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Biomedical subjects

W G Scott

Publications and source records attributed to W G Scott.

53 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1993

Roxithromycin versus cefaclor in lower respiratory tract infection: a general practice pharmacoeconomic study.

An economic evaluation comparing roxithromycin 150mg twice daily and cefaclor 250mg thrice daily in the treatment of lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI) was undertaken as part of a randomised clinical trial in New Zealand general practice. The observed statistically significant difference in adverse events, withdrawal rates and extra treatment courses in favour of roxithromycin in the clinical study was translated into medical cost savings. Treatment failures, withdrawals or adverse events resulted in additional costs for 11 of 120 (9%) patients receiving roxithromycin and 19 of 118 (16%) patients receiving cefaclor. In these cases (treatment failures, withdrawals, adverse effects) additional antibiotics and general practitioner visits were required 3 times more often and the cost of additional medication for treating failure or adverse effects was 3 times higher for patients treated with cefaclor than for patients receiving roxithromycin. The total direct medical cost per patient treated with roxithromycin was $NZ9.37 lower (on an incremental basis) than for patients treated with cefaclor, despite a higher drug acquisition cost. An estimate of $NZ656 000 per year in total savings in direct medical costs could be made in New Zealand if roxithromycin were to replace all cefaclor prescriptions in the treatment of LRTI.

Cefaclor↗
PubMed1993

Annual costs of benign prostatic hyperplasia in New Zealand.

Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) has been regarded as part of the normal aging process in men and little attention has been focused on the cost of the disease in New Zealand. The purpose of this study was to estimate the direct and indirect costs of treating BPH in both the public and the private sectors in New Zealand. The costs of treatment were estimated from public and private hospital data on admissions for BPH, obtained from the New Zealand Department of Health, medical insurance reimbursement schedules, hospital ward costs at one centre, and urology and general practitioner consultation fees. The length of time spent off work, as a measure of indirect costs, during urological investigations or treatment was estimated from interviews with urologists. The annual 1991 total direct medical costs of treated BPH as primary diagnosis in New Zealand were estimated at $NZ16 million (the average of the end-month mid-point exchange rate for the first quarter of 1992 was $US0.5457 per $NZ1), and the costs of lost production plus loss of leisure time by patients was estimated at $NZ4 million (1992 dollars). Patients with a principal diagnosis of BPH stayed on average 8.9 days in a public hospital and 4.6 days in a private hospital. Based on the above costs, if the average length of stay of public hospital patients could be reduced to that of private hospital patients, then hospital ward costs for BPH could fall by 37% and the total direct medical costs by 21%. The most commonly performed surgical operation for BPH was transurethral prostatectomy (TURP). For operations performed in a public hospital, patients stayed on average 8.5 days, while patients whose operations were performed in private hospitals stayed 4.3 days. The mean age of these public hospital patients was 71 years compared with 67 years for those in private hospitals. A complication rate of 2.02% was recorded for TURP in public hospitals but audits (conducted by the researchers) in both public and private settings indicated that the complication rate was substantially under-recorded.

Aged↗
PubMed1991

Three-dimensional structures of the ligand-binding domain of the bacterial aspartate receptor with and without a ligand.

The three-dimensional structure of an active, disulfide cross-linked dimer of the ligand-binding domain of the Salmonella typhimurium aspartate receptor and that of an aspartate complex have been determined by x-ray crystallographic methods at 2.4 and 2.0 angstrom (A) resolution, respectively. A single subunit is a four-alpha-helix bundle with two long amino-terminal and carboxyl-terminal helices and two shorter helices that form a cylinder 20 A in diameter and more than 70 A long. The two subunits in the disulfide-bonded dimer are related by a crystallographic twofold axis in the apo structure, but by a noncrystallographic twofold axis in the aspartate complex structure. The latter structure reveals that the ligand binding site is located more than 60 A from the presumed membrane surface and is at the interface of the two subunits. Aspartate binds between two alpha helices from one subunit and one alpha helix from the other in a highly charged pocket formed by three arginines. The comparison of the apo and aspartate complex structures shows only small structural changes in the individual subunits, except for one loop region that is disordered, but the subunits appear to change orientation relative to each other. The structures of the two forms of this protein provide a step toward understanding the mechanisms of transmembrane signaling.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1991

Crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction study of the ligand-binding domain of the bacterial chemotaxis-mediating aspartate receptor of Salmonella typhimurium.

The periplasmic domain of the aspartate chemotaxis receptor from Salmonella typhimurium has been crystallized in the presence and absence of bound aspartate. Both crystal forms were grown by precipitation with lithium sulfate and diffract to 1.8 A resolution. The aspartate receptor structure is believed to be prototypical of a large class of receptors including those for polypeptide growth factor hormones as well as those for small chemotaxis-affector molecules such as aspartate and serine.

Aspartic Acid↗