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Biomedical subjects

M Shah

Publications and source records attributed to M Shah.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
PubMed1997

Patch testing in children and adolescents: five years' experience and follow-up.

BACKGROUND: Allergic contact dermatitis in children is a significant clinical problem. Little information is available concerning the value of patch testing and the outcome in these children. OBJECTIVE: Our purpose was to assess the value of patch testing in children and the outcome of allergic contact dermatitis in childhood. METHODS: Clinical data on 83 children patch tested during a 5-year period were assessed. Clinical follow-up on 68 subjects was performed. RESULTS: Overall, 41 children had one or more allergic reactions (49%). Reactions to metals, topical preparations, and food additives were common. The clinical outcome at 6 months was significantly better for 36 children with a relevant allergen on patch testing than in 32 with no allergen or no relevant allergen (p = 0.006). CONCLUSION: Patch testing is useful in the management of children suspected of having an allergic contact dermatitis. Patch testing and subsequent allergen avoidance may improve the prognosis in children with a relevant contact allergen.

Administration, Cutaneous↗
PubMed1997

Colletotrichum graminicola: a new corneal pathogen.

PURPOSE: We report the first case of an ocular infection with the fungus Colletotrichum graminicola causing keratitis in a 27-year-old man. METHODS: Twenty-four months after a postoperative course complicated by recurrent fungal keratitis requiring two penetrating keratoplasties, two anterior chamber washouts, a conjunctival flap, and medical treatment with topical natamycin, intracameral amphotericin B, and oral fluconazole. RESULTS: The patient has shown no signs of fungal recurrence despite a failed corneal graft. CONCLUSIONS: C. graminicola is a new corneal pathogen and should be included in the differential diagnosis of mycotic keratitis.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Contact sensitivity in pruritus vulvae: patch test results and clinical outcome.

BACKGROUND: Persistent vulval pruritus is common and may not be associated with signs of a primary vulval dermatosis. Patients with established vulval disease may develop contact sensitivity as a secondary problem after the application of topical therapy. OBJECTIVE: A retrospective study was performed to establish the prevalence of allergic contact dermatitis in patients with pruritus vulvae. In addition, the results of patch testing in women with vulval lichen sclerosus were compared with those in patients with primary pruritus vulvae and essential vulvodynia. METHODS: Over a 5-year period, 121 women with vulval problems were patch tested to the European Standard Series, selected preservatives, perfumes, local anesthetics, medicaments, and a vulval battery. RESULTS: Fifty-seven patients (49%) had one or more relevant allergic positive reactions. Medicaments or their constituents were the most common allergens to give reactions. Seven of the 16 patients (44%) with lichen sclerosus had positive reactions. Symptoms resolved or improved significantly in 67 patients (55.4%) overall. Six of the seven women with lichen sclerosus who had positive reactions noted an improvement in their symptoms. Patients who had a relevant allergy were much more likely to improve than those whose tests were negative (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Patients with pruritus vulvae and lichen sclerosus are at high risk of contact sensitivity. Patch testing is useful in the management of these patients and many can be helped by allergen avoidance.

Administration, Topical↗
PubMed1996

Delayed and immediate orofacial reactions following contact with rubber gloves during dental treatment.

Allergic reactions during or after dental examination are uncommon. However, such reactions may be serious and distressing. Allergy to local anaesthetics and dental materials may be considered, but reactions to rubber in gloves worn by the dentist should be remembered. Two patients are reported who experienced symptoms following contact with rubber gloves worn by their dentists, with skin tests subsequently showing an allergic reaction to glove constituents, and in one case latex. With the increasing use of rubber gloves by dental and medical personnel, reactions in sensitised patients are likely to become more common. In patients with a history of symptoms related to dental work, it is important to remember delayed and immediate reactions to rubber.

Dermatitis, Allergic Contact↗
PubMed1996

Detection of RNA polymerase II promoters and polyadenylation sites in human DNA sequence.

Detection of RNA polymerase II promoters and polyadenylation sites helps to locate gene boundaries and can enhance accurate gene recognition and modeling in genomic DNA sequence. We describe a system which can be used to detect polyadenylation sites and thus delineate the 3' boundary of a gene, and discuss improvements to a system first described in Matis et al. (1995) [Matis S., Shah M., Mural R. J. & Uberbacher E.C. (1995) Proc. First Wrld Conf. Computat. Med., Public Hlth, Biotechnol. (Wrld Sci.) (in press).], which predicts a large subset of RNA polymerase II promoters. The promoter system used statistical matrices and distance information as inputs for a neural network which was trained to provide initial promoter recognition. The output of the network was further refined by applying rules which use the gene context information predicted by GRAIL. We have reconstructed the rule-based system which uses gene context information and significantly improved the sensitivity and selectivity of promoter detection.

Algorithms↗
PubMed1996

Prognosis of occupational hand dermatitis in metalworkers.

Hand dermatitis is common in workers employed in the cutting and grinding of metals. Previous studies have given conflicting results on the prognosis of this common occupational disease. This study was designed to determine the prognosis of hand dermatitis in metalworkers and the responsible allergens. A questionnaire survey was conducted on 64 patients seen between 1 and 5 years previously in the contact dermatitis clinic. Of the 51 patients responding, 82% still had hand dermatitis. There was no difference in outcome between those who continued to work with metals and oils, and those who had changed their occupation. Hand dermatitis in metalworkers carries a poor prognosis, with most workers remaining symptomatic even if they no longer had occupational exposure to metals or oils. This study also demonstrates that biocides are the most important allergen group in the aetiology of hand dermatitis in metalworkers.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

The ARP-1 orphan receptor represses steroid-mediated stimulation of human placental lactogen gene expression.

Studies were performed to determine whether ARP-1, which is an orphan receptor of the steroid receptor superfamily, inhibits basal activity of the human placental lactogen (hPL) promoter and the increase in hPL promoter activity in response to the receptors for thyroid hormone (TR) and retinoic acid (RAR). Co-transfection of an ARP-1 expression vector into BeWo choriocarcinoma cells, along with an expression vector containing 1.2 kb of the hPL promoter coupled to a CAT reporter gene, resulted in a dose-dependent inhibition of basal CAT activity. In addition, ARP-1 inhibited the stimulation of CAT activity by RAR alpha and TR beta expression vectors. Mobility shift assays demonstrated that ARP-1 binds specifically to a composite steroid response element on the hPL promoter that confers retinoic acid and T3 responsiveness. The results implicate an inhibitory role for ARP-1 in the regulation of hPL gene expression and strongly suggest that hPL gene expression is regulated, at least in part, by the interaction of stimulatory and inhibitory members of the steroid receptor superfamily.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1996

High-fat and high-carbohydrate diets and energy balance.

The current American Diabetes Association guidelines for nutrition recommend a moderate increase in monounsaturated fats and a reduced intake of carbohydrate in patients with diabetes in whom high-carbohydrate diets deteriorate glycemic control and lipoprotein levels. High-fat diets, however, are believed to promote obesity, and some investigators may have reservations recommending such diets. This review thus investigates the role of diet composition in promoting obesity or achieving weight loss and its implications in patients with diabetes. Epidemiological studies show some evidence that fat intake is more importantly related to body weight than carbohydrate intake, but conclusions are weak because confounding variables, such as physical activity, smoking, and energy intake, were generally not controlled for. Metabolic studies under isoenergic conditions report no change in energy balance when fat intake is increased, but report a negative fat balance with substantial increase carbohydrate intake. During overfeeding, excess fat intake is stored as fat, whereas excess carbohydrate is mostly oxidized in the short term but can lead to substantial gain in fat stores because of reduced fat oxidation and considerable de novo lipogenesis in the long term. Spontaneous energy intake, however, is higher on an unrestricted high-fat diet compared with a high-carbohydrate diet, but the long-term effects are not known. Weight-loss intervention studies show that a hypocaloric high-carbohydrate diet is not associated with more weight loss than a high-fat hypocaloric diet. In conclusion, a high-monounsaturated fat diet to control glycemic control and lipoprotein levels in patients with diabetes should not affect weight loss or maintenance, provided that energy intake is carefully controlled.

Cross-Sectional Studies↗
PubMed1996

Synthesis of some novel pyrazoline and cyanopyridine derivatives as antimicrobial agents.

Substituted chalcones 2a-j prepared by the treatment of 4'(p-chlorophenylsulphonamido)acetophenone 1 with araldehydes, on condensation with hydrazine hydrate in ethanol and acetic acid provided the desired pyrazolines of the type 3a-j and 4a-j. The same chalcones 2a-j made to react with malononitrile in the presence of ammonium acetate yielded cyanopyridines 5a-j. The structure was confirmed by elemental analyses, IR, NMR and MS spectral studies. The pharmacological profile of the compounds synthesised is described. Most of the compounds displayed their maximum activity against E. coli. Compounds 2b, 2d, 5b, 5d, 5e, 5h and 5i have been selected for their agrochemical screening by DuPont Agricultural Products, U.S.A.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗