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Biomedical subjects

R B Jones

Publications and source records attributed to R B Jones.

At least 181 records · Page 10Linked to original sources

Pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic interactions of intensive cyclophosphamide, cisplatin, and BCNU in patients with breast cancer.

Combinations of alkylating agents in intensive doses with autologous hematopoietic cell support (AHCS) are commonly used to treat advanced, solid tumors. Relatively little is known about the pharmacokinetic or pharmacodynamic aspects of their use. The cyclophosphamide, cisplatin, and BCNU (CPA/cDDP/BCNU) regimen is often used in patients with breast cancer. In these individuals, the blood levels of BCNU vary by more than tenfold. In rats given BCNU, the blood level variability is associated with cisplatin pretreatment, and mean levels are much higher than those that occur when cisplatin pretreatment is omitted. These observations suggest that a major elimination pathway for BCNU is metabolic and is subject to cisplatin disruption. Between 30-50% of patients receiving the CPA/cDDP/BCNU regimen experience a steroid-responsive pulmonary injury that can be fatal if untreated. Blood levels of BCNU are positively correlated with the risk of pulmonary injury in these patients. Others have demonstrated that blood levels of CPA can be inversely correlated with the likelihood of cardiac toxicity and 2-year, relapse-free survival in patients with breast cancer. Emerging data suggest that circulating drug levels, rather than the calculated dose, best explain the variability of outcome in patients treated with combination alkylating agents and AHCS.

Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols↗

New strategies in marrow purging for breast cancer patients receiving high-dose chemotherapy with autologous bone marrow transplantation.

High-dose chemotherapy and autologous bone marrow transplantation (ABMT) are commonly used to treat selected patients with high-risk breast cancer. A limitation of ABMT is that clonogenic cancer cells could be collected with the bone marrow and produce a relapse of diseases when reinfused into patients. Purging the marrow ex vivo may eliminate the tumor cells, but it can also delay engraftment. We employed two different purging methods whereby breast cancer cells were depleted without delaying engraftment. The addition of WR-2721 (amifostine) to 4-hydroperoxycyclophosphamide (4-HC) reduced the time to engraftment by 10 days compared with marrow purged with 4-HC alone (26 versus 37 days, respectively). The positive selection of CD34+ hematopoietic progenitors produced engraftment within 21 days. The use of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) accelerated the engraftment time of CD34+ hematopoietic progenitors to 11 days.

Amifostine↗

Responses to isolation in Japanese quail genetically selected for high or low sociality.

The adrenocortical, behavioral, and leucocytic responses to isolation, for 1, 3, or 72 h, of 7-10-day-old Japanese quail chicks, of lines selected for high (HSR) or low (LSR) levels of social reinstatement (SR) behavior, were studied. Isolation had no effect on plasma corticosterone levels of heterophil/lymphocyte measures in LSR line chicks. Conversely, circulating corticosterone levels were increased after 1 h of isolation in the HSR line, although they fell to control levels thereafter. Heterophil/lymphocyte ratios of HSR line chicks were also increased after 3 h of isolation but decreased to control levels thereafter. Isolated HSR line chicks were consistently more active and showed more peeping and jumping than LSR line chicks in which sitting and lying were more frequent. However, no such behavioral divergence was observed when HSR and LSR line chicks were housed in same-line groups. These results indicate that selection for SR behavior has influenced both underlying social motivation and responses to short-term isolation. Social separation appeared to be more stressful for HSR than LSR line chicks.

Animals↗

How do we measure consumer opinions of outpatient clinics?

Consumer opinion of care in outpatient departments is increasingly seen as an important measure in the process of quality assurance. However, there are many ways of measuring consumer opinion. The aim of this series of studies was to compare different methods so as to throw light on when and where to use them. What is revealed is that there is no one right answer; instead, a combination of methods will allow the development of a balanced view of consumer opinion and an agenda for action.

Age Factors↗

Fatal noncutaneous visceral infection with varicella-zoster virus in a patient with lymphoma after autologous bone marrow transplantation.

After undergoing high-dose chemotherapy and autologous bone marrow transplantation, a patient developed fatal disseminated infection due to varicella-zoster virus (VZV) with no coincident skin lesions. This article describes this unusual case and briefly reviews the English-language literature on the abdominal presentation of VZV infection as well as that on VZV infection after bone marrow transplantation. In the severely immunocompromised host, visceral infection with VZV may uncommonly occur in the absence of skin lesions. The possibility of such infection should be considered when immunocompromised patients develop unusual symptoms or other evidence of visceral disease (e.g., cholecystitis).

Acyclovir↗

Gender differential in all-cause and cardiovascular disease mortality.

The gender differential in mortality from all causes, cardiovascular disease (CVD), ischaemic heart disease (IHD) and stroke during the mean follow-up of 11.6 years (range 10-14) was examined among 4696 men and 5714 women aged 45-64 at entry in West of Scotland. Overall mortality was 19.4/1000 person-years of observation among men and 10.8/1000 person-years among women. A multiple logistic regression model was used to control the influence of gender, along with seven other cardiovascular risk factors simultaneously. The risk factors considered were age, systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP), serum cholesterol, causal blood glucose, body mass index (BMI) and cigarette smoking. Both the prevalence of risk factors and relative mortality risk associated with them differed by gender. Adjustment slightly reduced the gender differential in overall mortality from 2 to 1.9 and from 1.5 to 1.4 for stroke deaths. Multiple logistic regression increased minimally the gender differential for mortality from 2.4 to 2.8 for CVD and from 2.8 to 3.4 for IHD, suggesting that these cardiovascular risk factors do not account for the overall gender difference in mortality rates. Age, SBP, DBP, blood glucose and cigarette smoking were significant predictors of mortality for both genders. Serum cholesterol was a statistically significant predictor of CVD death only for men.

Age Factors↗

Effect of flosequinan on ischaemia-induced arrhythmias and on ventricular cyclic nucleotide content in the anaesthetized rat.

1. Flosequinan, milrinone, isoprenaline and forskolin given intravenously at similarly hypotensive doses have been evaluated in separate studies for their effect on ischaemia-induced arrhythmias and on ventricular cyclic nucleotide content following coronary artery ligation in the pentobarbitone anaesthetized rat. 2. Flosequinan did not affect mortality or arrhythmias following coronary artery ligation in either study and no change in ventricular cyclic nucleotide content was observed. 3. Isoprenaline caused a significant increase in mortality (P < 0.05) in both studies whereas milrinone and forskolin caused a significant increase in mortality in only one of the two studies conducted. All three agents caused significant increases in cyclic AMP which were associated with increased incidence of arrhythmias. 4. When compared at similarly hypotensive doses, flosequinan, in contrast to milrinone, isoprenaline and forskolin, did not influence ischaemia-induced arrhythmias or raise ventricular cyclic nucleotide levels in the anesthetized rat.

Adenylyl Cyclases↗

Comparison of ciprofloxacin and ceftriaxone as single-dose therapy for uncomplicated gonorrhea in women.

Although women bear the brunt of gonococcal infection-related morbidity, few large studies of gonorrhea treatment in women have been conducted. In a multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, 181 evaluable women with uncomplicated gonorrhea were treated with ciprofloxacin (250 mg orally; 94 women) or ceftriaxone (250 mg intramuscularly; 87 women). Twenty-four percent of the participants were infected with antibiotic-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Cervical gonorrhea was cured in 100% (93 of 93) of the women treated with ciprofloxacin and 99% (83 of 84) receiving ceftriaxone. All pharyngeal (n = 5) or rectal (n = 20) infections treated with ciprofloxacin were cured, as were ceftriaxone-treated patients with pharyngeal (n = 6) or rectal (n = 21) infection. Geometric mean MICs (range) for 248 pretreatment isolates were: penicillin, 0.28 (0.015 to 8.0); tetracycline, 0.46 (0.06 to 4); ciprofloxacin, 0.003 (0.002 to 0.015); and ceftriaxone, 0.004 (0.001 to 0.125) microgram/ml. Both drugs were well tolerated. Despite the high prevalence of antibiotic-resistant gonococci in these populations, 250 mg of oral ciprofloxacin was as effective as an injection of ceftriaxone.

Adolescent↗

The COMMIT dental model: tobacco control practices and attitudes.

The National Cancer Institute's program to help dentists reduce tobacco use among their patients is part of the Community Intervention Trial for Smoking Cessation, a 22-community, randomly controlled trial of an intervention program for smoking cessation. Results of COMMIT baseline surveys of dentists in the 11 intervention communities are presented.

Community Health Services↗

Short-latency stressor effects on tonic immobility fear reactions of Japanese quail divergently selected for adrenocortical responsiveness to immobilization.

Despite evidence for a positive association between adrenocortical activation and fearfulness, the effects of chronic (12 to 20 h) exposure to stressful stimulation on the fear reactions of Japanese quail genetically selected for high (HS) or low (LS) plasma corticosterone response to immobilization stress are not straightforward. The present study examined tonic immobility fear responses in quail of both lines that, immediately prior to testing, either had been allowed to remain undisturbed or had been exposed to an acute stressor similar to that used in the selection program (i.e., a short-latency stressor; 5 min of immobilization). Tonic immobility responses were generally more pronounced in quail of the HS line than the LS line, and they were exaggerated in both lines after exposure to stress treatment. The findings provide further support for the suggestion that selection for exaggerated or reduced adrenocortical responsiveness may have been accompanied by a concomitant and unconscious effect on underlying fearfulness.

Adrenal Cortex↗

Role of autotransplantation in treatment of other solid tumors.

This article reviews the use of high-dose chemotherapy with autologous bone marrow support for a variety of solid tumors. A major feature of the vast majority of studies examined is the high response rates achieved with intensive therapy when compared with those reported with standard chemotherapy. If these rates can be obtained in patients with diseases refractory to standard therapy, then applying the same treatment earlier in the disease course may produce more durable antitumor effects.

Antineoplastic Agents↗

Using the Community Health Index, general practitioner records and the National Health Service Central Registry for a 14 year follow-up of a middle-aged cohort in the west of Scotland.

Record linkage provides an opportunity for relatively inexpensive follow-up in cohort studies. Most studies have used hospital records. However, the Community Health Index, which is a computer-held list of all patients registered with General Practitioners (GPs), now offers opportunities for measuring morbidity at the primary care level. Searching for patients individually on this computer-held Index, we identified 96% of a middle-aged cohort recruited 14 years earlier in a longitudinal study in the West of Scotland. Of these, information was obtained for 78% through direct postal survey and for 87% through contact with GPs. In total, follow-up information was obtained on 903 (92%) of those thought to be alive. The National Health Service Central Registry records data and cause of death and will pass this information to special studies which have 'flagged' individuals' records. Seven per cent of the deaths in this sample had been missed by this process. This may need to be taken into account in previous studies of mortality for this cohort. New studies could expect successful long-term follow-up through record linkage to the Index or the Registry, and automatic record linkage with the Index would be worth investigating.

Cohort Studies↗

Use of a community-based touch-screen public-access health information system.

Meeting the demands of patients and the public for health information is now a recognised aim. Healthpoint is a community-based touch-screen public-access health information system which aims to make health information easily accessible by the public and to provide feedback information on this demand. We have assessed Healthpoint in an experiment in three parts. Part one was a survey of 13 Healthpoints for several weeks in various community sites in Glasgow, such as a shopping centre, supermarket, library, and pub, as well as health service sites such as out-patient department and general practice. The number of users and the topics chosen were recorded by the systems. Part two was a survey of ten Healthpoints in one town (Clydebank) over five months, which examined routine information recorded by the system, and interviews with an opportunistic sample of 300 weekday shoppers in the street and a random sample of 271 by telephone. Part three was a survey of one Healthpoint in a general practice for 36 weeks using routine recording by the system and a postal survey of a systematic sample of 250 attenders. Seventy five (25%) out of 300 in the street survey and 45 (22%) of the telephone sample who had visited a site where there was a Healthpoint had used it. Overall, 17% of the telephone sample had used it. Seventy three (27%) out of 200 general practice attenders had used Healthpoint.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adolescent↗

A controlled trial of a single dose of azithromycin for the treatment of chlamydial urethritis and cervicitis. The Azithromycin for Chlamydial Infections Study Group.

BACKGROUND: Currently, there is no single-dose therapy that is effective in the treatment of urethral or endocervical infections with Chlamydia trachomatis. Azithromycin is a new azalide antibiotic that has substantial activity against C. trachomatis, is concentrated intracellularly, and has a long half-life in serum and tissue. METHODS: We conducted a trial in which 299 female patients and 158 male patients with uncomplicated genital infection and a positive C. trachomatis antigen test were randomly assigned to receive either azithromycin (1 g once orally) or doxycycline (100 mg orally twice daily for seven days). Only patients subsequently determined to have a culture positive for C. trachomatis at base line were included in the evaluation of efficacy. RESULTS: Among the patients who could be evaluated, 5 of the 141 patients (4 percent) treated with azithromycin did not respond to treatment, as compared with 3 of the 125 patients (2 percent) treated with doxycycline (difference between groups, 2 percent; 95 percent confidence interval, 0 to 6 percent). Of the patients evaluated 21 to 35 days after treatment, none of 112 treated with azithromycin and 1 of 102 treated with doxycycline had a positive culture. The rates of bacteriologic cure were similar for the 98 female patients (97 percent) and the 43 male patients (95 percent) treated with azithromycin. Seventeen percent of the patients who received azithromycin and 20 percent of those treated with doxycycline had mild-to-moderate drug-related side effects, mainly gastrointestinal symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: A single 1-g dose of azithromycin is as effective for the treatment of uncomplicated genital chlamydial infections as a standard seven-day course of doxycycline.

Adolescent↗