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Biomedical subjects

R Harris

Publications and source records attributed to R Harris.

At least 397 records · Page 22Linked to original sources

Orally administered ketoconazole: route of delivery to the human stratum corneum.

Delivery of ketoconazole to human stratum corneum was studied. Thirteen healthy volunteers, three patients with chronic fungal disease and one patient with palmar-plantar hyperhidrosis were given 400 mg of ketoconazole daily for various lengths of time. The ketoconazole content of palmar stratum corneum, eccrine sweat, sebum, and serum was measured by high-pressure liquid chromatography (sensitivity, 0.005 to 0.010 microgram/ml). Palmar stratum corneum obtained after 7 and 14 days of daily administration contained up to 14 micrograms of ketoconazole per g. Ketoconazole was not found in sebum after 7 or 14 days of daily ingestion of the antimycotic agent. Sebum from three patients with chronic fungal infection treated for greater than 9 months contained ketoconazole (means, 4.7 micrograms/g). Thermogenic whole body eccrine sweat contained a mean of 0.059 microgram/ml on day 7 and 0.084 microgram/ml on day 14 of daily administration. Ketoconazole appeared in thermogenic whole body eccrine sweat and palmar hyperhidrotic sweat within 1 h after a single oral dose. Partition studies of ketoconazole containing eccrine sweat demonstrated a 10-fold greater concentration in the sediment phase (desquamated keratinocytes) compared with the clear supernatant phase. In vitro studies with [3H]ketoconazole-supplemented supernatant sweat revealed preferential binding to stratum corneum, hair, and nails and its partitioning to lipid-rich sebum. We conclude that eccrine sweat rapidly transports ketoconazole across the blood-skin barrier, where it may bind or partition to keratinocytes and surface lipids.

Administration, Oral↗

The fragile X: a scanning electron microscope study.

Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) has been used to study the fragile X chromosome. The fragile site appears as an isochromatid gap in the majority of cases, confirming light microscope (LM) observations. SEM has allowed a more precise location of the fragile site to the Xq27 . 3 region.

Chromosome Mapping↗

Physical fitness and blood pressure in school children.

We studied the relationship between physical fitness and blood pressure in 228 school children. The data were collected as part of the Loma Linda Child-Adolescent Blood Pressure Study. Systolic and diastolic blood pressures were lower in children above average fitness than in children below average fitness among preadolescent and adolescent boys and girls. On multivariate analysis, adjusting for skinfold thickness, an index of lean arm mass, height and age, the relationship between fitness and systolic blood pressure was statistically significant for preadolescent boys and for adolescents of both sexes. The multivariate relationship was not clearly seen for diastolic blood pressure. Multivariate techniques showed that significant correlates of fitness were obesity in preadolescents, age in adolescent boys and height in adolescent girls. Predicted pulse rates for stages 6-10 of a modified Balke treadmill protocol are given in appendix 1 for preadolescent and adolescent boys and girls.

Adolescent↗

Elevated free testosterone levels in women with acne.

Female patients with varying grades of acne were examined to determine whether free testosterone levels were a more sensitive indicator of hyperandrogenism than total testosterone values. Of 24 women with acne studied, four were found to have elevated total testosterone levels, whereas 11 had elevated free testosterone levels. Twenty-four age-matched female control subjects without acne, hirsutism, or irregular menstrual cycles all had normal free and total testosterone values. The mean concentration of free testosterone in the patients with acne was 1.035 ng/dL, while in the control subjects it was 0.54 ng/dL. Other than hirsutism in three patients with acne with elevated free testosterone levels, there were no morphologic clues identified to determine which patients with acne are more likely to have abnormal free testosterone levels. The free testosterone level did not correlate with the type, distribution, or severity of the acne present in the patients.

Acne Vulgaris↗

Family studies in RA - the importance of HLA-DR4 and of genes for autoimmune thyroid disease.

The segregation of HLA haplotypes with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) was studied in 13 selected, multicase families. HLA-DR4 was present in 77% of RA probands (32% controls). No single haplotype was associated with RA in different families. Analysis of HLA haplotype sharing in affected relatives showed no significant difference to the expected distribution. It seems likely therefore that the HLA-DR4 antigen itself rather than a linked susceptibility gene predisposes to RA. In 2 of 3 HLA-DR4 negative families, there were members with autoimmune thyroid disease. It is suggested that genetic susceptibility to RA may be associated with both HLA-DR4 and genes for autoimmune thyroid disease.

Adolescent↗

Exercise and the aging process.

Clinical and research evidence confirms that adequate physical exercise (1) counterbalances and delays the age-related changes in work capacity and physical performance, (2) develops, maintains and improves the range of motion, muscular strength, flexibility, balance, rhythm and endurance and (3) reduces the damage and disability of associated cardiovascular, musculo-skeletal and other organ systems in aging persons.

Aged↗

Anaplastic carcinomas in nude mice and in original donor strain rats inoculated with cultured oval cells.

Male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed for 4-5 weeks a choline-devoid diet containing 0.1% DL-ethionine. Preparations of nonparenchymal epithelial cells, enriched in oval cells, were isolated from the livers of these animals and were placed in culture. Six lines of hepatic epithelial cells were thus established. The lines underwent transformation after several passages, became tumorigenic in nude mice and 3 lines also in rats of the same strain of origin of the isolated cells. The tumors were uniformly highly anaplastic carcinomas. Preliminary morphologic, cytologic, and cytochemical results were consistent with the tumoral cells being hepatocytelike cells. These findings are viewed and discussed in terms of the cellular source, in vivo, of longterm cultures of rat liver epithelial cells, and in relation to a possible role of hepatic nonparenchymal epithelial cells in the process of hepatocellular tumor induction by chemical carcinogens.

Animals↗

Dissociation of hunger and self-stimulation by trigeminal deafferentation in the rat.

Section of trigeminal orosensory or oromotor nerves reduces food intake and disrupts performance of a food-reinforced lever pressing response but increases the rate of an identical level pressing response reinforced by electrical stimulation of the lateral hypothalamus. Our findings suggest that trigeminal orosensation plays a critical role in the neural control of hunger in the rat. The results also fail to support a response-oriented theory of intracranial self-stimulation where the latter is thought to involve selective facilitation of sensorimotor circuits underlying species-typical consummatory behavior.

Afferent Pathways↗

Effects of counseling for late stage cancer patients.

Much has been written about working with the dying. Few, if any, controlled studies have examined the application of principles set forth. The authors evaluate the effectiveness of working with dying cancer patients by assessing changes in quality of life, physical functioning, and survival. One-hundred twenty men with end-stage cancer were randomly assigned to experimental or control groups; the 62 experimental group patients were seen regularly by a counselor. Patients were assessed before random assignment and at one, three, six, nine, and 12 months on quality of live and functional status. Experimental group patients improved significantly more than the control group on quality of life within three months. Functional status and survival did not differ between groups. A subsample of lung cancer patients provided cross-validation of findings. Although survival was not expected to differ, it was predicted that functioning would be enhanced if quality of life improved. One interpretation is that little can be done to alter physical function and survival when intervention occurs late in the progression of a fatal disease. This in no way reduces the value of improving overall quality of life, since enhancing the quality of survival for end-stage cancer patients is a high priority medical goal.

Counseling↗