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Biomedical subjects

O Andersen

Publications and source records attributed to O Andersen.

282 records · Page 16Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

VIP in cerebrospinal fluid of patients with multiple sclerosis.

The concentration of VIP was measured radioimmunochemically in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from 14 healthy volunteers and from 22 patients with multiple sclerosis. Significantly lower levels of VIP was obtained in the patients (18 +/- 3 pmol/l) than in controls (37 +/- 4 pmol/l). There was no correlation between the level of VIP in CSF and other CSF parameters such as albumin. IgG or cell content; nor between VIP concentration and the physical handicap or neuropsychiatric symptoms. There was a trend towards lower values of VIP in patients with steadily progressing rather than intermittent course of the disease but the difference between the groups was not significant.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Biochemical and ultrastructural studies of the C-type lectin bovine conglutinin.

The aim of this study was to correlate the supramolecular organization of conglutinin (BK) with its primary and tertiary structure and to gain more knowledge of functionally important regions of the molecule. BK analyzed by SDS-PAGE under standard reducing conditions (40 mM DTT) showed a major band at 43 kDa and weaker bands at 86 and 180 kDa. In contrast, reduction with 6-50 mM L-cysteine resulted in 37-kDa subunits indicating the presence of intrachain disulfide bonds within this subunit. Hydroxylamine treatment indicated presence of ester bonds in the 86- and 180-kDa subunits. Collagenase digestion and SDS-PAGE under reducing and nonreducing conditions resulted in bands of 20 and 15 kDa, respectively, indicating the presence of intrachain, rather than interchain, disulfide bonds in the carboxy terminus. Deglycosylation and glycan differentiation analysis of BK revealed the presence of O-linked glycans of GalNAc and alpha (2-3) linked sialic acid type, whereas no N-linked glycans were demonstrated. Binding experiments with GlcNAc-gold suggested that multivalency is required for carbohydrate binding to BK. Electron microscopy showed mostly tetramers, 96 nm in diameter, but also mono-, di-, and trimers were seen. The tetramers consisted of 40-nm strands, each with a peripheral globular head composed of subunits and connected to a common central lobe built from four ring-formed structures. The strands occasionally showed two bends, one close to the central lobe and another 25 nm from the lobe. These bends most likely correspond to the interrupted Gly-Xaa-Yaa repeats at residues 38 and 123.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Bromocriptine treatment for male infertility.

Four oligozoospermic men with marginally raised serum prolacatin levels were treated with bromocriptine for a period of 90 days. Bromocriptine treatment did not result in an increase in sperm count.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Prevalence and characteristics of dysarthria in a multiple-sclerosis incidence cohort: relation to neurological data.

Few attempts have been made to use degree and type of multiple sclerosis (MS) dysarthria in neurological evaluation. In the present study, 77 individuals drawn from an MS population were examined both by a speech pathologist and a neurologist, and data from three sources of information were subsequently combined: (1) a clinical dysarthria test procedure, (2) a perceptual analysis of speech characteristics in continuous speech, and (3) neurological deficit scoring. The speech of 15 age- and gender-matched healthy control subjects was also investigated. It was concluded that: (1) the prevalence of mild to severe dysarthria in this cohort was 51% and occurred in all components of speech production: respiration, phonation, prosody, articulation and nasality. (2) The clinical dysarthria test was sensitive in detecting subclinical speech signs. The prevalence of pathologic speech signs found on the basis of the test was found to be 62%. The prevalence of dysarthria based on the neurological evaluation alone was 20%. (3) The dysarthria of MS was a predominantly mixed dysarthria, with both ataxic and spastic speech signs frequently present in the speech of a given individual. (4) Furthermore, when a predominant type of dysarthria existed, it was not generally associated with a characteristic profile of neurological deficits. Rather, severity of speech deviation was positively correlated to overall severity of neurological involvement, type of disease course, and number of years in progression.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Temporal speech characteristics of individuals with multiple sclerosis and ataxic dysarthria: 'scanning speech' revisited.

'Scanning speech' has been used as a description of a prominent characteristic of the dysarthria of multiple sclerosis (MS) as well as of ataxic dysarthria in general. It is thought to be measurable as equalized syllable durations. There are seemingly contradictory prosodic-temporal characteristics of ataxic dysarthria: perceptually characterised as prosodic excess as well as phonatory-prosodic insufficiency and acoustic characteristics including signs of isochrony as well as variability. This study investigates the temporal characteristics at two levels, duration and variability of syllable durations and the durations of interstress intervals. A group of 14 individuals with MS and ataxic dysarthria as well as 15 control subjects were studied. It was concluded that individuals with ataxic dysarthria and MS showed (a) for syllables: significantly increased durations and decreased intrautterance variability (more isochrony or syllable equalization) as well as significantly increased interutterance variability; (b) for interstress intervals: significantly increased durations and increased variability (less isochrony). The results point to inflexibility as well as instability of temporal control, which could contribute to the explanation of why the perceptual characteristics are contradictory.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Fish gonadotropin-releasing hormone gene and molecular approaches for control of sexual maturation: development of a transgenic fish model.

The prepro-GnRH gene and mRNA primary structure were fully established from Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) and partially from rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Results show that the GnRH coding region of 30 base pairs is well conserved during evolution. In contrast, the GnRH-associated peptide (GAP) sequence shows very limited homology when the GnRH genes from mammalian and teleost species are compared. A simple method for selecting transgenic fish after transfer of the firefly luciferase gene was developed. The method involves bioluminescent measurement of live animals in a scintillation counter.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Trace element status in alcoholism before and during disulfiram treatment.

Trace element status was ascertained in 19 alcoholic patients under long-term treatment with disulfiram and in 12 alcoholic patients treated for the first time; the latter group was re-examined after four weeks of treatment. Both groups were compared to matched controls with a moderate alcohol intake. The copper/zinc ratio in serum was increased in the patients under long-term treatment, and a significant decrease occurred during the first four weeks of treatment in the second group. Blood lead was slightly increased in the second group, but not in the patients under long-term treatment. Blood cadmium was high in both groups, perhaps related to excessive tobacco smoking. Blood mercury concentrations were uniformly low. Urinary nickel excretion in the first group was above reference values, and an increase was seen in the second group during the treatment period. Although trace element concentrations in body fluids may not reflect tissue levels, the results support the notion that trace element balances are influenced by alcoholism and disulfiram treatment.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Elevated levels of myelin basic protein in CSF in relation to auditory brainstem responses in Bell's palsy.

Myelin basic protein (MBP) in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was quantified from 28 patients with acute facial palsy. The mean value of MBP in CSF in the study group was 3.4 +/- 0.22 micrograms/l (mean +/- SEM), which was significantly higher than the found in 37 healthy subjects (2.4 +/- 0.13 micrograms/l). Using a 95% confidence interval, 10 patients demonstrated significantly increased CSF concentrations of MBP (greater than 3.95 micrograms/l). Auditory brainstem response (ABR) test showed that 5 patients had abnormal brainstem responses. No significant correlation was observed between elevated MBP in CSF and either pathologic auditory brainstem responses or the clinical degree of the palsy. These results suggest that a brainstem involvement may occur in patients with Bell's palsy. Furthermore, our data accord with previous reports suggesting Bell's palsy to be part of a polyneuropathy.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Insulin receptor binding to monocytes and erythrocytes in gestational diabetes.

Insulin receptor binding to monocytes and erythrocytes was measured at the time of diagnosis and again postpartum in 23 normal weight gestational diabetics. In 16 women, insulin receptor binding was studied after a period of dietary treatment. In patients diagnosed early in pregnancy, an increase in insulin binding to both monocytes and erythrocytes was observed during dietary treatment (p less than 0.001), while no similar changes were observed in patients diagnosed later in pregnancy. Postpartum, insulin receptor binding to erythrocytes decreased in all women compared to the time of diagnosis (p less than 0.01) while insulin binding to monocytes either decreased (p less than 0.001) or remained unchanged depending on the time of diagnosis. Insulin binding was similar in those women who remained glucose intolerant and those who returned to normal glucose tolerance postpartum. The findings indicate that factors other than insulin receptor binding are involved in the pathogenesis of gestational diabetes.

Blood Glucose↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Methotrexate-leucovorin synchronization of human lymphocyte cultures. Induction of high resolution R- and G-banding.

This report describes simple techniques for induction of high resolution R- and G-banding. A methotrexate (MTX) induced S-phase block was released after 18 h by exposure to leucovorin (LV). G-bands were induced by adding ethidium bromide (EB) to the cultures followed by a modified trypsin treatment of the slides, including inhibition of trypsin activity by trypsin inhibitor. To obtain R-banded preparations 5-bromodeoxyuridine (BUdR) and Hoechst 33258 (H) were simultaneously added to the LV released cultures. The synchronization technique and the R- and G-banding procedures are simpler than most techniques, formerly published, and ensure high metaphase yield, reproducibility and slides with well defined high resolution R- or G-banding.

Cells, Cultured↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Fatty acid and polar lipid analysis as tools in the identification of Mycobacterium leprae and some related slow-growing mycobacterial species.

Some species of slow-growing Mycobacteria, including Mycobacterium leprae (1 strain), M. lepraemurium (2 strains), M. paratuberculosis (12 strains) and a group of 12 M. avium-like strains (isolates from wild animals) were examined by gas chromatography (GC) for cellular fatty acids and by thin-layer chromatography (TLC) for polar lipids. All the GC patterns, including that of M. leprae, contained high levels of tuberculostearic-, stearic-, octadecenoic- and palmitic acid. Tetradecanoic-, pentadecanoic-, hexadecenoic- and heptadecanoic acid were also generally present but in lower concentrations. In addition to these acids shared by all strains, each bacterial species or group was found to exhibit compounds which were not detected (or detected in considerably lower quantities) in the other taxa examined. Thus each bacterial species or group could be distinguished by their GC profiles. The corresponding TLC patterns were also rather complex. A total of 39 different spots were distinguished. A few of these were shared by all strains, some were characteristic of certain species or groups, whereas others were strain-specific. Both M. leprae and M. lepraemurium shared several features with the other strains but could be distinguished from each other and from the others by their patterns of slow-moving (polar) spots. The 12 M. avium-like strains were divided into two main groups, one with only a few slow-moving spots (rough stains), and one with several slow-moving spots (smooth strains) which included the M. avium reference strains.

Chromatography, Gas↗