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Biomedical subjects

H Fung

Publications and source records attributed to H Fung.

15 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1990

A long-term follow-up of postpartum thyroiditis.

To investigate the long-term outcome of postpartum thyroiditis (PPT), 43 patients with PPT and 171 control women were evaluated 3.5 (range 2-4) years postpartum. Ten (23%) PPT patients were hypothyroid compared to none of the controls (P less than 0.001). Factors associated with the development of hypothyroidism were high antimicrosomal antibody titre measured at 16 weeks gestation (P less than 0.01), severity of hypothyroid phase of PPT, multiparity, and a previous history of spontaneous abortion. The presence of microsomal antibody but no PPT in one pregnancy did not prevent the occurrence of PPT in the next pregnancy in two patients and a further five patients had PPT in two successive pregnancies. There was no association between HLA haplotype, family history of thyroid disease, smoking or frequency of oral contraception, and the development of long-term hypothyroidism after PPT. It is concluded that permanent hypothyroidism is an important sequel to PPT and patients with PPT should be followed up appropriately.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Postpartum thyroid dysfunction and HLA status.

Nine-hundred-and-one women presenting in an antenatal clinic at the 60th week of pregnancy were tested for antithyroid antibodies. A group of 113 antibody-positive women and 108 antibody-negative age-matched controls were HLA typed and followed prospectively at 6-weekly intervals through pregnancy and for 12 months postpartum. Forty-five of the women developed biochemical evidence of postpartum thyroid dysfunction (PPTD) of whom 36 were antibody positive. Compared with a local control population (n = 600), and using multiplex analysis, there was a significant increase in the combinations HLA B8, DR3 and HLA A1, B8, DR3 from 22.5% to 40.0% (P less than 0.02) and from 18.6% to 35.6% (P less than 0.01) respectively in the women who developed PPTD. The well-recognized association of these haplotypes with other organ-specific autoimmune diseases provides further support for autoimmune events being implicated in the development of PPTD.

Autoantibodies↗
PubMed1989

The hormonal environment of post-natal depression.

The incidence of post-natal depression is high, and dramatic changes in steroid hormones and prolactin occur in the post-partum period. In an attempt to correlate these events, 147 mothers, six to eight weeks after delivery of a healthy infant, completed standard psychological tests, including the Edinburgh, Montgomery-Asberg, and Raskin scales. They also provided matched samples of plasma for assay of cortisol, oestradiol, progesterone and prolactin, and saliva for assay of cortisol and progesterone. All steroid concentrations were within the appropriate normal ranges. Of the mothers, 14.9% were depressed on all three scales. Significant correlations were seen between depression ratings and salivary progesterone and prolactin. In bottle-feeders, salivary progesterone was positively associated with depression, whereas in breast-feeders it was negatively associated. Plasma prolactin levels were inappropriately low in depressed breast-feeders. These data indicate that differing therapies may be appropriate for depression in breast- and bottle-feeders.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

The use of rating scales to identify post-natal depression.

One hundred and forty-seven mothers were screened for major depression at six to eight weeks post-partum. Using predetermined cut-off points, the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale and the Beck scale were compared in their abilities to identify the 15% of subjects who had major depression according to DSM-III criteria. The sensitivity of Edinburgh scale was 95% and its specificity 93%. The performance of the Beck scale was markedly inferior, with a sensitivity of 68% and specificity of 88%.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Targeting of porin to the outer membrane of Escherichia coli. Rate of trimer assembly and identification of a dimer intermediate.

Porin, a transmembrane protein in the outer membrane of Escherichia coli, exists in a trimeric structure which is not dissociated during sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis at 25 degrees C. This unusual stability was utilized in the study of the conformational changes which accompany the targeting of porin to the outer membrane. A delay of 16-44 s between completion of synthesis of a monomer and its assembly into a trimer was found from the ratio of monomers to trimers found in exponentially growing cells. Pulse-chase experiments showed that rapid processing of precursor OmpF molecules was followed by assembly into sodium dodecyl sulfate-resistant oligomers with a half-time of 20 s at 30 degrees C. An intermediate in assembly was isolated by immunoprecipitation and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis below 10 degrees C and was identified as a metastable dimer.

Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins↗
PubMed1987

Recurrent pancreatitis contributing to choledochal cyst formation.

We report three cases of choledochal cyst. The calibre of the common bile duct in each of them was demonstrated by ultrasonogram, CT scan, radiography and laparotomy to be almost normal before recurrent attacks of pancreatitis, following which the common bile duct was shown to become grossly dilated. This observation leads us to surmise that recurrent pancreatitis contributes to the formation of choledochal cysts.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

The effect of preoperative Lugol's iodine on thyroid blood flow in patients with Graves' hyperthyroidism.

A study was conducted to investigate the effect of Lugol's iodine on the superior thyroid artery (STA) blood flow with use of a Duplex ultrasound scanner for 12 patients with Graves' disease. All patients were treated with antithyroid drugs until they were euthyroid and then, with randomization, the patients received either Lugol's iodine, 0.3 ml thrice daily, or placebo for 9 days in a double-blind fashion. Antithyroid drugs were continued throughout the study. Reduction in the diameter, time-averaged velocity (TAV), and volume flow (VF) of the STAs was demonstrated in all patients in the treatment group, whereas there were no consistent trends in the placebo group. The changes in TAV and VF were significantly different between the placebo and treatment groups (p less than 0.01 for TAV and p less than 0.005 for VF). These changes were more marked in patients with high initial VF and minimal in patients with low initial VF. On the basis of these results, we recommend that patients with high thyroid blood flow before thyroidectomy should receive Lugol's iodine preoperatively.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Adriamycin uptake, intracellular binding and cytotoxicity in Chinese hamster ovary cells.

The interaction between adriamycin influx, efflux and cytotoxicity has been studied in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. The rate of adriamycin uptake showed no evidence of saturation with increasing concentration suggesting that uptake occurred by passive diffusion. Plateau levels of adriamycin were reached within 20 min and more than 60% of this was firmly bound to the nucleus and did not efflux. Cytotoxicity studies did not correlate with uptake studies in that cell killing was an exponential function of drug exposure time well beyond the point at which intracellular concentrations had reached a maximum. This suggests that bound adriamycin is not primarily responsible for cytotoxicity.

Animals↗
PubMed1975

The myocardial effects of pancuronium.

The effect of pancuronium on myocardial contractility was studied in three different animal preparations. Pancuronium produced no change in isometric contraction of rabbit atrial or cat papillary muscle but displaced the acetylcholine dose-response curve to the right in the papillary muscle preparations, verifying a muscarinic blocking effect of this drug. In atropinized dogs in vivo pancuronium produced no significant change in the cardiovascular parameters studied. These studies show that pancuronium exerts its cardiovascular effects primarily by blocking muscarinic receptors in the heart.

Acetylcholine↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Transient post-partum thyroid dysfunction and postnatal depression.

In the course of a population study of thyroid dysfunction in pregnancy and the post-partum period, 65 women, considered to be antibody-positive (microsomal and thyroglobulin), and 82 antibody-negative women were assessed for postnatal depression at 6-8 weeks post partum. The women were also assessed for the development of post-partum thyroid dysfunction. Of the 147 women, 22 met DSM-III criteria for major depression. The presence of autoantibodies showed little association with depressed mood but there was a minor association of postnatal depression with actual thyroid dysfunction in that incidence of the latter condition was higher in depressed women (Raskin scale P less than 0.01; Edinburgh scale P less than 0.05; Montgomery-Asberg scale P less than 0.1). Three of eight mothers with thyroid dysfunction had major depression and were depressed on all three scales.

Adult↗