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Biomedical subjects

L C Ward

Publications and source records attributed to L C Ward.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1990

A comparison of primary alcoholics, secondary alcoholics, and nonalcoholic psychiatric patients on the MacAndrew Alcoholism Scale.

The MacAndrew Alcoholism (MAC) and Sc scales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) were examined in four groups of 20 male patients. Comparisons were made among primary alcoholics, secondary alcoholics (i.e., alcoholic psychiatric patients), nonalcoholic psychiatric patients (mixed diagnoses), and conservatively defined, nonalcoholic schizophrenics. Primary alcoholics scored higher on the MAC scale than did secondary alcoholics and other groups; schizophrenics scored lower than all other groups. Primary alcoholics were lower on the Sc scale than schizophrenics but did not differ from other groups. The results support MacAndrew's (1981) distinction between primary and secondary alcoholics and suggest that the MAC scale may enhance differentiation among diagnoses other than alcoholism.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Protein turnover in malnourished patients with cystic fibrosis: effects of elemental and nonelemental nutritional supplements.

To evaluate the relative efficacy of nonelemental versus semielemental enteral supplements for nutritional rehabilitation of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients, whole-body protein turnover using the [15N]glycine method was studied in nine malnourished CF patients during enteral feedings, in a block design study comparing a semielemental formula (Criticare), a higher protein density but nonelemental formula (Traumacal) (T), and a nonelemental formula that had been modified to become isocaloric and isonitrogenous to the semielemental formula (modified Traumacal, MT). No significant differences in rates of protein synthesis or catabolism were observed comparing the three formulas. However, the higher protein density nonelemental formula resulted in higher net protein deposition compared to the other two formulas (T + 0.42 g kg-1 10 h-1 versus 0.33 g kg-1 10 h-1 for Criticare and -0.59 g kg-1 10 h-1 for MT), although this was significant (p less than 0.05) for the MT versus T comparison only. This study lends support to the use of less expensive nonelemental formulas for the nutritional management of malnourished patients with CF.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Chronic ingestion of ethanol increases stimulation-induced voluntary activity in the rat.

Acute exposure of an animal to ethanol has a biphasic effect on activity; at low doses incurring stimulation of locomotor activity whilst at higher doses eliciting a depression in activity level. The present study reports the effect of short-term (10 days) exposure to ethanol on running wheel activity in female Wistar rats. Ethanol treatment (3 g/100 ml in drinking water) increased significantly the rate of accumulation of total distance run but not the daily rate of running when compared to control animals. This increase was attributable to an increased rate of running stimulated by daily feeding and handling by the experimenter.

Alcoholism↗
PubMed1989

A feeding regime for the study of the interaction of ethanol and aging.

A suitable model for the study of the interaction of the aging process and prolonged treatment with ethanol is described. Animals were given 15% ethanol in the drinking water for up to 25 months. There was little disruption in the growth of the animals. Ethanol treatment resulted in a number of neurological and morphological changes some of which persisted throughout the treatment period. Both young and old animals displayed metabolic tolerance by the criteria of resistance to ethanol-induced hypothermia and increased metabolism of [14C]ethanol. The regime used has proved useful in the study of the interaction of ethanol and aging in the rat.

Aging↗
PubMed1989

A controlled, prospective, randomised trial of adjuvant chemotherapy or radiotherapy in resectable gastric cancer: interim report. British Stomach Cancer Group.

A prospective, randomised controlled trial of surgery, surgery with adjuvant radiotherapy and surgery with adjuvant chemotherapy (5-fluorouracil, adriamycin and mitomycin C) in operable gastric cancer is described. Four hundred and thirty-six patients were randomly allocated to one of three treatment groups. With 12 months' minimum follow-up, 334 patients have died, 292 from recurrent cancer. The median survival for all patients was 15 months. Neither form of adjuvant therapy provides any survival advantage. Surgery remains the principal treatment for operable gastric cancer. Care should be taken to standardise surgical treatment and any adjuvant treatments must be compared within the confines of controlled, randomised trials.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed1989

Validation of an MMPI short form with literate and illiterate patients.

An Improved Readability Form (IRF) of the MMPI was orally administered to 100 literate and 119 illiterate patients, and 140 literate patients were given the full MMPI with standard instructions. Profile comparisons of the MMPI with the IRF given to literates or extracted from the full MMPI yielded only small differences. The much larger differences in the IRF profiles of the illiterates were removed by controlling statistically for sex, race, age, and education. The IRF, when given to literate patients, was a good substitute for the full MMPI in predicting Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale scores. For the illiterates, the two most salient relationships with scores on the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale were preserved, but several weaker associations were qualitatively altered. When the IRF is administered to illiterate patients, the pattern of clinical correlates may differ from those obtained with literate patients given the IRF or MMPI.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

An easily comprehensible MMPI short form for rapid assessment of illiterate patients.

An abbreviation of the MMPI was constructed from a 167-item, highly comprehensible MMPI short form. Scales MF and SI were omitted, and item analyses of data from 101 illiterate patients, who had been read the 167 items, were used to shorten the other scales. Estimation equations for the resulting 79-item test were calculated on MMPI data from 200 psychiatric inpatients, and the new form was compared with the Mini-Mult in literate samples of psychiatric inpatients, psychiatric outpatients, male alcoholics, and male prisoners. Correspondence of the new abbreviated form with the full MMPI was respectable in all groups, and in comparison to the Mini-Mult, there were no strong reasons for preferring one form over the other. The new test was poorer than the Mini-Mult in predicting K and HY, but better in estimating SC. It was concluded that the abbreviation has potential usefulness with cognitively impaired patients.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

Procedures and a computer program for the determination of fractional protein synthetic rates by numerical solution of an implicit equation.

Fractional protein synthetic rates may be determined in vivo by infusion with a labelled amino acid and measurements of the specific radioactivities of the free and protein-bound amino acid. The calculation requires the solution of an implicit equation which is usually done by the laborious and inaccurate method of interpolation from a series of standard curves. In this report a BASIC computer program (PROSYN) is given which enables a quick and accurate solution by a numerical method. The basis of several solution methods is described; the PROSYN program is capable of using either of two (bracketting and the secant method) of these procedures.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Effect of alcohol content on beer consumption by rats.

Three brands of beer of varying alcohol content were presented to separate groups of male rats. The consumption data indicated, firstly, an inverse relationship between acceptability of the beer and its alcohol content. The data also indicated that the acceptability of full-strength beer could be augmented by prior exposure to low-alcohol and alcohol-free beer. The results are discussed with reference to orosensory- and inebriation-based models of alcohol consumption.

Alcohol Drinking↗
PubMed1988

Short-term nutritional supplementation during management of pulmonary exacerbations in cystic fibrosis: a controlled study, including effects of protein turnover.

Effects of nutritional supplements on minimizing weight loss and abnormalities of protein turnover during pulmonary exacerbations in cystic fibrosis (CF) were studied by controlled trial. Patients received pulmonary therapy and either standard diet (n = 10) or adjunctive enteral supplements (n = 12). Initial protein turnover, measured by [15N]glycine kinetics, showed alterations of protein synthesis (P Syn) and catabolism (P Cat), which correlated with the degree of underweight, and negligible net protein deposition (P Dep). With treatment both groups had significant increases in mean body weight and forced expiratory volume in 1 s, expressed as percent predicted value for height (FEV1) by 3 wk, but a significant correlation between initial underweight and subsequent weight gain was observed only in supplemented patients. Mean P Syn and P Dep increased significantly (p less than 0.001) only in the supplemented group. Pulmonary exacerbations in CF have important adverse effects on body-protein metabolism, similar to changes in protein-energy malnutrition and infection. These effects are reversed by short-term nutritional support. Strategic nutritional intervention should thus be considered in management, especially in malnourished patients.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

Amino acid oxidation in the tumor-bearing rat.

It has been proposed that the presence of a tumor leads to uncontrolled oxidation of the branched chain amino acids in the peripheral tissue of the host animal. This was investigated in Buffalo strain rats bearing the tumor, Morris hepatoma 5123tc. The rate of 14CO2 production from [1-14C] leucine was observed to be significantly increased in the tumor-bearing rats in vivo. This increase may be attributed to an observed increase in the activity of the rate-limiting enzyme of leucine oxidation (2-oxoisocaproate dehydrogenase) not only in host skeletal muscle but also in the tumor. In contrast, the oxidative capacities of host tissues (liver and muscle) towards tyrosine were, however, decreased by the presence of a tumor, an observation consistent with tumor induction of fetal-like changes in host tissue metabolism.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Protein turnover in subcellular fractions of brain from the ethanol-fed rat.

The effect of ethanol consumption (27% of energy intake) for 21 days, on protein synthesis and degradation in subcellular fractions of rat brain was investigated using the Na2(14)CO3 labelling procedure. Ethanol administration elicited an increase in the rate of protein synthesis in all fractions which was accompanied by an increase of similar magnitude in the rate of breakdown. These results imply that whilst ethanol increases the rate of protein turnover it is without effect on the rate of protein accretion.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Failure of a branched chain amino acid-enriched diet to reverse ethanol inhibition of cardiac protein synthesis in the rat.

The fractional rate of protein synthesis was determined in the hearts of rats in vivo fed on diets containing 27% of energy as ethanol or on this diet supplemented with 5% of equimolar amounts of branched chain amino acids (BCAA). Administration of ethanol significantly decreased the fractional synthetic rate of mixed cardiac proteins and this depression was not ameliorated by concomitant feeding of BCAA. These data are discussed in relation to the stimulation of cardiac protein synthesis by BCAA observed in vitro.

Amino Acids↗
PubMed1987

Ethanol and leucine oxidation--III. Leucine oxidation by rat heart in vitro.

The activities of leucine aminotransferase (BCAT) and 2-oxoisocaproate dehydrogenase (OADH) were measured in rat heart in vitro. The effect upon these enzyme activities of both ethanol and acetaldehyde, administered either acutely or chronically, was determined. Enzyme activities were not significantly altered by either acetaldehyde or ethanol when given chronically. Ethanol administered acutely to rats decreased OADH activity but BCAT was unaffected. Acetaldehyde administered acutely did not alter significantly BCAT activity but significantly increased OADH activity.

3-Methyl-2-Oxobutanoate Dehydrogenase (Lipoamide)↗
PubMed1987

A possible antiatherogenic role for phosphocitrate through modulation of low density lipoprotein uptake and degradation in aortic smooth muscle cells.

The present study reports the influence of a phosphorylated polycarboxylic acid, phosphocitrate, on low density lipoprotein (LDL) metabolism in cultured rabbit aortic smooth muscle cells. Phosphocitrate profoundly influenced both LDL binding and degradation. At the maximal effective concentration (2 mM), phosphocitrate released approximately 90% of the receptor-bound [125I]LDL whilst the total amount of [125I]LDL degraded was reduced by 60%. Measurement of total cholesterol accumulation revealed that even in the presence of high concentrations of added LDL, phosphocitrate (2 mM) diminished cholesterol levels close to the basal levels seen in incubations in lipoprotein-deficient serum. Further, this inhibitory effect of phosphocitrate was demonstrable after 24 h at 37 degrees C. Phosphocitrate, a recognized anticalcifying agent, possesses a strong negative charge to size ratio at physiological pH. It is postulated that the observed effects probably arise from charge interference and/or its ability to modulate cellular calcium concentration.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Animal models of chronic alcohol ingestion: the liquid diet.

A suitable animal model that mimics the effects of chronic alcohol intake in man has long been sought. The ethanol-containing liquid diet, although often finding favour in a variety of experimental studies, has recently been criticised for being nutritionally inadequate. Results of this study indicate liquid diets are capable of maintaining the growth of female, but not male, rats at rates comparable to those of similar animals fed on commercially available rodent pellets or on laboratory-prepared pelleted diets. In addition preliminary data are reported indicating the suitability of this model for inducing tolerance to alcohol.

Alcoholism↗
PubMed1987

Effect of ethanol on the GABA-benzodiazepine receptor in brain.

Chronic ethanol inhalation produced no change in the number or affinity of flunitrazepam binding sites on well-washed synaptic membranes prepared from male Quackenbush mice, but produced a significant decrease in the capacity of GABA to enhance flunitrazepam binding. This decrease was characterized by a higher EC50 (1.4 microM compared to 0.6 microM) and a lower maximal level of enhancement (162% compared to 172%) for tissue from the chronically treated animals compared to tissue from control animals. Acute ethanol treatment or ethanol incubated in vitro with the brain membranes did not produce changes in any of the flunitrazepam binding parameters. These results support other findings that chronic ethanol may affect the coupling of various sites on GABA-A receptor-ionophore complexes in brain.

Animals↗