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Biomedical subjects

Douglas Gray

Publications and source records attributed to Douglas Gray.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Neonatal tamoxifen treatment of mice leads to adenomyosis but not uterine cancer.

Tamoxifen is contraindicated during pregnancy but many births have been reported in breast cancer patients taking this drug and numbers might be expected to increase with FDA approval of tamoxifen for risk reduction in women at high, risk of breast cancer. The neonatal mouse, exquisitely sensitive to xenobiotic estrogens, has been used to investigate the effects of short-term oral dosing with tamoxifen (1 mg/kg on days 2-5 after birth) on long-term changes in uterine pathology and gene expression. Increased adenomyosis incidence and severity was evident in the tamoxifen-treated mice with increasing age. Uterine weights in treated mice remained lower than the corresponding controls up until 9 months, after which they became greater but during life-time studies (up to 36 months), there was no development of uterine tumours. Pathological examination of uterine tissues showed there to be extensive down-growth of endometrial glands and stroma into thickened, abnormal myometrium that had disorganised fascicles of smooth muscle and increased interstitial collagen deposition. In advanced cases, the endometrial epithelium showed mild degrees of focal hyperplasia and squamous metaplasia but no atypical cytology suggestive of premalignant change. Microarray analysis of uterine RNA taken at 1.5, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months showed from 4500 ESTs, only 12 genes were continuously over-expressed by tamoxifen treatment over this time, while none was continuously down-regulated. Up-regulated genes include those for nerve growth factor (Ngfa), cathepsin B (Ctsb), transforming growth factor beta induced (Tqfbi) and collagens (Colla1, Colla2). Results provide a basis for understanding the mechanism for tamoxifen induced tissue remodelling and the development of adenomyosis.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Preliminary findings of noncompliance with psychotropic medication and prevalence of methamphetamine intoxication associated with suicide completion.

OBJECTIVE: A study of medical examiner records from suicide completers was designed to identify potential precipitating factors in the decision to commit suicide. METHODS: Forensic data has been collected for a subset of suicide victims in Utah who completed suicide between 1996 and 2002. RESULTS: Youth suicide completers appear to be undiagnosed for mental illness, or to be noncompliant with psychotropic medications. Along with treatment issues, alcohol and methamphetamine were the most common substances found in the blood and/or urine of suicide completers. CONCLUSIONS: Accurate diagnosis of mental illness, and improved compliance with psychotropic medications may play a critical role in suicide prevention. The prevalence of methamphetamine in suicide completers is unexpectedly high and requires further investigation.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

First ever admission to medium security.

This paper describes the characteristics of a group of patients admitted to a Medium Security Unit over the course of a ten-year period who had never previously had any form of psychiatric inpatient care. We used a computerised data base to gain detailed information. The control group was made up of patients admitted to the same hospital over the study period who had been psychiatric inpatients before but not in medium secure conditions. We found that the patients from the first ever admission group were generally older and that the numbers had increased over the ten-year period. Their average length of stay was shorter. The most common diagnosis for all patients was schizophrenia. The findings suggest that there is a place for secure provision in the treatment of first episode psychosis, especially if the initial contact is through a penal institution.

Adult↗