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C Moe

Publications and source records attributed to C Moe.

12 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Characterization of gastrointestinal chitinase in the lizard Sceloporus undulatus garmani (Reptilia: Phrynosomatidae).

Most studies on chitinase activity in lizards have been concerned with Palaearctic (European) and Laurasian (Middle Eastern and Asian) taxa. Several genera of Old World lizards, Anguis, Uromastix, Chamaeleo and Lacerta, have been shown to possess chitinolytic activity. To date, only one New World lizard, Anolis carolinensis, has been reported to exhibit chitinolytic activity. In the present study, chitinase activity was characterized in a second New World taxon, Sceloporus undulatus garmani, a New World, phrynosomatid lizard. Chitinolytic activity was measured by incubating tissue extracts with a radioactive chitin substrate, acetyl-[H3]chitin and determining acid soluble radioactivity as an estimate for chitin hydrolysis. Chitinolytic activity was present in stomach, small intestine and pancreas extracts, with the stomach and pancreas having the highest specific activities. Chitinolytic activity was higher at pH 4.5 than at pH 7.5. The stomach chitinase is immunologically similar to the gastric chitinase previously described for rainbow trout. Western blot analysis showed anti-chitinase cross-reactivity in the extracts of the stomach, but no cross-reactivity in the pancreatic or intestinal extracts, suggesting different isoforms of chitinase. There was no detected lysozyme activity (less than 0.01 mg/ml lysozyme) present in the extracts of the stomach, small intestine and pancreas. The localization of chitinolytic activity in S. u. garmani is in agreement with earlier reptilian reports on the distribution of chitinase.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

Identification of a novel acidic mammalian chitinase distinct from chitotriosidase.

Chitinases are ubiquitous chitin-fragmenting hydrolases. Recently we discovered the first human chitinase, named chitotriosidase, that is specifically expressed by phagocytes. We here report the identification, purification, and subsequent cloning of a second mammalian chitinase. This enzyme is characterized by an acidic isoelectric point and therefore named acidic mammalian chitinase (AMCase). In rodents and man the enzyme is relatively abundant in the gastrointestinal tract and is found to a lesser extent in the lung. Like chitotriosidase, AMCase is synthesized as a 50-kDa protein containing a 39-kDa N-terminal catalytic domain, a hinge region, and a C-terminal chitin-binding domain. In contrast to chitotriosidase, the enzyme is extremely acid stable and shows a distinct second pH optimum around pH 2. AMCase is capable of cleaving artificial chitin-like substrates as well as crab shell chitin and chitin as present in the fungal cell wall. Our study has revealed the existence of a chitinolytic enzyme in the gastrointestinal tract and lung that may play a role in digestion and/or defense.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1998

[Choice of treatment among residents of nursing homes in case of life-threatening disease].

The aim of the present study was to examine the degree of medical treatment wanted by nursing home residents, their relatives, and staff members in case the resident develops a serious and life-threatening disease, and to analyse the degree of agreement between the wishes of these parties. The study population consisted of 101 competent and 106 incompetent residents from 16 nursing homes. In addition, 142 relatives and 207 staff members were interviewed. A hypothetical disease story was presented to residents, relatives, and staff members, and their choices classified in four defined groups according to degree of treatment. Direct comparisons for the individual resident showed the greatest degree of disagreement as to acceptance/refusal of referral to hospital between relatives of incompetent residents and staff members, in that the preference for curative treatment was significantly more frequent among the relatives. It would be profitable if the staff of nursing homes make an effort to discuss treatment preferences with the relatives of incompetent residents in case the resident develops a serious disease and to do so before an acute situation arises.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1997

[Distress symptoms in hospice patients].

A number of symptoms cause physical or mental distress and suffering in the terminal and dying patient. In this prospective study of 117 patients (96% with a cancer diagnosis) in a Danish hospice all symptoms causing distress were assessed daily in three degrees of severity. The ten most frequently recorded symptoms were: fatigue, pain, weakness, dyspnoea, immobility/paresis, anorexia, general malaise, nausea/vomiting, oedema and amnesia. Fatigue was registered on 60.9% of the admission days, pain on 27.3%, dyspnoea on 19.2% and nausea/vomiting on 8.5%. The prevalence of pain, dyspnoea, nausea/vomiting, thirst and anxiety did not increase during the last seven days of life. Unconsciousness occurred in 23% of the patients during the last 24 hours and in 5% on the day before.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

What degree of medical treatment do nursing home residents want in case of life-threatening disease?

AIM: to examine the degree of medical treatment wanted by nursing home residents, their relatives and staff members should the resident develop a serious and life-threatening disease and to analyse the degree of agreement between the wishes of these parties. DESIGN: an epidemiological, descriptive cross-sectional study. MATERIAL AND METHODS: the study population consisted of 101 competent and 106 incompetent residents from 16 nursing homes; 142 relatives and 207 staff members were also interviewed. A hypothetical disease story was presented to residents, relatives and staff members and their choices classified into four groups according to degree of treatment. RESULTS: direct comparisons for the individual resident showed the greatest degree of disagreement whether to accept or refuse referral to hospital between relatives incompetent residents and staff members, in that the preference for curative treatment was significantly more frequent among the relatives. CONCLUSIONS: nursing home staff should try to discuss with relatives of incompetent residents their preferences for treatment in case the resident develops a serious disease before an acute situation arises.

Aged↗
PubMed1994

[Right of self-determination and the duty to treat--the conflict between the patients's right to self-determination and the physician's duty to treat in relation to living wills].

The principle of autonomy requires competency. A competent patient is a patient who is capable of exercising his or her right to self-determination. However, in practical clinical work there is a continuum between competency and incompetency, and it is the doctor who has to decide whether the right to autonomy can be meaningfully upheld. When a patient rejects curative treatment, a conflict arises between the patient's right to autonomy and the doctor's duty to treat. While emphasizing the principle of autonomy is a guideline, the presence or absence of a living will is almost misguided. One may fear that the question of whether cure or relief is possible may altogether be neglected when a living will is in existence. The interpretation of when a living will should be used is dependent on the health staff's evaluation. There are widely divergent opinions of when a person is unavoidably dying or permanently incapable of taking care of themselves physically and mentally. If a treatment does not have a view to a cure, an improvement or a relief of symptoms it should in all circumstances be discontinued, independently of whether or not a living will is in existence.

Clinical Competence↗
PubMed1994

[The philosophy of hospices. The St Luke's Hospice establishment in Hellerup, evaluation of the first year].

The purpose of the article is to present collected data from the first year following the establishment of Sankt Lukas Hospice in Hellerup in Denmark and to expound on the philosophy of hospices. Eighty-five patients were admitted to the hospice over the period from 1st October, 1992 to 30th September, 1993, of whom 80 patients died during the first admission phase. The median age upon admission was 72 years (range 29 to 97). In 57.7% of the cases the primary approach came from the patient or from the patient's relatives. All patients had been diagnosed with either a disseminated malignant disease or AIDS. The median length of admission was 13 days (range 1 to 191). Taking into consideration that the hospice as an independent institution is new in Denmark, one can conclude that the number of inquiries which resulted in admission is sufficient to form the basis for a debate on the more widespread establishment of hospices in Denmark. An important aspect at the preliminary examination is the patient's acknowledgement and accept of the fact that curative medical treatment ceases, and that future medical treatment from now on will be purely palliative.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1994

[Selection for a hospice--a multi-faceted task].

The object with this article is to pass on experience regarding the registration of patients for admittance to Sankt Lukas Stiftelsens Hospice in Denmark. It is a large and difficult ethical problem, in how far one can accept a more or less unsure diagnosis in connection with admittance to a hospice, either because it has not been medically possible to reach, or because the patient is unable to accept a precise diagnosis. It can be difficult for the patient to drop curative treatment, and by doing so indirectly choose purely palliative treatment. The admittance staff of the hospice have a large responsibility. They should ensure, that patients and their relatives are fully informed of, what the hospice can offer, and especially what it cannot offer in the way of curative medicine. One must prefer, that patients qualified for admittance to the hospice are competent during the admittance stage. It would in many cases be troubling and difficult after duly supported assumptions to accept patients with non-malign diseases for admittance to the hospice.

Ethics, Medical↗
PubMed1990

Viral agents of gastroenteritis. Public health importance and outbreak management.

Each year, infectious gastroenteritis causes greater than 210,000 children in the United States to be hospitalized and 4-10 million children to die worldwide. Since the mid-1970s, knowledge has increased dramatically concerning the viral agents that are responsible for much of this public health burden. Rotavirus, the most common cause of diarrhea among children, infects virtually every child in the United States by the age of 4 years and causes potentially lethal dehydration in 0.75% of children less than 2 years of age. Other recently identified pathogens include the enteric adenoviruses, calicivirus, astrovirus, and the Norwalk family of agents. Conclusive diagnosis of these viruses requires electron microscopic examination of stool specimens, a laboratory technique that is available only at a few large centers, including CDC. Stool samples from an outbreak that are submitted to CDC for detection of viral pathology should be collected in bulk from 10 ill persons during their first 48 hours of illness, while feces are still liquid, and should be stored at 4 C (not frozen). Acute- and convalescent-phase serum samples should be collected from the same persons, plus from an equal number of controls, during the first week of illness and 3 weeks thereafter. Control measures for outbreaks of viral gastroenteritis should focus on the removal of an ongoing common source of infection (e.g., an ill food handler or the contamination of a water supply) and on the interruption of person-to-person transmission that can perpetuate an outbreak in a population after the common source has been removed. Because improvements in environmental hygiene may not be accompanied by reductions of endemic diarrhea caused by viruses, immunization may play an important role in future control; vaccine trials for rotavirus are in progress. In anticipation of vaccine development and use, CDC recently began national surveillance for the viral agents of gastroenteritis. Health-care facilities involved in the detection of rotavirus or the other viral agents of diarrhea can participate.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1987

Comparative study of synthetic oligonucleotide and cloned polynucleotide enterotoxin gene probes to identify enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli.

Escherichia coli isolated from 2,126 children in Thailand and the Philippines was examined for enterotoxin production and for DNA hybridization with synthetic oligonucleotide and cloned polynucleotide enterotoxin gene probes. A total of 233 infections with E. coli that were detected by one or more of these assays were identified. Of the infections, 75% (164/233) were identified by all three methods. An additional 18% (43/233) were identified by two of three methods. Isolates from 10% (19/183) of infections with E. coli that hybridized with both the oligonucleotide and cloned enterotoxin gene probes were nontoxigenic, as determined by the Y1 adrenal cell and suckling mouse assays. Although synthetic oligonucleotide probes to detect enterotoxigenic E. coli are more uniform and easier to use than cloned enterotoxin gene probes, the heat-labile toxin oligo probe used in this study did not identify 13% (11/87) of infections with E. coli that produced heat-labile toxin, as identified with the Y1 adrenal cell assay and the cloned enterotoxin gene probe. Synthetic oligonucleotide probes enable laboratories with only minimal equipment to use DNA hybridization assays to identify enterotoxigenic E. coli.

Bacterial Toxins↗