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Biomedical subjects

A Furst

Publications and source records attributed to A Furst.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

A double-blind trial of a new inactivated, trivalent, intra-nasal anti-influenza vaccine in general practice: relationship between immunogenicity and respiratory morbidity over the winter of 1997-98.

BACKGROUND: Influenza is responsible for considerable morbidity not only among older people but in younger age groups as well. However, most large-scale anti-influenza vaccination campaigns are still aimed principally at the elderly using injectable vaccines. Until now there has been much less emphasis on targeting younger populations or using intra-nasal vaccines in mass anti-influenza immunisation programmes. OBJECTIVES: To assess the immunogenicity of a new inactivated intra-nasal anti-influenza vaccine and to measure its effect on respiratory morbidity in a volunteer general practice population. STUDY DESIGN: A prospective, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial using the new vaccine was carried out over the winter of 1997-98 on 274 healthy patients aged 12-60 from three Israeli general practices, 182 in the vaccine group and 92 in the placebo group. Following vaccination the changes in the antigen levels and episodes of respiratory illness in the vaccine and placebo groups were measured. RESULTS: Protective antibody levels occurred after a single dose of vaccine [influenza H1N1, 41% immune pre-vaccination to 73% post-vaccination; influenza H3N2, 35-66%; influenza B, 27-64%]. Between January and March 1998, when influenza activity was at a peak in Israel, the average number of respiratory illness events in the vaccine group [14 events/100 subjects per month] was significantly less than in the placebo group [22 events/100 subjects per month]; similarly, the average number of respiratory illness days in the vaccine group over the same period [69 days/100 subjects per month] was significantly less than in the placebo group [117 days/100 subjects per month]. CONCLUSIONS: The new vaccine possessed significant immunogenicity and was associated with a significant reduction in respiratory morbidity among a group of healthy older children and adults. Since intra-nasal vaccines are simpler to administer and more acceptable to the public than injections the vaccine's potential for use in routine anti-influenza vaccination campaigns seems promising, especially if its beneficial effects are also reproducible in more medically vulnerable populations.

Administration, Intranasal↗
PubMed1995

Induction of peroxisome proliferation and increase of catalase activity in yeast, Candida albicans, by cadmium.

The effects of cadmium on the growth rate, catalase activity, and peroxisome proliferation in yeast, Candida albicans, were evaluated. The yeast growth was markedly inhibited by 1 mM cadmium at the initial hours. The toxic effect of cadmium on the cell growth persisted. The catalase activity of the cells treated with 1 mM Cd2+ first decreased, and then rose at 24 h to about 2.6 times that of the controls. The average number of peroxisomes per cell in the yeast treated with 1 mM Cd2+ was about sixfold higher than the control groups. The proliferation of peroxisomes and the increase of catalase activity following cadmium toxicity gives credence to the hypothesis that cadmium toxicity is related to its potential to induce oxidative stress in cells.

Cadmium↗
PubMed1993

[Continuity of care and hospital admission rates in a rural family practice].

Hospitalization data may be used as an indicator of the quality of care in family practice. There were marked differences between hospitalization rates in a rural family practice and the corresponding national rural rates, which raised questions about the reasons for these differences. All 309 hospital admissions recorded between 1987 and 1990 in a rural family practice were then studied to determine the hospital admission pattern. The crude hospitalization rate of this practice over the period studied was 74/1000 person-years at risk. After indirect standardization with the national Jewish rural hospitalization rate, the actual number of hospitalizations for the family practice (309) was 24% less than would have been expected (407) had the national rural rate applied to the family practice population during the study period. The decreases between actual and expected admissions were greater in the infant, adolescent and elderly age-groups. Continuity-of-care by a single provider in the study practice is presented as an important factor in determining the smaller number of practice hospitalizations recorded.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Application of a novel 1:1 gold(I)-chromophoric thiolate complex as a spectrophotometric probe for the thiol-exchange reactions of anti-arthritic gold drugs in biological fluids.

An oligomeric 1:1 gold(I) complex of the chromophoric thiol 5-mercapto (2-nitrobenzoate) has been synthesized and applied as a spectrophotometric probe for the thiol-exchange reactions of structurally-analogous 1:1 gold(I)-thiolate drugs. For low-molecular-mass thiols, results were consistent with the initial formation of a monomeric mixed-ligand bis-thiolato gold(I) complex followed by further ligand substitution by excess thiol to produce 5-mercapto (2-nitrobenzoate) and a monomeric bis-thiolato gold(I) complex. For human serum albumin, however, the spectrophotometric changes were only consistent with the binding of gold(I) to its single cysteine residue (Cys-34) with the retention of the 5-mercapto (2-nitrobenzoate) ligand on gold(I).

Antirheumatic Agents↗
PubMed1991

Influence of an intravenous dose of aurothiomalate on the status of low-molecular-mass endogenous metabolites in blood plasma: a proton nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) study.

The effect of aurothiomalate on the status of a wide range of low-molecular-mass endogenous metabolites in blood plasma obtained from animals treated with an intravenous dose of this second-line agent (150 mg/kg) has been assessed by high field proton Hahn spin-echo NMR spectroscopy. As well as modulating the effective concentrations of NMR-detectable biomolecules, aurothiomalate induces a time-dependent decrease in plasma levels of triacylglycerols with a corresponding elevation in the concentration of the ketone body 3-D-hydroxybutyrate, indicating an increased utilisation of fats for energy in rats treated with this 1:1 gold(I)-thiolate complex. These observations may reflect the toxic side-effects that are associated with aurothiomalate treatment.

3-Hydroxybutyric Acid↗
PubMed1991

Pitfalls in assessing risks from carcinogens.

The decision to classify a chemical as a human carcinogen must depend upon agreed conclusions from epidemiology, bioassays, and some short-term corroborating tests; information from only one of these disciplines is inadequate. Most pitfalls appear in interpreting the results from animal bioassays; this report will concentrate on them. Often the conclusion is accepted that a chemical is an animal carcinogen without a critical appraisal of the experimental design. By manipulating the experiment, 90 + % of all chemicals can induce some tumor in a rodent. Pitfalls encountered in bioassays result from not specifying the exact agent under test and how it relates to human exposure, using inappropriate routes of administration unrelated to humans, administering illogically high doses, or concluding that a cancer was induced without adequate histopathological description of the lesion. Importance of animal husbandry is often overlooked. Pitfalls are also related to short-term tests. Finally, a major pitfall in assessing carcinogenic risk from chemicals is drawing global conclusions about the carcinogenicity of an agent after the detection of only one or two tumors in the treated group.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Multiple family member visits to family physicians. Terminology, classification, and implications.

A study was designed to investigate "the family as the unit of care" in family medicine consultations from the patient's end of the physician-patient axis, unlike most previous related studies, which have concentrated on it from the physician's perspective. During 2 separate weeks in November 1987 and February 1988, nine Israeli family physicians collected demographic and family-related data concerning the spontaneous visiting patterns generated by 1156 persons (899 patients and 257 nonpatients) who attended 796 separate consultations at their clinics during this time. More than one patient attended 12% of the consultations, and more than one person, patient or nonpatient, was present at 36%. At 31% of the consultations children alone or children and adults were recorded as patients (child consultations), and at 69% only adult patients were present (adult consultations). Adults were recorded as second or third patients at 19% of the child consultations but at only 5% of the adult consultations. The child consultations alone yielded 86% of all the nonpatients documented. Basic terminology and methodology for investigating such multiple family member visits to family physicians is discussed as well as the composition of the different family units encountered and their possible significance.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

[Sore throat: an analysis of medical management in a community clinic].

The diagnostic approach to sore throat and its treatment by 7 doctors was studied in 692 community clinic patients. Redness of the throat, the commonest clinical feature in all age groups, was present in 88%. The prevalence of other clinical findings varied in the different age groups. 54% of the patients, most of whom were less than 13 years old, were treated initially with antibiotics. Most of the physicians prescribed penicillin V (average, 8.4 days). From 11 (13%) of the throat cultures taken from children under the age of 4, beta hemolytic streptococci (BHS) were grown. Based on throat cultures, antibiotics had been given unnecessarily in 53% of those in whom it was initially prescribed, and wrongly withheld in 10% of those who initially did not receive them. This study reveals an urgent need for a rapid and accurate method of detecting BHS in patients with sore throat.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Control of oxidative damage in rheumatoid arthritis by gold(I)-thiolate drugs.

The roles of anti-arthritic gold(I)-thiolate drugs such as disodium aurothiomalate ('Myocrisin') in the modulation or promotion of oxygen radical-mediated oxidative damage in vivo are reviewed. In particular, the precise molecular mechanisms by which these novel second-line agents exert their therapeutic effects are discussed in terms of (i) the direct and indirect control of enzymes involved in the generation or scavenging of reactive oxygen species (ROS) such as superoxide ion, hydrogen peroxide and hydroxyl radical, (ii) the protection of proteins and relevant enzyme systems against attack by ROS and (iii) their direct involvement in the production (at appropriate 'target' sites) or scavenging of ROS in vivo. In addition, the role of the orally-effective gold(I)-phosphine complex auranofin in the control of oxidative damage in rheumatoid arthritis is also discussed.

Antirheumatic Agents↗