PubMed HealthSearch

Biomedical subjects

M L McGarvey

Publications and source records attributed to M L McGarvey.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

Reliability and validity of estimating the NIH stroke scale score from medical records.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The aim of our study was to determine whether the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) can be estimated retrospectively from medical records. The NIHSS is a quantitative measure of stroke-related neurological deficit with established reliability and validity for use in prospective clinical research. Recently, retrospective observational studies have estimated NIHSS scores from medical records for quantitative outcome analysis. The reliability and validity of estimation based on chart review has not been determined. METHODS: Thirty-nine patients were selected because their NIHSS scores were formally measured at admission and discharge. Handwritten notes from medical records were abstracted and NIHSS scores were estimated by 6 raters who were blinded to the actual scores. Estimated scores were compared among raters and with the actual measured scores. RESULTS: Interrater reliability was excellent, with an intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.82. Scores were well calibrated among the 6 raters. Estimated NIHSS scores closely approximated the actual scores, with a probability of 0.86 of correctly ranking a set of patients according to 5-point interval categories (as determined by the area under the receiver-operator characteristic curve). Patients with excellent outcomes (NIHSS score of </=5) could be identified with sensitivity of 0.72 and specificity of 0.89. There were no significant differences between these parameters at admission and discharge. CONCLUSIONS: For the purposes of retrospective studies of acute stroke outcome, the NIHSS can be abstracted from medical records with a high degree of reliability and validity.

Cerebrovascular Disorders

Basement membrane complexes with biological activity.

We have studied the reconstitution of basement membrane molecules from extracts prepared from the basement membrane of the EHS tumor. Under physiological conditions and in the presence of added type IV collagen and heparan sulfate proteoglycan, gellike structures form whose ultrastructure appears as interconnected thin sheets resembling the lamina dense zone of basement membrane. The major components of the reconstituted structures include laminin, type IV collagen, heparan sulfate proteoglycan, entactin, and nidogen. These components polymerize in constant proportions on reconstitution, suggesting that they interact in defined proportions. Molecular sieve studies on the soluble extract demonstrate that laminin, entactin, and nidogen are associated in large but dissociable complexes which may be a necessary intermediate in the deposition of basement membrane. The reconstituted matrix was biologically active and stimulated the growth and differentiation of certain cells.

Animals

Synthesis and effects of basement membrane components in cultured rat Schwann cells.

Schwann cells, the myelin-forming cells of the peripheral nervous system, are surrounded by a basement membrane. Whether cultured rat Schwann cells synthesize the basement membrane-specific components, laminin and collagen type IV, and whether these components influence the adhesion, morphology, and growth of these cells have been investigated. Both laminin and collagen type IV were detected in the cytoplasm of Schwann cells by immunofluorescence. After ascorbate treatment, laminin and collagen type IV were both found in an extracellular fibrillar matrix bound to the Schwann cell surface. Laminin was further localized on the Schwann cell surface by electron microscopy using gold immunolabeling. Anti-laminin IgG-labeled gold particles were scattered over the cell surface, and linear rows of particles and small aggregates were found along the cell edges and at points of contact with other cells. When added to the culture medium, laminin acted as a potent adhesion factor, stimulating Schwann cell adhesion as much as eightfold above control levels on type IV collagen. In the presence of laminin, the cells became stellate and by 24 hr had extended long, thin processes. Laminin also stimulated cell growth in a dose-dependent manner and anti-laminin IgG completely inhibited cell attachment and growth in the absence of exogenous laminin. Thus, cultured Schwann cells synthesize laminin and collagen type IV, two major components of basement membrane, and laminin may trigger Schwann cell differentiation in vivo during early stages of axon-Schwann cell interaction before myelination.

Animals

Formation of a supramolecular complex is involved in the reconstitution of basement membrane components.

Basement membrane macromolecules, including type IV collagen, laminin, and heparan sulfate proteoglycan, do not aggregate when incubated alone. Rather, precipitation occurs in the presence of equimolar amounts of laminin and type IV collagen but variable amounts of heparan sulfate proteoglycan. This interaction requires native laminin and type IV collagen. Heparan sulfate proteoglycan increases the precipitation of laminin particularly in the presence of type IV collagen. Fibronectin does not cause type IV collagen to precipitate. These studies show that the components of basement membrane interact in a highly specific manner and suggest that such interactions may be involved in the deposition of basement membrane in situ.

Animals

Changes in rapidly transported proteins in the auditory nerve after hair cell loss.

In an effort to further characterize the proteins of the auditory nerve, the effects of hair cell loss on rapidly transported proteins of the auditory nerve were studied. The effects were studied in the waltzing guinea pig, a genetically deaf animal which displays an age-dependent loss of sensory cells, and in normal guinea pigs treated with neomycin. In both cases hair cell loss is followed by a slow degeneration of spiral ganglion cells and corresponding auditory nerve fibers. Rapidly transported proteins in the cochlear nucleus were analyzed by two dimensional electrofocusing/electrophoresis 3 h after cochlear injection of [35S]methionine. In both the waltzing guinea pig and the neomycin-treated animals, a significant increase in labeling of two series of polypeptides (average molecular weights of 27,000 and 36,000 daltons) was apparent. Quantitation of the 36,000 dalton protein by extracting from dried gels showed a 2-fold increase in the 10-day-old waltzing guinea pig and a 6-fold increase in the 80-day-old waltzing guinea pig. Further analysis shows these proteins to be membrane-associated glycoproteins.

Animals

Isolation and characterization of type IV procollagen, laminin, and heparan sulfate proteoglycan from the EHS sarcoma.

We have studied the extractability of type IV collagen, laminin, and heparan sulfate proteoglycan from EHS tumor tissue growth in normal and lathyritic animals. Laminin and heparan sulfate proteoglycan were readily extracted with chaotropic solvents from both normal and lathyritic tissue. The collagenous component was only solubilized from lathyritic tissue in the presence of a reducing agent. These results indicate that lysine-derived cross-links and disulfide bonds stabilize the collagenous component in the matrix but not the laminin or the heparan sulfate proteoglycan. The majority of the collagen present in the extracts had a native triple helix based upon the pattern of peptides resistant to pepsin digestion and visualization in the electron microscope by the rotary shadow technique. This protein was composed of chains (Mr 185000 and 170000) identical in migration to the chains of newly synthesized type IV procollagen. This finding confirms earlier work that indicates that the biosynthetic form, type IV procollagen, is incorporated as such in the basement membrane matrix. Material with smaller chains (Mr 160000 and 140000) appeared on storage in acetic acid solutions. These results indicate that the lower molecular weight collagen in acid extracts of basement membrane arises artifactually due to an endogenous acid-active protease.

Animals

Different polypeptides are rapidly transported in auditory and optic neurons.

Rapidly transported proteins and glycoproteins in the auditory and optic nerves of the guinea pig were analyzed by electrophoresis and two-dimensional electrofocusing/electrophoresis. Proteins transported in the auditory nerve were analyzed in the cochlear nucleus 3 h after cochlear injection of radioactive precursor, and proteins transported in the optic nerve were analyzed in the superior colliculus 6 h after intraocular injection of radioactive precursor. Two-dimensional analysis showed that several rapidly transported polypeptides were present in one system, but not in the other. By use of [3H]fucose as a precursor or by separating [35S]methionine-labeled polypeptides on immobilized concanavalin A or wheat germ agglutinin, it was shown that most of the proteins transported in only one system are glycoproteins. As previously reported a polypeptide of molecular weight 140,000 was a major labeled species in the auditory nerve. This polypeptide was also found in the optic nerve, but only as a minor species. Two other polypeptides with molecular weights and isoelectric points similar to those of the 140,000 molecular weight polypeptide were present in both systems, but were much more abundant in the optic nerve. The major labeled polypeptide in both systems had a molecular weight of 25,000.

Animals

Osteonectin, a bone-specific protein linking mineral to collagen.

Osteonectin is a 32,000 dalton bone-specific protein that binds selectively to both hydroxyapatite and collagen. When osteonectin is bound to insolubilized type I collagen, the resultant complex binds synthetic apatite crystals and free calcium ions. The osteonectin-collagen complexes also nucleate mineral phase deposition from metastable balanced salt solutions, Antibodies to osteonectin cross-react with bone and, to a lesser extent, dentin, but not with other tissues. The protein is localized to mineralized bone trabeculae and occurs at higher levels in the matrix than in the cells of bone. These studies suggest that osteonectin is a tissue-specific protein, linking the bone mineral and collagen phases, perhaps initiating active mineralization in normal skeletal tissue.

Animals

Analysis of proteins of the stria vascularis of the normal and the waltzing guinea pig.

Proteins of the stria vascularis of the normal and the genetically deaf waltzing guinea pig were analysed by one and two-dimensional acrylamide gel electrophoresis. Cochlear proteins were labeled in vivo by replacing the perilymph with a solution containing radioactive precursors. With the two-dimensional analysis, more than 200 polypeptides were resolved. Proteins that are exposed on the endolymphatic surface of the stria vascularis were identified by lactoperoxidase-catalysed iodination. Seven polypeptides were identified with this technique. No consistent changes in protein patterns of the stria vascularis from the waltzing guinea pig were detected.

Animals