Bloodless turbinectomy following blind nasal intubation.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Adult↗
Biomedical subjects
R Cooper
Publications and source records attributed to R Cooper.
Increased membrane-bound calcium in platelets of hypertensive patients.
The fluorescent indicator chlortetracycline was used to estimate membrane-bound calcium in mild, untreated hypertensive patients (n = 39) and normotensive controls (n = 42). All participants were black. After incubation with chlortetracycline, platelet-rich plasma was centrifuged into a pellet and fluorescence was measured with a microspectrofluorometer. At an interval of 45 minutes mean fluorescence values were 11% higher in the hypertensive than in the normotensive group (567 +/- 95 vs. 512 +/- 100 counts/sec, p less than 0.02). With both groups of participants combined, a correlation of borderline statistical significance was noted between diastolic blood pressure and chlortetracycline fluorescence (r = 0.213, p = 0.056). In parallel experiments, sodium and potassium concentrations were measured in red blood cells. Intracellular sodium was also significantly higher in the hypertensive group (p less than 0.01). These data indicate that the total cell burden of calcium is increased in the platelets of hypertensive individuals, possibly a result of abnormal cell metabolism of calcium, and further suggest that circulating platelets in hypertensive individuals may be in a hyperaggregable state.
Adult↗
Coronary arteriography and coronary bypass survey among whites and other racial groups relative to hospital-based incidence rates for coronary artery disease: findings from NHDS.
To assess racial differences in health care utilization for coronary artery disease (CAD) the data of the National Hospital Discharge Survey (NHDS) from 1979-84 were examined. Discharge rates for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) were utilized as a measure of hospital-based incidence and relative need for the designated cardiac procedures. Although 35-74 year old Black men had discharge rates of AMI that were 77 per cent of those observed for White men, they underwent coronary arteriography half as often and were only a third as likely to have coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. Black women in this age range were hospitalized at a slightly higher rate than White women for AMI, yet experienced a 19 per cent lower rate of coronary arteriography and a 52 per cent lower rate of CABG surgery. These data suggest a racial bias in the pattern of care delivered for CAD in US hospitals at the present time.
Adult↗
A lack of evidence of sexual transmission of a simian immunodeficiency agent in a semifree-ranging group of mandrills.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Animals↗
Correlation of sperm and endocrine measures with reproductive success in rodents.
This paper compares the statistical precision and biological sensitivity of multiple indices of reproductive function to infertility in the male rodent. The studies discussed include those that examined reproductive function in the male following perinatal exposure to reproductive toxicants and others in which the compounds were administered to young-adult males, often with very diverse results. For example, some chemicals that alter sex differentiation reduce fertility by affecting breeding performance alone (polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), fenarimol, or losulazine), without altering sperm and testicular measures. Others also markedly alter sex differentiation of the genitalia, the accessory glands and the testis in addition to their effects on central nervous system (CNS) sex differentiation and mating behavior (testosterone, flutamide, cyproterone acetate, tamoxifen, estradiol and diethylstilbestrol (DES)). In contrast, prenatal exposure to compounds that alter primary germ cell survival (busulphan, congo red) induce partial gonadal/germ cell agenesis without altering sex differentiation. These chemicals dramatically reduce testicular sperm production in the male offspring, and the most severely affected males are infertile. In a series of studies conducted in our laboratory, young male rats were exposed to known reproductive toxicants in a dose related manner from puberty, through young adulthood and breeding. We have found that the profile of effects varies considerably depending upon the chemical's mechanism of toxicity. When a compound produced infertility through direct effects of testicular function (Carbendazim (MBC) and dibutyl phthalate (DBP)), then testis weight, testicular histology, and testicular sperm head counts provided sensitive indicators of toxicity. In general, dramatic reductions in sperm production are required to induce infertility and these changes were accompanied by elevated serum luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and changes in human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG)-stimulated testosterone synthesis. Chemicals that have hormonal activity, alter the internal endocrine environment, or directly effect CNS function induce a completely different profile of effects. For example, estrogen administration alters the function of the seminal vesicle and the endocrine system, and reduces epididymal sperm reserves; while testicular measures are relatively unaffected. Since very different spectrums of effects are produced by different compounds, no single endpoint will consistently be the most sensitive indicator of reproductive toxicity.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Animals↗
[Argon laser trabeculoplasty for open angle glaucoma--a four year follow-up].
79 patients (105 eyes) with uncontrolled open angle glaucoma underwent argon laser trabeculoplasty (ALT). The average pressure drop was 10.7 mmHg in 58 eyes at one year, 10.1 mmHg in 35 eyes at two years, 9.9 mm Hg in 48 eyes at three years and 10.2 mmHg in 24 eyes at four years. Teh mean success rate was 78%, failures occurred in the first six months in 21 of 23 eyes, the remaining eyes failed at three years, 18 eyes (17%) required filtering surgery. Average medication scores varied little from year 1 through year 4, 45 eyes (42.9%) were being treated with few medications after ALT. The results of ALT depend on the severity of glaucoma: the eyes with advanced disc damage (C/D greater than 0.9, visual field less than 20 degrees) had 59% rate of filtering surgery, while the eyes with C/D 0.6-0.8, visual field greater than 20 degrees at ALT had a filtering surgery rate of 3%.
Aged↗
Red cell sodium and potassium in hypertension among blacks.
Intracellular sodium and potassium were estimated in a series of normotensive (n = 120) and hypertensive (n = 97) blacks attending an outpatient screening clinic. All participants were free of other major medical illnesses and had not taken prescription medications, including antihypertensives, for at least two weeks. Mean intracellular sodium was 11% higher in the hypertensives than the normotensives (8.51 +/- 2.46 v 7.77 +/- 2.27 mmol, respectively, P = 0.02). A significant correlation was noted between diastolic blood pressure and cell sodium (r = 0.138, P = 0.04) when measurements from both groups were combined. Logistic regression analysis likewise demonstrated a borderline significant role of cell sodium in determining case-noncase status (P = 0.06); this finding was independent of other covariates, such as age and obesity. No relationship was noted between cell potassium and blood pressure. A significant correlation was noted between cell sodium and potassium (r = 0.272; P = 0.001); whereas no relationships were found among cell sodium and body mass index, age, sex, habitual alcohol intake, or educational achievement. These data, obtained from the largest series of US blacks reported to date, confirm and extend the finding that the intracellular concentration of sodium in the erythrocyte is increased in hypertensives. The data also lend support to the contention that abnormal sodium metabolism at the cellular level may play a role in the biochemical pathway leading to hypertension.
Adult↗
Cigarette smoking and attitudes toward quitting among black patients.
A sample of 1,388 black patients attending the medical clinic of a general public hospital were interviewed regarding smoking habits and attitudes toward quitting. Current smokers constituted 30% of respondents of both sexes, and approximately half of the sample were ex-smokers. Rates of current smoking were lower, and cessation rates higher, among older individuals and men. Two thirds of current smokers expressed a desire to quit, and of those an equal proportion wanted to participate in a formal cessation program. A majority of smokers reported attempting to quit on their own, and most had made more than one attempt. Given the large burden from cigarette-related disease in the black population, and the current absence of effective primary prevention efforts, smoking intervention in the clinical setting will remain an important obligation of health providers caring for black patients. This article demonstrates moderately high smoking prevalence rates of black individuals already under care for chronic illness, and a concomitant high level of desire to quit. The absence of effective programs appears to be the obstacle preventing significant progress in this important area of health promotion.
Adult↗
Cholera toxin partially inhibits the T-cell response to phytohaemagglutinin through the ADP-ribosylation of a 45 kDa membrane protein.
This study examines the influence of cholera toxin (CT) on T lymphocyte activation by the mitogenic lectin phytohaemagglutinin (PHA). CT suppressed lectin-induced [3H]thymidine uptake in a dose-dependent fashion and acted synergistically with PHA in the generation of intracellular cyclic AMP. The toxin was assumed to act on Gs, because it also stimulated ADP-ribosylation of a 45 kDa membrane protein in vitro; no additional substrates were seen. The inhibitory effect of the adenylate cyclase/cyclic AMP pathway was shown to be directed at a concomitant stimulatory pathway, namely inositol phospholipid turnover. Lectin-stimulated 32P incorporation into both phosphatidylinositol as well as its 4,5-biphosphate derivative was depressed in the presence of CT or exogenous dibutyryl cyclic AMP. This, in turn, was associated with reduced activation of C-kinase as determined by decreased lectin-induced translocation from the cytosol to the surface membrane. These results indicate that Gs probably acts as a transducer between the PHA receptor and adenylate cyclase and may give rise to an exaggerated adenylate cyclase response in the presence of CT. It would seem as if reduction in inositol phospholipid turnover is related to the elevation of cyclic AMP rather than a CT effect on a putative transducer which acts directly on phospholipase C. Our study does not exclude the existence of non-CT-sensitive transducers in this capacity.
Adenosine Diphosphate↗
Discontinuous transcription in Leptomonas seymouri: presence of intact and interrupted mini-exon gene families.
Mature mRNAs of trypanosomatid protozoa result from the joining of at least two exons, which are initially transcribed as separate RNAs. In all trypanosomatids examined to date, the first exon (mini-exon) is encoded by approximately 200 tandemly reiterated genes. In characterizing the mini-exon genes of Leptomonas seymouri, we identified two predominant size classes of repetitive sequences that hybridized strongly to the L. seymouri mini-exon sequence. These two sequences are arranged as interspersed clusters. DNA sequence analysis of a clone representing the smaller size class demonstrated that these sequences have the capacity to encode a mini-exon donor (med)RNA corresponding to the 86 nt component seen in Northern blots of L. seymouri RNA. The larger size class comprises a family of related sequences, some of which contain DNA inserted into the mini-exon portion of the medRNA gene. The specific insert identified here (LINS 1) is exclusively associated with medRNA sequences, and is present in approximately 20% of the larger size class of L. seymouri medRNA genes. Disregarding the insertion, the sequences of the smaller bona fide mini-exon genes and the gene copy containing the insert were almost identical. The insert sequence is transcribed in the same direction as medRNA to yield at least four small non-polyadenylated RNAs, which appeared not to be linked to medRNA sequences.
Animals↗
Myocardial infarction among black patients: poor prognosis after hospital discharge.
Previous studies suggest that long-term survival among symptomatic black patients with coronary artery disease is reduced compared with white patients. Of 342 patients hospitalized with a myocardial infarction over a 3-year period, 285 were black and 249 of these were discharged alive. In this cohort, the all-causes mortality was 14% (95% CI, 9 to 19) at 1 year and 22% (95% CI, 13 to 31) at 2 years. Cardiac causes accounted for 71% and 82% of all deaths at 1 and 2 years, respectively. These mortality rates exceed previous reports of survival after myocardial infarction among white patients in the United States, and confirm that inner-city minority patients served by municipal health care institutions have a particularly poor prognosis for coronary artery disease.
Black or African American↗
Raised titres of anti-klebsiella IgA in ankylosing spondylitis, rheumatoid arthritis, and inflammatory bowel disease.
Serum titres of IgA are raised in ankylosing spondylitis and increased titres of antibodies to klebsiella have also been reported. The humoral response was investigated in ankylosing spondylitis and other inflammatory disorders. IgA antibodies to klebsiella pneumoniae K43 were measured in patients with ankylosing spondylitis, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, and rheumatoid arthritis and in controls. Significantly raised median titres of anti-klebsiella IgA, measured as optical density at 405 nm with an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), were seen among the patients with ankylosing spondylitis (0.7), Crohn's disease (0.8), rheumatoid arthritis (0.6), and ulcerative colitis (0.8) compared with controls (0.4). Activity of disease in ankylosing spondylitis and titres of anti-klebsiella IgA were not correlated. In contrast, titres of anti-klebsiella IgM were significantly lower in patients with ankylosing spondylitis and ulcerative colitis. The increase in the titres of anti-klebsiella IgA may be due to increased permeability of the gut to bacterial antigens, leading to an increased IgA response in the gut mucosa and permitting the release of IgA into the circulation. As the increased antibody titres were seen in Crohn's disease and rheumatoid arthritis as well as in ankylosing spondylitis the response may be nonspecific, occurring because of possible underlying inflammatory bowel disease in these conditions.
Antibodies, Bacterial↗
Photodiode array detection of peptide-nucleoside antibiotics.
The discrimination within fermentation matrices of some structurally related peptide-nucleosides is vastly simplified by coupling photodiode array detection to high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Blasticidin S analogues and other closely related nucleosides can easily be discriminated with on-line photodiode array spectral acquisition (PDA). From the combined HPLC-PDA evaluation of the fermentation filtrate from culture broth 83-2245, two blasticidin S type compounds, Sch 36605 and Sch 36606 could be detected. Mildiomycin, a structurally related nucleoside produced from ATCC culture 31120, could be detected during preliminary isolation without an authentic reference for comparison. Fast atom bombardment mass spectroscopic evaluations and mass-analysed ion kinetic energy spectra of these nucleosides confirmed their respective identities.
Anti-Bacterial Agents↗
Sickle cell heart disease. Two-dimensional echo and Doppler ultrasonographic findings in the hearts of adult patients with sickle cell anemia.
Sickle cell anemia (SCA) is a commonly diagnosed condition in the black population in the United States. With better medical management, patients with SCA are living longer and what were previously uncommon sequelae are being recognized frequently, including those involving the cardiovascular system. Previous reports on the cardiovascular effects of SCA have focused predominantly on children, but the conclusions remain controversial. To study this question further, 40 adult patients with documented SCA were examined using two-dimensional and Doppler cardiac ultrasound. Valvular structures were normal despite an increased incidence of flow murmurs. Abnormalities were found more frequently in the left heart than the right, as manifested primarily by increased left ventricular mass, and left ventricular and left atrial dilatation with preservation of systolic function. Pulmonary hypertension, which was present in two thirds of the sample, was minimal to moderate as assessed by our Doppler technique. The effects of SCA on the heart seem to be minimal and similar to those of other anemias, predominantly confined to the left atrium and ventricle with passive elevation of pulmonary pressures. Clinical murmurs were most often physiologic; there was no association with myxomatous valvular degeneration or mitral valve prolapse.
Adult↗
Coronary artery disease in blacks of lower socioeconomic status: angiographic findings from the Cook County Hospital Heart Disease Registry.
During a 4-year period, 1,022 blacks underwent angiography at our institution for the presumptive diagnosis of coronary artery disease (CAD). Among the 454 men, at least one coronary stenosis was demonstrated in 288 cases (63%), while significant narrowing was found in 242 of 568 women (43%). Despite the frequent finding of normal coronary arteries, those patients with significant CAD had severe disease. Thus among men with CAD, left main stenosis was present in 7% and three-vessel narrowing was seen in 53%; among the women, 8% had left main stenosis and three-vessel disease was present in 52%. Two countervailing processes appear to be occurring, namely (1) identification of true coronary symptoms is difficult in this group of patients and (2) diagnosis of true cases occurs late in the course of the disease and the distribution of the number of vessels involved is skewed upwards. Increased echocardiographically determined left ventricular mass and hypertension were prevalent among all groups. These data suggest that the approach to the diagnosis of CAD in the black population is difficult and severe CAD occurs frequently.
Black People↗
Brain slow potential and ERP changes associated with operator load in a visual tracking task.
Brain electrophysiological changes occurring during the course of a visual tracking task were recorded from 24 normal subjects under varying conditions of workload. Recordings were made with directly coupled amplifiers from 4 scalp midline locations and of vertical and horizontal EOG. The task was to track with a joystick a moving letter on a video monitor screen. Various decisions and button pressing responses were required from the subject during the course of each tracking trial, the total duration of a trial being 28 sec. Trial difficulty was varied by requiring identification of 'targets' or 'non-targets' based on a pre-learned 1-, 3- or 6-letter set of possible targets, by varying speed and distance travelled by the letter and by the introduction of movement perturbation. Sustained negative slow potential (SP) shifts were associated with the introduction and course of each trial. These had 2 phases: an early phase related to memorization and rehearsal and a later stage associated with the tracking itself. Increasing tracking difficulty resulted in an increased negative DC shift during the tracking stage. Increased memory set size caused a reduction in the negative shift during the preparatory, memorization phase. The experimental manipulations of difficulty also resulted in a number of changes in the amplitude and/or latency of ERP components associated with the various points of decision or response.
Adult↗
The development of a protocol to assess reproductive effects of toxicants in the rat.
The determination that a chemical poses a reproductive risk to man typically relies upon fertility studies using rodents. However, fertility in rodents is often difficult to disrupt and more sensitive indicators of reproductive function should be included in the risk assessment process. The present discussion compares the sensitivity of fertility to other endpoints following exposure to known reproductive toxicants. In our studies rats were dosed from weaning through puberty , gestation, and lactation. The reproductive function of the male, the female, and the offspring was assessed. The effects of methoxychlor, carbendazim (MBC), dibutyl phthalate (DBP), and lindane are discussed and compared to fertility. For each compound a ratio (SR = sensitivity ratio) of the lowest effect level (LEL) for infertility or reduced fecundity to the LEL for the most sensitive physiologic endpoint was calculated. The SR should be large when a compound produces effects over a wide range of doses, but should equal unity when the dose-response curve is very steep. For methoxychlor, which blocked implantation, pubertal landmarks and estrous cyclicity provided rapid and sensitive indicators of the subsequent reproductive failure. The SR = 8 (100/12) for methoxychlor using data from females. In contrast, DBP and MBC directly altered testicular function, and for these compounds, sperm and testicular measures provided sensitive indicators of toxicity. The SR for MBC was 2 (100/50), while DBP had a SR of 1 (500/500). In the lindane study, fertility was not reduced but most of the pups (F1) died shortly after birth. The SR for lindane is equal to 0.5 (10/20). At 20 mg/kg the treated females were larger and their estrous cycles were erratic.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Animals↗
Sex differences in high density lipoprotein cholesterol in urban blacks.
Descriptive data on high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol in the black urban population of the United States are limited. We examined 119 men and 130 women aged 21-70 years who were attending a screening clinic at Cook County Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, in 1985-1986 for minor complaints; all participants were black. For men, lipid values were: total cholesterol, 209.5 +/- 50.6, HDL cholesterol, 55.2 +/- 16.5; for women, values were: total cholesterol, 215.6 +/- 47.4, HDL cholesterol, 59.2 +/- 17.2. Correlates of HDL cholesterol were different in men and women. Alcohol consumption and body mass index were significantly related to HDL cholesterol in men; however, education was the only significant factor among women. It was anticipated that the increased obesity among the women in this sample (mean body mass index, 31 kg/m2; range, 18.4-50.0 kg/m2) compared with men (mean body mass index, 27 kg/m2; range, 19.4-45.0 kg/m2) would explain part of the narrowing of the gap between the sexes in HDL cholesterol values. The association between HDL cholesterol and body mass index among women, however, was weak and nonsignificant. The increased susceptibility of black women to coronary artery disease has not been adequately explained and undoubtedly reflects a complicated interaction of epidemiologic factors.
Adult↗