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Biomedical subjects

M Burger

Publications and source records attributed to M Burger.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1996

[Delivery from breech presentation with the delivery chair. Initial experiences with a new obstetric method].

OBJECTIVE: To prove safety and practicability of birth from breech presentation on a delivery chair. METHOD: In a retrospective study (1990-1995) all fetuses with breech presentation and those born using a delivery chair were collected. RESULTS: Out of a total of 2,925 fetuses 138 (4.7%) had breech presentation; 82 of them were born on a delivery chair. CONCLUSIONS: Since 1992 all fetuses with breech presentation were born on the delivery chair. The frequency of cesarean sections was roughly the same in both collectives (25.5%). We could not identify any disadvantages with this new technique.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

[Herpes gestationis. Clinical spectrum and diagnostic possibilities].

Herpes gestationis (HG) is a rare autoimmune disease of pregnancy. We report on five patients in whom the clinical diagnosis was confirmed by histology, immunofluorescence and immunoblot studies. The time of onset ranged from the 8th week of pregnancy to the 1st day post partum. In one patient erosions and ulcerations of the oral cavity predominated while the remainder of the skin was nearly unaffected. One patient had intense pruritus without any skin eruptions during the final 8 weeks of her pregnancy, developing bullous lesions on the 1st day post partum. The other patients initially suffered from pruritic polymorphic skin lesions, followed by vesiculae and bullae. In the serum of all patients, the complement-fixing HG factor was found. Immunoblot studies with epidermal and dermal extracts demonstrated the binding of the antibodies to a 180-kD protein of the epidermis. All patients improved markedly with medium dosages of systemic corticosteroids. In four cases the newborns were healthy and mature, and in one case, the infant met all criteria for a "small-for-dates" baby. We discuss both clinical spectrum and diagnostic options of HG and review new aspects related to the pathogenesis of this disease.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Genotyping human papillomavirus type 16 isolates from persistently infected promiscuous individuals and cervical neoplasia patients.

Nucleotide sequence variation in the noncoding region of the genome of human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV16) was determined by direct sequencing and single-strand conformation polymorphism analysis of DNA fragments amplified by PCR. Individuals of diverse sexual promiscuity and/or cervicopathology were studied. In a group of 14 healthy, monogamous HPV16-positive females, only two HPV16 sequence variants could be documented. Among 17 females and 3 males with multiple sex partners and living in the same geographical region, nine sequence variants were found, whereas among 7 patients with cervical neoplasia from another region, five variants were detected. Although numbers are limited, in the group of individuals at high risk of acquiring a sexually transmitted disease or with cervical neoplasia, a larger number of HPV16 sequence variants was encountered (two types among 14 individuals versus nine types among 20; Fisher's exact test, P = 0.07). Seven of the individuals were sampled repeatedly over time. For these persistently infected women, no differences in HPV16 sequences were detected, irrespective of promiscuity, and persistence of a single viral variant, spread over multiple anatomic sites, for more than 2 years could be demonstrated. This indicates that viral persistence may be a common feature and that successful superinfection with a new variant may be rare, despite a potentially high frequency of viral reinoculation.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1994

[Quality control in clinical hemorheology: preliminary study by three centers].

Clinical or pharmacological trials require reproducible laboratory tests. The aim of this work was to investigate the conditions of quality control of two laboratory tests, blood viscosity and red cell aggregation used for hemorheology trials in three centers. The results showed that viscosity measurements require 2 standards. For red cell aggregation, the control suspension standardized media (normal an pathological aggregation) showed a good intercentre reproducibility of the dissociation thresholds but a wide variability of aggregation times. Complementary studies in 5 or 6 centres are planned in order to define national standards of quality control.

Blood Viscosity↗
PubMed1993

[Pemphigus foliaceus caused by penicillamine].

We report the case of an 80-year-old woman who developed pemphigus foliaceus while taking penicillamine for rheumatoid arthritis. On the basis of this new case, we discuss fresh insights into the pathogenesis of drug-induced pemphigus. In addition, having reviewed the literature, we give a list of drugs that have been reported to induce this disease.

Aged↗
PubMed1992

[A case of adult Gaucher disease].

The authors describe a case of an adult patient having Gaucher's disease, who had hepatosplenomegaly and pancytopenia. The diagnosis was established by the low level of leukocyte beta-glucosidase and by histology of bone marrow, liver and spleen. The patient had no bone pain, but MRI described characteristic lesions of the femur. Serum acid phosphatase was characteristically elevated. The hypersplenism was reduced after splenectomy. The patient has a daughter with central nervous system dysfunction. Her chromosome examination is normal, but she has lower leukocyte beta-glucosidase activity too. She may have a Gaucher's disease of type II, the acute neuropathic form.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Soluble interleukin-2 receptors inhibit interleukin 2-dependent proliferation and cytotoxicity: explanation for diminished natural killer cell activity in cutaneous T-cell lymphomas in vivo?

In patients with cutaneous T-cell lymphomas (CTCL), soluble interleukin-2 receptor serum levels (sIL-2R) were determined by ELISA technique, and natural killer cell (NK) activity, by a 4-h chromium-51 release assay. Decrease of NK activity correlated with the augmentation of serum sIL-2R. After a 4-d stimulation with interleukin 2 CTCL patients' peripheral mononuclear cells (PMC) showed an increase of cytotoxic activity similar to that in healthy donors' PMC. Normal donors' PMC demonstrated a diminished IL-2-induced cytotoxic activity in 25% CTCL serum (sIL-2R of 3000, 7330, and 10700 U/ml, respectively) compared to control serum (sIL-2R of 400, 340, and 420 U/ml, respectively). IL-2-dependent proliferation of 2-d phytohemagglutinin (PHA) blasts was lower in CTCL serum than in control serum. sIL-2R was enriched from one CTCL patient's serum by IL-2 affinity chromatography. Transfection of the Tac gene into NIH/3T3 fibroblasts resulted in the production of a recombinant sIL-2R. The presence of enriched native or recombinant sIL-2R inhibited interleukin-2-dependent generation of cytotoxic activity and PHA blast proliferation. We suggest that elevated sIL-2R levels account for diminished NK activity by neutralizing interleukin 2 in CTCL patients.

Cytotoxicity, Immunologic↗
PubMed1989

Mitogen-responsive S6 kinase.

Many cell lines respond to mitogenic stimuli (serum, growth factors) with rapid phosphorylation of the ribosomal protein S6 at several serine sites. We have tried to identify the protein kinase(s) mediating this effect of growth stimuli. Examining post-DEAE chromatography fractions of S49 kin- cell extracts, we could detect a highly active effector-independent S6 kinase with specificity for serine residues. The study was extended to the presumably homologous human enzyme, using HeLa S3 cells as model system. Activity yields increased up to sevenfold when exhausted HeLa cells were supplied with fresh medium plus serum. The enzyme uses ATP, not GTP, as cosubstrate, 40-S or 80-S (reassociated from subunits) ribosomal particles being substrate. The optimal K+ concentration, measured at 3 mM Mg2+, is 35 mM. Under optimized assay conditions S6 phosphorylation proceeded faster in vitro than it appeared to do in vivo. The apparent Mr of the enzyme, as estimated by gel filtration on Sephadex G-100, is 56,000 (determination in the presence of 200 mM KCl in 25 mM phosphate buffer). Tighter binding to DEAE-Sephacel and higher specificity for S6 distinguishes this enzyme from the following S6-phosphorylating protein kinases: protein kinase C, protease-activated kinase II, histone-4 phosphotransferase and an enzyme with the properties of casein kinase I. In published summaries of observations shown here and in a follow-up study with chick embryo fibroblasts, the enzyme(s) has been referred to as mitogen-responsive S6 kinase(s) [Martini, O. H. W. and Lawen, A. (1985) in Hormones and cell regulation (Dumont, J. E., Hamprecht, B. and Nunez, J., eds) vol. 9, pp. 411-412, Elsevier Company, North-Holland, Amsterdam; Lawen, A. and Martini, O. H. W. (1985) FEBS Lett. 185, 272-276].

Adenosine Triphosphate↗
PubMed1989

Insulin-induced S6 kinase activation in HeLa cells and its reversal by hyperthermic stress.

Insulin treatment of HeLa S3 cells activates an S6-phosphorylating protein kinase. Although this enzyme has chromatographic properties resembling those of described proteolytic fragments of other protein kinases, namely protein kinase C, protease-activated kinase II and histone-4 protein kinase, and although insulin has been proposed by others to cause S6 phosphorylation via proteolytic protein kinase activation, the insulin-induced increase in S6-kinase activity described here is probably not due to proteolysis. Rather, the activity indicates the existence, in HeLa cells, of an interconvertible S6 kinase, since the insulin-induced activity increase was rapidly reversed under hyperthermic stress, and since this effect of hyperthermia was itself reversible. The S6-kinase activities from serum- and from insulin-stimulated HeLa cells resemble each other closely and are likely to represent the same enzyme. The enzyme may therefore mediate both signals delivered by mitogens and the insulin signal. Analysed at an in vitro transfer of 1 mol phosphate/mol S6, this S6 kinase activity does not phosphorylate the (principal) S6 site recognized by the cAMP-dependent protein kinase.

Binding Sites↗
PubMed1989

Increased detection rate of human papillomavirus in cervical scrapes by the polymerase chain reaction as compared to modified FISH and southern-blot analysis.

Cervical scrapes from 80 women with a positive cytology result were tested for the presence of human papillomavirus (HPV) using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and compared to the results obtained with the modified filter in situ hybridisation (FISH) and the Southern-blot techniques. The sensitivity of the modified FISH and the Southern-blot was similar, and HPV was detected in 46% of the patients. The sensitivity of the PCR appeared to be higher, and HPV was detected in 70% of the patients. HPV-DNA could be detected in 46 of the 68 patients with mild dysplasia, in 6 of the 8 patients with severe dysplasia, and in all 4 patients with carcinoma in situ. In 18 patients (21%) more than one HPV type could be detected by the PCR. The control group consisted of 100 women involved in a triennial checkup programme, who had normal smear results and no history of cervical lesions. HPV was detected in 5% of the women by the PCR. The PCR technique detected HPV in a high proportion of the cervical scrapes from women with a positive cytology result. These results give further evidence for an important role of HPV in the pathogenesis of cervical cancer.

Biomarkers↗
PubMed1989

Acute immune hemolysis induced by a degradation product of amphotericin B.

We report here on an eight-year-old boy who first developed acute intravascular hemolysis following therapy with amphotericin B (AmB) and subsequently a delayed hemolytic transfusion reaction due to alloantibodies. Although there is as yet no evidence for metabolism of AmB in vivo, the hemolysis appeared to be the result of sensitization against a degradation product of the drug. The patient's serum contained a hemagglutinating IgM antibody that reacted with all red blood cells (RBC) tested in the presence of plasma obtained from patients receiving AmB (ex vivo antigen), but not in the presence of their urine, AmB itself, or with AmB-pretreated RBC. These findings indicate that the antibody was directed against a degradation product of AmB, presumably a trace metabolite, that has not yet been identified.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1989

Stimulation of thymus cells by the calcium ionophore A23187 in the presence of LPS and 2-ME: on the mode of action of A23187 and 2-ME.

The stimulation of murine spleen and thymus cells by the calcium ionophore A23187 was studied using a serum-free culture technique. In cultures of spleen cells, rabbit IgG was capable of replacing A23187 in bringing about the stimulation of cells. Low concentrations of A23187 were inhibitory to proliferating B lymphocytes. In cultures of thymus cells a stimulating activity of A23187 was observed only if LPS was present in the medium.

Animals↗