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Biomedical subjects

W Weber

Publications and source records attributed to W Weber.

At least 325 records · Page 18Linked to original sources

[Results of thyrostatic therapy of hyperthyroidism in patients with Basedow's disease and disseminated autonomy].

Up to now the results of drug treatment are unsatisfying. Treatment of more than 1-2 years did not decrease the occurrence of relapses. Thyroid suppression test and TRH test give the same indications concerning the outcome in cases with Graves' disease and disseminated autonomy (short-time prognosis). The relapse rate is distinctly higher in Graves' disease than in cases with disseminated autonomy (goitre class 3 excluded).

Follow-Up Studies↗

High incidence of stomach cancer in relatives of patients with malignant lymphoproliferative disorders.

Family histories of 189 patients with lymphomas and leukemias and 14 patients with stomach cancer were used in this study. Controls consisted of family histories of 391 patients with other tumors. In the 189 probands with lymphoproliferative disorders stomach cancer accounted for 17.3% of the total cancers in the relatives, whereas in the probands with breast and other types of cancer the corresponding figures were 8.1% and 8.3% as against an incidence of 5.9% of stomach cancers in Basel. In first-degree relatives, the incidence of stomach cancer was higher than expected in the families of probands with malignant lymphoma and stomach cancer. It is suggested that an inherited subclinical disturbance of the immune system is involved in familial association of stomach cancer with malignant lymphoproliferative disorders.

Breast Neoplasms↗

cAMP-dependent protein kinases I and II: divergent turnover of subunits.

cAMP-dependent protein kinase subunits were isolated from livers of rats that had been subjected to biosynthetic labeling with radioactive leucine. By application of ligand and antibody affinity techniques pure regulatory (R I; R II) and catalytic (C) subunits could be obtained in high yields, which allowed measurement of the apparent degradation rate constants and half-lives following a double isotope labeling protocol. In this way marked differences of apparent half-lives of regulatory subunits R I (t1/2 = 31 h) and R II (t1/2 = 125 h) were observed. To avoid the negative influence of reutilization inherent in the decay experiments, specific radioactivities were determined after a short isotope pulse. This parameter, which under steady-state conditions reflects the fractional turnover rate of the subunits, was found to be different for all three protein kinase subunits. Relative to total liver protein, the ratios R I:R II:C corresponded to 3.9:0.6:2. Our data indicate that in each type of protein kinase isoenzymes regulatory and catalytic subunits turn over with similar rates. The type I isoenzyme, however, is renewed much faster than protein kinase II. Furthermore, our findings are consistent with the thesis that free subunits as generated by activation are more susceptible to degradation than the holoenzymes, leading under steady-state conditions to compensatory resynthesis. Since renewal of R I exceeded that of R II also in two other tissues, the elevated turnover of protein kinase I as an indicator of preferential activation appears to be a general phenomenon. The different turnover of the two isoenzymes, then, may relate to different cellular functions like modulation of enzyme activity vs. modulation of gene activity.

Animals↗

Fragmentation of gallstones by extracorporeal shock waves.

We treated nine patients with functioning gallbladders containing one to three symptomatic radiolucent stones not larger than 25 mm in diameter, as well as five patients with stones in the common bile duct that were not removable by endoscopic procedures, by means of extracorporeally generated shock waves during general anesthesia. The patients with gallbladder stones received adjuvant treatment with a combination of ursodeoxycholic acid and chenodeoxycholic acid. All gallbladder stones were disintegrated into sludge or fragments with diameters of no more than 8 mm. In six of the nine patients the fragments disappeared completely within 1 to 25 weeks. No adverse effects were detected during a follow-up period of 10 to 34 weeks, except transient biliary pain in two patients, with mild pancreatitis in one. In four of the five patients with common-bile-duct stones, shock-wave treatment permitted stone disintegration and successful endoscopic extraction or spontaneous passage of fragments. We conclude that gallstone disease may be treated successfully and without serious adverse effects by extracorporeally generated shock waves in selected patients.

Adult↗

Application of intracellular ATP determination in lymphocytes for HLA-typing.

The amount of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in human lymphocytes was determined using a technique based on light emission from a bioluminescent reaction with luciferin-luciferase. The amount of ATP changed when cells were incubated in the presence of specific HLA antisera and complement. For determination of intracellular ATP a modified method was applied, which was based on reduction of extracellular ATP by the addition of ATPase. The results of titration of an anti-human lymphocyte serum using the bioluminescence assay were in agreement with the results of fluorescence vitality staining. Bioluminescent HLA-determination in 57 cell samples each tested with 5 different antisera also gave good agreement (95.8%) with the conventional method. From these experimental data the calculated ATP content per lymphocyte was 0.135 +/- 0.058 pg ATP.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗