Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to R Chan.
Digital surgery of the foot is performed on a regular basis. Knowledge of the anatomy is of particular importance in order to appreciate the pathophysiology of the deformity. With this understanding, the surgeon can then address the problems at the appropriate level.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
A series of conformationally restricted retinoids has been synthesized and assayed for biological activity. These compounds have aromatic rings in place of selected double bonds of the tetraene side-chain of retinoic acid and could be considered as analogues of retinoic acid in which some of the double bonds possess s-cis topology. Thus far, analogues in which the bonds corresponding to the (5,7E)-, (7,9E)-, (9,11,13E)- and (11,13E)-double bond systems of retinoic acid are restricted to a cisoid conformation have been studied. Analogues were screened for their ability to reverse keratinization in hamster tracheal organ culture and to inhibit the induction of ornithine decarboxylase in mouse epidermis. Selected compounds were also screened in the antipapilloma assay in mice. The toxicity of some analogues on intraperitoneal injection in mice was determined.
A review of 1 000 pregnancies in which routine early pregnancy scanning was performed is reported. Ultrasound predicted accurately (to within +/- 14 days) the date of confinement in more than 90% of women who were unsure of their dates. Clinical estimation of gestation age compared well with ultrasound report in 90% of singleton pregnancies. Scanning diagnosed 3 out of 4 lethal congenital abnormalities in early pregnancy. The diagnosis of multiple pregnancy and placenta praevia have no immediate clinical implication in early pregnancy. Early pregnancy scan is recommended for women who are uncertain of their last menstrual period and for those with identified early pregnancy risks. Routine use of ultrasonography in early pregnancy should be related to the identified need of the population served and should be employed with caution. Where the policy of routine scanning is adopted, optional information is obtained when the procedure is carried out between the 14th and 18th week of gestation. Clinical pelvic examination in early pregnancy remains a valuable practice for the estimation of gestational age.
Isolation of Campylobacter species from 1126 fecal specimens from patients with diarrhea was compared using direct plating and selective enrichment broth. The use of the enrichment broth did not increase the isolation rate, which was 4.2%. While a selective enrichment broth may have advantages where there is delay in transit to the laboratory, or where small numbers of organisms are sought, we do not recommend its use for clinical specimens from patients with diarrhea.
The ferredoxin-NADP+ oxidoreductase of spinach chloroplasts was purified from a Triton X-100 thylakoid extract closely associated with an intrinsic polypeptide of 17.5 kDa. The 17.5-kDa polypeptide-reductase complex differs from soluble ferredoxin-NADP+ reductase in (a) its elution profile in an Affi-Gel blue column; (b) its behavior in isoelectric focusing electrophoresis; and (c) giving different immunoelectrophoretic arcs. The diaphorase activity of the purified complex showed the same pH profile of thylakoid-bound reductase. The curve changed to a form similar to that of soluble reductase after dissociation of the complex. Dissociation allowed separation of the components and was reversible. It is suggested that the 17.5-kDa intrinsic polypeptide is the reductase-binding protein and that it may play an important role in the physiological regulation of the reductase and of photosynthetic electron transport.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Five strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa that are routinely distinguished by diagnostic laboratories on the basis of their colony morphology on agar media were grown in different media to assess the effects of culture conditions on mucoid growth, which we define as the copious production of exopolysaccharide. On brain heart infusion agar, only two of these strains (mucoid and gelatinous) grew as slimy mucoid colonies. None of the five strains produced a mucoid pattern of growth in Mueller-Hinton broth, in which all grew as turbid, nonmucoid, homogeneous suspensions of bacterial cells. When Mueller-Hinton broth was supplemented with Mg2+, all of the strains produced some mucoid aggregated growth, but growth in a modified version of the chemically defined medium of Vogel and Bonner, with elevated levels of Mg2+ and gluconate, produced patently mucoid growth in all strains. This mucoid growth in a liquid medium takes the form of large, coherent, slimy aggregates within the medium and of a "collar" of adherent microcolonies at the air-medium interface. Direct observations by light and electron microscopy showed the submerged aggregates and the adherent microcolonies to be composed of bacterial cells enmeshed in a copious exopolysaccharide matrix. When agar was added to the supplemented medium of Vogel and Bonner, only the mucoid and gelatinous strains produced slimy mucoid colonies on its surface. We conclude that both chemical and physical factors affect exopolysaccharide production by these clinical strains of P. aeruginosa and that the colony morphology on a single agar medium is an insufficient criterion for the designation of a given isolate as being mucoid or nonmucoid.
The very fine sinuous K99 pili of enterotoxigenic strains of Escherichia coli can be visualized in shadowed and in negatively stained preparations, especially if the amorphous K30 glycocalyx is not produced, but these very delicate structures cannot be directly resolved in sectioned material. The K99 pili can, however, be thickened by the nonspecific accretion of K30 glycocalyx material, during its condensation as a result of dehydration, to the point where it can be resolved in sectioned material. This visualization is enhanced if the accreted and condensed glycocalyx is stained with ruthenium red. Alternatively and additionally, the K99 pilus can be thickened by the specific accretion of monoclonal antibodies so that it is made visible in sectioned material. The condensation of the hydrated K30 antigen glycocalyx of enterotoxigenic strains of Escherichia coli during dehydration can be prevented by stabilization using specific antibodies so that this capsular glycocalyx structure is identified in sectioned material and is seen in its correct distribution and dimensions. These methods allow the identification and visualization of bacterial surface structures, both in vitro and in vivo, and they provide a useful means of assessing the presence and distribution of these structures at all stages of the bacterial disease and a possible means of assessing their roles in the pathogenic process.
The potential efficacy of drug combinations that employ an ionophore to mobilize excess hepatic Fe and transport it to the gut for chelation to nonabsorbable polymers and excretion was evaluated in three ways: 1) two-phase partition experiments to assess the ionophoretic capability of lipid-soluble Fe(III)-chelators; 2) in vitro screening with Fe-loaded hepatocyte cultures; and 3) evaluation in Fe-dextran-loaded mice given a low-Fe-containing diet for maximal sensitivity. In the partition experiments, desferal (DF), (desferri)ferrichrome, pyridoxyl isonicotinoyl acid hydrazone hydrochloride (PINH), 2,3-dihydroxybenzoic acid, cholylhydroxamic acid and caffeic acid were effective to varying degrees in transferring Fe(III) from an aqueous to an organic hydrophobic phase. PINH, the most effective, combined with poly[vinylamine-vinyl(2,3-dihydroxybenzenecarboxamide)-vinyl sulfonate sodium salt] (DHBP), increased net 59Fe release from Fe-loaded hepatocytes above the sum of that released by each drug alone and comparable with DF-induced levels. In the mouse bioassay, the combination of PINH (8.1 mg/kg) and DHBP (170 mg/kg 2 times daily) caused a 32% increase in fecal Fe output, comparable with total Fe excretion with DF, but higher doses were toxic and lower doses ineffective. Furthermore, less than 5% of the total Fe load administered was excreted during the 4-day treatment period by either DF or the PINH-DHBP drug combination.
Benzo(ghi)perylene (B(ghi))Per, (191-24-2)) and coronene (Cor, (191-07-1)) are major constituents of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) found in automobile exhaust and polluted air [eg, Grimmer et al, 1981]. Nitration of these PAH by NO2 and traces of HNO3, which are also formed in automobile exhaust, seems highly probable. To identify the presence of these nitroarenes in environmental samples and to examine their mutagenic potencies we synthesized and characterized nitro derivatives of both PAH. 5-NO2B(ghi)Per (81316-87-2) and 1-NO2Cor (81316-84-9) produced 405 and 340 revertants/nmole respectively in TA98 in the presence of 0.6 mg of microsomal enzymes (S-9) per plate in the Ames test. 5,8-diNO2B(ghi)Per (83292-25-5) and 5,10-diNO2B(ghi)Per (83292-26-6) produced 21,500 and 4,000 revertants/nmole in TA98 without microsomal activation. Mutagenicity for the dinitrobenzo(ghi)perylenes was also high in TA98NR and TA97 but was reduced by 97% in TA98-1,8DNP. There is close similarity in the orientation and distances between reactive sites (nitrenium ion and carbocation) on the dinitrobenzo(ghi)perylenes and 1,6-dinitropyrene (42397-64-8) and 1,8-dinitropyrene (42397-65-9).
Aromatic analogues of (E)-1-(4-carboxyphenyl)-2-methyl-4-(2,6,6-trimethyl-1-cyclohexen-1-yl)butadiene (1b) and its ethyl ester (1a) were synthesized as potential chemopreventive agents for the treatment of epithelial cancer and such skin diseases as psoriasis and cystic acne. The phenyl ring of 1 was replaced by 2-fluorophenyl, 2-methoxyphenyl, thienyl, furanyl, and pyridyl groups. The 1-fluorobutadiene analogue of 1 was also synthesized. With exception for the furanyl analogue, these compounds demonstrated good activity in reversing keratinization in hamster tracheal organ culture and in inhibiting the induction of ornithine decarboxylase in mouse epidermis by a tumor promoter.
Four anti-glucocorticoids, 11-deoxycortisol, deoxycorticosterone, 17 alpha-methyltestosterone and progesterone were demonstrated to antagonize the stimulation of mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) production by the glucocorticoid hormone dexamethasone in the cell line Mm5mt. These same anti-glucocorticoids were also able to suppress the enhancement of MMTV production by the tumor promoting phorbol ester, 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA), whereas estradiol, the anti-tumor promoter trans-retinoic acid, and the calmodulin inhibitor, chlorpromazine did not. Binding competition studies indicate that TPA can compete with dexamethasone in binding to the cellular glucocorticoid receptor. These results suggest that TPA stimulates the expression of MMTV by mimicking a glucocorticoid hormone.
The effect of isovolemic hemodilution on local tissue oxygen pressure (pO2) and on the power of the electrocorticogram (ECoG) was investigated in the brain of the cat under normal conditions and during focal ischemia. Ischemia, produced by clamping of the middle cerebral artery (MCA) by a transorbital approach, was performed in two series of cats for 2 h. In one group of animals, isovolemic hemodilution was achieved in the second hour of persisting clamping. Local pO2 was continuously recorded on the median ectosylvian gyrus by a multiwire surface electrode. After MCA clamping, local tissue pO2 markedly decreased and hypoxia occurred in the ischemic area. During isovolemic hemodilution until a hematocrit of 20%, local pO2 in the ischemic area did not decrease any further although arterial oxygen capacity was drastically reduced. The power of the ECoG did also not decrease any further in comparison to the situation of ischemia without hemodilution. In the normal brain isovolemic hemodilution until a hematocrit of 20% did not significantly change mean tissue pO2 and the power of the electrocorticogram. We conclude from these results that during isovolemic hemodilution the decreased arterial oxygen capacity is compensated by an increase in microflow in the normal and ischemic region of the brain.
Electron microscopy was used to study the interaction between the glycocalyx of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli strain 210 (09:K30+;K99-;F41-:H-) and the glycocalyx of epithelial cells in then ileum of experimentally infected newborn colostrum-deprived calves. Fixation of tissues in anti-K30 antibody and ruthenium red was used to stabilize the bacterial glycocalyx so that the spatial relationship between the bacteria and the intestinal epithelial cells could be characterized. When strain 210 was grown in vitro and reacted with anti-K30 antibody prior to staining with ruthenium red, the extensive glycocalyx could be clearly visualized surrounding the bacterial cells. By negative staining, an unidentified pilus was also seen. Sections of ileum from infected calves, which were not fixed in antibody nor stained with ruthenium red, revealed attached bacteria which were surrounded by an electron-translucent zone and no visible bacterial glycocalyx. When ruthenium red staining was used, the bacterial glycocalyx partially collapsed during the dehydration steps of fixation, but could be seen as either a fibrous capsule or an electron-dense accretion on the bacterial cell surface. When ileal tissue was reacted for one hour in anti-K30 antibody before staining with ruthenium red, the bacterial glycocalyx was seen as a discrete electron-dense structure up to 1.0microm thick which was in intimate contact with the glycocalyx of the epithelial cells. The importance of the bacterial exopolysaccharide to microcolony formation on the villi could be clearly visualized.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
The attachment of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) strain B44 (O9:K30:K99:F41:H-) to the ileal epithelium of newborn colostrum-fed calves was studied by electron microscopy. Stabilization of the bacterial glycocalyx (K30) and pili (K99) by fixation of tissue sections in specific antibody and staining with ruthenium red were used so that the bacterial surface structures could be clearly visualized and their spatial relationship to the intestinal brush border defined. When sections of ileum from infected calves were neither fixed in antibody nor stained with ruthenium red, the ETEC cells colonizing the small intestine were separated from each other and from the brush border by an electron-translucent halo; neither the glycocalyx nor the pili could be clearly resolved. When ruthenium red staining was used, the halo was partially filled by a net of electron-dense fibers composed of pili and condensed glycocalyx which extended to the brush border. Tissue sections reacted with anti-K30 antibody before staining with ruthenium red revealed microcolonies of ETEC surrounded by a discrete electron-dense glycocalyx 0.3 to 1.0 micrometers thick and in tight contact with the epithelial cell surface. When ileal tissue was treated with K99 antibody, the K99 pili were visible as discrete fibers extending from the bacterial cell surface through the glycocalyx. We discuss the role of these cell surface components in pathogenic adhesion and in the formation of protected microcolonies at the surface of the infected ileal epithelium.
Eleven patients with osteogenic sarcoma (9), Hodgkin disease (1), and mesenchymal sarcoma (1), were treated with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and cisplatin (DDP). Myelosuppression and vomiting of variable degrees occurred in all. No responses were seen.