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Biomedical subjects

J Petrie

Publications and source records attributed to J Petrie.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Can general anaesthesia be used for the Paralytic Shellfish Poison bioassay?

The current method for Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP) testing in shellfish is based on the mouse bioassay (MBA), which involves injecting shellfish extract into a conscious mouse, and then converting its time to death into PSP toxicity using Sommer's table. To improve animal welfare, the present study investigated the use of anaesthesia. A saxitoxin (STX) calibration study was conducted where known amounts of STX were injected into both unanaesthetised and anaesthetised mice. Death time was approximately doubled when mice were anaesthetised. Both unanaesthetised and anaesthetised animals showed a linear relationship between the inverse death time and log(STX). Based on these data, new calibration curves were developed. This study revealed that the current method employing Sommer's table underestimates toxicity by up to 50% for higher toxin levels. Subsequently, shellfish samples were tested on both unanaesthetised and anaesthetised mice. Using the new calibration curves, the numbers of samples exceeding the field closure limit were similar for unanaesthetised and anaesthetised mice, and were nearly two-fold higher than those obtained with the current method. The studies showed that the bioassay gives variable results for both unanaesthetised and anaesthetised animals. Anaesthesia forms a viable and more ethical alternative to the current bioassay, at least in the short term. A practical summary on how to conduct this method is given.

Anesthetics, General↗
PubMed2004

Insulin resistance as a contributor to myocardial ischaemia independent of obstructive coronary atheroma: a role for insulin sensitisation?

There is good evidence to suggest that insulin resistance and its surrogate markers are at least modest independent cardiovascular risk factors. However, as well as long term effects on atheromatous coronary disease, there is a well described correlation between markers of insulin resistance and endothelial dysfunction. In this review, the evidence for a relation between endothelial dysfunction and myocardial ischaemia is summarised. The evidence for a correlation between insulin resistance and endothelial dysfunction and the proposed cellular mechanisms are also examined. Finally, the potential role for insulin sensitising strategies is looked at and recent data examining their effects on both endothelial function and clinical symptoms is examined. In conclusion, it was found that insulin sensitising modalities have a potential role in the amelioration of angina and that randomised controlled studies are therefore warranted.

Angina Pectoris↗
PubMed2001

Government failure?

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Delivery of Health Care↗
PubMed2001

Intravenous anesthetics.

Intravenous anesthetics continue to be a mainstay in the modern anesthesiologist's armamentarium. In this review the authors will discuss new advancements in the use of propofol, as well as a greater understanding as to its mechanism of action. Further, we will discuss the use of target controlled infusion systems, touch upon the possible benefits of the ultra-short acting opioids, and consider the role of alpha-2 agonists as an adjunct to anesthetic management.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2001

Consumer satisfaction with an adolescent inpatient psychiatric unit.

OBJECTIVE: To explore factors influencing the satisfaction of patients, parents, and referring clinicians who used the services of an adolescent inpatient psychiatric unit, and to explore how levels of satisfaction related to the patient's symptomatic and functional improvement during the admission. METHOD: All 105 adolescents, their families, and the referring community clinicians who used an inpatient service over a 1-year period were asked to rate the patient's symptoms and functioning on admission, at discharge, and 4 months after the patient's return to the community. We obtained satisfaction ratings at discharge, and consumers were asked to rate helpfulness of the ward experience at 4 months postdischarge. Ward psychiatrists provided Children's Global Assessment Scale (CGAS) ratings and diagnoses over the course of the inpatient stay. RESULTS: Most of the patients (83%) improved during their admission. Consumer satisfaction ratings correlated with improvement of self-identified problems and with the perceived usefulness of discharge recommendations. Satisfaction did not, however, correlate with the patient's symptomatic and functional progress. Interaction with ward staff was an important source of both positive and negative experiences. CONCLUSION: Our study indicates that inpatient psychiatric staff should attend closely to the consumer's perception of difficulties and the need for practical discharge recommendations.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Altered gabaa receptor subunit and splice variant expression in rats treated with chronic intermittent ethanol.

BACKGROUND: Intermittent chronic administration of ethanol to rats has been shown previously to produce a hyperexcitable, kindling-like state, accompanied by reduced inhibitory synaptic transmission in the hippocampus and changes in gamma-aminobutyric acid type A (GABAA) receptors. Further information is needed on the detailed changes in GABAA receptors and their time course and persistence, as is comparison to changes after chronic, continuous ethanol. METHODS: GABAA receptors were analyzed in the rat brain after chronic intermittent ethanol (CIE) by using radioligand binding, photoaffinity labeling of polypeptides, and estimates of messenger RNA (mRNA) levels of receptor subunits by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and in situ hybridization. RESULTS: CIE rats were confirmed to have increased GABAA receptor binding of the benzodiazepine partial inverse agonist and ethanol antidote ligand Ro15-4513, due to increased expression of the alpha6 subunit polypeptide in the cerebellum, shown by photoaffinity labeling. Estimates of mRNA levels by use of RT-PCR did not reveal any significant increase in alpha6 or in several other receptor subunits in several brain regions, but a decrease in the ratio of the long and short splice variants (L/S) of the gamma2 subunit was detected in the hippocampus, especially the CA1 region. CONCLUSIONS: Changes in GABAA receptors were found in rats given CIE. Increased alpha6 subunit in the cerebellum was demonstrated by using both the binding to diazepam-insensitive sites for [3H]Ro15-4513 and increased levels of the 57-kDa alpha6 polypeptide after photoaffinity labeling with this ligand. This increase appeared after 30 doses of ethanol and decayed to normal 1 week after ethanol was discontinued. The transient change in cerebellar alpha6 subunit-containing receptors, also reportedly seen after chronic continuous ethanol, is thus unlikely to account for the persistently hyperexcitable, kindled, seizure-susceptible state seen in CIE. However, the significant decrease in gamma2 subunit L/S splice variant ratio in the hippocampus implies changes in GABAA receptor function, possibly involving protein phosphorylation by protein kinase C. Altered receptor trafficking and turnover associated with synaptic plasticity may contribute to the observed reduced inhibition in the hippocampus and other signs of alcohol dependence produced by CIE.

Alcoholism↗
PubMed2000

Predicting IQ of biologically "at risk" children from age 3 to school entry: sensitivity and specificity of the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale IV.

Predictive validity of the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale Fourth Edition (S-B IV) from age 3 years to ages 4-5 years was evaluated with biologically "at risk" children without major sensory or motor impairments (n = 236). Using the standard scoring, children with full scale IQ < or = 84 on the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence at age 4-5 years were poorly identified (sensitivity 54%) from the composite S-B IV score at age 3. However, sensitivity improved greatly to 78% by including as a predictor the number of subtests the child was actually able to perform at age 3 years. Measures from the Home Screening Questionnaire and ratings of mother-child interaction further improved sensitivity to 83%. The standard method for calculating the composite score on the S-B IV excludes subtests with a raw score of 0, which overestimates cognitive functioning in young biologically high risk children. Accuracy of early identification was improved significantly by considering the number of subtests the child did not perform at age 3 years.

Brain Damage, Chronic↗
PubMed1998

Vibrio viscosus in farmed Atlantic salmon Salmo salar in Scotland: field and experimental observations.

Winter mortality occurred in market-sized (2 to 3 kg) Atlantic salmon Salmo salar reared in sea cages in Scottish waters. Many of the fish had skin ulcers. Internally prominent dark-brown petechiae or ecchymotic haemorrhage was observed. Splenomegaly was associated with congestion and widespread necrosis. A Vibrio sp. was isolated from internal organs. Biochemically isolates of the bacterium were similar to a previously described bacterium, Vibrio viscosus, recorded in a phenotypic study from farmed salmon in Norway. This work examines the occurrence of V. viscosus in marine-reared Atlantic salmon for the first time in Scottish waters. An experimental study reproduced the field observations and Koch's postulates were fulfilled. The histopathology associated with natural infection was compared with that in laboratory-infected fish.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

Advanced donor-origin melanoma in a renal transplant recipient: immunotherapy, cure, and retransplantation.

BACKGROUND: A kidney transplant recipient inadvertently contracted donor-origin melanoma, which was found to be very advanced at presentation. Withdrawal of immunosuppression failed to induce rejection, and interferon-alpha was required. When florid allograft rejection was in progress, the allograft was removed, before it was recognized that the transplanted melanoma was not being simultaneously rejected. METHODS: Subsequent immunotherapy was required, which largely recapitulated treatment of recognized value in autologous melanoma and included interferon-alpha, use of cultured melanoma cells as tumor vaccine, pooled allogeneic cell vaccination, and adoptive immunotherapy using lymphokine-activated killer cells. RESULTS: Prolonged immunotherapy eradicated the widespread malignancy, and the patient went on to a successful second renal transplant, with follow-up of over 24 months. CONCLUSIONS: This unique case demonstrates the successful cure of advanced transplanted melanoma through the use of immunotherapy, which did not require sophisticated tumor vaccine technology, and successful retransplantation.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Transitional cell carcinoma in renal transplant recipients: the influence of compound analgesics.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the incidence of transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) in a renal transplant population and to compare the pattern of neoplasia in patients with analgesic nephropathy (AN) with that in other patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Using the Australia and New Zealand Dialysis and Transplant Registry, renal transplant recipients of the Princess Alexandra Hospital with TCC were identified. They were separated into two groups based on their primary disease, i.e. AN (group 1) and other causes of renal failure (group 2). The age at diagnosis of TCC, site, grade, stage of TCC and outcome were then compared between the groups. RESULTS: There were 250 (15%) patients in group 1 and 1424 (85%) in group 2; seven patients in each group were found to have TCC, which thus occurred more frequently in the AN group (2.8%) than in group 2 (0.49%). In group 1, five patients died, four from metastatic disease; of these, the mean time from transplantation to diagnosis of the initial tumour was 4.4 years, with a mean time from diagnosis to death of 9 months. In contrast, there were no deaths from metastatic disease in group 2. In group 1, all patients had upper tract tumours, with five patients also having bladder involvement. The upper tract tumours tended to be of a high stage and grade (grade II-III) and were aggressive. In group 2, all the tumours were confined to the bladder and tended to be of low stage and grade (grade I-II Ta). CONCLUSIONS: Patients undergoing renal transplantation as a result of AN are at high risk of developing TCCs of the upper urinary tracts. These tumours tend to be of a high grade and stage and the patients have a poor outcome. Screening with urine analysis and voided urine cytology do not appear to be reliable for the early diagnosis of upper renal tract TCCs in the renal transplant patient. We advocate annual cystoscopy and retrograde ureteric catheterization with washings, brushings and radiological imaging to diagnose upper tract TCCs at an early stage. These patients should also be screened before transplantation using the same technique.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Children's judgements about pain at age 8-10 years: do extremely low birthweight (< or = 1000 g) children differ from full birthweight peers?

Children's judgements about pain at age 8-10 years were examined comparing two groups of children who had experienced different exposure to nociceptive procedures in the neonatal period: extremely low birthweight (ELBW) < or = 1000 g (N = 47) and full birthweight (FBW) > or = 2500 g (N = 37). The 24 pictures that comprise the Pediatric Pain Inventory, depicting events in four settings: medical, recreational, daily living, and psychosocial, were used as the pain stimuli. The subjects rated pain intensity using the Color Analog Scale and pain affect using the Facial Affective Scale. Child IQ and maternal education were statistically adjusted in group comparisons. Pain intensity and pain affect related to activities of daily living and recreation were significantly higher than psychosocial and medically related pain on both scales in both groups of children. Although the two groups of children did not differ overall in their perceptions of pain intensity or affect, the ELBW children rated medical pain intensity significantly higher than psychosocial pain, unlike the FBW group. Also, duration of neonatal intensive care unit stay for the ELBW children was related to increased pain affect ratings in recreational and daily living settings. Despite altered response to pain in the early years reported by parents, on the whole at 8-10 years of age ELBW children judged pain in pictures similarly to their term peers. However, differences were evident, which suggests that studies are needed of biobehavioural reactivity to pain beyond infancy, as well as research into beliefs, attitudes, and perceptions about pain during the course of childhood in formerly ELBW children.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1997

Video-thoracoscopic surgical interruption of patent ductus arteriosus. Routine experience in 332 pediatric cases.

OBJECTIVE: Pediatric video-assisted thoracic surgery closure of patent ductus arteriosus can now be performed on a routine basis. We review here our entire experience with this technique. METHODS: Three hundred and thirty two consecutive patients underwent video-assisted closure of patent ductus arteriosus from September 1991 to September 1996. Indications were symptomatic ductus or failure of closure in older children. All complications were carefully noted, as well as intensive care unit stay, and operating room time. RESULTS: Patients were divided in three age groups: less than 6 months (101 patients, 31%), 6-48 months (179 patients, 54%), greater than 48 months (52 patients, 16%). The mean weight was 12.6 kg (range 1.2-65 kg). Associated cardiac anomalies were atrial septal defect (3), ventricular septal defect (5), anomalous pulmonary venous return (1). Six patients had a residual shunt following video-assisted interruption. Five patients had successful immediate clip repositioning (three via video-assisted interruption, two via thoracotomy). One patient continued to have a small shunt, which is followed medically. Complications included recurrent laryngeal nerve dysfunction in six patients (1.8%) (five transient, one persistent). Mean operating time was 20 +/- 1.5 mn and hospital stay averaged 48 h (> 6 months), 72 h (< 6 months). CONCLUSIONS: Interruption of patent ductus can be safely performed by video-assisted technique with minimal morbidity and no mortality. It can be performed in all age group with minimal hospital stay.

Child, Preschool↗