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Biomedical subjects

W Vycudilik

Publications and source records attributed to W Vycudilik.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1994

[Drug fatalities from the forensic medicine viewpoint. 10 years experiences of the Vienna Institute of Forensic Medicine].

The problem of illicit drug abuse has of course not spared Austria. In fact, considering only the increase in the official figures on drug-related deaths over the past few years, this problem has dramatically worsened in Austria. Drug-related deaths represent the most serious consequence of substance abuse, but according to the Pompidou Group classification such deaths are only one of eight indicators in assessing the extent of drug abuse in a community. We analyzed reports on all postmortems classified as drug-related deaths according to the official definition of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Internal Affairs undertaken at the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Vienna between 1984 and 1993. The annual number of drug-related deaths increased nearly ten-fold during the study period. In about a third of the cases accidental single substance overdosage (of mainly a morphine-containing drug) was the cause of death. In the majority of the corpses more than one drug, including alcohol, was detected. During the past 10 years there was an evident trend towards a multisubstance abuse pattern. Since the plateau reached in 1988, the incidence of HIV-1 infection among decreased drug injectors has decreased.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

[Reliability of the Alco-Screen dip strips in evaluation of blood alcohol concentration for clinical or forensic studies].

We tested the accuracy of Alco-Screen dipsticks in comparison to the values of blood alcohol. The dipstick test is based on the reaction of alcohol-dehydrogenase, developing a green to blue color. Saliva as well as urine and liquor are easy to obtain at autopsies. We did not get any false-negative results. Interpretation of the change of color turned out to be a problem, because the tip appeared often to be inhomogenous. The dipstick could be used at autopsies and for emergency units, if a quick, semiquantitative result is required.

Alcohol Drinking↗
PubMed1991

Urinary 3-hydroxyproline excretion in Alport's syndrome: a non-invasive screening test?

Alport's syndrome is characterised by morphological and structural changes of the renal basement membranes. As the hydroxyproline content of isolated glomerular basement membranes is reduced in patients with Alport's syndrome, it is possible that the renal excretion of 3-hydroxproline (3-OHP), a key substrate of basement membrane collagen, may be altered in such patients. The urinary excretion of 3-OHP was determined by thin layer chromatography in 20 patients with Alport's syndrome, in healthy control subjects, and in patients with other renal diseases. These included patients with poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis, lower urinary tract infection, severe reflux nephropathy, lithium induced nephropathy, polycystic kidney disease, familiar benign haematuria, and renal graft rejection. Urinary excretion of 3-OHP was significantly higher in patients with Alport's syndrome compared with the patients with other renal diseases and the healthy control subjects. All other renal diseases investigated had 3-OHP values within the normal range. Urinary 3-OHP determination detected patients with Alport's syndrome with a high sensitivity (95.2%) and specificity (97.2%). We therefore suggest using urinary 3-OHP determinations as a simple non-invasive screening test for Alport's syndrome.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

[Morpho-toxicologic findings following war gas effect (S-Lost)].

Mustard gas or Yperite, an old and formerly well known chemical warfare agent was recently used against human beings in the Middle east. Some of the victims were transferred to European University Hospitals for intensive treatment. They all showed vesication of the skin and also the typical symptoms of severe damage of the respiratory mucosa. The macroscopical and microscopical observations after war gas exposure and the detection of mustard gas in biological material are reported.

Eye↗
PubMed1988

[Comparative morphine determination in parts of the brain using combined gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. A possibility for assessing survival time].

Comparison of the morphine concentrations in the medulla oblongata and the cerebellum provides information on the interval between morphine administration and death. If this period is short, the ratio of CMed:CCereb is below 1. The ratio is above 1 if a number of hours have passed at least. The balance of the morphine concentrations is achieved within a few hours. Results have been achieved by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry analysis in about 100 autopsy cases.

Cerebellum↗
PubMed1987

[Large droplet lipids in blood in the right ventricle].

In several cases of fatal blunt-trauma injuries or after exposure to severe burning, large-drop fatty substances, discernible to the naked eye, were found in the venous blood of the right ventricle. Thin-layer chromatographic separation of the extracted lipids demonstrated an increase in the triglyceride fraction. Analysis of the fatty acids by means of combined gas chromatography/mass spectrometry showed a shift towards oleic acid. The distribution pattern of the molecular weights was determined by means of DCI-mass spectrometry in order to characterize the triglycerides in detail. The total chemical findings indicated that the visible lipids present in the right ventricle had predominantly derived from the adipose tissues. In cases of post mortem burning (without vital traumata) no typical pulmonary fat embolism had developed despite massive lipemia in the venous blood.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

[Detection of diphenhydramine in autolytic brain tissue in poison-induced brain death syndrome].

A case of accidental monointoxication caused by diphenhydramine is reported. Having taken 12 dragées of Neo-Emedyl (50 mg diphenhydramine), an 18-month-old girl showed the following symptoms: generalized erythema, dyspnoea, vomiting, hyperpyrexia, tremor, convulsions, coma, respiratory arrest and absence of reflexes. Computed tomography (CT) suggested a massive cerebral oedema. Her electroencephalogram was abnormally diffused at first; later on, it flattened significantly and became isoelectric between the 14th day and the final stoppage of circulation (after 5 weeks). Autopsy revealed total necrosis of the brain, with the venous cerebral blood vessels being thrombosed (the morphological basis for dissociated cerebral death). In autolysed brain tissue, diphenhydramine was detected at a concentration of 30 ng/g by GC/MS (gas chromatography, mass spectrometry); the concentration of the substance was less than 10 ng/g in the liver. The relatively high concentration in the brain was due to the previous blocking of the circulation. Cerebral death syndrome caused by intoxication offers the chance of detecting measurable amounts of the unchanged drug in autolysed brain tissue.

Autolysis↗
PubMed1984

[Incorporation of L-azetidine-2-carboxylic acid into collagen of the skin. Structural changes].

As previously shown by two dimensional thin-layer chromatography L-azetidine-2-carboxylic-acid (L-Az) is incorporated into type I skin collagen instead of proline when 3 week old mice are fed with a 0,1% solution of L-Az orally. Ultrastructural investigations did not reveal significant changes in collagen periodicity and on fibril diameter. The collagen fibrils of the upper papillary dermis seemed to be packed more densely, sometimes only one electron dense lamina was seen instead of basal lamina and plasma membrane. The glycosaminoglycane-induced fibrillogenesis was not changed in contrary to the collagen-heat-gelation fibrillogenesis at 37 degrees C, where no gel aggregation could be seen. The reconstruction of native fibres from collagen solutions was disturbed too, several finer precipitated fibrils being detectable. On infrared spectroscopy significant differences in absorption spectra were detected. Correlating with previous results of reduced tensile strength and normal melting point of L-Az collagen we can conclude that L-Az might cause rather intermolecular than intramolecular disturbances of crosslinking.

Animals↗
PubMed1984

Determination of glucitollysine for the quantitation of non-enzymatic glucosylation by ion exchange chromatography and reverse phase liquid chromatography.

A specific and sensitive method for the quantitative determination of the stable, reduced glucose-lysine adduct, glucitollysine (GL), in plasma protein samples is described. The method uses standard amino acid ion exchange chromatography followed by reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography after derivatisation of GL to a fluorescent product. Moreover, GL was characterised and identified in plasma samples by means of mass spectroscopy. GL measured in plasma samples of eleven type I diabetics and two healthy controls showed a significant linear correlation to concomitantly determined haemoglobin AI and glucosylated plasma proteins, but did not correlate with plasma glucose levels. This method allows the estimation of non-enzymatic glucosylation in biological samples with a high degree of specificity and sensitivity down to the low nanogram range.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

Enzymatic reversibility of nonenzymatic glycosylation of the glomerular basement membrane. Is the diabetic glomerulopathy principally reversible?

Recent investigations point to the nonenzymatic glycosylation as a cause of long-term complications in diabetes mellitus. We describe an enzymatic activity that cleaves glucose from the glomerular basement membrane (GBM), present in lysosomal preparations of diabetic lymphocytes. The GBM, nonenzymatically glycosylated or obtained from rats with diabetes, were incubated with enzyme preparations, separated on Sephadex G-25 and applied for glucose measurement on gas chromatography and mass spectroscopy. The lysosomal preparation of diabetic lymphocytes cleaved from rat GBM, which were nonenzymatically glycosylated 300-500 ng glucose/mg GBM protein, from diabetic rat GBM 300 ng glucose/mg GBM protein. A lysosomal preparation of normal lymphocytes failed to do so, indicating enzyme induction in the diabetic state. Control studies with the glycosylated hemoglobin AIc confirmed this finding and showed the specificity of the enzyme, as alpha-glucosidase and beta-glucosidase failed to cleave the N-glycosidic bond between glucose and the protein. The enzymatic activity can be described formally as a N-l-deoxyfructofuranosyl-glucohydrolase, which could be responsible for a potential reversibility of diabetic GBM changes.

Animals↗
PubMed1981

[Pulmonary lipids in fatal burns (author's transl)].

The pulmonary lipids were investigated at autopsy in 22 deaths from burns (3 scalds among them) by means of histological examination, thin-layer chromatography and gas liquid chromatography. Leaving out of consideration 4 cases with concomitant mechanical trauma 7 out of 18 burned victims showed fat embolism of the lungs, the degree varying from slight (4) to medium (3). Cases surviving for a short period showed fat embolism more frequently than those with a rapidly fatal course. The extracted pulmonary lipids were separated by thin-layer chromatography into 5 fractions (phospholipids, cholesterol, fatty acids, triglycerides, cholesterol esters) and evaluated densitometrically. The triglyceride fraction was increased in cases of fat embolism after burns, as well as in control cases of post-traumatic fat embolism. For further lipid characterisation the fatty acids were determined by gas chromatography. Calculation of the amounts of the individual fatty acids showed that in cases of at least medium intensity the ratio of oleic acid/linoleic acid and oleic acid/stearic acid is shifted towards oleic acid.

Adolescent↗