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Biomedical subjects

R Walker

Publications and source records attributed to R Walker.

At least 379 records · Page 21Linked to original sources
PubMed1982

The use of lisuride, a potent dopamine and serotonin agonist, in the treatment of progressive supranuclear palsy.

Seven patients with progressive supranuclear palsy were treated with lisuride. Mean age was 62 years (range, 52 to 68 years), and duration of disease was 4.4 years (range, 1 to 7 years). All seven had been treated with levodopa/carbidopa and three with bromocriptine; four had, at one time, shown a partial response to levodopa. One patient had also shown a partial response to bromocriptine. Lisuride was used alone in four patients, and combined with levodopa/carbidopa in three patients. Mean dose of lisuride was 2.5 mg (range, 1.5 to 5.0 mg). Mean duration of treatment was 4 months (range, 1 to 10 months). While two patients showed a reduction in rigidity, one in tremor and two in bradykinesia, in only one of them was there an overall improvement. It is postulated that the relative lack of response to lisuride may be due to a loss of both the dopaminergic and serotonergic receptors in progressive supranuclear palsy.

Aged↗
PubMed1982

Further studies with pergolide in Parkinson disease.

Pergolide was administered to 56 patients with advanced Parkinson disease who were no longer satisfactorily responding to levodopa. The group included 45 patients with on-off phenomena. Pergolide, when combined with levodopa, resulted in a 44% decrease in disability as assessed in the on period, a 15% decrease in disability as assessed in the off period, and a 148% increase in the number of hours in which patients were on (from 4.6 +/- 0.3 hours to 11.4 +/- 0.6 hours). All these changes were significant at 1%. Forty-one of the 56 patients (59%) improved when pergolide was added to levodopa. Mean dose of pergolide was 2.5 mg (range, 0.2 to 10.0 mg). Mean duration of the study was 13 months (range, 1 day to 34 months). Maximum improvement occurred within 2 months and began to decline, usually after 6 months. The major adverse effects necessitating discontinuing pergolide were the occurrence of an organic confusional syndrome (six patients), increased dyskinesias (four patients), and cardiovascular abnormalities (three patients). Nine patients discontinued pergolide because of a lack of effect or declining effect.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

Long term survival among patients with malignant brain tumors.

Eight of 57 patients (14%) with malignant astrocytomas lived at least 2 years. The mean survival time was 143 weeks (range, 104 to 250 weeks). All of the patients were treated with operation, radiation, and chemotherapy. Four of the 8 patients died because of tumor recurrence, 1 died from a second primary tumor, 2 died of cases unrelated to the tumor, and 1 is still alive. Diffuse cortical dysfunction associated with cortical atrophy that could not be related to tumor regrowth and was not explained by focal deficits, psychotic of depressive thought disorders, metabolic or endocrine abnormalities, or hydrocephalus developed in the 3 longest-surviving patients. The diffuse dysfunction was initially apparent only through psychometric testing, but eventually became so disabling as to result in 2 of the 3 patients retiring from work. Although small, but gratifying, gains have been made in the treatment of patients with malignant brain tumors, accompanying these gains have been problems of a magnitude that is only now beginning to be appreciated.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

Lisuride combined with levodopa in advanced Parkinson disease.

Lisuride, a semisynthetic ergoline and potent central dopamine and serotonin agonist, was combined with levodopa in 20 patients with advanced Parkinson disease who were no longer responding satisfactorily to levodopa, including 14 patients with "on-off' phenomena. Every patient who completed the 8-week trial improved significantly (p greater than or equal to 0.01), with a decrease in all symptoms. The mean dose of lisuride was 2.4 mg per day. The dose of levodopa (mg of levodopa in Sinemet) was reduced from 1030 to 920 mg. Among the patients with "on-off' phenomena, there was a significant increase in the time in which they were 'on' (mobile) from 4.6 to 9.6 hours. In 5 of 10 patients who have been on lisuride for at least 1 year, there has been no decline in efficacy.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

Lisuride in Parkinson disease: efficacy of lisuride compared to levodopa.

Lisuride hydrogen maleate, a semisynthetic ergoline and potent central dopamine and serotonin agonist, was tested in 10 patients with moderate to marked Parkinson disease whose response to levodopa had diminished. In the group of 10 patients, there was a significant reduction (p less than or equal to 0.05) in bradykinesia, gait disorder, and total Parkinson disease disability score when levodopa was replaced with lisuride. The mean dose of lisuride was 3.6 mg per day. Among the 10 patients, 5 were better on lisuride than on levodopa, and 4 continue on lisuride 1 year later. A decline in efficacy was noted in all four after a mean of 45 months. Adverse effects necessitating discontinuing the drug were mental changes in three patients and nausea in one patient. Lisuride, when used alone, has definite antiparkinsonian activity and is a promising new drug.

Aged↗
PubMed1981

[Problems of microbial contamination in pharmaceutical services (author's transl)].

There are only few data about the microbial contents in the workrooms of pharmacies. Up to now, neither the kinds of bacteria and yeasts encountered, nor their resistance has been determined. The "personal hygiene of the staff' is studied on the example of their hands, towels and protective clothes. The kinds of bacteria found on surfaces used for pharmaceutical work are analysed. Proposals for limiting the germ content in the air are commented upon. Health measures are elaborated on the basis of the results from the present investigation.

Bacteria↗
PubMed1980

Cells from chemically induced mouse sarcomas retain tumor-specific transplantation antigenicity during prolonged passage in vitro.

Tumor-specific transplantation antigens (TSTA) expressed by cells from transplantable lines of 3-methylcholanthrene-induced BALB/c sarcomas were maintained over a 26-week culture period, which represented 2-32 passages in vitro. Cells from in vitro-passaged sarcomas were immunogenic in that they induced specific resistance in syngeneic mice to challenge with cells from the same sarcoma. They were also immunosensitive in that their outgrowth in syngeneic mice was prevented when they were mixed with lymph-node cells from mice immunized with in vivo-passaged cells from the respective sarcoma.

Animals↗
PubMed1980

Molecular forms of gastrin in peptic ulcer: comparison of serum and tissue concentrations of G17 and G34 in gastric and duodenal ulcer subjects.

We have studied the relationships between the main molecular forms of gastrin (G17 and G34) in the serum, antral and duodenal mucosa of duodenal (DU) and gastric (GU) ulcer patients. Fasting serum G17 was similar in both DU and GU (about 6 pmol/l) and in both groups increased about three-fold with feeding. In contrast, basal serum G34 was significantly higher in GU (29 pmol/l) than in DU (12 pmol/l) and the peak post prandial increase over basal of G34 was also higher in GU (57 pmol/l) compared with DU (10 pmol/l). In sharp contrast, in the same groups of DU and GU patients mean total antral gastrin concentrations were similar (about 12 nmol/g), and in both groups 95% of antral gastrin was G17, most of the remainder being G34. In both groups total duodenal gastrin concentrations were about 20% those in antral mucosa and about 70% of duodenal gastrin was attributable to G34. The higher serum G34 in GU could therefore be explained by increased secretion of duodenal gastrin, but further work is needed to examine whether there might also be preferential secretion of antral G34 in GU, or a difference in the metabolism (or volume of distribution) of gastrin variants in GU and DU.

Adult↗
PubMed1980

Determination of high density lipoprotein-cholesterol in stored human plasma.

This study was performed to determine the effect of frozen and unfrozen storage on plasma high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol analysis. HDL-cholesterol was determined, following removal of the other lipoproteins by precipitation with heparin and MnCl(2), in fresh plasma samples and in aliquots of the samples that had been stored 1) unfrozen (4 degrees C), up to 14 days, 2) frozen (-20 degrees C), up to 14 days, and 3) frozen (-20 degrees C), 5-6 years. There were progressive changes in measured HDL-cholesterol values under all conditions of storage. The changes were significantly and most highly correlated with HDL-cholesterol level and they reached about 4 mg/dl for each 10 mg/dl initial HDL-cholesterol concentration. Samples with low HDL-cholesterol concentrations tended to increase with storage, and those with high HDL-cholesterol levels tended to decrease. Since the changes were in opposite directions, the group means tended to be preserved. The mean differences between fresh and stored samples were (stored-fresh): 1-14 days, 4 degrees C, -0.10 to +4.60 mg/dl; 1 hour-14 days, -20 degrees C, +0.80 to +1.92 mg/dl; 5-6 years -20 degrees C, -1.92 mg/dl. Values changed most rapidly during storage at 4 degrees C and were accompanied by changes in the precipitability of the lipoproteins; low density lipoproteins became progressively difficult to precipitate completely, and HDL became progressively easier to precipitate. The measured HDL-cholesterol level depends on which process predominates and can lead to grossly inaccurate measurements, particularly at the extremes of HDL-cholesterol concentration.-Bachorik, P. S., R. Walker, K. D. Brownell, A. J. Stunkard, and P. O. Kwiterovich. Determination of high density lipoprotein-cholesterol in stored human plasma.

Blood Specimen Collection↗