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Biomedical subjects

M Wilson

Publications and source records attributed to M Wilson.

At least 379 records · Page 21Linked to original sources
PubMed1995

Home health quality outcomes. Fee-for-service versus health maintenance organization enrollees.

Quality outcomes were compared between home health patients enrolled in the traditional Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) program versus a health maintenance organization (HMO) with a Medicare cost contract with the federal government. The quality outcome scores were similar between the two patient groups. However, other home health research showed superior quality outcomes for patients enrolled in the traditional Medicare FFS program versus an HMO with a risk contract with the federal government. Before signing contracts with HMOs, home health administrators will want to identify the type of Medicare contract the HMO has with the federal government.

Aged↗
PubMed1995

Killing of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus by low-power laser light.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether a methicillin-resistant strain of Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) could be sensitised by toluidine blue O (TBO) to killing by light from a low-power helium/neon (HeNe) laser. Suspensions containing c. 10(10) cfu of MRSA were irradiated with light from a 35 mW HeNe laser (energy dose: 0.5-2.1 J) in the presence of TBO (1.6-12.5 micrograms/ml) and the survivors were enumerated. The kills attained depended on both the light energy dose and concentration of TBO employed. A 4.47 log10 reduction in the viable count was achieved with a TBO concentration of 12.5 micrograms/ml and a light dose of 2.1 J (energy density 43 J/cm2). MRSA were susceptible to killing by the laser light within 30 s of exposure to the TBO. The results of this study have demonstrated that MRSA can be rapidly sensitised by TBO to killing by HeNe laser light and that killing depends on the light energy dose and sensitiser concentration.

Humans↗
PubMed1995

The effect of retrograde cavity design on microleakage of amalgam fillings.

A phantom head model was modified to simulate as closely as possible the limited access encountered during periapical surgery on maxillary anterior teeth. Extracted human maxillary anterior and mandibular canine teeth were placed in this model in a standardized position for root resection, retrograde cavity preparation and filling with amalgam. Three different designs of retrograde cavities were evaluated: the conventional class 1 cavity, the slot cavity and a previously unreported approach, the funnel cavity. Upon completion of the retrograde filling, the teeth were removed from the model and subjected to microleakage tests by placing radiolabelled lipopolysaccharide in a reservoir created coronal to the retrograde fillings. Leakage was quantified by measurement of radioactivity in scintillation counter. It was found that the retrograde fillings in the funnel cavity leaked significantly less than those in the other two cavity designs. There was no statistically significant difference in leakage between the conventional class 1 and the slot cavities up to the thirtieth day 30.

Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans↗
PubMed1995

Bacteria in supragingival plaque samples can be killed by low-power laser light in the presence of a photosensitizer.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether bacteria in supragingival plaque samples could be killed by low-power laser light in the presence of a suitable photosensitizer. Plaque samples were obtained from 10 volunteers, treated with either toluidine blue O (TBO) or aluminum disulphonated phthalocyanine (AlPcS2), and then exposed to light from a helium/neon (HeNe) or gallium aluminium arsenide (GaAs) laser respectively. Following irradiation, substantial reductions were achieved in the total anaerobic count as well as in the number of viable streptococci and actinomyces present in the samples. In the absence of laser light, the sensitizers themselves had little effect on the viability of the bacteria in the plaque samples. The HeNe/TBO combination appeared to be more effective than the GaAs/AlPcS2 combination, achieving log10 reductions of 2.95, 5.40 and 3.34 in the total anaerobic count, streptococci and actinomyces respectively with a light energy dose of 1.31 J. If effective in vivo, lethal photosensitization may be useful as a means of eliminating plaque bacteria from a carious lesion prior to its restoration.

Actinomyces↗
PubMed1995

Delayed diagnosis of cystic fibrosis in children with a rare genotype (delta F508/R117H).

OBJECTIVE: In neonatal screening for cystic fibrosis (CF), infants recognised as delta F508 heterozygotes require a sweat test to confirm the diagnosis. However, compound heterozygotes with delta F508 and the R117H mutation are known to have non-diagnostic sweat chlorides (< 60 mmol/L) at an early age. As genotyping for rare mutations is not readily available in Australia, there is a need to determine whether quantitative pancreatic stimulation tests could facilitate the diagnosis of CF in three infants with the delta F508/R117H mutation. METHODOLOGY: Formal sweat testing, genotyping and pancreatic stimulation tests were performed in three subjects heterozygous for delta F508 who initially had non-diagnostic sweat chloride results (40-60 mmol/L) but presented later with persisting chest symptoms and/or signs consistent with CF. RESULTS: All three patients were shown to have the delta F508/R117H genotype with initial sweat chloride results ranging from 40 to 58 mmol/L. Pancreatic stimulation tests demonstrated reduced enzyme secretion in two and decreased fluid, bicarbonate and chloride secretion in all three patients. CONCLUSIONS: In infants recognized as delta F508 heterozygotes by the newborn screening programme, the presence of an equivocal sweat chloride does not exclude the diagnosis of CF. If such patients with an initially equivocal sweat chloride subsequently develop symptoms suggestive of CF and have a persisting non-diagnostic sweat chloride then the diagnosis of CF can be confirmed by more extensive genotyping if available or by pancreatic stimulation testing.

Child, Preschool↗
PubMed1995

Serum antibody response to surface-associated material from periodontopathogenic bacteria.

Saline extracts of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans, Porphyromonas gingivalis and Eikenella corrodens contain surface-associated components of these bacteria. It has been shown that these extracts are potent stimulators of bone resorption in vitro. The possibility that the components of these surface-associated materials (SAM) could contribute to the serum immune response in patients with juvenile or adult onset forms of rapidly progressive periodontitis were investigated by direct binding ELISA. Very high titres of serum IgG antibodies to SAM from A. actinomycetemcomitans were detected in patients with localized juvenile periodontitis (LJP). Patients with adult onset rapidly progressive periodontitis (RPP) had significantly raised antibody levels to SAM from P. gingivalis. Both groups of patients had significantly raised levels of antibodies to SAM from E. corrodens compared with control sera. Thus, not only does solubilized SAM have the capacity to induce bone resorption, but it also contributes to the antigenic load on the immune system in LJP and RPP.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Lipid A-associated proteins from periodontopathogenic bacteria induce interleukin-6 production by human gingival fibroblasts and monocytes.

The aim of this study was to determine whether lipid A-associated proteins (LAP) from two periodontopathogenic species of bacteria were able to stimulate interleukin-6 (IL-6) release from human gingival fibroblasts and myelomonocytic cells. LAP and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) were extracted from Porphyromonas gingivalis and Prevotella intermedia and added to cultures of human gingival fibroblasts and mono-mac-6 monocytic cells. Release of IL-6 into the culture supernatants was determined by ELISA. LAP and LPS from Por. gingivalis, but not from Prev. intermedia, stimulated IL-6 release from both cell types in a dose-dependent manner although LPS was less potent than LAP in inducing IL-6 release from the fibroblasts. IL-6 was detectable in cultures of both cell types following stimulation with LAP from Por. gingivalis at a concentration as low as 10 ng/ml. In response to LAP from Prev. intermedia, IL-6 was produced by mono-mac-6 cells but not by fibroblasts. Our results show that bacterial cell wall components other than LPS can induce IL-6 release from cells of the periodontium in vitro. The production of such potent immunomodulatory agents in vivo may contribute to the connective tissue breakdown characteristic of chronic periodontitis.

Bacterial Proteins↗
PubMed1995

Virulence factors of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans relevant to the pathogenesis of inflammatory periodontal diseases.

There is strong evidence implicating Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans as the causative agent of localised juvenile periodontitis (LJP), a disease characterised by rapid destruction of the tooth-supporting tissues. This organism possesses a large number of virulence factors with a wide range of activities which enable it to colonise the oral cavity, invade periodontal tissues, evade host defences, initiate connective tissue destruction and interfere with tissue repair. Adhesion to epithelial and tooth surfaces is dependent on the presence of surface proteins and structures such as microvesicles and fimbriae. Invasion has been demonstrated in vivo and in vitro although the mechanisms involved are poorly understood. The organism has a number of means of evading host defences which include: (i) inhibiting poloymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMN) chemotaxis; (ii) killing PMNs and monocytes; (iii) producing immunosuppressive factors; (iv) secreting proteases capable of cleaving IgG; and (v) producing Fc-binding proteins. Surface components of A. actinomycetemcomitans are potent stimulators of bone resorption and can induce the release of a range of cytokines which can initiate tissue destruction. A number of surface components can also inhibit the proliferation of fibroblasts and their production of components of the extracellular matrix. Little is known, however, regarding the way in which these factors operate in vivo to produce the pathological features of the disease.

Actinobacillus Infections↗
PubMed1995

The effects on chronic periodontitis of a subgingivally-placed redox agent in a slow release device.

Adjunctive chemical agents can reduce the need for meticulous plaque control. The aim of this investigation was to evaluate the periodontal treatment potential of subgingival application of the redox agent methylene blue in a slow-release device. This randomized, single-blind, split-mouth study included 18 patients aged 35-57 years, with chronic adult periodontitis, pocketing of at least 5 mm and radiographic evidence of regular bone loss. All experimental sites received subgingival debridement at day 0. Test sites received 32% w/w methylene blue in the slow release device at days 0 and 28. Clinical examination and microbiological sampling were performed at days 0, 7, 28, 56 and 84. Clinical improvements were seen in both groups, but test sites showed consistently greater improvements, some of which were statistically significant (as determined by between-group comparisons utilising SNDs). Significant between-group differences in relation to baseline levels were seen in bleeding index at days 7 and 56, in probeable pocket depth at day 56 and for the Perioscan BANA test at day 7. This pilot study thus showed that adjunctive methylene blue in a slow-release device can produce greater clinical and microbiological improvements than subgingival debridement alone.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Comparison of the osteolytic activity of surface-associated proteins of bacteria implicated in periodontal disease.

OBJECTIVES: To compare the osteolytic activity of surface-associated material (SAM) and lipid A-associated proteins (LAPs) from periodontopathogenic bacteria. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Surface-associated material was extracted from the surface and LAPs from the cell walls of a range of periodontopathic bacteria including Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans and Eikenella corrodens. These bacterial fractions were assayed to determine their composition and their capacity to induce bone resorption was determined by use of the neonatal murine calvarial bone resorption assay. RESULTS: The SAMs from E. corrodens and A. actinomycetemcomitans demonstrated bone-resorbing capacity at concentrations as low as 1 ng ml-1 which, given the molecular weights of the active components, is in the picomolar range of activity. In contrast, the SAMs from the other three bacteria were significantly less potent and showed a lower efficacy. The LAPs all showed significant, and similar, capacities to induce bone breakdown. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first demonstration that LAP from periodontopathic bacteria can stimulate bone degradation. The LAPs from diverse bacteria all produced similar levels of bone-resorbing activity. In contrast, the SAM showed significant differences in potency and in efficacy (maximal stimulation). This may mean that in vivo certain periodontopathic bacteria have significantly more bone-resorbing capacity than others and should be therapeutic targets.

Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans↗
PubMed1995

Enhanced Epiphytic Coexistence of Near-Isogenic Salicylate-Catabolizing and Non-Salicylate-Catabolizing Pseudomonas putida Strains after Exogenous Salicylate Application.

The hypothesis that epiphytic bacterial populations can coexist through nutritional resource partitioning was tested with the near-isogenic bacterial strain pair Pseudomonas putida R20 and R20(pNAH7). The plasmid pNAH7 conferred upon R20 the ability to catabolize salicylate as a sole carbon source in vitro. P. putida R20(pNAH7) also catabolized exogenously applied salicylate in planta and reached a significantly larger epiphytic population size than the near-isogenic parental strain R20 under the same conditions. This supports previous observations that epiphytic populations on plants grown under nitrogen-sufficient conditions are limited by carbon availability. In the absence of exogenous salicylate, R20 and R20(pNAH7) competed for and partitioned endogenous carbon according to their inoculum proportion in replacement series experiments, exhibiting a low level of coexistence. In the presence of exogenous salicylate, however, R20(pNAH7) was solely able to catabolize the additional carbon and achieved a higher level of coexistence with R20 than was possible in the absence of exogenous carbon.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1995

Altered Epiphytic Colonization of Mannityl Opine-Producing Transgenic Tobacco Plants by a Mannityl Opine-Catabolizing Strain of Pseudomonas syringae.

The plasmid pYDH208, which confers the ability to catabolize the mannityl opines mannopine and agropine, was mobilized into the nonpathogenic Pseudomonas syringae strain Cit7. The growth of the mannityl opine-catabolizing strain Cit7(pYDH208) was compared with that of the near-isogenic non-opine-catabolizing strain Cit7xylE on leaves of wild-type tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum cv. Xanthi) and transgenic mannityl opine-producing tobacco plants (N. tabacum cv. Xanthi, line 2-26). The population size of Cit7(pYDH208) was significantly greater on the lower leaves of transgenic plants than on middle or upper leaves of those plants. The population size of Cit7(pYDH208) on lower leaves of transgenic plants was also significantly greater than the population size of Cit7xylE on similar leaves of wild-type plants. High-voltage paper electrophoresis demonstrated higher levels of mannityl opines in washings from lower- and mid-level leaves than in washings from upper-level leaves. The ability of Cit7(pYDH208) to catabolize mannityl opines in the carbon-limited phyllosphere increased the carrying capacity of the lower leaves of transgenic plants for Cit7(pYDH208). In coinoculations, the increase in the ratio of population sizes of Cit7(pYDH208) to Cit7xylE on transgenic plants was apparently due to a subtle difference in the growth rates of the two strains and to the difference in final population sizes. An ability to utilize additional carbon sources on the transgenic plants also enabled Cit7(pYDH208) to achieve a higher degree of coexistence with Cit7xylE on transgenic plants than on wild-type plants. This supports the hypothesis that the level of coexistence between epiphytic bacterial populations can be altered through nutritional resource partitioning.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1995

Characterization of an antiproliferative surface-associated protein from Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans which can be neutralized by sera from a proportion of patients with localized juvenile periodontitis.

The gentle agitation of suspensions of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans serotype a, b, or c in saline resulted in the release of a proteinaceous surface-associated material (SAM) which produced a dose-dependent inhibition of tritiated thymidine incorporation by the osteoblast-like cell line MG63 in culture. This cell line was sensitive to low concentrations of SAM (50% inhibitory concentration, 200 ng/ml for serotype c). Immunoglobulin G antibodies to constituents of the SAM were found in the blood of patients with localized juvenile periodontitis (LJP). Sera from 9 of 16 patients with LJP significantly neutralized the antiproliferative activity of the SAM, while sera from 15 controls, with no evidence of periodontal disease, were unable to neutralize this activity. Neutralization was not directly related to the patient's antibody titer to the whole SAM. Characterization of the antiproliferative activity in the SAM demonstrated that it was not cytotoxic and was heat and trypsin sensitive. The active component separated in a well-defined peak in anion-exchange high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) which, when further analyzed by size exclusion HPLC, revealed a single active peak, which had an apparent molecular mass of approximately 8 kDa. The lipopolysaccharide from A. actinomycetemcomitans was only weakly active. SAM from Porphyromonas gingivalis W50 and Eikenella corrodens NCTC 10596 did not exhibit any antiproliferative activity with this cell line, even at concentrations as high as 10 micrograms/ml. This study has shown that SAM from A. actinomycetemcomitans contains a potent antiproliferative protein whose activity can be neutralized by antibodies in the sera from some patients with LJP.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Somatic mutations during an immune response in Xenopus tadpoles.

The tadpole B-cell repertoire is less diverse than that of the adult frog; their antibodies are of lower affinity and are less heterogenous. In order to determine whether this difference is due to a lack of or a reduced rate of somatic hypermutation, we analyzed and compared cDNA sequences utilizing VH1 elements with germline counterparts in isogenic LG7 tadpoles during an immune response. Indeed, tadpole VH1 sequences contained somatic mutations. There were zero to 5 mutations per sequence, all single base-point mutations, with the high ratio of GC to AT base-pair alterations similar to that observed in adult frogs.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Imaging of acute myocardial infarction and reperfusion.

During the last 20 years there has been a large amount of investigation designed to determine what is the best way of imaging acute myocardial infarction (AMI) using radiopharmaceuticals. 99mTc pyrophosphate is ideal for cases where the clinical diagnosis cannot be made but it is insensitive to detect subendocardial AMI and is taken up by reversibly-injured myocytes. Antimyosin antibody imaging is specific for AMI but it is flow-dependent at low myocardial flows and it distributes in a nonuniform way in reperfused infarcts requiring high nuclear imaging (SPECT or PET) spatial resolution for proper measurement. 18F fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) is taken up by viable cells but likely by macrophages too, in the core of AMI. 99mTc glucarate has not been investigated in detail but this sugar analog is more accurate than FDG in AMI. 99mTc sestamibi has been extensively used for AMI measurement but SPECT quantitation of transmural infarcts has not been achieved. Unresolved issue is imaging of AMI during reperfusion where there is widespread microvascular injury and capillary plugging.

Animals↗