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Biomedical subjects

B Lange

Publications and source records attributed to B Lange.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Oral immunisation against classical swine fever (CSF): onset and duration of immunity.

In an experimental study, onset and duration of immunity after oral immunisation of pigs with a classical swine fever (CSF) live virus vaccine based on the strain "C" has been evaluated. Sixteen weaner piglets (group 1) were orally instilled by syringe with the content of one vaccine bait whereas eighteen piglets (group 2) were fed with one bait. Six unvaccinated piglets represented the control group (group 3). The pigs having 2, 4, 6 and 10 days post vaccination (p.v.) were challenged with the highly virulent CSF virus (CSFV) strain "Koslov" to detect onset of immunity. After oral instillation of vaccine (group 1) the pigs were protected from a clinical infection 4 days p.v. One of four piglets reacted for a short time with an increase of body temperature. In group 2, a partial protection was already detected on day 2 p.v. On day 10 p.v., all animals were resistant to an experimental challenge infection. No protective neutralising antibodies were elicited until day 10 p.v. in both groups. Three animals of each group vaccinated orally against CSF were challenged approximately 6 and 10 months p.v. to evaluate duration of immunity. All vaccinated pigs developed neutralising antibodies and showed a protective immunity against an infection with CSFV until 10 months p.v. Furthermore, no vaccinated animal developed a viraemia after challenge. Altogether, 5 of 34 vaccinated pigs as well as all controls died after infection and showed typical gross lesions for CSF. The tonsils of the surviving pigs were negative for viral antigen by immunofluorescence.

Administration, Oral↗

Cyclophosphamide-based, seven-drug hybrid and low-dose involved field radiation for the treatment of childhood and adolescent Hodgkin disease.

PURPOSE: The outlook for children and adolescents with Hodgkin disease (HD) is excellent with combined modality therapy. However, the long-term toxicities of multiagent therapy and radiation therapy remain of concern for these patients with curable disease. In an attempt to reduce long-term toxicities while preserving excellent cure rates, we developed a combined-modality protocol using a modified seven-drug hybrid and low-dose (2,000 cGy) involved field radiation therapy (RT). The hybrid used cumulative doses of alkylating agents and anthracyclines that were lower than those used in previous four-drug regimens and substituted a less leukemogenic agent, cyclophosphamide, for nitrogen mustard. PATIENTS AND METHODS: From 1991 through 1994 a cyclophosphamide, vincristine, procarbazine, and prednisone/adriamycin, bleomycin, and vinblastine hybrid was used to treat 29 patients with HD. Median age was 12 years (range 6-16 yrs). Patients who were postpubertal with early stage disease as determined by surgical staging were excluded. Treatment consisted of four cycles of therapy for stages I and IIA, six cycles for stages IIB and III, and eight cycles for stage IV. Twenty-two patients also received low-dose RT to areas of bulky disease. RESULTS: Twenty-eight patients (97%) had a complete response to chemotherapy. Five patients experienced relapse; two died from disease 27 and 29 months after initial diagnosis; three received additional therapy and are alive with no evidence of disease. Follow-up for all other patients is a median of 56 months (range 24-78 mos) from cessation of therapy and all have remained disease-free. At 5 years follow-up, actuarial disease-free survival is 82%, and the overall survival is 93%. There have been no clinically significant cardiac or pulmonary toxicities and no secondary malignancies. CONCLUSIONS: This therapy has resulted in 5-year overall survival and disease-free survival rates similar to regimens using higher doses of alkylating agents, anthracyclines, and radiation. Longer follow-up will be necessary to fully evaluate disease-free survival, organ damage, and quality of life.

Adolescent↗

[Exercise spirometry in medical practice].

Cardiopulmonary exercise testing is a unique tool to assess the limits and mechanisms of exercise tolerance. It is also useful for establishing the profiles and adequacy of the responses of the systems at submaximal and maximal exercises. The measure of VO2 max (maximal oxygen uptake) has become the "benchmark" to quantify cardiovascular functional capacity and aerobic fitness.

Cardiac Output↗

[Physiologic evaluation of explosive force in sports].

Although we all possess the capability for anaerobic and aerobic energy metabolism, the capacity for each form of energy transfer varies considerably among individuals. Sports such as football or weightlifting, rely almost exclusively on energy derived from the muscles's pool of high-energy phosphates. Researchers have proposed different tests to estimate the power-generating capacity of high energy phosphates: stair-sprinting power tests, jumping-power tests or sprint cycling. In reality, however, it is difficult to obtain precise physiological or biochemical data during all-out exercise of brief duration.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗

[Exercise training in COPD].

Rehabilitation for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is well established and widely accepted as a means of enhancing standard therapy in order to alleviate symptoms and optimize function. The primary goal of rehabilitation is to restore the patient to the highest possible level of independent function. There is, however, no consensus on the optimal training modalities. Both walking and cycling improve exercise performance; there is substantial evidence that lower extremity exercise training should be included in rehabilitation programs for patients with COPD.

Exercise Therapy↗

Hypofractionated moderate dose radiation, intrathecal chemotherapy, and repetitive reinduction/reconsolidation systemic therapy for central nervous system relapse of acute lymphoblastic leukemia in children.

BACKGROUND: We assessed efficacy and morbidity of chemotherapy and 1, 800 cGy of hypofractionated craniospinal irradiation (CSI) in children with central nervous system (CNS) relapse following first remisssion of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). PROCEDURE: Nineteen patients with isolated CNS relapse and 4 with combined CNS/marrow or CNS/testicular relapse received treatment according to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) protocols CHP-449 and CHP-497. CNS treatment included intrathecal methotrexate, cytarabine, and hydrocortisone and 1,800 cGy CSI in 16 fractions over 12 months. Systemic therapy consisted of reinductions with vincristine, prednisone, and daunorubicin and reconsolidations with cytarabine, etoposide, and L-asparaginase every 56 days for 2 years. Outcome measures were event-free survival (EFS), survival, growth, and neuropsychologic assessment or school performance. RESULTS: Follow-up of survivors from first relapse ranges from 52 to 133 months(median 91 months). Actuarial survival and EFSat 10 years are 58% (CI95 = 38-78%) and 54% (CI95 = 32-76%). Events include 2 second CNS, 4 marrow, 1 testicular, and 2 testicular/marrow relapses and 1 secondary leukemia. EFS is 100% (CI95 = 93-100%) in 9 patients with recurrence more than 26 months from diagnosis. Three patients have significant treatment-related reduction in stature. Median full-scale IQs of 6 patients tested were 112 pretreatment and 111 posttreatment among surviving patients. All 17 survivors attend regular school, but 2 receive supplementary special services. CONCLUSIONS: Lower dose, hypofractionated CSI, intrathecal chemotherapy, and moderately intensive systemic chemotherapy provide excellent disease control for patients with late isolated CNS or combined marrow and CNS relapse. Children with brief first remissions remain at substantial risk of subsequent relapse with this therapy, especially in the marrow and testes.

Adolescent↗

Activation of MAP kinase after reversible ATP depletion in LLC-PK 1 cells.

We examined the effect of recovery following reversible ATP depletion on MAP kinase activity in cultured renal cells of proximal tubular origin (LLC-PK1). We induced ATP depletion by 0.1 micromol/l antimycin A in combination with substrate deprivation, and obtained recovery by restoration of substrate supply. MAP kinase activity increased from 374+/-45 pmol/mg protein/mm during ATP depletion to 768 +/- 77 pmol/mg protein/mm after 15 min of recovery. We used ATP to activate a representative G-protein coupled receptor, or epidermal growth factor (EGF) to activate receptors with intrinsic tyrosine kinase activity, and measured the effect of these manipulations on MAP kinase activity during ATP depletion or following recovery. ATP and EGF stimulated MAP kinase activity under control conditions, but not during ATP depletion or after recovery. This shows that two distinct signal transduction pathways represented by ATP and EGF are blocked during ATP depletion and recovery. The lack of energy during ATP depletion and the already maximally stimulated MAP kinase during recovery is likely to be the reason for these results. In summary, these findings suggest that MAP kinase may be involved in the physiological response of cells injured by hypoxia.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗

Altered sleeping arrangements in pediatric patients with epilepsy.

Parental fears concerning seizure occurrence may be associated with behavioral changes within the home environment. One possible change involves sleeping arrangements. Questionnaires concerning demographics, medical history, and sleeping arrangements were completed by parents of 179 children with epilepsy and by parents of 155 children with diabetes for comparison purposes. Based on parental response, 40 (22%) children with epilepsy changed to less independent sleeping arrangements. Logistic regression suggested that parental concern over seizure occurrence was highly associated with this change (p=<0.001). In contrast, 13 (8%) of the children with diabetes changed to a less independent sleep pattern. Results suggest changes in sleeping arrangements may alert the pediatrician to possible parental anxiety that may need to be addressed.

Adolescent↗

Experimental determination of practical peak voltage.

In diagnostic radiology the practical peak voltage was initially derived by postulating that, for a given combination of X-ray tube and contrast geometry, a constant X-ray tube voltage should produce the same low level contrast as an arbitrarily pulsating X-ray tube voltage. It has been shown previously that the practical peak voltage can be properly defined as a weighted average of the X-ray tube voltage. Up to now the concept of practical peak voltage was based entirely on the results of calculations. The present paper describes the experimental investigations for measuring and comparing the contrast-equivalent X-ray tube voltage and practical peak voltage derived from an invasive measurement of the time-dependent X-ray tube voltage. Within the experimental uncertainties, the results demonstrate the mutual equivalence of the practical peak voltage and the contrast-equivalent X-ray tube voltage.

Algorithms↗

Improving the oral hygiene of institutionalized mentally retarded clients.

PURPOSE: The quality of oral health care of persons with mental retardation has been reported in the literature to be less than that of their normal peers. The purpose of this study, set in a Midwest institution for persons with developmental retardation, was to determine if a change in policy followed by staff training and monitored by an interested third party would improve the oral hygiene of clients living on wards. METHODS: Methods used to train staff in proper toothbrushing were developed. Three living units were randomly selected for study: control, training plus accountability (experimental group I), and training without accountability (experimental group II). The direct care staff of both experimental groups were trained in proper toothbrushing techniques. Staff of the control group received no training. A dental hygienist visited the living unit periodically to evaluate and provide feedback on the plaque index scores taken by the caregivers in both experimental groups. RESULTS: The plaque indexes of group I showed significant improvement over the control group and group II. CONCLUSION: The results of this pilot study support the other findings of higher plaque indexes for residents with mental retardation and that modifying toothbrushing policies and staff training are not as critical to the improvement of the clients' oral hygiene as is the presence of an involved, interested third party.

Adult↗

Hypoxic upregulation of tyrosine hydroxylase gene expression is paralleled, but not induced, by increased generation of reactive oxygen species in PC12 cells.

Oxygen sensing was investigated in rat pheochromocytoma PC12 cells. They respond to hypoxia with an increased intracellular generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), measured by oxidation of dihydrorhodamine 123. This increase is abolished by intracellular superoxide scavenging by Mn(III)-tetrakis(1-methyl-4-pyridyl)-porphyrin, and reduced or absent in the presence of the flavoprotein/complex I inhibitors, diphenyl-eneiodonium and rotenone. The same inhibitors, but neither intra- nor extracellular (superoxide dismutase) superoxide scavenging, abolish the hypoxia-induced increase in tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) gene expression. Thus, ROS production increases in PC12 cells during hypoxia, but this is not the cause of hypoxic TH mRNA upregulation that involves a flavoprotein.

Animals↗

Poor treatment outcome of Philadelphia chromosome-positive pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia despite intensive chemotherapy.

Children with Philadelphia (Ph) chromosome positive (+) acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) represent a subgroup at very high risk for treatment failure. This study included 1322 children enrolled between 1988 and 1994 on CCG risk-adjusted studies for ALL who had centrally reviewed cytogenetic data. Thirty patients had a t(9;22) and are referred to as Ph+; 1292 were Ph-. 23 of these 30 patients were treated on the CCG-1882 high risk ALL protocol. The event-free survival (EFS) outcome in CCG-1882 was significantly worse for Ph+ compared with Ph- patients, with 4-year estimates of 11.3% (SD = 9.8%) and 73.4% (SD = 2.3%), respectively (p < 0.0001).

Antineoplastic Agents↗

Clinical significance of Philadelphia chromosome positive pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia in the context of contemporary intensive therapies: a report from the Children's Cancer Group.

BACKGROUND: Children with Philadelphia (Ph) chromosome positive (+) acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) represent a subgroup at very high risk for treatment failure. In this report, the authors assessed the outcome of Ph+ ALL in a large cohort of children treated on contemporary intensive chemotherapy protocols of the Children's Cancer Group (CCG). METHODS: This study included 1322 children enrolled between 1988-1995 on CCG risk-adjusted studies for ALL who had centrally reviewed cytogenetic data. Thirty patients had a t(9;22)(q34;q11) translocation and were referred to as Ph+; 1292 were Ph negative(-). Outcome analyses used standard life table methods. RESULTS: Compared with Ph- ALL patients, Ph+ ALL patients were more likely to be black (P=0.008), age >10 years (P=0.02), and have a leukocyte count > or =50,000/L (P <0.0001). Nearly all Ph+ (96.7%) and Ph (98.3%) patients achieved remission after induction therapy, yet event free survival outcome was significantly worse for Ph+ patients compared with Ph- patients, with 4-year estimates of 20.1% (standard deviation [SD] = 9.1%) and 75.8% (SD =1.2%), respectively (P <0.0001). This difference was maintained among patients regardless of presenting leukocyte count, age, or early response to therapy. Ten Ph+ patients underwent bone marrow transplantation (BMT) at the time of first remission; six of these patients remained event free at the time of analysis, and represent the majority (six of eight) of patients surviving event free. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of the current study confirm that Ph chromosome positivity represents a significant independent adverse risk factor for childhood ALL that has not been abrogated by current intensive chemotherapy programs. BMT at the time of first remission, as well as other alternative strategies employing biotherapeutic agents, should be considered in future front-line trials for pediatric patients with Ph+ ALL.

Bone Marrow Transplantation↗

Does short-term antiepileptic drug treatment in children result in cognitive or behavioral changes?

PURPOSE: To determine possible cognitive and behavioral effects of antiepileptic drug (AED) therapy by assessing children with newly diagnosed epilepsy before and after initiation of treatment. A comparison group of children with diabetes mellitus (DM) was included to control for the effects of practice, maturation, and chronic illness. METHODS: Baseline neuropsychological assessments were completed for children with epilepsy (n = 37) and children with DM (n = 26) recruited through outpatient clinics at a regional children's hospital. Children were reevaluated 6 months from baseline testing. At follow-up, children with epilepsy had therapeutic AED levels and controlled seizures. Statistical analysis included a between-group repeated measures ANCOVA with pretest scores serving as the covariate. RESULTS: Significant differences between groups were not found for any cognitive or behavioral factors, including attention (p < 0.24), immediate memory (p < 0.24), delayed memory (p < 0.10), complex motor speed (p < 0.19), or behavior problems (p < 0.89). CONCLUSIONS: Changes in performance on cognitive and behavioral measures were not different for children treated with AEDs and controls. Although adverse effects may be associated with prolonged treatment, results would not suggest adverse effects from AED monotherapy during the first 6 months of therapy.

Adolescent↗

Stimulation of mitogen activated protein kinase and cellular proliferation in renal proximal tubular cells.

We have studied activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAP kinase) and [3H]-thymidine uptake as a marker for cellular proliferation in a proximal tubular cell line of the American Opossum kidney (OK cells). Adrenaline, serotonin, epidermal growth factor and insulin all stimulated MAP kinase and [3H]-thymidine uptake. This stimulation of cellular proliferation was markedly reduced by an inhibitor of the MAP kinase pathway, PD 98059. Epidermal growth factor stimulated MAP kinase activity more effectively than the other agonists, but all four had similar effects on OK cellular proliferation. These data indicate that amine neurotransmitters may be of similar importance for tubular regeneration as classical growth factors.

Animals↗