[Occurrence of serological markers to hepatitis B in mentally retarded persons in an institution].
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to P Jacobsen.
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A number of studies of schizophrenia have demonstrated associations between cognitive impairment and both cerebral ventricle size and negative symptomatology. The nature of these associations, however, have been obscured by interstudy differences in the assessment of cognitive functioning and by the lack of function-related specificity in measures of structural brain abnormality. In this study, 28 SCID-diagnosed chronic schizophrenic inpatients were administered a brief comprehensive battery of neuropsychological tests, a computed tomography (CT) scan, and were rated for positive and negative symptomatology. Enlarged ventricle-to-brain ratio (VBR) of the anterior portion of the lateral ventricles, the frontal horns, was found to be related to deficits in general intellectual level, conceptual thinking, immediate verbal memory, and psychomotor speed. VBR of the more usually studied bodies of the lateral ventricles was associated only with deficits in verbal memory and motor speed. VBRs were unrelated to both positive and negative symptom measures in this sample. Results suggest that more widespread impairment of schizophrenics' cognitive functioning may be related to structural abnormality within the frontal lobes, complementing recent findings linking structural and metabolic abnormalities of this area of the brain to the disease itself.
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The acute effects of a single, 20 mg oral dose of nitrendipine were studied in 10 women at between 32 and 42 weeks gestation with stable pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH). Blood pressure (BP), maternal heart rate and fetal heart rate (FHR) were assessed for 8 h after nitrendipine intake together with the plasma levels of nitrendipine, noradrenaline, adrenaline, plasma renin activity (PRA) and vasopressin. The mean initial systolic/diastolic BP was 158 (SEM 3.7)/108 (SEM 2.7) mmHg. Within 1 h stable, reduced mean BP-levels of 141-145/90-95 mmHg were reached and maintained for 4 h after medication. This antihypertensive effect was closely related to the maternal plasma concentration of nitrendipine, which reached a maximum of 9.1 (SEM 2.6) ng/ml 3 h after tablet intake. After 4 h, systolic and diastolic BPs slowly increased in parallel to a successive decrease in plasma concentrations of nitrendipine. Maternal heart rate increased by less than 10%, while FHR remained unchanged. No hypotensive incidents occurred. The initial mean plasma concentrations of noradrenaline, adrenaline, vasopressin and PRA did not change during the treatment. No major maternal and no fetal side-effects were observed. Three of 10 patients experienced mild, transient facial flushing.
Thirty-six cases of oral condyloma planus (hairy leukoplakia) occurring in homosexual men are reported. The average age is 36.6 years, with a range from 24 to 51 years, and the disorder exhibits a predilection for the fourth decade. More than 86% of the cases are localized to the tongue (72% lateral border, 14% ventral surface). Microscopically, surface candidiasis could be detected with periodic acid-Schiff staining in 88% of the instances. Parakeratosis with koilocytotic atypia was the characteristic histologic finding; however, comparison with twenty-five cases of leukoplakias exhibiting parakeratosis and twenty-five cases of candidiasis among heterosexual individuals disclosed that koilocytotic changes are not specific for condyloma planus. Follow-up data were obtained in thirty-two cases with a mean of 11 months. During this period six patients died or were hospitalized with a diagnosis of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.
Psychiatric symptoms among patients with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) may be functional reactions to contracting a fatal and stigmatizing disease or may be secondary to malignancies and opportunistic infections in the central nervous system (CNS). More recent evidence indicates that HTLV-III, the virus that causes AIDS, directly infects the CNS and may cause psychiatric symptoms before signs of immunodeficiency, cognitive impairment, or neurological abnormalities emerge. AIDS-related organic mental syndromes may mimic functional disorders such as chronic mild depression and acute psychosis. Both of these common presentations are illustrated with detailed case reports, and diagnostic and management guidelines are provided.
Squamous odontogenic tumour (SOT) is a rare benign odontogenic neoplasm, apparently arising from rests of Malassez. It was first described in 1975 and since then only 17 cases have been recorded in the literature. A new, not previously reported, characteristic case of SOT is presented in connection with a review of the literature. It is concluded that the lesion occurs with equal frequency in the maxilla and mandible and now and then multifocally. Maxillary lesions seem to grow more aggressively than do mandibular ones. The symptoms are modest. SOT has a characteristic pathologic picture which differs decisively from ameloblastoma and which, in connection with its benign nature, warrants the classification of SOT. Although most cases have been treated by conservative surgical therapy without recurrence, there are cases, especially in the maxilla with diffuse lesions, which have required en bloc resection or hemimaxillectomy. The diagnostic problems are stressed and recommendations are made for the pathologist and the surgeon to pay attention to this rare but benign tumour.
The relationship between structure, in vivo activity, and in vitro activity of some analogues of the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) agonist piperidine-4-sulphonic acid (P4S) was studied. The syntheses of 1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine-4-sulphonic acid (DH-P4S) and (RS)-pyrrolidin-3-yl-methanesulphonamide (PMSA-amide) are described. Like P4S, its unsaturated analogue DH-P4S and the five-ring isomer (RS)-pyrrolidin-3-yl-methanesulphonic acid (PMSA) were bicuculline methochloride (BMC)-sensitive inhibitors of the firing of neurones in the cat spinal cord. Whereas isonipecotic acid was less potent than its unsaturated analogue isoguvacine as a GABA-mimetic and as an inhibitor of GABA binding, the opposite relative potencies of P4S and DH-P4S were observed, P4S being proportionally more potent than DH-P4S. In contrast with P4S and DH-P4S, PMSA, which is an analogue of the potent GABA uptake inhibitor and BMC-sensitive GABA-mimetic homo-beta-proline, was a relatively weak inhibitor of GABA uptake in vitro. PMSA-amide was more than two orders of magnitude weaker than PMSA as an inhibitor of GABA binding and did not significantly affect GABA uptake in vitro. The effects of 3-aminopropanesulphonic acid (3-APS), PMSA, P4S, and DH-P4S on the binding of [3H]diazepam in vitro at 30 degrees C, in the presence or absence of chloride ions, were studied and compared with those of the structurally related amino acids GABA, homo-beta-proline, isonipecotic acid, and isoguvacine. Under these conditions the aminosulphonic acids were weaker than the respective amino acids in enhancing [3H]diazepam binding, the difference being more pronounced in the absence of chloride.
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The purpose of this study was to assess the platelet aggregation and releasable platelet ATP in patients with alcoholic cirrhosis (n = 10) and primary biliary cirrhosis (n = 10). In patients with liver disease a significant decrease was found in both adenosine diphosphate-induced aggregation (P less than 0.01) and collagen-induced aggregation (P less than 0.001) compared with that of controls, but there was no significant difference between the two groups of patients. Patients with primary biliary cirrhosis release smaller amounts of ATP than patients with alcoholic cirrhosis, and compared with the controls there was a significant (P less than 0.001) decrease in the releasable ATP in the patient groups. These results suggest that platelets are damaged during an intravascular activation (loss of granules), which gives rise to their subsequent hypo-function when tested in vitro.
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Cytogenetic investigations by three different lymphocyte culture methods in 63 obligate and potential carriers of the fragile X [fra(X)] are reported. A difference was observed between normal and retarded carriers in the manifestation of the fra(X). An inverse relationship between percentage positive cells and age was demonstrated in normal carriers, whereas retarded carriers generally showed higher percentages at all ages. X-inactivation studies in retarded carriers compared with normal carriers showed a tendency towards a skewed inactivation pattern with an excess of early replicating fra(X) in both groups when carriers expressing high percentages of fra(X) positive cells were compared. In normal carriers with low percentage expression the tendency was apparently reversed. The relationship between the replication pattern of the fragile X and the mental status of the individual is more complicated than suggested by previous studies.
Crossbred and zebu calves at 4 to 5 months of age in an area where tick control was carried out showed little difference in mortality. Crossbred calves at 10 months of age had a mortality rate of 20% from all causes, 14% from East Coast fever. Serological results plus mortality studies showed that the survival rate of crossbred calves known to have been exposed to ECF was 57%. Serological results further showed that, in spite of tick exposure, only 26% of the crossbreds had seroconverted at 10.3 months of age while 15% zebus had positive titres.
An 8-year-old female with DiGeorge syndrome was referred for dental treatment. Previous medical examination had disclosed heart and aortic arch malformations, hypoparathyroidism and an impaired cellular immune response. At dental examination, hypertelorism, a short philtrum, low-set malformed ears, a cleft palate and severe enamel hypoplasia were noted. The chronological distribution of enamel defects corresponded to the patients' age at known episodes of profound hypocalcemia occurring during treatment with vitamin D. Branchial dysembryogenesis should be considered in any case with dental changes related to hypoparathyroidism.
The thio analogues of the GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) agonist THIP (4,5,6,7-tetrahydroisoxazolo[5,4-c]pyridin-3-ol), the GABA uptake inhibitor THPO (4,5,6,7-tetrahydroisoxazolo[4,5-c]pyridin-3-ol), and the glycine antagonist THAZ (5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-4H-isoxazolo[4,5-d]azepin-3-ol) have been synthesized and tested biologically on single neurons in the cat spinal cord and in vitro by using synaptic membrane preparations obtained from rat brains. In contrast to THIP, thio-THIP (4,5,6,7-tetrahydroisothiazolo[5,4-c]pyridin-3-ol, 5) was only a weak GABA agonist. Thio-THPO (4,5,6,7-tetrahydroisothiazolo[4,5-c]pyridin-3-ol, 10) was slightly weaker than THPO as an inhibitor of GABA uptake in vitro, and these two compounds were approximately equipotent in enhancing the inhibition of the firing of cat spinal neurons by GABA. Like THAZ and structurally related bicyclic isoxazole zwitterions, thio-THAZ (5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-4H-isothiazolo[4,5-d]azepin-3-ol, 15) was an antagonist at glycine receptors on cat spinal neurons. The I/U ratios, which reflect the ability of neutral amino acids to penetrate the blood-brain barrier (BBB), were calculated for 5 (I/U = 16), 10 (63), and 15 (200). These low I/U ratios, compared with the findings that THIP (I/U = 500 or 1500) and THPO (I/U = 2500) enter the brain after systemic administration, suggest that the thio analogues may penetrate the BBB very easily.