Coffee and plasma lipid levels.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to K Kokjohn.
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A critical need in assessing the clinical utility of manipulative therapy for back pain is the identification of biological changes associated with the forces applied by spinal manipulation. Such changes could then serve as markers for both sham treatment and manipulation. We determined the priming of polymorphonuclear neutrophils for an enhanced respiratory burst and its duration, the priming of mononuclear cells for enhanced endotoxin-stimulated tumor necrosis factor production and plasma levels of substance P following a single thoracic spine manipulation. There was a significant difference in the respiratory burst of polymorphonuclear neutrophils in response to a particulate challenge, depending on the time of blood sample collection. The response of polymorphonuclear neutrophils isolated from blood collected 15 min after manipulation was significantly higher than the response of cells isolated from blood collected 15 min before and 30 and 45 min after manipulation. Mononuclear cells were also primed for enhanced endotoxin-stimulated tumor necrosis factor production by spinal manipulation. Both of these priming effects were accompanied by a slight, but significant elevation in plasma substance P. The mean manipulation force associated with these biological effects was 878 +/- 99 N. These biological effects may provide a means of monitoring the delivery of both sham and manipulative treatment and, therefore, provide a crucial tool for understanding the efficacy of manipulative therapy.
OBJECTIVE: The primary objectives of this study were to compare the effect of spinal manipulation vs. sham manipulation on a) circulating plasma levels of the prostaglandin F2a metabolite, 15-keto-13,14-dihydroprostaglandin (KDPGF2a), b) perceived abdominal and back pain and c) perceived menstrual distress in women with primary dysmenorrhea. DESIGN: This randomized clinical pilot study investigated the outcome measures before and after either a spinal manipulation treatment (SMT) or a sham manipulation. SETTING: All subjects were treated at the National College Chiropractic clinic, a private chiropractic clinic in the suburban Chicago area. PARTICIPANTS: Forty-five women with a history of primary dysmenorrhea were recruited from the local community. The volunteers ranged in age from 20-49 (mean age = 30.3 yr), and were entered into the study between April 1990 and January 1991. Twenty-four were randomly assigned to the spinal manipulation group and 21 were assigned to the sham group. INTERVENTIONS: Subjects treated with spinal manipulation were placed in a side-lying position with the bottom leg straight and the top leg flexed at the knee and hip. They received a high-velocity, short lever, low-amplitude thrust to all clinically relevant vertebral levels within T10 and L5-S1 and the sacroiliac joints. In the sham manipulation, subjects were placed in a side-lying position with both hips and knees flexed. Their manipulation consisted of a similar thrust administered to the midline base of the sacrum. OUTCOME MEASURES: Perceived abdominal and back pain were measured with a visual analog scale, and menstrual distress was measured with the Menstrual Distress Questionnaire. Both were administered 15 min before and 60 min after treatment. Blood samples were collected by venipuncture for the determination of plasma levels of KDPGF2a at the same times. The plasma was then assayed for KDPGF2a by radioimmunoassay. RESULTS: Analysis of covariance and paired Student's t tests were used for the statistical evaluation. Immediately after treatment, the perception of pain and the level of menstrual distress were significantly reduced by SMT. This reduction was associated with a significant reduction in plasma levels of KDGPF2a in the SMT group. A significant and similar reduction in plasma KDPGF2a also occurred in the sham group, indicating that a placebo effect was associated with a single sham intervention. CONCLUSIONS: This randomized pilot study suggests that SMT may be an effective and safe nonpharmacological alternative for relieving the pain and distress of primary dysmenorrhea. However, the large change in KDPGF2a observed in both treatment groups clearly indicates that further studies with more subjects, studied over a longer time frame, are needed to resolve the question of a placebo effect.
The effect of spinal manipulation on the respiratory burst of polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) and monocytes from treated adults was measured by zymosan-stimulated chemiluminescence (CL). Peripheral blood was collected 15 min before and 15 min after treatment (sham manipulation, thoracic spine manipulation, or soft tissue manipulation), the cells were isolated, challenged with a standardized, opsonized luminol-containing suspension of zymosan, and monitored for CL. Plasma from two subsets of subjects was radioimmunoassayed for Substance P (SP). PMN were also preincubated with SP in vitro over the dose range 5 x 10(-12) M to 5 x 10(-8) M and the CL response monitored. The CL responses of both PMN and monocytes from subjects who received spinal manipulation were significantly higher after than before treatment, and significantly higher than the response in sham or soft-tissue treated subjects. Measurement of the force applied by sham and spinal manipulation suggested a force threshold for the enhancement of the CL response. Plasma levels of SP before and after treatment in sham treated subjects did not differ significantly; however, elevated plasma SP was observed in subjects after spinal manipulation. Preincubation of PMN with 1 x 10(-11) M, 5 x 10(-11) M or 1 x 10(-10) M SP in vitro primed PMN for an enhanced respiratory burst when the cells were subsequently challenged.
We have utilized a key biochemical determinant of muscle fiber type, myosin isoform expression, to investigate the initial developmental program of future fast and slow skeletal muscle fibers. We examined myosin heavy chain (HC) phenotype from the onset of myogenesis in the limb bud muscle masses of the chick embryo through the differentiation of individual fast and slow muscle masses, as well as in newly formed myotubes generated in adult muscle by weight overload. Myosin HC isoform expression was analyzed by immunofluorescence localization with a battery of anti-myosin antibodies and by electrophoretic separation with SDS-PAGE. Results showed that the initial myosin phenotype in all skeletal muscle cells formed during the embryonic period (until at least 8 days in ovo) consisted of expression of a myosin HC which shares antigenic and electrophoretic migratory properties with ventricular myosin and a distinct myosin HC which shares antigenic and electrophoretic migratory properties with fast skeletal isomyosin. Similar results were observed in newly formed myotubes in adult muscle. Future fast and slow muscle fibers could only be discriminated from each other in developing limb bud muscles by the onset of expression of slow skeletal myosin HC at 6 days in ovo. Slow skeletal myosin HC was expressed only in myotubes which became slow fibers. These findings suggest that the initial commitment of skeletal muscle progenitor cells is to a common skeletal muscle lineage and that commitment to a fiber-specific lineage may not occur until after localization of myogenic cells in appropriate premuscle masses. Thus, the process of localization, or events which occur soon thereafter, may be involved in determining fiber type.