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Biomedical subjects

C Herrero

Publications and source records attributed to C Herrero.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Evidence of the presence of spotted fever group rickettsiae in dogs and dog ticks of the central provinces in Spain.

To assess canine exposure to spotted fever group rickettsiae in the central provinces of Spain, ticks removed from dogs were studied by immunofluorescence (IF) staining. Twenty-eight out of 65 (43.0%) samples from ticks were positive. Sera from 58 dogs were also collected and the presence of antibodies to Rickettsia conorii studied. Thirty-four (58.6%) dogs presented significant titers by IF. Surveillance data from these provinces show the presence of Boutonneuse fever cases during recent years, evidence that dogs could serve as an indicator of rickettsial activity in these areas.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Isolation of an agent of the spotted fever group rickettsia from tick eggs in Madrid, Spain.

Ticks recovered from dogs in rural villages around Madrid (Spain) were processed to isolate rickettsiae. One sample containing mixtures of ticks and four containing eggs, in which rickettsiae had been detected by indirect immunofluorescence with a human serum highly reactive to Rickettsia conorii, were decontaminated, homogenized and inoculated onto Vero cells. Two egg samples yielded a cytopathic agent that reacted positively by immunofluorescence. One sample (14H) was successfully subcultured and identified as a member of the spotted fever group rickettsia. Tick eggs provide suitable material for isolation of rickettsia.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

[Prevalence and significance of the C virus antibody in chronic hepatopathy not related to B virus in alcoholics].

The presence of antibody to the hepatitis C virus was determined in 254 alcoholic patients with non-B chronic hepatitis and a titre of antinuclear antibodies of 1/40 or lower. Alcoholic hepatitis was present in 12 patients, steatohepatitis in 20, active chronic hepatitis in 22, cirrhosis in 181, and hepatocarcinoma in 19. Twenty patients had previously received blood transfusion alone or during surgery, 49 had undergone previous surgery without transfusion, a clinical episode of hepatitis could be traced in 14, 4 patients were drug addicts, 41 had received blood transfusion after the diagnosis was made, and 128 presented with alcoholism alone. Anti-hepatitis C antibody was found in 20 out of 2,000 blood donors (1%) in our hospital. Anti-hepatitis C antibody was found in 87 patients (34.2%) in our series, a figure unaltered by past medical history. Patients with anti-HC antibody had higher levels of AST, ALT, total proteins, gamma-globulin, and IgG. The incidence of active chronic hepatitis was higher among patients with anti-HC antibody, whereas the incidence of steatohepatitis was higher among patients without anti-HC. Regarding findings on liver biopsy, the incidence of anti-HC was significantly higher (p less than 0.001) among patients with active chronic hepatitis (72.7%) than in any other group; no significant differences were found between patients with cirrhosis (33.3%), hepatocarcinoma (31.5%), steatohepatitis (15%), or alcoholic hepatitis (16.7%). Among HBsAg-negative patients, the incidence of anti-HC was similar between those with (39.7%) and without other serum markers of HB (32.9%).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗
PubMed1992

[Long-term results of endoscopic sphincterotomy in the treatment of residual/recurrent choledocholithiasis].

Endoscopic sphincterotomy is widely accepted as the technique of choice in the treatment of residual or recidivant choledocholithiasis since the results obtained with this technique are favorable when compared to biliary surgery in most series. However, the experience of long term follow up of patients with choledocholithiasis in whom this technique would have been applied as the only treatment is still scarce up to date. We have studied 40 patients (mean age 65.6 +/- 11.1 years) with residual or recidivant choledocholithiasis who had undergone endoscopic treatment successfully before the 30th of June 1985, who could be contacted by a mailed questionnaire or by phone by August 1990. The follow up time 70.7 +/- 19.4 months (mean +/- typical deviation). Out of them, 36 (90%) had been asymptomatic up to the contact date (30 cases) or up to death due to causes not related to biliary pathology (6 patients). Out of the 4 remaining patients, 2 presented mild dyspepsia and another patient has probably developed recidivant choledocholithiasis (according to I.V. cholangiography). The fourth patient presented a severe episode of cholangitis and acute pancreatitis, related to a new episode of choledocholithiasis and died 5 and a half years after the endoscopic sphincterectomy. This represents a 2.5% mortality. These long term results of endoscopic sphincterotomy in patients with residual or recidivant choledocholithiasis are an other point in favour of using this technique as the single treatment of choice in patients above 60 years old.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Potentiation of cocaine hepatotoxicity by ethanol in human hepatocytes.

The hepatotoxic effects of cocaine on the human liver and the effect of ethanol on cocaine-induced hepatotoxicity have been examined in adult human hepatocytes cultured in chemically defined conditions. Cultures were exposed to concentrations of cocaine ranging from 10(-2) to 10(-5) M. Cytotoxicity was evaluated after 24 hr of continuous exposure to cocaine by measuring the leakage of intracellular LDH and the ability of cells to reduce MTT. According to these end-point parameters, half-maximal cytotoxic concentrations of cocaine for human hepatocytes (IC50) were 6.8 and 7.8 mM, respectively. Lower concentrations of cocaine, however, impaired basic metabolic functions of human hepatocytes. Exposure of cells to 2 mM cocaine for 24 hr resulted in a 50% decrease in hepatic glycogen, a 40% decrease in cellular glutathione content, and a 40% decrease in urea synthesis with respect to control values. For most of the metabolic parameters assayed, significant alterations were observed at 0.5 mM cocaine. Glycogen reloading of hepatocytes began to be inhibited in the presence of 0.60 mM cocaine (IC10). Ethanol greatly potentiated cocaine-induced hepatotoxicity. After a 48 hr pretreatment of human hepatocytes with 50 mM ethanol, low concentration of cocaine (0.25 mM) that had no effects on hepatocyte metabolism in the absence of ethanol caused a 20% inhibition of the urea synthesis rate, a 40% degradation of glycogen stores, and a 30% reduction in glutathione content. The results of our work show that ethanol increases the effects of cocaine on human hepatocytes by a factor of 10.

Cells, Cultured↗
PubMed1991

Immunopathologic study of skin lesions in dermatomyositis.

To determine the phenotype of skin infiltrates in affected and uninvolved skin from patients with dermatomyositis, immunohistochemical studies with 10 murine monoclonal antibodies were carried out on 25 skin biopsy specimens. Dermal infiltrates consisted predominantly of HLA-DR-expressing macrophages and T lymphocytes, especially of the CD4 subset. B lymphocytes, as defined by positive staining for Leu-12, were absent. Epidermal Langerhans cells were absent or decreased in some areas of affected skin but the total number was normal. OKT6+ cells were present in some dermal mononuclear infiltrates in close contact with lymphocytes. We observed reduced HLA-DR positivity of dermal capillary endothelia. These findings are apparently different from dermatomyositis muscle infiltrates but are similar to those in skin affected by cutaneous lupus erythematosus. Our observations support the concept that, in autoimmune diseases, cellular infiltrates may be more organ-specific than disease-specific.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗
PubMed1991

Immunogenetic findings in cutaneous lupus erythematosus.

The serologic features and histocompatibility antigen associations of 93 patients with cutaneous lupus erythematosus are reported. Of them, 37 had chronic cutaneous lupus erythematosus and 56 had subacute cutaneous lupus erythematosus. Subacute cutaneous lupus erythematosus with an annular pattern occurred in 32 patients; 24 had a papulosquamous morphology. Sixty percent of patients with annular subacute cutaneous lupus erythematosus had anti-Ro antibodies. The incidence of this antibody in the other two groups was lower. In addition, patients with annular skin lesions had significant antigen association with HLA-B8 (37.5%; relative risk, 4.6) and HLA-DR3 (59.4%; relative risk, 4.3). There were no significant differences among chronic cutaneous lupus erythematosus and subacute cutaneous lupus erythematosus of the papulosquamous type and the control population for any HLA loci. Thus only patients with annular skin lesions represent a homogeneous subgroup in which there is a striking concordance of anti-Ro antibodies and the HLA-B8 and HLA-DR3 phenotypes.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1991

Streptococcal myositis as a complication of juvenile dermatomyositis.

The infection of muscle is an infrequent condition. We report on a patient with a juvenile form of dermatomyositis who developed infectious myositis caused by Streptococcus pyogenes. The inflammatory myopathy probably favoured the colonization of muscle during a bacteremia related to the skin lesions. The main forms of streptococcal myositis, which can currently be differentiated by means of imaging techniques, are discussed in addition to its treatment and prognosis.

Child↗
PubMed1991

Atrial natriuretic peptide in patients with acute myocardial infarction without functional heart failure.

The purpose of the present study was to measure plasma levels of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) in patients with acute myocardial infarction without heart failure, and also to assess the temporal sequence of changes of plasma ANP during the first hours of recovery from myocardial infarction. The study was performed in 22 patients who were admitted to the Intensive Care Unit with the diagnosis of acute myocardial ischaemia that had an evolution of less than 6 h. Blood samples were drawn on admission and at 1, 8, and 24 h, and plasma concentrations of ANP, renin, aldosterone, epinephrine, norepinephrine and vasopressin were measured. Compared with control subjects, on admission patients showed increased plasma levels of ANP, as well as increased plasma renin activity (PRA), aldosterone, norepinephrine, epinephrine, dopamine, and antidiuretic hormone (ADH). ANP, but not renin or aldosterone plasma values, decreased with time, and there was a significant correlation between ANP and time after onset of pain. No increase in plasma creatinine was observed during the hospital stay, and the patients showed a negative fluid balance. No relationship was found between the location or extension of the infarction, or morphine treatment and ANP plasma levels. The high levels of ANP seem to counteract the haemodynamic and fluid-retention effects of the vasoconstrictive factors released after myocardial infarction.

Aldosterone↗
PubMed1991

Mycosis fungoides with oral involvement.

Oral mucous membrane involvement occurs uncommonly in mycosis fungoides and reports of it are scarce. We present two patients with severe involvement of the oral mucous membranes.

Aged↗
PubMed1991

[The results of percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty in lesions with thrombi].

Previous studies have suggested that the results of coronary angioplasty are poorer when the attempted lesion has a thrombus associated. With the aim of assessing the results of coronary angioplasty in lesions with thrombus, 1,192 consecutive coronary lesions attempted were prospectively analyzed. Of these, 88 (7%) had associated an angiographic intraluminal filling defect consistent with thrombus (group I) and were compared with the remaining 1,104 lesions (93%) without thrombus (group II). Age (56 +/- 12 vs 59 +/- 10 years) was similar in both groups, but patients in group I required more frequently dilatation after a myocardial infarction (acute phase or following thrombolytic therapy) (36% vs 12%, p less than 0.005) but infrequently for stable angina (6% vs 21%, p less than 0.005). Left ventricular ejection fraction (60 +/- 13% vs 63 +/- 12%) and the number of diseased vessels (1.46 +/- 0.7 vs 1.58 +/- 0.8) were similar in groups I and II, respectively, but lesions in group I were less frequently located in the left anterior descending coronary artery (35% vs 53%, p less than 0.025). Furthermore, lesions in group I were more frequently total occlusions (35% vs 4%, p less than 0.001), and were more severe (94 +/- 6% vs 87 +/- 8%, p less than 0.005), eccentric (81% vs 54%, p less than 0.005), irregular (72% vs 32%, p less than 0.005) and more frequently located at bend points (31% vs 17%, p less than 0.05). Primary angiographic success was lower in group I (79% vs 92%, p less than 0.001) and, after dilatation, the incidence of luminal irregularities (34% vs 15%, p less than 0.001) and early reocclusion (10% vs 1%, p less than 0.05) was higher in this group. However, when patients presenting with total occlusions were excluded from both groups primary angiographic success was similar (90% vs 91%) for groups I and II, respectively. We conclude that: 1) Lesions with intracoronary thrombus usually present other unfavourable angiographic characteristics for dilatation. 2) Results of coronary angioplasty in lesions with thrombus are similar to those obtained in other lesions when totally occluded vessels are excluded.

Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary↗
PubMed1990

Systemic lupus erythematosus in a patient with partial lipodystrophy.

Systemic lupus erythematosus developed in a 35-year-old woman who had partial lipodystrophy since she was 7 years old. To our knowledge, this association has been reported only once. She also had hypocomplementemia, mesangiocapillary glomerulonephritis type II, and a serum assay with positive results for C3 nephritic factor. The association of partial lipodystrophy with other autoimmune disorders suggests an immunologic pathogenesis for this disease.

Adult↗