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Biomedical subjects

John Lewis

Publications and source records attributed to John Lewis.

22 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed2002

Complete sequence of a novel highly divergent simian T-cell lymphotropic virus from wild-caught red-capped mangabeys (Cercocebus torquatus) from Cameroon: a new primate T-lymphotropic virus type 3 subtype.

Among 65 samples obtained from a primate rescue center located in Cameroon, two female adult red-capped mangabeys (Cercocebus torquatus) (CTO-602 and CTO-604), of wild-caught origin, had a peculiar human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 2 (HTLV-2)-like Western blot seroreactivity (p24, RGD21, +/-K55). Analyses of the simian T-cell lymphotropic virus type 3 (STLV-3)/CTO-604 complete proviral sequence (8,919 bp) indicated that this novel strain was highly divergent from HTLV-1 (60% nucleotide similarity), HTLV-2 (62%), or STLV-2 (62%) prototypes. It was, however, related to STLV-3/PH-969 (87%), a divergent STLV strain previously isolated from an Eritrean baboon. The STLV-3/CTO-604 sequence possesses the major open reading frames corresponding to the structural, enzymatic, and regulatory proteins. However, its long terminal repeat is shorter, with only two 21-bp repeats. Furthermore, as demonstrated by reverse transcriptase PCR, this new STLV exhibits significant differences from STLV-3/PH-969 at the mRNA splice junction position level. In all phylogenetic analyses, STLV-3/CTO-604 and STLV-3/PH-969 clustered in a highly supported single clade, indicating an evolutionary lineage independent from primate T-lymphotropic virus type 1 (PTLV-1) and PTLV-2. Nevertheless, the nucleotide divergence between STLV-3/PH-969 and STLV-3/CTO-604 is equivalent to or higher than the divergence observed between the different HTLV-1 or HTLV-2 subtypes. Thus, the STLV-3/CTO-604 strain can be considered the prototype of a second subtype in the PTLV-3 type. The presence of two related viruses in evolutionarily distantly related African monkeys species, living in two opposite ecosystems (rain forest versus desert), reinforces the possible African origin of PTLV and opens new avenues regarding the search for a possible human counterpart of these viruses in individuals exhibiting such HTLV-2-like seroreactivities.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

Posttraumatic stress disorder among Cuban children and adolescents after release from a refugee camp.

OBJECTIVE: The authors compared self-reported symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in a cohort of Cuban children and adolescents with assessments of internalizing and externalizing behaviors by the children's teachers. METHODS: Eighty-seven children and adolescents who had left Cuba by sea in the summer of 1994 and who had been confined to refugee camps for up to eight months before arriving in the United States were evaluated four to six months later. Self-reported symptoms of PTSD were assessed with the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Reactive Index, and internalizing and externalizing behaviors were assessed with the Child Behavioral Check List-Teacher Report Form. RESULTS: A majority of the children reported moderate to severe PTSD symptoms. The most common symptom clusters were avoidance (67 percent), regressive behaviors (64 percent), reexperiencing the traumatic events (60 percent), somatic symptoms (52 percent), and hyperarousal (51 percent). Eighty-six percent of the children reported that the refugee experience had severely affected most of their peers. A statistically significant dose-effect relationship was found between the number of stressors and the severity of self-reported PTSD symptoms. There was a modest relationship between withdrawn behavior and children's feelings that they would die at sea and witnessing violence at the camps. Age and witnessing violence in the camps were moderately associated with PTSD. Teachers' overall ratings of externalizing and internalizing behaviors did not produce any clinically significant findings. CONCLUSIONS: PTSD symptoms among refugee children and adolescents who have been exposed to multiple and prolonged stressors may continue unabated after the stressors are removed. The symptoms are experienced subjectively and may go unnoticed by adults.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Multidisciplinary pain facility treatment outcome for pain-associated fatigue.

OBJECTIVES: Fatigue is frequently found in chronic pain patients (CPPs) and may be etiologically related to the presence of pain. Fishbain et al. have recently demonstrated that chronic low back pain (LBP) and chronic neck pain patients are more fatigued than controls. The purpose of this study was to determine whether chronic LBP- and chronic neck pain-associated fatigue responded to multidisciplinary multimodal treatment not specifically targeted to the treatment of fatigue. DESIGN: A total of 85 chronic LBP and 33 chronic neck pain patients completed the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI), Neuropathic Pain Scale (NPS), and Beck Depression Inventory on admission. In addition, an information tool was completed on each CPP by the senior author. This tool listed demographic information, primary and secondary pain diagnoses, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition (DSM-IV) psychiatric diagnoses assigned, pain location, pain precipitating event, type of injury, years in pain, number of surgeries, type of surgery, type of pain pattern, opioids consumed per day in morphine equivalents, worker compensation status, and whether, according to the clinical examination, the CPP had a neuropathic pain component. At completion of the multidisciplinary multimodal treatment, each CPP again completed the MFI. Student's t-test was utilized to test for statistical changes on the MFI five scales from pre- to post-treatment. Pearson and point-biserial correlations were utilized to determine which variables significantly correlated with MFI change scores. Variables found significant at less than or equal to 0.01 were utilized in a stepwise aggression analysis to find variables predictive of change in MFI scores. SETTING: Multidisciplinary pain facility. PATIENTS: Chronic LBP and chronic neck pain patients. RESULTS: Multidisciplinary multimodal treatment significantly improved CPP fatigue as measured by the MFI. The available variables utilized to predict fatigue best explained only a small percentage (28.9%) of the variance. Improvement in fatigue was related to NPS-10 scale scores (neuropathic pain) and a previous diagnosis of fibromyalgia. CONCLUSIONS: Multidisciplinary multimodal pain facility treatment improves chronic LBP- and neck pain-associated fatigue. At the present time we cannot predict this improvement with significant accuracy.

Fatigue↗