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Biomedical subjects

L Fischer

Publications and source records attributed to L Fischer.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1999

Assessment of juvenile sexual offenders: reliability and validity of the Abel Assessment for Interest in Paraphilias.

Empirical tests of the reliability and validity of the Abel Assessment for Interest in Paraphilias (AAIP) as used with juvenile sexual offenders were performed. Test-retest reliability, screening validity, and diagnostic validity were assessed using several analytical approaches. The temporal stability, sensitivity, and specificity of the AAIP as used with adolescents in residential and day treatment were not demonstrated. The results indicate the need for further refinement of the AAIP.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

Flow injection analysis system for the supervision of industrial chromatographic downstream processing in biotechnology.

Sugar beet molasses is a natural resource for various products used in daily life, ranging from sucrose to amino acids for pharmaceutical industry. The separation of molasses into these high value components is performed on a large scale by ion exchange/exclusion chromatography. A biosensor system was set up for the "in time" analysis of serine and sucrose during molasses desugarisation. D-Serine was analysed with the multi-enzyme system D-serine dehydratase/lactic dehydrogenase and photometric detection of the NADH consumed. Sucrose was determined with invertase/mutarotase/glucose oxidase and the oxygen consumed was monitored amperometrically. An analysis could be performed within 2-5 min by directly injecting samples from the chromatographic process into the flow injection analysis system. The determination range for the sucrose analysis was 0-2.5 gl-1 and for the analysis of D-serine 0-0.5 gl-1. The standard deviation for the measurement of D-serine was 1.7%.

Biosensing Techniques↗
PubMed1998

First description of recurrent pericardial effusion associated with borrelia burgdorferi infection.

Lyme disease is well known for affecting the myocardium in the form of carditis and dilated cardiomyopathy. Pericardial effusion associated with Lyme disease has not been described as yet. This article demonstrates a case of a female patient, 54 years of age, with Borrelia burgdorferi infection and associated pericardial effusion. Recurrent pericardiocenteses as well as conventional treatment of the condition were without success. Diagnosis of Borrelia infection and subsequent treatment with ceftriaxone led to permanent restitution of the pericardial effusion.

Borrelia burgdorferi Group↗
PubMed1998

Functional analysis of HBV genomes from patients with fulminant hepatitis.

Two previous case reports suggest that hepatitis B virus (HBV) core promoter variants with a high replication competence contribute to the pathogenesis of fulminant hepatitis B (FHB). We recently found in HBV genomes from patients with FHB an accumulation of mutations within the core promoter region. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the phenotype of these HBV variants. Replication competence and expression of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) of viral genomes from seven patients with FHB and one patient with fulminant recurrent hepatitis after liver transplantation were analyzed by transfection experiments in human hepatoma cells. Compared with wild-type virus, the HBV variants from the seven patients with FHB produced similar or slightly lower levels of intracellular replicative intermediates and extracellular viral particles. In contrast, the HBV genomes from the patient with fulminant recurrent hepatitis synthesized and secreted significantly more HBV DNA. All genomes tested expressed similar or even higher levels of HBeAg compared with wild-type virus, except for those from four patients with a precore stop codon mutation in the respective dominant viral populations. The level of HBsAg produced by all variant genomes was similar or reduced compared with wild-type virus. These data indicate that in some cases HBV variants with enhanced replication competence and/or a defect in HBeAg expression may contribute to the development of FHB. However, neither phenotype is an essential prerequisite; thus, an additional role of other viral or host factors in the pathogenesis of FHB is suggested.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1998

Vertebral osteomyelitis due to Rhodococcus equi in a liver transplant recipient.

Rhodococcus equi is a rare but well-documented cause of cavitary pneumonia in immunocompromised patients. In this report the first case of R. equi infection manifesting as vertebral osteomyelitis is described. A 39-year-old liver transplant recipient presented with recurrent pneumonia and a pleura-based lung abscess and subsequently developed osteomyelitis of the lower thoracic spine. Surgical debridement and prolonged treatment with rifabutin and clarithromycin resulted in clinical cure. In the literature, 12 other cases of R. equi infection in solid-organ transplant recipients have been reported. Ten of these patients had documented pulmonary disease and seven had extrapulmonary manifestations. Prolonged antibiotic therapy and surgical drainage resulted in clinical improvement in > 90% of the reported cases.

Actinomycetales Infections↗
PubMed1998

Neonatal fulminant hepatitis B: structural and functional analysis of complete hepatitis B virus genomes from mother and infant.

Transmission of hepatitis B virus (HBV) from anti-hepatitis B e (anti-HBe)-positive carrier mothers to their infants may result in neonatal fulminant hepatitis B (FHB). We investigated whether HBV variants with a particular DNA sequence and functional phenotype, responsible for FHB, are selected during transmission. Full-length HBV genomes from a mother-infant pair were completely sequenced and transfected into human hepatoma cells. The dominant neonatal and maternal HBV populations were nearly identical (homology 99.8%) and showed a precore stop codon mutation, T-1762 and A-1764 substitutions in the core promoter region, and pre-S2 start codon mutations. Cells transfected with variants from mother and child, compared with wild-type virus, synthesized and released a similar number or fewer HBV DNA-containing particles. In conclusion, no particular HBV strain emerged during neonatal FHB. In this case, a de novo infection with variants showing a defect in HBe antigen and pre-S2 protein synthesis but not a high replication competence probably contributed to the fulminant disease course.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

[Clause Pouteau (1725-1775), surgeon at the l'Hôtel-Dieu de Lyon: his "asepsis" using water, fire and ligne propre].

Claude Pouteau, Hôtel-Dieu de Lyon's surgeon (1725-1775), did not improve surgical teaching, as Mareschal or Lapeyronie did with their reforming law. But he is reminiscent of an extremely skilful surgeon, always having a remarkable high rate of recoveries. For instance when it came to operate on bladder with a perineal approach (vesical cut), only three patients died out of one hundred and twenty operations. One century before Semmelweiss and more earlier than Pasteur, Pouteau thought that hospital-gangrene was not only caused by air miasma but also by direct contact, which could be indebted dirty instruments or hands, or hospital-made bandages. So he advised impeccably cleanliness for surgical students. According to his mind, soap was inadequate for cleaning hospital linen. Those must be pull out of neat material fitted by clean hands out of hospitals. It shall be supplied every day and never gathered inside. In order to keep clear of gangrene, the patient will not wait too long inside hospital. In case of bleeding, cautery must preferable to ligature for Pouteau "We can do without the bitter sadness of seeing a lighter wound become a lethal or incurable one ..." (Posthumous works, vol. III, p. 237-238).

Asepsis↗
PubMed1998

[Cardiac manifestations of Lyme borreliosis with special reference to contractile dysfunction].

Borrelia burgdorferi infection (BBI) is suggested to be associated with dilated cardiomyopathy (IDC). Stanek et al. were able to cultivate Borrelia burgdorferi (BB) from myocardial biopsy tissue of a patient with longstanding dilated cardiomyopathy. Here we present a study in which we examined the effect of standard antibiotic treatment on the left ventricular ejection fraction (LV-EF) in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy associated with BBI. In this study we assessed the serum (IgG, IgM ELISA; Western Blot) and the history of 46 IDC-patients with specific respect spect to BBI (mean LV-EF: 30.4 +/- 1.3%; measured by cardiac catheterisation and echocardiography--length-area-volume method). All 46 patients received standard treatment for dilated cardiomyopathy: ACE-inhibitors, digitalis and diuretics. 11 (24%) patients showed positive serology and a history of BBI; 9 of these also had a typical history of tick bite and erythema chronicum migrans (ECM) and/or other organ involvement, 2 had no recollection of tick bite or EMC, but showed other BB-associated disorders (neuropathy, oligoarthritis). These 11 patients with BBI received standard antibiotic treatment with intravenous ceftriaxone 2 g bid for 14 days. 6 (55%) recovered completely and showed a normal LV-EF after 6 months, 3 (27%) improved their LV-EF and 2 (18%) did not improve at all. This amounts to 9 (82%) recovery/improvement in the BB-group. The 35 patients who did not show positive serology or a history of BBI did not receive antibiotic treatment. In this group without BBI 12 (26%) showed recovery/improvement following the standard treatment of dilated cardiomyopathy (see above). Our results indicate that BBI could play a decisive role in the development of dilated cardiomyopathy, especially in a geographical region as Graz, where BB is endemic. While aware of the small number of BB-patients in this study, we nevertheless conclude that, in a remarkable number of patients with signs of BBI, dilated cardiomyopathy could be reversed and LV-EF improved upon standard antibiotic treatment.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1997

Vascular permeability factor (vascular endothelial growth factor) expression and angiogenesis in patients with ductal carcinoma in situ of the breast.

BACKGROUND: Prior studies have indicated that ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) lesions are capable of inducing a vascular stroma. However, the mechanisms responsible for angiogenesis in DCIS currently are not defined. The goal of this study was to determine the relationship between the expression of the angiogenic cytokine vascular permeability factor (VPF), also known as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and angiogenesis in patients with DCIS. METHODS: Forty-six breast biopsies with DCIS were characterized with regard to histologic features on hematoxylin and eosin stained sections, and microvessel density and distribution using sections immunostained for factor VIII-related antigen. In addition, in situ hybridization was performed on formalin fixed, paraffin embedded sections using 35S labeled riboprobes specific for VPF/VEGF. RESULTS: VPF/VEGF expression by tumor cells in DCIS was greater than that observed in adjacent benign ductal or lobular epithelial cells in 96% of the evaluable cases. Moreover, the degree of VPF/VEGF mRNA expression was significantly associated with the degree of angiogenesis in these lesions. Among 22 cases with strong VPF/VEGF mRNA expression, the median microvessel count was 100 +/- 30.6 vessels/field. In contrast, among 24 cases with low level VPF/VEGF mRNA expression, the median microvessel count was 71 +/- 48.6 vessels/field (P = 0.04). In addition, high grade DCIS lesions more commonly were associated with strong VPF/VEGF mRNA expression than low grade lesions, but the results were not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that VPF/VEGF is an important angiogenic factor in patients with DCIS.

Breast Neoplasms↗
PubMed1997

Cyclin D1 expression in mantle cell lymphoma is accompanied by downregulation of cyclin D3 and is not related to the proliferative activity.

The cell cycle regulatory protein cyclin D1 is essential for G1-S phase transition in several epithelial and mesenchymal tissues but is apparently not essential in normal mature B cells. An overexpression of cyclin D1 is induced by the chromosomal translocation t(11;14)(q13;q32), which characterizes non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHLs) of mantle cell type. We studied 26 cases of mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) for the expression of cyclins D1 and D3. A total of 23 lymphomas showed a nuclear staining for cyclin D1, whereas reactive B cells of residual germinal centers were constantly negative. When compared with cyclin D3, an inverse staining pattern emerged. Whereas the B cells of residual germinal centers reacted strongly positive for cyclin D3, there was low or missing expression of cyclin D3 in MCL cells. In other B-cell lymphomas (n = 55), including chronic lymphocytic leukemia, low-grade lymphomas of mucosa-associated lymphatic tissue, follicular lymphomas, and diffuse large B-cell lymphomas, no cyclin D1 expression could be detected and 89% of these cases displayed cyclin D3 positivity. Lymphoma cell lines harboring the t(11;14) showed cyclin D1 protein but no or very low levels of cyclin D3; three other B-cell lines, a T-cell line, and peripheral blood lymphocytes strongly expressed cyclin D3 and reacted negatively for cyclin D1. We conclude that the chromosomal translocation t(11;14) leads to an abnormal protein expression of cyclin D1 in the tumor cells of MCL and induces a consecutive downregulation of cyclin D3. In contrast to other B-NHLs, cyclin D1 and D3 expression in MCL is not related to the growth fraction.

Cell Division↗
PubMed1997

Evaluation of a novel immunoglobulin A capture enzyme immunoassay for diagnosis of cytomegalovirus infection in renal and heart transplant recipients.

In a retrospective cohort study of 68 organ transplant patients, the usefulness of a new commercial immunoglobulin A (IgA) antibody capture enzyme immunoassay (EIA) specific to human cytomegalovirus (CMV) for the early diagnosis of CMV disease was investigated. The results were compared with those obtained with the CMV pp65 antigen assay in peripheral blood leukocytes, an IgM immunoblot assay, and six other commercial EIAs. In 21 of 28 patients with CMV disease, the pp65 antigen assay and the immunoblot assay identified patients before the onset of disease more frequently than any other serological test method (17 and 13 patients, respectively; p = 0.0029). In patients at risk for primary CMV infection, the pp65 antigen assay was the only method that identified all patients prior to the onset of CMV disease (p = 0.008). For the other patients who were at risk for CMV infection, the pp65 antigen assay and the immunoblot assay detected infection before CMV disease more frequently than any other test system (p = 0.026). With respect to CMV disease, both immunoblotting and the pp65 antigen assay showed excellent sensitivity (100% and 89%, respectively). However, the specificity of the immunoblot was poor (41%), while the specificity of the pp65 antigen assay was reasonably good (68%). The IgA capture EIA showed moderate sensitivity (61%) and reasonable specificity (76%). In conclusion, the pp65 antigen assay, which detects pp65 antigen in leukocytes, is the method of choice for diagnosis of either primary or recurrent CMV infection. The specificity of the pp65 antigen assay was improved by additional testing for specific IgA and IgM antibodies (95% vs. 68%). The IgA assay is of limited value in renal and heart transplant patients, since it detected IgA antibodies only sporadically, and even then, too late for a timely therapy.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Hepatitis B virus sequence changes evolving in liver transplant recipients with fulminant hepatitis.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Patients undergoing liver transplantation for hepatitis B virus (HBV) related liver cirrhosis are at major risk of developing HBV recurrence, and occasionally fulminant hepatitis. Here we tested in a longitudinal study whether specific viral variants are associated with fulminant HBV infection in the graft. METHODS: The complete HBV genomes isolated from the sera of three patients with HBV and HBV and hepatitis delta virus (HDV) coinfection during chronic infection before and during fulminant reinfection after transplantation were amplified and directly sequenced. RESULTS: Twenty, 25 and 19 mutations, distributed over the entire genome, were identified which differed between the HBV genomes isolated from each patient during chronic and fulminant infection, respectively. This reflects a much higher rate of nucleotide sequence changes than expected from the natural variation of HBV. No common HBV mutation emerged in any of the three cases during fulminant infection. However, precore defective viruses were found to be present in all three patients at the time of fulminant infection and in two of the patients before fulminant infection. Two of the patients had preS2-defective HBVs both before and after transplantation. A point mutation in the 'a'-determinant of the surface protein emerged in one case after transplantation under treatment with polyclonal HBV specific immunoglobulins. CONCLUSIONS: Many new, but no specific common mutations emerged during fulminant HBV reinfection. Although HBeAg defective variants were found in all cases studied, the presence of these variants also during chronic infection in two cases demonstrates that they are not sufficient to cause fulminant hepatitis. Thus, other factors than the emergence of a specific viral strain seem to contribute to the development of fulminant reinfection in a liver graft.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

A recombinant canarypox virus protects rabbits against a lethal rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) challenge.

An ALVAC (canarypox)-based recombinant virus ALVAC-RHDV (vCP309) expressing a native rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) capsid protein was derived and assessed for its protective efficacy in rabbits. Protection against a lethal RHDV challenge was demonstrated in rabbits inoculated twice with either high (10(7) p.f.u.) or low (10(5) p.f.u.) doses of vCP309. However, animals in the high dose group developed significantly higher antibody response. These results have implications that are relevant to the development of a safe rabbit hemorrhagic disease (RHD) vaccine and further illustrate the utility of the ALVAC vector system to elicit protective immune responses in nonavian species.

Animals↗
PubMed1997

Association of polymorphisms of dopamine D2 receptor (DRD2), and dopamine transporter (DAT1) genes with schizoid/avoidant behaviors (SAB).

The dopaminergic system, and in particular the dopamine D2 receptor, has been implicated in reward mechanisms in the brain. Dysfunction of the D2 dopamine receptors leads to aberrant substance-seeking behaviors (ethanol, drugs, tobacco, and food) and other related behaviors (pathological gambling, Tourette's disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder). This is the first study supporting a strong association between the dopamine D2 receptor Taq A1 allele with schizoid/avoidant behavior (SAB). Additionally, an albeit weaker association between the 480-bp VNTR 10/10 allele of the dopamine transporter (DAT1) gene with SAB was similarly found.

Adult↗