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Biomedical subjects

H Krauss

Publications and source records attributed to H Krauss.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

The effects of neurotensin on selected parameters of lipid metabolism in rats.

15 nM/kg b.m. of neurotensin (NT) caused a significant inhibition of LMA within 30 min of administration and this effect persisted up for to the 240 th minute of the experiment. A 15 nM/kgb.m. dose also caused a reduction in SLA which persisted up to the 120 th minute. Sixty minutes after an intraperitoneal administration of NT a decrease in the cholesterol and NEFA levels and an increase in the TG and glycerol levels were observed. These effects were inhibited by the NTR2-blocker (levocabastine) and were not subject to change after an in vivo application of SR 48692.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

A child with bronchial asthma--his functioning in a peer group.

PURPOSE: Aim of the study is to show problems parents have to account for in the process of treatment and their knowledge how to solve them. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Fifty girls and boys aged 5-12 years were participated in this study. The research employed an own questionnaire prepared for this particular purpose. It consisted of three parts: the first part dealt with social-demographic data, the second one with the age of a child at the onset of asthma and accompanying it problems, and finally, the third part was concerned with the knowledge of parents about asthma and its treatment at the time of exacerbation. RESULTS: Out of all children under study, 60% were boys and 40% were girls, 85% of them come from a district town and 15% from rural areas. Almost 42% of parents answered that the most frequent reaction of the peers and particularly children attending the same class to this information was understanding. Only 11% of peers were able to help the children with bronchial asthma in difficult moments. CONCLUSIONS: The study has shown that hay fever and atopic dermatitis accompanying bronchial asthma markedly make their functioning among peers difficult. Bronchial asthma makes most children suffering from it resign from favorite games and plays connected with physical effort. The attitude of peers to these children can be described as indifferent.

Asthma↗
PubMed2005

Common knowledge of leukemia among the youth and their attitude to the diagnosed disease.

PURPOSE: The aim of the study is to evaluate common knowledge shared by leukemia patients aged 12-18 yrs. and to determine their attitude to the diagnosed disease. MATERIAL AND METHOD: The study group consisted 30 of youth aged 12-18 yrs with diagnosed leukemia, which expressed agreement on participation in investigation. The study employed an own questionnaire entitled: "Common Knowledge of Leukemia among Youth and Their Attitudes to the Diagnosed Disease". RESULTS: Results passed of investigations one surrendered to analysis and one introduced inform of diagrams. Talked over results of investigations summed up are discussion and conclusions. Discussion achieves results of own investigations to these passed by Binnbesela's and of relating current knowledge about new-coined word disease among young people from 12 to 18 year of life, contains also considerations relating situation in which one is found young people with recognized leukemia. CONCLUSIONS: The level of knowledge about leukemia in 12-18-year-old patients is highest in 18-year-old respondents. There is no dependence between the time lapse from the moment of diagnosis and the increase of knowledge on the subject. The attitude of young leukemia patients to their own disease does not change with the time lapse from the moment of diagnosis.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Lack of association between a functional polymorphism of the cytochrome P450 1A2 (CYP1A2) gene and tardive dyskinesia in schizophrenia.

Tardive dyskinesia (TD) is a common side effect of long-term medication with typical neuroleptics. TD presents itself by abnormal involuntary movements and may lead to a potentially disabling and chronic clinical course. A vast majority of patients suffering from schizophrenia are smokers. Smoking has been reported to induce the activity of the CYP1A2 enzyme, which is an established metabolic pathway within the disposition of antipsychotics. Recently, a C-->A genetic polymorphism in the first intron of the CYP1A2 gene was reported to influence CYP1A2 activity in smokers. Subsequently, a pharmacogenetic study in 85 U.S. patients with schizophrenia (44 smokers, 41 individuals with unknown smoking status) showed the C/C genotype to be associated with higher TD severity (measured by the Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale, AIMS) than the A/C or A/A genotype. This finding prompted us to investigate whether this effect was also present in a larger German sample of 119 patients with schizophrenia (82 smokers, 37 individuals with unknown smoking status). However, we could not replicate the reported association. The median AIMS scores did not differ between individuals with the A/A, A/C, or C/C genotypes. In an additional analysis, we compared the genotypic and allelic distribution among individuals grouped according to the criteria established by Schooler and Kane [1982: Arch Gen Psychiatry 39:486-487] (persistent TD vs. absent TD). We did not observe a differential genotypic or allelic distribution between the two diagnostic groups. Thus, our results do not support the hypothesis that the C-->A polymorphism in the CYP1A2 gene is involved in the etiology of TD in the German population.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Caught in the trio trap? Potential selection bias inherent to association studies using parent-offspring trios.

During the last years, the validity of classic case control studies in psychiatric genetic research has been increasingly under question due to the risk of population stratification problems inherent to this type of association study. By consequence, the application of family-based association studies using parent-offspring trios has been strongly advocated. Recently, however, in a study comparing clinical characteristics between index patients from parent-offspring trios and singleton patients with bipolar affective disorder, the question was raised whether a systematic neglect of case control association studies could lead to a selection bias of susceptibility genes. In a similar approach, we compared demographic and clinical characteristics of 122 singleton bipolar patients with those of 54 bipolar patients derived from parent-offspring trios. The singleton patients did not only present with a higher age of onset, but also with a higher frequency of suicidal behavior and a higher familial loading for suicidality. These findings suggest that the genetic mechanism for disease might be different between trio-based and classic case control samples, where patients are examined whose parents are not available for genetic studies. Thus, giving up case control designs for the sake of family-based association studies could be at the risk of selecting against several genetically determined factors.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Major psychoses symptomatology: factor analysis of 2241 psychotic subjects.

Current nosography classifies major psychoses as separate disorders, but their symptomatological presentation during illness episodes largely overlaps and diagnoses may change during a lifetime. Few analyses of major psychoses symptomatology have been performed so far because of the large number of subjects needed to obtain stable factors. The purpose of this study was, therefore, to identify the symptomatologic structure common to major psychoses based on lifetime symptoms. Two thousand and forty-one inpatients affected by schizophrenic (n=1008), bipolar (n=563), major depressive (n=352), delusional (n=108) and psychotic not otherwise specified disorder (n=210) were rated for lifetime symptoms using the Operational Criteria Checklist for Psychotic Illness (OPCRIT) and included in a factorial analysis. Four factors were obtained, the first consisted of excitement symptoms, the second comprised psychotic features (delusions and hallucinations), the third comprised depression and the fourth disorganization. When scored by the OPCRIT checklist, major psychoses symptomatology is composed of excitement, depressive, delusion and disorganization symptoms.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

The effect of bradykinin on the oxidative state of rats with acute hyperglycaemia.

Many clinical and experimental studies have established the beneficial effect of kinins in hypertension, heart failure and ischaemia-reperfusion syndrome, but little attention has been given to the role of kinins in hyperglycaemic conditions. The purpose of the present study was to determine the influence of bradykinin on the levels of glucose, insulin, malondialdehyde and hydrogen peroxide, as well as antioxidative enzyme activity in rats with streptozotocin (STZ)-induced acute hyperglycaemia. In STZ-induced hyperglycaemic rats the levels of glucose, hydrogen peroxide and malondialdehyde were increased by 256% (from 6.0+/-0.3 to 21.4+/-1.3 mmol/l, P<0.001), 33% (from 1.9+/-0.1 to 5.6+/-0.3 mmol H(2)O(2)/ml, P<0.001) and 19% (from 3.7+/-0.3 to 4.9+/-0.2 nmol/l, P<0.001) respectively. The activity of superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase and the level of insulin were decreased by 46% (from 1367+/-73 to 737+/-59 U/g Hb, P<0.001), 36% (from 2.3+/-0.3 to 1.4+/-0.1 U Bergmayera/g Hb, P<0.001), 31% (from 236+/-19 to 163+/-24 U/g Hb, P<0.001) and 91% (from 47.5+/-1.7 to 2.4+/-0.5 mU/l, P<0.001) respectively in rats treated with streptozotocin. The administration of bradykinin caused the decrease in glucose, hydrogen peroxide and malondi-aldehyde levels by 38% (from 21.4+/-1.3 to 13.3+/-1.0 mmol/l, P<0.001), 37% (from 5.6+/-0.3 to 4.3+/-0.2 mmol H2O2/ml, P<0.001), 39% (from 4.9+/-0.2 to 3.0+/-0.2 nmol/l, P<0.001) respectively and the increase in insulin level and superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase activity by 62% (from 2.4+/-0.5 to 4.0+/-0.4 mU/l, P<0.001), 23% (from 736.8+/-58.5 to 906.7+/-47.8 U/g Hb, P<0.001), 23% (from 1.4+/-0.1 to 1.9+/-0.1 U Bergmayera/g Hb, P<0.01) and 19% (from 163.1+/-23.6 to 202.3+/-11.7 U/g Hb, P<0.001) respectively in rats with hyperglycaemia. Thus, bradykinin is able to reduce oxidative stress in hyperglycaemic conditions.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

Affective symptomatology in schizophrenia: a risk factor for tardive dyskinesia?

Affective symptomatology has repeatedly been suggested to confer susceptibility to tardive dyskinesia (TD). In our sample of 174 schizophrenic patients a history of depressive symptoms was not associated with the occurrence of TD, whereas manic symptomatology was significantly associated with the absence of TD. Thus, our data suggest that affective symptomatology cannot unambiguously be considered to predispose to TD.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Familial occurrence of tardive dyskinesia.

OBJECTIVE: Familial occurrence of tardive dyskinesia (TD) and schizophrenia has been hypothesized to confer risk to the development of TD. We investigated these hypotheses in a large patient sample applying standardized methods for phenotype characterization. METHOD: Two hundred and twenty-two patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder were assessed for TD and for family history of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. Thirty-nine patients had 40 affected first-degree family members, one patient having two first-degree relatives. Of these, 17 pairs and one triplet were personally examined. RESULTS: 1) There was a tendency for TD in the affected relatives to be associated with the TD status of the index-patient; this finding was unrelated to age and doses of neuroleptic medication. 2) No association between a family history of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder and TD was found. CONCLUSION: A family history of TD might represent a risk factor for TD, whereas a family history of schizophrenia does not.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Association between a functional polymorphism in the monoamine oxidase A gene promoter and major depressive disorder.

Various polymorphisms of the X-chromosomal monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A) gene were investigated for association with affective disorders. However, none of the studied variants could consistently be associated with either major depressive or bipolar affective disorder. Recently, a positive association between panic disorder and a novel functional repeat polymorphism in the MAO-A gene promoter, with the longer alleles being more active, was reported. Since monoaminergic neurotransmission is supposed to play an important role in affective disorders, we investigated a potential association of this polymorphism with major depressive illness in a sample of 146 unrelated patients of German descent and a control group of 101 individuals with a negative life history for affective disorders. Similarly to the recent findings in panic disorder, we observed a significantly increased frequency of genotypes containing only long alleles in female patients with recurrent major depression in comparison with age- and sex-matched controls. Thus, our data suggest that an excess of high-activity MAO-A gene promoter alleles resulting in an elevated MAO-A activity is a risk factor for major depressive disorder in females. Am. J. Med. Genet. (Neuropsychiatr. Genet.) 96:801-803, 2000.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Dopamine D3 receptor variant and tardive dyskinesia.

In the search for genetic factors contributing to tardive dyskinesia, dopamine receptor genes are considered major candidates. The dopamine D3 receptor is of primary interest as dopamine D3 receptor knock-out mice show locomotor hyperactivation resembling extrapyramidal side-effects of neuroleptic treatment. Furthermore, Steen and colleagues (1997) recently reported an association between tardive dyskinesia and a dopamine D3 receptor gene variant. In the present study we tried to replicate this finding. We investigated 157 patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder receiving long-term neuroleptic medication who never or persistently displayed tardive dyskinesia. As advanced age is a main risk factor for tardive dyskinesia, we also compared older patients with a long duration of schizophrenia not displaying tardive dyskinesia to younger patients with a shorter duration of the illness displaying tardive dyskinesia. However, we found no evidence that the dopamine D3 receptor gene is likely to confer susceptibility to the development of tardive dyskinesia.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

[Reliability and validity of the German version of the Premorbid Adjustment Scale (PAS)].

The Premorbid Adjustment Scale (PAS) was developed by Cannon-Spoor et al. 1982 for research use and has gained importance internationally. This scale is designed to measure the extent of attaining developmental goals premorbidly. The German version is presented here, with first data on the reliability and validity of the scale. In a sample of schizophrenic and schizoaffective patients (n = 86) and healthy parents of the patients (n = 38), DSM-IV diagnosis was made and PAS and Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) data were taken along with information on the course of the disorder. Using Cronbachs alpha, the estimated reliability for the scale and subscales lay between 0.809 and 0.931. High PAS scores, representing poor premorbid adjustment, correlated significantly with low age of onset, high PANSS scores, insidious onset, long hospitalisation, and serious course of the disorder. The threshold of PAS scores between healthy and sick probands was at 0.23. Patients with scores > 0.53 appeared to have an unfavourable course. With test results > 0.23, an odds ratio of 27.9 was ascertained (95% CI 9.39-82.89). The findings presented correspond with those from previous reports in literature.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

Comparison of immunoassays for the detection of anti-GAD65 autoantibodies in patients with diabetes mellitus.

Recent studies have demonstrated that a combination of GAD-antibody assays and IA-2 autoantibody assays show a high diagnostic specificity for Type 1 diabetes. For this reason there is increasing interest in the use of GAD-antibody measurement for Type 1 risk assessment. Since a number of different assays have been published and documented in the literature, the aim of this study was to evaluate four different anti-GAD test systems that are commercially available in Germany. We tested the anti-GAD prevalences in five patient groups with the different immunoassays and compared them with the values obtained by an immunoprecipitation test (IP-Test). All assays correlated well with the IP-test and showed high sensitivity and specificity in the group of patients with recent onset Type 1 diabetes and the control group. The groups tested consisted of 20 subjects with recent onset Type 1 diabetes (< 6 weeks) (sensitivity 70-90%), nine subjects with a Type 1 duration of more than 2 years (sensitivity 11-33%), 21 patients with pluriglandular insufficiency (sensitivity 28.5-47.5%), 10 patients with Type 2 (specificity: 90-100%), and 14 healthy control subjects (specificity: 93-100%). Our data show a high level of sensitivity and specificity of the tested, commercially available, assays. Since almost every laboratory should be able to establish one of these assays, this may facilitate the possibility of further large scale population studies with the aim of investigating GAD-antibody prevalences in screening for Type 1 diabetes. Increased measurement of the diabetes-associated antibodies will be helpful in the differential diagnosis of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and latent autoimmune diabetes of the adult (LADA).

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

Reliability and validity of the premorbid adjustment scale (PAS) in a German sample of schizophrenic and schizoaffective patients.

Premorbid functioning seems to be a phenomenological marker that possibly distinguishes a subtype of schizophrenia. The Premorbid Adjustment Scale (PAS) is an instrument for measuring premorbid functioning. It has gained international acceptance, although little is known about the reliability and validity of the test. Here data on the reliability and validity of the test derived from a German sample of schizoaffective and schizophrenic subjects (n = 86) and their healthy parents (n = 38) is presented. The DSM-IV diagnosis, PAS and Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) data were used as well as data on the course of the disorder. The estimation of the reliability per scale by internal consistency showed high positive values of Cronbach's alpha between 0.809 and 0.931. High scores in PAS representing a bad premorbid social adjustment correlated significantly with a low age of onset, high PANSS scores, an insidious onset and a long period of hospitalisation. The disorganised DSM-IV subtype of schizophrenia showed a trend towards higher mean PAS scores. In the presented sample, the threshold between schizophrenics and healthy individuals is at 0.23. The PAS values higher than 0.53 appeared in patients with an unfavourable course of the disorder. These findings correspond with previous reports in the literature.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

Identification of group VS116 strains among Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato grown from the hard tick, Ixodes ricinus (Linnaeus, 1758) by off-coupled restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis.

A total of 67 spirochetal isolates grown from the hard tick, Ixodes ricinus were analysed by PCR amplification of the spacer region between two conserved structures, the 3' end of the 5S rRNA and the 5' end of the 23S rRNA genes of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato. A 246-255 bp amplicon was generated from 13 reference strains of B. burgdorferi sensu lato representing the three major genospecies, B. burgdorferi sensu stricto, B. garinii, and B. afzelii, and from all 67 spirochetal isolates from ticks but not from B. hermsii. As could be confirmed by DNA sequence analysis, restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis of the PCR product after cleavage with DraI and MseI distinguished between the three major genospecies: out of the 67 B. burgdorferi sensu lato isolates from ticks, 27 (40.3%) were typed as B. burgdorferi sensu stricto including five isolates with a unique DraI or MseI pattern. 26 isolates (38.8%) were typed as B. garinii and 6 (9.0%) as B. afzelii, respectively. A group of eight isolates (11.9%) displayed a unique MseI pattern identical to that described for a putative new European genospecies of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato designated VS116. DNA sequences of the PCR product of seven of these isolates tested were by less than 88.5% identical with the established European major genospecies but shared 98% to 100% homology with that of database-derived sequences of strain VS116 from Switzerland and strain UK from England which are both representatives of the European genomic group VS116.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and immunoblot analysis for detection of antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi in dogs. The impact of serum absorption with homologous and heterologous bacteriae.

Sera from 665 apparently healthy dogs were examined for antibodies to the Lyme disease spirochete Borrelia (B.) burgdorferi by using an ELISA with a whole cell sonicate of B. burgdorferi sensu stricto reference strain B31 (ATCC 35210) as antigen. To discover false positive reactions due to the unsatisfactory specificity of conventional enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays for B. burgdorferi, sera were absorbed in parallel with both B. burgdorferi and a heterologous sorbent consisting of whole cells of Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhimurium, and eight serovars of Leptospira interrogans. The difference between optical densities obtained in the ELISA after serum absorption with the heterologous sorbent and the B. burgdorferi sorbent was defined as a new value, "ODdiff", for ELISA reactivity specific for B. burgdorferi. ELISA results were confirmed by immunoblot studies. By testing unabsorbed sera, 48 of 665 serum samples (7.2%) were considered ELISA positive. 37 of these 48 sera (77.1%) were apparently false positive: here a similar reduction of ELISA reactivity was obtained after absorption with B. burgdorferi antigen and with the heterologous sorbent (ODdiff approximately equal to 0). None of these 37 sera gave immunoblot patterns characteristic for canine B. burgdorferi infection.

Animals↗