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Biomedical subjects

M Serrano

Publications and source records attributed to M Serrano.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources
PubMed1992

[Value of fine needle aspiration cytology in the diagnosis and treatment of tumors].

UNLABELLED: We report the cytologic results of 186 fine needle aspirations on accessible lymph nodes and tumoral masses as well as deep masses under radiologic control. We assessed the ratios of diagnostic accuracy and the utility of this procedure for staging solid tumors and taking therapeutic decisions. RESULTS: sensitivity, 89.6%; specificity, 100%; positive predictive value, 100%; negative predictive value, 57% and accuracy index, 89.2%. Using this technique we detected a metastatic disease in 62% of neoplastic patients. We took a therapeutic decision (active treatment or analgesia) in accordance with the results of the cytology in 63% of patients with solid tumors. Two patients, after a transthoracic aspiration, developed pneumothorax as a complication. Cytology by fine needle aspiration is a fast and simple method for diagnosing, staging and taking a therapeutic decision on patients with solid tumors.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

[The treatment of large-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphomas with the MACOP-B protocol].

BACKGROUND: To investigate the results of the treatment of large-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (LCNHL) with the MACOP-B chemotherapy protocol. METHODS: 20 patients with the following inclusion criteria were treated: LCNHL with a definite majority of large lymphoid cells and absence of previous therapy, HIV infection or severe underlying diseases. RESULTS: Three patients died during therapy and 15 (75%) achieved a complete remission. Actuarial survival after 36 months (0.66) was significantly better (p = 0.05) than that of a comparable historical series of LCNHL treated with CHOP (0.28). Age, stages III-IV, B symptoms, large lymphatic mass (LLM) and bone marrow infiltration did not negatively affect survival. The toxicity of the MACOP-B protocol was high: mucositis (65%), cytopenia (55%), neuropathy (40%), complications of steroid therapy (15%), and mortality directly related with therapy in 15%. Residual masses were found after therapy in 7% (70%) with BD, which were localized in lymphoid areas or in parenchyma (spleen and kidney). Surgical exploration showed that the residual masses were not tumoral in three cases, and in another three magnetic resonance suggested inactive disease. CONCLUSIONS: The MACOP-B protocol is highly effective for the treatment of LCNHL. The essential prognostic factor for survival in these NHL appears to be the cell composition with a great majority of large cells.

Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols↗
PubMed1991

Transcription activation at a distance by phage phi 29 protein p4. Effect of bent and non-bent intervening DNA sequences.

Protein p4 of the Bacillus subtilis phage phi 29 switches on the transcription of the viral late genes by binding to the viral late promoter at a region close to the RNA polymerase binding site. Gel retardation and DNase I footprinting assays show that the presence of protein p4 is required for RNA polymerase recognition of the late promoter. The protein p4 and RNA polymerase DNA binding sites have been separated by the insertion of bent and non-bent DNA sequences of different lengths. These mutant promoters were used to study in vitro their protein p4-dependent transcriptional activity and their interaction with both protein p4 and RNA polymerase. The results indicate that protein p4 is able to function at longer DNA distances from the RNA polymerase binding site than in the natural promoter. The extent of protein p4 activity depended on the length and conformation of the inserted DNA. Activation of transcription and RNA polymerase binding was favoured when the relative orientation of protein p4 and RNA polymerase was conserved and when the intervening DNA had a bent conformation. These data, together with the DNase I footprints, suggest that activation at distance by protein p4 involves a DNA loop held by the interaction of protein p4 and RNA polymerase.

Bacillus subtilis↗
PubMed1991

Contamination and radiation exposure from 201Tl in patients undergoing dialysis after a nuclear medicine study.

Our institution is a major kidney research and transplant center. Hemodialysis patients that are scheduled for renal transplant are given a 201Tl stress test. Possible radiation exposure and contamination are of concern to attending personnel. We investigated this situation and found measurable activity in the effluent of patients receiving dialysis but no significant contamination of equipment. We determined that dialysis personnel received minimal radiation exposure.

Equipment Contamination↗
PubMed1990

Characterization of a DNA binding protein of bacteriophage PRD1 involved in DNA replication.

Escherichia coli phage PRD1 protein P12, involved in PRD1 DNA replication in vivo, has been highly purified from E. coli cells harbouring a gene XII-containing plasmid. Protein P12 binds to single-stranded DNA as shown by gel retardation assays and nuclease protection experiments. Binding of protein P12 to single-stranded DNA increases about 14% the contour length of the DNA as revealed by electron microscopy. Binding to single-stranded DNA seems to be cooperative, and it is not sequence specific. Protein P12 also binds to double-stranded DNA although with an affinity 10 times lower than to single-stranded DNA. Using the in vitro phage phi 29 DNA replication system, it is shown that protein P12 stimulates the overall phi 29 DNA replication.

Coliphages↗
PubMed1990

Types 1 and 2 plasminogen activator inhibitor and tumor necrosis factor alpha in patients with sepsis.

We have determined the plasma concentrations of types 1 and 2 of plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI-1 and PAI-2), tumor necrosis factor (TNF-alpha) and endotoxin in 47 patients with bacterial infection (22 patients presented with positive blood cultures). Results were compared with those observed in 30 healthy subjects. There was a significant increase in PAI-1 and TNF-alpha in patients as compared to controls (p less than 0.0001), whereas no differences for PAI-2 were observed. PAI-1 and TNF-alpha were significantly higher in 18 patients with gram-negative bacteremia as compared to all other patients (p less than 0.0001). However, no correlation between the analyzed parameters and either endotoxin or clinical outcome was observed. We conclude that there is an increase of PAI-1 and TNF-alpha in patients with sepsis, which is not related to the endotoxin concentration. Our results suggest that PAI-1, but not PAI-2, is the main plasminogen activator inhibitor in human sepsis.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

A novel nucleoprotein complex at a replication origin.

The viral protein p6, required for the protein-primed initiation of replication of Bacillus subtilis phage phi 29, forms a nucleoprotein complex at the viral replication origins that shows novel features. Deoxyribonuclease I and hydroxyl radical footprinting data, as well as the induction of positive supercoiling, support a model in which a DNA right-handed superhelix tightly wraps around a multimeric p6 core. The interaction occurs through the DNA minor groove. The activity of p6 not only requires the formation of the complex but also its correct positioning, indicating that the other proteins involved in the initiation of replication recognize, at a precise position, either the p6 core or the DNA conformational change induced by p6.

Bacillus subtilis↗
PubMed1990

Hodgkin's disease in patients with antibodies to human immunodeficiency virus. A study of 22 patients.

The experience of 22 Hodgkin's disease (HD) patients with human immunodeficiency virus type I (HIV) antibodies, collected from a cooperative study of six hospitals during 1984-1989 is presented. Young men (average age, 27.6 years) with a high incidence of intravenous drug abuse (86%) were found. The status of the HIV infection at diagnosis of HD was: four patients, acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS); eight patients, persistent generalized lymphadenopathy (PGL); and ten patients, asymptomatic. The natural history of HD was unusual, with a high incidence of B symptoms (81%), advanced Stages III to IV (90%), bone marrow invasion (50%), cytopenias before treatment (45%), opportunistic infections (68%), and aggressive histologies. A decreased response to chemotherapy with poor marrow tolerance and a significant decrease in survival, 18 months, was observed. The AIDS and cytopenias pretreatment were associated with a shorter statistically significant survival, which defines the importance of immunodeficiency in HD prognosis. Complete remission after treatment was a factor that contributed to a longer statistically significant survival. The PGL or asymptomatic patients survived longer but also had a poor course, and five of them had AIDS criteria during evolution. A high incidence of HD in relation to non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) in patients with HIV infection in the six cooperating hospitals was found. Criteria for considering HD as an AIDS-associated lymphoproliferative disease in our environment are discussed.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1990

Monocyte disorder causing cellular immunodeficiency: a family study.

We report a familial type of monocyte dysfunction not recognized previously. This disorder was observed in a young adult man with a long clinical history of recurrent, self-limited episodes of cryptogenic fever accompanied by digestive and respiratory symptoms and repeated oral and skin infections. Lectin-induced lymphocyte transformation was reduced and skin tests revealed anergy to tuberculin and candidin. Monocytes from this patient exhibited markedly diminished expression of cytoskeletal vimentin intermediate filaments, HLA-DR antigens and immunological receptors for IgG Fc and C3b. These abnormal monocytes demonstrated impaired phagocytosis and reduced accessory cell function on PHA-mediated lymphocyte activation. Release of soluble lymphocyte-activating factors by these cells was found to be defective. Lymphocytes from the patient responded appropriately to lectin in the presence of normal monocytes. Two family members of the proband presented similar monocyte defects although they only manifested minor clinical symptoms. This syndrome underlines the interest of testing monocyte markers and function in subjects with clinical manifestations of immunodeficiency.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

[Neutropenic enterocolitis during treatment of lymphoproliferative neoplasms].

In a series of 320 patients with lymphoid neoplasms treated with polychemotherapy, three patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and one with myeloma were diagnosed as having neutropenic enterocolitis (NEC). All patients were adult, all had received multiple chemotherapeutic drugs and, during neutropenia, they had clinically presented with fever and abdominal pain, generally in the right lower quadrant. The diagnosis was clinical in all cases, and the imaging techniques provided only the suspicion of retro-cecal abscess in one of them. Two patients were operated on because of the development of features of peritoneal involvement, another because of septic shock and another because of retro-cecal abscess. Surgery and pathological study confirmed the diagnosis. The fundamental findings were ileocecal wall edema, mucosa ulceration, local necrosis, hemorrhage and thrombosis, and clusters of bacterial colonies without evidence of granulocytic or tumoral infiltration. NEC can develop with varying types of morphological involvement resulting in a highly variable clinical severity spectrum ranging from nonspecific abdominal symptoms to acute abdomen. Thus, diagnosis is very difficult and is only possible with a high suspicion index. It should rely on clinical data, which are unique, to assess the evolution and to indicate medical or surgical therapy. These therapeutic modalities should be individualized in each patient. All physicians treating neutropenic patients should be familiar with this condition and consider it in the differential diagnosis of abdominal pain.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

[Treatment of chronic hepatitis B with lymphoblastoid alpha interferon].

Thirty-five patients with active chronic hepatitis B (ACH-B) were evaluated. They were in stable replicative phase (HBeAg +; DNA polymerase and ALT stable in two determinations at least one month apart) and had not been infected by delta virus or HIV-1. Thirty-four patients were heterosexual and no patient was a drug abuser except one. The 23 initial cases were followed up for 15 months without therapy. The subsequent 12 cases were treated with maximal doses of 2.5 megaunits/m2 of lymphoblastoid alpha interferon (IFN-L) daily for two weeks and three times a week during 10 more weeks. While in the controls only two cases (8.69%) lost the DNA-polymerase activity and HBeAg, 5 treated patients (41.66%; p less than 0.05) developed seroconversion to nonreplicative phase. No patient from the control series lost the HBsAg; however, this happened in 2 treated patients (16.66%). These results show that IFN-L is effective in heterosexual patients with ACH-B in replicative phase without delta virus or HIV-I co-infection.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Cytoskeletal organization and functional changes in monocytes from patients with chronic hepatitis B: relationship with viral replication.

Monocytes play an important role in the initiation and regulation of the antiviral immune response. These cells have a dense framework of intermediate filaments composed of vimentin monomers. In 35 patients with chronic hepatitis B, 26 healthy controls, seven patients with acute liver damage and eight patients with inactive HBsAg-negative cirrhosis, we investigated the expression of vimentin filaments, C3b and IgGFc receptors, HLA-DR molecules and the phagocytic activity in monocytes purified from venous blood. In the same subjects, we also studied the display of CD2, CD3 and CD5 on lymphocytes. In patients with chronic hepatitis B manifesting viral replication (n = 21; Group 1), the expression of vimentin filaments and the other functional monocyte parameters were decreased, whereas in patients in the nonreplicative phase of the disease (n = 14; Group 2) and in control cases with various forms of acute liver damage or inactive HBsAg-negative cirrhosis, they were similar to those found in healthy subjects. In Group 1, there was also a selective defect in the display of CD3 on lymphocytes. The expression of this molecule correlated with the functional state of monocytes. In three patients with chronic hepatitis B that changed from the replicative to the nonreplicative phase of the disease, the expression of vimentin filaments in monocytes and of CD3 on lymphocytes increased to normal levels. On the other hand, the incubation of patients' monocytes with gamma-interferon corrected the diminished expression of vimentin filaments and the other decreased functional parameters.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Cytoskeleton↗