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Biomedical subjects

L Szalay

Publications and source records attributed to L Szalay.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

[Management of hepatic encephalopathy].

Among the general principles of the therapy of hepatic encephalopathy the authors discuss the intensive care of patients, maintenance of their volume and electrolyte balance, treatment of coagulation defect, therapy of gastrointestinal bleeding and portal hypertension, provision of central renal catheter, infection prophylaxis, monitoring of intracranial pressure, and if necessary, respiration and intubation of patients. The study also deals with possibilities of treatment based on the toxic hypothesis and on the theory of neurotransmitters. Attention is paid to the therapy of brain oedema and to the significance of hemodialysis, hemoperfusion, plasmapheresis and hybrid bioartificial liver cell treatment. The authors deal with the indications of glucagon-insulin therapy and emphasize the importance of liver transplantation in the treatment of hepatic encephalopathy.

Adult

Education and practice collaboration: a strategy for curriculum development.

Five schools of nursing in British Columbia formed a collaborative partnership in 1989; four represented diploma programs, and one a post-RN program. Their partnership benefited each in the development of a baccalaureate nursing curriculum. Committed to the principle of a curriculum being driven by practice, rather than the reverse, the collaborative partners employed a variety of strategies to include nurses from practice in the development of the curriculum. One strategy used by the partnership was a Delphi survey of nurses in practice. This article describes the results of this survey and their implications for nursing curricula.

British Columbia

[Experience with hydrogen (H2) breath test].

The authors applied regularly the hydrogen (H2) breath test during the medical investigations in patients with gastrointestinal symptoms. On the basis of the repeated examinations the hydrogen (H2) breath test is a sensitive, well repeatable method. After analysing of 108 examinations the authors have observed in 51.8% lactose intolerance, in 17.8% small intestinal bacterial overgrowth syndrome, in 46.4% motility disorders. The proportion of "low hydrogen producers" was 14.3%. Only 1/5 of patients with new diagnosed lactose intolerance had knowledge about the intolerance, and 10% was asymptomatic. In case of small intestinal bacterial overgrowth syndrome the repeated hydrogen (H2) test may indicate the effectivity of applied antibiotic therapy. The mean orocaecal transit time was 99 minutes and the normal range was 66-132 minutes, counted on the basis of mean +/- 2 SD. The authors suggest that the results support the important role of hydrogen (H2) breath test in the modern gastroenterological diagnostics.

Breath Tests

Assessing treatment effects through changes in perceptions and cognitive organization.

This investigation tested the Associative Group Analysis (AGA) for its analytic sensitivity in assessing perceptions and attitudes and in mapping changes in cognitive organization indicative of substance abuse. Based on inferences drawn from the distributions of thousands of spontaneous, free associations elicited by strategically selected stimulus themes, AGA offers an unstructured approach to assess images and meanings, and to map systems of mental representation evasive to the more direct methods of using questions or scales. This article compares pretreatment and posttreatment samples, tracing the psychosocial effects of treatment. The investigations focus on variables related to substance abuse such as self-image, social nexus, and perceptions of illicit substances. The results indicate a sensitive approach, useful in treatment evaluation.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

[Chronic gastritis and the presence of Helicobacter pylori in patients with non-ulcerative dyspepsia].

After definition in the group of the non ulcer dyspepsia (NUD) can be counted all those patients at whom beside the dyspeptical complaints, the radiological and endoscopical examinations didn't show ulcerative changes. The authors made biopsy 550 times on the occasion of 1390 gastroscopical examination (39.5% of the cases). The histological examination showed chronic gastritis in 372 cases (26.7% of all the examinations, 67.6% of the histological examinations). At this group of patients the dyspeptical complaints gave the principal indication of gastroscopical examination. Also it was examined the presence of dysplasia and intestinal metaplasia beside the different severity grade of chronic gastritis. The presence of Helicobacter pylori (Hp) was examined by histological methods. Hp positivity was noticed in 16.4% in the upper group. The authors made Hydrogen-breath examinations in 34 cases between patients with NUD. The results of Hydrogen-breath examinations also raise the multifactorial nature of the NUD. On the basis of examinations chronic gastritis and CP infection can form subdivisions in the heterogenic group of patients with NUD. For exacter judgement of Hp pathogenicity are needed further and wide-spread examinations. The authors would like to call the attention to the indispensability of the biopsy during the gastroscopical examination.

Chronic Disease

[Syncumar induced toxic liver damage].

The authors present a case of chronic hepatitis presumably due to Syncumar treatment. The patient should be maintained on anticoagulant therapy due to combined prosthetic valve insertion. Chromatin activation of blood lymphocytes was investigated to justify the drug induced liver injury. In this test system Syncumar and other anticoagulant derivates gave a positive reaction to a different extent. The increased serum bilirubin and transaminase levels, which indicated liver injury showed regression in the course of the treatment and after changing Syncumar to Marcoumar (Phenprocoumon).

4-Hydroxycoumarins

Ca2+ and Mg2+ as modulators of mitochondrial L-glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase.

1. Physiological concentrations of either Ca2+ or Mg2+ stimulated L-glycerol 3-phosphate oxidation by intact mitochondria isolated from various mammalian tissues (hamster brown adipose tissue, rat brain, liver of normal and hyperthyroid rats). A higher cation concentration was required for stimulation by Mg2+ than by Ca2+. L-glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase was the target of the stimulation by both cations as revealed by measurements with intact mitochondria as well as with the solubilized enzyme. With different electron acceptors Ca2+ and Mg2+ stimulation occurred at significantly different cation concentrations. 2. Substrate activation of mitochondrial L-glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase was observed in intact mitochondria and with the solubilized enzyme isolated from hyperthyroid rats in the absence of Ca2+ and Mg2+. According to kinetic analysis two independent binding sites, functioning with different turnovers and with different affinities for the substrate, could account for the phenomenon. In the presence of Ca2+ or Mg2+ substrate activation could not be detected; the kinetic parameters apparently correspond to the tight substrate-binding site functioning with high turnover. 3. Thiol group(s), which in the absence of Ca2+ and Mg2+ did not participate in the functioning of the enzyme, played an essential role in the binding of these cations to the enzyme, as shown by chemical modification studies. 4. From the solubilized mitochondrial proteins L-glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase was bound selectively to the hydrophobic phenyl-Sepharose 4B matrix in the presence Ca2+, and the bound enzyme could be eluted with EDTA. This suggests that Ca2+ caused an alteration in the conformation of the enzyme.

Adipose Tissue, Brown

Determination of the aminoterminal peptide of procollagen type III and laminin P1 in serum of patients with chronic liver disease.

Serum concentration of the aminoterminal peptide of procollagen type III (P III P) and that of the high-molecular-weight glycoprotein laminin P1 (LP1) were determined by a specific radioimmunoassay (RIA) in patients with different chronic liver diseases. Besides the routine laboratory tests, histological verification of the liver samples obtained by needle biopsy and a complex hepatitis B virus marker analysis by RIA (Biomedica-Sorin), or ELISA (Behringwerke, Marburg, FRG) kits were carried out in order to set up the correct clinical diagnosis. In normal controls, the P III P and LP1 concentrations were 7.8 +/- 1.1 ng/ml (n = 10) and 0.08 +/- 0.1 units/ml (n = 7), respectively. Patients with fatty liver (n = 25) showed a significant elevation in P III P concentration (18.6 +/- 2.7 ng/ml). Such an elevation was not unequivocally demonstrated before. In this group of patients LP1 level was also increased (1.4 +/- 0.2 units/ml, n = 10). In liver cirrhosis (n = 51) both P III P and LP1 concentrations were found to be consistently elevated.

Biomarkers

Life expectancy in chronic liver disease.

Life-table analysis is a suitable method for evaluating the effectiveness of therapeutical approaches to and the progression of, chronic diseases. The authors performed 324 liver biopsies in patients with liver disease between 1976 and 1986. The cumulative life-table analysis of Cutler and Ederer was applied in this retrospective study. Survival rates of different groups of patients expressed as the 7-year life expectancy were as follows: toxic hepatitis 90%, steatosis hepatitis 87%, chronic persistent hepatitis 87%, nonspecific reactive hepatitis 76%, chronic active hepatitis 72%, acute alcoholic hepatitis 66%, liver cirrhosis 40%. There seems to be a correlation between the severity of histological alteration and live expectancy. A similar correlation between the inflammatory cell infiltration and life expectancy cannot be observed. The life expectancy of patients with chronic active hepatitis has significantly improved recently. Further improvement of survival of patients with liver cirrhosis can be expected only from a reduction of alcohol consumption. The results can be regarded as a reference data for life expectancy of patients with chronic liver disease in Hungary.

Biopsy

Effect of age on the pharmacokinetics of vinpocetine (Cavinton) and apovincaminic acid.

The pharmacokinetics of vinpocetine and its main metabolite, apovincaminic acid (AVA), were studied in the aged. Vinpocetine was eliminated with a mean half-life of 2.12 +/- 0.51 h. Total plasma clearance (CL) and distribution coefficient (delta) of the parent drug were 2.2 +/- 0.9 l.kg-1.h-1 and 6.7 +/- 3.7 l.kg-1, respectively. The CL and delta of vinpocetine differed significantly from young subjects but the elimination half-life was not altered. Significant changes in the elimination half-life and plasma clearance of AVA were found, perhaps because of the physiological decrease in renal function.

Adult

A prospective multicenter study of insulin and glucagon infusion therapy in acute alcoholic hepatitis.

A randomized, single-blind controlled multicenter study of insulin and glucagon infusion was carried out in 66 patients with acute alcoholic hepatitis. Thirty-three patients were treated with insulin 10 U and glucagon 1 mg in 500 ml 5% glucose in water via a peripheral vein for 2-6 h three times every day for 3 weeks. Patients in the control group received 5% glucose in an identical fashion. Fourteen control patients and five treated patients died from liver failure during the study (P less than 0.02). Clinical features of liver disease on entry into the study were similar in the two groups, but the total serum bilirubin, aspartate aminotransferase, gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase activities and prothrombin time significantly improved in the treated patients (P less than 0.05). Insulin and glucagon infusion appears to be a promising treatment of acute alcoholic hepatitis.

Adult

Effects of chronic renal denervation in conscious restrained rats.

Sodium (Na), calcium (Ca), inorganic phosphate (Pi) and water excretion were measured in nondiuretic (ND) and extracellular fluid (ECF) volume expanded (VE) conscious restrained rats four weeks after denervation or sham-denervation of the left kidney. On the day of the study the animals were lightly anaesthetized with ether and the femoral vessels on one side were catheterized. Urine was collected from both kidneys. The animals were allowed to recover for 3 hours and studied in a restraining chamber. In ND animals isotonic saline containing inulin and para-amino-hippuric acid (PAH) were given at a rate of 0.067 +/- 0.002 (SE) ml/min/kg body weight (BW). In VE animals the infusion rate was 0.24 +/- 0.04 ml/min/kg BW. Kidney catecholamine content was measured after the experiments. Clearances of PAH and of inulin (GFR) were the same in both kidneys. Urine volume (V), sodium excretion (UNa V/GFR), inorganic phosphate excretion (UPi V/GFR) and calcium excretion (UCa V/GFR) were significantly higher in the denervated kidneys. Values in sham denervated kidneys were not greater than those of the right kidney. Denervation was proven by demonstrating absent or very low catecholamine content in the kidneys. The results demonstrate that: chronic renal denervation in rats leads to diuresis and natriuresis even in the conscious state, thus confirming previous results from our laboratory; such changes occur independently of the state of the ECF volume and of renal haemodynamic changes; the increased excretion of Ca++ and Pi after denervation demonstrates that renal nerves affect the reabsorption of these ions either independently or by way of their effect on sodium reabsorption. These data allow us to suggest that a renal tubular dysfunction, which was proved in anaesthetized denervated animals, can also be observed in the conscious state.

Animals

Fasting induces denervation natriuresis in the conscious rat.

The participation of renal nerves in the regulation of sodium excretion was studied in fed and overnight-fasted rats subjected to acute or chronic left kidney denervation or sham operation. Clearance experiments were performed on conscious restrained animals. Urine flow, glomerular filtration rate (GFR), and urinary sodium excretion were not different in left and right kidneys of sham-operated rats. In fed conscious rats, urine flow, GFR, and urinary sodium excretion of innervated (I) and denervated (D) kidneys were similar. In fasted conscious rats, significant denervation natriuresis was observed after both acute (I, 1.06 +/- 0.27; D, 1.56 +/- 0.40 mumol . min-1 . g-1, P less than 0.05) and chronic (I, 1.55 +/- 0.19; D, 2.20 +/- 0.18 mumol . min-1 . g-1, P less than 0.01) renal sympathectomy, whereas urine flow and GFR in I and D kidneys were not different. Additional experiments revealed that extracellular fluid and plasma volumes of fasted rats were decreased by approximately 10% compared with those of fed animals due to a significant overnight natriuresis and negative water balance. In fed conscious rats, the renal nerves do not seem to participate in the regulation of sodium excretion. The presence of denervation natriuresis in conscious fasted rats suggests that renal nerves are involved in sodium conservation during fasting to maintain extracellular fluid and plasma volume.

Animals

Dichlorophenylurea-resistant oxygen evolution in Chlorella after cerulenin treatment.

Fluorescence spectra at 77 K, oxygen evolution at 30 degrees C and delayed fluorescence at 25 degrees C were measured in Chlorella pyrenoidosa cultures with and without cerulenin and subsequent 3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethyl-urea (DCMU) treatment, respectively. In pure algal cultures the oxygen evolution was inhibited by DCMU and the long-time component of fluorescence was highly influenced by DCMU, as expected. In contrast, both oxygen evolution and delayed fluorescence became DCMU-resistant in cerulenin-treated cultures. The DCMU-resistance is correlated with a change in the fatty acid distribution of the thylakoid membrane, which also leads to changes in the prompt fluorescence. Cerulenin appears to be a promising new tool of diagnostics for the hitherto unsatisfactorily understood processes of oxygen evolution in photosynthesizing organisms.

Antifungal Agents