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Biomedical subjects

M Knapp

Publications and source records attributed to M Knapp.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Relationships between drug regime and histology of rectal mucosa in Crohn's disease.

In the scope of the ECCDS, testing the efficacy of prednisolone and/or sulfasalazine in Crohn's disease, the relationships between drug regime and histology of rectal mucosa were studied. Rectal biopsies, gained at start and after termination of treatment were available in 57 patients. Additionally, biopsies of 20 normal controls were studied. The biopsies, cut completely in serial sections, were investigated by quantitative histological methods. The data were evaluated by multivariate discriminant analyses. The nearest approach of histologic pattern to normal was found after combined treatment with prednisolone and sulfasalazine, followed by prednisolone monotherapy. The effect of sulfasalazine as monotherapy was poor. The degree of normalisation in histologic pattern agrees very well with the CDAI in our subsets. Overall, effective therapy was reflected in histology of rectal mucosa by a decrease of acute inflammatory alterations and an increase of mononuclear infiltration. Only minor individual effects of the various drug regimes were found.

Crohn Disease

Relationships between blood chemistry and histology of the rectal mucosa in Crohn's disease.

In the scope of the ECCDS, established to test the efficacy of prednisolone and/or sulfasalazine in Crohn's disease, the relationships of blood chemistry and CDAI to histology of rectal mucosa were studied in 115 patients by means of univariate and multivariate statistical analyses. Laboratory and histologic markers of inflammation tend to be correlated. But these correlations are definitively weak. Thus, the predictive value of histology for blood chemistry or CDAI is very low. Laboratory indices and CDAI are relatively inaccurate means of assessing disease severity at tissue level and vice versa.

Alpha-Globulins

Effects of filaggrin breakdown products on the growth and maturation of keratinocytes.

Filaggrin is degraded to amino acids in the stratum corneum. We tested the hypothesis that the resulting high concentrations of amino acids might be involved in the control of keratinocyte maturation. An amino acid mixture, with the composition of the filaggrin breakdown products, inhibited the growth of cultured human keratinocytes at 0.1 M. Inhibition of protein synthesis was progressive with time. After 24-h exposure, 50% inhibition occurred at 0.3-0.4 M amino acids. When the cultures were incubated with the amino acids for 7 days, the concentration giving half-inhibition was reduced to 0.2 M. No change was observed in the pattern of keratin synthesis, although synthesis of protein with Mr of 36,000 was disproportionately inhibited. It is concluded that filaggrin breakdown products are not involved in the control of keratinocyte differentiation.

Amino Acids

Selective elimination of mRNAs in vivo: complementary oligodeoxynucleotides promote RNA degradation by an RNase H-like activity.

Oligodeoxynucleotides lead to translation arrest of complementary mRNAs in the wheat germ translation system by a degradation of the mRNA. In an attempt to develop an effective reverse genetic approach in vivo, we demonstrate that injection of short (15- to 30-nucleotide) oligonucleotides into Xenopus oocytes leads to complete degradation of both injected and endogenous mRNAs by means of an RNase H-like activity.

Animals

Low back pain and x-ray films of the lumbar spine: a prospective study in primary care.

We prospectively studied 96 men with low back pain to evaluate the association of x-ray findings with clinical diagnosis, treatment, functional outcome, and satisfaction with care. Degenerative joint disease (DJD) was the most common radiologic finding (70%). Making the diagnosis of spinal DJD has little effect on patient management, but patients with x-ray evidence of DJD were three times more likely than those with normal films to receive nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs other than aspirin. Furthermore, patients given a "diagnostic label" of DJD were more likely to express satisfaction with medical care and less likely to seek care elsewhere than patients with similar x-ray results who were given nonspecific diagnoses. These factors will need to be considered in arriving at an estimate of the net benefits of x-ray examination of the lumbar spine.

Adult

Predicting turnover rates among the staff of English and Welsh old people's homes.

Staff turnover and wastage are particularly damaging in the personal social services where the establishment of staff-client relationships and a fund of experience are so important for 'successful' service or care. The vulnerability and dependence of the frail elderly in old people's homes make staff turnover and wastage especially problematic. The implications of staff turnover are briefly reviewed in this paper, and used as a basis for a study of the extent of staff turnover in the residential care sector. Using data on the personal characteristics of 8588 staff employed in old people's homes in England and Wales during 1976-1977, we estimated the individual propensities to change jobs and to leave social work-related employment altogether. These propensities were found to be significantly associated with age, sex, length of service, basic education and professional qualifications.

Aged

Characterization of the spontaneous murine B cell leukemia (BCL1). III. Evidence for monoclonality by using an anti-idiotype antibody.

We have raised an anti-idiotypic antibody against the cell surface IgM of the murine BCL1 tumor cells. This antiserum reacts exclusively with the IgM expressed on the tumor cells and detects a unique population of cells in the spleen and blood of the tumor-bearing mice. When these cells are stimulated in vitro with LPS, they secrete an IgM bearing the same idiotype as the cell surface Ig. These results are discussed in terms of a model for the immunotherapy of a chronic lymphocytic leukemia-like syndrome in mice.

Animals