PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

B A Werness

Publications and source records attributed to B A Werness.

41 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1989

Cytopathology of sexually transmitted disease.

Although other methods exist for routine identification of most sexually transmitted diseases, the pathologist can often recognize the etiologic agents or their cytologic effects on Papanicolaou (Pap) smear. Useful clinical information requires both the ability to recognize these effects and knowledge of their limitations. Pap smear changes characteristic of Trichomonas vaginalis, Chlamydia trachomatis, herpes simplex virus, Gardnerella vaginalis, Candida sp., and human papillomavirus infections are described and their diagnostic accuracy evaluated.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Molecular mechanisms of transformation by the human papillomaviruses.

A variety of studies have now indicated that the papillomaviruses associated with cervical carcinoma, HPV-16 and HPV-18, contain two genes (E6 and E7) which have transforming properties. These genes are generally expressed in cervical carcinoma cells. The HPV-16 E7 protein has recently been shown to be a multi-functional protein possessing both transcriptional modulatory and cellular transforming properties similar to those described for adenovirus E1A proteins (1). E7 is able to transactivate the adenovirus E2 promoter and can cooperate with an activated ras oncogene to transform primary baby rat kidney cells. The N-terminal 37 amino acids of all of the E7 proteins of the genital associated HPVs contain regions which are highly conserved and which are quite similar to portions of conserved domains 1 and 2 of adenovirus E1A. These domains in E1A are critical for cellular transformation properties and contain the amino acid sequences involved in binding the product of the retinoblastoma tumor suppressor gene (pRB). Results from a collaborative study with Ed Harlow and Nick Dyson (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) have shown that the E7 oncoprotein of HPV-16 can associate with the retinoblastoma gene product in vitro (2). The ability of the E7 proteins encoded by various HPVs to bind pRB has been examined using an in vitro complexing assay. E7 is not sufficient for transformation of human keratinocytes. The co-operation of the HPV-16 E6 and E7 genes has been shown to be important for transformation of these cells (3). Potential intracellular protein targets for E6 are being assessed.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Lack of utility of a Limulus amoebocyte lysate assay in the diagnosis of urethral discharges in men.

We evaluated a Limulus amoebocyte lysate assay (LALA) test kit for the diagnosis of gonorrhea in 883 unselected men with urethral discharge. Results were compared with those of Gram-stained smears and Martin-Lewis cultures. Of 331 men with gonococcal urethritis and 552 men with nongonoccal urethritis, 125 (37.8%) and 503 (91.1%), respectively, could not be evaluated by LALA owing either to insufficient discharge specimen to perform the test (569 or 64.4%) or to other exclusion criteria (59 or 6.7%). Of 255 LALA-evaluable discharges, LALA correctly diagnosed 252 (98.8%), compared with 244 (95.7%) for the Gram-stained smear. However, the Gram-stained smear also correctly diagnosed 96.5% of 456 men with insufficient discharge for LALA testing. The clinical utility of the LALA test kit is severely limited by performance criteria that exclude the majority of unselected men with urethritis. In addition, it is more technically cumbersome, time consuming, and costly than Gram-stained smears. Further test modifications are unlikely to overcome these inherent disadvantages of LALA.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1980

Combining cervical and anal-canal specimens for gonorrhea on a single culture plate.

To reduce the cost of detecting gonorrhea, we studied the effect on diagnostic sensitivity of combining two culture specimens on the same plate of modified Thayer-Martin medium, using specimens from 7,787 women seen consecutively in the clinic. There was no significant difference (P greater than 0.05) between one cervical and one anal-canal specimen placed on separate plates (C,A) and these two specimens combined but spaced apart on a single plate (C/A), or between two cervical specimens combined but spaced apart on the same plate (C/C) and C/A. Therefore, C/C, C/A, and C,A have equivalent diagnostic sensitivities. C/A detected 5.68% more women with gonorrhea than did a single cervical culture (C) (P less than 0.001). If C/A were to replace C,A for culture specimens from women seen in venereal disease clinics and C for specimens taken and cultured outside of venereal disease, gonorrhea control programs in the United States could realize savings in excess of $2.5 million per year.

Anal Canal↗