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Biomedical subjects

E Somekh

Publications and source records attributed to E Somekh.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1998

High rate of asthma among immigrants.

Articles dealing with the epidemiological aspects of asthma were carefully reviewed in order to support or reject our clinical impression of increased rate of asthma among immigrants. Particular emphasis was put on data on very high or very low rates of asthma. The proposed theories to explain these differences were critically examined. The prevalence of asthma in China and in Africa is 1-2% and 0.5-5%, respectively. The prevalence of the disease in other indigenous populations ranges between 0.5% and 12%. On the other hand, asthma is much more frequently seen in Australia and in New Zealand (approximately 20-25%), where peoples' ancestors immigrated from distant areas. Statistical meta-analysis found a significant difference between the rates of asthma in the two groups of populations (P < 0.001). Immunoglobulin E levels of immigrants in Sweden are higher than those of native Swedes. Similarly, cord blood immunoglobulin E concentrations are more elevated in neonates whose mothers emigrated to Germany from Eastern countries than in those of native German mothers. There is an increased rate of IgE-mediated asthma among immigrant populations.

Asthma↗
PubMed1996

Penetration and bactericidal activity of cefixime in synovial fluid.

The penetration of oral cefixime into the synovial fluids of 16 patients (mean age, 50.6 years) who underwent joint taps for rheumatic noninfectious disorders was examined. The patients were each given a single dose (400 mg) 2 to 24 h prior to the tap. Cefixime concentrations in serum and joint fluid samples were measured by high-performance liquid chromatography, and the bactericidal activities of these fluids against three isolates each of Haemophilus influenzae and Escherichia coli were examined. The highest concentrations in serum and synovial fluid were achieved 4 h following drug intake, the mean values being 2.8 and 2.03 micrograms/ml, respectively. Effective bactericidal activities (bactericidal titer, > 1:2) against E. coli and H. influenzae were demonstrated in serum and joint fluid up to 10 h following oral intake of cefixime. These results suggest that cefixime penetrates well into joint fluid, achieving levels above the MIC for E. coli lasting as long as 10 h and levels above the MIC for H. influenzae lasting up to 24 h after administration. Good bactericidal activity against susceptible bacterial isolates was observed for at least 10 h after dosing.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Air enema for reduction of intussusception in children: risk of bacteremia.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the incidence of bacteremia in children undergoing air enema for the diagnosis and reduction of intussusception. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-seven children who underwent air enema for the diagnosis and treatment of intussusception were evaluated to identify the incidence of transient bacteremia and fever associated with the procedure. Blood cultures were obtained prior to the manipulation (point 0), immediately after completion of the procedure (point 1), and 2 hours later (point 2). RESULTS: The results of six of 81 sets of blood cultures were positive for bacterial pathogens. Three of them that were obtained at point 0 and two at point 1 grew common skin contaminants. A sixth blood culture drawn at point 1 was positive for Staphylococcus aureus. No patient had more than one positive blood culture result, and all recovered without antimicrobial therapy. Five patients had temperature elevations to > or = 38 degrees C following the enema. Only one of the patients was febrile at admission, and none had positive blood culture results. CONCLUSION: The risk of bacteremia from enteric pathogens following air enema for reduction of intussusception in children appears to be low.

Air↗
PubMed1994

Postappendectomy intra-abdominal abscess: a therapeutic approach.

Four hundred and sixty two children were operated on between January 1989 and June 1993 for acute appendicitis; 10 developed an intra-abdominal abscess. Intra-abdominal abscesses were accompanied by fever above 38 degrees C (nine out of 10 patients) and leucocytosis (mean leucocyte count 20.3 x 10(9)/l) and were detected sonographically four to 14 days after operation. Management included intravenous administration of antibiotics effective against both aerobes and anaerobes, and follow up with serial sonographic studies. Eight patients responded favourably to antibiotic treatment without any drainage procedure, with gradual shrinkage and collapse of abscesses. Two patients, in whom enlargement of collection was demonstrated on serial sonographic examination, eventually underwent percutaneous drainage under sonographic control. These results suggest that some paediatric patients with an intra-abdominal abscess after appendicectomy and who are followed up closely by sonography may be managed successfully with appropriate antibiotics alone.

Abdomen↗
PubMed1993

Infection of human fetal dorsal root neurons with wild type varicella virus and the Oka strain varicella vaccine.

The relative ability of a varicella-zoster virus (VZV) clinical isolate and a live attenuated VZV vaccine strain (Oka) to infect human neurons was determined in vitro. VZV infection of neurons prepared in culture from dorsal root ganglia of fetuses was assessed using an infectious center assay. Cultures were infected with 50-5,000 pfu of either VZV and assayed at either 24 or 48 hours post-VZV infection. Cultures infected with the clinical VZV isolate had seven-fold more infected neurons than cultures infected with the vaccine strain VZV.

Cells, Cultured↗
PubMed1992

Latency in vitro of varicella-zoster virus in cells derived from human fetal dorsal root ganglia.

A potential in vitro model of varicella-zoster virus (VZV) latency was developed. Dissociated human dorsal root ganglion cultures were infected with VZV and maintained for 1 wk in the presence of bromovinyl arabinosyl uracil, a potent inhibitor of VZV. Seven to 21 d after removing the inhibitor (> or = 14 d after infection), the cells were trypsinized, passed to monolayers of human embryonic lung fibroblasts, and observed for VZV reactivation as indicated by typical cytopathic effects and the appearance of VZV antigens. VZV reactivated from 56% of the cultures containing both neurons and satellite cells but not from cultures specifically enriched for either neurons, satellite cells, or ganglion-derived fibroblasts. The failure to isolate VZV from cell suspensions that were sonicated before cocultivation with fibroblasts indicated that infectious VZV was not present before reactivation. Moreover, immunohistochemical and immunoprecipitation studies revealed no VZV-specific antigens in any cultures before the reactivation stimulus. VZV antigens were detected after trypsinization and cocultivation. These findings suggest that cultures containing both neurons and satellite cells provide a model system for VZV persistence that possesses many properties of a latent infection.

Cells, Cultured↗
PubMed1989

The effect of ciprofloxacin and pefloxacin on bone marrow engraftment in the spleen of mice.

In order to investigate the in-vivo effect of ciprofloxacin and pefloxacin on bone marrow engraftment in mice, irradiated mice were transplanted with bone marrow graft (5 x 10(5) cells/mouse) obtained from syngeneic mice. Three groups of mice (30 mice in each) received a bone marrow graft incubated for 1 h with ciprofloxacin at concentrations of 0.5, 5 and 50 mg/l. Six additional groups (30 mice in each) were treated twice daily after transplantation with intra-peritoneal injections of ciprofloxacin in dosages of 25, 50 and 100 mg/kg/24 h or pefloxacin in dosages of 10 and 100 mg/kg/24 h. Evaluation of bone marrow engraftment was performed in animals injected with I125 Iodo-deoxyuridine (0.5 mu Ci/mouse) by radioactive counting of the entire spleen and also by counting visible colonies on the spleen surface. The results of this study demonstrate a statistically significant depression of bone marrow graft uptake (P less than 0.05, student t-test) in mice treated twice daily with ciprofloxacin in dosage of 100 mg/kg/24 h, a concentration far beyond the therapeutic range.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

The lack of long-term suppressive effect of ciprofloxacin on murine bone marrow.

In order to investigate the long-term effect of therapy with ciprofloxacin on haemopoietic cells, we administered ciprofloxacin orally in a daily dosage of 150 mg/kg/day in three divided doses for 11 days to syngeneic mice. A control group of mice was treated with saline. On the second, sixth, tenth and sixteenth day of ciprofloxacin therapy complete blood counts (cbc) and determination of haemopoietic progenitor cells (cfu-gm) from the tibial and femoral bone marrow were performed and followed by the transplantation of the bone marrow into lethally irradiated syngeneic mice. Bone marrow engraftment was evaluated ten days following transplantation by counting the visible colonies formed on the spleen surface (cfu-s) and by measuring the incorporation of 125I by the spleen and by the femurs of the transplanted mice. The results revealed that there was no statistical significance between the control and the ciprofloxacin treated mice in cbc, cfu-gm and cfu-s parameters. It is concluded that the suppressive effect of ciprofloxacin on haemopoietic cells appears only with very high concentrations of ciprofloxacin and is short-term and reversible.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

In vitro effects of ciprofloxacin and pefloxacin on growth of normal human hematopoietic progenitor cells and on leukemic cell lines.

The in vitro effect of ciprofloxacin and pefloxacin on growth of normal hematopoietic progenitor cells and on leukemic cell lines was investigated. Ciprofloxacin and pefloxacin caused dose-dependent inhibition of colony formation both from normal bone marrow cells and from the leukemic line K-562 cells. This inhibition exerted by ciprofloxacin and pefloxacin was statistically significant at concentrations of 25 micrograms/ml and above. Ciprofloxacin appeared to be the most potent inhibitor of colony formation among the antimicrobial agents tested. Although the inhibitory effect of pefloxacin on normal hematopoietic stem cells was similar to that of cefazolin and chloramphenicol, the inhibitory effect of pefloxacin on leukemic cells was more prominent than that of cefazolin and chloramphenicol. In a proliferation assay in liquid culture of the cell line HL-60, ciprofloxacin and pefloxacin caused a dose-dependent inhibition of cell proliferation. Both drugs failed to induce cellular differentiation, as assessed by the nitrogen blue tetrazolium dye reduction assay. In therapeutic concentrations no cumulative toxic effect of the combination of ciprofloxacin with cytosine-arabinoside, vincristine, actinomycin D and doxorubicin on colony formation by HL-60 cells was observed. It is concluded that ciprofloxacin does not exert in vitro inhibitory effect on human leukemic cells when assayed at concentrations of less than or equal to 5 micrograms/ml. However, at concentrations of 25 and 50 micrograms/ml of ciprofloxacin alone and in combination with several antineoplastic agents exerts an inhibitory effect on colony formation.

Cell Division↗
PubMed1988

The admission cardiorespiratory performance in relation to outcome in pediatric ICU patients.

We tested the hypothesis that the admission cardiorespiratory performance determines the outcome in pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) patients. We studied 331 patients who were assigned to one of the three commonly encountered PICU clinical entities: respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease and head trauma. All patients were evaluated by a simple cardiorespiratory scoring system which we named "Rule of 60" (RO60), and their highest score within the first 24 h of arrival in the PICU was used for the study. This scoring system includes 6 cardiorespiratory parameters where a value of 60 represents a cut-off point above or below which 0 points (low risk) or 10 points (high risk) are assigned. The relationship between score and mortality rate revealed that the higher the score the higher is the mortality rate. We determined two categories of severity of illness in our patients. Patients at severity level A had scores ranging from 0 through 30 and the mortality rate in this category ranged from 2% to 5%. Patients at severity level B had scores ranging from 40 through 60 and had a higher mortality rate: 30% to 80%. The overall mortality rates for patients at severity level A and B were 2% and 54% respectively. Patients with respiratory disease at severity level B had the lowest mortality rate (20%), whereas patients with cardiovascular disease and head trauma had mortality rates of 52% and 80% respectively. We found that our cardiorespiratory scoring system was as good as the Glasgow Coma Scale for indicating prognosis and outcome in head trauma patients.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

Pediatric cardiopulmonary resuscitation outcome.

In order to identify factors that influence the outcome from cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in children, we studied 69 children (mean age 2.5 +/- 0.4 years) who were apneic and pulseless prior to resuscitation, and treated in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) following CPR. Immediate success (restoration of spontaneous circulation and normal sinus rhythm) was noted in 54 (78%) patients. Forty-one (59%) were short-term survivors (greater than 24 h), and ten (14.5%) became long-term survivors (five recovered well, three moderately disabled, and two severely disabled). Fifty-nine (85%) died. Outcome was positively influenced by: 1) CPR duration; when less than five min., 54% were long-term survivors compared to 5% of patients resuscitated for more than five min (p less than 0.001). 2) Number of epinephrine doses: 38% of 24 patients receiving one dose became long-term survivors versus 0% of 26 receiving more than one dose (p less than 0.001). 3) Location of arrest; Fifty percent of patients resuscitated in the operation suite or catherization laboratory survived long-term compared to only 8% resuscitated in the PICU (p less than 0.03). Age, sex, cardiac rhythm, as well as metabolic and acid-base variables during resuscitation, did not significantly affect the outcome. Overall good neurologic survival was rare.

Acid-Base Imbalance↗
PubMed1988

Diabetes insipidus in severely brain damaged children.

Nineteen children aged four months to 15 years with diabetes insipidus (DI) secondary to severe brain insults were studied. The main primary brain insult was severe head injury in 12, anoxic ischemic brain damage in four, encephalitis in two, Reye's syndrome in one. Sixteen children died, and three survived. The time from insult to onset of polyuria varied from several hours to one month, and was significantly shorter in head trauma patients, 1.8 +/- 0.9 vs. 9.3 +/- 1.9 days for patients with anoxic ischemic brain damage (p less than 0.03). Twelve of the 19 patients met the criteria for brain death at onset of DI. Treatment by appropriate fluids and vasopressin resulted in resolution of polyuria and increase in urine osmolality. Ten patients developed DI while being treated with dopamine for hemodynamic support. In two of these patients, the cessation of dopamine was time-related to the resolution of DI. Our results indicate that as many as 15% of children with DI (with 95% confidence) following severe brain injury may survive. Hence, despite the overall poor prognosis, its occurrence does not necessarily indicate brain death.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

Inheritance of familial primary endocardial fibroelastosis.

Two related families with 15 children, seven of whom developed endocardial fibroelastosis (EFE) are described. Three of the children died during infancy, and the disease was confirmed in one of them at autopsy. The survivors, two sisters age 5 years and 15 months (Family A) and two sisters age 17 and 14 years (Family B), are now symptomless and show a decrease in left ventricular hypertrophy. The mode of inheritance of EFE in our two families appears to be either autosomal or X-linked dominant with reduced penetrance.

Carnitine↗