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Biomedical subjects

S C Harris

Publications and source records attributed to S C Harris.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1989

Immunohistochemistry and lectin histochemistry in sarcomatoid renal cell carcinoma: a comparison with classical renal cell carcinoma.

We investigated the expression of various cell markers in renal cell carcinoma, concentrating particularly on the sarcomatoid variety, using lectin and immunohistochemical techniques. The sarcomatoid variant showed stronger staining in a higher proportion of cases for vimentin and reduced positivity for epithelial membrane antigen, in comparison with classical renal cell carcinoma. All sarcomatoid tumours reacted with at least one cytokeratin, enabling them to be distinguished from true renal sarcomas; this is of diagnostic value when a panel of markers is used. Overall a similar pattern of markers is seen in sarcomatoid and classical renal cell carcinoma using lectin and immunohistochemistry, suggesting that the sarcomatoid variant arises as a metaplastic change rather than having a different histogenesis.

Carcinoma↗
PubMed1989

Microassay for prostatic androgen receptors correlated with quantitative histological assessment.

A new microassay in which cryostat sections of prostate tissue were used to provide the source of soluble androgen receptor for biochemical assay, was devised using an isoelectric focusing method, with [3H]-mibolerone as the androgenic radioligand. Adjacent cryostat sections from the same tissue block were stained for diagnostic and quantitative histological assessment. The assay was used to illustrate variations in tissue androgen receptor concentration for correlation with epithelial cell content in benign prostate hyperplasia and prostatic cancer, and to show the effects of androgen receptor concentration of resection of prostatic tissue by electroresection. The results indicate that the heat in electroresection renders prostatic tissue unsuitable for androgen receptor assays, and suggest that knowledge of the cellular composition of carcinomatous prostates may be of importance in the full assessment of androgen receptor assay results. This method incorporates both a biochemical assay and histological assessment of the assayed tissue on near-facsimile sections, an advantage over conventional biochemical assays.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed1989

Pseudomembranous trigonitis of the bladder: hormonal aetiology.

Fourteen formalin fixed and paraffin wax embedded biopsy specimens from 10 women (age range 34-68) presenting with pseudomembranous trigonitis were studied using a combination of anti-oestrogen receptor monoclonal antibodies in an avidin-biotin immunoperoxidase technique. All epithelial areas showing vaginal metaplasia exhibited staining confined to the nucleus in the basal and parabasal layers of the squamous epithelium while no staining was encountered in adjacent trigonal transitional epithelium included in nine of the biopsy specimens. The selective expression of nuclear oestrogen receptor in trigonal epithelium affected by vaginal metaplasia in a distribution similar to that reported in vaginal epithelium by other workers lends further support to oestrogen mediated aetiology in this condition and is consistent with an embryological derivation of the trigone, distinct from that of the rest of the bladder.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Assay of free and total tocainide by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with ultraviolet (UV) detection.

A rapid high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method for the determination of tocainide, using N-(2,6-dimethylphenyl)-2-amino-butanimide as an internal standard, was developed. A methylene chloride extraction involving salting out at pH 9.0 was employed. An 85:15 mixture of 0.025M monobasic potassium phosphate at pH 3.0 and acetonitrile was used as the mobile phase. The separation and quantitative analysis of tocainide was performed on a mixed phase column with a 1.0-mL/min flow rate and detection at 210 nm. Separation of tocainide from some of its metabolites required the use of heptane sulfonic acid as an ion-pairing reagent. For the free-drug assay, the specimen was centrifuged through an Amicon Centrifree filter before being processed.

Anti-Arrhythmia Agents↗
PubMed1988

Pain insensitivity in schizophrenic patients. A surgical dilemma.

Some schizophrenic patients have decreased pain perception while others have decreased pain expression. These factors frequently lead to difficulties in the diagnosis of acute intra-abdominal surgical emergencies. Increasingly large numbers of schizophrenic patients are being cared for in the community. It is therefore imperative that surgeons be acutely aware of the diagnostic dilemmas presented by this group of patients so that misdiagnosis is avoided and appropriate surgical therapy is instituted in a timely manner.

Abdomen, Acute↗
PubMed1988

Immunoassay of alpha 1-acid glycoprotein in the Cobas Bio centrifugal analyzer.

There is an increasing demand for quantification of serum alpha 1-acid glycoprotein (AAG, orosomucoid) in studies evaluating the protein binding of highly bound basic drugs. This paper describes an adaptation of an automated immunoturbidimetric assay for this protein to the Cobas Bio centrifugal analyzer. Replicate analyses of aliquots from six different solutions were used in determining precision. We also analyzed 367 patients' serum samples, in duplicate, to determine the distribution of AAG in hospitalized patients. The intra- and inter-run CVs ranged from 1.3% to 4.4% and from 0.6% to 6.6%, respectively. AAG concentrations in patients' samples ranged from 0.38 to 3.16 g/L. Results by this method correlate well with those by radial immunodiffusion, with no significant amount of bias between the two methods. This immunoturbidimetric procedure is faster and less expensive than currently used radial immunodiffusion techniques, and precision is acceptable.

Centrifugation↗
PubMed1987

Clinicopathological significance of intratumoural variations in elastosis grades and the oestrogen receptor status of human breast carcinomas.

Cryostat sections from seventy-eight female breast carcinomas were assayed for oestrogen receptors by isoelectric focusing. Adjacent cryostat sections stained by Miller's elastic/van Gieson's method were graded for elastosis. Elastosis was similarly graded on near-equatorial paraffin sections from the same tumours. A positive correlation was obtained between elastosis in the near equatorial sections and oestrogen receptor positivity (p less than 0.0005), menstrual status (p less than 0.05) and parity (p less than 0.01) but no correlation was found between these factors and elastosis graded on cryostat sections from the more peripheral areas which had been selected for oestrogen receptor assay. These observations suggest that the central region of breast carcinomas, where connective tissue responses are fully developed, exhibits grades of elastosis with greater clinical significance. This may explain the conflicting published observations on the correlations between elastosis and oestrogen receptor status, which we believe are due to the lack of uniformity in tissue sampling. The possible implications of the absence of significant correlation between elastosis grades and tumour size, nodal status and disease-free interval are discussed.

Breast Neoplasms↗
PubMed1987

Using sensorimotor integrative treatment with mentally retarded adults.

Thirty-four mentally retarded, institutionalized adults were subjects in a study of the effects of sensorimotor integrative treatment procedures on sensorimotor development. The 25 subjects in the experimental group received group sensorimotor integrative treatment in addition to regular institutional programming; the 9 subjects in the control group received only the regular institutional programming. The Sensorimotor Performance Analysis was used to test sensorimotor performance of all subjects four times during the 12-month study. Results showed that both the experimental group and the control group made gains in sensorimotor development, with no significant differences between groups. The findings indicate that treatment procedures for improving sensorimotor development of the mentally retarded adult need further examination so that appropriate modalities can be developed. Periodic reassessment of the client following completion of treatment is suggested because of possible delays in improvement of sensorimotor development.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Fistula and sinus formation in xanthogranulomatous pyelonephritis. A clinicopathological review and report of four cases.

Fistula or deep sinus formation as a complication of xanthogranulomatous pyelonephritis (XPN) has not been described previously in the British literature. We present the clinicopathological features of one case of a nephrodiaphragmatic sinus complicating XPN, and three cases of nephrocolic fistula, including the first recorded case of fistula in childhood XPN. The detailed clinical, radiological and pathological features of XPN and its complications are reviewed. Total nephrectomy, together with primary excision of sinuses or fistulae, is the treatment of choice.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Fatal splenic rupture in Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.

A fatal case of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (Type IV) is described. Autopsy revealed splenic rupture that had resulted from spontaneous haemorrhage into the splenic parenchyma. This is a previously unrecorded complication of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and should be considered in the differential diagnosis of chest and abdominal pain in patients with this condition.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

The effect of pyrroline-5-carboxylic acid on nucleotide metabolism in erythrocytes from normal and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase-deficient subjects.

Pyrroline-5-carboxylate, the intermediate in the interconversion of proline, ornithine, and glutamate, increases 5-phosphoribosyl 1-pyrophosphate (PP-ribose-P) and purine nucleotide formation in intact human erythrocytes. We proposed that: 1) pyrroline-5-carboxylate is converted to proline by pyrroline-5-carboxylate reductase with concomitant oxidation of NADPH, 2) NADP+ augments glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase activity, and 3) production of ribose-5-phosphate via the pentose shunt is increased. Since glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase plays a central role in this proposed mechanism, we examined the responsiveness of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase-deficient erythrocytes to pyrroline-5-carboxylate. We compared erythrocytes from four Sardinian glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase-deficient subjects and four Sardinian normal controls. Without pyrroline-5-carboxylate treatment, the levels of pentose shunt activity, PP-ribose-P, and inosine monophosphate were comparable in the two populations. However, the response to pyrroline-5-carboxylate in erythrocytes from normal and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase-deficient subjects was markedly different. In normal erythrocytes, pyrroline-5-carboxylate treatment increased pentose shunt activity 600%, PP-ribose-P formation 250%, and the incorporation of hypoxanthine into inosine monophosphate 260%. In contrast, pyrroline-5-carboxylate had no effect on glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase-deficient erythrocytes. These findings strongly support our proposed mechanism for the pyrroline-5-carboxylate effect on nucleotides. Furthermore, the markedly different capacities for nucleotide synthesis in the two populations with pyrroline-5-carboxylate treatment suggest a role for pyrroline-5-carboxylate-mediated modulation of nucleotide metabolism in normal cells.

Erythrocytes↗
PubMed1982

Immunotherapy of murine transitional cell carcinoma.

A series of 6 controlled experiments in C3H/He mice were performed to evaluate nonspecific immunotherapeutic regimens with a transplantable murine bladder tumor (MBT2). Immunotherapeutic agents studied included live Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) preparations in varying doses and strains (Tice, Pasteur, and Glaxo), Re mutant glycolipid (ReG) from Salmonella typhimurium, BCG cell wall skeletons (CWS), CWS plus B4 glycolipid fraction of ReG, and Keyhole-Limpet Hemocyanin (KLH). Animals received an intradermal MBT2 inoculation and were then randomized to treatment and control (saline treated) groups. Immunotherapy was administered intralesionally 1 day after tumor transplantation. Tumors were excised by amputation at a volume of 400 mm. and animals were later rechallenged with tumor inocula, again treated, and followed for tumor incidence growth rate and survival. No antitumor affect was observed with ReG, CWS or CWS plus B4. KLH immunotherapy did result in measurable antitumor effect. Consistent and statistically significant (p less than 0.01) antitumor responses as measured by prolonged survival and decreased growth rate were observed with Tice and Pasteur strains of BCG in doses ranging from 5 X 10(5) to 1 X 10(7) colony forming units per animal. Doses in excess of 10(7) units were found to decrease antitumor response. Glaxo strain BCG had no beneficial effect when used in the maximal dose (10(6) colony forming units) that could be administered. In animals immunized with intermediate doses of live Tice or Pasteur strain BCG in the study, effective long term immunity to transitional cell carcinoma was observed. Although many new immunotherapeutic agents have been advocated in other tumor models, to date we have found Tice and Pasteur strains of live BCG to be the most effective agents in the treatment of transitional cell carcinoma.

Animals↗