Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

R O Fisch

Publications and source records attributed to R O Fisch.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1985

Adrenocortical and behavioral responses to limb restraint in human neonates.

Two experiments were conducted on human neonates examining their behavior and adrenocortical activity in response to physical restraint. In both experiments, newborns (9 per condition in Experiment I; 10 per condition in Experiment II) were tested in one of three conditions: Restraint, which involved strapping newborns to a circumstraint board for 20 min; Strapping Control, which involved strapping newborns to the board and then immediately taking them off the board and returning them to their cribs; and Control, which did not involve any restraining manipulation. In Experiment I, blood samples for plasma cortisol determination were obtained via heel-stick immediately prior to the assigned manipulations and 30 min later. In Experiment II, only the postmanipulation blood sample was taken. Two behavioral states, Active Awake and Crying, were examined as indices of behavioral distress. In Experiment I, the effects of the blood sampling procedure on behavioral distress and plasma cortisol were significant; however, no significant effects of restraint were observed. In Experiment II, restraint was associated with small but significant increases in behavioral distress and in plasma cortisol levels.

Circumcision, Male↗
PubMed1985

Relationship between phenylalanine tolerance and psychological characteristics of phenylketonuric families.

The purpose of this study was to find out how genetic and biochemical limitations influence psycho-social performance and to partially test the validity of justification theory. The ability to convert phenylalanine to tyrosine was compared with intellectual and personality characteristics in PKU family members. Each of the tested persons was given an oral dose of phenylalanine, the Shipley-Hartford Intelligence Test, and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). Only those persons with reading ability at the sixth grade level or higher were tested. Eighty-six persons were tested: fifteen PKUs, forty-three siblings, and twenty-eight parents. A comparison was made among parents, PKUs, and the siblings. Siblings with the higher 2/3's of P2/T ratios were contrasted with those with the lowest 1/3 of ratios on measures of intelligence and psychopathology. Statistical analyses of the data reflected a trend in support of the justification theory. PKUs had significantly lower intelligence than their sibs and parents. The PKUs' mean IQ was 95 (homozygotes born of heterozygotes), followed by the upper 2/3's sibling mean IQ of 105 (heterozygotes born of nonheterozygote mothers). The lower 1/3 siblings' mean IQ was 107 (nonheterozygotes born from heterozygote mothers), and finally, the parents' mean IQ was 109 (heterozygotes, among them 50% were born from nonheterozygote mothers). The latter three mean IQs are not significantly different from each other. The personality tests revealed a trend toward more abnormality in PKUs than in their heterozygote siblings. The lowest rate of abnormality occurred in the nonheterozygote sibling group; that rate was significantly lower than in all other groups. The parents had the highest absolute rate of personality abnormality, but statistically so compared to the low-ratio siblings.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

Acidic metabolites of phenylalanine in plasma of phenylketonurics.

Seven aromatic metabolites of phenylalanine were determined in plasma of 20 patients with classical phenylketonuria by means of capillary gas chromatography. The results obtained showed good correlation with plasma phenylalanine levels. Plasma aromatic acid levels may prove useful in the diagnosis and management of phenylketonuria, as well as in research of this disorder.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

Coping with aversive stimulation in the neonatal period: quiet sleep and plasma cortisol levels during recovery from circumcision.

Measures of behavioral state and plasma cortisol were obtained on 80 healthy, full-term, 2-3-day-old, male newborns who were scheduled to be circumcised. To establish baseline or precircumcision levels, the newborns were observed, and behavioral state was recorded for the half hour prior to circumcision. Blood was sampled via heelstick for plasma cortisol determination at the end of this observation period. The newborns were then circumcised and assigned randomly to one of 4 postcircumcision, blood-sampling time-point groups. The time points were 30, 90, 120, and 240 min following the beginning of circumcision. Behavioral state was observed during circumcision and for the half hour prior to taking the second blood sample. The results showed a return to baseline cortisol levels sometime prior to 240 min, with data from an additional group of 10 newborns indicating that the return occurred by 150 min. Behavioral distress during circumcision was associated with elevations in plasma cortisol at 30 and 90 min. Quiet sleep was correlated negatively with plasma cortisol prior to circumcision, and significant increases in quiet sleep followed circumcision, with the greatest increase corresponding to the period of most rapid reductions in cortisol.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1984

Growth development and its relationship to intellectual functioning of children with phenylketonuria.

Growth measurements, including weight, height, and head circumference, of 67 early treated children with phenylketonuria (PKU) were compared to normal standards from infancy up to six years of age. Children with PKU, both girls and boys, achieved growth parameters that were similar to those of normals. Head circumference of the boys at six years of age and of the girls at three and four years of age correlated positively with IQ scores. Weight/height (W/H) ratios at one year of age correlated positively with IQ scores for boys. Similar correlations between IQs and weight/height ratios were found for girls at one, two, and three years of age.

Body Height↗
PubMed1982

Factors affecting attachment between infants and mothers separated at birth.

A sample of 24 healthy Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) survivors separated from their mothers for a period of more than 10 days after birth were studied at approximately 1 year postconceptional age to assess mother-infant attachment. The 24 infants were classified into secure-attached (N = 17) and insecure-attached (N = 7) groups according to Ainsworth categories. No differences were found between the groups in birth weight, gestation, length of NICU hospitalization, Bayley developmental scores, and 1-year physical measurements. Secure-attached infants, however, tended to be from younger, working mothers and had more day-care experiences. The data do not support the hypothesis that prolonged neonatal separation has detrimental effects on later mother-child interaction.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

Tympanic membrane temperature during experimental otitis media due to Streptococcus pneumoniae in chinchillas.

The relationship between tympanic membrane temperature and acute purulent otitis media was investigated using thermistor probes to measure surface temperature of the tympanic membrane in chinchillas with experimental unilateral otitis media due to Streptococcus pneumoniae. Sedated animals were kept on a thermally insulated surface during the procedure to avoid hypothermia. Although the animals' core temperature rose during middle ear infection, direct measurement of tympanic membrane temperature did not show a significant difference between the infected and uninfected contralateral ears.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1981

Studies of phenylketonurics with dermatitis.

A comprehensive study was undertaken of two patients who had typical phenylketonuria (PKU) and chronic dermatitis. Hematologic, immunologic, and histologic (light and electron microscopy) studies and quantitative intracellular amino acid measurements were made from the skin and cultured fibroblasts of these patients. Findings were: (1) the complement receptor-bearing lymphocytes (EAC rosettes) were decreased; (2) both light and electron microscopic findings revealed nonspecific dermatitis; (3) fibroblastic studies suggested little or no phenylalanine hydroxylase activity in cells of patients with PKU and controls; (4) the intracellular concentration of phenylalanine was significantly higher in the skin of PKU patients than in the controls; and (5) patch tests using 50% phenylalanine in petrolatum were negative in four untreated adult PKU patients and four controls.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1981

Personality characteristics of nonretarded phenylketonurics and their family members.

The effect of phenylketonuria cannot be restricted merely to the intellectual function of the central nervous system. Because of increasing evidence that phenylketonurics present different personality problems, this study was undertaken to learn the personality characteristics of 19 nonretarded phenylketonurics, their 27 unaffected siblings, and 36 parents as reflected in their MMPI profiles. Results indicated increased incidence of psychopathology in male PKUs, and, to a lesser extent, unaffected male siblings. No consistent trend toward psychopathology was found in female PKUs, female siblings or in parents. Personality profiles indicating significant psychopathology were more frequently encountered among adult male PKUs than among adolescent male PKUs. This study suggests that heterozygous parents of phenylketonurics do not manifest psychopathological personality characteristics, and that male offspring of heterozygous mothers have a higher risk of developing psychopathology than have female children.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1978

Homotransplantation of the liver in a patient with hepatoma and hereditary tyrosinemia.

A girl with hereditary tyrosinemia, diagnosed at 6 months of age, was treated with a diet restricted in phenylalanine and tyrosine. At 9 1/2 years of age she developed an acutely enlarged liver and spleen, and the diagnosis of hepatocarcinoma was made. The patient received a liver transplant and tyrosine metabolites became normal while she was receiving a regular diet. Three months later, an infected thrombosis of the portal vein caused her death. Liver transplant appears to be an effective method of enzyme replacement in tyrosinemia and should be considered for prevention of hepatoma.

Aminolevulinic Acid↗