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Biomedical subjects

J Mutter

Publications and source records attributed to J Mutter.

7 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

[Amalgam risk assessment with coverage of references up to 2005].

Amalgam, which has been in use in dentistry for 150 years, consists of 50 % elemental mercury and a mixture of silver, tin, copper and zinc. Minute amounts of mercury vapour are released continuously from amalgam. Amalgam contributes substantially to human mercury load. Mercury accumulates in some organs, particularly in the brain, where it can bind to protein more tightly than other heavy metals (e. g. lead, cadmium). Therefore, the elimination half time is assumed to be up to 1 - 18 years in the brain and bones. Mercury is assumed to be one of the most toxic non-radioactive elements. There are pointers to show that mercury vapour is more neurotoxic than methyl-mercury in fish. Review of recent literature suggests that mercury from dental amalgam may lead to nephrotoxicity, neurobehavioural changes, autoimmunity, oxidative stress, autism, skin and mucosa alterations or non-specific symptoms and complaints. The development of Alzheimer's disease or multiple sclerosis has also been linked to low-dose mercury exposure. There may be individual genetical or acquired susceptibilities for negative effects from dental amalgam. Mercury levels in the blood, urine or other biomarkers do not reflect the mercury load in critical organs. Some studies regarding dental amalgam reveal substantial methodical flaws. Removal of dental amalgam leads to permanent improvement of various chronic complaints in a relevant number of patients in various trials. Summing up, available data suggests that dental amalgam is an unsuitable material for medical, occupational and ecological reasons.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Amalgam studies: disregarding basic principles of mercury toxicity.

Dental amalgam, which has been used for over 150 years in dental practice, consists of about 50% metallic mercury. Studies on animal and humans show that mercury is continuously released from dental amalgam and absorbed by several body tissues. It is widely accepted that the main source of mercury vapor is dental amalgam and it contributes substantially to mercury load in human body tissues. There is still a controversy about the consequences of this additional mercury exposure from amalgam to human health. Many studies were performed to evaluate possible adverse effects. In this comment, these studies were analyzed with regard to their methodical quality by considering the newest findings on mercury toxicity and metabolism. In sum, a number of studies are methodically flawed drawing inaccurate conclusions as to the safety of dental amalgam.

Dental Amalgam↗
PubMed2003

Comparative in vitro activity of piperacillin, piperacillin-sulbactam and piperacillin-tazobactam against nosocomial pathogens isolated from intensive care patients.

We investigated the antimicrobial activity of piperacillin-tazobactam versus piperacillin-sulbactam against common nosocomial pathogens (n = 565) isolated from intensive care patients. For Gram-positive bacteria, antimicrobial susceptibilities to the two piperacillin-beta-lactamase inhibitor combinations were almost identical. For Gram-negative bacteria, piperacillin-tazobactam exhibited greater activity against Escherichia coli and Proteus vulgaris than piperacillin-sulbactam. Both combinations, however, were equally effective against the other Enterobacteriaceae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates. Piperacillin-sulbactam exhibited better antimicrobial activity against Acinetobacter baumannii. Our findings might prove important for the appropriate choice of antibiotic therapy with beta-lactam-beta-lactamase inhibitor combinations.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗
PubMed2002

The initiation of smooth pursuit eye movements and saccades in normal subjects and in "express-saccade makers".

A vast knowledge exists about saccadic reaction times (RT) and their bi- or multimodal distributions with very fast (express) and regular RT. Recently, there has been some evidence that the smooth pursuit system may show a similar RT behavior. Since moving targets usually evoke a combined pursuit/saccade response, we asked which processes influence the initiation of pursuit and saccadic eye movements. Furthermore, we investigated whether and how the pursuit and saccadic system interact during the initiation of eye movements to moving targets. We measured the RT of the initial smooth pursuit (iSP) response and of the first corrective saccade and compared the RT behavior of both. Furthermore we compared the behavior of the corrective saccades to moving targets to that of saccades to stationary targets, known from the literature. The stimulus consisted of a target that moved suddenly at constant velocity (ramp). In addition, prior to the movement, a temporal gap, a position step or a combination of both could occur (gap-ramp, step-ramp, gap-step-ramp, respectively). Differently from most previous studies, we chose step and ramp with the same direction to provoke competition between the pursuit and saccade system. For the first time we investigated pursuit initiation in "express-saccade makers" (ES makers), a subject group known to produce an abnormally high percentage of short-latency saccades in saccade tasks. We compared their results with subject groups who were either naive or trained with respect to saccade tasks. The iSP started at approximately 100 ms, which corresponds to express saccade latencies. These short iSP-RT occurred reflex-like and almost independent of the experimental task. A bimodal frequency distribution of RT with a second peak of longer iSP-RT occurred exclusively in the ramp paradigm. The RT of the first corrective saccades in a pursuit task were comparable with that in a saccade task and depended on the stimulus. The ability of ES makers to produce a high number of express saccades was transferred to corrective saccades in the pursuit task, but not to pursuit initiation. In summary, short-latency pursuit responses differ from express saccades with respect to their independence of experiment and subject group. Therefore, a simple analogy to express saccades cannot be drawn, although some mechanisms seem to act similarly on both the pursuit and the saccade system (such as disengagement of attention with the gap effect). Furthermore, we found evidence that the initial pursuit response and the first corrective saccade are processed independently of each other. The first corrective saccades to moving targets behave like saccades to stationary targets. Normal pursuit but abnormal saccade RT of ES makers can be explained by recent theories of superior colliculus (SC) function in terms of retinal error handling.

Brain↗
PubMed2002

[Proven and unproven hygiene measures in orthopedics].

Postoperative wound infections develop in approximately 2-5% of all patients after orthopedic surgery. After urinary tract infection and pneumonia, such wound infections (15%) are the third most frequent type of hospital-acquired infection. In this review we summarize all proven and unproven hygiene measures available in orthopedics, giving special attention to those implemented with the aim of preventing and controlling postoperative wound infections. Routine application only of hygiene procedures of proven efficacy will be an important contribution to economic and ecological quality assurance in hospital.

Cross Infection↗
PubMed1984

Central angiotensin-induced water intake and salt appetite in the pig.

Single intracranial injections of the peptide analogues of angiotensin and the enzyme renin induced drinking of water and 1.8% NaCl solution in prepubertal female pigs maintained ad libitum on a sodium-free diet with unrestricted access to both fluids. Over the dose range 10(-12)-10(-9) mol angiotensin (AI), angiotensin II (AII), angiotensin III (AIII), and renin substrate (RS), the volumes of water and salt solution ingested were dose-dependent. As in other vertebrates, AII was the most potent and rapidly acting dipsogen. However, unlike in the rat, dog and pigeon, AIII was highly effective in stimulating both water intake and salt appetite, whereas AI and RS were relatively weak. Pretreatment of intracranial sites with 10(-9) mol of the AII competitive antagonist, Sar1-Ala8-angiotensin, had no effect on the volume of water or 1.8% NaCl ingested after 10(-10) mol AIII, suggesting that in the pig AIII can exert its dipsogenic effects without acting on central AII receptors. Single microinjections of 1 and 10 mU of renin also elicited dose-dependent drinking of water and 1.8% NaCl, but compared with the peptide analogues of angiotensin the responses had a longer latency and duration and were more variable between individual animals.

Angiotensins↗