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Biomedical subjects

R Markham

Publications and source records attributed to R Markham.

52 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Plasma prolactin levels and ovarian responsiveness to exogenous gonadotropins.

Standard gonadotropin stimulation tests of ovarian function and basal plasma prolactin measurements have been carried out in 151 patients with amenorrhea or severe oligomenorrhea. In 90 of these a standardized multiple pituitary stimulation test, including the prolactin response to thyrotropin releasing hormone, was also performed. There was a tendency for the basal estrogen excretion and the ovarian response to gonadotropin to be lower in patients with hyperprolactinemia. These correlations were weak and did not reach the levels of statistical significance except when compareing the ovariance response in patients with mild hyperprolactinemia to those with moderate or severe hyperprolactinemia. It is concluded that, in women, elevated plasma prolactin levels have little, if any, direct inhibitory influence on the ovariance response to gonadotropins in vivo.

Female

Electron microscopy of tobacco mosaic virus prepared with the aid of negative staining-carbon film techniques.

The negative staining-carbon technique has been applied to suspensions of freshly prepared type strain tobacco mosaic virus particles in high concentrations. Electron microscope images show that paracrystalline arrays of the virus were formed, in which large areas of rods could be viewed along their long axes and in parallel arrays in horizontal positions. High-resolution micrographs showed the protein structure units in rods photographed in both vertical and horizontal orientations.

Crystallography

Double-stranded DNA-binding capacity of serum in acute and chronic liver disease.

Serum antibodies to double-stranded 'native' DNA have been measured in acute and chronic liver diseases using the Farr technique. Elevated levels of DNA binding were found in all groups of patients, with the highest levels in acute viral hepatitis and lowest in primary biliary cirrhosis. All patients with hepatitis B surface antigen-positive chronic active hepatitis had elevated levels, hence persistent elevation of DNA binding after acute type B hepatitis might be an unfavourable prognostic marker indicating progression to chronic active hepatitis, DNA antibody levels will not offer diagnostic help in liver diseases, or help to follow the response of patients with 'lupoid' hepatitis to corticosteroid therapy. Production of DNA antibody may be a response to release of DNA from damaged hepatocytes.

Alcoholism

Biochemical aspects of a study of 100 obese white subjects.

The effect of a 7 100 kilojoule diet (50% of the energy derived from carbohydrate, mainly unrefined, 30% from fat, mainly unsaturated, and 20% from protein) on 100 overweight subjects was investigated. It was found that 45% of subjects did not complete the study, 9% continued with the study but did not lose weight, 25% lost weight moderately well and 21% responded very well and lost a mean of 15,9 kg over a 6-9 month period. Very little indication of water retention was found. The following biochemical changes occurred during the study period: 1. There was a marked improvement in the glucose tolerance of the groups that lost weight effectively. 2. This improvement in glucose tolerance was associated with a very marked decrease in the secretion of immuno-reactive insulin. 3. The tendency for serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels to decrease during the study was also evidenced in the changes which occurred in the lipoprotein electrophoresis patterns. Stepwise discriminant analysis performed on biochemical, clinical and psychological data failed to provide a practical means of discriminating in advance between the likely response of subjects to this dietary therapy with acceptable accuracy.

Blood Glucose

An amplified ELISA for human tumour necrosis factor alpha.

An immunoassay for tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) is described using a sandwich system which employs a mouse monoclonal as the capture antibody and a polyclonal rabbit anti-TNF-alpha as the detection antibody. The assay utilises a novel enzyme cycling system to amplify the colourimetric signal generated by alkaline phosphatase in the enzyme immunoassay. The assay sensitivity is increased by the use of the AMPAK system. The detection limit of the assay is in the order of 1 pg/ml which is many times greater than is possible with conventional methods of measurement. The advantages of the enzyme-amplified method will be particularly useful in the quantitative determination of low levels of TNF-alpha in body fluids. This assay system was used to measure peripheral serum TNF levels in a group of women with non-malignant gynaecological conditions, the mean TNF-alpha concentration in these subjects was 10 pg/ml.

Animals