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Biomedical subjects

S Argov

Publications and source records attributed to S Argov.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2002

Overexpression of p53 tumor suppressor gene in pterygia.

PURPOSE: To assess p53 gene expression in pterygia with and without recurrence. The pathogenesis of pterygium has not yet been determined. The most widely recognized etiologic factor is ultraviolet radiation, which leads to degeneration of the conjunctiva. However, pterygium was recently found to have several tumor-like characteristics. The p53 gene is a common marker for neoplasia, and is known to control cell cycle, cell differentiation and apoptosis. In this study we examined the expression of the p53 gene in primary pterygia with and without recurrence, searching for the pathogenesis of this very common lesion and for a prognostic factor for recurrence. METHODS: Immunohistochemical staining using a monoclonal antibody to human p53 (DO-7) was performed on 13 consecutive patients with primary pterygia, four pterygia without recurrence and nine pterygia which recurred during a 12-month follow-up. As a control we used two specimens of normal conjunctiva. RESULTS: Seven of the 13 pterygia specimens (54%) were positive for abnormal p53 expression. There was no difference between the groups with and without recurrence. Two out of four pterygia (50%) without recurrence and five out of nine (55.5%) pterygia with recurrence were positive. No pathological staining was observed in the control specimens. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, abnormal p53 expression was found in pterygial epithelium, suggesting that pterygium could be a result of uncontrolled cell proliferation, and not as a degenerative lesion. There seems to be no connection between abnormal p53 expression and recurrence.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗
PubMed2001

FT-IR microscopic characterization of normal and malignant human colonic tissues.

Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) employs a unique approach to optical diagnosis of tissue pathology based on the characteristic molecular vibrational spectra of the tissue. In this study, we report infrared absorption spectra of formalin fixed, paraffin embedded normal and malignant human colonic tissues from ten different patients. Our method is based on microscopic infrared study (FT-IR-microscopy) of thin tissue specimens in parallel with normal histopathological analysis, which serves as a reference. Our results indicate that the normal colonic tissue has a stronger absorption than the cancerous type over a wide region in all ten cases. The detailed analysis showed that there is a significant decrease in carbohydrate levels, total phosphate and also possibly creatine contents for cancerous tissue in comparison to the controls. Also, RNA/DNA ratio increased in cancerous tissues relative to the normals in all the patients. The results of Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) showed that the normal and malignant cells could be identified with about 89% accuracy.

Colon↗
PubMed2000

Open lateral sphincterotomy is still the best treatment for chronic anal fissure.

Chronic anal fissure is the main cause of anal pain and is very common. Many treatment modalities have been tried-none is ideal. Recently, topical nitric oxide releasing agents and botulin toxin injections have been used, trying to replace surgery. No long-term experience is available. Personal experience with 2,108 open, ambulatory, lateral sphincterotomy with follow-up of 4-20 years is presented.

Ambulatory Surgical Procedures↗
PubMed2000

Acute blast crisis with EBV-infected blasts, in a patient with chronic myeloid leukemia, and vasculitis.

Unless they undergo transplantation, all patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) will eventually develop a late phase of acute blast crisis (ABC). Although additional chromosomal abnormalities to the Philadelphia (Ph) chromosome may herald ABC in many CML cases, the mechanisms leading to this fatal event are obscure. Viral etiology, including the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) has never been implicated in the pathogenesis of ABC in CML. Iloprost is an analogue of epoprostenol (prostacyclin; PGI2) commonly used for the treatment of peripheral vascular diseases and acts via inhibition of platelet activation, and by vasodilation. A case of ABC with blasts of undetermined lineage showing EBV infection in a male patient with Ph positive CML is described here. This unusual event developed during a course of treatment with the prostacyclin analogue, iloprost administered for vasculopathic leg ulcers. The proliferating blasts stained positively by immunohistochemistry only for the leukocyte common antigen (LCA/CD-45), and the EBV-latent membrane protein 1 (LMP-1). The only chromosomal abnormality detected by cytogenetic analysis was the conventional Ph-chromosome. It is suggested that ABC in this case of CML, was associated with EBV-activated blasts of undetermined lineage.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1999

Ambulatory radical hemorrhoidectomy: personal experience with 1,530 Milligan-Morgan operations with follow-up of 2-15 years.

BACKGROUND/AIM: The aim of this study is to document experience in performing ambulatory hemorrhoidectomy under local anesthesia and to examine its feasibility. METHOD: 1,530 patients with symptomatic grade III-IV internal hemorrhoids underwent surgical hemorrhoidectomy (Milligan-Morgan) between 1976 and 1991. This was done in the jackknife position under local anesthesia. RESULT/CONCLUSION: The Milligan-Morgan hemorrhoidectomy is radical and easy to perform in a jackknife position under local anesthesia in an ambulatory setting.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Differential expression of renal growth hormone receptor and its binding protein in experimental diabetes mellitus.

Growth hormone (GH) may have a role in the development of diabetic nephropathy. The effect of experimental diabetes on renal expression of the growth hormone receptor gene products, including the receptor itself (GHR) and its binding protein (GHBP) was examined. Adult female rats received i.v. streptozotocin and were killed at 7, 30, 90 and 180 days after the induction of diabetes. Diabetic animals had a pronounced increase in kidney weight and progressive albuminuria. In renal cortex, no change was seen in GHR mRNA levels throughout the observation period of 6 months, while a significant increase in cortical GHBP mRNA levels was observed after 1 month of diabetes and sustained for the rest of the study period. Immunohistochemical analysis of kidney sections revealed a stronger staining for GHBP at the cortical and inner medullary areas in the diabetic animals. These data indicate that although the GHR and GHBP mRNAs originate from the same gene, their renal levels are differentially regulated during the development of experimental diabetic kidney disease, suggesting a functional role for GHBP.

Albuminuria↗
PubMed1997

[Habitual dependence on modern imaging modalities: the new golem].

Modern imaging techniques have been taking over our medical life, but none denies the progress that has followed introduction of modern imaging modalities. For the generation of younger physicians who entered the profession after the introduction of these techniques, use of US, CT, MRI and the like is natural and often applied. But the patient is not computerized and medicine is far from being a pure science. 3 cases of common surgical problems are presented in which excessive use of diagnostic modalities resulted in unnecessary operations, thus leading to unnecessary morbidity. In these days of soaring medical expenses, many unnecessary imaging and laboratory studies are done for reasons of "defensive" medicine. It is important to fortify the position of clinical diagnosis, but making clinical decisions without requiring expensive and sometimes misleading imaging studies significantly reduces costs. Admittedly, courage and firm professional backbone are required to face a lawyer or a judge and say: "This CT or US study would not have changed my clinical decision; it would have made no positive contribution to it, and might even have mislead me." This paper comes to remind physicians of the importance of clinical diagnosis and the need to develop and rely on primary medical skills. Machines and laboratory tests are aids to diagnosis, they do not make the diagnosis.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1997

Persistent measles virus infection of murine neuroblastoma cells differentially affects the expression of PKC individual isoenzymes.

Measles virus (MV) is among the infectious agents displaying a propensity for establishing persistent infections of the CNS. It is assumed that continuous presence of MV defective particles or viral genome in persistently infected cells may influence host cellular processes and perturb biochemical signal transduction pathways operating in linkage to various cell surface receptors. PKC expression in a MV persistently infected neuroblastoma cell line (NS20Y/MS) was investigated. The relative levels of PKC isoenzymes were determined by Western blot analysis. We found that protein levels of PKCalpha, epsilon and zeta, but not PKCdelta, were increased in NS20Y/MS cells. PKCbeta, gamma and eta were undetectable. Treatment of NS20Y/MS cells with anti-MV Abs, which downregulated MV protein synthesis, also reduced PKCalpha expression to the basal level observed in the uninfected NS20Y cells. Our results suggest that a persistent MV infection has specific effects on the expression of certain PKC isoenzymes. We postulate that the MV-associated neurologic changes may reflect virus induced changes in biochemical signaling pathways and that these effects are likely to be regulated by the host's anti-viral humoral immune response.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

[Angina pectoris as a symptom of gastric volvulus].

Angina pectoris is a common complaint in any emergency service, but it rarely is of extracardiac origin. A rare case of gastric volvulus which presented a recurrent angina pectoris in a 47-year-old man is reported. Repeated episodes of angina pectoris in a patient with a negative cardiac investigation should alert the physician to the possibility of extracardiac pathology.

Angina Pectoris↗
PubMed1994

[Radical ambulatory hemorrhoidectomy].

Internal hemorrhoids is one of the most common diseases, affecting about 4% in western populations. Treatments include coagulation, freezing, rubber-band ligation, and sclerosing agents, which indicates that there is no ideal method. Surgical hemorrhoidectomy is considered radical as it usually involves general or regional anesthesia and hospitalization for 1-2 days. 1519 hemorrhoidectomies were performed by the author in 17 years, all under local anesthesia on an ambulatory basis. With this method hemorrhoidectomy can be relatively simple and inexpensive.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Human peritoneal mesothelial cells synthesize IL-1 alpha and beta.

We studied the ability of human peritoneal mesothelial cells (HPMC) to produce the major pro-inflammatory cytokines interleukin-1 alpha (IL-1 alpha) and -beta when stimulated by lipopolysaccharide (LPS), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF alpha) or IL-1 alpha, or combinations of these three factors. Biological activity of IL-1 was measured by bioassay, and levels of IL-1 alpha and beta were determined using specific radioimmunoassays. We found that HPMC are capable of secreting IL-1 alpha and -beta in response to stimulation by these substances, but stimulation with a combination of LPS + TNF alpha, LPS + IL-1 alpha, or TNF alpha + IL-1 alpha, had a marked synergistic effect on cytokine production. A combination of all three substances together had a significantly enhanced synergistic effect. Using reverse transcription PCR, we found a peak in IL-1 alpha and beta mRNA levels three hours after stimulation. We found that LPS, TNF alpha and IL-1 alpha alone, or in combination, caused an increase in IL-1 alpha and -beta mRNA levels. Cycloheximide and actinomycin D blocked the production of IL-1 alpha and -beta protein, showing that de novo production of IL-1 or synthesis of mRNA stabilizing proteins are needed after stimulation. We thus conclude that HPMC play an important role in the amplification of the initial peritoneal inflammatory response which originates in the peritoneal macrophages, and these findings are of importance in understanding the peritoneal response to infection in continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) patients.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1994

Gamma/delta T-cell lymphoma involving the subcutaneous tissue and associated with a hemophagocytic syndrome.

A case of gamma/delta-positive T-cell lymphoma localized primarily in the subcutaneous adipose tissue and associated with an extensive hemophagocytic syndrome and a rapid, fatal outcome is presented. Previous reports of gamma/delta cutaneous and subcutaneous T-cell lymphomas are reviewed. To define the characteristics of a T-cell subset of neoplastic cells bearing the gamma/delta receptor in a subcutaneous lymphoma, we undertook clinical and laboratory examinations, morphological evaluation of biopsies, electron microscopy, and extensive immunohistochemical studies. Immunohistochemical studies showed that the neoplastic cells expressed the gamma/delta T-cell receptor (CD3+, C gamma M1+) and were CD2+, CD43+, CD45+, CD45RO+, PCNA+, but were beta F1-, CD1-, CD4-, CD8-, CD15-, CD20-, CD25-, CD30-, CD45R-, CD57-, CD68-, Mac 387-, and HLA Dr-. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of a subcutaneous T-cell lymphoma of gamma/delta type involving the subcutaneous tissue and associated with a hemophagocytic syndrome.

Adipose Tissue↗
PubMed1991

Autoantibodies in male homosexuals and HIV infection.

We have used ELISA to study the frequency of autoantibodies to several antigens in the serum of 17 male homosexuals (MHS) negative for HIV (HIV-), 11 asymptomatic HIV seropositive MHS (HIV+) and patients with ARC (N = 15) or AIDS (N = 13), and compared them to 20 matched healthy heterosexual controls. Serum antibody binding to histones, cardiolipin, ss-A, ss-B and Sm was found to be significantly higher in each of the MHS groups studied as compared to controls (P less than 0.001), and was also increased in the HIV+ patients vs. the HIV- group (P less than 0.05). In contrast, no increase in autoantibodies to ss-DNA, ds-DNA, poly(I), poly(G) or RNP were found in any of the groups tested. These results enlarge the spectrum of autoimmunity previously reported in HIV infection and identify a similar pattern to a lesser degree, already present in HIV- MHS, suggesting a role for HIV or concomitant virus infections in its pathogenesis.

AIDS-Related Complex↗