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Biomedical subjects

R Kumar

Publications and source records attributed to R Kumar.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1991

The presence of platelet-activating factor-like activity in human spermatozoa.

Evidence is provided for the existence of platelet-activating factor (PAF)-like activity in the lipid extracts of human spermatozoa. The PAF content of human spermatozoa based on [3H]-serotonin release from washed rabbit platelets was noted to be 1.45 pmol/10(8) sperm cells in highly purified motile spermatozoa. No PAF activity was associated with the seminal fluid. Platelet-activating factor content of spermatozoa may be related to its fertility potential.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Endogenous formation of N-nitrosamines from piperazine and their urinary excretion following antihelmintic treatment with piperazine citrate.

Antihelmintic treatment with piperazine (1,4-diazacyclohexane) for microfilarie parasitism results in the endogenous formation of piperazine-derived N-nitrosamines. The urinary excretion of these N-nitrosamines was determined by biochemical monitoring of 14 patients receiving 2 g piperazine citrate. The urinary excretion (mean +/- SD) of N-mononitrosopiperazine (MNPz) was 27.0 +/- 26.7 micrograms/day (range 0.6-96.0 micrograms/day). Trace levels of 0.73 +/- 0.92 micrograms/day N,N'-dinitrosopiperazine (DNPz) (range ND-2.8 micrograms/day) were also found in 7 of 14 urine samples. N-Nitroso-3-hydroxypyrrolidine (NHPYR), a metabolite of both MNPz and DNPz, was detected in 11 of 14 urine samples at a mean concentration of 1.74 +/- 1.72 micrograms/day (range ND-5.7 micrograms/day) and traces of N-nitrosodiethanolamine in two samples at levels of 0.3 and less than 0.1 micrograms/day. The results show that biochemical monitoring of urinary NHPYR may be a good indicator of endogenous MNPz formation. While DNPz was also detected in urine, conclusive validation for its endogenous formation could not be provided because no evidence was found for the presence of its major metabolite, N-nitroso-(2-hydroxyethyl)glycine in urine.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Perceptual dysfunction in hemiplegia and automobile driving.

Sixteen post-stroke, hemiplegic patients, who requested that they be allowed to return to driving, were extensively evaluated by a physiatrist, psychologist, occupational therapist, and driver training specialist. After they completed a driver training program, the patients were divided into three groups based on their driving program success and follow-ups. Significant differences in the psychological test results were found between Group I (those who drove without any difficulty) and Groups II and III (those who drove limited distance or who failed driver training). Results suggest that patients with significant cognitive and perceptual problems who take training and limit their driving can be safe drivers when they return to driving.

Accidents, Traffic↗
PubMed1991

Seasonal movement and spatial distribution of the sheep ked (Diptera: Hippoboscidae) on Wyoming lambs.

When populations of adult sheep ked, Melophagus ovinus (L.), infesting unshorn lambs were monitored at the University of Wyoming Paradise Farm during 1986, we determined the body regions on which keds would be found at various times of the year and their seasonal population trends for optimal sampling. Results suggested that ked populations were consistently greater on the ribs than on any other area of the lamb. No significant differences were detected for ked populations between sides of a lamb. Distinct and similar ked population trends over time occurred only in the rib, thigh, shoulder, hind leg, belly, and hind flank areas of the lambs, suggesting that a significant seasonal migration did not occur. Analyses for seasonal population fluctuations indicated that ked populations increased in the winter and spring, decreased in summer and then increased again in the fall. Thus, sampling for keds in the rib area at shearing, which begins in March in Wyoming and runs through mid-April, would be an opportune time to detect keds. At other times of the year, the rib area should be inspected for presence of sheep ked.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Distribution of sandflies (Diptera: Psychodidae) in three vegetation habitats in the Marigat area, Baringo District, Kenya.

A total of 4,467 phlebotomine sandflies representing nine species and two genera were collected using polythene material coated with castor oil in three vegetation types in Marigat area from February to May 1986. Sandfly relative abundance was greatest in the closed-canopy forest (61% of total catch), followed by the open-canopy woodland (38%) and the thicket (1%). Nine species of sandflies were collected in both the closed-canopy forest and the open-canopy woodland. The thicket yielded only four species. The sandfly population in the vegetation was composed of Sergentomyia bedfordi (61%), S. antennatus (31%), S. ingrami (3%), S. schwetzi (2%), and S. africanus (1%). Plebotomus species rarely occurred in the study area. In the closed-canopy forest and the open-canopy woodland, female S. bedfordi were most abundant during the dry season, while males predominated during the wet period. Inversely, more male S. antennatus were collected during the dry season, while females predominated in the open-canopy woodland during the wet season. In the closed-canopy forest, male S. antennatus outnumbered the females during both dry and wet seasons. Both S. antennatus and S. bedfordi increased in abundance during the dry season.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Relationship of maternal serum ferritin with foetal serum ferritin, birth weight and gestation.

Haemoglobin and ferritin estimations employing the micro-ELISA technique were done in 308 random selected mothers in labour and their newborns. The values of haemoglobin and serum ferritin as well as birth weight and gestation of babies born to iron depleted, and mildly and moderately anaemic mothers were no different from those of newborns of non-anaemic women. However, the values of serum ferritin per se in all these newborns were much lower than what are generally reported from the western countries. Babies born to severely anaemic women, on the other hand, showed elevated levels of haemoglobin and serum ferritin, and lower birth weights and gestation. Thus, mild to moderate iron deficiency in the mother does contribute to lower iron reserves in the foetus, if not frank iron depletion, and severe iron deficiency anaemia to lower birth weight and gestation.

Anemia, Hypochromic↗
PubMed1991

Role of a large plasmid of Salmonella typhi encoding multiple drug resistance.

Twenty isolates of Salmonella typhi from cases of typhoid during the 1989-1990 epidemic in Calcutta were examined. Most isolates (84% of all isolates in the epidemic) were resistant to chloramphenicol, ampicillin, tetracycline and streptomycin but were sensitive to nalidixic acid and ciprofloxacin. Plasmids of 120 kb and 14 kb were identified amongst the multi-drug resistant isolates of S. typhi. However, there was no plasmid in the antibiotic-sensitive isolates. The 120-kb plasmid was transferable and transconjugants were resistant to chloramphenicol, ampicillin, tetracycline and streptomycin. Restriction endonuclease analysis patterns after EcoRI digestion of the 120-kb antibiotic-resistance plasmids from the S. typhi isolates and transconjugants were similar.

Chloramphenicol Resistance↗
PubMed1991

Inhibition of mouse skin protein kinase C by benzoyl peroxide.

Benzoyl peroxide (BP), used widely in dermatologic therapy and by the food industry, is considered a tumor promoter in chemically induced skin. Tumor promoters of both the phorbol and non-phorbol type interact with protein kinase C (PKC). This enzyme, therefore, is regarded as the intracellular receptor for a number of tumor promoters. BP bears some structural resemblance to diacylglycerol (DAG) and thus may exert its action through the PKC system. Based on these observations, we have investigated the effect of BP on PKC from mouse skin. Our data show that unlike phorbol esters, which stimulate PKC (in vivo and in vitro), BP inhibits PKC. Concentration-dependent inhibition by BP is observed when PKC is stimulated by phorbol esters, diacylglycerol, phosphatidyl serine (PS), or a combination of the latter two. BP also inhibits PKC stimulated by (-) Indolactam V, a nonphorbol compound resembling the teleocidins. 3H-phorbol ester binding experiments reveal that inhibition by BP may be due to its interference with the phorbol ester binding site and consequently diacylglycerol binding. The binding data and the inability of BP to inhibit either cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase I or II imply that BP interacts with PKC, and not with the histone substrate. Results presented here clearly indicate that unlike phorbol and certain non-phorbol type of tumor promoters BP does not stimulate PKC in vitro.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Japanese encephalitis virus latency in peripheral blood lymphocytes and recurrence of infection in children.

In a study group of 40 children who had been admitted to hospital with acute encephalitis, the disease was due to infection with Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV). Three children developed recurrence of disease 8-9 months later. No virus had been isolated from these three patients during the acute stage of their illness, but virus was recovered from all during the recurrence phase by co-cultivation of their peripheral blood mononuclear cells in primary mouse embryo fibroblast cultures. Virus was also recovered by co-cultivation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells collected 8 months after their acute disease from three out of eight randomly selected asymptomatic children within the study group but not from similar cultures set up from JEV-seronegative children used as controls. Virus was also isolated by co-cultivation of T lymphocytes of asymptomatic children as detected by indirect immunofluorescence or by inoculation in mice.

Cells, Cultured↗
PubMed1991

Regulation of phosphorylation of the c-erbB-2/HER2 gene product by a monoclonal antibody and serum growth factor(s) in human mammary carcinoma cells.

Monoclonal antibody (MAb) 4D5 was used to analyze the phosphorylation of p185HER2, the gene product of c-erbB-2/HER2, in SK-BR-3 cells. Culture in the continuous presence of 4D5 reduced the in vivo steady-state levels of p185HER2 phosphorylation by 80% in a dose-dependent manner, suggesting that MAb 4D5 may have interfered with the activation of phosphorylation of p185HER2. The observed MAb-mediated reduction of p185HER2 phosphorylation could not be completely accounted for by down-regulation. When cultures were grown under serum-free conditions, the steady-state levels of p185HER2 phosphorylation were reduced by 56%, and addition of 4D5 further inhibited phosphorylation to 20% of steady-state levels. With continuous exposure to increasing concentrations of newborn calf serum in these cultures, there was a linear increase in tyrosine-specific phosphorylation of p185HER2, reaching a 5.4-fold increase with 10% newborn calf serum. Phosphorylation of p185HER2 in the presence of newborn calf serum was not attributable to stimulation of the epidermal growth factor receptor by epidermal growth factor or by transforming growth factor-alpha. Extension of these observations to two other mammary carcinoma cell lines. MDA-MB-453 and BT-474, also demonstrated a significant capacity of serum to induce p185HER2 phosphorylation. The demonstration of antibody-mediated partial inhibition of phosphorylation under serum-free conditions suggests that mammary carcinoma cells may also produce and secrete a factor or factors which may activate p185HER2. Our observation that growth-inhibitory MAb 4D5 is able to reduce the phosphorylation of p185HER2 by newborn calf serum and by a cellular-derived factor(s) suggests the existence of a growth factor(s) which uses phosphorylation of p185HER2 as a signal transduction pathway to regulate cell proliferation.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Evidence for hypomotility in non-ulcer dyspepsia: a prospective multifactorial study.

A prospective multifactorial study of symptoms and disturbance of gastrointestinal function has been undertaken in 50 patients with non-ulcer dyspepsia. Objective tests including solid meal gastric emptying studies, gastric acid secretion, E-HIDA scintiscan for enterogastric bile reflux, and hydrogen breath studies were carried out in all patients and validated against control data. Gastroscopy and biopsy were carried out in non-ulcer dyspepsia patients only. Non-ulcer dyspepsia patients were categorised on the basis of predominant symptoms as: dysmotility-like dyspepsia (n = 22); essential dyspepsia (n = 14), gastro-oesophageal reflux-like dyspepsia (n = 11); and ulcer-like dyspepsia (n = 3). In the total non-ulcer dyspepsia population, solid meal gastric emptying was delayed (T50 mean (SEM) = 102 (6) minutes (patients) v 64 (6) minutes (controls), (p less than 0.01) and high incidences of gastritis (n = 26) and Helicobacter pyloridis infection (n = 18) were found. An inverse correlation was observed between solid meal gastric emptying and fasting peak acid output (r = -0.4; p less than 0.01). Indeed gastric emptying was particularly prolonged in eight patients (T50 mean (SEM) = 139 (15) minutes) with hypochlorhydria. In the non-ulcer dyspepsia population oral to caecal transit time of a solid meal was delayed (mean SEM = 302 (14) minutes (patients) v 244 (12) minutes (controls) (p less than 0.01]. Seven patients had a dual peak of breath hydrogen suggestive of small bowel bacterial overgrowth. No association was observed between symptoms and any of the objective abnormalities. This multifactorial study has shown that hypomotility, including gastroparesis and delayed small bowel transit, is common in non-ulcer dyspepsia and may be related to other disorders of gastrointestinal function. No relation between symptoms and disorders of function, however, has been shown.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

The calcaneus: normal and abnormal.

The calcaneus is the largest tarsal bone. Many congenital and acquired disorders affect the bone. Primary disorders arise in the calcaneus itself, whereas secondary disorders arising in the neighboring soft tissues extend into and affect the calcaneus indirectly. Among the primary lesions, congenital, traumatic, infectious, hematologic, neoplastic, and other miscellaneous disorders constitute the majority, whereas various arthritides and soft-tissue neoplasms that arise adjacent to the bone constitute the important secondary calcaneal disorders. Radiographic features of many disorders of the calcaneus are disease-specific and thus diagnostic. This article describes a wide spectrum of calcaneal disorders and illustrates their salient radiographic features. This knowledge should facilitate radiographic diagnosis of various calcaneal disorders encountered in clinical practice.

Bone Diseases↗