Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to S Grover.
Lightning and electrical injuries have widespread manifestations involving almost all organ systems of the body, including the central nervous system (CNS) and the eye. This article considers the neuro-ophthalmologic effects of lightning and electrical injury.
The possibility of transmission of infectious agents during tattooing has become a legitimate issue of concern for health care providers. A collaborative educational program was developed by a county health department, College of Nursing, and tattoo artists to address issues of medical asepsis with the goal of producing a mechanism for certification of tattoo studios. The group's effort was enhanced by recognizing each other's value systems and by the mutual need for a successful program. A framework for developing, implementing, and evaluating community partnerships was addressed. This program demonstrated that community health nurses can play an instrumental role in collaborating with both health care providers and personal-service workers to minimize transmission of infectious agents during cosmetic procedures.
A comprehensive prospective and retrospective study of 130 cases was carried out to evaluate the safety, adequacy and diagnostic accuracy of Transthoracic Needle Aspiration (TTNA) in various pulmonary lesions. Using both guided and unguided TTNA diagnostic material was procured in 86.15% cases. Rotex II, Chiba, lumber puncture and ordinary needles were used depending upon the type of lesion. Overall diagnostic accuracy of the procedure was 79.46 percent. Complication after the procedure were transient and self limiting. Haemoptysis was noted in 3.84 percent cases and pneumothorax in a single case. Thus TTNA can be safely included in the investigative protocol of lung lesions.
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Microtubule-associated-protein-dependent assembly of tubulin with GDP in the exchangeable site (tubulin-GDP) can occur with minimal free Mg2+ (< 3 microM). This reaction is totally inhibited by EDTA and by GTP concentrations over 2 mM and stimulated by MgCl2. Quantitative aspects of this stimulation are affected by both the Mg2+ and GTP concentrations but no relationship exists between reaction rates and relative amounts of different magnesium and GTP species. GTP binding to tubulin-GDP, while maximally stimulated 2-3-fold by exogenous MgCl2, was inhibited less than 50% by EDTA, and the amount of GTP bound increased as its concentration rose to levels that inhibited polymerization. Studies on the binding of Mg2+ to tubulin-GDP in the presence and absence of GTP showed that the increase in the amount of tubulin-associated Mg2+ was substoichiometric to the amount of GTP bound (maximum stoichiometry of additional Mg2+ to GTP bound, 0.7). Upon polymerization the increased Mg2+ content of tubulin was reduced, indicating its loss during GTP hydrolysis. Mg2+ thus plays a critical role in assembly distinct from its enhancement of GTP binding to the exchangeable site. If magnesium is present in trace amounts, this role must either be catalytic during polymerization or limited to nucleation.
Fifty-seven adult patients with acute hepatitis and 34 comparison patients without liver disease were evaluated using a newly developed Western blot assay for IgM antibody to hepatitis E virus. The mean age of patients with hepatitis was 32 years (range, 18-55 years); 88% were male. Among patients with acute hepatitis, hepatitis A (anti-HAV IgM positive) was diagnosed in two (4%), hepatitis B (anti-HBc IgM positive) in three (5%), and hepatitis E (anti-HEV IgM positive) in 34 (60%). One hepatitis patient had CMV IgM, another had EBV IgM, and 16 others (28%) were negative for all serologic markers of acute viral hepatitis. No patient with acute hepatitis A or B and none of the comparison patients without acute hepatitis had anti-HEV IgM. All but one case of acute hepatitis E were found among expatriates of Asian origin, and acute hepatitis E was associated significantly with recent travel to the Indian subcontinent. These data suggest that acute hepatitis E is common among foreign workers in Kuwait but that little HEV transmission is occurring directly in Kuwait.
OBJECTIVE: Our purpose was to determine whether obstetric patients with unexplained elevated maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein levels from an indigent clinic population are at increased risk for adverse perinatal outcome compared with similar patients with normal values. STUDY DESIGN: Perinatal outcomes from inner-city obstetric patients with unexplained elevated maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein levels (> 2.0 multiples of the median) were compared with patients from the same clinic with normal values. The frequency of adverse outcomes in the two groups was subjected to chi 2 analysis. RESULTS: Adverse perinatal outcomes occurred in 33 of 57 (58%) of the subjects with unexplained elevated maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein levels compared with 163 of 719 (23%) patients with normal values (p < 0.001). Statistically significant differences were observed for abruptio placentae (p < 0.025), intrauterine growth retardation (p < 0.025), stillbirth at > 20 weeks (p < 0.001), and pregnancy-induced hypertension (p < 0.01). Differences in the frequencies of preterm premature rupture of membranes, preterm delivery, pregnancy loss < 20 weeks, and congenital malformations were not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: In contrast to a previous report, we found that unexplained elevated maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein levels confer an increased risk of adverse perinatal outcome in an urban clinic population over and above the already increased risk related to socioeconomic status.
A possible correlation between the pathogenicity of autoimmune T cells and their lymphokine production, expression of functional adhesion molecules and expression of some surface antigens was examined. We used four retinal antigen-specific Lewis rat T cell lines and sublines: one specific to the major pathogenic epitope of the human retinal soluble antigen (S-Ag; residues 337-356), and three specific to the major pathogenic epitope of the bovine interphotoreceptor retinoid binding protein (IRBP; residues 1177-1191). The lines have different degrees of uveitogenicity, from highly pathogenic to nonpathogenic. All four T cell lines produced roughly equivalent amounts of interferon-gamma, lymphotoxin/tumor necrosis factor (TNF alpha/beta), interleukin-3, interleukin-6 and transforming growth factor-beta. Interleukin-4 activity could not be detected. The lines also expressed similar levels of functional adhesion molecules, as measured by binding to cultured rat aorta endothelial cells. The nonpathogenic subline, however, was the lowest responder to antigenic stimulation with respect to proliferation and interleukin-2 production. Examination of cell surface antigens showed that in contrast to the other lines, the majority of cells in the nonpathogenic subline lacked detectable expression of CD4. No difference was found in the level of expression of the IL-2 receptor and T cell antigen receptor among the four lines. Because CD4 is the restricting element in these lines, reduced CD4 expression in the nonpathogenic subline may at least partially explain its poor response in vitro to antigenic stimulation. All three attributes could be connected to lack of pathogenicity of this line in vivo. These results support the contention that class II-restricted recognition of autoantigen within the neuroretina by uveitogenic T lymphocytes must occur as an initial step in the pathogenesis of EAU. A defect in this step will preclude pathogenesis regardless of some other functional attributes possessed by effector T cells, such as production of inflammatory lymphokines and expression of adhesion molecules.
In this study, we characterize from Saccharomyces cerevisiae: 1) a protein that has immunological similarities to human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), and 2) a binding site for this hCG-like protein which also binds hCG and human luteinizing hormone (hLH). Saccharomyces cerevisiae chorionic gonadotropin-like protein (ScCGLP) was purified in several steps. This protein when analyzed by SDS-PAGE, under nondenaturing conditions, produced two bands, one at 110-kDa, and another at 57.5-kDa. Under denaturing conditions, only the 57.5-kDa band appeared. This 57.5-kDa band also reacted in a Western blot, using a polyclonal antibody directed against hCG. Purified ScCGLP reacted in the following hCG immunoassays: 1) polyclonal rabbit anti-hCG equilibrium assay, 2) carboxyl-tail hCG equilibrium assay, 3) two equilibrium assays using monoclonal antibodies, and 4) free alpha-chain subunit equilibrium assay using a monoclonal antibody. Characterization of hCG/hLH binding sites in Saccharomyces cerevisiae was performed, and the ability of the ScCGLP to displace I125-hCG was also shown. Human CG and hLH were able to compete for I125-hCG binding to Saccharomyces cerevisiae blastospores (Kds of approximately 10(-8) M), while ScCGLP competed with higher affinity (Kd = 9.41 x 10(-10) M). The hCG-like immunoactivity was also present in Saccharomyces growth media, as well as in all brands of commercial beer studied.
BACKGROUND: A variety of inheritance patterns for familial ovarian cancer have been proposed including an autosomal dominant inheritance, a breast-ovary cancer syndrome and Lynch Cancer Family Syndrome (involving breast, bowel, ovary, and endometrial cancers). METHODS: Women participating in an ovarian cancer screening study completed a questionnaire concerning their family history of ovarian and other malignancies (in particular breast, bowel, and endometrial cancer). Confirmation of the diagnosis was sought when there was uncertainty. RESULTS: Two hundred forty women with a first-degree relative with ovarian cancer participated in the study. Nine percent of these women (representing 13 families) gave a definite history of two or more affected first-degree relatives. Two families had a pedigree consistent with an autosomal dominant inheritance. A breast-ovary cancer family and a Lynch cancer family syndrome were suspected in one family each, although 34% of all women gave a history of at least one other first-degree relative with either breast, bowel, or endometrial cancer. CONCLUSIONS: Only a small number of women with a family history of ovarian cancer fit into the recognized hereditary patterns. Difficulty in recognizing the inheritance patterns and the lack of definitive genetic markers poses problems in providing adequate counseling regarding screening and prophylactic oophorectomy.
Studies from our laboratory have demonstrated the presence of a 48.5 kD cell wall protein in the bacterium, Xanthomonas maltophilia, which immunologically resembles the beta subunit of human chorionic gonadotropin. Primers were designed from the amino acid sequences of enzymatically cleaved peptide fragments of this protein. These primers were used to obtain PCR amplified products, which were subsequently cloned in a PCR11TA cloning vector, and a 492 base pair nucleotide sequence was obtained with a 164 amino acid open reading frame. When this nucleotide sequence was aligned with exon 2 of genes 5 and 6 of the beta hCG gene, a 53% homology was observed. The translated protein sequence had a 35% homology with hCG and a 25% homology with human luteinizing hormone.
Xanthomonas maltophilia possesses a unique high-affinity binding site which binds human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), but not human luteinizing hormone (hLH) or other glycoprotein hormones. We designed primers from the known nucleotide sequence of the human LH/CG receptor, spanning an area extending from transmembrane region 2 to transmembrane region 6. Genomic DNA extracted from Xanthomonas maltophilia was used to obtain a PCR amplified product using the above primers. The primary amplification product was cloned in a pCR11 TA cloning vector, and the partial nucleotide sequence of the gene determined. This determined sequence showed 73% identity with the human, as well as the rat LH/CG receptor. Comparison of the translated protein sequence with the human, rat and porcine receptor protein sequences showed a 52% similarity.
Experimental autoimmune uveoretinitis (EAU) is a prototypic T cell-mediated autoimmune disease, whose target tissue is the neural retina, that is used as a model for a number of human blinding ocular diseases of a presumed autoimmune nature. EAU in rats can be induced by adoptive transfer of small numbers of retinal antigen-specific CD4+ T cell lines. Although recruitment mechanisms were assumed to play a role in the immunopathogenesis of uveitis, there is no direct evidence that would permit assessment of the importance of recruited non-antigen-specific T cells in retinal autoimmunity. In the present study, we addressed this question by using congenitally athymic Lewis rats (LEW.rnu/rnu), that are deficient in functional endogenous T cells, but are otherwise syngeneic with the euthymic Lewis rats that develop characteristically severe EAU. The uveitogenic stimulus was delivered in the form of phenotypically and functionally homogeneous pathogenic T cell lines, specific to the major pathogenic epitope of either the intracellular photoreceptor protein, S-Ag, or the extracellular photoreceptor matrix protein, IRBP. Depending on the T cell line used, EAU in athymic rats was either drastically reduced in severity (IRBP), or essentially absent (S-Ag). Susceptibility was restored when the athymic animals were reconstituted with immunocompetent T cells from syngeneic euthymic donors. While the intraocular infiltrate in euthymic rats was predominantly lymphocytic, with smaller numbers of monocyte/macrophages and even fewer neutrophils, the sparse infiltrate in athymics was largely monocytic, and with a relatively high proportion of neutrophils and eosinophils. Reconstituted animals had an intermediate histological picture with respect to the infiltrating cell types and disease severity. Our data are consistent with the interpretation that recruitment of naive T cells constitutes an amplification mechanism that is central to the expression and pathogenesis of uveitis. The extent of dependence on this phenomenon appears to be influenced by the antigenic specificity of the T cell line, and could be connected to the 'accessibility' of the target antigen in vivo.
The 7-substituted taxol analogues 7, 19, 27, and 32 have been prepared as potential photoaffinity-labeled derivatives for studies of the nature of the binding site of taxol on polymerized tubulin. The analogue 32 has been prepared in both deuterium- and tritium-labeled versions. Tubulin-assembly studies were carried out with these compounds, and it was found that they showed some but not all of the properties of taxol. We conclude that these specific taxol analogues labeled at the 7 position are not ideal derivatives for photoaffinity labeling studies.
One hundred and twenty cases of Indian childhood cirrhosis (ICC) were studied. Most of the children presented in the clinical and histological grade II of the disease. Serum copper values in 32 prospective patients were significantly raised in comparison with values in normal controls. Hepatic copper content estimated in 82 liver biopsies revealed an increase in hepatic copper content showing a significant correlation with the histological grade of the disease. All cases were breastfed. Use of brass utensils to boil or store milk fed to ICC children was not seen in 46% of cases, although their serum copper values were raised. Serum and hepatic copper is raised in ICC. Dietary copper as a source of this raised copper seems unlikely. The most probable cause could be a defect in the metabolism of copper in ICC patients.
Our laboratory has previously reported the isolation of a 48.5 kDa membrane protein from Xanthomonas maltophilia (ATCC 13637) which immunologically cross-reacts with the beta-subunit of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) in both polyclonal and monoclonal radioimmunoassays (RIA) (1). The protein showed no reaction in RIAs for human LH, TSH, or the free alpha subunit of hCG. We have now improved the protein purification procedure and have obtained adequate bacterial protein to characterize the pure protein (designated xCG) in RIAs and also to obtain amino acid composition and partial sequence. We present these data and compare homology to hCG. An RIA for the bacterial protein has also been developed.
This study aims at evaluating the specificity and sensitivity of ELISA test in detection of Mycobacterial Antibodies using A60 antigen. Sera from 100 clinically suspected cases of extrapulmonary tuberculosis were studied along with 10 sputum positive cases 25 age and sex matched healthy control. Overall positivity of the test was 80.00 per cent with 100 percent sensitivity and 92 per cent specificity. The present study recommends ELISA as an adjunct to other investigative procedures.