed1984

Effects of endogenicity and severity on consistency of standard depression rating scales.

Agreement between the clinician-rated Hamilton Depression Rating Scale and the patient-rated Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale was examined in 36 inpatients with major depression during the course of a 4-week antidepressant treatment protocol. Clinician-patient agreement was low when depression was rated as most severe by the clinician. An endogenicity factor extracted from the Zung scale also predicted disagreement, which was greatest for patients with more nonendogenous symptom patterns. Clinicians and researchers should remain aware of the limitations of such standard assessment procedures in the context of changing criteria for the diagnosis of depression.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Tyramine studies and the safety of MAOI drugs.

A major source of concern in using MAOIs is the risk of hypertensive crises, often called the "cheese effect" and thought to represent a drug-induced enhancement of the tyramine pressor effect. Several approaches to reduction of this risk are being explored, including use of inhibitors specific for the B vs. the A type of the enzyme, coadministration of tricyclic with MAOI, and development of reversible inhibitors which might be competitively displaced by tyramine. Such approaches require assessment of sensitivity to tyramine, usually given by the intravenous route. The oral tyramine pressor test, while cumbersome and in need of technical refinement, represents a significantly closer laboratory analogue to the clinical situation.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed1983

Modulation of a neural antigen during metamorphosis in Drosophila melanogaster.

Major reorganization in the central nervous system (CNS) takes place during metamorphosis in holometabolan insects (G. Technau and M. Heisenberg, 1982, Nature (London) 295, 405-407. J. W. Truman and S. E. Reiss, 1976, Science 192, 477-479). In this report, two monoclonal antibodies specific for antigens localized in the CNS of Drosophila melanogaster are utilized to examine the behavior of these neuronal antigens during metamorphosis. One of the antigens studied is concentrated in synaptic areas of the CNS in adults and larvae. The other antigen is more ubiquitously distributed, being present in both cortical and synaptic regions. Metamorphosis is accompanied by dramatic change in the concentration of the antigen localized to synaptic areas. In contrast, the ubiquitously present antigen persists throughout.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Genetic and developmental analysis of the locus vnd in Drosophila melanogaster.

Genetic and developmental analysis of an X-linked vital locus vnd was undertaken. Embryos hemizygous for the original allele vnd did not hatch and exhibited a disorganized ventral nervous system (VNS). The mutation maps in the region 1B6-7 to 1B9-10, a subregion of an area previously shown to be essential to normal neural development. In this paper, we report isolation of five new alleles at the locus vnd. Genetic complementation analysis of all mutations at the vnd locus, with lethal alleles at adjacent loci, indicates that all lesions at the locus vnd affect only one vital gene function in the region. Four of the five alleles are embryonic lethal; one allele is subvital and behaves like an hypomorphic mutation. Hemizygous embryos for three of the four embryonic lethal alleles were inspected in histological sections; all exhibited disorganized VNS similar to the original allele. The developmental analysis in gynandromorphic genetic mosaics shows that (1) vnd+ gene function is not essential in most imaginal-disc cell derivatives, (2) only about 30% of the mosaic zygotes survive as adults, (3) mosaic zygotes with mutant tissue close to the head cuticle are least likely to survive, and (4) mutant tissue in the thoracic ganglion in the adult is not necessarily lethal. The mosaic data are consistent with the vnd+ gene function being necessary in neural cells derived from the anterioventral region of the blastoderm.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Plasma drug levels and clinical response to antidepressants.

Antidepressants are a key treatment in depression. The wide interindividual differences in plasma levels of these agents were initially seen as an explanation for nonresponse and a potential major advance in treating depressive disorders. However, efforts to relate plasma levels to therapeutic outcome have, in general, been disappointing. In the few instances where such relationships have been claimed, they have been weak and useful only for specific and problematic clinical conditions.

Antidepressive Agents↗
PubMed1983

Quantitation of haptens by homogeneous immunoprecipitation. 2. Centrifugal analysis for tobramycin, phenobarbital, and theophylline in serum.

Our homogeneous immunoprecipitation inhibition assay (Clin. Chem. 28:659-661, 1982) is applied here to tobramycin, phenobarbital, and theophylline. Only 10-50 microL of test sample is needed. No sample treatment, dilution, or extraction is required. A test serum sample is simultaneously mixed with a drug conjugate and its specific antiserum in a centrifugal analyzer. The subsequent reaction and the measurement are completed in 3 min. Within-run and between-run CVs for clinically relevant concentrations were well below 10%. Results for patients' samples correlated well with those by enzyme immunoassay.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗
PubMed1983

Electrocardiographic effects of tranylcypromine vs. amitriptyline.

The authors compared ECG changes during the course of treatment with a tricyclic antidepressant (amitriptyline) or a monoamine oxidase inhibitor (tranylcypromine) in 22 adult psychiatric patients. Amitriptyline-treated patients showed increased heart rate, PR, QRS, and QTc intervals. Tranylcypromine-treated patients showed no significant changes in ECG parameters. The clinical significance of the differing pattern of ECG effects for tricyclic antidepressants and monoamine oxidase inhibitors is discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

Psychomotor stimulants, social deprivation and play in juvenile rats.

Treatment with d-amphetamine (0.125-1 mg/Kg) or methylphenidate (0.5-4 mg/kg caused dose-dependent decreases in play fighting in juvenile rats which were independent of sex and strain. Although brief social isolation profoundly increased play fighting, qualitatively similar drug effects on play were observed in socially housed and isolated animals. By contrast, at the highest doses tested both amphetamine and methylphenidate increased social investigation, but only if the rats were socially isolated. Stimulation of catecholamine systems is evidently incompatible with the expression of playful behavior.

Aggression↗
PubMed1982

Dermatological reactions to lithium: a critical review of the literature.

This article reviews clinical reports of dermatological reactions to lithium. Such reactions include maculopapular, acneiform, and follicular eruptions, psoriasis, and other manifestations. Standard psychiatric texts offer the psychiatrist little information concerning the prevalence or seriousness of these reactions, nor do they discuss the effectiveness of various treatment alternatives. More surprisingly, most dermatology texts do not even describe skin reactions to lithium. Dermatological reactions to lithium may occur more commonly than previously documented, but with the exception of some psoriatic cases, management without the need for lithium discontinuation is usually possible.

Acne Vulgaris↗