Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to P Rowe.
Peripheral aneurysms of the leg are rare, and nearly always involve the popliteal artery. We describe the unusual presentation of a swollen leg caused by a large false aneurysm of a branch of the posterior tibial artery. This developed in the absence of either a history of trauma, local infection or infective endocarditis.
The recent discovery that 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) causes a syndrome of Parkinsonism in man and monkey has stimulated the search for a small animal model of Parkinsonism. In this study, MPTP was administered to a series of small animals and observations made on clinical and neurochemical changes. The clinical effects of MPTP in rabbits, guinea pigs, and rats were short lived, and no chronic Parkinsonian syndrome developed. The C57 black mouse, however, although also not showing clinical changes, proved to be an ideal neurochemical model in which to study the effects of MPTP since striatal dopamine levels were reliably reduced to 13% of control values after 4 intraperitoneal injections of 30 mg/kg MPTP. Pathological study of the striatum and substantia nigra in the mouse model failed to show any alteration in neuronal morphology or numbers. Although the effect of MPTP on striatal dopamine lasted for up to 2 weeks after the last MPTP injection, the possibility exists that no neurotoxic effects occur and the observed dopamine depletion is pharmacological only.
The utility of a new glucose reflectance meter (the Reflolux; Boehringer Mannheim) and the accuracy of visually interpreted strips (Haemo-Glukotest 20-800R; Boehringer Mannheim) for the determination of blood glucose levels were assessed in a study of 50 insulin-dependent diabetics who regularly used the strips for home monitoring of their blood glucose levels. There was a highly significant correlation (r = 0,970, P less than 0,0001) between readings on the meter and results of a laboratory reference plasma glucose determination method. The patients' visual assessment of their blood glucose levels using the strips also correlated with the results of a reference method in 44 cases (88%), especially at levels below 11 mmol/l (r = 0,944, P less than 0,0001). However, readings from 6 patients were inaccurate, despite the fact that these patients regularly used the strips. A patient's ability to use the strips should be properly evaluated before it is recommended that they be used for monitoring of blood glucose levels at home. Reflectance meters are not usually necessary for satisfactory blood glucose monitoring at home. This meter may prove useful in training patients to read blood glucose assessment strips accurately, and is suitable for hospital or office use.
Sera from 391 southern African Blacks with hepatocellular carcinoma, matched controls, patients with other malignant tumours, and with various forms of hepatobiliary disease were fractionated by polyacrylamide gradient gel electrophoresis to determine the prevalence of tumour-associated gamma-glutamyl transferase isoenzymes in Black patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. One or more tumour-associated isoenzymes (I', I'' or II') were present in 58.6% of the patients with hepatocellular carcinoma: I' in 54.5%, I'' in 27.1%, and II' in 34%. These isoenzymes were detected in one patient with prostatic cancer, occasionally in patients with acute viral hepatitis, but in no normal individuals. The presence of tumour-associated isoenzymes was not related to patient age, sex or hepatitis-B virus status or to the tumour burden. Isoenzymes were present in 42 percent of hepatocellular carcinoma patients with a normal serum alpha-foetoprotein concentration and in 50% of those with a non-diagnostic value. gamma-glutamyl transferase isoenzymes may be supplementary to alpha-foetoprotein in the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma.
A computer program has been prepared for grouping soil actinomycetes into cluster groups based on the presence or absence of aerial mycelium, the color of soluble pigment, and the shade of color of surface and reverse mycelium. The program automatically condenses cultures with wide ranges of characteristics into a limited number of groups and provides a permanent record so that comparisons can be made among experiments performed over a span of time. The program permits the grouping of large numbers of cultures with minimal laboratory effort and has proven useful in defining some of the ecological factors that lead to changed actinomycete populations in soils.
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A randomised double blind study of a plain T-shaped IUD and an active T-shaped IUD releasing 65 micrograms/day of progesterone, has been completed in four centres. A study of 1320 progesterone-releasing IUD's in parous women for 9660 women months of use significant to 18 months, gave a pregnancy rate of 1.0 +/- 0.4, expulsion of 4.7 +/- 0.6 and removals for pain and bleeding of 6.0 +/- 0.7. A detailed analysis of the menstrual bleeding patterns in these patients gave details of the number and length of bleeding and spotting episodes, count of bleeding days, and count of spotting episodes and days for four one-hundred-day reference periods. While the plain IUD contributed a significant number of intermenstrual spotting and bleeding days, the progesterone-releasing IUD contributed more spotting days.
The relationship between plasma potassium concentration and the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system was evaluated in ten patients with chronic renal failure (creatinine clearance 10-56 ml/min). Under basal conditions and following various stimulation maneuvers, normokalemic patients demonstrated normal plasma renin and aldosterone levels. Five of six patients with hyperkalemia had diminished function of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system; their ability to conserve sodium during salt depletion was less than that of normokalemic patients. The data suggest that the maintenance of plasma potassium levels in these patients is dependent of the presence of a normally functioning renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system; aldosterone activity may be an important determinant of sodium conservation in patients with renal failure.
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The protective effect of alpha thalassaemia (-alpha/alpha alpha) against morbidity from falciparum malaria was assessed in a prospective study of rural Gambian children. The gene frequency for single alpha-globin gene deletions was 0.12. Malariometric indices measured during cross-sectional surveys and morbidity from malaria determined by weekly surveillance were similar in children with alpha thalassaemia and in those with a normal alpha-globin genotype. However, the small number of children who carried both alpha thalassaemia and the sickle cell trait had fewer clinical episodes of malaria than children with the sickle cell trait alone. Specific antibody responses and cell-mediated immune responses in vitro to defined Plasmodium falciparum antigens were measured in children participating in the study. In general, there was no evidence of an increased prevalence or intensity of humoral or cell-mediated immune responses to the malaria antigens studied in children heterozygous for alpha thalassaemia compared with children with a normal alpha-globin genotype.
Chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) is a rare inherited disorder associated with a profound predisposition to infection due to the lack of a microbicidal oxidase system in the phagocytes of these patients. This syndrome is most commonly inherited through a defect on the X chromosome and the only clearly defined component of the oxidase system, the very unusual cytochrome b (b-245), has been shown to be missing from the cells of these patients. This cytochrome is a heterodimer composed of an alpha-chain of relative molecular mass (Mr) 23,000 (23K) and a 76-92K beta-chain; neither are detectable in neutrophils from X-linked CGD subjects. The defective X-CGD gene has recently been cloned by 'reverse genetics' but the protein predicted from the proposed complementary DNA sequence was not identified. We have purified the beta-chain of the cytochrome and sequenced 43 amino acids from the N terminus. Almost complete homology was obtained between this sequence and that of the complementary nucleotides 19-147 of the sequence of the X-CGD gene, originally designated as a non-coding region.
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