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Biomedical subjects

C Durrant

Publications and source records attributed to C Durrant.

10 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

The rapid identification of human influenza neuraminidase N1 and N2 subtypes by ELISA.

An ELISA assay was developed to allow the rapid and accurate identification of human influenza A N1 and N2 neuraminidases. Initial testing using a fetuin pre-coating of wells correctly identified 81.7% of the neuraminidase type from a series of human A(H1N1), A(H1N2) and A(H3N2) viruses. This result could be improved to detect the neuraminidase subtype of almost all human influenza A viruses from a large panel of viruses isolated from 2000 to 2005, if the fetuin pre-coating was removed and the viruses were coated directly onto wells. This method is simple, rapid and can be used to screen large numbers of currently circulating human influenza A viruses for their neurraminidase subtype and is a good alternative to RT-PCR.

Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay↗
PubMed2006

Forgotten digital tourniquet: salvage of an ischaemic finger by application of medicinal leeches.

Individual finger tourniquets are appropriate to the management of a wide range of conditions presenting to an accident and emergency department. They are simpler and more comfortable to use than upper arm pneumatic tourniquets and commercially available digital tourniquets are not readily available in the accident and emergency unit. However, if a finger tourniquet is overlooked, ischaemia of the digit results, and gangrene may follow if the problem is not defused early enough, leading to potential disaster. We present one case where a digit was salvaged after 4 days of tourniquet application, using medicinal leeches.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

An influenza A(H3) reassortant was epidemic in Australia and New Zealand in 2003.

During 2003, Australia and New Zealand experienced substantial outbreaks of influenza. The strain responsible was an A(H3N2) influenza virus described as A/Fujian/411/2002-like, which had circulated as a minor variant in the previous Northern Hemisphere (NH) winter, mainly in Korea and Japan. Early in the year the isolates were very similar to those that had been previously isolated in the NH, however, a reassortant strain emerged early in the New Zealand winter, followed by the appearance of similar viruses in Australia and other regional areas. While the hemagglutinin HA1 sequence of these viruses demonstrated only minor differences from the A/Fujian/411/2002 reference strain, the neuraminidase gene was clearly different from that of other recently circulating H3 viruses and most closely matched an earlier reference strain A/Chile/6416/2001. Three internal genes (NS, NP, M) in the reassortant viruses were also more closely related to the A/Chile/6416/2001 lineage. This reassortant A(H3) virus predominated in Australia and New Zealand in 2003 was also seen in Brazil and Malaysia during 2003 and was widespread in the United States and Europe during their 2003-04 winter. Interestingly most of the strains of A(H3) that were isolated at the beginning of the 2004 winter in Australia, did not have this earlier A/Chile/6416/2001-like neuraminidase but had a neuraminidase that was similar to that of the reference strain A/Fujian/411/2002. This was suggestive of the re-introduction of influenza A(H3) from other countries, however, there was still low level circulation of the reassortant virus in 2004 with isolates detected in Australia and Singapore.

Antigens, Viral↗
PubMed2003

Reassortants in recent human influenza A and B isolates from South East Asia and Oceania.

From 2000 to 2002, human influenza A and B viruses that were genetic reassortants of contemporary circulating human strains, were isolated in South East Asia and Oceania. Similar to reports from other regions, A(H1N2) isolates were found to be reassortants of circulating A(H3N2) viruses that had acquired only the haemagglutinin gene of an A(H1N1) virus. Some of these reassortants from Thailand and Singapore predate those previously recorded during the winter of 2001-2002 in Europe and the Middle East and may be precursors of these viruses. The B reassortants had a haemagglutinin similar to an earlier B strain, B/Shangdong/7/97 (B/Victoria/2/87-lineage) and a neuraminidase similar to the recently circulating B/Sichuan/379/99 virus (B/Yamagata/16/88-lineage). Despite the early occurrences of A(H1N2) reassortants and the extensive circulation of A(H1) viruses in South East Asia and Oceania during 2000-2001, these reassortant influenza A viruses have to date not been prominent unlike Europe and the Middle East where they were common in the 2001-2002 winter. In contrast the reassortant B viruses, which first emerged in this region in early 2002, rapidly became the predominant strains isolated from patients with influenza B in South East Asia and Oceania.

Asia, Southeastern↗
PubMed2001

The responsibility of the pharmaceutical industry.

The pharmaceutical industry plays an active role in policy surrounding the research, discovery and development of new medicines. Along with this commitment, the pharmaceutical industry must also take an active role in helping to ensure that appropriate patients receive access to state-of-the-art scientific advancements. The various players involved in drug development and introduction, including the pharmaceutical industry, clinicians, advocacy groups and regulatory bodies, need to work together to ensure patient access to quality care. While issues such as drug acquisition costs and marketing are often given a high profile, this may cloud perceptions of the industry's commitment to deliver important new medicines to the patients and healthcare systems that need them.

Acetamides↗
PubMed1996

Analytical Solutions and Simulations for Spin-Echo Measurements of Diffusion of Spins in a Sphere with Surface and Bulk Relaxation

Nuclear spins (in molecules) are considered to be diffusing in a sphere in a linearly inhomogeneous magnetic field (field gradient) that is imposed during a spin-echo NMR experiment. Relaxation of magnetization both in the bulk medium and on the inner surface of the sphere is assumed to occur. Analytical solutions were obtained for the relevant modified diffusion (partial differential) equation by using separation of variables with a Green's function (propagator) and three different boundary conditions. Neuman [J. Chem. Phys. 60, 4508 (1974)] analyzed the same physical system, but with no relaxation, to obtain an expression that relates the NMR spin-echo signal intensity to the magnitude of the magnetic field gradient, the spin-echo time, and the intrinsic molecular diffusion coefficient. The present analysis was based on that originally used by Neuman and, like the latter, it employed the assumption of a Gaussian distribution of phases of the spin magnetizations. This assumption, while rendering a tractable solution, nevertheless limits its range of applicability; this aspect, and the convergence properties of the series solutions were investigated in conjunction with numerical simulations made with diffusion modeled as a three-dimensional random (Monte Carlo) walk. A novel prediction for spheres with finite surface relaxation and a given radius is the presence of two minima in a graph of the normalized spin-echo signal intensity versus the reciprocal of the diffusion coefficient.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1994

Prophylactic efficacy of aerosolized liposomal (AmBisome) and non-liposomal (Fungizone) amphotericin B in murine pulmonary aspergillosis.

Pulmonary aspergillosis is a serious opportunistic disease in patients with immune suppression. Prophylactic measures would be highly beneficial because treatment often fails after infection occurs. The principle objective of this study was to evaluate the prophylactic efficacy of aerosolized liposomal (AmBisome) and non-liposomal (Fungizone) amphotericin B in a murine model. Immunocompromised mice were treated prophylactically for 3 days with AmBisome or Fungizone using a small particle aerosol generator. Intranasal challenge was with a high (10(8)), medium (10(7)), or low (10(6)) level of Aspergillus fumigatus spores. AmBisome nebulized more uniformly, resulting in very consistent chamber air concentrations. Total dose, however, was nearly the same for each formulation. Survival was prolonged in animals treated with both formulations at the 10(8) and 10(7) challenge levels. Quantitative lung cultures showed that organisms were completely cleared from the lungs in the low challenged group, with both formulations, whereas the high challenge proved overwhelming for both formulations. With the middle challenge, however, AmBisome cleared 80% of the lungs, whereas Fungizone cleared none. Lung drug retention of AmBisome treated animals was more than eight times higher than Fungizone at the time of challenge. BUN and creatinine values in animals treated with both formulations were not elevated. These results suggest that AmBisome is more effective than Fungizone when given as a prophylactic aerosol in this model.

Aerosols↗