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Biomedical subjects

K Sinclair

Publications and source records attributed to K Sinclair.

17 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Comparative cognitive effects of carbamazepine and gabapentin in healthy senior adults.

PURPOSE: This study compared the cognitive effects of carbamazepine (CBZ) and gabapentin (GBP) in healthy senior adults by using a randomized, double-blind crossover design. METHODS: Thirty-four senior adults were randomized to receive one of the two drugs followed by a 5-week treatment period. A 4-week washout phase preceded initiation of the second drug. Antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) were titrated to target doses of either CBZ (800 mg/day) or GBP (2,400 mg/day). Primary outcome measures were standardized neuropsychological tests of attention/vigilance, psychomotor speed, motor speed, verbal and visual memory, and the Profile of Mood State (POMS), yielding a total of 17 variables. Each subject received cognitive testing at predrug baseline, end of first drug phase, end of second drug phase, and 4 weeks after completion of the second drug phase. RESULTS: Fifteen senior adults (mean age, 66.5 years; range, 59-76 years) completed the study. Seniors completing the study did not differ significantly from noncompleting seniors in terms of demographic features or baseline cognitive performances. Fifteen of the 19 seniors not completing the study dropped out while receiving CBZ. Adverse events were frequently reported for both AEDs, although they were more common for CBZ. Mean serum levels for the completers were within midrange clinical doses (CBZ, 6.8 microg/ml; GBP, 7.1 microg/ml). Significant differences between CBZ and GBP were found for only one of 11 cognitive variables, with better attention/vigilance for GBP, although the effect was modest. Performances on the nondrug average were significantly better on 45% of cognitive variables compared with CBZ and 36% compared with GBP. The overall pattern of means favored GBP over CBZ on 15 of 17 (p < 0.001), nondrug over CBZ on 17 of 17 (p < 0.0000), and nondrug over GBP on eight of 17 (NS). CONCLUSIONS: Mild cognitive effects were found for both AEDs compared with the nondrug average condition. The magnitude of difference between the two AEDs across the cognitive variables was modest. Self-reported mood was not significantly affected by either AED. However, overall tolerability and side-effect profile of CBZ were poorer than those of GBP in senior adults at doses and titration rates reported in this study.

Acetates↗
PubMed2000

Visual confrontation naming and hippocampal function: A neural network study using quantitative (1)H magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

Prior research on the relationship between visual confrontation naming and hippocampal function has been inconclusive. The present study examined this relationship using quantitative (1)H magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((1)H-MRS) to operationalize the function of the left and right hippocampi. The 60-item Boston Naming Test (BNT) was used to measure naming. Our sample included 46 patients with medically intractable, focal mesial temporal lobe epilepsy who had been screened for all pathology other than mesial temporal sclerosis. Statistics included Pearson correlations and neural network analysis (multilayer perceptron and radial basis function). Baseline BNT performance correlated significantly with left (1)H-MRS hippocampal ratios. Thirty-six per cent of the variance in baseline BNT performance was explained by a neural network model using left and right (1)H-MRS ratios(creatine/N-acetylaspartate) as input. This was elevated to 49% when input from the right hippocampus was lesioned mathematically. In a second model, left (1)H-MRS hippocampal ratios were modelled using measures of semantic and episodic memory as input (including the BNT). Explained variance in left (1)H-MRS hippocampal ratios fell from 60.8 to 3.6% when input from BNT and another semantic memory measure was degraded mathematically. These results provide evidence that the speech-dominant hippocampus is a significant component of the overall neuroanatomical network of visual confrontation naming. Clinical and theoretical implications are explored.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

DNA extraction from stamps and envelope flaps using QIAamp and QIAshredder.

The use of Qiagen QIAamp and QIAshredder for extracting DNA from envelope flaps and stamps is reported. The stamps or flaps can be added directly to extraction solutions and the DNA is bound to a spin column containing a silicon membrane for washing prior to elution. DNA extracted from four stamps and four envelope flaps was amplified and analyzed using a multiplex PCR system. Complete DNA profiles were obtained from five samples.

DNA↗
PubMed1999

Cognitive effects of topiramate, gabapentin, and lamotrigine in healthy young adults.

OBJECTIVE: To study the acute and steady-state cognitive effects of three new antiepileptic drugs (AEDs): gabapentin, lamotrigine, and topiramate. BACKGROUND: Several newer antiepileptic medications approved recently by the Food and Drug Administration are gaining attention as efficacious alternatives to established AEDs. Greater tolerability with fewer side effects are reported in some. However, the potential cognitive effects of these newer AEDs have received limited attention. METHODS: Healthy young adults randomized to either of the three drugs were administered tests of attention, psychomotor speed, language, memory, and mood at baseline (predrug), acute single-dose period, and after 2 and 4 weeks on the drug. RESULTS: Compared with baseline, the topiramate group had selective, statistically significant declines on measures of attention and word fluency at acute doses, whereas the other two AED groups had no performance changes. At the 2- and 4-week test periods, only the topiramate subjects continued to display neurocognitive effects from drug administration. CONCLUSIONS: Results demonstrate potential acute and steady-state adverse cognitive effects for topiramate, whereas minimal effects were displayed for either gabapentin or lamotrigine in young healthy adults.

Acetates↗
PubMed1995

Stroke rate is markedly reduced after carotid endarterectomy by avoidance of protamine.

PURPOSE: Postoperative neurologic injury remains a significant risk of carotid endarterectomy. Mechanisms include embolization of debris and formation of thrombus on the newly endarterectomized surface. We hypothesized that the risk of postoperative neurologic injury would be lower in those patients who did not receive protamine for reversal of heparin anticoagulation. METHODS: We reviewed 348 consecutive primary carotid endarterectomies performed since January 1, 1986, to determine the relationship between surgical outcomes and reversal of heparin anticoagulation. Patients undergoing additional simultaneous cardiovascular procedures were excluded. One hundred ninety-three patients received protamine after completion of the endarterectomy. The remaining 155 patients did not receive any protamine. RESULTS: All patients in both groups survived to discharge. There were no strokes in those patients who did not receive any protamine; however, the stroke rate in the protamine group was 2.6% (5 of 193), p < 0.045. The incidence of hematoma requiring reexploration was 1.0% (2 of 193) and 1.9% (3 of 155) in the protamine and no-protamine groups, respectively (p = NS). Intraoperative shunting was used more frequently in the no-protamine group (84% vs 67%, p < 0.001), and patch angioplasty was performed more frequently in the protamine group (35% vs 15%, p < 0.001). However, neither shunting nor patching significantly influenced stroke rates. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that carotid endarterectomy without reversal of heparin anticoagulation is associated with a reduced postoperative stroke rate without a significant increase in morbidity rates.

Aged↗
PubMed1995

A multiplex polymerase chain reaction for distinguishing Mycobacterium tuberculosis from Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex.

A multiplex polymerase chain reaction has been developed which is able to distinguish Mycobacterium tuberculosis from other members of the M. tuberculosis complex. The assay is based on the simultaneous amplification of two different targets: a 396bp region from the mtp40 species-specific gene sequence of M. tuberculosis and a 245bp fragment from the M. tuberculosis complex insertion sequence IS986. Results have been obtained for 54 mycobacterial strains including five non-M. tuberculosis complex isolates. All 49 strains of the M. tuberculosis complex were positive for IS986 but only the 27 M. tuberculosis isolates were positive for both IS986 and mtp40.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1994

The ASP1 gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, encoding the intracellular isozyme of L-asparaginase.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae produces two L-asparaginases (ASPs), intracellular ASP I and cell-wall ASP II. In this report, the ASP-I-encoding gene, ASP1, has been identified by homology cloning based on the structures of ASPs from other organisms. Its deduced protein product has a subunit M(r) of 41,414, and shows substantial sequence homology to the bacterial amidohydrolase family. The product of the S. cerevisiae ASP3 gene, a further member of this family, encoding the nitrogen catabolite-regulated cell-wall ASP II, has 46% overall sequence identity to ASP1. Duplication of ancestral asparaginase genes, resulting in separate intra- and extracellular isozymes, appears to have occurred independently in the prokaryotic and eukaryotic lineages. Exact physical mapping of the new cloned ASP1 gene locates it 73% of the distance from the left telomere of chromosome IV, at a position precisely matching the known genetic map location of ASP1. This, along with the structural features of the clone, confirms that ASP1 is the structural gene encoding cytoplasmic ASP I in S. cerevisiae. Sequence analysis of the ethylmethanesulfonate-induced asp1-12 allele of strain XE101-1A revealed a C-->T transition altering Ala176 to Val. This residue lies within a highly conserved region, and the results suggests a critical function for Ala176 in ASP function. Expression of ASP1 and other recombinant ASPs may allow access to improved products for use in the chemotherapy of leukaemia.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1992

A search for Pneumocystis carinii in post-mortem lungs by DNA amplification.

DNA amplification of specific sequences and subsequent oligonucleotide hybridization were used to search for Pneumocystis carinii in post-mortem lung samplings from non-immunosuppressed individuals ranging from 15 to 70 years of age. No P. carinii-specific DNA was detected in 45 DNA amplification reactions from 15 lungs.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Detection of Pneumocystis carinii with DNA amplification.

Oligonucleotide primers and probes were used in the polymerase chain reaction to amplify Pneumocystis carinii specific DNA sequences from alveolar lavage samples from 47 diagnostic bronchoscopies. No P carinii DNA was found in lavage from 10 immunocompetent patients; only low levels were found in 3 of 13 samples from immunosuppressed individuals without P carinii pneumonia (PCP), and the highest levels, readily demonstrated by simple ethidium bromide staining, were found in all of 16 samples from immunosuppressed patients with PCP confirmed by means of standard silver staining and in 4 from patients with clinical PCP but negative silver staining. DNA amplification provides a highly sensitive and specific technique for the identification of P carinii that should be valuable in epidemiological studies on this parasitic infection and in diagnosis.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1990

Amplification of mitochondrial ribosomal RNA sequences from Pneumocystis carinii DNA of rat and human origin.

Pneumocystis carinii specific DNA sequences have been cloned from the experimental rat model. The sequence of the gene coding for the large subunit of mitochondrial ribosomal RNA has been used to construct P. carinii specific oligonucleotide primers for the polymerase chain reaction. These oligonucleotides produced amplification of specific sequences from both P. carinii infected rat and human lung samplings, but none from a range of other organisms including potential pulmonary pathogens. Comparison of the sequence of amplified products from the infected rats and humans demonstrated limited but consistent differences between P. carinii from these two hosts and allowed for the construction of a human specific internal oligonucleotide. The application of the specific oligonucleotides for DNA amplification and subsequent Southern hybridisation affords extremely sensitive and specific detection of P. carinii in human samples, which may be applicable to both epidemiological research and clinical studies.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Consequences of decriminalization of homosexuality: a study of two Australian states.

A comparison between homosexual males in two Australian states, Victoria (prior to decriminalization of homosexuality) and South Australia (eight years after decriminalization), indicated that the consequences of decriminalization did not include an increase in the negative aspects of homosexuality, such as public solicitation or sexually transmitted disease. Findings suggest that as a consequence of decriminalization, the psychological adjustment of homosexual men will increase and sexually transmitted diseases and public solicitation will decrease. These data are tentatively interpreted as indicating that there are few if any negative consequences of decriminalizing homosexuality, and a number of positive consequences.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

Ocular anaphylaxis: induction by local injection of antigen.

A model of local ocular anaphylaxis has been developed in the rat. Erythema, oedema, and enhanced retention of radioiodinated rat serum albumin ([125I]-RSA) were noted in ocular adnexal tissues of immunized rats within 5 min of injection of antigen; these changes reached a maximum 15 min after antigen injection. Erythema, oedema, and retention of [125I]-RSA subsided to baseline levels 1--6 hr after challenge. A significant increase in weight of ocular adnexal tissues was seen within 15 min after challenge. The weight increase reached a maximum at 45 min and persisted through 6 hr. Weight approached baseline values by 24 hr. Although antigen was injected into the ocular adnexa and not directly into the globe, the globes of the antigen-injected eyes of immunized rats underwent anaphylaxis, possibly because of absorption of antigen through the sclera. In addition, the adnexa and globes of the contralateral eyes, which did not receive antigen, also underwent anaphylactic changes. These changes were not as marked as those observed in the antigen-injected tissues, but followed the same time-course of development. We conclude that anaphylaxis can be locally induced in ocular tissues, that the onset of anaphylaxis is within minutes, and the effects last for at least 24 hr.

Anaphylaxis↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Quality patents.

Watermark Patent and Trademark Attorneys has recently been accepted by the Council of National Association of Testing Authorities, Australia as operating a Quality Management System that complies with the requirements of AS3901/ISO9001 for the creation and servicing of Australian and overseas patents, trademarks and designs and provision of related advice. It is believed that Watermark is the first firm of Patent Attorneys in the world to achieve this.

Australia↗