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Biomedical subjects

M Smethurst

Publications and source records attributed to M Smethurst.

13 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1981

Combined therapy with ascorbic acid and calcitonin for the relief of bone pain in Paget's disease.

In a short trial, 24 patients with Paget's disease of the bone were treated for 2 weeks with either ascorbic acid and calcitonin in combination, or with calcitonin alone. Pain relief was then assessed subjectively by the patients and classified as nil, some, or a marked reduction in pain. There were 11 patients in the group on combined therapy and 73% of them experienced pain relief, compared with 85% of the 13 patients in the group on calcitonin alone. In the patients who experienced pain relief, however, 62% of those on the ascorbic acid and calcitonin combination claimed a marked relief of pain compared with only 36% of the patients who responded to calcitonin alone. These results indicate that when calcitonin and ascorbic acid are used in combination they may provide an increase in the extent of pain relief, but do not increase the total proportion of patients actually obtaining relief. Urinary hydroxyproline excretion was reduced in the calcitonin treated group, but there was little change in the patients on the combined therapy.

Ascorbic Acid↗
PubMed1980

Relationship between X chromosome activation, Barr body frequency and oestrogen receptor status in human breast cancer: a hypothesis.

Current evidence indicates an association between oestrogens, sex chromatin frequency and X chromosome activation in relation to the activity of the enzyme glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase. We suggest that a similar association might apply to control the level of oestradiol receptors in breast tumours and present information supporting this hypothesis.

Breast Neoplasms↗
PubMed1979

Plasma prostaglandin levels in fed and starved lean, normal and obese women.

The plasma obtained from fed and starved lean, normal and obese women was estimated, by a radio-immunoassay method, for prostaglandins, owing to their implication in the regulation of adipose tissue lipolysis and the development of obesity. No significant differences were found due to nutritional status or body-build. However, a significantly higher plasma concentration of prostaglandins of the E-type than of the F-type, was found consistently. The very low levels of prostaglandins observed (a range of 0.10--0.15 ng ml-1 for E-type and a range of 0.05--0.07 ng ml-1 for the F-type) may be due, in part, to the activity of a plasmatic prostaglandin metabolizing system.

Fasting↗
PubMed1978

Ascorbic acid therapy for the relief of bone pain in Paget's disease.

Sixteen patients with painful Paget's disease of the bone were treated with high doses of ascorbic acid. Of these patients, 8 experienced lessening of pain within a period of 5 to 7 days after commencing the vitamin therapy. In 3 of these patients pain was completely abolished. Subsequent treatment with calcitonin caused improvement in most cases. There was little change in plasma alkaline phosphatase levels but the excretion of hydroxyproline was elevated following administration of the vitamin. The highest excretions were found in those patients who experienced complete relief of pain. In patients treated with calcitonin alone, the excretion of hydroxyproline was reduced and urinary levels of ascorbic acid dropped in parallel. It seems clear that ascorbic acid and calcitonin have different effects upon bone metabolism.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Steroid hormone receptors and sex chromatin frequency in breast cancer.

Cytosol and nuclear estrogen receptors and cytosol progesterone receptors were measured in 17 primary breast tumors and compared with sex chromatin frequencies. In cases with sex chromatin frequencies of greater than 20% there were 7/7 tumors with cytosol estrogen and progesterone receptors, 6/7 with cytosol and nuclear estrogen receptors, and 6/7 with all 3 receptors. This high proportion of receptor positive cases was not observed at lower sex chromatin frequencies. Sex chromatin frequencies in all the cytosol estrogen and progesterone receptor positive tumors were significantly higher (p less than 0.05) than in the other groups. Our results suggest a possible association between the presence of steroid hormone receptors and sex chromatin frequencies of greater than 20%.

Breast Neoplasms↗