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Biomedical subjects

J L Rothstein

Publications and source records attributed to J L Rothstein.

4 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Depressed serum high density lipoprotein cholesterol levels in veterans with spinal cord injury.

Cardiovascular diseases are the most frequent cause of death among persons with spinal cord injury (SCI), and these diseases are reported to occur prematurely in the disabled compared to the able bodied population. The mechanism of accelerated coronary heart disease (CHD) in persons with SCI may be partially explicable on the basis of the lipoprotein profile. We performed fasting lipoprotein determinations on 100 veterans with SCI, 50 with paraplegia and 50 with quadriplegia, and 50 veteran controls. The mean age of the subjects with SCI was 47.8 +/- 1.4 years with a duration of injury of 16.3 +/- 1.2 years. The mean serum high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol was depressed in subjects with paraplegia or quadriplegia compared to controls (37 +/- 1 or 40 +/- 1 versus 48 +/- 2 mg/dL, p < 0.0001). Although serum total cholesterol was lower (p < 0.01) in subjects with SCI than in controls, there was no significant difference in mean serum low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol. Thirty-seven percent of subjects with SCI have serum HDL cholesterol levels less than 35 mg/dL with no significant difference in lipoprotein distribution between high and low cord lesions. Eighteen percent of individuals with SCI have an absolute elevation of LDL cholesterol (greater than 160 mg/dL). About 40% of those with SCI and LDL cholesterol levels between 130 and 160 mg/dL also have serum HDL cholesterol values below 35 mg/dL, all of whom would have their serum HDL cholesterol level undetected if lipoprotein profiles were performed according to present recommendations--that is, only if the serum total cholesterol is elevated.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Drug use and abuse in an urban veteran spinal cord injured population.

Substance abuse in the spinal cord injured (SCI) population has been addressed in a few controlled studies. These reports have led to the belief that many SCI patients were illicit drug users prior to their injury and that their drug abuse was a contributing cause of their accidents. One large study determined from answers obtained on a questionnaire that drug abuse, other than alcohol, was prevalent among injured veterans. Our study uses urine toxicology to determine the frequency of drug use and abuse, excluding alcohol, in 72 inpatients and 81 outpatients associated with an urban Veterans Affairs Medical Center. In a blinded experiment, urinary concentrations of opiates, barbiturates, amphetamines, methadone, benzodiazepines, and cocaine were determined with Syva reagents on an Abbott VP. Urinary cannabinoids were determined using Abbott TDX and the FPIA method. The use of illicit (unprescribed) drugs was surprisingly low (< or = 13 percent) for an urban medical center. Outpatient cannabinoid abuse was significantly more frequent than inpatient usage (p < 0.01). Barbiturates were not found in any patient. Benzodiazepines were taken most commonly (29 percent). Since benzodiazepine usage is the direct result of physician prescription, wide-spread usage of this agent is avoidable. Physicians should pay attention to the probable deleterious consequences of benzodiazepine addiction related to depressive effects on the central nervous system caused by its chronic use.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Gene expression during preimplantation mouse development.

To develop a resource for the identification and isolation of genes expressed in the early mammalian embryo, large and representative cDNA libraries were constructed from unfertilized eggs, and two-cell, eight-cell, and blastocyst-stage mouse embryos. Using these libraries, we now report the first stages at which the cytokines interleukin (IL)-6, IL-1 beta, and interferon (IFN)-gamma are transcribed in the developing embryo and the presence of IL-7 transcripts in the unfertilized egg. Transcripts for IL-1 alpha, -2, -3, -4, or -5 were not detected at these stages. To identify novel genes expressed on activation of the embryonic genome, the egg and eight-cell stage-specific cDNA libraries were subtracted from the two-cell library, yielding a specialized cDNA library enriched for transcripts expressed at the two-cell stage. Sequence and Southern blot analysis of several of these cDNAs expressed predominantly at the two-cell stage of embryogenesis revealed them to be from novel genes, thereby providing the first molecular tools with which to approach the study of gene expression in the early mammalian embryo.

Animals↗