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Biomedical subjects

O Ramos

Publications and source records attributed to O Ramos.

17 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

[HIV infection and AIDS: neuropsychiatric and neuropsychological aspects].

The progressive confirmation of the neurotropic character of HIV, in juxtaposition to the recognition of AIDS dementia complex as an important central nervous system clinical manifestation, have engendered a greater interest in this phenomena. Consequently, a more precise description of the behavioral and mental aspects of this infection have evolved. This article has two purposes, to discuss the AIDS dementia complex concept and secondly, to review the neuropsychiatric and neuropsychological aspects of infection by HIV and AIDS, as it pertains to adult patients.

AIDS Dementia Complex↗
PubMed1991

[Insulin/glucagon relationship in spontaneous diabetic remission].

We define diabetic remission as the disappearance of clinical symptoms with normalization of blood glucose for a period over 15 days after withdrawal of insulin therapy. We studied 21 insulin-dependent diabetic children in remission (10 boys and 11 girls) and 29 normal children matched in age and sex as controls. Two tests were performed, intravenous glucose (IVGT) and glucose post-tolbutamide (PTGT). Two remission groups were studied with IVGT. Glucose, insulin, somatotropin and glucagon were determined in one and glucose and C-peptide in the other. Insulin secretion after IVGT was very low in the remission group, not surpassing basal value when stimulated. Only two girls showed normal or high insulin values during the study, and one of them showed the common hypoinsulinism of the remission group in a second study. The kinetics of glucagon and somatotropin secretion in the remission group were normal with low values of glucagon. When the integrated area (0-120 min) of hormone secretion (insulin, somatotropin and glucagon) was determined, the remission group had lower insulin and glucagon values (p less than 0.05) and identical growth hormone as the normal group. The insulin/glucagon ratio in normals and in remission were similar. During IVGT the remission group studied for C-peptide showed lower C-peptide values than normal group, resembling insulin behavior. In both groups, the glucose disappearance rate ("K" value) was higher in normals than in remissions (p less than 0.001). During the PTGT the normal group showed a peak of insulin secretion after tolbutamide and glucose stimulation. In the remission group, glucose was higher and insulin secretion lower than in the normal group, without a peak of insulin, and growth hormone and glucagon secretion were also lower.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Cost-effectiveness analysis of the treatment of end-stage renal disease in Brazil.

Cost-effectiveness analysis compared four treatments of end-stage renal disease in Brazil: continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD), in-center hemodialysis (HD), cadaver donor transplantation (CD-Tx), and living related donor transplantation (LR-Tx). After 2 years, the costs per year of survival were CAPD, $12,134; HD, $10,065; CD-Tx, $6,978; and LR-Tx, $3,022. The HD cost was lower than CAPD partially because of the reuse of hemodialyzers in Brazil. Although less cost-effective, both dialysis treatments yielded more years of survival after 2 years. This analysis reveals a trade-off between cost per year of survival and years of survival.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Staphylococcus aureus skin carriage and development of peritonitis in patients on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis.

We conducted a 15-month prospective study to investigate the skin carriage of Staphylococcus aureus and the development of peritonitis in 43 patients undergoing continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). Sixteen of 43 patients (37%) were chronic carriers of S. aureus in the anterior nares and/or in the exit-site of the catheter; 12 patients (28%) were intermittent carriers, and 15 (35%) were noncarriers. Fifty episodes of peritonitis occurred during a total of 422 patient-months of observation. S. aureus was responsible for 16 episodes of peritonitis diagnosed in 15 patients. All episodes of S. aureus peritonitis occurred in chronic and intermittent carriers. Phage typing was performed on isolates from 8 patients with S. aureus peritonitis, and they were found to have the same phage type as that previously carried in the skin. We conclude that CAPD patients who are chronic or intermittent carriers of S. aureus are at higher risk of development of peritonitis than noncarriers.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

Elevated NK sensitivity of Raji cells carrying acceptor-bound C3 fragments.

The majority of cell lines derived from Burkitt lymphomas carry CR2 on their plasma membrane cell lines of haematopoietic origin can activate C3 present in human serum through the alternative pathway. However, only the lines that carry CR2 were shown to bind C3 fragments. This bond can be either fixation to acceptor sites or attachment to the CR. Our studies with Raji cells showed that when the possibility for the covalent acceptor bond was eliminated by using methylamine (MA)- or zymosan-treated serum, considerably lower amounts of C3 were bound. In the zymosan-treated serum C3 fragments are present that can bind to receptors but their capacity for acceptor bond is absent. These results indicate that when Raji cell are incubated in human serum some of the generated C3 fragments are bound to acceptors and a lower proportion through the specific interaction with complement receptors. Pretreatment of the CR2 carrying cell lines with human serum elevated their sensitivity to the lytic effect of human blood lymphocytes. We showed in this work that MA-treated serum did not induce this elevation. Zymosan-treated serum under conditions that excluded activation of the residual native C3 molecules, i.e., in the presence of EDTA, did not have the enhancing effect either. These results suggest that the increased lytic efficiency imposed by human serum was due to cleavage of C3 molecules by Raji and fixation of the C3 fragments by acceptor sites. Natural killer cells carry CR3; therefore it is likely that the attached C3 fragments bind also to the effector cells. The C3 molecules could elevate thereby the avidity between the target and the lytic lymphocytes. The observation that C3 fragments are not bound to the surface of CR2 negative lines in spite of their capacity to activate C3 suggests that the receptor molecule is either involved in the activation and/or serves also as an acceptor.

Complement C3↗
PubMed1987

Yellow-brown (Hamazaki-Wesenberg) bodies mimicking fungal yeasts.

We describe herein two cases in which yellow-brown (Y-B) bodies, also known as Hamazaki-Wesenberg bodies, were encountered in lymph nodes and initially misinterpreted as fungal organisms. Because of occasional "budding" forms and positive staining with "screening" fungal stains (Grocott methenamine silver and periodic acid-Schiff), Y-B bodies may closely resemble budding yeast fungi. We describe the characteristic light microscopic and ultrastructural morphologic features of Y-B bodies, and their histochemical staining reactions, and emphasize the value of the Fontana-Masson silver stain for recognition and identification of these bodies.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

[Chemical evaluation and determination of the nutritive value of a variety of Opaque-2 corn in the initial diet of broilers].

Chemical and amino acidic composition of Opaque-2 corn, cultivar CIMMYT-TL 81-A (Hungarian compound) locally produced were determined. In addition, the productive performance of broiler chicks fed Opaque-2 corn or normal corn (Pioneer) for the first 28 days of age was evaluated. The chemical and amino acid content results obtained for the Opaque-2 corn studied, compared well ranges previously reported. The productive performance at the end of the experiment was similar between the two treatments assayed.

Amino Acids↗
PubMed1984

[Monozygotic twins with a minimal cerebral dysfunction syndrome].

Two monozygotic boys, 5 years and 5 months old, with a normal IQ, whose father had suffered from stuttering, language retardation and dyslexia showed a minimal brain dysfunction syndrome. A genetic etiology is likely in these patients. Other etiological factors remain obviously possible in other patients.

Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity↗
PubMed1983

A progressive syndrome of autism, dementia, ataxia, and loss of purposeful hand use in girls: Rett's syndrome: report of 35 cases.

Thirty-five patients, exclusively girls, from three countries had a uniform and striking progressive encephalopathy. After normal general and psychomotor development up to the age of 7 to 18 months, developmental stagnation occurred, followed by rapid deterioration of higher brain functions. Within one-and-a-half years this deterioration led to severe dementia, autism, loss of purposeful use of the hands, jerky truncal ataxia, and acquired microcephaly. The destructive stage was followed by apparent stability lasting through decades. Additional insidious neurological abnormalities supervened, mainly spastic parapareses, vasomotor disturbances of the lower limbs, and epilepsy. Prior extensive laboratory investigations have not revealed the cause. The condition is similar to a virtually overlooked syndrome described by Rett in the German literature. The exclusive involvement of females, correlated with findings in family data analyses, suggests a dominant mutation on one X chromosome that results in affected girls and nonviable male hemizygous conceptuses.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1966

The incidence and prevention of folate deficiency in a pregnant clinic population.

Non-anemic women attending a public antenatal clinic were given, daily, a multivitamin tablet containing 78 mg. of elemental iron. The follow-up studies included an analysis of their diets. A total of 311 patients were included, of which one group received a supplement of 0.5 mg. folic acid and 0.005 mg. vitamin B(12). The incidence of megaloblastic bone marrow change in the unsupplemented group was 26% and of low blood folates approximately 50%. The incidence of megaloblastic changes was sharply reduced in the supplemented group and the blood folates were elevated to supranormal levels, indicating that the dose of folic acid used may have been above the minimal requirement. Formiminoglutamic acid (FIGLU) excretion could not be correlated with other parameters of folate deficiency. Neutrophil lobe counts did not relate to megaloblastic changes or low folate levels unless there was more than 5% hypersegmentation. The dietary intake was suboptimal in total calories, iron and food folate.

Anemia, Macrocytic↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Effects of a specific inhibitor of the vascular action of vasopressin in humans.

Experimental evidence indicates that arginine vasopressin (AVP) may contribute to the rise of blood pressure (BP) in hypertension induced by renal failure and sodium overload. We studied the AVP inhibitor [1-(B-mercapto-B,B-cyclopentamethylenepropionic acid)-2-(O-methyl)tyrosine] AVP in 12 normal and seven hypertensive subjects with end-stage renal disease. To test the agent's capacity to block the pressor action of exogenous AVP In humans, we constructed a dose-response curve with AVP doses of 1 to 20 mU/kg, raising BP by up to 30 mm Hg. Subsequently, five volunteers receive intravenous (i.v.) doses of 0.1 mg, and five volunteers received 0.5 mg of the inhibitor. The dose-response curve was then repeated with AVP doses up to 200 mU/kg. Both doses of the inhibitor shifted the curve to the right and downward, with the BP response to 20 mU/kg AVP being inhibited by 23% and 80% respectively. The duration of action of the compound was tested in two additional subjects, and was found to be over 3 hours. We then tested the compound in seven hypertensive patients with end-stage renal failure. Two days before dialysis, patients received a 150 mEq/day Na diet. After an additional Na load of 180 mEq via i.v. saline over 3 hours under constant BP and ECG monitoring, they received an i.v. bolus of 0.5 mg AVP inhibitor. A moderate BP fall occurred in five patients; it was maximal at 45 to 60 minutes and returned to baseline by 70 to 90 minutes.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗