Carbohydrate diet prolongs survival of rats with acute uremia after bilateral nephrectomy.
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Acute Disease↗
Biomedical subjects
A Saltzman
Publications and source records attributed to A Saltzman.
"Movement" in work status after pain facility treatment.
STUDY DESIGN: This was a randomized prospective follow-up study of pain facility treatment of chronic pain patients with low back pain, with return to work and work capacity as the outcome measures. OBJECTIVES: To determine if after pain facility treatment chronic pain patients "move" in and out of work and in their work capacity; to determine the patterns of "movement;" and to determine the post-pain facility treatment follow-up sampling time points that would maximize the number of chronic pain patients correctly classified according to their final work and work capacity status. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Past research and empiric observation have indicated that chronic pain patients may "move" after pain facility treatment in and out of work and in their job work capacity. Such "movement" can affect the results of outcome studies. METHODS: Two hundred thirty-six consecutive chronic pain patients who fit study selection criteria were followed up at 1, 3, 6, 12, 18, 24, and 30 months after pain facility treatment for determination of work and work capacity status and separated according to the pattern of movement. Stepwise discriminant analysis was used to answer the study objectives. "Movement" in and out of work for these chronic pain patients also was compared with the US general population. RESULTS: Chronic pain patients demonstrated eight work and four work capacity movement patterns. The 24- and 1-month time points predicted final work status correctly for 97.0% and 77.0% of the chronic pain patients, respectively, whereas the most significant predictor for correct work capacity status was the 24-month point. The annual percentage change in employment status for these chronic pain patients was more than in the US general population. CONCLUSIONS: Because chronic pain patients "move" in and out of employment and for work capacity status after pain facility treatment, future outcome studies using these measures will have to consider carefully the impact of "movement" on their results.
Chronic Disease↗
Metallic tin-induced lymphadenopathy in rat strains and hybrids.
Metallic tin powder, injected into Lewis rats obtained from three different sources, caused enlargement of the regional draining lymph nodes. The histopathology featured epithelioid cell granulomas around phagocytosed particles of tin and an intense hyperplasia of plasma cells. The same material injected into August rats enlarged the lymph nodes but the enlargement was caused by granulomas without a major concomitant plasma cell response. In most other strains, tin produced less lymph node enlargement and the plasma cell response was minimal. However, F1 hybrids of Lewis rats with either the August, Brown-Norway (BN), or Dark Agouti (DA) strains developed plasma cell hyperplasia similar to that seen in the parental Lewis strain. The response to tin was the same whether the tin was injected into the feet or into the peritoneal cavity. Thus, the lymph node response to metallic tin varied from a slight, banal response to insoluble foreign particles, to an exuberant granulomatous hyperplasia, to an intense plasmacellular hyperplasia, depending on the genetic characteristics of the subjects.
Animals↗
Lithium distribution in experimental inflammation of brain and spinal cord.
1. Autoimmune inflammation of the nervous system caused extensive changes in the distribution of lithium injected into rats. 2. Serum lithium levels were greatly increased because of failure of renal excretion caused by pre-renal azotemia, urinary retention and lack of dietary sodium. Brain, spinal cord, pituitary and adrenal levels of lithium were also elevated, reflecting the high serum levels. 3. However, the location and degree of this elevation corresponded to the predominant location of the inflammation. As a result, lithium levels in spinal cord approached and even exceeded the lithium content of brain.
Animals↗
Quality of life assessment in gynaecological cancer patients.
The feasibility of quality of life (QOL) assessment in a heterogeneous group of gynaecological cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy was determined. All new patients being prescribed cytotoxic chemotherapy were asked to complete a modified QOL assessment tool. The elected assessment tool is the Functional Assessment Cancer Therapy-General (FACT-G) tool, comprising 33 questions under 5 broad categories: physical well-being, social well-being, relationship with doctor, emotional well-being and functional well-being. Raw scores were calculated and then transformed to a 0-100 scale. Twenty eight patients received a total of 75 treatment cycles of chemotherapy. Four patients were not offered the assessment due to language difficulties. All patients offered the test satisfactorily completed the test to allow statistical analysis. The average number of chemotherapy courses received was 2.5 (range: 1-6). Of a total possible 2,475 study items (33 items x 75 cycles), 240 items were not answered (10%). Of these 240 unanswered items, 2 items (#14 and #15) comprised 38%. The mean transformed score for physical well-being was 32 (SE 2.5), for social well-being the mean transformed score was 50 (SE 1.7), relationship with doctor 86 (SE 2.4), emotional well-being 41 (SE 2) and functional well-being was 54 (SE 2.6). The assessment of QOL indices in gynaecological cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy is feasible. Further research needs to determine the optimal QOL tool for this patient population.
Adult↗
Androgen receptor: an overview.
The action of androgens in regulating development and growth is mediated by androgen receptor (AR). AR is a member of the steroid hormone receptor superfamily, a class of receptors that function through their ability to regulate the transcription of specific genes. The AR is located in various target tissues, with its levels and activity altered with the onset of various cellular events (e.g., sexual development, malignant transformation). The modulation of AR levels occurs through a number of mechanisms, including transcription, and is regulated by various factors (e.g., androgens). The ability of AR to modulate gene transcription is through its interaction with specific DNA sequences located near or within the target gene promoter. The importance of the AR in reproductive physiology has been emphasized by the finding of AR mutations, leading to a variety of disorders, including testicular feminization syndrome. In this article, we review the structure and function of AR and the role AR plays in the function of the mammalian system.
Animals↗
Transplantation of the diaphragm in rats.
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Animals↗
Method for systemic anaphylactic challenge in the rat using subplantar route.
Intravenous injection of antigen is the fastest and most effective way of eliciting anaphylactic shock in previously sensitized rats. When intravenous injection is difficult or undesirable, subplantar challenge is a preferable alternative to the intraperitoneal route.
Aluminum Hydroxide↗
Neogenesis of skeletal muscle in the postinflammatory rat peritoneum.
During the healing phase of a chemical peritonitis, one or several skeletal muscle fibers develop, de novo, in the peritoneum of the adult of weanling rat diaphragm. One week after the initial injury the new muscle fibers are narrow and have central nuclei and cross-striations. The fibers increase progressively in caliber and the nuclei take up a subsarcolemmal location. The newly formed muscle fibers are separated from the intrinsic diaphragmatic muscle by an elastic membrane and by a hand of hyaline connective tissue. They are separated from the peritoneal surface by a zone of granulation tissue. Most new fibers are oriented at right angles to the intrinsic diaphragmatic muscle fibers. Their location and orientation suggest an origin from mesothelium or from fibroblasts in the granulation tissue rather than from the intrinsic diaphragmatic muscle. A similar phenomenon can be induced in the pleura on the other side of the diaphragm. In contrast, damage to the diaphragmatic muscle by injection of aluminum lactate does not engender myogenesis in the location described despite active regeneration in the intrinsic muscle.
Animals↗
The balance between lymphatic and systemic absorption determines the outcome of sensitization for anaphylaxis in rats.
Rats were sensitized to chicken ovalbumin or human gamma-globulin by inoculation without adjuvants into the peritoneal cavity in the healing phase of a chemical peritonitis. This phase is associated with striking enhancement of lymphatic absorption. Small doses of antigen sensitized the rats for subsequent induction of anaphylaxis, but large doses were almost completely ineffective (inverse dose-response relation). When certain adjuvants were added to the antigen, both high and low doses of antigen were effective sensitizers for anaphylaxis. Neither high nor low doses of antigen sensitized if injected without adjuvants into the unprepared peritoneal cavity or by any other route. The effects of sensitization with low or high doses of antigen and the results of inoculation by effective and ineffective routes were interpreted in terms of the balance between absorption into the lymphatics and into the systemic blood circulation. Supplemental antigen inoculated into the systemic circulation was able to tip the balance against sensitization even when sensitization was done with potent adjuvants and by a favorable route. Splenectomy had little or no effect on suppression by supplemental antigen.
Absorption↗
Signal transduction differences between 5-hydroxytryptamine type 2A and type 2C receptor systems.
The cDNAs for human 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT)2C and 5-HT2A receptors were stably transfected separately into parent Chinese hamster ovary cells, and cell lines in which levels of transfected receptor protein expression and accumulation of inositol phosphates in response to 5-HT were comparable were chosen for study. The effect of activation of these receptors on 5-HT1B-like receptor-mediated responsiveness (i.e., inhibition of forskolin-stimulated cAMP accumulation) was studied. Activation of 5-HT2C receptors with 5-HT (0.1-100 microM) abolished the 5-HT1B-like response, which returned when 5-HT2C receptors were blocked with mesulergine (1 microM). Furthermore, the maximal response to 5-carboxytryptamine was reduced in a concentration-dependent manner by the 5-HT2A/5-HT2C-selective partial agonist (+/-)-1-(2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodophenyl)-2-aminopropane. In contrast, activation of 5-HT2A receptors with either 5-HT or (+/-)-1-(2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodophenyl)-2-aminopropane did not alter the 5-HT1B-like response. The reduction of 5-HT1B-like responsiveness produced by 5-HT2C receptor activation was independent of protein kinase C activation and increases in the intracellular calcium concentration. Although 5-HT2A and 5-HT2C receptors are strikingly similar in structure and pharmacology, and the signal transduction systems coupled to these receptors have been thought to be similar, if not identical, these data provide the first evidence for fundamental differences in the signal transduction systems of these 5-HT2 receptor subtypes.
Amphetamines↗
Flow characteristics in benign and malignant gynecologic tumors using transvaginal color flow Doppler.
OBJECTIVE: To assess flow characteristics of benign and malignant gynecologic tumors by transvaginal color flow Doppler. METHODS: Records of the Ultrasound Laboratory, Women's Cancer Center, University of Minnesota were analyzed retrospectively. Gray scale findings were recorded as either "diagnostic" or "nondiagnostic." Color flow assessment was performed on intratumor vessels or ovarian and/or uterine arteries. Flow was recorded as either "absent" or "present." Spectral analysis allowed determination of the systolic, diastolic, and mean velocities and calculation of the pulsatility and resistance indices. Malignancy was then predicted based upon color flow findings alone, with malignant tumors demonstrating increased color flow and a pulsatility index of at most 1.0 or a resistance index of at most 0.4. Color flow Doppler findings were then recorded as "giving additional useful information" that either confirmed questionable gray scale findings or changed the gray scale sonographic diagnosis, or as "not giving additional information" over the gray scale diagnosis. RESULTS: Two hundred thirty-one patients had gray scale sonography, and 167 also had color flow Doppler performed. Gray scale sonographic findings were sufficient to make a diagnosis in 156 (93%) of the scans. Color flow Doppler findings added useful information in 49 scans (30%). Increased color flow was highly significant (P < .0001), as was the calculated pulsatility index (P < .02) and resistance index (P < .008), in distinguishing benign from malignant tumors. Ovarian and uterine artery and intratumor assessments of the systolic, diastolic, and mean velocities were not significantly different between the benign and malignant tumors. Regression analysis confirmed the presence or absence of color flow as an independent predictor of malignancy or benignity (P < .0001). CONCLUSIONS: Our large study confirms the overall accuracy of gray scale scanning. When used alone, color flow Doppler--although specific--lacks sensitivity and predictive value as an independent predictor of malignancy. When findings were combined with those obtained from gray scale scanning, sensitivity, specificity, and predictive value were improved to acceptable levels. Significant differences existed between benign and malignant tumors for calculated pulsatility index and resistance index, but neither was sufficiently sensitive, specific, or predictive to be used alone as sole criteria of malignancy prediction. Other flow indices studied (systolic, diastolic, and mean velocities) in general did not differ significantly between groups. Physicians should be cautioned against using color flow findings alone for clinical decision making. We recommend a multi-institutional study to investigate the multiple vascular assessments to determine the role of color flow Doppler in the preoperative prediction of pelvic tumors and in screening for gynecologic abnormality.
Adult↗
1994 career guide. The changing professions.
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Career Choice↗
Persistent postmolar gestational trophoblastic disease: use of transvaginal sonography and colour flow Doppler.
Invasive moles have been difficult to diagnose except at hysterectomy. Many patients with persistent gestational trophoblastic disease (GTD) have been treated without ever demonstrating the site of the persistent trophoblastic focus. High resolution transvaginal sonography (TVS) has provided a technique of demonstrating very small uterine lesions, previously unsuspected by transabdominal sonography. The addition of colour flow Doppler further increased diagnostic sensitivity and provides another means of monitoring response to therapy. Three patients with persistent GTD, scanned by TVS and CFD (colour flow Doppler) performed as part of their metastatic work-up are presented. The only abnormalities detected were foci demonstrated within the myometrium that demonstrated increased flow on CFD. Single agent chemotherapy was commenced and the patients were monitored periodically through their course with repeat ultrasonography. After an initial lag period, the lesions decreased in size as the beta-HCG titres fell. An unsuspected adnexal mass was diagnosed on 1 patient, later proving to be a mature ovarian teratoma.
Adult↗
Transvaginal color flow Doppler sonography in the assessment of gestational trophoblastic disease.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the blood flow characteristics of the uterine artery and intratumoral vessels in patients with GTD. Twelve patients with GTD were evaluated with TVS, and 11 also had CFD sonography performed. Spectral analysis of both uterine artery and samples intratumoral and intramyometrial vessels revealed systolic frequencies and PI that were significantly higher in the uterine artery than in sampled intratumoral vessels (P < 0.05). Uterine artery PI correlated significantly with age (P = 0.043), uterine size (P = 0.003), and beta-HCG titer (P = 0.03). Intratumoral PI correlated significantly with uterine size (P = 0.05). Intratumoral PI did not correlate with patient age, the shape or orientation of the uterus, presence or absence of subendometrial halo, endometrial thickness or echogenicity, or impression of myometrial invasion. Regression analysis of beta-HCG titers on uterine artery and intratumoral PI revealed a linear association. TVS and color flow Doppler sonography are useful in the assessment of patients with GTD. The PI is strongly associated with prognosis and correlates with beta-HCG titers.
Adult↗
Parenteral aluminum compounds produce a local toxic myopathy in rats: importance of the anion.
Aluminum lactate, injected in rats, produced skeletal muscle necrosis of diaphragm and abdominal wall subjacent to peritoneal surfaces. Deeper muscle cells (distal from inoculum) were less severely affected. Ultrastructural studies of diaphragm revealed inoculum coating collagen fibrils, aggregating next to muscle basal lamina and localized within phagocytes. Aluminum lactate penetrated lymphatic vessels and caused reactive changes on the pleural as well as peritoneal surfaces of diaphragm. In contrast, injection of aluminum citrate did not produce myopathy. Also, mixtures of aluminum lactate with aluminum citrate, sodium citrate, or another chelating agent failed to produce myopathy. Therefore, the regional myopathy produced by the lactate salt provides a model for in vivo cytotoxicity of aluminum in which anionic binding is a critical determinant.
Aluminum↗
New observations on the distribution of an old and forgotten model of enteritis in rats.
Human serum injected intravenously into rats caused multiple foci of acute enteritis. The enteritis had a predilection for the antimesenteric side of the intestine and for the zones between circumferential vessels. Despite their antimesenteric location, Peyer's patches tended to be spared. The details of distribution suggest that a gradient related to intestinal blood flow plays a role in development of the enteritis.
Animals↗
Induction of arthritis in rats by aqueous suspensions of mycobacteria without the use of oil.
We report for the first time the induction of arthritis by an aqueous, rather than an oil, suspension of killed tubercle bacilli. This was accomplished in the highly susceptible dark Agouti strain of rats, by intraperitoneal injection during the healing phase of chemically induced peritonitis. The same procedure (injection after the induction of peritonitis) augmented the incidence of arthritis produced by bovine type II collagen and Freund's complete adjuvant. Enhanced delivery of antigen from the peritoneal cavity to regional lymph nodes in the postinflammatory state was responsible for this increase in the induction of arthritis.
Animals↗