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Biomedical subjects

L H Liu

Publications and source records attributed to L H Liu.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1991

Observations on experimental infection of periodic Brugia malayi in man.

Three volunteers were inoculated with different numbers of infective larvae of periodic Brugia malayi from an artificially infected Meriones unguiculatus. At different times after inoculation, the volunteers developed clinical manifestations such as chills, fever, cough, asthma, skin itching, edema, adenolymphangitis and eosinophilia. Microfilaremia was first detected at 41 and 46 weeks after inoculation in two subjects. At 11 weeks, the percentage of E-rosette forming lymphocytes in these subjects was below the normal level. Specific antibody was first detected in three volunteers at 2, 3 and 5 weeks after inoculation, respectively, and increased to various extent at 12-16 weeks, but decreased in varying degrees at 44-56 weeks. The results also showed that antibody titres fluctuated at different periods of infection.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Role of the extracellular matrix protein thrombospondin in the early development of the mouse embryo.

The distribution of the extracellular matrix protein thrombospondin (TSP) in cleavage to egg cylinder staged mouse embryos and its role in trophoblast outgrowth from cultured blastocysts were examined. TSP was present within the cytoplasm of unfertilized eggs; in fertilized one- to four-cell embryos; by the eight-cell stage, TSP was also densely deposited at cell-cell borders. In the blastocyst, although TSP was present in all three cell types; trophectoderm, endoderm, and inner cell mass (ICM), it was enriched in the ICM and at the surface of trophectoderm cells. Hatched blastocysts grown on matrix-coated coverslips formed extensive trophoblast outgrowths on TSP, grew slightly less avidly on laminin, or on a 140-kD fragment of TSP containing its COOH terminus and putative cell binding domains. There was little outgrowth on the NH2 terminus heparin-binding domain. Addition of anti-TSP antibodies (but not GRGDS) to blastocysts growing on TSP strikingly inhibited outgrowth. Consistent with its early appearance and presence in trophoblast cells during implantation, TSP may play an important role in the early events involved in mammalian embryogenesis.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

[Penile revascularization: report of 4 cases].

From February to June in 1989, 4 patients consulted our ward with the complaint of impotence. After each patient's history and physical examination were taken, a series of tests were administered which included hepatic and renal function, blood sugar, cholesterol, triglyceride, testosterone, prolactin level, nocturnal penile tumescence (NPT), duplex sonography, cavernosography, and internal pudendal arteriography. The results of these tests suggested vasculogenic impotence and penile revascularization was attempted. In 2 patients the Michal-II method was used. The second patient was treated with the Virag-V method. In the fourth patient, the Michal-II method was combined with the administration of the Virag-V method. After 6 months of follow-up, objective tests such as NPT and a Duplex scanning examination showed moderate improvement in the patients who received the Virag-V method, alone or in combination with the Michal-II method. Subjectively, all the patients except the one who received just the Virag-V method, felt improvement in erection angle, penetration, and satisfaction. We conclude that penile revascularization may be a more noninvasive, physiological alternative to penile prosthesis for some cases of vasculogenic impotence.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

[Pharmacocavernosography: a worth-while examination in the evaluation of venogenic impotence].

From November 1988 till July 1989, a total of 78 patients consulted our OPD with a chief complaint of impotence. These patients underwent evaluation with pharmacocavernosography alone, or combined with color duplex sonography (Acuon 128). Sixty-three (80.8%) patients were found to have abnormal venous drainage which, in one case, was associated with peyronie's disease. Among these patients, the sites for the contrast medium in the venous drainage system from the penis were determined as follows: the preprostatic plexus for 53 (67.9%) patients, the proximal (cavernosal or crural) vein for 50 (64.1%) patients; the internal pudendal vein for 46 (58.9%) patients; the deep dorsal vein for 31 (39.7%) patients; the glans of the penis for 8 (10.3%) patients; the external pudendal vein for 8 (10.3%) patients and the corpus spongiosum for 3 (3.8%) patients. So the venous ligation for venogenic impotence had to include all these visible veins, especially the proximal vein. Among the 52 patients who once had received duplex scanning, 43 (82.7%) patients had abnormal venous drainage. So the duplex sonography did not seem to influence the population of venous leakage and 12 patients exhibited moderate to severe degree of arteriogenic insufficiency. Pharmacocavernosography in these patients was less valuable. No severe complications, such as priapism, were found. We found pharmacocavernosography to be a simple, practical and useful tool for evaluating patients suspected to have venogenic impotence. It can determine the sites of venous leakage (the key information for planning venous ligation) and provides good morphological information in the study of cavernous bodies. But it was not reliable in the evaluation of the severity of venous leakage.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

[Evaluation of impotence: intracorporeal injection of papaverine by color duplex sonography].

From February 1989 to June 1989, 49 patients consulted our OPD for the complaint of impotence. The average age was 46.9 +/- 11.2 y/0. We applied intracorporeal injection of papaverine (60 mg) by color duplex sonography (Acuson 128) for evaluation. The results of the papaverine test were: good response in 6 (12%), imperfect response in 21 (43%) and impaired response in 22 (45%). So the total positive response rate was 55%; and the total negative response rate was 45%; two patients (4%) experienced priapism. Spontaneous detumescence occurred after aspiration of the corpus cavernosum and no complications ensued. We utilized duplex sonography for evaluating penile blood flow before and after papaverine injection. Diameters of the deep artery was: right artery increased from 0.42 +/- 0.13 mm to 0.76 +/- 0.26 mm, while the left artery increased from 0.43 +/- 0.19 mm to 0.64 +/- 0.31 mm. Following injection, the peak velocity and the increased change of peak velocity were higher in patients in the positive response group than in the negative response group. There was no correlation for the percent of increase in diameter of the deep arteries. This technique provides a safe method with few complications for the objective assessment of response to intracorporeal papaverine injection and the anatomic structure of the penis. Use of this technique can also avoid unnecessary examinations and influence the strategy of treatment. After normal values and parameters are established, this method should be a useful diagnostic tool.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Preoperative diagnosis and management of pheochromocytoma.

To improve the diagnosis and management of pheochromocytoma, the results from a comparative study of 34 patients with pheochromocytoma, 33 patients with essential hypertension and 36 normal volunteers are presented. Our data suggest that clinical characteristics indicate the possibility of pheochromocytoma only, while the definite diagnosis of pheochromocytoma must be based on comprehensive analysis of all data obtained from both clinical and laboratory studies. The plasma concentration of free norepinephrine in peripheral veins is helpful in establishing the presence or absence of pheochromocytoma. Both CT scan and meta-I-131-iodobenzylguanidine images are useful noninvasive techniques for localization of pheochromocytoma. Phenoxybenzamine is of benefit in both diagnosis and management of patients with pheochromocytoma.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

[Diagnosis and treatment of adult polycystic kidney disease].

A review of 20 polycystic kidney disease patients in admitted to Kaohsiung Medical College Hospital is herein reported. In this series 60% of the patients were in the fourth to sixth decades of life at the time of diagnosis. The average age was 50 years. The disease was generally more commonly found in the females than in male subjects. Flank pain and gross hematuria was the most common presenting symptom in these cases. In 70% of the patients hypertension were noted, besides 55% of patients have associated liver cysts and 9% of the patients have associated pancreatic cystic diseases. In a comparison of ultrasonography, CT scans, renal angiography, intravenous pyelography and retrograde pyelography in the evaluation of polycystic kidney disease, it was found that CT scans and ultrasonography had more than a 90 per cent diagnostic accuracy rate, while intravenous pyelography had only a 30 percent accuracy rate. Because of improved treatments such as antibiotic and hemodialysis techniques the five-year survival rate of patients, with polycystic kidney diseases, may be increased.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Sources of extracellular lysosomal enzymes released in organ-culture by developing and healing inflammatory lesions.

Developing and healing inflammatory lesions were topically produced in the skin of rabbits by sulfur mustard (SM). After the rabbits were sacrificed, the various lesions were removed and organ-cultured. The organ-culture fluids extracted the extracellular lysosomal enzymes (acid phosphatase, beta-glucuronidase, beta-galactosidase, and lysozyme), so that they could be measured biochemically along with lactic dehydrogenase (LDH), an enzyme marker for cell death. In tissue sections, the number and types of cells were counted, and their lysosomal enzyme content evaluated histochemically. The culture fluids from peak lesions contained much lower levels of all five enzymes than did culture fluids from healing lesions. When histological-histochemical-biochemical correlations were made, serum, macrophages (MN), and activated fibroblasts (but not tissue PMN) appeared to be major sources of extracellular lysosomal enzymes in peak lesions; and the dead PMN in the crusts and the activated fibroblasts in the tissues appeared to be major sources in healing lesions. The high lysosomal enzyme content of the crusts covering the lesions suggests that this passive barrier may also play an active role in promoting healing and in protecting against invasion by microorganisms.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Basal lamina and extracellular matrix alterations in the caudal neural tube of the delayed Splotch embryo.

Regional patterns of deposition of laminin (LN), fibronectin (FN), type IV collagen (IV), and heparan sulfate proteoglycan (HSPG) were examined during the formation of the caudal neural tube in embryos homozygous for the delayed Splotch gene and in their normal littermates. Delayed Splotch embryos had neural tube closure defects which extended from the posterior neuropore into the region formed by secondary neurulation. During posterior neuropore closure these components were normally restricted to forming basal laminae, with FN and HSPG additionally deposited in the mesenchyme. Unlike control embryos in which medial regions of the neuroepithelial basal lamina contained greatest amounts of all four, the dorsolateral zone contained less LN and IV and more FN and HSPG, in affected embryos these components were less densely deposited medially, reflecting perhaps the poor structural organization of the notochord. The neuroepithelial basal lamina was often disorganized and wavy compared to the linear pattern typical of controls. By the 12th day, the posterior neuropore of controls had closed and secondary neurulation was underway; however in delayed Splotch embryos, the neural folds remained widely splayed and epithelium newly formed via secondary neurulation extended that abnormally open configuration to the tip of the tailbud. In controls, with mesenchymal cell aggregation FN and HSPG were displaced from between cells to the forming basal lamina. As a central lumen formed within the aggregate LN and IV were added to the basal lamina, and the newly formed epithelium merged with the anterior neural tube. In delayed Splotch embryos, FN and HSPG were incompletely removed from aggregating cell surfaces, the normal morphogenetic cell shaping changes failed to occur and in many embryos a central lumen did not form; the overgrown, aggregated cells merging with the abnormally splayed anterior neural folds. In addition, the critical enrichment of FN and HSPG present between newly formed and consolidated neuroepithelium was displaced in delayed Splotch embryos.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

The effect of berbamine derivatives on activated Ca2+-stimulated Mg2+-dependent ATPase in erythrocyte membranes.

Ca2+-stimulated Mg2+-dependent ATPase (Ca2+ + Mg2+-ATPase) stimulated by calmodulin, by partial proteolysis or by oleic acid in erythrocyte membranes was inhibited by various derivatives of the naturally occurring alkaloid berbamine. The ability of these derivatives to inhibit trypsin-activated Ca2+ + Mg2+-ATPase correlated well with their ability to inhibit the calmodulin-stimulated enzyme. Inhibition of the trypsin-activated Ca2+ + Mg2+-ATPase by O-4-(ethoxybutyl)berbamine (EBB) was competitive with respect to ATP. The Ki for inhibition was about 8 microM. These results suggest that the binding site of EBB on the activated Ca2+ + Mg2+-ATPase may bear structural similarity to that on calmodulin, and may be closely related to the ATP-binding site on the enzyme.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗
PubMed1987

Delta hepatitis virus infection in China.

To assess the prevalence, epidemiological features and prognostic implications of hepatitis D (Delta) in Sichuan Province, The People's Republic of China, 649 sera (515 from HBsAg positive patients and 134 from HBsAg negative subjects) were tested by radioimmunoassay (RIA) for antibody to the hepatitis D virus (anti-HD). Forty-seven sera (7.2%) showed some degree of reactivity. Serial dilutions of these sera indicated that prozoning was not responsible for the equivocal results. Thirty-four of the 47 sera were submitted under code to a second laboratory for independent analysis. According to those results anti-HD antibodies were detected in four of these sera. The overall prevalence of anti-HD in the HBsAg positive patients therefore was 0.8% (4/515). On the basis of clinical, biochemical and histological data 427 HBsAg positive sera were further divided into acute Type B hepatitis, chronic Type B hepatitis, healthy carrier state and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) subgroups. Two of 65 (3.1%) anti-HD positive sera belonged to the acute Type B hepatitis group; one of 104 (0.9%), the chronic Type B hepatitis group and one of 246 (0.4%), the healthy carrier group. No antibody was detected in sera from 12 HBsAg positive HCC patients. All HBsAg negative patients were negative for anti-HD antibody. The results of this study indicate that despite a high prevalence of hepatitis B virus infection, positive serology for delta virus is uncommon in Sichuan Province, The People's Republic of China.

Adolescent↗