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Biomedical subjects

F Bosch

Publications and source records attributed to F Bosch.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources

[The Prevalence of pain in hospitalized patients].

BACKGROUND: There are few studies evaluating the presence of pain in hospitalized patients. Different authors have suggested interest in epidemiological studies to establish the characteristics of pain at a hospitalary level. The present study was initiated to determine the prevalence of pain in acute and chronic patients admitted to hospital and to establish the relation of the pain with the prescription of analgesics. METHODS: Pediatric, acute and chronic adult patients pertaining to a hospital in Sabadell (Barcelona) were included in the study. Patients from resuscitation, ICU, neonatology and the emergency wards were excluded. The variables studied were presence of pain and the existence of analgesic prescription. The first was determined by interview with the patient, while the second was obtained directly from the clinical history. RESULTS: Fifty-five percent of the 217 adult patients with acute pathology manifest pain and in 45% of them total analgesics had been prescribed. The prevalence of pain was 61% among the 41 pediatric patients and 35% among the 98 adults with chronic disease. Prescription of analgesics was observed in 51 and 39%, respectively in the above groups of patients. The relation between the presence of pain and antialgic prescription was variable according to the groups. It must be emphasized that 50% of acute adult patients with pain did not have prescription of analgesics. Pain was present in all the pediatric patients with some analgesic prescribed. Sixty-eight percent of the chronic patients with prescribed analgesics also experienced pain. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of pain in the hospital environment is high, not only in pediatric but also in adult and geriatric patients. The high number of patients who do not receive analgesics despite pain and those in whom the treatment does not totally eradicate the symptoms is of note. Analgesic therapy must acquire greater revelance in hospitalary assistance.

Acute Disease↗

[Hodgkin's disease and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma occurring simultaneously].

The simultaneous appearance of Hodgkin's disease and a non Hodgkin's lymphoma is very infrequent and has classically been considered as coincidental. Nevertheless, recent clinical observations suggest that neoplastic cells which lead to Hodgkin's disease are of lymphoid origin. The case of a "discordant" lymphoma formed by a laterocervical Hodgkin's disease and a large cell gastric lymphoma is presented. The coexistence of these two diseases, as herein presented, supports the lymphoid origin of Hodgkin's disease.

Female↗

Epidermal growth factor inhibits phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase gene expression in rat hepatocytes in primary culture.

Epidermal growth factor (EGF) decreased the basal, and blocked the dibutyryl cyclic AMP (Bt2cAMP)-induced, expression of P-enolpyruvate carboxykinase (GTP) (PEPCK) and tyrosine aminotransferase (TAT) genes in both rat hepatocytes in primary culture and the FTO-2B hepatoma cell line. Treatment of hepatocytes with EGF in combination with phorbol ester (TPA) resulted in an additive decrease of PEPCK mRNA levels. Overnight pretreatment of hepatocytes with TPA, which is known to downregulate protein kinase C, abolished the TPA and reduced the EGF-mediated inhibition of PEPCK gene expression. These results suggested that EGF caused its effect, at least in part, through protein kinase C.

Animals↗

[Bartter's syndrome: variability and clinical course].

The clinical, hydroelectrolytical and hormonal features, as well as the treatment of 3 patients with Bartter's syndrome are analyzed. The patients consulted due to severe hypokalaemia with little clinical expression (paresthesiae, carpopedal spasms, polyuria, polydipsia and/or weakness). All had normal blood pressure, hypokalemia, hyperreninaemic hyperaldosteronism and a decrease in the fractional distal chloride reabsorption; hyperuricaemia was observed in two cases and hypomagnesemia in one. Treatment with oral potassium supplements and indomethacin managed to raise serum K to around the lower limit of the normal range. However, the tubular defect and hyperreninaemic hyperaldosteronism persisted. The urinary excretion of prostaglandin E2 was normal in both the patients in whom it was measured. Given the minimal clinical expression of hypokalemia despite the difficulty in correcting it, it is probable that this syndrome often remains unrecognized.

Adolescent↗

Lithium restores glycogen synthesis from glucose in hepatocytes from diabetic rats.

In hepatocytes incubated in the presence of 20 mM glucose, strong stimulation of glycogen synthesis by LiCl was observed in cells from both normal and streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. This stimulation was concentration- and time-dependent, and it was related to an increase in the glycogen synthase activity ratio. No effects of LiCl on glycogen phosphorylase activity were detected under these conditions. When hepatocytes were incubated with LiCl and insulin together, an additive effect on glycogen synthesis from glucose was observed. However, when hepatocytes were incubated in the presence of gluconeogenic precursors, such as lactate and pyruvate, and then with LiCl, no effect on glycogen accumulation was observed. Under these conditions, simultaneous activation of glycogen synthase and glycogen phosphorylase occurred. These results indicate that lithium ions, like insulin, are able to stimulate glycogen synthesis from glucose in diabetic rat hepatocytes, although the mechanisms of action of the two effectors on hepatic glycogen metabolism are probably different.

Adenosine Diphosphate↗

Comparative effects of velnacrine, tacrine and physostigmine on the twitch responses in the rat phrenic-hemidiaphragm preparation.

1. Cholinesterase inhibitors potentiated twitch responses induced by nerve stimulation, with physostigmine more potent than tacrine and velnacrine. However, at higher concentrations, tacrine decreased twitch responses in a concentration-dependent manner. 2. Tacrine strongly depressed directly-induced twitch responses, whereas the other drugs had minimal effects. 3. Physostigmine was the most potent drug in reversal of tubocurarine-induced blockade, but its antagonism index was similar to those obtained with tacrine and velnacrine at higher concentrations. When evaluating their ability to reverse neomycin-induced blockade, all drugs exhibited a similar effect. 4. It is concluded that tacrine and velnacrine are less potent than physostigmine in potentiating skeletal neuromuscular transmission. Additionally, the blocking effects of tacrine could limit its therapeutic efficacy.

Animals↗

Glucose metabolism in transgenic mice containing a chimeric P-enolpyruvate carboxykinase/bovine growth hormone gene.

Transgenic mice, containing the chimeric gene obtained by linking the promoter-regulatory region of P-enolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) gene to the bovine growth hormone structural gene (bGH), were used to investigate the long-term effects of bGH on glucose metabolism. Expression of the PEPCK/bGH gene was markedly enhanced by feeding a diet high in protein and inhibited by a high carbohydrate diet. All transgenic mice had normal levels of blood glucose but were hyperinsulinemic, indicating that they were insulin resistant. The glycogen synthase activity ratios in the muscle and liver of transgenic mice were lower than noted for control animals, and remained unchanged in liver after feeding a standard high carbohydrate or a high protein diet. Similar effects were detected in the activity of glycogen phosphorylase, except that a high carbohydrate diet activated this enzyme in the liver. The activation of glycogen phosphorylase in both muscle and liver correlated with the expression of their genes. These animals had a significant content of glycogen and glucose 6-phosphate, which was related to the levels of glucokinase mRNA in the liver. The concentration of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate in the liver of all fed transgenic mice was lower than noted in livers from fed animals. In addition, a decrease in the hepatic expression of the endogenous genes for PEPCK, tyrosine aminotransferase (TAT), and the glucose transporter GLUT-2 was observed and directly correlated with the expression of bGH. Thus, bGH can control glucose metabolism in vivo, at least in part, by modifying the expression of several genes coding for proteins of importance in carbohydrate metabolism. Taken together, these results indicate a state of insulin resistance caused by chronic exposure of the animals to an elevated concentration of bGH.

Animals↗

Vanadate treatment restores the expression of genes for key enzymes in the glucose and ketone bodies metabolism in the liver of diabetic rats.

Oral administration of vanadate to diabetic streptozotocin-treated rats decreased the high blood glucose and D-3-hydroxybutyrate levels related to diabetes. The increase in the expression of the P-enolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) gene, the main regulatory enzyme of gluconeogenesis, was counteracted in the liver and the kidney after vanadate administration to diabetic rats. Vanadate also counteracted the induction in tyrosine aminotransferase gene expression due to diabetes and was able to increase the expression of the glucokinase gene to levels even higher than those found in healthy animals. Similarly, an induction in pyruvate kinase mRNA transcripts was observed in diabetic vanadate-treated rats. These effects were correlated with changes on glucokinase and pyruvate kinase activities. Vanadate treatment caused a decrease in the expression of the liver-specific glucose transporter, GLUT-2. Thus, vanadate was able to restore liver glucose utilization and block glucose production in diabetic rats. The increase in the expression of the mitochondrial 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA synthase (HMGCoAS) gene, the key regulatory enzyme in the ketone bodies production pathway, observed in diabetic rats was also blocked by vanadate. Furthermore, a similar pattern in the expression of PEPCK, GLUT-2, HMGCoAS, and the transcription factor CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein alpha genes has been observed. All of these results suggest that the regulation of the expression of genes involved in the glucose and ketone bodies metabolism could be a key step in the normalization process induced by vanadate administration to diabetic rats.

Animals↗

[Long-term survival in chronic myeloid leukemia: frequency and fundamental characteristics in a series of 100 patients].

PURPOSE: To analyse the frequency and the main clinico-haematologic characteristics of the patients with Ph'-positive chronic myelogenous leukaemia (CML) with long survival. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Of a series of 100 patients with CML diagnosed in the chronic phase and treated in the conventional way at the "Farreras Valentí" School of Haematology between 1969 and 1982, and followed-up for at least 10 years, those surviving more that 8-10 years since the diagnosis were considered eligible for this study. Their clinico-haematological characteristics at diagnosis were compared to those of the remaining patients by means of the Student's t and Mann-Whitney's U tests, plus chi square with the Yates correction. The actuarial survival in the series was assessed according to the Kaplan and Meier method. The Sokal prognostic index was calculated in the longest survivors. RESULTS: The median survival of the series was 45 months (range: 4-171). Ninety-one patients died, 2 are alive in chronic phase and in 7 others the follow-up has been lost in the chronic phase. Eight patients survived more than 10 years and 14 more than eight years. Of these, six were men and eight women, 10 were under 50 years of age, one-half lacked splenomegaly at diagnosis and only 2 had Ph' chromosome mosaicism. According to the Sokal prognostic index, six of these patients were in the low-risk group, four were of intermediate risk, and four others were in the high-risk group. None of them had aplasia due to busulphan during the follow-up. When comparing the initial features of the patients surviving 8-10 years with those of the remainders, only the presence of a lower percentage of blast-cells (p = 0.03) and a lower number of blasts in peripheral blood (p = 0.01) in the former achieved statistically significant difference. CONCLUSIONS: These findings confirm the difficulty in identifying the CML patients with expected long survival at diagnosis. High numbers of cases must be analysed in order to attain definite conclusions in this regard.

Adolescent↗

[Systemic chronic candidiasis following typhlitis caused by Candida albicans].

Typhlitis is an infrequent infectious complication which may appear during a period of intense granulocytopenia, generally in patients with acute leukemia. The most common causal germs are Gram negative bacilli although the importance of Candida sp. as an etiologic agent of this disease is ever more frequent. The case of a 14 years old patient with acute lymphoblastic leukemia who, after chemotherapy treatment, presented typhlitis by Candida albicans followed by chronic systemic candidiasis (CSC) is described. The role that Candida albicans may play in some cases of typhlitis is discussed as is the relation between the appearance of typhlitis and the posterior development of CSC.

Adolescent↗

Effects of velnacrine, tacrine and physostigmine on tetanic twitch responses at the rat neuromuscular junction.

The effects of velnacrine (1-hydroxytacrine), tacrine and physostigmine on indirectly elicited twitch at low and high stimulation frequencies were analyzed in the rat phrenic hemidiaphragm preparation. At 0.2 Hz, velnacrine and physostigmine behaved in a similar manner, the latter showing a higher potentiating effect. This potentiation was observed at 3-100 microM velnacrine, whereas a slight depression appeared at higher concentrations. When tetanic responses were studied, the drug concentrations needed to depress tetanic tension and tetanic fade were quite different in the case of velnacrine (depression of tetanic tension from 1 microM and tetanic fade from 170 microM), whereas physostigmine and tacrine were able to affect these parameters at very similar concentrations. The results suggest that some effects of velnacrine could differ from those of tacrine in spite of the chemical similarity.

Animals↗

[Molecular analysis of chronic Philadelphia chromosome negative myeloid leukemia: study of 6 cases].

BACKGROUND: Patients with Philadelphia negative (Ph-) chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) constitute a small proportion of the total number of patients with CML. Molecular analysis of these cases has permitted recognition that some cases present a breakpoint in the bcr region of chromosome 22, that is, the alteration constituting the substrate of the Ph chromosome. To date, the number of patients analyzed to this regard is low. METHODS: Six patients with Ph negative CML who constituted part of a series of 96 patients diagnosed with CML over a period of 6 years were studied. Analysis of the BCR gene in the DNA of the leuko-concentrate of peripheral blood was carried out with the Southern Blot technique, using the 3' and 5' probes and Transprobe and the restriction enzymes Bgl II, Eco RI, Hind III and Bam HI. The principal clinical-hematological characteristics of the patients were analyzed. RESULTS: Breakpoints were observed in the bcr region of chromosome 22 in 3 of the 6 patients, all of whom presented typical CML clinical-hematological features. CONCLUSIONS: Half of the patients with Philadelphia negative (Ph-) chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) have a breakpoint in the bcr region of chromosome 22, a similar molecular pattern to the Ph positive CML and their clinical-hematological profile is indistinguishable from those with CML.

Adult↗

[An analysis of Spanish biomedical journals by the impact factor].

BACKGROUND: One of the most frequently used parameters for evaluating scientific publications is that of impact factor (IF) published in the Science Citation Index-Journal Citation Reports (SCI-JCR) which evaluates the number of citations a journal receives on behalf of other journals. The present study analyzed the Spanish biomedical journals included in the SCI-JCR by the IF. METHODS: The IF were obtained from the SCI-JCR (1980-89). The journals were evaluated by the IF and the weighted impact factor (WIF) calculated according to WIF = (IF/MIF) x 100 in which MIF = maximum IF of the considered area. RESULTS: Nine Spanish biomedical journals were included in the SCI-JCR, four being basic sciences (Histology and Histopathology, Inmunología, Methods and Findings in Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology, Revista Española de Fisiología) and five clinical journals (Allergologia et Immunopathologia, Medicina Clínica, Nefrología, Revista Española de las Enfermedades del Aparato Digestivo, Revista Clínica Española). Their IF were much lower than the most important journals in each area with the mean (+/- standard deviation) being 0.21 +/- 0.22 (range 0.016-0.627). The mean WIF was 2.88 +/- 4.07 (0.16-12.82). The journals of basic sciences had higher IF and WIF than the clinical journals (p less than 0.05). Only the four journals of basic sciences were included in the SCI. Four journals, those of basic sciences, are preferentially or exclusively published in English and other five are published in Spanish. The differences in IF among these groups were not significant (p = 0.06) while those of WIF were significant (p less than 0.05). The number of Spanish biomedical journals in the SCI-JCR has risen from 1 in 1980 to 9 in 1989 with IF which have evolved variably. CONCLUSIONS: In mind of impact factor, the contribution of Spanish journals is low, with that of biomedical sciences being higher than that of clinical journals. Language and inclusion in the Science Citation Index may explain, at least in part, the low impact factors obtained.

Abstracting and Indexing↗