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Biomedical subjects

M Campbell

Publications and source records attributed to M Campbell.

At least 505 records · Page 28Linked to original sources

Cognitive effects of lithium carbonate and haloperidol in treatment-resistant aggressive children.

The effects of lithium carbonate and haloperidol on cognition were examined in a placebo-controlled, double-blind study of 61 treatment-resistant, hospitalized school-aged children. They all had a DSM-III diagnosis of conduct disorder-- undersocialized , aggressive, with a profile of highly explosive and aggressive behavior. Children were assessed at the end of a two-week placebo-baseline period and again after four weeks of treatment. Drug effects on cognition were mild. Haloperidol (mean dose, 2.95 mg/day) caused significant decreases in Porteus Maze test quotient scores and a slowing of reaction time (RT) on a simple RT task. Lithium carbonate (mean dose, 1,166 mg/day) adversely affected qualitative scores on the Porteus Maze test. No significant treatment effects were found for the Matching Familiar Figures Test, short-term recognition memory and concept attainment tasks, or the Stroop Test.

Aggression↗

Status of cholinesterase activities in blood in neuropsychiatric disorders.

The availability of easily accessible biochemical trait markers of central cholinergic activity would assist in the identification of homogeneous subgroups of neuropsychiatric patients within specific diagnostic categories. In addition to a refinement of nosology, these measures could also help to design specific treatment interventions. The activities of cholinesterase isoenzymes in blood have been reported to be abnormal in neuropsychiatric disorders with proven or hypothesized abnormalities of central cholinergic transmission. However, the relevance of these peripheral cholinesterase abnormalities to disordered central cholinergic transmission remains uncertain. Future studies examining specific cholinesterase isoenzymes in homogeneous diagnostic groups are needed to determine the potential utility of these measures as peripheral trait markers of central cholinergic activity.

Acetylcholinesterase↗

Assessment by attending physicians of a seminar method to improve clinical teaching.

The authors in this article present assessments by attending physicians of a seminar method to improve clinical teaching. An experimental study was conducted to determine whether or not the seminar method (a) is perceived by attending physicians as beneficial, (b) modifies the physicians' attitudes toward teaching, (c) enables attending physicians to define needed teaching changes, (d) motivates them to improve their teaching performance, and (e) is perceived as having long-term benefits. Forty-six inpatient attending physicians from four California institutions participated in the study. The physicians were randomly assigned to an experimental group which attended a seminar on clinical teaching or to a control group which received no such intervention. Questionnaires completed by the physicians indicated that the teachers who experienced the seminar method perceived it as beneficial, improved their attitudes toward clinical teaching, determined needed teaching changes, attempted to implement new teaching approaches, and perceived long-term benefits.

California↗

Haloperidol in the treatment of infantile autism: effects on learning and behavioral symptoms.

In this double-blind, placebo-controlled study the administration of haloperidol resulted in significant decreases in behavioral symptoms and in general clinical improvement in 40 autistic children ages 2.33 to 6.92 years. Haloperidol also produced greater facilitation and retention of discrimination learning in the laboratory. No adverse effects were observed at therapeutic doses, which ranged from 0.5 to 3.0 mg/day or 0.019 to 0.217 mg/kg per day.

Autistic Disorder↗

Acceleration of fusion in mouse palates by in vitro exposure to excess G.

Palatal shelves from 13- and 14-day mouse embryos were excised and cultured in contiguous pairs. Experimental cultures were exposed to 2.6 G in a culture centrifuge; controls were in the same incubator. After 24 hours, palates were prepared for light or electron microscopy. Scoring of paraffin sections according to the stage of fusion seen in the medial epithelial edges (MEE) showed that palates exposed to excess G were in more advanced stages of fusion than were controls. Ultrastructurally, control MEE had tightly apposed cell membranes and numerous desmosomes; in centrifuged MEE, desmosomes had been removed and there was much intercellular space. Nuclear membranes were intact in control MEE, but showed marked deterioration in MEE of centrifuged palates. Few lysosomes and no necrosis were seen in control MEE; centrifuged MEE had numerous lysosomes as well as necrotic cells. Basal lamina were intact in controls, but interrupted in centrifuged palates. The results confirm the hypothesis that gravitational increases speed up the differentiative process.

Animals↗

Adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma in Jamaica and its relationship to human T-cell leukemia/lymphoma virus type I-associated lymphoproliferative disease.

We had shown previously that the prevalence of human T-cell leukemia/lymphoma virus type I (HTLV-I)-antibody positivity is high in Jamaican non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) patients and that virus-positive patients have the clinical features and poor prognosis of adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATL). Sixty-two % of 45 NHL patients diagnosed consecutively between 2/1/82 and 1/31/84 and studied prospectively were HTLV-I-antibody positive. Skin involvement (38%), hypercalcemia (44%), and leukemia (40%) were unusually prevalent and there was a strong association (p less than 0.05) with HTLV-I-antibody positivity. Fifty-two % of the patients had bone marrow infiltration, and 74% of these patients were HTLV-I-antibody positive (p = 0.06). Lymphadenopathy (96%), hepatomegaly (60%), and splenomegaly (25%) were detected with about the same frequency as in other series of NHL patients with advanced disease, and 61-88% of these patients were HTLV-I-antibody positive. Patients were classified into those with "typical ATL" (NHL associated with 2 of the 4 features i) hypercalcemia; ii) histologically proven skin infiltration; iii) leukemia; and iv) bone marrow infiltration, providing that the morphology of infiltrating or leukemic cells was characteristic of ATL; those "consistent with ATL" (NHL associated with 1 of these 4 features); and "non-ATL" (NHL without any of these 4 additional features). Thirty-two (71%) of the NHL patients were ATL patients, i.e., had features typical of or consistent with ATL, and 78% of these were HTLV-I-antibody positive. HTLV-I provirus was detected in tumour cells of all HTLV-I-antibody positive patients tested. Three (23%) of the non-ATL patients were HTLV-I-antibody positive. There was no correlation between histopathological features and the clinical classification or HTLV-I-antibody positivity. Median survival of ATL and non-ATL patients was 16 and 53 weeks. Although the disease was usually fulminant, 34% of the ATL patients had a subacute or chronic course. Skin involvement and leukemia were prominent in these patients. Hypercalcemia was the chief prognostic determinant. Median survival of hypercalcemic and normocalcemic ATL patients was 13 and 86 weeks (p less than 0.05). Hypercalcemia caused 10 deaths, infections 12, and death was due to tumour progression in 4 patients. Infections were usually due to pyogenic organisms and only 2 patients had systemic opportunistic infections. Six (27%) of 22 chronic lymphocytic leukemic (CLL) patients were HTLV-I-antibody positive.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Adolescent↗

Saliva lithium levels in children: their use in monitoring serum lithium levels and lithium side effects.

The reliability of saliva lithium levels in monitoring serum lithium levels in children taking lithium has rarely been studied, despite the potential usefulness of such a study and despite a number of adult studies focusing on the technique. In a study of 61 aggressive school-age children diagnosed as undersocialized, aggressive conduct disorder, a subsample of 21 children received lithium. Saliva lithium levels aided in monitoring side effects, and in 15 of the 21 children simultaneous saliva and serum lithium levels were done. These were highly correlated (r = 0.83) and the saliva to serum ratio was 2.53 across subjects. The results indicate that future work with larger numbers of children should study the ratio of saliva to serum lithium levels. Adult studies have shown that there is too great a variability in saliva to serum lithium level ratios to support the use of a fixed saliva to serum lithium ratio. This may not be the case in children. Seventeen children from the lithium subsample experienced 41 lithium-related side effects. Most children suffered side effects on relatively high doses of lithium, and those few who experienced side effects on low dosage had saliva lithium levels that were proportionately high. However, it remains unclear whether saliva lithium can be used to monitor side effects.

Child↗