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Biomedical subjects

C A Rees

Publications and source records attributed to C A Rees.

14 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Thinking about children's attachments.

Disordered parental attachment can commit children to lives characterised by relationship difficulties, behaviour problems, educational failure, and poor self-esteem. It is a major root of trans-generational neglect and abuse and frequently underlies mental health problems, drug and alcohol addiction, homelessness, and crime. Early childhood setting of hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis function appears to contribute to these costly difficulties. More broadly, the concept of attachment can contribute to defining and managing the psychosocial dimension of routine paediatric care. The current under-representation of attachment in paediatric education, practice, and research needs to be rectified.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2001

Effects of dietary flax seed and sunflower seed supplementation on normal canine serum polyunsaturated fatty acids and skin and hair coat condition scores.

This prospective study involved supplementing 18 normal dogs with flax seed (FLX) and sunflower seed (SUN) and evaluating their effects on skin and hair coat condition scores and serum polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) concentrations. Skin and hair coat were evaluated in a double-blinded fashion using a numeric scoring system and serum PUFA concentrations were determined. Our hypothesis was that changes in serum PUFA concentrations are associated with improvements in skin and hair coat and that serum PUFA would provide an objective method for making dietary fatty acid supplement recommendations. Although a numerical improvement was found in hair coat quality in both groups, this improvement was not sustained beyond 28 days. The relative per cent of 18:3n-3 concentrations in serum phospholipids increased in the FLX treated dogs but these concentrations remained unchanged in the SUN treated dogs. Also, elevations in relative per cent of 18:2n-6 concentrations in serum phospholipids were seen in the FLX group. The ratio of serum polyunsaturated to saturated fatty acids also showed a transient increase. These increases preceded the peak skin condition score peak value by approximately 14 days. It was concluded that a 1-month supplementation with either flax seed or sunflower seed in dogs provides temporary improvement in skin and hair coat. These changes appeared to be associated with increased serum 18 carbon PUFA.

Animal Feed↗
PubMed2001

Canine and feline atopic dermatitis: a review of the diagnostic options.

Atopic dermatitis is an inherited pruritic skin disease in dogs and cats. This pruritic skin condition is due to the animal having an allergic reaction to environmental allergens. The environmental allergens that an individual dog or cat is allergic to are specific for that individual animal. Management options for affected dogs and cats include identification of the offending environmental allergens and subsequent avoidance of that allergen, or allergen-specific immunotherapy. Several diagnostic tests are available to veterinarians to try to identify these allergens. The pros and cons of each of these diagnostic tests will be addressed.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

Small evolutionarily conserved RNA, resembling C/D box small nucleolar RNA, is transcribed from PWCR1, a novel imprinted gene in the Prader-Willi deletion region, which Is highly expressed in brain.

Prader-Willi syndrome is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder caused by the inactivation or deletion of imprinted, paternally expressed genes in chromosome band 15q11.2. We report the identification and characterization of PWCR1, a novel imprinted gene within that region, and its mouse orthologue, Pwcr1, which was mapped to the conserved syntenic region on mouse chromosome 7. Expressed only from the paternal allele, both genes require the imprinting-center regulatory element for expression and are transcribed from the same strand. They are intronless and do not appear to encode a protein product. High human/mouse sequence similarity (87% identity) is limited to a 99-bp region called "HMCR" (for "human-mouse conserved region"). The HMCR sequence has features of a C/D box small nucleolar RNA (snoRNA) and is represented in an abundant small transcript in both species. Located in nucleoli, snoRNAs serve as methylation guidance RNAs in the modification of ribosomal RNA and other small nuclear RNAs. In addition to the nonpolyadenylated small RNAs, larger polyadenylated PWCR1 transcripts are found in most human tissues, whereas expression of any Pwcr1 RNAs is limited to mouse brain. Genomic sequence analysis reveals the presence of multiple copies of PWCR1 and Pwcr1 that are organized within local tandem-repeat clusters. On a multispecies Southern blot, hybridization to an HMCR probe encoding the putative snoRNA is limited to mammals.

Alleles↗
PubMed2000

Molecular portraits of human breast tumours.

Human breast tumours are diverse in their natural history and in their responsiveness to treatments. Variation in transcriptional programs accounts for much of the biological diversity of human cells and tumours. In each cell, signal transduction and regulatory systems transduce information from the cell's identity to its environmental status, thereby controlling the level of expression of every gene in the genome. Here we have characterized variation in gene expression patterns in a set of 65 surgical specimens of human breast tumours from 42 different individuals, using complementary DNA microarrays representing 8,102 human genes. These patterns provided a distinctive molecular portrait of each tumour. Twenty of the tumours were sampled twice, before and after a 16-week course of doxorubicin chemotherapy, and two tumours were paired with a lymph node metastasis from the same patient. Gene expression patterns in two tumour samples from the same individual were almost always more similar to each other than either was to any other sample. Sets of co-expressed genes were identified for which variation in messenger RNA levels could be related to specific features of physiological variation. The tumours could be classified into subtypes distinguished by pervasive differences in their gene expression patterns.

Breast Neoplasms↗
PubMed1999

Distinctive gene expression patterns in human mammary epithelial cells and breast cancers.

cDNA microarrays and a clustering algorithm were used to identify patterns of gene expression in human mammary epithelial cells growing in culture and in primary human breast tumors. Clusters of coexpressed genes identified through manipulations of mammary epithelial cells in vitro also showed consistent patterns of variation in expression among breast tumor samples. By using immunohistochemistry with antibodies against proteins encoded by a particular gene in a cluster, the identity of the cell type within the tumor specimen that contributed the observed gene expression pattern could be determined. Clusters of genes with coherent expression patterns in cultured cells and in the breast tumors samples could be related to specific features of biological variation among the samples. Two such clusters were found to have patterns that correlated with variation in cell proliferation rates and with activation of the IFN-regulated signal transduction pathway, respectively. Clusters of genes expressed by stromal cells and lymphocytes in the breast tumors also were identified in this analysis. These results support the feasibility and usefulness of this systematic approach to studying variation in gene expression patterns in human cancers as a means to dissect and classify solid tumors.

Algorithms↗
PubMed1999

New drugs in veterinary dermatology.

This article discusses several different new drugs currently being used in dermatology. Most of the drugs discussed showed some promise as being a useful therapy in veterinary medicine, but a few have questionable efficacy (nonsedating antihistamines). The majority of these drugs have not had any pharmacokinetic or clinical trials conducted on them in small animals. Hopefully, in the future, more studies are funded so that we can determine the clinical therapeutical efficacy and appropriate doses for these drugs.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Heat Shock Protein Synthesis Induced by Methomyl in Maize (Zea mays L.) Seedlings.

Exposure of plumules of intact maize seedlings (Zea mays L.) to S-methyl-N-[(methylcarbamoyl)-oxy]thioacetimidate (methomyl) represses synthesis of several polypeptides normally made under control conditions and induces synthesis of polypeptides similar to maize heat shock polypeptides (HSPs). Three of the methomyl-induced polypeptides (18 kilodaltons) are recognized by antibodies raised against 18 kilodalton maize heat shock polypeptides.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1984

Disturbance of 6-mercaptopurine metabolism by cotrimoxazole in childhood lymphoblastic leukaemia.

The effect of cotrimoxazole on the utilization of 6-mercaptopurine (6MP) was studied in a group of children receiving remission maintenance treatment for lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). This was done by measuring the level of an active metabolite of 6MP, 6-thioguanine nucleotide (6TGN), and comparing it both with the drug dose and with subsequent neutropenia in the presence or absence of concurrent cotrimoxazole. In children who were not taken cotrimoxazole, the concentration of 6TGN showed a significant positive correlation with the dose and a significant negative correlation with the absolute neutrophil count 2 weeks later. In those who were taking the antibiotic both these relationships were lost. This suggests that cotrimoxazole can interfere with both the absorption and the cytotoxicity of 6MP and may, in turn, alter its antileukaemic effect.

Absorption↗
PubMed1984

Childhood lymphoblastic leukaemia: sex difference in 6-mercaptopurine utilization.

Twelve boys and 10 girls on similar long term remission maintenance treatment for lymphoblastic leukaemia had 79 random assays of their red cell 6 thioguanine nucleotide ( 6TGN ) concentrations performed as an index of cytotoxic activity generated by oral 6-mercaptopurine ( 6MP ). Correlation between the dose of 6MP and 6TGN was statistically significant in the girls (r = 0.58, P less than 0.001) but not in the boys (r = 0.15). Additionally, as a group the boys tolerated more 6MP (P less than 0.05), despite similar prescribing criteria, but this did not result in a higher mean 6TGN concentration or increased myelotoxicity. It appears that girls develop 6MP cytotoxicity at lower doses and more predictably than boys. If so, this may be relevant to the as yet unexplained but marked sex difference in prognosis apparent in some studies.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

Childhood leukaemia: a relationship between intracellular 6-mercaptopurine metabolites and neutropenia.

6-Mercaptopurine is extensively used in the treatment of childhood lymphoblastic leukaemia to prolong the duration of remission achieved with other drugs. The response to remission maintenance therapy varies widely. We investigated the relationship between red blood cell 6-thioguanine nucleotide, a metabolite of 6-mercaptopurine, and myelosuppression in 22 children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in remission. The peripheral neutrophil count was used as an index of myelosuppression. 6-Mercaptopurine dose was related to 6-thioguanine nucleotide concentration (r = 0.4; P less than 0.001; n = 90; y = 18.51 + 0.36 x). Large individual variations around the regression line are observed. Neither 6-mercaptopurine dose nor 6-thioguanine nucleotide concentration was related to the neutrophil count at the time of sampling (day 0) or 7 days later. Both 6-mercaptopurine dose and 6-thioguanine nucleotide concentration correlated with the neutrophil count at day 14 (r = -0.33; P less than 0.01; n = 90 and r = -0.3; P less than 0.01; n = 90 respectively). This delay is compatible with a cytotoxic action on bone marrow stem cells. Excluding children with other, uncontrolled, potentially myelosuppressive influences the correlation between 6-thioguanine nucleotide concentration and neutropenia improved (r = -0.6; P less than 0.001; n = 37). A significant degree of neutropenia was observed by day 14 if the 6-thioguanine nucleotide concentration (day 0) was greater than 210 pmol/8 X 10(8) RBCs. The assay of 6-thioguanine nucleotide may highlight those individuals with pharmacokinetic resistance. Two children on continuous high dose 6-mercaptopurine, had low red blood cell 6-thioguanine nucleotide concentrations and neutropenia was not observed.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Cutaneous horn and squamous cell carcinoma in situ (Bowen's disease) in a cat.

Cutaneous horn and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) in situ (i.e., Bowen's disease) were documented concurrently in a cat. The cat had multiple, crusted lesions and a cutaneous horn on the right dorsal lumbar area. All the crusted cutaneous lesions were diagnosed as SCC in situ. Other findings included the presence of a thymoma and hepatoma. This cat was tested, and results were negative for feline leukemia and feline immunodeficiency viruses. At necropsy (eight months after the initial diagnosis was made) the hepatoma had ruptured, resulting in exsanguination and death.

Animals↗