Concerns about immunisation. Breast feeding should be promoted.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Breast Feeding↗
Biomedical subjects
N Lee
Publications and source records attributed to N Lee.
Seizure outcome after temporal lobectomy for temporal lobe epilepsy: a Kaplan-Meier survival analysis.
OBJECTIVE: To determine seizure outcome and its predictors in patients with medically refractory temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) after temporal lobectomy (TL). BACKGROUND: TL is the most common surgical procedure performed in adolescents and adults for the treatment of medically refractory TLE. Seizure outcome has been reported extensively during the first few postoperative years, but little is known beyond that time. METHODS: The authors analyzed seizure outcome in 79 patients who underwent TL for epilepsy at the Duke University Medical Center from 1962 through 1984. Patients with less than 2 years of follow-up and degenerative disorders were excluded. Predictors of seizure outcome were analyzed using Kaplan-Meier survival analyses. RESULTS: The mean follow-up was 14 years (range, 2.1 to 33.6 years). Using Engel's classification, 65% of patients were class I, 15% were class II, 11% were class III, and 9% were class IV. At least one postoperative seizure occurred in 55% of subjects. The majority of recurrences (86%) took place within 2 years of surgery. Later recurrences tended not to lead to medical intractability. Higher monthly preoperative seizure frequency was associated with poor seizure outcome. A seizure-free state at 2 years was found to be a better predictor of long-term outcome than the 6-, 12-, and 18-month landmarks. CONCLUSIONS: TL provides sustained, long-term benefit in patients with medically refractory TLE. Seizure-free status at 2 years from the time of surgery is predictive of long-term remission.
Adult↗
Hyperbilirubinaemia in term infants. Hyperbilirubinaemia is a marker for inadequate breast feeding.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Breast Feeding↗
In vivo localization and characterization of functional ciliary neurotrophic factor receptors which utilize JAK-STAT signaling.
The ciliary neurotrophic factor receptor is critically involved in embryonic motor neuron development. Postnatally, it may contribute to neuronal maintenance and regeneration. In addition, pharmacological stimulation of the receptor may slow the progression of several neurodegenerative disorders. The widespread nervous system expression of ciliary neurotrophic factor receptor components and the effects of low ciliary neurotrophic factor concentrations on a wide variety of cells in culture combine to suggest that functional ciliary neurotrophic factor receptors are expressed by many classes of neurons in vivo. However, the in vivo signaling properties and distribution of functional ciliary neurotrophic factor receptors have not been directly determined. We developed a novel in vivo assay of functional ciliary neurotrophic factor receptors which revealed that, in the adult nervous system, cranial and spinal motor neurons are very sensitive to ciliary neurotrophic factor and display a rapid, robust increase in phospho-STAT3 in their dendrites, cell bodies and nuclei, which is specifically blocked by the ciliary neurotrophic factor receptor antagonist, AADH-CNTF. In distinct contrast, several other classes of ciliary neurotrophic factor receptor expressing neurons fail to increase phospho-STAT3 levels following ciliary neurotrophic factor treatment, even when ciliary neurotrophic factor is applied at high concentrations. Leukemia inhibitory factor and epidermal growth factor elicit the same cell-type-dependent pattern of phospho-STAT3 increases. Responsive and non-responsive neurons express comparable levels of STAT3.Therefore, in vivo ciliary neurotrophic factor receptor-initiated STAT3 signal transduction is regulated in a very cell-type-dependent manner. The present data suggest that at least some of this regulation occurs at the STAT3 tyrosine phosphorylation step. These unexpected results also suggest that other forms of receptor-initiated STAT3 signal transduction may be similarly regulated.
Amino Acid Sequence↗
Ribozyme-catalyzed tRNA aminoacylation.
The RNA world hypothesis implies that coded protein synthesis evolved from a set of ribozyme catalyzed acyl-transfer reactions, including those of aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase ribozymes. We report here that a bifunctional ribozyme generated by directed in vitro evolution can specifically recognize an activated glutaminyl ester and aminoacylate a targeted tRNA, via a covalent aminoacyl-ribozyme intermediate. The ribozyme consists of two distinct catalytic domains; one domain recognizes the glutamine substrate and self-aminoacylates its own 5'-hydroxyl group, and the other recognizes the tRNA and transfers the aminoacyl group to the 3'-end. The interaction of these domains results in a unique pseudoknotted structure, and the ribozyme requires a change in conformation to perform the sequential aminoacylation reactions. Our result supports the idea that aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase ribozymes could have played a key role in the evolution of the genetic code and RNA-directed translation.
Acylation↗
An engraftment syndrome in autologous stem cell transplantation related to mononuclear cell dose.
Engraftment syndrome (ES) is a toxicity of autologous stem cell transplantation that occurs unexpectedly and is occasionally fatal. This syndrome, manifested as fever, rash and pulmonary deterioration which becomes evident at marrow engraftment, has been described by several centers but as yet remains enigmatic. We describe this syndrome at a single institution and note that it has accompanied the transition from the use of autologous marrow rescue to peripheral blood stem cell rescue. In this study, the occurrence of ES is related to the mononuclear cell dose at reinfusion. We found, in agreement with other reports, that patients developing ES are predominantly women undergoing therapy for solid tumors who demonstrate neutrophil engraftment at a significantly greater rate than do those patients not expressing the syndrome. We did not note a significant relationship between growth factor use (G-CSF) or amphotericin B exposure and the syndrome, as has been previously reported. The progenitor cell populations obtained with autologous marrow and peripheral blood stem cells are different. We hypothesize that the interaction of committed myeloid precursors from the stem cell product with the pulmonary vascular endothelium can be deleterious, especially under the influence of the inflammatory cytokines present at the time of engraftment.
Adult↗
Effect of short-term high dose of steroids on the healing of microvascular anastomoses in a rabbit model: pilot study.
Short-term high doses of steroids have been used in head and neck surgery to reduce swelling in free tissue transfers. This study was set up to assess the effect of this treatment on the healing of microvascular anastomoses in a rabbit model. Anastomoses were made in the common carotid artery and anterior facial vein in 40 animals, half of which were given high doses of methylprednisolone (2.5 mg/kg/day) intravenously for 48 h peri-operatively. The patency of the vessels was assessed and they were harvested for histological examination at 1, 3, 7, 14, and 90 days postoperatively. Steroids tended to reduce the swelling in the vessel walls during the early stages of healing (24 h and 3 days), and also to reduce the inflammatory cell count in the lumen of the vessels at 3 days. It seems likely from these initial observations that steroids are more likely to improve than jeopardize the healing of microvascular anastomoses.
Animals↗
General pharmacology of the new antiviral agent SK 1899.
The general pharmacological properties of 2-amino-9-(3-acetoxymethyl-4-isopropoxycarbonyloxybut-1-yl)purine (CAS 247081-81-8, SK 1899), a new potential antiviral agent, were investigated in mice, rats, guinea pigs, rabbits, and dogs. The oral administration of 50, 150, and 500 mg/kg of SK 1899 had no effects on the central nervous system except that it slightly increased the spontaneous locomotor activity in mice at a dose of 500 mg/kg. SK 1899 did not disturb either the spontaneous motility or contractor-induced contraction of the isolated organs such as guinea pig ileum, rat uterus, guinea pig vas deferens, and guinea pig trachea at concentrations up to 10(-4) mol/l. It slightly increased the contractile force in the isolated guinea pig atrium at a concentration of 10(-4) mol/l. Following intravenous infusion of 5, 15, and 50 mg/kg of SK 1899 to anesthetized dogs, it did not change the mean arterial pressure, heart rate, left ventricular systolic pressure (LVSP), and respiratory rate, while it slightly increased the left ventricular positive dP/dtmax (LV + dP/dtmax) at a dose of 50 mg/kg. SK 1899 did not induce any significant changes in the intestinal charcoal meal transit in mice, basal gastric juice secretion in rats, and renal function in rats. It did not affect the blood coagulation system and phenolsulfonphthalein secretion in rats. These findings suggest that SK 1899 has a very low potential to induce any adverse pharmacological effects at the doses showing antiviral activity.
Animals↗
Conformation-dependent antibody response to Pseudomonas aeruginosa outer membrane proteins induced by immunization in humans.
Outer membrane proteins (OMPs) of pathogenic bacteria have been used as protective antigens in developing bacterial vaccines. In the present study, we compared the antibody responses to a Pseudomonas aeruginosa OMP vaccine elicited in humans and rabbits by immunization. Immunization with the vaccine induced high titers of serum IgG antibody both in rabbits and humans but reactivities of the induced antibodies with the OMPs were different. The rabbit immune sera recognized most of the OMPs in the vaccine both in immunoblot and immunoprecipitation analyses. In contrast, a great variation in band pattern and intensity was observed among the human immune sera in immunoblot analysis, but not in immunoprecipitation analysis. Denaturation of the OMPs did not affect the binding activity of the rabbit immune sera as determined by ELISA, but substantially reduced those of the human immune sera and anti-OMP IgG purified from a pooled normal human plasma. These data suggest that antibody response to P. aeruginosa OMPs elicited by immunization in humans is mainly directed against discontinuous or conformation-dependent epitopes, which should be taken into account in developing vaccines, especially for OMP-derived synthetic peptides.
Animals↗
Clinical correlates of antifungal macrodilution susceptibility test results for non-AIDS patients with severe Candida infections treated with fluconazole.
Although the clinical correlates of the reference antifungal susceptibility test results in hematogenous and deep-seated Candida infection are still controversial, we evaluated the clinical correlates of this test in deep-seated Candida infections in non-AIDS patients. Thirty-two non-AIDS patients with hematogenous or deep-seated Candida infections were treated with intravenous fluconazole (400 mg a day), and the clinical outcomes were evaluated. Coexisting bacterial infections were treated with appropriate antibiotics, superinfection or reinfection was excluded, inadequate fluconazole therapy was avoided, and essential surgical intervention was performed. The MICs of fluconazole for these 32 Candida isolates were determined according to the M27-A procedure approved by the National Committee on Clinical Laboratory Standards. MICs were interpreted as susceptible (< or =8 microg/ml), dose-dependent susceptible (16 to 32 microg/ml), and resistant (> or =64 microg/ml) according to the criteria of the M27-A standard. The success rates were 79% (19 of 24; 95% confidence interval [CI], 59 to 93%) in the susceptible category, 66% (4 of 6; 95% CI, 19 to 95%) in the dose-dependent susceptible category, and 0% (0 of 2; 95% CI, 0 to 84%) in the resistant category. We conclude that the clinical correlation of the reference antifungal susceptibility test results is high in hematogenous and deep-seated Candida infections.
Adolescent↗
Improved version 2.0 qualitative and quantitative AMPLICOR reverse transcription-PCR tests for hepatitis C virus RNA: calibration to international units, enhanced genotype reactivity, and performance characteristics.
Version 2.0 qualitative and quantitative AMPLICOR reverse transcription-PCR tests for HCV were designed to improve on the performance of first version of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) tests. The new tests were calibrated in international units, the new commonly accepted standard unit of measurement for HCV RNA. The sensitivity of the qualitative tests was enhanced by modifying the specimen processing procedure to achieve a limit of detection 50 IU/ml. The limit of detection for the quantitative tests was 600 IU/ml. Modifications to the amplification reaction mixture and thermal cycling conditions enabled all genotypes to be amplified with similar efficiency. The quantitative tests exhibited a linear range extending from 500 to 500,000 IU/ml and excellent reproducibility, with coefficients of variation ranging from 18 to 39%, within the linear range. These data indicate that the version 2. 0 AMPLICOR HCV tests will improve diagnosis of HCV infection and will yield more-accurate titers for prognosis and for monitoring therapeutic efficacy, particularly at low viral loads. Furthermore, it will be possible to compare the performance characteristics and viral load measurements of AMPLICOR tests to those of other tests that adopt the international unit as the standard of measurement.
Calibration↗
Antisense studies in PC12 cells suggest a role for H218, a sphingosine 1-phosphate receptor, in growth-factor-induced cell-cell interaction and neurite outgrowth.
Our previous studies of H218, a sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) receptor and a member of the G-protein-coupled receptor superfamily, suggest that it may participate in mammalian nervous system development. Thus, brain levels of H218 mRNA are higher during early neurogenesis than postnatally. In addition, embryonic H218 immunoreactivity is preferentially localized in young neuronal cell bodies during their early stages of differentiation and in axons during their extension. This report describes the morphological effects of reducing native H218 levels in PC12 cells. Western blot analyses demonstrated that PC12 cells stably transfected with an expression vector carrying an antisense-oriented H218 cDNA contain less H218 protein than vector-transfected control cells. When differentiated with growth factors, the antisense-H218 cells display more neurite production and form less cell-cell contacts than the control cells. Therefore, these data, along with our previous H218 expression studies and a recent, independent study of H218 overexpression, support the possibility that H218 contributes to developmental processes regulating neuronal interaction and axon growth. The data are also consistent with reports that H218 is a S1P receptor, that S1P is present in serum, like that used in our PC12 cell cultures, and that it causes PC12 cell neurite retraction. Finally, and in agreement with a S1P receptor role for H218, we find that the antisense-H218 cells display less S1P-induced neurite retraction than control cells.
Animals↗
A concise guide to cDNA microarray analysis.
Microarray expression analysis has become one of the most widely used functional genomics tools. Efficient application of this technique requires the development of robust and reproducible protocols. We have optimized all aspects of the process, including PCR amplification of target cDNA clones, microarray printing, probe labeling and hybridization, and have developed strategies for data normalization and analysis.
DNA, Complementary↗
Coexpression of cyclooxygenase-2 and matrix metalloproteinases in human aortic atherosclerotic lesions.
Inflammation appears to have a major role in the development of atherosclerosis. Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) is involved in the inflammatory response via the generation of prostanoids that, in turn, are involved in the production of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). This study aimed to investigate atherosclerosis in human aortas for in situ tissue distribution of COX-2, MMPs including MMP-9 and membrane type 1 MMP (MT1-MMP), and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-2 (TIMP-2). Immunohistochemical studies were performed on atherosclerotic lesions of aortas from patients with aortic aneurysms (n = 4) and dissections (n = 3) by using antibodies to COX-2, MMP-9, MT1-MMP, and TIMP-2. Control tissues were obtained from traumatically dissected aortas (n = 2). All specimens from diseased aortas had atherosclerotic lesions ranging from fatty streak to atheromatous plaques. In control, there was no expression of COX-2, MMP-9, and MT1-MMP in all aortic layers. Immunoreactivity for COX-2 was predominantly noted in macrophages and smooth muscle cells (SMCs) of the intima including atherosclerotic plaque itself and the medial layer of the plaque base, as well as in SMCs and endothelial lining of the vasa vasorum in the adventitia. Immunoreactivity for MMP-9 and MT1-MMP was found in the same distribution as that of COX-2. Additionally, the expression of TIMP-2 increased in relation to MMP-9 expression. This study demonstrates that COX-2 is coexpressed with MMP-9 and MT1-MMP, not only by macrophages and SMCs in atherosclerotic lesions, but also in endothelial lining of the vasa vasorum of human aortas. Thus, vascular inflammatory reactions may influence extracellular matrix remodeling by coactivation of MMPs in the development of atherosclerosis and, in turn, the progression of disease.
Animals↗
Contrasting clozapine prescribing patterns in the east and west?
INTRODUCTION: Polypharmacy is common in the treatment of schizophrenia and it may be especially common in the East. In this survey, we compared the effect of clozapine, an atypical neuroleptic, on polypharmacy in two groups of patients with schizophrenia in two different settings. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The medical charts of patients on stable doses of clozapine from a Canadian psychiatric centre and that of a Southeast Asian centre were analysed to evaluate the daily dose requirement and the concomitant medications prescribed. The beliefs of the Asian psychiatrists on the concomitant use of another neuroleptic were also examined. RESULTS: The mean daily dose of clozapine was 408 mg/day for the Canadian subjects and 169 mg/day for the Asian sample. Of the Canadian sample, none were prescribed another neuroleptic, 45% were on a benzodiazepine, and 10% were receiving an anticholinergic agent. The Singapore sample indicated 28% of the subjects on another neuroleptic, with 36% taking an anticholinergic agent and 28% on a benzodiazepine. The Asian psychiatrists prescribed a second neuroleptic in the belief that it would reduce cost and enhance the antipsychotic effect. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that there are regional differences in the prescription patterns and daily dose requirements of clozapine.
Adult↗
A case of urethrocutaneous fistula with the koro syndrome.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Aged↗
[Spatial structure of a Fab-fragment of a monoclonal antibody to human interleukin-2 in two crystalline forms at a resolution of 2.2 and 2.9 angstroms].
The three-dimensional structure of the antigen-binding fragment of a monoclonal antibody to human interleukin-2 was determined in two crystal forms by the X-ray method of molecular replacement at 2.2 and 2.9 A resolutions. The spatial structure of the protein and the stereochemistry of its antigen-binding site were analyzed.
Amino Acid Sequence↗