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Biomedical subjects

W Strauss

Publications and source records attributed to W Strauss.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Pancreatic ectasia in uremic macaques.

Pancreatic ectasia (PE) is a common incidental finding in people dying from uremia. It has been described as dilatation of acini, inspissation of secretions, and proliferation of ductal cells. PE occurred in 17 macaques, 11 of which were known to have been uremic. The lesion was studied by light and electronmicroscopy and histochemistry and by construction of a three-dimensional model of a dilated acinar ductal system from serial semithick Epon sections. Atrophic acinar cells interspersed with clumps of centroacinar cells lined all portions of the system. There was no evidence of ductular proliferation. Fibrillar material was present in the dilated acinar lumens and associated with epithelial cells and leukocytes, but no blockage of the system was demonstrated. The lesion is similar to those induced by a variety of experimental procedures and to the pancreatic lesions of cystic fibrosis.

Animals↗

Early imaging of experimental myocardial infarction by intracoronary administraion of 131I-labelled anticardiac myosin (Fab')2 fragments.

We examined the feasibility of early imaging of myocardial infarcts by intracoronary injection of 131I-labelled cardiac myosin-specific antibody (Fab')2. The left anterior descending coronary artery was occluded for 5 hours by a balloon catheter introduced through the carotid artery in 12 dogs. The catheter was withdrawn and 1 mCi 201Tl was injected intravenously and 500 muCi of 131I antibody were injected into the main left coronary artery. Six of these animals demonstrated evidence of myocardial infarction by ECG and subsequent triphenyl-tetrazolium chloride staining, while the others did not. In each of the infarcted animals, in vivo scintograms one-half hour after injection of isotope showed uptake of 131I in the anteroapical region of the heart corresponding to the region of absent 201Tl uptake. This relationship was confirmed in the excised hearts and in heart slices. In slices, 131I uptake corresponded to regions that did not stain with triphenyltetrazolium chloride. In the six animals that did not show evidence for infarction after coronary occlusion, uptake of 131I was not demonstrated, either in vivo or in excised specimens. In four additional dogs subjected to the same procedure, 125I-labelled (Fab')2 from nonimmune IgG was injected simultaneously into the left main coronary artery with 131I-labelled canine myosin-specific antibody (Fab')2. The ratio of uptake between infarct center and normal tissue was 34.3 +/- 1.5 (mean+/-SEM) for the specific antibody fragment as contrasted to 6.6+/-0.4 for the nonimmune IgG fragment, indicating that intracoronary injection does not favor nonspecific sequestration of protein in regions of infarction. Thus, the intracoronary administration of myosin-specific antibody fragments leads to early and specific one-half hour imaging of myocardial infarcts.

Animals↗

Thallium-201 myocardial perfusion imaging at rest and during exercise. Comparative sensitivity to electrocardiography in coronary artery disease.

The sensitivity of myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) using thallium-201 injected both at rest and during peak exercise was compared to simultaneously recorded 12 lead electrocardiography (ECG) for the detection of transient ischemia in 20 normal subjects and 63 patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). No significant perfusion defects or ECG changes were seen on either the rest or exercise studies in any of the normal subjects. Fifty-six percent of patients with CAD developed new perfusion defects with exercise compared to 38% who developed ischemic ST-segment depression (P less than 0.02). However, when chest pain and/or ST depression were considered indices of ischemia, the sensitivity of exercise testing and thallium-201 MPI was similar. The increased sensitivity of MPI compared to ST-segment depression on the ECG was due to patients with baseline ECG abnormalities and those who failed to achieve 85% of predicted maximum heart rate with exercise. Analysis of the exercise results according to the extent of coronary artery disease revealed a progressive increase in both positive ECGs and MPI with the number of vessels involved. In patients with single vessel disease the MPI was more sensitive than the ECG (P less than 0.02). The combination of the rest and exercise ECG, MPI and chest pain during exercise failed to identify 11% of patients with CAD. Exercise thallium-201 MPI is a useful adjunct to conventional exercise testing particularly when evaluating patients with abnormal resting ECGs, those who develop ventricular conduction defects of arrhythmias during exercise, and those who fail to achieve their predicted heart rate because of fatigue or breathlessness.

Adult↗

The effect of hypoxia on the regional distribution of cardiac output in the dog.

Twenty-one dogs were studied under conditions of normal oxygenation and hypoxia with the microsphere distribution method to determine the effect of arterial oxygen saturation on the regional distribution of cardiac output. The dogs were anesthetized and artifically ventilated. Cannulas were placed in the left ventricle to administer microspheres and in a peripheral artery to determine cardiac output. Each dog received two microsphere injections: (1) while normally oxygenated (room air), and (2) under hypoxia (10% oxygen-90% nitrogen in 10 dogs and 5% oxygen-95% nitrogen in 11 dogs). Absolute cardiac output increased from 87 +/- 15 ml/min per kg to 101 +/- 14 ml/min per kg during mild hypoxia (10% oxygen) (P less than 0.05), and from 73 +/- 17 ml/min per kg to 120 +/- 24 ml/min per kg during severe hypoxia (5% oxygen) (P less than 0.01). Absolute blood flows increased to all organs except skin and muscle during hypoxia, although there were decreases in the fractional distribution of cardiac output to the splanchnic bed and kidney. Striking changes were found in coronary, hepatic, and cerebral circulation, and the organ with, greatest response to hypoxia was the heart, with increased coronary flow of 37% and 285% during exposure to 10% and 5% oxygen, respectively. Hence, low oxygen levels in blood cause redistribution of cardiac output and arterial content plays an important role in blood flow regulation.

Animals↗

Human T-cell gamma genes contain N segments and have marked junctional variability.

The gamma-chain genes are encoded by immunoglobulin-like gene segments in germline DNA which rearrange during the somatic development of T cells to form an active gene. The protein produced by these genes has not been identified and the diversity of the proteins that the genes can express has not been determined. We expect that the diversity of expressed gamma-chains is produced by the same three mechanisms that produce diversity of other immunoglobulin-like genes: (1) germline variable (V) and joining (J) region repertoires; (2) somatic mutation; and (3) junctional diversity. To define the contribution of each of these mechanisms to the generation of gamma-chain diversity, several gamma-chain complementary clones and rearranged gamma-chain genes have been characterized. Most of these clones seem to encode a defective gamma-chain, the variable- and constant-region portions being joined such that they would not be translated in the same reading frame. Here we report that the germline J-region diversity of the human T-cell gamma-chain is very limited and that somatic mutation does not contribute to the diversity of the gamma-chains encoded by the cloned segments. However, the junctional diversity of these gamma-chain genes is extensive. We suggest that N sequences (template-independent sequences) have been inserted enzymatically into all of the gamma-chain genes characterized.

Base Sequence↗