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Biomedical subjects

D Bremer

Publications and source records attributed to D Bremer.

15 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1990

Anticonvulsants as adjuncts for the neuroleptic treatment of schizophrenic psychoses: a clinical study with beclamide.

A recent study showed an adjuvant effect of carbamazepine in the neuroleptic treatment of acute schizophrenic psychoses. Since beclamide (beta-chlorpropionamide) was reported to reduce the neuroleptic doses required, the combination haloperidol-beclamide was tested using a double-blind, placebo-controlled study in 23 inpatients with an acute schizophrenic psychosis. In both groups patients received haloperidol and either beclamide or placebo. Every 7 d the treating psychiatrist could increase the haloperidol dose by 3 mg per day if clinically necessary. Chlorprothixene and biperiden were on hand as additional medication. After 28 d beclamide or placebo were discontinued under a constant dose of haloperidol and a final rating with the Inpatient Multidimensional Rating Scale, Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, and Extrapyramidal Symptom Scale was carried out. Without reaching statistical significance, the beclamide group needed a lower dose of neuroleptic medication, showed fewer side effects and a more pronounced psychopathological improvement.

Anticonvulsants↗
PubMed1990

[Non-invasive Doppler echocardiography assessment of right ventricular pressure in patients with ventricular septal defect].

In patients with VSD right ventricular pressure can be determined noninvasivly by subtracting the VSD-gradient from the systolic blood pressure. Using a stand-alone continuous-wave Doppler the VSD-gradient may be underestimated due to a large angle theta caused by the various VSD locations and the often atypical VSD-jet directions. Therefore Color-Doppler was used to visualize the VSD-jet and to align (angle less than 15 degrees) the continuous-wave Doppler beam. 37 patients, who underwent catheterization were studied. By VSD-jet visualization 3 patients were correctly identified in whom the VSD gradient would have been underestimated due to a large angle 0. They were excluded from this study because of the resulting error. In the remaining 34 patients VSD-gradients up to 105 mmHg were measured. A good correlation was found between the noninvasively an invasively determined right ventricular pressures: r = 0.93; y = 1.06x -2.4. One source of error in this method is the difference between the maximal instantaneous and the peak to peak VSD-gradient. Differences of up to 39 mmHg were found when the maximal instantaneous gradient occurred either very early or very late in systole. In these cases the midsystolic gradient should be used. It is concluded that the presented method is easy to perform and permits a reliable noninvasive estimation of the right ventricular pressure in patients with VSD.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Psychotoxic effects of ofloxacin.

Two cases of organic psychosis, induced by the new chemotherapeutic agent ofloxacin (Tarivid), are described. According to DSM-III-R and ICD 10 (draft, 1987) both cases present as different, yet well-defined diagnostic categories: the new diagnostic systems appear to be superior and markedly more differentiated than ICD-9, since they provide a more exact and comprehensive description and more specific diagnostic allocation, especially in substance-specific syndromes. The possible involvement of GABAergic and monaminergic mechanisms in this psychotic symptomatology and their relationship to hypersynchronous states are discussed in detail.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

[Paranoid psychoses in HIV infection].

Paranoid psychosis developed in two homosexual patients (aged 36 and 37 years) three and four years, respectively, after found to have an HIV infection. There was a marked reduction in the T-helper to T-suppressor-cell proportion (0.4 and 0.2). Neither computed tomography nor magnetic resonance imaging, nor microscopic, microbiological and biochemical tests of cerebrospinal fluid demonstrated opportunistic infection of the central nervous system. After treatment with haloperidol (3 mg daily) there was a rapid regression of the psychotic symptoms.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1987

The basement membrane of the persisting maternal blood vessels in the placenta of Callithrix jacchus.

Formation and morphology of the thickened basement membrane-like layer around the persisting maternal vessels of the Callithrix jacchus placenta were investigated from day 45 until term (day 142) using light, electron and immunofluorescence microscopy. Thickening occurs with the establishment of contacts between the vessels and the syncytiotrophoblast (day 48). Final thickness is reached at about day 100. The course of the vessels shows wide gaps where the maternal blood flows freely into the intertrabecular spaces. As revealed by electron microscopy, the extracellular sheath around the maternal vessels consists of an inner subendothelial basement membrane (3-6 microns) and an outer fibril-containing layer (2-4 microns). Cell debris is seen between the two layers and in the basement membrane. Plaques of granular and fine-filamentous material are incorporated into the fibril-containing layer. The synthesis of the basement membrane material is localized in the endothelial cells. Immunofluorescence microscopy reveals collagen types IV and V, laminin and heparan sulfate proteoglycan (BM-1) in the sheath around the persisting vessels. Fibronectin occurs only in certain areas or in the form of dots. Collagen types I and III are not seen in the region of the vascular wall. It can, therefore, be assumed that the subendothelial layer represents a genuine basement membrane; the fibrils consist of collagen type V and the plaques contain fibronectin. The existence of the thick perivascular sheath is attributed to the persistence and stability of the maternal vessels.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Ultrastructure and hydrolase cytochemistry of the developing marmoset yolk sac.

Yolk sacs from Callithrix jacchus were investigated light and electron microscopically as well as by qualitative light microscopic enzyme histochemistry on days 35 to 126 of gestation. The thin yolk sac wall of the early stages (day 35-41) consists of the cuboid, endodermal epithelium, the mesothelium of the exocoelom and some interposed blood vessels. The inner endodermal surface is rather smooth. At later stages, the epithelium becomes highly prismatic and forms folds which are lined by a mesenchyme and blood vessels. Microvilli and a small number of endocytotic vesicles are observed at the apices of the epithelial cells, which are interconnected by gap junctions, desmosomes and interdigitations. The cytoplasm of the epithelial cells is characterized by a well-developed rough endoplasmic reticulum, a large Golgi apparatus and glycogen deposits. Four different membrane-bordered types of inclusions can be distinguished in the cytoplasm of the epithelial cells: The type I and II inclusions are considered as secretion granules. Their increase and their localization in the cavities of the endoplasmic reticulum at later stages are ascribed to an inhibition of the intracellular transport at the onset of involution. The type III and IV inclusions may represent lysosomes and related organelles. Bile capillary-like spaces exist between the epithelial cells. The basement membrane is incomplete below the epithelium and absent around the capillaries, the endothelium of which is porous in certain areas. Aminopeptidase M is highly active in the plasmalemma and the bile capillary-like structures of the epithelium, dipeptidylpeptidase IV in the mesothelium and alkaline phosphatase in the blood vessel endothelium. Other membrane hydrolases are absent. Acid proteases, glycosidases, non-specific phosphatases and non-specific esterases can be detected stage-dependently with moderate to high activities in the yolk sac epithelium. Compared with other organs, the yolk sac structure and hydrolase equipment are similar to those of the liver and may, therefore, have similar functions, e.g. synthesis and secretion of proteins. In addition, however, the yolk sac epithelium might also be involved in resorptive processes of material from the lumen followed by lysosomal digestion. The Callithrix jacchus yolk sac starts involution on day 80 of gestation by disintegration of the cells. On day 100, this process is completed. The stage of involution which is late in comparison with other primates, e.g. man and Rhesus monkey, is ascribed to the strongly delayed development of Callithrix jacchus.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Assessing mood with affect-sensitive tasks.

It is hypothesized that when an individual experiences a change in mood there are concomitant changes in performance at cognitive and psychomotor tasks. The present study attempts to identify tasks which are mood-sensitive. The nature of affect-sensitive tasks will yield information about how mood influences behavior. Further, to the extent that relationships between mood and affect-sensitive tasks are found, clients may be motivated to change their mood by a knowledge of expectable improvements in performance. Ten tasks and a mood-adjective checklist were administered to 106 subjects. Four of the tasks showed statistically significant relationships with self-reported mood. Results were promising for further investigations of affect-sensitive tasks.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1969

Alcohol and recall: state-dependent effects in man.

Male vollunteers performed four memory tasks either while sober or lunder effects of alcohol. Twenty-four hours later they were tested under the same or different conditions. In tasks measuiring recall and interference, learning transfer was better when the subject was intoxicated during both sessions than when he was intoxicated only during the learning session. In a task measuring recognition, transfer was not significantly affected by changing state. Thus, alcohol appears to produce "dissociated" or state-dependent effects in man, but not all forms of memory are equally sensitive to the phenomenon.

Alcoholic Intoxication↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Bilateral optic nerve hypoplasia associated with cerebral atrophy.

We present a series of 12 consecutive cases of optic nerve hypoplasia. Eight of these were unassociated with significant CNS malformations; of these, two had tomographic evidence of cerebral atrophy. This represents the first adequately documented cases of isolated cerebral atrophy associated with optic nerve hypoplasia. We discuss the increasing prevalence and marked variability of optic nerve hypoplasia, note the lack of clear distinction between primary failure of differentiation and secondary degeneration of optic pathways, and mention the inadequacy of the classic explanation of primary failure of ganglion cell development as the cause of hypoplastic nerves. The cause of cerebral atrophy are mentioned, and we hypothesize that the wide range of CNS insults resulting in atrophy may be responsible for a correspondingly wide range of abnormalities of the optic nerves. We speculate that cerebral atrophy may result in an inadequate cortical mass for induction of normal optic nerve growth, possibly by decreased retrograde axoplasmic flow and insufficient nerve growth factor. We encourage a complete neurologic evaluation, including CAT scan of the brain, in children with optic nerve hypoplasia.

Adolescent↗