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Biomedical subjects

K Luber

Publications and source records attributed to K Luber.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2000

Overactive bladder: special considerations in the geriatric population.

Overactive bladder (OAB) is a highly prevalent condition among older patients, and its presence is associated with the use of substantial healthcare resources and economic costs. Within the next 30 years, it is expected that the demand for services related to OAB will increase dramatically. Treatment of OAB is challenging and depends on several factors, including the age of the patient, cognitive functioning, and the degree of mobility. Pharmacotherapy, such as the use of tolterodine and oxybutynin, is a viable option for the treatment of OAB, and muscarinic antagonists are commonly used. The efficacy of an agent may differ in older patients compared with younger ones. In addition, certain side effects can be particularly troublesome in the geriatric population. A retrospective analysis of a large managed care database showed an age-related increase in the number of women seeking care for OAB. Caring for incontinent patients in the long-term care setting was shown to result in substantial additional costs, which were higher in those with more frequent incontinent episodes. Prompted voiding may be effective in reducing the number of incontinent episodes for those in institutionalized care; however, this practice is labor intensive and generally is only effective in 40% of cases. Moreover, assistance with prompted voiding must be maintained continuously. Future research should focus on defining the most cost-effective methods of treating OAB in the long-term care setting.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Integrin-dependent protein dephosphorylation on tyrosine induced by activation of the thrombin receptor in human platelets.

Activation of human platelets by thrombin or a thrombin receptor-activating peptide (TRAP) resulted in a decrease in tyrosine phosphorylation of two proteins, P38 and P140. Preincubation of platelets with the tyrosine phosphatase inhibitor orthovanadate prevented the tyrosine dephosphorylation of P38 and P140, and reduced platelet aggregation induced by thrombin receptor activation. When platelets were stimulated under conditions that precluded the activation of glycoprotein IIb/IIIa (dissociation of the complex by EGTA at 37 degrees C) or the binding of fibrinogen (preincubation of platelets with RGDS), tyrosine dephosphorylation of P38 and P140 was not observed. The results indicate that protein tyrosine phosphatase stimulation (a) occurs during platelet activation induced by a physiological stimulus, (b) is a positive regulatory signal for platelet aggregation and (c) is dependent on the activation of the integrin alpha IIb beta 3.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1992

Platelet signal transduction mechanisms induced by eicosanoids.

Platelets are in many ways involved in the pathogenesis of artherosclerosis and the development of coronary heart disease, and play a role in acute myocardial infarction (8). They are also an useful model to study cellular activation mechanisms: their isolation from peripheral venous blood is simple and rapid and their physiological responses such as shape change, aggregation and secretion can be easily measured (10). This chapter is focused on our results on the mechanisms of platelet activation and inhibition induced by eicosanoids.

Blood Platelets↗
PubMed1991

Cloning and sequencing of rat plectin indicates a 466-kD polypeptide chain with a three-domain structure based on a central alpha-helical coiled coil.

We have determined the complete cDNA sequence of rat plectin from a number of well-characterized overlapping lambda gt11 clones. The 4,140-residue predicted amino acid sequence (466,481 D) is consistent with a three-domain structural model in which a long central rod domain, having mainly an alpha-helical coiled coil conformation, is flanked by globular NH2- and COOH-terminal domains. The plectin sequence has a number of repeating motifs. The rod domain has five subregions approximately 200-residues long in which there is a strong repeat in the charged amino acids at 10.4 residues that may be involved in association between plectin molecules. The globular COOH-terminal domain has a prominent six-fold tandem repeat, with each repeat having a strongly conserved central region based on nine tandem repeats of a 19-residue motif. The plectin sequence has several marked similarities to that of desmoplakin (Green, K. J., D. A. D. Parry, P. M. Steinert, M. L. A. Virata, R. M. Wagner, B. D. Angst, and L.A. Nilles. 1990. J. Biol. Chem. 265:2,603-2,612), which has a shorter coiled-coil rod domain with a similar 10.4 residue charge periodicity and a COOH-terminal globular domain with three tandem repeats homologous to the six found in plectin. The plectin sequence also has homologies to that of the bullous pemphigoid antigen. Northern blot analysis indicated that there is a significant degree of conservation of plectin genes between rat, human, and chicken and that, as shown previously at the protein level, plectin has a wide tissue distribution. There appeared to be a single rat plectin gene that gave rise to a 15-kb message. Expression of polypeptides encoded by defined fragments of plectin cDNA in E. coli has also been used to localize the epitopes of a range of monoclonal and serum antibodies. This enabled us to tentatively map a sequence involved in plectin-vimentin and plectin-lamin B interactions to a restricted region of the rod domain.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1986

Results of microsurgical treatment of tubal infertility and early second-look laparoscopy in the post-pelvic inflammatory disease patient: implications for in vitro fertilization.

Sixty-nine patients with tubal infertility secondary to pelvic inflammatory disease were surgically treated by one of three infertility surgeons, who used microsurgery for repair of the tubal pathologic condition and early second-look laparoscopy 6 to 30 days postoperatively for lysis of postoperative adhesions. No patient was included in this group whose disease was thought to have originated from endometriosis or prior abdominal surgery. The average follow-up time was 43.1 months (range 12 to 85.9). Nine patients were excluded from the analysis. Pregnancy outcome by procedure, expressed as the percentage of patients conceiving, was as follows: adhesiolysis, 69% (61% term, 8% ectopic); fimbrioplasty, 35% (25% term, 10% ectopic); salpingostomy, 30% (18% term, 12% ectopic); and cornual implantation, 60% (40% term, 20% ectopic). No added therapeutic value could be attributed to the use of early second-look laparoscopy. Given the relatively poor outcome of fimbrioplasty and salpingostomy, it may be prudent to advise patients with bilateral partial and/or total tubal occlusion against tuboplasty in favor of in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer.

Embryo Transfer↗