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Biomedical subjects

M Bohn

Publications and source records attributed to M Bohn.

25 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

The Effect of Practical Dietary Counseling on Food Variety and Regurgitation Frequency after Gastroplasty for Obesity.

After obesity surgery, the primary measurement of success is the amount of weight lost. There has, however, been little assessment of how patients cope with the dietary constraints imposed by gastroplasty. Similarly, dietary patterns adopted to cope with these constraints have not been studied fully. These factors are of great importance in terms of nutritional adequacy, patient acceptability and long-term success. A study involving 32 patients was conducted to ascertain whether practical nutritional intervention and extensive follow-up would improve the overall outcome of the gastroplasty operation with respect to the type of foods tolerated and the incidence of regurgitation or vomiting experienced. To quantify success in terms of frequency of regurgitation and variety of food intake a vomiting/eating (V/E) score was devised. The results showed that the group of patients with more intensive practical education and counseling had a more varied intake of food and coped better with a wider variety of solid foods in the long term. Despite a more solid diet they did not regurgitate food as frequently as patients with less education, and over half the study group of patients reported no regurgitation at all. From this study, it is proposed that patients can be assessed and categorized postoperatively using a V/E scale. This scale numerically scores success with diet after gastroplasty, which, when recorded in conjunction with subsequent weight loss, can give a better quantification of success after obesity surgery.

Journal Article↗

[Biofeedback without a technical team--simple and cost effective].

An important psychotherapeutic process is that of autogenous training, whose effectiveness can be improved by the use of biofeedback. Biofeedback procedures have hitherto called for considerable expenditure on apparatus and frequent therapy sessions. Despite this, it has not been possible to extend the relaxation effect to more general situations. This paper describes an inexpensive and practical method of utilising all the advantages afforded by the underlying therapeutic concept, on the basis of experience gained with cutaneous thermography. Further information, notably on the preparation of the laminae, can be had on request from the authors.

Biofeedback, Psychology↗

Different actions of 2 antidiarrheal agents, lidamidine and loperamide, on motility of the isolated cat colon muscle.

Besides their action on intestinal absorption and secretion antidiarrheal agents may affect gastrointestinal motility. Little is known about motor actions in the large intestine. Therefore, the effects of loperamide and lidamidine on contractile and myoelectrical activity were studied in strips of the circular muscle of the cat colon in vitro. Both drugs caused a concentration dependent increase in spontaneous contractions, but the potency of loperamide was greater than that of lidamidine and the efficacy of lidamidine greater than that of loperamide. The corresponding EC50 were 2.9 X 10(-9) M and 1.4 X 10(-5) M, respectively, and the EC100 2.7 X 10(-7) M and 10(-4) M, respectively. In the myoelectrical tracings loperamide stimulated predominantly spike activity, lidamidine oscillatory potentials. The effect of loperamide was antagonized by naloxone, thus indicating an action on opiate receptors. The effect of lidamidine was not inhibited by a variety of drugs. Tetrodotoxin and alpha-adrenergic inhibitors even exaggerated the lidamidine effect, probably by a suppression of tonic nervous inhibition. The receptor for the lidamidine action has yet to be determined. In conclusion, the motor effects may play an important role in the antidiarrheal action of loperamide, but probably not in that of lidamidine, at least not within the range of clinically used doses.

Animals↗

A stretch of "late" SV40 viral DNA about 400 bp long which includes the origin of replication is specifically exposed in SV40 minichromosomes.

Examination of DNA fragments produced from either formaldehyde-fixed or unfixed SV40 minichromosomes by multiple-cut restriction endonucleases has led to the following major results: Exhaustive digestion of unfixed minichromosomes with Hae III generated all ten major limit-digest DNA fragments as well as partial cleavage products. In striking contrast to this result, Hae III acted on formaldehyde-fixed minichromosomes to yield only one of the limit-digest fragments, F, which is located in the immediate vicinity of the origin of replication, spanning nucleotides 5169 and 250 on the DNA sequence map of Reddy et al. (1978). This 300 base pair (bp) fragment was released as naked DNA from formaldehyde-fixed, Hae III-digested minichromosomes following treatment either by pronase-SDS or by SDS alone. In the latter case, the remainder of the minichromosome retained its compact configuration as assayed by both sedimentational and electrophoretic methods. In minichromosomes, the F fragment is therefore not only accessible to Hae III at its ends, but is also neither formaldehyde cross-linked into any SDS-resistant nucleoprotein structure nor topologically "locked" within the compact minichromosomal particle. This same fragment was preferentially produced during the early stages of digestion of unfixed minichromosomes with Hae III, and its final yield in the exhaustive Hae III digest was significantly higher than that of other limit-digest fragments. Similar results were obtained upon digestion of either unfixed or formaldehyde-fixed minichromosomes with Alu I. In particular, of approximately twenty major limit-digest DNA fragments, only two fragments (F and P, encompassing nucleotides 5146 to 190, and 190 to 325, respectively) were produced by Alu I from the formaldehyde-fixed minichromosomes. All other restriction endonucleases tested (Mbo I, Mbo II, Hind III, Hin II+III and Hinf I), for which there are no closely spaced recognition sequences in the above mentioned regions of the SV40 genome, did not produce any significant amount of limit-digest DNA fragments from formaldehyde-fixed minichromosomes. These findings, taken together with our earlier data on the preferential exposure of the origin of replication in SV40 minichromosomes (Varshavsky, Sundin and Bohn, 1978), strongly suggest that a specific region of the "late" SV40 DNA approximately 400 bp long is uniquely exposed in the compact minichromosome. It is of interest that, in addition to the origin of replication, this region contains binding sites for T antigen (Tjian, 1977), specific tandem repeated sequences and apparently also the promoters for synthesis of late SV40 mRNAs (Fiers et al., 1978; Reddy et al., 1978).

Chromatin↗

Experimental evidences for a role of subinhibitory concentrations of rilopirox, nystatin and fluconazole on adherence of Candida spp. to vaginal epithelial cells.

Candidiasis is frequently localized in the mucosal epithelium which covers the vaginal and oral cavity. The pathogenicity of Candida is correlated with its ability to adhere to epithelial cells and this is the resultant of both fungal and host cell properties and their physicochemical interactions. This study was performed to investigate the ability of subinhibitory concentrations (sub-MICs) of rilopirox, a new antimycotic drug, to interfere with the adhesion of Candida albicans, Candida tropicalis and Candida glabrata to human vaginal cells, in comparison with sub-MICs of nystatin and fluconazole. The three drugs are more active on C. albicans, followed by C. tropicalis and, last, C. glabrata, on which fluconazole was inactive (MIC > 24 micrograms/ml). Rilopirox, nystatin and fluconazole have different mechanisms of action, and different molecular weights, so a comparative analysis of data was performed by means of their sub-MICs. On this basis the order of activity was nystatin [symbol: see text] rilopirox > fluconazole. These findings can be of use for optimizing also the posologic design by regarding sub-MICs which are still active in reducing the adhesiveness of Candida to cells of the vaginal mucosa.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗

The dermatopharmacologic profile of ciclopirox 8% nail lacquer.

Ciclopirox 8% nail lacquer is a recently introduced topical formulation of the hydroxypyridone antimycotic ciclopirox. In vitro data indicate that ciclopirox has activity against the important pathogenic dermatophytes responsible for onychomycosis. The lacquer delivery system provides a high concentration gradient for the transfer of the antifungal agent through the nail plate. Daily application to the toenail surface of healthy subjects resulted in good penetration and distribution within all nail layers. Systemic absorption of ciclopirox in five patients with onychomycosis was minimal.

Administration, Topical↗