Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

L Bryson

Publications and source records attributed to L Bryson.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

Choice of GP: who do young rural women prefer?

The demand for female medical practitioners by women in rural areas appears to be increasing and to be age related. However, the distribution of general practitioners in country Australia is heavily weighted to older men and access to a women's health centre also decreases with distance from the metropolitan areas. Data from the Australian Longitudinal Study of Women's Health indicate that young women are significantly more likely than middle-aged or older women to prefer to see a female doctor. It is argued here that it is the 'culture of practice' exhibited by female doctors that young women find attractive, rather than an essential appeal of the gender of the practitioner. The findings suggest that restricted access to female practitioners may affect health outcomes if young rural women are reluctant to seek medical services provided by male doctors practising in traditional modes.

Adolescent↗

Women's Health Australia: recruitment for a national longitudinal cohort study.

The Women's Health Australia (WHA) project is a longitudinal study of several cohorts of Australian women, which aims to examine the relationships between biological, psychological, social and lifestyle factors and women's physical health, emotional well-being, and their use of and satisfaction with health care. Using the Medicare database as a sampling frame (with oversampling of women from rural and remote areas), 106,000 women in the three age groups 18-23, 45-50 and 70-75 were sent an invitation to participate and a 24-page self-complete questionnaire. Reminder letters, a nation-wide publicity campaign, information brochures, a freecall number for inquiries, and the option of completing the questionnaire by telephone in English or in the respondent's own language, were used to encourage participation. Statutory regulations precluded telephone follow-up of non-respondents. Response rates were 41% (N = 14,792), 54% (N = 14,200) and 36% (N = 12,614) for the three age groups. Comparison with Australian census data indicated that the samples are reasonably representative of Australian women in these age groups, except for a somewhat higher representation of women who are married or in a defacto relationship, and of women with post-school education. The most common reason for non-participation was lack of interest or time. Personal circumstances, objections to the questionnaire or specific items in it, and concerns about confidentiality were the other main reasons. Recruitment of three representative age-group cohorts of women, and the maintenance of these cohorts over a number of years, will provide a valuable opportunity to examine associations over time between aspects of women's lives and their physical and emotional health and well-being.

Adult↗

No matrix magic.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Australia↗

Measurement of c-erbB-2 proteins in sera from patients with carcinomas and in breast tumor tissue cytosols: correlation with serum tumor markers and membrane-bound oncoprotein.

Using a commercial kit with antibodies against the ectodomain of c-erbB-2 protein, we detected c-erbB-2 immunoreactivity in human serum. We found that the percentages of patients with elevated serum c-erbB-2 immunoreactivities were 35, 21, and 9% in breast, prostate, and ovarian carcinoma, respectively. The majority of the elevated immunoreactivities were associated with sera containing highly elevated tumor markers with the highest in breast carcinoma (35%) and lowest in ovarian cancer (9%). Excellent correlations were also observed between the serum levels of c-erbB-2 immunoreactivity and the dominant tumor markers in serial specimens from individual cancer patients. We could also detect the c-erbB-2 immunoreactivity in the cytosols prepared from the breast tumor tissue for estrogen and progesterone receptor (ER & PgR) measurements using the same commercial kit for serum studies, and the intact c-erbB-2 oncoprotein (p185) in the extracts of the tissue membrane fractions with a different kit designed for tissue extract. The level of c-erbB-2 immunoreactivity in the cytosol from 124 human breast tumor specimens had an excellent correlation with the cell membrane concentrations of p185 (gamma = 0.89). Most of the elevated cytosol c-erbB-2 immunoreactivities were also found to associate with breast tumor specimens containing low concentrations of ER & PgR. It appears that measuring the c-erbB-2 immunoreactivity potentially could be used as a prognostic marker without performing tissue biopsies and also as a serum tumor marker for managing cancer patients.

Biomarkers↗

Additive coclastogenicity of sodium selenite and caffeine in CHO cells treated with N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine.

The clastogenic effect of N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG) in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells and its modulation by Na2SeO3 and caffeine were studied by metaphase analysis of chromosome aberrations (CA) as well as by measuring the formation and repair of single-strand (ss) DNA breaks employing hydroxylapatite chromatography. Treatment of CHO cells with MNNG (1.25 or 2.5 x 10-5M) for 3 h caused CA in 11 and 19% of metaphases scored, respectively. Pretreatment of cells with Na2SeO3 (1-5 micrograms/mL) or caffeine (0.2-2.0 mg/mL) for 2 h resulted in a 2-3.5-fold increase of CA frequency. Addition of both modulators during the mutagen exposure tended to cause a slight inhibition of clastogenic activity of MNNG (1.25 x 10(-5) M) or had no effect on CA number when MNNG was used at a concentration of 2.5 x 10(-5) M). Posttreatment of CHO cells with Na2SeO3 for 20 h after MNNG was ineffective in influencing the number of metaphases with CA, whereas, at these conditions, caffeine enhanced up to 6-7-fold the clastogenic activity of MNNG. Addition of both modulators during the whole experiment, 2 h pretreatment included, resulted in a further significant increase of CA frequency up to the total pulverization of chromosomes in all metaphases scored. The coclastogenic effect of caffeine was greater in this case. The enhancement of chromosome-damaging activity of MNNG by selenite and caffeine was better expressed when this carcinogen was applied at the higher concentration used. An additive coclastogenic effect was observed in CHO cells treated simultaneously with Na2SeO3 and caffeine plus MNNG.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗

MHox: a mesodermally restricted homeodomain protein that binds an essential site in the muscle creatine kinase enhancer.

Myogenic helix-loop-helix (HLH) proteins, such as myogenin and MyoD, can activate muscle-specific transcription when introduced into a variety of nonmuscle cell types. Whereas cells of mesodermal origin are especially permissive to the actions of these myogenic regulators, many other cell types are refractory to myogenic conversion by them. Here we describe a novel homeodomain protein, MHox, that binds an A+T-rich element in the muscle creatine kinase (MCK) enhancer that is essential for muscle-specific transcription and trans-activation by myogenic HLH proteins. MHox is completely restricted to mesodermally derived cell types during embryogenesis and to established cell lines of mesodermal origin. In contrast to most other homeobox genes, MHox expression is excluded from the nervous system, with the highest levels observed in limb bud and visceral arches. In adult mice, MHox is expressed at high levels in skeletal muscle, heart and uterus. The DNA-binding properties and pattern of MHox expression are unique among homeobox genes and suggest a role for MHox as a transcriptional regulator that participates in the establishment of diverse mesodermal cell types.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Stimulatory effect of potassium ions on MNU- and MNNG-induced mutagenesis in Salmonella typhimurium TA1535 and TA100.

The liquid suspension modification of the standard Salmonella mutagenicity assay employing Ames tester strains of Salmonella typhimurium TA1535 and T100 was used to study the influence of potassium, sodium and calcium on the mutagenic activity of MNU and MNNG. The toxic and mutagenic activities of MNU and MNNG were better expressed when potassium-containing solution was used as a solvent. Short-term pretreatment of bacteria cells with potassium-containing solutions increased the mutagenic efficiency of both chemicals. Potassium-induced increased sensibility of S. typhimurium TA1535 to MNU was completely reversible after 20 min incubation of bacteria in a nutrient broth at 37 degrees C. The mutagenic activity of MNU was reduced after a short-term pretreatment of S. typhimurium TA1535 with a 0.9% solution of CaCl2, while NaCl did not change the mutagenic response of bacteria to MNU.

Methylnitronitrosoguanidine↗

Inhibition of mutagenicity of a model nitrosation reaction by naturally occurring phenolics, coffee and tea.

Several plant phenolics, one instant coffee, one instant decaffeinated coffee, one roasted coffee, one Japanese tea, one black Indian tea, and one Chinese tea were examined for their inhibitory properties on mutagenicity resulting from the nitrosation of methylurea. Mutagenicity was estimated as the number of his+ revertants per survivor of Salmonella typhimurium TA1535 which was exposed in suspension to the nitrosation mixtures and the modulating agents for 20 min. Tannic acid, gallic acid and chlorogenic acid suppressed the mutagenicity of the model nitrosation system at concentrations similar to or even lower than ascorbic acid. The three tested coffees and three tested teas exerted an inhibitory effect on the mutagenicity of the test system at doses at which they are consumed.

Chlorogenic Acid↗

The inhibitory effect of whole and deproteinized saliva on mutagenicity and clastogenicity resulting from a model nitrosation reaction.

The objective of this study was to simulate in vitro at least some of the conditions that prevail in man during ingestion of nitrate and nitrosable compounds. Human saliva has been chosen because most chemicals ingested through food will interact with saliva. The nitrosation of methylurea was used as a model because the nitrosation products can be readily detected by their mutagenic (his+ revertants of S. typhimurium) and clastogenic (chromosome aberrations in CHO cells) properties. The results show that human saliva inhibits the formation of mutagenic and clastogenic nitrosation products when present during nitrosation. A 50% inhibition of mutagenicity results from the addition of a saliva sample diluted at 5% of the original concentration. In the test system used a similar inhibitory effect was obtained by 2.5 mM ascorbic acid or 2.0 mM chlorogenic acid. The main inhibitory agents seem to reside in a deproteinized fraction which was filtered through an ultrafilter UM2 (greater than 1000 MW). At strong acid levels (below pH 2) the saliva loses its inhibitory effect on the nitrosation of methylurea. The contribution of saliva to the inhibition of endogenous nitrosation within the oral cavity or stomach is discussed.

Biotransformation↗