Biomedical subjects

M L Cooper

Publications and source records attributed to M L Cooper.

96 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

PubMedDate not supplied

Skin colour, measures of socioeconomic status, and blood pressure among blacks in Erie County, NY.

This study examined (1) the construct validity of an observational skin colour measure and (2) the interrelationships of skin colour, measures of socioeconomic status (SES), and blood pressure (BP) in a random survey of black male (n = 354) and black female (n = 641) household residents aged 18-86 in Erie County, NY. Significant associations between lighter skin colour and older age (p < 0.05), and being female (p < 0.01) were observed, confirming known findings. Lighter skin colour was also marginally associated with higher SES (p = 0.06) in females only. Darker skin colour was associated with higher diastolic BP (p < 0.05). The association of skin colour and BP may be explained by considering skin colour as: (1) a marker for socioenvironmental events (i.e. discrimination) and its consequences (i.e. impact on self-esteem), (2) a marker for genes of West African origin, or (3) related directly to BP through a biochemical pathway as yet unknown.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Cyclosporine A for prolonging allograft survival in patients with massive burns.

Cyclosporine A (CsA) immunosuppression was used in three patients with massive burns to prolong skin allograft survival. Cyclosporine A kinetic studies in patients with burns revealed markedly accelerated blood clearance and high variability in drug absorption when compared with studies in renal transplantation patients. Doses required to maintain therapeutic levels varied widely. While patients were receiving adequate maintenance therapy with CsA immunosuppression the allograft was tightly adherent without gross or microscopic rejection and was indistinguishable from autograft. Ultimately, patients' wounds were permanently covered with sequential autografts by recropping limited donor sites. There were not unusual septic complications, although prophylaxis for opportunistic infections was used. The disadvantage of allograft use is its early rejection and obligatory replacement until permanent coverage with autograft can be accomplished. Cyclosporine A can prolong allograft survival and allow autograft coverage from limited donor sites in a sequential fashion. This may lead to increased survival in patients with massive burns.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Microbial contamination in allografted wound beds in patients with burns.

Microbial wound contamination has been recognized as a cause of autograft skin graft failure. Human cadaver allograft is believed to decrease or control microbial wound contamination, and by its adherence to the wound bed, to indicate a sufficiently low microbial count to allow successful application of autograft. Suboptimal "take" of more fragile cultured skin grafts after removal of adherent allograft led us to reexamine the microbial population of these wound beds. Immediately before autografts were placed, wound beds beneath adherent allograft were biopsied for quantitative microbiologic analysis. Eighty tissue biopsy specimens from 21 patients were examined. No patients had signs of infection or sepsis at the time of biopsy. Fifty-seven percent of all patients had positive cultures beneath adherent allograft skin. Twenty-one percent of all cultures revealed "infected" wound beds (greater than 100,000 colonies per gram), and 30% of all wounds were "colonized" (less than 100,000 colonies per gram). These data suggest that take and vascularization of allograft does not guarantee that a wound bed is free of microbial contamination.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Management of cutaneous manifestations of extensive purpura fulminans in a burn unit.

Purpura fulminans is a rare disease, which may have devastating cutaneous manifestations. It usually follows an infectious illness, and although it most commonly occurs in children, it can occur in adults. The pathogenesis may be related to a relative deficiency of protein C and/or protein S. A case of an adult male is presented to illustrate the management of the severe full-thickness skin loss and the use of surgical excision and allograft in this disease.

Acute Disease↗

PubMedDate not supplied

The effect of an arginine-glycine-aspartic acid peptide and hyaluronate synthetic matrix on epithelialization of meshed skin graft interstices.

Keratinocytes and fibroblasts interact with proteins of the extracellular matrix such as fibronectin and vitronectin through RGD (arginine-glycine-aspartic acid) cell-attachment sequences. This study evaluated the ability of a provisional synthetic matrix composed of an RGD peptide and hyaluronic acid to accelerate the epithelialization of the interstices of meshed, human, split-thickness skin when placed on full-thickness wounds of athymic mice. Full-thickness skin defects, sparing the panniculus carnosus, were created on athymic mice and 3:1 meshed, human skin was placed on them. The grafts had four central, isolated interstices, which epithelialized by migration of human keratinocytes. Conditions were either the addition to the wound of the synthetic matrix or a matrix of hyaluronic acid alone. The time to closure of the graft interstices was decreased (p < 0.02) in the wounds treated with the RGD peptide-hyaluronic acid provisional matrix. The resultant epithelium of the closed interstices was significantly thicker 8 days after surgery for the RGD-treated wounds. Basement membrane proteins (laminin and type IV collagen) were also found to be present at the dermoepidermal junction earlier in the RGD-treated wounds. These results imply that use of the RGD peptide conjugate to effect cell-matrix interactions may have clinical significance in the field of wound healing.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Anger-coping styles and blood pressure in black and white males: Buffalo, New York.

Data from a random survey of household residents in the urban area of Buffalo, stratified by race and education, showed relations between anger-coping styles and age-weight adjusted blood pressure (BP) among males (N = 720). Findings show that older black males with a high reflective mode of anger (constrain anger and try to solve the problem) had significantly lower blood pressure than those with low scores on this mode. In contrast, older black males with a high Anger-out mode (impulsive anger strongly expressed) had significantly higher blood pressure than those low on this mode. This Anger-out pattern was also found for older white men; but for younger whites, only higher alcohol and lower education were significantly related to higher BP levels. An Anger-in mode (impulsive anger not expressed) was not significantly related to blood pressure. The limitations of the Anger-in measures are examined. and a concept of a resentful anger style is discussed and presented for further research.

Adaptation, Psychological↗