Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

R Wilkinson

Publications and source records attributed to R Wilkinson.

At least 181 records · Page 10Linked to original sources

111In-labeled nonspecific immunoglobulin scanning in the detection of focal infection.

We performed radionuclide scanning after the intravenous injection of human IgG labeled with indium-111 in 128 patients with suspected focal sites of inflammation. Localization of 111In-labeled IgG correlated with clinical findings in 51 infected patients (21 with abdominal or pelvic infections, 11 with intravascular infections, 7 with pulmonary infections, and 12 with skeletal infections). Infecting organisms included gram-positive bacteria, gram-negative bacteria, Pneumocystis carinii, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, and Candida albicans. No focal localization of 111In-labeled IgG was observed in 63 patients without infection. There were five false negative results, and nine results were unusable. Serial scans were carried out in eight patients: continued localization correctly predicted relapse in six, and the absence of localization indicated resolution in two. To determine whether 111In-labeled IgG localization was specific for inflammation, we studied 16 patients with cancer. Focal localization occurred in 13 of these patients (5 with melanomas, 5 with gynecologic cancers, and 1 each with lymphoma, prostate cancer, and malignant fibrous histiocytoma). No localization was seen in patients with renal or colon cancer or metastatic medullary carcinoma of the thyroid. We conclude that 111In-labeled IgG imaging is effective for the detection of focal infection and that serial scans may be useful in assessing therapeutic efficacy. This technique may also be helpful in the evaluation of certain cancers.

Abdomen↗

Bacterial infection is not necessary for lethal necrotizing pancreatitis in mice.

Sepsis is the most common cause of late death in pancreatitis. The presence of early bacterial infection has been correlated with the severity of the disease. A choline-deficient ethionine-supplemented (CDE) diet given to young female mice produces severe necrotizing pancreatitis that has morphologic and biochemical similarities to the human disease. We therefore searched for bacterial pancreatic infection in female CD-1 mice given the CDE diet. The mortality rate was 47.5% in mice fed the CDE diet. All of these mice had severe pancreatitis with inflammation, edema, and necrosis on histologic examination. Bacterial infection was present in 1/12 pancreatica among nonsurvivors and in 1/32 pancreatica in surviving animals (p not significant). Histologic examination showed edema to be more pronounced in surviving mice, although the overall severity of morphologic changes was not significantly different between survivors and nonsurvivors. We conclude that bacterial infection is not a determinant of the severity or lethality of experimental pancreatitis induced by the CDE diet.

Acute Disease↗

Hypertension and renal dysfunction in primary hyperparathyroidism: effect of parathyroidectomy.

1. Twenty-four patients with primary hyperparathyroidism were studied before and 18 restudied 6.5 months (mean) after parathyroidectomy, to investigate the pathogenesis of the hypertension which may accompany this condition. Comparison was made with age-matched patients with essential hypertension and with normotensive control subjects. 2. There was a significant inverse relationship between mean arterial pressure and 51Cr-labelled ethylene-diaminetetra-acetate (51Cr-EDTA) clearance in patients with hyperparathyroidism both before and after parathyroidectomy, but not in patients with essential hypertension. 3. Creatinine clearance appeared to overestimate glomerular filtration rate in some patients with hyperparathyroidism, falling significantly after surgery while 51Cr-EDTA clearance was unchanged. This observation may explain the failure of some previous studies to relate hypertension to impairment of renal function. 4. Plasma renin activity, plasma aldosterone and whole-body exchangeable sodium did not differ between normotensive and hypertensive patients with primary hyperparathyroidism and were unchanged after surgery. 5. Parathyroidectomy did not result in any change in blood pressure or in glomerular filtration rate measured by 51Cr-EDTA clearance.

Adult↗

Problems in measuring human leucocyte cation content: effects of cell preparation and handling.

1. Previous published measurements of leucocyte cation content are inconsistent, with sodium concentrations having particularly high coefficients of variation. We have measured the effects of recovery time after isolation, different types of handling, and centrifugation on leucocyte sodium and potassium content. 2. Sodium content fell markedly during the first 30 min after isolation and was stable from 1 to 3 h of incubation. There was a small but significant rise in potassium content over the same time period. 3. During incubation, occasional gentle resuspension of the cells gave optimal sodium contents, whereas mixing by inversion caused large falls in sodium and potassium content. 4. Centrifugation of stable cells at 200 g for 6 min caused marked increases in sodium content.

Cell Separation↗

Hepatic and peripheral insulin action in chronic renal failure before and during continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis.

1. A three-step hyperinsulinaemic euglycaemic clamp was performed in six uraemic patients before dialysis and after 3 months of treatment with continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis, and in seven matched normal control subjects. Glucose turnover was assessed basally and during the clamp using [3-3H]glucose as a tracer. 2. The glucose infusion rate required to maintain euglycaemia was insignificantly higher in normal subjects compared with undialysed uraemic subjects at each insulin infusion rate. 3. The isotopically assessed total glucose turnover was also similar in normal and uraemic subjects. Basal hepatic glucose output was again similar in uraemic and control subjects and output was suppressed to a similar degree at each insulin infusion rate. 4. After treatment with continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis, the glucose infusion rate and the total glucose turnover during the clamp rose significantly at all three insulin concentrations (P less than 0.05), but remained insignificantly different from normal control values. Hepatic glucose output was unchanged. 5. Peripheral insulin action was improved during continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis, but hepatic insulin action was unchanged.

Adult↗

Effect of a high protein diet in patients with the nephrotic syndrome.

1. Twelve patients with the nephrotic syndrome were prescribed for 4 week periods a normal protein diet (NPD) containing 1 g of protein/kg ideal body weight. They were then prescribed for further 4 week periods in random order diets with high (HPD) and low (LPD) protein contents, respectively 2.0 and 0.5 g/kg ideal body weight. 2. Compliance was confirmed by dietary history and measurement of urinary excretion. 3. Serum albumin was the same on all diets. Twenty-four hour urinary protein excretion increased progressively with increasing dietary protein (LPD 6.1 g. NPD 8.2 g. HPD 9.2 g). Recumbent plasma renin activity and serum phosphate were significantly increased on HPD (plasma renin activity: LPD 5.7, NPD 4.6, HPD 8.2 pmol of angiotensin I min-1 1(-1); serum phosphate: LPD 1.27, NPD 1.26, HPD 1.41 mmol/l). 4. There was no evidence of protein-induced hyperfiltration or hyperperfusion: 51Cr-ethylenediaminetetra-acetate and [125I]iodohippurate clearances were similar on all three diets. 5. Since proteinuria, increased plasma renin levels and hyperphosphataemia may contribute to progression of renal failure and because HPD did not improve hypoalbuminaemia, the use of HPD in the nephrotic syndrome should be abandoned. 6. Until it can be established that LPD, which is accompanied by the least proteinuria, does not, with long-term feeding, lead to malnutrition, NPD should be used in the treatment of the nephrotic syndrome.

Adult↗

Alertness of night nurses: two shift systems compared.

The alertness of hospital trainee nurses during their night shift work was assessed by recording performance at night on an arousal-sensitive unprepared simple reaction time task. One group carried out a number of separate weeks on night shift throughout their three-year course. Here performance fell from first to seventh day of the week on night shift, implying progressive sleep deprivation. Another group covered their night work by a single three-month 'permanent' night shift of four (or three) nights on and three (or four) days off each week. Here initial performance level fell by the 45th night but had returned to normal by the last (90th) night. In both systems individuals varied considerably in their ability to maintain performance during sustained night work. These results strengthen the case for permanent night shifts, with careful selection of personnel, as a means of organizing night nursing in hospitals.

Arousal↗

Zinc deficiency and hyperprolactinaemia are not reversible causes of sexual dysfunction in uraemia.

We selected a group of male dialysis patients complaining of sexual dysfunction in whom penile vascular insufficiency and drug-induced impotence had been excluded. Monitoring of nocturnal penile tumescence was used to confirm organic disturbance. Patients with normal serum prolactin concentrations (n = 18) had significantly lower serum zinc values than normal controls (P less than 0.001) and were entered in a 6-month double-blind study comparing oral zinc acetate with placebo. Patients with elevated prolactin concentrations (n = 8) were entered in a 3-month double-blind crossover study comparing oral pergolide mesylate with placebo. In the zinc study, serum zinc concentrations increased (P less than 0.05) in the zinc-treated but not the placebo-treated group. One of nine patients receiving zinc reported improved sexual function, as did two of nine patients receiving placebo. There were no significant changes in sperm counts, nocturnal penile tumescence, testosterone, sex hormone binding globulin or gonadotrophin concentrations in either treatment group. In the pergolide study, serum prolactin values decreased (P less than 0.01) in the pergolide but not in the placebo treatment period. One patient reported improved sexual function during the pergolide treatment period and two during the placebo period. There were no significant changes in sperm counts, nocturnal penile tumescence, testosterone, sex hormone binding globulin or gonadotrophin concentrations after pergolide. These studies show no benefit of zinc or pergolide compared with placebo in the treatment of uraemic impotence.

Acetates↗

The effects of intradermal bradykinin are potentiated by angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors in hypertensive patients.

1. To test the hypothesis that angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors potentiate the tissue effects of bradykinin, the thickness of weals produced by intradermal injections of bradykinin was measured in 17 hypertensive subjects whose antihypertensive regimen included an ACE inhibitor, and in 12 whose treatment did not. 2. Weal thickness increased linearly with the logarithm of the bradykinin dose in both groups (P less than 0.0001). 3. The patients receiving ACE inhibitors showed a mean response of 1.18 +/- 0.08 mm (mean +/- s.e. mean), compared with a mean response of 0.75 +/- 0.08 mm for patients not receiving an ACE inhibitor (P = 0.002). Mean weal response (1.08 +/- 0.9 mm) was not significantly different in patients taking captopril (n = 11) compared with that (1.29 +/- 0.12 mm) in patients taking enalapril (n = 9). 4. Facial flushing during the experiment occurred in six patients taking ACE inhibitors but none who were not. 5. Dermal responses to bradykinin are enhanced in patients taking ACE inhibitors as routine antihypertensive therapy. This study supports the hypothesis that bradykinin may be responsible for some of the adverse effects of these drugs.

Adult↗

Erythrocyte sodium-lithium countertransport in primary and renal hypertension: relation to family history.

Sodium-lithium countertransport (Na-Li CT) has been reported to be increased in essential hypertension (EHT) but the nature and degree of distinction from normal controls in unclear. Of 44 unselected patients with EHT in the hospital hypertension clinic 36% had Na-Li CT greater than the normal control range and 70% of these had a family history of hypertension. Almost all the patients with normal Na-Li CT had no family history of hypertension. Analysis of variance showed that raised Na-Li CT was related to both a family history of hypertension and a family history of a cardiovascular event. Of 23 patients with hypertension secondary to renal disease, 43% had Na-Li CT greater than the normal control range and raised Na-Li CT was related to both a family history of hypertension and a family history of cardiovascular event in the same way as EHT. Raised Na-Li CT was not characteristic of EHT but identified a subgroup of patients with EHT and a family history of hypertension, some of whom also had renal disease.

Adult↗

Molecular epidemiology of adhesin and hemolysin virulence factors among uropathogenic Escherichia coli.

The pap, prs, pil, and hly operons of the pyelonephritic Escherichia coli isolate J96 code for the expression of P, F, and type 1 adhesins and the production of hemolysin, respectively; the afaI operon of the pyelonephritic E. coli KS52 encodes an X adhesin. Using different segments of these operons as probes, colony hybridizations were performed on 97 E. coli urinary tract and 40 fecal clinical isolates to determine (i) the presence in the infecting bacteria of nucleotide sequences related to virulence operons, and (ii) the phenotypic properties associated with such sequences. Coexpression of P and F adhesins encoded by pap-related sequences was detected more frequently among isolates from patients with pyelonephritis (32 of 49, 65%) than among those with cystitis (11 of 48, 23%; P less than 0.0001) or from fecal specimens (6 of 40, 15%; P less than 0.0001). Therefore, the expression of both adhesins appears to be critical in the colonization of the upper urinary tract. In contrast, afaI-related sequences were detected significantly more frequently among isolates from patients with cystitis, suggesting that this class of X adhesin may have a role in lower urinary tract infections. Urinary tract isolates differed from fecal isolates by a low incidence of type 1 adhesin expression among pil probe-positive isolates. hly-related sequences were only detected in pap probe-positive isolates. The frequency of hemolysin production among pap probe-positive isolates was not associated with a particular pattern of infection. The distribution of these virulence factors was similar in the presence or absence of reflux, indicating that structural abnormalities of the urinary tract did not facilitate colonization by adhesin-negative isolates.

Adhesins, Escherichia coli↗

Some factors affecting the strength of the cement-metal interface.

A manufacturing technique to increase the bonding between bone cement and metal prostheses has been assessed in the laboratory by "push-out" tests, and the effects of contamination of the cement and of the prosthesis with blood and intramedullary contents have been studied. The technique, known as pre-coating, increases bond strength; this increase is preserved after contamination of the cement which does, however, cause some lowering of interface shear strength. The implications for clinical practice are discussed.

Bone Cements↗

[Efficacy and acceptability of rilmenidine in mild to moderate arterial hypertension. A multicenter, randomized, double-blind trial, in comparison with methyldopa in 157 patients].

UNLABELLED: A dissociation between the hypotensive activity and the central side effects has been demonstrated with rilmenidine (RIL) in previous studies. The object of this trial was to compare RIL with methyldopa (MD) during a 12 weeks' treatment (Day 0 to Day 84) and after stopping therapy (Day 84-Day 91). In particular, the trial was designed to evaluate the acceptability of the two agents. After 4 weeks of placebo, 76 men and 81 women (average age 55 years) were allocated according to a randomised double-blind protocol to RIL (N = 78) or MD (N = 79). The two groups were comparable with systolic/diastolic BP of 165/102 mmHg and 165/101 mmHg respectively. Monotherapy was administered to all the patients from Day 0 to Day 56 in order to compare RIL (1 mg every morning or 1 mg twice daily if necessary) and MD (250 mg morning and evening or 500 mg twice daily if necessary). Hydrochlorothiazide (25 mg daily) was associated from Day 56 to Day 84 if the supine diastolic BP was greater than or equal to 90 mmHg. A placebo was substituted from Day 84 to Day 91 to study the effect of withdrawing therapy. RESULTS: at Day 56 under monotherapy, the average supine systolic/diastolic BP had decreased significantly with RIL and MD to 140/110 mmHg and 140/100 mmHg respectively. An equivalent number of patients had normalised their blood pressures in both groups (systolic/diastolic BP less than or equal to 160/90 mmHg): 50% with RIL and 42% with MD (NS).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗

Erythrocyte sodium and sodium flux in relation to hypertension in chronic renal failure.

Erythrocyte sodium and sodium fluxes in plasma and in physiological buffer solution were studied in normotensive and hypertensive uraemic patients and normal subjects. Erythrocyte sodium was reduced in the uraemic patients due primarily to low sodium influx, further supported by low passive membrane permeability. These differences were much more marked in normotensive patients. There was no evidence for sodium pump inhibition in the erythrocytes. The low erythrocyte sodium influx in the uraemic patients appeared to be due to a plasma factor which could be reversed in young cells but not in old. However, erythrocyte sodium flux in both plasma and physiological buffer was lower in normotensive than in hypertensive uraemic patients. Therefore, a membrane change to compensate for the effects of the plasma factor on sodium influx may be related to the development of hypertension in the uraemic patients.

Adult↗

Radiolabeled, nonspecific, polyclonal human immunoglobulin in the detection of focal inflammation by scintigraphy: comparison with gallium-67 citrate and technetium-99m-labeled albumin.

The accumulation of nonspecific polyclonal human immunoglobulin (IgG) radiolabeled with 125I or 111In was compared to that of [67Ga]citrate and [99mTc]albumin in rats with deep thigh inflammation due to Escherichia coli infection. Serial scintigrams were acquired at 1, 3, 24, and in some cases, 48 hr after injection. As early as 3 hr postinjection, [111In]IgG showed greater accumulation at the lesion than [99mTc]HSA (p less than 0.01). Both [125I]IgG and [111In]IgG showed greater accumulation than [67Ga]citrate (p less than 0.01). At 24 hr, IgG image definition increased, while HSA image definition decreased, and the intensity of accumulation of both IgG preparations was greater than that of [67Ga]citrate or [99mTc]HSA (p less than 0.01). At all imaging times, [67Ga]citrate accumulation was surprisingly low. In inflammation produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Candida albicans, or turpentine, [111In]IgG accumulation was similar to the results obtained with Escherichia coli. These studies suggest that focal sites of inflammation can be detected with radiolabeled nonspecific human polyclonal IgG.

Animals↗

Radionuclide imaging of experimental atherosclerosis with nonspecific polyclonal immunoglobulin G.

The utility of nonspecific polyclonal IgG for external imaging of experimental atherosclerosis was tested in a series of rabbits after balloon catheter deendothelialization of the abdominal aorta. Following injection of 111In-IgG, 111In-Fc, or 111In-Fab serial images were recorded. In addition, several animals received 125I-low density lipoproteins [125I-LDL], or 125I human serum albumin [125I-HSA] as positive and negative controls. Forty-eight hours after injection of the radiolabeled proteins, the aortas were removed, divided into abdominal and thoracic regions, counted, and autoradiographed. The images acquired after injection of 111In-IgG and 111In-Fc, showed clear focal accumulation of radioactivity in the healing abdominal aorta. In contrast, the images obtained after injection of 111In-Fab did not show focal radionuclide accumulation. For 111In-IgG and 111In-Fc there were three to six times as many counts in the abdominal as in the thoracic aorta, while for 111In-Fab and 125I HSA, the abdominal and thoracic counts were nearly equal. The results suggest that radiolabeled IgG and Fc can be used to image experimental atherosclerosis.

Animals↗