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Biomedical subjects

D Metzger

Publications and source records attributed to D Metzger.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1991

Risk factors for needle sharing among methadone-treated patients.

OBJECTIVE: This paper examines the sociodemographic and psychiatric characteristics of patients taking methadone who continue to share needles. METHOD: Three hundred twenty-three patients were recruited from four methadone programs. Data were collected by using questionnaires and interviews. Psychiatric symptoms were measured with the SCL-90, the Beck Depression Inventory, and the Addiction Severity Index. RESULTS: Twenty percent of these subjects reported sharing needles within the previous 6 months. Those who shared reported greater difficulty in acquiring new needles, more legal difficulties, more severe drug problems, and higher levels of psychiatric symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that patients who continue to share needles are a more disturbed subgroup of the methadone maintenance population. Efforts designed to reduce needle sharing may need to be more sharply focused on patients who are at greatest risk of infection, and these patients may require more intensive psychiatric services.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1990

The lack of transcriptional activation of the v-erbA oncogene is in part due to a mutation present in the DNA binding domain of the protein.

Using a transient co-transfection system we have demonstrated that response elements for estrogen (ER), thyroid hormone (TR) and retinoic acid receptors (RAR) are closely related. Thyroid hormone-induced activation of transcription was observed in CV1 cells and not in HeLa cells, suggesting the existence of cell-specific transcription factors necessary for the response. By contrast to its cellular counterpart (c-erbA/cTR alpha) the oncogene protein gag v-erbA is unable to activate gene transcription from different response elements derived from the rat growth hormone (rGH) gene promoter. A chimeric construct consisting of the ER in which the DNA binding domain has been replaced by that of cTR alpha was able to stimulate the reporter gene. In contrast, a construct in which ER DNA binding domain has been replaced by that of gag v-erbA did not activate gene transcription. These results lead us to the conclusion that the mutated DNA binding domain of v-erbA is in part responsible for the lack of transcriptional activation and in repression of gene expression. This is due in large part to the Gly73----Ser mutation which corresponds to the position of one of the three discriminating amino acids that are thought to interact with a specific base of the response element.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1990

Role of the two activating domains of the oestrogen receptor in the cell-type and promoter-context dependent agonistic activity of the anti-oestrogen 4-hydroxytamoxifen.

Various oestrogen responsive reporter genes and vectors expressing truncated or chimeric human oestrogen receptors (hER) containing either of the two independent hER transcriptional activation functions (TAF-1 and TAF-2) have been transfected into HeLa cells, chicken embryo fibroblast (CEF) or yeast cells to investigate the agonistic activity of the anti-oestrogen 4-hydroxytamoxifen (OHT). We demonstrate that the agonistic effect of OHT on the whole hER is due to the cell-type and promoter-context dependent activity of TAF-1. In similar experiments, we show that the anti-oestrogen, ICI 164,384, does not exhibit any oestrogenic activity and, therefore, acts always as a pure antagonist, even though it does not inhibit the activity of the isolated TAF-1. We also confirm that the wild type human oestrogen receptor has no ligand independent transcriptional activity. The implications of our results for the variable antagonist/agonist activity of anti-oestrogens in vivo are discussed.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Microinjection of anti-vasopressin serum into hippocampus in mice: effects on appetitively reinforced task after intraventricular administration of Arg-vasopressin.

Antiserum to [Arg8]vasopressin (anti-AVP) was bilaterally administered into dorsal hippocampus at 1:50 or 1:10 dilution 20 min before the 24-day retention session of a visual discrimination task. This treatment by itself did not affect the retention performance by comparison with the respective control group, whatever the dilution of anti-AVP, suggesting that hippocampal endogenous AVP is not involved in our behavioral paradigm. On the other hand, intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) administration of AVP 10 min before the retention session improved retention performance of the visual discrimination task. When anti-AVP was injected at the 1:10 dilution into the dorsal hippocampus 10 min before the i.c.v. administration of AVP, the retention performance was not improved. These data suggest the involvement of the hippocampus in the behavioral expression of AVP following an i.c.v. treatment.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Facilitation of retention performance in mice by pretest microinjection of AVP into dorsal or ventral hippocampus: differential influence of the peptide on appetitive task.

Pre-test local microinjection of arginine-vasopressin (AVP) into dorsal or ventral hippocampus resulted in an improvement of retention performance in an appetitively motivated task. Nevertheless, a better improvement appeared when AVP treatment was performed into ventral hippocampus suggesting a higher sensitivity of this part of hippocampus to the action of AVP. To examine a non-specific behavioral action of the peptide, the effect of AVP treatment on locomotor activity was assessed. When the treatment was given into ventral hippocampus, a reduction of locomotor activity was recorded, whereas after AVP injection into dorsal hippocampus, the peptide failed to alter locomotor activity.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

The cloned human oestrogen receptor contains a mutation which alters its hormone binding properties.

We demonstrate here that the human oestrogen receptor (hER) cDNA clone pOR8 obtained from MCF-7 cells contains an artefactual point mutation which results in the substitution of a valine for a glycine at amino acid position 400 (Gly-400----Val-400). This mutation in the hormone binding domain of the cloned hER destabilizes its structure and decreases its apparent affinity for oestradiol at 25 degrees C, but not at 4 degrees C, when compared with the wild-type hER with a Gly-400.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1984

Anti-immunoglobulin antibodies IV. Cross-reaction of anti-idiotypic antibodies specific for rabbit and murine anti-a1 allotype antibodies with Fc fragment of human immunoglobulins.

Anti-idiotype (Id) antibodies against anti-a1 rabbit allotype antibodies were produced in rabbits and mice by immunization with polyclonal rabbit anti-a1 allotype or with a monoclonal murine anti-a1 allotype antibody, respectively. These antibodies recognize an interspecies cross-reactive idiotope on anti-a1 allotype antibodies. However, these anti-Id antibodies also react with various subclasses of human IgG. In multiple systems, it was shown that these anti-Id antibodies interact with the Fc fragment of human IgG and, therefore, exhibit a rheumatoid factor-like activity. These results support the hypothesis that gamma-globulin may not be the only stimulus to clones producing rheumatoid factors and that perhaps other antibodies, especially anti-Id antibodies, also bind gamma-globulin secondarily.

Animals↗
PubMed1976

It is always the woman who is raped.

Rape is described as an act of power that is sanctioned by literature, myth, and culture. Rape is a dire experience for women because it implies total loss of self--the woman is a function, not a person. The victim experiences total emptiness and isolation from self and society. The author believes that an effective "treatment" for the rape victim is community. Women asserting themselves by speaking out about their experience validate themselves as persons.

Culture↗