Biomedical subjects

Edmond Sabo

Publications and source records attributed to Edmond Sabo.

65 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

PubMed2002

Von Willebrand factor in plasma and in liver tissue after partial hepatectomy in the rat.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Von Willebrand factor (vWf) is found in high levels in plasma of patients with acute and chronic liver disease. The role of vWf in liver injury and repair is unknown. We studied the effect of liver mass and remodeling on plasma and tissue vWf after partial hepatectomy. METHODS: Rats were sacrificed postoperatively at intervals ranging from 60 min to 5 days, and vWf plasma levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, using rabbit anti-human vWf, and by immunoperoxidase on cryosections, using rabbit anti-vWf/factor VIII. Northern blot hybridization was prepared with a complementary DNA specific to human vWf. RESULTS: vWf plasma levels increased early after sham operation and after 70% partial hepatectomy. The highest levels were reached at 24 h, remaining high for 5 days. Immunostaining showed intense staining of sinusoidal lining cells 4 h after partial hepatectomy, remaining so for 5 days. Non-significant changes in overall liver messenger RNA expression of vWf were seen over 5 days in sham operation and partial hepatectomy. CONCLUSIONS: After partial hepatectomy, plasma vWf is increased, probably due to both acute-phase reaction and decreased degradation. An increase in sinusoidal vWf immunostaining may suggest a role for this factor in tissue remodeling.

Animals↗

PubMed2002

Expression of the histiocytic marker PG-M1 in granuloma annulare and rheumatoid nodules of the skin.

BACKGROUND: The expression of PG-M1, the most specific histiocytic marker, has not yet been studied in granuloma annulare (GA) and other palisaded granulomas of the skin. We evaluated the reactivity of PG-M1 with a series of GA and rheumatoid nodules (RN) to establish the sensitivity and potential usefulness of this marker in the diagnosis and characterization of these entities. METHODS: Histological sections from 30 GA and 15 RN were immunostained with PG-M1. For comparison, additional sections were stained with KP-1 and lysozyme. The stains were recorded as negative, weakly positive (1+) and strongly positive (2+). RESULTS: PG-M1 stained all cases of GA (100%). KP-1 and lysozyme stained 26 (86%) and 18 (60%) GA cases, respectively. PG-M1 exhibited a significantly stronger staining intensity (1.8 +/- 0.07) when compared with KP-1 (1.4 +/- 0.13) (p = 0.018) and with lysozyme (0.9 +/- 0.15) (p < 0.0001). All RN were stained by PG-M1 (100%). KP-1 and lysozyme stained 14 (93%) and six (40%) RN cases, respectively. PG-M1 staining intensity (1.6 +/- 0.13) was slightly higher than that of KP-1 (1.4 +/- 0.18) (p = 0.27) and significantly higher than that of lysozyme (0.4 +/- 0.13) (p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: PG-M1 is consistently and strongly expressed by the histiocytic population of GA and RN, being more sensitive and reliable than other histiocytic markers. We recommend its use in difficult cases in which the histiocytic nature of the lesion needs to be confirmed.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗

PubMed2002

Effect of ilioinguinal nerve block on the catecholamine plasma levels in orchidopexy: comparison with caudal epidural block.

BACKGROUND: Both caudal epidural and ilioinguinal/iliohypogastric nerve blocks have been used to provide effective intra- and postoperative analgesia. Stress response hormone levels can be used as an objective method to assess the analgesic efficacy of the anaesthetic techniques used in infraumbilical surgery in children. In this study, we compared catecholamine blood levels in children undergoing these two different supplementary analgesic/anaesthetic techniques. METHODS: Thirty male paediatric patients undergoing orchidopexy, ASA I, received inhalation general anaesthesia, and were randomly allocated to one of two groups: a caudal group (n = 15) and an ilioinguinal/iliohypogastric nerve block group (n = 15). Plasma epinephrine and norepinephrine concentrations were measured at the induction time, at the end of surgery, and in the postanaesthesia care unit. Postoperative pain score was also assessed in the postanaesthesia care unit. RESULTS: In both groups, there was a substantial decrease in the catecholamine blood levels; however, there were significantly higher levels of epinephrine in the ilioinguinal group at the end of surgery (P = 0.008) and in the recovery room (P = 0.02) and a significant higher level of norpinephrine in the recovery room (P = 0.008). CONCLUSIONS: The result of this study revealed that caudal epidural block was more effective than ilioinguinal block in suppressing the stress response as reflected in epinephrine and norepinephrine blood levels in orchidopexy patients.

Anesthesia, Caudal↗

PubMed2002

Hemodynamics instability score in chronic fatigue syndrome and in non-chronic fatigue syndrome.

OBJECTIVE: In studying patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) we developed a method that confers numerical expression to the degree of blood pressure and heart rate lability, ie, the 'hemodynamic instability score' (HIS). The HIS in CFS patients differed significantly from healthy subjects. The present investigation compares the HIS in CFS, non-CFS chronic fatigue and patients with recurrent syncope. METHODS: Patients with CFS (n = 21), non-CFS chronic fatigue (n = 24), syncope of unknown cause (n = 44), and their age and sex-matched healthy controls (n = 21) were evaluated with a standardized head-up tilt test (HUTT). Abnormal reactions (endpoints) on HUTT were classified 'clinical outcomes' (cardioinhibitory or vasodepressor reaction, orthostatic hypotension, postural tachycardia syndrome) and 'HIS endpoint', i.e. HIS >-0.98. RESULTS: The highest incidence of endpoints was noted in patients with CFS (79%), followed by patients with syncope of unknown cause (46%), non-CFS chronic fatigue (35%), and healthy subjects (14%). Presyncope or syncope during tilt occurred in 38% of CFS patients, 21% of patients with non-CFS chronic fatigue, and 43% of patients with recurrent syncope. The average HIS values were: CFS = +2.02 (SD 4.07), non-CFS chronic fatigue = -2.89 (SD 3.64), syncope = -3.2 (SD 3.0), healthy = -2.48 (4.07). The odds ratios for CFS patients to have HIS >-0.98 was 8.8 compared with non-CFS chronic fatigue patients, 14.6 compared with recurrent syncope patients, and 34.8 compared with healthy subjects. CONCLUSION: The cardiovascular reactivity in patients with CFS has certain features in common with the reactivity in patients with recurrent syncope or non-CFS chronic fatigue, such as the frequent occurrence of vasodepressor reaction, cardioinhibitory reaction, and postural tachycardia syndrome. Apart from to these shared responses, the large majority of CFS patients exhibit a particular abnormality which is characterized by HIS values >-0.98. Thus, HIS >-0.98 lends objective criteria to the assessment of CFS.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

The prognostic significance of the semiquantitatively determined estrogen receptor content of breast carcinomas. A clinicopathological study.

Response of breast carcinomas to tamoxifen treatment depends, among others, on the estrogen receptor status. The estrogen receptor content was semiquantitatively determined in immunostained sections of stage 1 and 2 cancers of patients who had undergone tumor excision, tamoxifen treatment, adjuvant chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Weighted scores of the estrogen receptor content of the tumors were established by calculating the arithmetic means of the intensity of stained nuclei and the number of positively stained nuclei. Statistically, a cut-off value of > or = 2.1 signified a good prognosis; all patients whose tumors disclosed a weighted score of > or = 2.1 were alive and free of disease at the 10-year postoperative follow-up examination. On the other hand, one third of the patients whose carcinomas had a weighted score of < 2.1 presented with locally recurrent cancer, distant metastases, or both during the follow-up observation period. The statistically significant association between the patients' 10-year event-free survival and carcinomas with a weighted score of > or = 2.1 may serve oncologists in their decision making with respect to hormonal treatment.

Aged↗

PubMed2002

Defatted avocado pulp reduces body weight and total hepatic fat but increases plasma cholesterol in male rats fed diets with cholesterol.

The potential use of avocado as a fiber source was evaluated. The total dietary fiber content of fresh avocado fruit of the Ettinger variety was 5.2 g/100 g. Approximately 75% was insoluble, and 25% soluble. The water-holding capacity of dry defatted avocado pulp was similar to that of cellulose, and trypsin inhibitors were not detected. The dietary and metabolic consequences of the avocado pulp were studied in male rats fed normal and hypercholesterolemic diets. Rats consumed semipurified diets containing either avocado pulp as the dietary fiber source or cellulose (control) with or without 10 g/kg cholesterol and 5 g/kg cholic acid. Food consumption and body weight gain were lower in rats fed avocado compared with those fed cellulose. Relative cecum weight was higher in avocado-fed rats. Plasma and hepatic cholesterol levels did not differ in rats fed diets without cholesterol, but plasma cholesterol was greater in avocado-fed than in cellulose-fed rats that consumed cholesterol. Regardless of dietary cholesterol, hepatic total fat levels, as evaluated histologically, but not directly, were lower in avocado-fed rats. These data suggest the presence of an appetite depressant in avocado and that avocado pulp interferes with hepatic fat metabolism.

Animals↗

PubMed2002

Cardiovascular autonomic dysfunction in familial Mediterranean fever.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the hemodynamic responses to autonomic challenge evoked by upright tilt table testing in patients with familial Mediterranean fever (FMF). METHODS: Forty consecutive patients with FMF and 25 age and sex matched healthy controls were evaluated using the head-up tilt test (HUTT). The main outcome measures were the values of blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) recorded during recumbence and tilt. The endpoints of vasodepressor and cardioinhibitory reactions, orthostatic tachycardia, and postural tachycardia syndrome were recorded. RESULTS: Patients with FMF exhibited significantly higher diastolic BP during supine and tilt measurements (p = 0.003 and 0.04, respectively). In response to tilt, patients showed significant increases in HR compared to healthy subjects (p = 0.02). Pathological endpoints on tilt were observed in the FMF group in 7 patients (17%) and in no controls. FMF severity, genotype, duration of illness, response to therapy, and associated amyloidosis did not correlate with pathological reactions on HUTT. CONCLUSION: FMF patients exhibit an abnormal cardiovascular reactivity, which is clinically occult, but can be detected on autonomic challenge. The abnormal autonomic activity in FMF is similar to dysautonomia described in a variety of rheumatic disorders.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2002

Vertigo as a prognostic sign in sudden sensorineural hearing loss.

Several prognostic indicators of favorable outcome in idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSHL) have been proposed: an initial profound hearing loss, a down-sloping audiometric curve, advanced age, and the presence of vertigo. The latter has been disputed in the literature. The present study addressed the correlation between vertigo and outcome of ISSHL. Sixty-seven patients with ISSHL, aged 52 years on average, were treated with tapered doses of oral prednisone and complete bed rest. Factors found to have a statistically significant prognostic value as indicators of outcome in ISSHL were tinnitus on admission (positive indicator, p < .041) and a descending type of audiometric curve (negative indicator, p < .009). The presence of vertigo was also found to be significantly correlated with the lack of improvement in hearing, but only at the 8-kHz frequency. Dizziness was reported by 27% of the patients. The correlation between the presence of vertigo and persistent high-frequency ISSHL may be explained by the anatomic contiguity of the basal turn of cochlea and the vestibule.

Adult↗

PubMed2001

Conversion of laparoscopic cholecystectomy to open cholecystectomy in acute cholecystitis: artificial neural networks improve the prediction of conversion.

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is now also performed for acute cholecystitis. In the presence of inflammatory conditions, technical difficulties leading to conversion to open cholecystectomy may occur and overshadow the advantages of the laparoscopic approach. Factors associated with these undue events combined with techniques capable of learning from them may help in determining when to completely avoid the laparoscopic procedure. In this study we determined predictors of conversion in acute cholecystitis and tested their predictive ability by means of statistical multivariate analysis and artificial neural networks. Between January 1994 and February 1997, 225 patients underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy for acute cholecystitis. Preoperative and operative data were prospectively collected on standardized forms. The first 180 laparoscopically approached cases entered the training set, which was learned by both the statistical and the artificial neural networks methods. Conversion was first studied in relation to a set of preoperative data. Prediction models were then fitted by both of these methods. The last 45 operated cases, which remained unknown to the learning systems, served for testing the fitted models. The forward stepwise logistic regression technique, the forward stepwise linear discriminant analysis, and the artificial neural networks method enabled positive prediction of conversion in 0%, 27%, and 100% of the cases, and a negative prediction in 80%, 85.5%, and 97% respectively, in the training set. A positive prediction of conversion in 0%, 25%, and 67% of the cases, and a negative prediction in 82%, 88%, and 94%, respectively, in the untrained, validation set of patients. An artificial neural networks based model provides a practical tool for the prediction of successful laparoscopic cholecystectomies and their conversion. The high degree of certainty of prediction in untrained cases reveals its potential, and justifies, under appropriate conditions, the complete avoidance of laparoscopy and turning directly to open cholecystectomy.

Acute Disease↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Increased renal hypertrophy in diabetic mice genetically modified at the haptoglobin locus.

BACKGROUND: The human haptoglobin (Hp) gene is polymorphic with two functional classes of alleles, denoted 1 and 2. We have demonstrated in three longitudinal studies and several cross-sectional studies that the Hp genotype is an independent risk factor for diabetic vascular disease. These studies have presented a compelling argument that diabetic individuals homozygous for the Hp 1 allele are at decreased risk of vascular complications as compared to diabetic individuals with the Hp 2 allele. METHODS: The naturally occurring (wild type) mouse Hp is a class 1 Hp allele. We examined renal hypertrophy in wild-type mice, Hp knockout mice (Hp 0), and in mice with the Hp 2 allele (Hp 2) with and without diabetes. RESULTS: In the absence of diabetes, we found that renal hypertrophy was significantly increased in Hp 0 mice and that this could be prevented with vitamin E. There was no difference between wild type and Hp 2 mice with regard to renal hypertrophy in the absence of diabetes. However, in the presence of diabetes, Hp 2 mice demonstrated a significant increase in renal hypertrophy as compared to wild-type mice. CONCLUSIONS: These results support a direct linkage between diabetic vascular disease and the Hp genotype. These Hp-modified mice may serve as a platform on which to test a variety of pharmacological agents in order to decrease diabetic vascular disease.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Increase in the incidence of peritoneal collagen balls over a 10-year period.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the detection of collagen balls in peritoneal washings over a 10-year period, revealing an unexpected and unexplained higher incidence than in the past. STUDY DESIGN: Reports of routinely processed, Papanicolaou-stained smears and cytospins and hematoxylineosin-stained cell blocks from peritoneal washes and ascitic fluids seen over an 8-year period (1995-2002) were reviewed, and the percentage of specimens in which collagen balls were noted was determined. To rule out a learning curve phenomenon, the first 100 consecutive peritoneal washings and ascitic specimens from years 1993-2001 plus 2002 were rescreened, and the percentage of specimens containing collagen balls was determined. RESULTS: The percentages of cases with collagen balls increased steadily beginning with 8 of 467 cases (3.2%) in 1995 to 185 of 650 (28.5%) in 2002, as reported in the case records. Rescreened cases also showed a similar increase, 4.0% in 1993 to 29% in 2002. No procedural modifications were made in specimen processing during this interval, nor are we aware of any procedural change in obtaining cytologic samples. CONCLUSION: An unexplained 7-fold increase in the percentage of peritoneal samples with collagen balls occurred over a 10-year period. This increase cannot be attributed to changes in specimen handling or to a learning curve phenomenon. This finding is of unknown significance and may warrant further investigation.

Ascitic Fluid↗