PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

K J Schultz

Publications and source records attributed to K J Schultz.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1984

Corneal endothelial changes in type I and type II diabetes mellitus.

Forty-six corneas from 25 patients who had had type II (adult-onset) diabetes for more than ten years were examined by specular microscopy with quantitative morphometric analyses of individual endothelial cells. Thirty-four corneas from 21 age-matched nondiabetic subjects were examined for comparison. We also examined 31 corneas from 17 patients with type I (juvenile-onset) diabetes and compared them to 41 corneas from 23 age-matched normal volunteers. The corneal endothelium in type II diabetes showed no difference in cell density but demonstrated a significantly higher coefficient of variation, a decrease in the percentage of hexagonal cells, and a low figure coefficient compared to an age-matched nondiabetic population. Type I diabetes produced similar cell changes, but these changes occurred in the earlier decades. Moreover, we detected a significantly higher rate of cell loss in type I diabetes, resulting in a significant decrease in cell density in the fourth and fifth decades. These results clearly indicate that the diabetic endothelium is morphologically abnormal. The observed anatomic changes result in a less stable and more vulnerable cell layer, possibly explaining some of the persistent clinical changes in the diabetic cornea after surgical trauma.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Damage to the epithelial basement membrane in the corneas of diabetic rabbits.

Epithelial healing problems and basement membrane abnormalities have been observed in the corneas of patients with diabetes mellitus. In this study the rates of corneal epithelial wound healing following transcorneal freezing (with a 6-mm-diameter probe cooled in liquid nitrogen) were compared in diabetic (alloxan-induced) and nondiabetic rabbits. Also compared was the extent of injury to the epithelial basement membrane between the two groups. The overall rate of wound healing was faster in the diabetic animals; the wounds closed at 40 hours after freezing in diabetic animals and at 45 hours after in the nondiabetic controls. The lamina densa of the basement membrane was removed by the freezing procedure in two thirds of the diabetic animals but not in any of the controls. The results of this study indicate that epithelial healing problems in diabetes may be related to damage to the basement membrane, with resulting poor adhesion of regenerating epithelial cells.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Diabetic keratopathy as a manifestation of peripheral neuropathy.

In a study of 102 patients (64 women and 38 men; 63 whites and 39 nonwhites; 77 with adult-onset disease and 25 with juvenile-onset disease), the data, after being adjusted for age, showed that diabetic peripheral neuropathy was associated with diabetic keratopathy. The strongest predictor of both keratopathy and corneal fluorescein staining was vibration perception threshold in the toes (P less than .01); the severity of keratopathy was directly related to the degree of diminution of peripheral sensation. Other predictors of keratopathy were reduced tear break-up time (P less than .03), the type of diabetes (P less than .01), and metabolic status, shown by fasting C-peptide levels (P less than .01). No significant relationships were found between keratopathy and tear glucose levels, endothelial cell densities, corneal thickness, or duration of disease.

Aged↗
PubMed1983

Diabetic corneal neuropathy.

Corneal epithelial lesions can be found in approximately one-half of asymptomatic patients with diabetes mellitus. These lesions are transient and clinically resemble the keratopathy seen in staphylococcal keratoconjunctivitis. Staphylococcal organisms, however, can be isolated in equal percentages from diabetic patients without keratopathy. Diabetic peripheral neuropathy was found to be related to the presence of diabetic keratopathy after adjusting for age with analysis of covariance. The strongest predictor of both keratopathy and corneal fluorescein staining was vibration perception threshold in the toes (P less than 0.01); and the severity of keratopathy was directly related to the degree of diminution of peripheral sensation. Other predictors of keratopathy were: reduced tear breakup time (P less than 0.03), type of diabetes (P less than 0.01), and metabolic status as indicated by c-peptide fasting (P less than 0.01). No significant relationships were found between the presence of keratopathy and tear glucose levels, endothelial cell densities, corneal thickness measurements, the presence of S epidermidis, or with duration of disease. It is our conclusion that asymptomatic epithelial lesions in the nontraumatized diabetic cornea can occur as a manifestation of generalized polyneuropathy and probably represent a specific form of corneal neuropathy.

Conjunctiva↗
PubMed1980

Dream affect and the menstrual cycle.

Ten women subjects exhibited no evidence of waking mood change or differential dream recall as a function of their menstrual cycles. These findings indicate that, with the use of simple screening procedures, women as well as men can and should be used as subjects in research on sleep and dreams.

Adolescent↗