Asystole secondary to venipuncture: report of case.
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Adult↗
Biomedical subjects
C Feeney
Publications and source records attributed to C Feeney.
A novel and rapid method for culturing pure rat spinal cord astrocytes on untreated glass.
Astrocytes are the major population of glial cells, and are key players in the development, maintenance, and functioning of the central nervous system (CNS). Their potential as targets of therapeutic intervention following CNS injury makes the elucidation of their cellular and subcellular physiology a primary research goal. Well defined and pure cell culture systems are required to examine astrocytic physiology, biochemical pathways and underlying responses to pathophysiologically altered conditions. Previously published protocols for establishing primary astrocyte cultures are time- and resource-consuming or suffer high contamination from other undesired cell types. Here we describe a new and simple procedure for producing highly pure ( > 99%) rat primary astrocyte cultures. The method involves a simple mechanical dissociation of harvested spinal cord tissue through a porous membrane and the subsequent plating of the cells on plain, untreated glass coverslips. Astrocytes adhere very well to the untreated glass while other cell types require a substrate such as poly-L-lysine. The method described here is, therefore, ideal for experiments which require highly pure astrocyte cultures.
Animals↗
T-lymphocyte subsets in acute illness.
OBJECTIVES: To determine the range of T-lymphocyte subsets (CD4, CD8, and CD4/CD8 ratios) in acutely ill, hospitalized patients and to determine whether these concentrations correlate with illness severity, survival rate, or immunodepression. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study, comparing Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) scores and the calculated, disease-specific, predicted mortality rate with T-lymphocyte subsets. SETTING: Urban county hospital intensive care unit (ICU), serving as the designated trauma center. PATIENTS: One hundred two consecutively admitted ICU patients (72 medical and 30 surgical). INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Patient clinical data, APACHE II scores, and their associated predicted mortality rate were recorded. Blinded human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and lymphocyte testing was performed on samples from all patients on ICU admission. Despite only three (2.9%) of 102 patients testing positive for HIV antibodies, 41% (42/102) of patients had CD4 concentrations of < 400 cells/microL, and 29% (29/102) had CD4 concentrations of < 300 cells/microL. Mean CD8 concentrations were even lower, compared with normal laboratory values, resulting in a slight increase in CD4/CD8 ratios, although 16% (16/102) of patients had a CD4/CD8 ratio of < 1. CD4 counts were linearly related to total lymphocyte concentrations (Pearson correlation coefficient = 0.948), but no relationship was found between total lymphocyte or lymphocyte subset counts and APACHE II score, predicted mortality rate, or survival rate. CONCLUSIONS: Acute illness alone, in the absence of HIV infection, can be associated with profound decreases of T-lymphocyte populations. This problem is unpredictable and does not correlate with severity of illness, predicted mortality rate, or actual mortality rate. No conclusions regarding HIV serostatus or survival can be made based on single measurements of T-cell concentrations in acutely ill hospitalized patients.
APACHE↗
Enterobacter agglomerans--associated cotton fever.
Cotton fever is usually a benign febrile, leukocytic syndrome of unknown etiology seen in intravenous narcotic abusers. Cotton and cotton plants are heavily colonized with Enterobacter agglomerans. We report a case of cotton fever associated with E agglomerans in which the organism was first isolated from the patient's blood and secondarily from cotton that he had used to filter heroin. Enterobacter agglomerans is with most probability the causal agent of cotton fever. Patients presenting with the classic history should have blood cultures performed and should be started on a regimen of empiric antibiotic therapy.
Adult↗
Evidence that endogenous enkephalins produce delta-opiate receptor mediated neuronal inhibitions in rat dorsal horn.
Kelatorphan, a full inhibitor of aminopeptidases, enkephalinase and dipeptidylaminopeptidase, enzymes which degrade the enkephalins, produced inhibitions (around 50%) of dorsal horn C fibre evoked responses in the rat, following local application. The inhibitions were reversed by the selective delta-opiate receptor antagonists ICI 174,864. Furthermore the inhibitions produced by two doses of Tyr-D-Ala-Gly-MePhe-Gly-ol (DAGO), a potent selective mu-opiate receptor agonist, were not altered in the presence of kelatorphan, so demonstrating an additive effect of the mu-agonist and the enzyme inhibitor. The inhibitions produced by the enzyme inhibitor would seem due to an increased availability of endogenous opioids, presumably the enkephalins which act via the delta-opiate receptor.
Animals↗
Reversible blindness associated with alcoholic ketoacidosis: pseudomethanol intoxication.
We report a case of reversible blindness associated with severe acidosis. A 49-year-old female presented with sudden onset of bilateral blindness. A work up for possible etiologic factors including computed tomography failed to reveal any abnormalities except for ethanol induced severe ketoacidosis. Methanol was not detectable in the serum despite an ethanol level of 14.76 mmol/L, effectively ruling out the diagnosis of methanol intoxication. Treatment of the acidosis led to rapid resolution of her blindness. Review of the literature revealed two case reports of reversible blindness associated with severe acidosis in diabetics. The current case underscores the necessity for a clear understanding of the role of severe acidosis as the sole causative factor of reversible bilateral blindness.
Acidosis↗