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Biomedical subjects

V Otto

Publications and source records attributed to V Otto.

33 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1992

Artificial liver.

Without transplantation, approximately 90% of patients with fulminant hepatic failure die. If patients receive a liver transplant, there is often a lag between the need for and the availability of a donor liver. Therefore, there is a definite need for a liver support system to support the patient's own liver function in fulminant hepatic failure and while awaiting transplantation. We have developed an artificial liver system that not only eliminates lipophilic toxins such as phenols, fatty acids, and mercaptans, but also hydrophilic ones such as ammonia. This artificial liver system consists of a monitor, an extracorporeal blood circuit that uses a hydrophilic polysulfone high-flux dialyzer to remove water-soluble metabolites, and a novel hydrophilic liquid membrane filter to remove lipophilic toxins. In more than 100 in vitro experiments using porcine (5 I) blood, the system was evaluated for its ability to remove toxins that are normally increased in hepatic failure. We found that phenol, cresol, and short- and medium-chain fatty acids can be almost completely eliminated from the blood within 5 h. In animal experiments using pigs, we also found no significant changes of blood gases, liver parameters, electrolytes, and blood cell counts.

Ammonia↗
PubMed1988

[Changes in the urinary protein pattern in SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in normal and hypertensive pregnancies].

The urinary protein pattern was determined in 46 healthy male and female subjects, 64 patients with an uncomplicated course of pregnancy and 88 hypertensive pregnant women by use of a special urine preparation and a modified SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). There were no differences in the protein electrophoresis pattern between the control subjects, independent of sex and age, and the pregnant women. The number of protein bands did not change in the course of pregnancy and in the post partum period. In both groups, an intensively stained protein band with an apparent molecular weight of 105 kD was detected. In 71 of the 88 hypertensive pregnant women we found a marked reduction in intensity or complete disappearance of the 105 kD protein band. Follow-up analysis in 30 of these pregnant women showed, that in 24 cases disappearance of the 105 kD band occurred simultaneously with and in 6 women before clinical manifestation of the disease. There were no differences in the protein electrophoresis pattern between patients with preexisting renal or hypertensive disease and hypertensive women without a complicated history. In 49 of the 52 hypertensive pregnant women complete reappearance of the 105 kD band was observed 2 to 14 days after delivery. By using silver staining and Western blot, the 105 kD band was identified as Tamm-Horsfall protein. Our findings may reflect a transitory tubular dysfunction in cases of preeclampsia and support the hypothesis of an immunological pathogenesis of the disease.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1980

Cysteine transport and sulfite reductase activity in a germination-defective mutant of Histoplasma capsulatum.

A mutant of the dimorphic, zoopathogenic fungus Histoplasma capsulatum, defective in the ability of its blastospores to germinate, was used to show that the nutritional requirement for cysteine and the expression of sulfite reductase activity are temperature dependent and not related to the growth form the fungus, whereas the kinetics of cysteine transport depend on both temperature and the form of the fungus.

Biological Transport↗
PubMed1977

Experiments on lymphocyte-mediated cellular immunity in murine histoplasmosis.

Peritoneal exudate cells from immunized mice inhibit the intracellular growth of Histoplasma capsulatum. The lymphocyte is the mediator cell of this phenomenon. Lymphocytes from immunized animals are highly activated cells. Supernatants from cultures of immune lymphocytes or from cultures of mitogen-stimulated lymphocytes did not arm macrophages from normal animals to inhibit the intracellular growth of H. capsulatum.

Animals↗
PubMed1977

Mycological culture media and its quality control.

The need for control of the quality of media used in the isolation and identification of fungi is an important aspect of the overall quality control of laboratory culture media; however, guidelines for such controls have not been available. In this paper, primary isolation media with and without appropriate drugs are suggested for use on a variety of specimens. Positive and negative quality control organisms that indicate clear-cut postiive and negative results on the fungal media to be tested are listed. Several alternative procedures for maintenance of fungi are discussed.

Culture Media↗
PubMed1976

Further studies on the intracellular behavior of Torulopsis glabrata.

The growth of Torulopsis glabrata was inhibited in glucose-peptone broth containing 10 to 20% normal human serum. Addition of iron to the medium diminshed the fungistatic effect. The intracellular growth of T. glabrata was remarkably restricted within mouse macrophages maintained in vitro, but this growth restriction was not caused by the limitation of iron imposed by the serum in the medium. The intracellular growth of T. glabrata within a very small percentage of the macrophages was not obviously related to the failure of lysosomal fusion to the phagosomes in those cells. The studies did not permit definite conclusions regarding the viability of the inhibited yeasts, but results suggested that a large portion of them survived. Potentially misleading artifacts of the technique for assessment of the intracellular behavior of the fungus were detected and are discussed.

Acid Phosphatase↗
PubMed1971

Lymphocyte-mediated cellular immunity in histoplasmosis.

Mononuclear phagocytes freshly harvested from immunized animals restrict the intracellular growth of Histoplasma capsulatum, whereas the same cells maintained in culture for 48 hr do not. Experiments established that within the mixed cell population of the mouse peritoneal cavity the lymphocyte was the most likely mediator of the intracellular growth restriction observed. Partially purified lymphocytes, from the peritoneal cavity of mice immunized by sublethal infection, mediated the suppression of intracellular growth of the fungus in normal mouse macrophages in cell culture.

Animals↗