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Biomedical subjects

L Diez

Publications and source records attributed to L Diez.

10 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

High-performance liquid chromatographic assay of hydroxyl free radical using salicylic acid hydroxylation during in vitro experiments involving thiols.

A HPLC method was developed to monitor the production of hydroxyl free radical (*OH) produced during in vitro experiments: (i) a chemical reaction involving EDTA chelated ferric ion and various exogenous and endogenous thiols [glutathione (GSH) and its metabolites], and (ii) an enzymatic reaction corresponding to the breakdown of GSH catalyzed by gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT). The method relies upon the use of a selective trapping reagent of *OH: salicylic acid (SA). The three resulting dihydroxylated products, i.e., 2,3-dihydroxybenzoic acid (DHB), 2,5-DHB and catechol, were measured in an ion-pairing reversed-phase HPLC system coupled with amperometric detection; the sum of the three concentrations was used to quantify the production of *OH during in vitro experiments. Resulting data demonstrate that *OH is produced during Fenton-like reactions involving thiols and GSH catabolism via GGT.

3T3 Cells↗
PubMed1999

Research into the use of health economics in decision making in the United Kingdom--Phase II. Is health economics 'for good or evil'?

The purpose of this phased research project is to better understand the role of health economic arguments in the decision making process of healthcare providers and purchasers in the United Kingdom. Phase I of the research was directed at General Practitioners (GPs); in phase II we broadened the scope of the research to include different agents who influence resource allocation and the wider health care environment. The objective of phase II was to determine the relevance and appeal of diverse health economic measures to different decision makers. This phase of qualitative research involved 34 decision makers in 17 duo interviews. The study has provided a rich source of qualitative evidence on the role of health economics in decision making. The main conclusions to emerge are; different individuals seek different outcomes; health economic studies should report actionable conclusions; and any cost savings must be applicable. To succeed, economists need to demonstrate a better understanding of the contracting and budgetary processes of the National Health Service. Opinions of the value of health economic evaluations varied widely, however most respondents believed it would become increasingly influential in the prioritisation process in the National Health Service of the future.

Contract Services↗
PubMed1998

Assessing the willingness of parents to pay for reducing postoperative emesis in children.

This study assessed the willingness of parents to pay for a reduction in the postoperative emesis experienced by children. The willingness-to-pay technique was used to value the intangible benefits, such as relief from anxiety and discomfort, resulting from a reduction in postoperative emesis in children; anxiety and discomfort are currently excluded from most cost-effectiveness studies of antiemetic agents. A structured questionnaire was used to interview a representative sample of 162 parents. These were parents, identified by Gallup, whose children had undergone surgery within the previous 2 years and, therefore, were familiar with the postoperative experience. The median willingness to pay for a reduction in postoperative emesis in children was found to be 50 pounds sterling (30% of parents were unwilling to pay more than 5 pounds sterling, while more than 35% of parents were willing to pay 100 pounds sterling or more). Most parents expressed some degree of worry about postoperative nausea and vomiting; 24% were very worried about it. This study found that simple cost-effectiveness studies of antiemetic agents including only direct costs underestimate the true value of the intervention.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1997

Characterization of three human apolipoprotein E isoforms (E2, E3 and E4) expressed in Escherichia coli.

Apolipoprotein E is one of the apolipoproteins involved in cholesterol metabolism. Three major isoforms are present in men: E2, E3, E4 corresponding to the products of three alleles. They have different affinities for receptors and the epsilon 4 allele is a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases and more recently for Alzheimer's disease. We describe here the production, by heterologous expression in Escherichia coli, of the three apolipoprotein E isoforms for use in both research and clinical laboratories. By Surface Plasmon Resonance, the purified recombinant apolipoprotein E isoforms were able to recognize three monoclonal anti-human apolipoprotein E antibodies with affinity constants close to those of purified human apolipoprotein E. For receptor binding studies, the recombinant apolipoprotein E isoforms were associated with VLDL isolated from apolipoprotein E knockout mice. Although the association of the recombinant apolipoproteins E with the mouse VLDL was less efficient than that of human plasma apolipoprotein E3, the recombinant apolipoprotein E3 and apolipoprotein E4 complexes competed efficiently with 125I-labelled LDL for binding to the LDL receptor in J774 macrophages, whereas the recombinant apolipoprotein E2-VLDL complexes did not. These results suggest that the recombinant apolipoprotein E isoforms have biological properties similar to the human apolipoprotein E isoforms.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

Scintigraphic diagnosis of subclinical Cushing's syndrome in patients with adrenal incidentalomas.

Adrenal scintigraphy has been shown to be a useful procedure for the characterization of incidentally discovered adrenal tumours. The functional evaluation of these patients is controversial. This paper describes the biochemical and pathological findings in five patients with asymptomatic adrenal masses and unilateral concordant adrenocortical scintigraphic uptake. All the patients were diagnosed as having subclinical Cushing's Syndrome, without clinical or biochemical adrenocortical dysfunction. Scintigraphy is the most sensitive method for detecting an adrenal adenoma in the subclinical setting when the disease is not yet demonstrable by biochemical methods.

Adrenal Cortex↗
PubMed1994

Differential diagnosis of solid adrenal masses using adrenocortical scintigraphy.

To evaluate the diagnostic contribution of adrenal scintigraphy with 75-Se-selenomethylcholesterol in adrenal masses, 42 patients have been studied. All of them had a solid adrenal mass discovered on computed tomography (seven bilateral). None of the patients showed any symptoms or clinical signs that might indicate the existence of adrenal dysfunction. Twenty-nine of them had known extra-adrenal primary malignant disease. Forty-nine adrenal tumours were detected with an average size of 3.29 cm (range 1.5-12 cm). Eighteen lesions showed increased uptake of radiocholesterol on the side of the adrenal mass, all of which were either proven to be benign, or behaved in a benign fashion. Twelve lesions showed normal uptake (10 in the benign group and one lung carcinoma metastasis), all but one (2.5 cm) being smaller than 2 cm. Decreased uptake was observed in 20 lesions (15 metastases, two nonfunctional adrenal carcinomas, one myelolipoma and two tuberculous infectious lesions). Adrenocortical scintigraphy provides functional information about adrenal masses and is useful in differentiating between benign and malignant lesions.

Adrenal Gland Neoplasms↗
PubMed1994

A case of complete Carney's syndrome.

The triad of gastric leiomyoblastoma, paraganglioma, and pulmonary chondroma was first described by Carney in 1977. The authors report a case of a patient with gastric leiomyosarcoma, multiple pulmonary chondromata, and paraganglioma. This represents a complete form of Carney's triad. The paraganglioma was identified with I-123 MIBG.

3-Iodobenzylguanidine↗
PubMed1981

Conn's syndrome in a patient with acromegaly.

The renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) in a female patient suffering from acromegaly and severe hypertension was studied and a suppressed plasma renin activity could be found. A catheterisation of both adrenal veins, a bilateral adrenal gammagraphy and an abdominal CT scan confirmed the diagnosis of an aldosterone-producing right adrenal adenoma (Conn's Syndrome). We greatly emphasized the need of investigating the RAAS in acromegalic patients suffering from hypertension.

Acromegaly↗