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Biomedical subjects

R E Partridge

Publications and source records attributed to R E Partridge.

12 recordsLinked to original sources

Metastatic tumors mimicking gynecologic cancer.

Review of the admissions to the Gynecologic Oncology Service at the University of Alabama Medical Center over a 12-year period reveals that 1% of all referrals had nongynecologic malignancies. Duration of symptoms was short; of 40 patients with adequate follow-up, 31 (77%) were dead from their cancer, with a median survival of eight months. The value of diagnostic radiologic procedures was assessed and, while these procedures proved helpful, most patients required a surgical procedure (often a reoperation) to establish the diagnosis.

Adenocarcinoma↗

Diminished activity of a chemotactic inhibitor in synovial fluids from patients with familial Mediterranean fever.

Synovial fluids from patients with osteoarthritis contain a chemotactic inhibitor that acts by antagonizing the complement-derived chemotactic anaphylotoxin, C5a. The activity of this inhibitor in synovial fluids from patients with several forms of inflammatory arthritis (rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, ankylosing spondylitis, and gout) were comparable to the activity present in osteoarthritic synovial fluids. In contrast, levels of inhibitory activity in synovial fluids from 9 patients with familial Mediterranean fever were decreased to less than 20% of those found in osteoarthritis fluids. The possibility was considered that the diminished inhibitory activity in fluids from patients with familial Mediterranean fever plays a part in the pathogenesis of the inflammatory attacks characteristic of this disease.

Adult↗

A chemotactic inhibitor in synovial fluid.

Synovial fluid was found to contain an inhibitor of neutrophil chemotaxis. The activity of this inhibitor was masked in native synovial fluid, but could be detected in fluid in which complement had been deactivated by mild heating. The inhibitor was most effective against the chemotactic activity of zymosan-activated serum (C5ades arg). It had little effect when N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine served as chemoattractant. Inhibition was not the result of a direct effect on the neutrophils, since incubation of cells with synovial fluid did not alter their chemotactic response. The inhibitory activity was destroyed by boiling the synovial fluid or treating it with trypsin, suggesting that it is a protein (or proteins); it was not affected by hyaluronidase treatment. Gel filtration revealed that the inhibitor was present in native as well as decomplemented synovial fluid, and that its molecular weight was in the vicinity of 25,000. It is proposed that this inhibitory activity plays a role in the regulation of the inflammatory response in joints.

Blood↗

Gamma-carboxyglutamate excretion and calcinosis in juvenile dermatomyositis.

Proteins containing gamma-carboxyglutamic acid (Gla) are present in subcutaneous calcifications of adults with dermatomyositis or scleroderma. Sixteen children with juvenile dermatomyositis, including 7 with subcutaneous calcifications, were studied to determine if abnormal synthesis or turnover of Gla-containing proteins occurred. All study children had increased excretion of the amino acid that was greater than that of age- and sex-matched controls. Patients who had juvenile dermatomyositis with calcifications had a 3-fold increase in Gla excretion, and those without calcinosis had a 2-fold increase. Five other children with various connective tissue disorders and subcutaneous calcification had 2-fold increased Gla excretion. Decreased excretion of this amino acid was associated with salicylate therapy (80 mg/kg/24 hours). The data suggest an abnormal turnover of Gla-containing proteins in juvenile dermatomyositis. Metabolism of these proteins may be involved in the pathophysiology of soft-tissue calcification in children.

1-Carboxyglutamic Acid↗