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Geraldine Brown

Publications and source records attributed to Geraldine Brown.

15 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Autoantibodies to the high-affinity IgE receptor in children with chronic urticaria.

BACKGROUND: Chronic urticaria (CU) in childhood remains a challenge for investigation, and its etiology is largely unknown. Autoantibodies to the high-affinity IgE receptor (FcepsilonRI) are believed to play a role in the pathogenesis of this disease in adults. OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of autoantibodies to FcepsilonRIalpha on basophils in children with CU vs atopic eczema dermatitis syndrome (AEDS). METHODS: Eighty children with CU were compared with 38 children with AEDS. In addition to complete blood cell counts and total IgE measurements, CAP-RASTs to egg, codfish, soy, milk, and peanut were performed. Stool samples were examined for parasites, and autologous serum skin testing and a functional anti-FcepsilonRIalpha assay were conducted to detect autoantibodies. RESULTS: No significant differences were observed between children with CU and controls in mean basophil or eosinophil counts. Twenty (26%) of 77 children with CU and 31 (82%) of 38 with AEDS had positive CAP-RAST results (P < .001). Only 2.5% of the children with CU and 0% with AEDS had stool samples positive for parasites (P = .005). Anti-FcepsilonRIalpha autoantibodies were positive in 37 (47%) of 78 children with CU and in none of 33 with AEDS. Non-IgG histamine-releasing factors were found in 10 (13%) of 78 children with CU. CONCLUSIONS: Children have a similar prevalence of autoantibodies to the FcepsilonRIalpha as has been previously published for adults. Few have type I allergies, and parasite infestation is also uncommon. Further studies are required to investigate the predictive value of the autoantibodies in these children with respect to clinical profile, requirements for medications other than antihistamines, and remission rates.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Effects of deletion of gria1 or gria2 genes encoding glutamatergic AMPA-receptor subunits on place preference conditioning in mice.

RATIONALE: The conditioned place preference (CPP) paradigm has been used as a measure of the rewarding effects of a number of stimuli. Critically, this classical conditioning procedure requires the formation of associations between a rewarding stimulus and environmental cues, and the ability of these cues to direct subsequent behaviour. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of the current experiments was to examine the role of glutamatergic transmission via subunit-specific populations of alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionate (AMPA) receptors in the formation of stimulus--reward associations involving contextual stimuli. METHODS: We investigated the ability of cocaine and food to induce a CPP in mice lacking either the GluR1 or GluR2 subunits of the AMPA receptor [gria1 or gria2 knockout (KO) mice]. In separate experiments, food pellets or cocaine (5--20 mg/kg IP) were paired with one compartment of the CPP apparatus, while no-food or vehicle was paired with an alternative compartment. RESULTS: Following conditioning, gria1 KOs displayed a significant preference for the food or cocaine-paired compartment, and did not differ from wild-type (WT) controls. However, gria2 knockouts displayed a preference for a cocaine-paired compartment, but not a food-paired compartment, indicating a specific deficit in place preference conditioning to food. CONCLUSIONS: These results obtained using knockout mice indicate that GluR2-containing AMPA receptors may be critical for learning about contextual stimuli relevant to food rewards, but not drug rewards. When the results are considered in relation to our previous findings with gria1 and gria2 knockout mice, they also raise questions about the CPP paradigm representing a model of conditioned reward over a conditioned approach interpretation. However, it would be important to confirm these findings with alternative approaches, should selective ligands become available.

Amygdala↗
PubMed2003

Aversive conditioning following repeated withdrawal from ethanol and epileptic kindling.

Repeated withdrawal from ethanol, a procedure which resembles amygdala kindling in increasing seizure sensitivity, impairs the acquisition of fear conditioning (Stephens et al., 2001, Eur. J. Neurosci.,14, 2023-31). In contrast, rats previously kindled by repeated electrical stimulation of basolateral amygdala, or repeated administration of pentylenetetrazol, showed increased suppression of operant responding during the presentation of a stimulus conditioned to footshock when conditioning took place several weeks following the kindling experience. Neither form of kindling nor repeated ethanol withdrawal altered taste aversion conditioning, though rats treated chronically with ethanol and given a single withdrawal experience showed enhanced taste aversion conditioning. These results suggest that, despite evidence suggesting a common neuronal mechanism underlying seizure sensitivity following these types of kindling, they differ in their effects on fear conditioning.

Alcohol Withdrawal Seizures↗
PubMed2003

HIV/AIDS among African Americans and US women: minority and young women.

The HIV/AIDS pandemic continues to be a major health crisis facing the African American community. Although African Americans make up only about twelve percent of the U.S. population, they accounted for half of the new HIV infections reported in the United States in 2001. Numerous studies suggest that many new infections occur among young African Americans. In the early 1980s, HIV/AIDS was considered mostly a gay white male disease in the United States. Today, the pandemic has expanded and the disease is also a major health problem in the African American community, where men and women of every age and sexual orientation are affected.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

An up close and personal look at Saudi Arabia (Jeddah and Riyadh): history, culture, and health care.

Saudi Arabia was one of the greatest travel destinations that I have had the opportunity to experience. I made this pilgrimage to Jeddah and Riyadh, and was truly welcomed into the kingdom. After almost three years of caring for those precious gems (the five surviving babies of the famous Saudi Arabian Septuplets) born July 2001 in the Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, DC, I was issued a visa and asked to serve as the Nurse Escort in taking these babies home. Through a detailed glimpse of everyday life, I was privileged to enter an arena of not only forming lifelong friendships, but exploring how a country so difficult to gain entry, is also a land of astonishing natural beauty. A visit to that famous King Faisal Hospital made me a believer that Saudi Arabia has one of the best medical facilities in the Middle East, with well-trained nurses and physicians, who many are from other countries, including the United States. Observing health care professionals providing competent nursing and medical care in that environment was unique, because it evolved a culture based on an amalgam of religion and politics.

Culture↗