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Biomedical subjects

J Reiter

Publications and source records attributed to J Reiter.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Type 1 diabetes risk assessment: improvement by follow-up measurements in young islet autoantibody-positive relatives.

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: Combinations of autoantibody characteristics, including antibody number, titre, subclass and epitope have been shown to stratify type 1 diabetes risk in islet autoantibody-positive relatives. The aim of this study was to determine whether autoantibody characteristics change over time, the nature of such changes, and their implications for the development of diabetes. METHODS: Five-hundred and thirteen follow-up samples from 141 islet autoantibody-positive first-degree relatives were tested for islet autoantibody titre, IgG subclass, and GAD and IA-2 antibody epitope. All samples were categorised according to four risk stratification models. Relatives had a median follow-up of 6.8 years and 48 developed diabetes during follow-up. Survival analysis was used to determine the probability of change in risk category and of progression to diabetes. RESULTS: For each stratification model, the majority of relatives (71-81%) remained in the same risk category throughout follow-up. In the remainder, changes occurred both from lower to higher and from higher to lower risk categories. For all four models, relatives aged < 15 years were more likely to change risk category than those aged >15 years (0.001 < p < 0.03). Relatives whose autoantibody status changed from low- to high-risk categories had a higher risk of diabetes than relatives who remained in low-risk categories, and inclusion of autoantibody status during follow-up improved diabetes risk stratification in Cox proportional hazards models (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: Changes in islet autoantibodies are relevant to pathogenesis, and are likely to signal alterations in the disease process. Detection of changes through follow-up measurement will improve diabetes risk stratification, particularly in young individuals.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

The Current State of Solar Modeling

Data from the Global Oscillation Network Group (GONG) project and other helioseismic experiments provide a test for models of stellar interiors and for the thermodynamic and radiative properties, on which the models depend, of matter under the extreme conditions found in the sun. Current models are in agreement with the helioseismic inferences, which suggests, for example, that the disagreement between the predicted and observed fluxes of neutrinos from the sun is not caused by errors in the models. However, the GONG data reveal subtle errors in the models, such as an excess in sound speed just beneath the convection zone. These discrepancies indicate effects that have so far not been correctly accounted for; for example, it is plausible that the sound-speed differences reflect weak mixing in stellar interiors, of potential importance to the overall evolution of stars and ultimately to estimates of the age of the galaxy based on stellar evolution calculations.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1996

Development of the body dysmorphic disorder examination.

The Body Dysmorphic Disorder Examination (BDDE) is a semi-structured clinical interview designed to diagnose body dysmorphic disorder and to measure symptoms of severely negative body image. It tape into preoccupation with and negative evaluation of appearance, self-consciousness and embarrassment, excessive importance given to appearance in self-evaluation, avoidance of activities, body camouflaging, and body checking. The BDDE had adequate internal consistency and test-retest and interrater reliability. It correlated with measures of body image, negative self-esteem, and psychological symptoms, and was sensitive to change following treatment of body dysmorphic disorder. The BDDE distinguished body dysmorphic disorder patients from clinical and non-clinical control subjects and agreed with other clinicians' diagnosis of body dysmorphic disorder. The BDDE provided unique information in predicting clinical status when controlling for psychological adjustment and other measures of body image.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1996

[The optimization of group size for fattening rabbits in group housing on grids made of artificial material].

ZIKA-fattening rabbits in groups of 4, 8, 16, 32 and 64 animals (5 rabbits/m2) have been proved in 6 repetitions with all together 144 animals during the fattening period of nine weeks in regard to their fattening performance, health and behaviour. The aim was to find an optimal group size for fattening rabbits with respect to animal welfare. The results show, that fattening performance and health of the rabbits have not been influenced remarkably by group size, whereas behaviour was different in so far, as the rabbits in groups of 16 showed a greater percentage of relaxed positions as well as a remarkable smaller percentage of aggressive behaviour. Therefore the group with 16 fattening rabbits is that, which can be advised for the fattening of rabbits in the Hohenheimer group housing.

Animal Husbandry↗
PubMed1995

Assessment of body image in eating disorders with the body dysmorphic disorder examination.

The Body Dysmorphic Disorder Examination (BDDE) has several advantages for the assessment of body image in eating disorder patients. It measures distressing self-consciousness, preoccupation with appearance, overvalued ideas about the importance of appearance to one's self-worth, and body image avoidance and checking behaviors. The BDDE is relevant for any type of appearance complaint and is not limited to weight or body shape concerns. The BDDE measures the useful targets for body image therapy. In a sample of eating disorder patients, the Body Dysmorphic Disorder Exam had good internal consistency and was significantly correlated with other measures of body image. It added new information to the discrimination of women with eating disorders from clinical and nonclinical controls beyond that provided by other measures of body image.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Cognitive-behavioral body image therapy for body dysmorphic disorder.

Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is a distressing body image disorder that involves excessive preoccupation with physical appearance in a normal appearing person. Prior case reports of behavior therapy were encouraging, but no controlled evaluation of behavior therapy or any other type of treatment had been conducted. In the present study, 54 BDD subjects were randomly assigned to cognitive behavior therapy or no treatment. Patients were treated in small groups for eight 2-hour sessions. Therapy involved modification of intrusive thoughts of body dissatisfaction and overvalued beliefs about physical appearance, exposure to avoided body image situations, and elimination of body checking. Body dysmorphic disorder symptoms were significantly decreased in therapy subjects and the disorder was eliminated in 82% of cases at posttreatment and 77% at follow-up. Overall psychological symptoms and self-esteem also improved in therapy subjects.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Extracellular signal-regulated kinase (MAP kinase) immunoreactivity in the rhesus monkey brain.

Extracellular signal regulated kinases (ERKs) are a recently cloned family of genes that encode the MAP kinase protein kinases. They are highly expressed in brain and are believed to play an integral role in neural cellular responses to receptor activation. A role for ERKs has been postulated in Alzheimer's disease, where they have been implicated in phosphorylation of tau in neurofibrillary tangles. We explored the neuroanatomic distribution of ERK immunoreactivity in the rhesus monkey brain. The hippocampal formation, especially the mossy fiber zone and the molecular layer of the dentate gyrus are the most heavily immunostained areas. Cerebral cortex is, in general, more intensely stained in the supragranular layers. The caudate, putamen, and substantia nigra contain more immunoreactivity than the claustrum, globus pallidus, or thalamus with the exception of midline thalamic structures. These results suggest a marked regional and laminar distribution of ERKs in the primate brain.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

[Ethical aspects of gene manipulation].

It has become apparent that it is neither possible nor convenient to ignore all the possibilities of gene manipulation. Neither is it responsible to blindly trust in these techniques. The gains and risks must be weighed for every case. The recent amendment to the German guidelines for gene manipulation techniques does not mean that ethical discussions have ended, rather it is imperative that such discussions continue.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Extracellular signal regulated kinases. Localization of protein and mRNA in the human hippocampal formation in Alzheimer's disease.

MAP kinases (MAPK) are a family of serine/threonine (Ser/Thr) kinases that link cell surface signals to changes in enzyme activity and gene expression. They are the products of the newly described gene family referred to as extracellular signal regulated kinases (ERKs). Moreover, MAPKs phosphorylate tau in vitro at Ser/Thr Proline sites, generating a multiply phosphorylated tau protein that is similar to the hyperphosphorylated tau found in Alzheimer neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs). We studied MAPK immunoreactivity and in situ hybridization patterns of the two major genes that comprise MAPK activity, ERK1 and ERK2, in the human hippocampal formation. Our goal was to determine whether the pattern of ERK expression is consistent with the hypothesis that MAPKs contribute to NFT formation. ERK1 mRNA is present in small amounts and confined primarily to dentate gyrus granule cells. ERK2 mRNA, by contrast, gives a much stronger hybridization signal and is present in dentate gyrus granule cells and pyramidal cells throughout all hippocampal subfields and adjacent temporal neocortex. Quantitative measures of ERK2 mRNA reveal that NFT-bearing neurons contain approximately 15% less ERK2 mRNA than nearest neighbors that do not contain NFT. NFT-bearing neurons contain approximately 25% less polyA mRNA, suggesting a relative preservation of ERK2 mRNA even in metabolically compromised cells. MAPK immunoreactivity (which represents both ERK1 and ERK2) is seen in neuronal soma, dendrites, axons, and in reactive astrocytes. In Alzheimer's disease, neurons that contain NFTs are also MAPK immunoreactive, but neurons that contain the highest amounts of MAPK immunoreactivity are not necessarily vulnerable for NFT. MAPK immunoreactivity is present in the same neurons as NFT and in the same subcellular compartments as tau, supporting a role for MAPKs in tau phosphorylation in Alzheimer's disease. However, the presence of ERK immunoreactivity is not sufficient to predispose neurons to NFT formation.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

[Human dignity and Christian ethics].

The jurisdiction of most states presumes that human dignity is unconditional. Yet a last reason for this dignity cannot be furnished by a state jurisdiction. Christian ethics for instance argue on a line beyond strictly rational interpretation: human dignity roots in man's affirmation by God. Beyond a simply negative definition it is essential today to define the conditions of human dignity in a positive way.

Christianity↗
PubMed1989

Cooperative ligand-lattice binding. Approximate Gaussian binding distribution.

Nearest-neighbor cooperative binding of a ligand covering n sites and binding with equilibrium constant K and cooperativity factor omega to a large molecule with m binding sites (m much greater than n omega, n/omega) can be approximately described by a Gaussian distribution P(q-qmax), where q is the number of ligands bound and qmax the most probable value of q. The variance of the Gaussian is equal to the derivative dqmax/d ln(L), where L is the free ligand concentration. This variance, sigma 2, is a complicated function of qmax. However, in the limits of very large cooperativity, omega much greater than 1, very large anticooperativity, omega much less than 1, or noncooperativity, omega = 1, simpler expressions for sigma 2 can be given. For qmax = m/(n + 1), where the most probable number of bound ligands equals the number of free binding sites, sigma 2 has a particularly simple form: sigma 2 = 2m omega 1/2/(n + 1)3. The Gaussian and the infinite lattice approximations for the average number of ligands bound are good approximations only if sigma is much smaller than the number of binding sites. The variance may therefore provide an easy check on the validity of the infinite lattice approximation, which is commonly used to analyze experimental binding data.

Kinetics↗
PubMed1987

Influence of vasoactive intestinal peptide, secretin, and Ala4, Val5-secretin on the net movements of electrolytes, fluid, and mucus in the rat colon in vivo.

The effect of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), secretin, and VIP-secretin (Ala4, Val5-secretin) on the net movements of sodium, potassium, fluid, and mucus was investigated in the rat colon perfused in vivo. Peptides (1-100 micrograms/kg.h) were infused intra-arterially. VIP influenced electrolyte and fluid movements at a threshold dose 10- to 100-fold lower than secretin, whereas the secretory efficacy was not significantly different. Replacing the NH2-terminal hexapeptide of secretin by that of VIP did not markedly alter the effect of secretin. Mucus output was stimulated weakly by all three peptides. The results indicate that the larger colonic secretory activity of VIP as compared to secretin is not primarily due to the difference in their NH2-terminal sequence but probably requires the intact molecule.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

[Massive hemorrhage in Crohn disease--a rare complication].

Acute massive intestinal bleeding is a rare complication in Crohn's disease. Its occurrence has been quoted between one and 1.4 per cent in the literature, and it has been about two per cent among the authors' own patients. Reported in this paper are three of these cases with acute bleeding as indicator of the disease. In one of them the presence of Crohn's disease had been known for some time. In the second bleeding occurred as a complication to toxic megacolon. In the third patient bleeding was the first manifestation of Crohn's disease.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

[Mechanism of action of combined administration of glibenclamide and insulin in type II diabetics with secondary failure of oral treatment].

In a double-blind placebo-controlled cross-over study eight type II diabetics (three men, five women), of whom six were at the point of late failure to oral treatment, were given an insulin infusion of 22 U human insulin/patient for 45 min (approximately 7 microU/kg X min); 30 min before infusion either glibenclamide (1 tablet Euglucon N) or placebo was administered. Glucose in venous blood, C-peptide, insulin, and glibenclamide concentrations in the blood plasma were simultaneously determined over a period of 210 min. The monitoring of glucose was handled using a Biostator. The insulin level reached a mean maximum of 400 to 500 microU/ml and was in a behavior of 100 microU/ml for 60 min. The areas under the concentration-time curves (AUCs) were practically identical in the two regimes. The blood glucose fell (in mean) from 260 mg/dl to 135 mg/dl and at the end of the experiment was in the range of 155 mg/dl. The glibenclamide concentrations reached maximal concentrations of 185 ng/ml 90 min after administration. The C-peptide concentrations fell in the placebo phase by more than 40%. In contrast, in the glibenclamide period there was at first a slight rise and later a slight marginal fall (initial, 2.0 ng/ml vs 1.9 ng/ml; 60 min, 1.3 ng/ml vs 1.8 ng/ml; 180 min, 1.2 ng/ml vs 1.8 ng/ml). Values after 90, 120, and 180 min were statistically different. The AUCs (0-180 min) were different (329 ng X min/ml vs 251 ng X min/ml). The inhibition of insulin secretion (measured by C-peptide) caused by exogenous insulin administration is largely abolished by glibenclamide.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed1986

Antibody-mediated modulation of the immune response.

We have studied the ability of monoclonal IgM and IgG antibodies to enhance or suppress immune responses and attempted to dissect the underlying mechanisms. Both IgM and IgG1 antibodies increased the rate of clearance of antigen from the circulation. Monoclonal IgM antibody to SRBC was found to specifically increase antibody responses, enhancement being insensitive to low doses of irradiation (150 R). IgM antibody specifically depressed the delayed hypersensitivity response to SRBC in vivo. Following administration of IgM in vivo, in vitro responses to SRBC were also enhanced. This in vitro enhancement appeared to depend on both T cells and B cells. In contrast, monoclonal IgG1 antibody to SRBC specifically depressed antibody responses in vivo. Such depressed antibody responses were also seen in vitro following IgG1 in vivo and did not appear to be due to the induction of suppressor T cells.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Concordance of experimentally mapped or predicted Z-DNA sites with positions of selected alternating purine-pyrimidine tracts.

The recent electronmicroscopic and biochemical mapping of Z-DNA sites in phi X174, SV40, pBR322 and PM2 DNAs has been used to determine two sets of criteria for identification of potential Z-DNA sequences in natural DNA genomes. The prediction of potential Z-DNA tracts and corresponding statistical analysis of their occurrence have been made on a sample of 14 DNA genomes. Alternating purine and pyrimidine tracts longer than 5 base pairs in length and their clusters (quasi alternating fragments) in the 14 genomes studied are under-represented compared to the expectation from corresponding random sequences. The fragments [d(G X C)]n and [d(C X G)]n (n greater than or equal to 3) in general do not occur in circular DNA genomes and are under-represented in the linear DNAs of phages lambda and T7, whereas in linear genomes of adenoviruses they are strongly over-represented. With minor exceptions, potential Z-DNA sites are also under-represented compared to random sequences. In the 14 genomes studied, predicted Z-DNA tracts occur in non-coding as well as in protein coding regions. The predicted Z-DNA sites in phi X174, SV40, pBR322 and PM2 correspond well with those mapped experimentally. A complete listing together with a compact graphical representation of alternating purine-pyrimidine fragments and their Z-forming potential are presented.

Animals↗