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Biomedical subjects

R F Chen

Publications and source records attributed to R F Chen.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1994

Metabolism of naphthalene, fluorene, and phenanthrene: preliminary characterization of a cloned gene cluster from Pseudomonas putida NCIB 9816.

A modified cloning procedure was used to obtain large DNA insertions (20 to 30 kb) from Pseudomonas putida NCIB 9816 that expressed polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) transformation activity in Escherichia coli HB101. Four subclones (16 [in both orientations], 12, and 8.5 kb in size) were constructed from the initial clones. Naphthalene, fluorene, and phenanthrene transformations were investigated in these eight NCIB 9816 clones by a simple agar plate assay method, which was developed to detect and identify potential PAH metabolites. Results indicated that the necessary genes encoding the initial ring fission of the three PAHs in E. coli cells are located in an 8.5-kb EcoRI-XhoI portion, but the lower-pathway genes are not present in a 38-kb neighborhood region. These NCIB 9816 clones could transform naphthalene and phenanthrene to salicylic acid and 1-hydroxy-2-naphthoic acid, respectively. With the same clones, fluorene was degraded to 9-hydroxyfluorene, 9-fluorenone, and two unidentified compounds. Genetic similarity between the NAH7 upper-pathway genes and the cloned NCIB 9816 genes was confirmed by Southern blot DNA-DNA hybridization. In spite of this genetic similarity, the abilities of the two clusters to transform multiple PAHs were different. Under our experimental conditions, only the metabolites from naphthalene transformation by the NAH7 clone (pE317) were detected, whereas the NCIB 9816 clones produced metabolites from all three PAHs.

Biotransformation↗
PubMed1993

[A study of left ventricular function in normal persons and patients with old myocardial infarction with three dimensional echocardiography (3-DE)].

The accuracy of 3-DE in evaluating the volumes of left ventricule (LV) and volume changes in cardiac cycle was discussed. The LV volumes measured with 3-DE in porcine hearts is more closely to the real volumes directly measured (P > 0.05 r = 0.93). The EF value measured with radionuclide has higher correlation with that of 3-DE (r = 0.88) in patients. In a quantitative analysis of LV volume changes in cardiac cycles, we found that the decrease of EF in patients with old myocardial infarction (OMI) occurs mainly at the early stage and lasts to middle stage of systole in anterior myocardial infarction. Dysfunction of filling in OMI took place at the early and middle stages of diostole. Segmental shortening of LV was analysed quantitatively by percentage and pseudocolour mark. The reference values of 3DE in cardiac function were shown.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

[Pituitary apoplexy: a study of eighteen cases].

Pituitary Apoplexy is a rare but sometimes life threatening condition which requires prompt recognition and timely medical intervention to avoid catastrophic consequences. From January 1979 to June 1989 and total of one hundred and ninety eight pituitary tumor patients were operated on our hospital. Eighteen cases (9.1%) were diagnosed "pituitary apoplexy" according to histopathological findings. The group consisted of twelve men and six women ranging in age from twenty two to sixty one years with a mean of forty. There were three cases of prolactin-secreting adenomas (16.7%), four growth-hormone secreting adenomas (22.2%), and eleven nonfunctional adenomas (61.1%) with an incidence of 6.1%, 8.3%, and 11.4% respectively (P > 0.05). Clinical manifestation occurred acutely in 66.7% and nonacutely in 33.3%. The patients presented with headaches (100%), visual impairment (83.3%), visual field defects (66%), disturbed consciousness (22%), fever and meningismus (11%). Radiological examinations able to demonstrate abnormalities included plain skull films (84%), computed tomography (84.6%), and angiography (93.8%). Various investigations of endocrine function pre and post operatively showed a deficient gonad axis (53%, 62.5%), adrenal axis (26.7%, 56.2%), and thyroid axis (20%, 43.8%). Sixteen cases received a transsphenoid operation and three cases underwent a transfrontal craniotomy. No case of mortality was reported. Postoperative radiotherapy was given to nine cases and nine cases were followed up on a regular basis. Therefore, our retrospective study suggests that pituitary apoplexy is not uncommon and has an acute clinical presentation. No particular tumor type was prone to occur. Various radiological examinations could define perisellar abnormalities. With a decreasing order of hormone deficiency, gonad, adrenal and thyroid axis were observed during the course of treatment.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Fluorescence of tryptophan dipeptides: correlations with the rotamer model.

The multiexponential decay of tryptophan derivatives has previously been explained by the presence of rotamers having different fluorescence lifetimes, but it has been difficult to correlate rotamer structure and physical properties. New time-resolved and static data on dipeptides of the type Trp-X and X-Trp, where X is another aminoacyl residue, are consistent with the rotamer model and allow some correlations. That a dominant rotamer of Trp-X zwitterion has the -NH3+ group near the indole ring was inferred from absorption and fluorescence spectra, titrimetric determination of pKa values, photochemical hydrogen-deuterium-exchange experiments, decay-associated spectra, quantum yields, and decay kinetics. Analysis of the lifetime and quantum yield data for Trp dipeptides, especially X-Trp, suggests that static self-quenching is not uncommon. Highly quenched and weak components of the fluorescence do not contribute to the calculated mean lifetime, thus resulting in apparent static quenching. We propose the term quasi-static self-quenching (QSSQ) to distinguish this phenomenon from quenching due to ground-state formation of a dark complex. Mechanisms of quenching and the structure of statically quenched rotamers are discussed. The occurrence of QSSQ supports the idea that rotamers interconvert slowly. A major perceived deficiency of the rotamer model, namely, the apparent inability to predict reasonable rotamer populations from fluorescence decay data, may result from the presence of statically quenched species, which do not contribute to the fluorescence.

Dipeptides↗
PubMed1990

Magnitude and time course of beta-adrenergic antagonism during oral amiodarone therapy.

To examine the presence and time course of beta-adrenergic antagonism produced by amiodarone, the heart rate, QT interval and arrhythmia frequency in response to graded doses of isoproterenol were evaluated in eight patients treated with oral amiodarone for sustained ventricular tachycardia. Measurements were made before and every 2 days after beginning oral amiodarone therapy (600 mg twice daily). Isoproterenol was given in doses of 12.5, 25 and 50 ng/kg body weight per min. The mean heart rate at rest decreased from 73.1 +/- 17.8 beats/min on day 0 to 57.8 +/- 15.0 beats/min after 12 days of amiodarone therapy. A significant linear decline in heart rate at rest was observed until day 6 (p less than 0.05 for all comparisons). On all days isoproterenol produced a progressive increase in heart rate that reached 115.5 +/- 20.2 beats/min on day 0 and 94.2 +/- 18.5 beats/min on day 12. Amiodarone blunted the heart rate increase produced by isoproterenol on days 2 to 12 (p less than 0.05 versus day 0). This effect was present by day 2 and did not change significantly thereafter. The mean corrected QT (QTc) interval increased from 430 +/- 30 ms on day 0 to 449 +/- 63 ms on day 12. A significant linear increase in QTc interval was observed until day 6 (p less than 0.05 for all comparisons). There was no systematic effect of isoproterenol on the QTc interval. Five of eight patients had a significant number of isoproterenol-induced premature ventricular complexes. Ventricular ectopic activity in response to isoproterenol was abolished after 4 days of amiodarone therapy.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed1990

Prolactin effects on the dietary regulation of mouse mammary tumor virus proviral DNA expression.

Chronic energy-intake restriction inhibits mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV)-induced mammary tumors in C3H/Ou mice by greater than 90%. We have shown that associated with suppression of mammary tumorigenesis there is a reduction or inhibition of circulating prolactin, MMTV particles expressed, and MMTV mRNA transcription in mammary glands (and in most organs tested). To understand the concerted action of prolactin, energy-consumption level, and MMTV on inducing mammary tumors, experiments were designed to control prolactin and energy levels in order to evaluate their effects on MMTV mRNA expression. Mice on restricted diets were grafted with adenohypophyses, and mice fed ad libitum were treated with the dopaminomimetic agent octahydrobenzo [g]quinoline. Adenohypophyseal grafting significantly increased prolactin in dietary (energy)-restricted mice, and this effect was associated with an increase in MMTV mRNA expression within the mammary gland; a linear correlation between prolactin levels and MMTV mRNA expression in the mammary gland was found. Conversely, elimination of the nocturnal peak of circulating prolactin by i.p. injection of dopaminomimetic octahydrobenzo [g]quinoline to mice fed ad libitum delayed (by 8 weeks) and reduced (even as long as 25 weeks) mammary gland MMTV mRNA expression. These findings associate prolactin influences with MMTV mRNA production in mice and help explain the link between chronic energy-intake restriction and reduced MMTV gene expression.

Aminoquinolines↗
PubMed1990

Suppression of mouse mammary tumor proviral DNA and protooncogene expression: association with nutritional regulation of mammary tumor development.

Chronic energy intake restriction (CEIR) reduces mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV)-induced mammary tumors in C3H/Ou mice. Fewer than 10% of C3H/Ou mice developed mammary tumors during 88 wk of study when subjected to CEIR regardless of calorie source (fat vs. carbohydrate). By contrast, 100% of mice fed ad libitum diets relatively high in fat or carbohydrate or a commercial diet developed tumors by 35-40 wk. MMTV proviral DNA transcription was shown to be activated in spleen, liver, lung, kidney, small intestine, and mammary gland of mice consuming these diets ad libitum. By contrast, these messages were suppressed by CEIR in all tissues analyzed except spleen. MMTV proviral messages in liver and mammary gland increased with age in full-fed mice and were suppressed by CEIR. These findings suggest that the nutritional regulation of MMTV proviral DNA expression is tissue-specific. In CEIR mice the suppressed MMTV proviral DNA transcripts in mammary gland and liver increased with time in association with the delayed onset of mammary tumors. Mammary tumorigenesis in C3H mice is associated with integration of MMTV proviral DNA, which appears to activate a putative mammary tumor protooncogene, int-1. CEIR apparently decreases the frequency of viral reintegration adjacent to the int-1 gene and thus inhibits expression of int-1 and probably an initiation step in mammary tumorigenesis. Expression of other putative protooncogenes, int-2 and ras, in liver tissue was also reduced by CEIR. These findings indicate that both initiation and promotion of mammary tumorigenesis are influenced by CEIR in C3H/Ou mice.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Calorie consumption level influences development of C3H/Ou breast adenocarcinoma with indifference to calorie source.

To analyze simultaneously the influence attributable to calorie consumption level and percentage of dietary fat on the spontaneous development of mammary adenocarcinoma, virgin female C3H/Ou mice were separated into five dietary groups. Four groups of mice were fed purified diets either ad libitum (16-18 kcal/mouse/day) or restricted 40% in calorie consumption (10-11 kcal/mouse/day), and diets contained either 4.5%, 7.5%, 67%, or 68% calories from fat. Mice that consumed isocaloric diets developed breast malignancy at a comparable pace. Consuming a diet in which fats were present only at levels sufficient to satisfy the threshold requirement of essential fatty acids, 4.5-7.5% of the total calories, or alternatively where dietary fat represented greater than 67% of the total calories consumed, did not significantly alter the tendency for breast tumor development. The pace and frequency with which tumors occurred reflected the host's level of calorie consumption. Mice consuming a high caloric diet, low or high in fat, tended to have a shortened latency to breast tumor formation, an increased incidence of breast tumors, elevated serum prolactin levels, elevated levels of antibodies to mouse mammary tumor virus, and elevated circulating immune complex levels.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed1989

[Catheter ablation in eight patients with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome].

After a follow-up study of 13-39 months, the clinical effect of catheter ablation in 8 patients with WPW syndrome and recurrence of SVT was reported. Five cases of left free-wall accessory pathway underwent catheter ablation attempts by direct current shocks delivered in coronary sinus. 3 of them were free from SVT without any medications after ablation, 1 case was improved. The other one was unsuccessful. Catheter ablation was attempted by delivery of shocks at coronary sinus orifice in 3 patients with posteroseptal accessory pathway. Arrhythmias were controlled without the need of drug therapy in 2 cases and the clinical symptoms were relieved in 1 case after shocks. We consider that the catheter ablation attempted to block the conduction of left free-wall and posteroseptal accessory pathway induces much less damages than surgical ablation and offers the advantages of shorter hospitalization, lower cost and a much shorter convalescence. The authors stated that it is a viable alternative to surgical ablation for those patients who are not responsive or allergic to drugs or those who are not willing to take a life-long period of medications. Some concerns for increasing the success rate and reducing the complications of ablation were also discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Mechanism of fluorescence concentration quenching of carboxyfluorescein in liposomes: energy transfer to nonfluorescent dimers.

When 5(6)-carboxyfluorescein (6CF) is encapsulated in liposomes at 0.2 M, 97-98% of the fluorescence is quenched. We have studied the mechanism of this effect. The dye-liposome system is a special case of concentration quenching of dyes, a phenomenon recognized for 100 years. Absorption spectra of encapsulated dye show that 6CF dimerizes, and the dimer is nonfluorescent. The dimerization constant was estimated, and it was concluded that dimerization can account for only part of the quenching. In 6CF solutions, the fluorescence lifetime decreased drastically as concentration was changed over the narrow range 0.02-0.05 M, a finding which was attributed to energy transfer to dimers. Inhibition of dimerization by propylene glycol also inhibited the shortening of lifetime. Förster critical transfer distances were calculated to be 51 and 57 A for monomer-monomer and monomer-dimer transfer, respectively. Monomer-monomer transfer was demonstrated directly by steady-state or time-resolved anisotropy experiments, while transfer to dimer was modeled by using sulforhodamine B, which has a critical transfer distance like that for the dimer and also quenches 6CF emission. No direct evidence for collisional self-quenching of 6CF could be found, although a model compound, salicylate, did quench weakly. For xanthene dyes, the rate of energy transfer is much faster than that for quenching collisions, implying that collisional quenching in the usual 6CF-liposome system is insignificant. The reason why 6CF is not 100% quenched in liposomes is attributed to dye interaction with lipid as evidenced by (i) multiexponential decay of 6CF in liposomes with a long component of 3-4 ns, (ii) inhibition of dimerization in liposomes, (iii) partial protection of dye from quenching by KI, (iv) differing amounts of dimerization in liposomes made from different kinds of phospholipid, and (v) enhancement of fluorescence lifetime in the presence of Triton X-100.

Chemical Phenomena↗
PubMed1985

Defective expression of HLA class I antigens: a case of the bare lymphocyte without immunodeficiency.

A case of the bare lymphocyte without apparent immunodeficiency was observed in a 33-year-old woman who had no history of severe infections but suffered from sino-bronchial disease. No HLA-A and -B antigens (class I antigens) were detected at the cell surface of lymphocytes, granulocytes, and platelets, but they were expressed, although at a reduced level, on the cultured B lymphoid cell line. T lymphocytes were normal in number and in the relative proportion of T4/T8 and responded to mitogens but not to PPD and candida. HLA-DR antigens (class II antigens) were present on B lymphocytes and showed intermediate MLR-stimulatory capacity, which made it possible to deduce the patient's HLA genotype. She was found to be homozygous at consanguinity for HLA-A, -B, and -DR antigens. The numbers of B lymphocytes, immunoglobulins, and complements were all in the normal range; there was, however, a low level of IgM. Two-dimensional gel analysis of class I antigens revealed the presence of normally expressed beta-2 microglobulins (B2M) and an apparently single set of class I heavy chains, allowing us to consider two alternative cellular mechanisms in this defect; the presence of one abnormal class I structural gene and the regulatory mechanism that acted in cis were suggested.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Expression of the platelet-common acute lymphoblastic leukaemia associated antigen on normal eosinophils.

A murine monoclonal antibody (TP82) raised against normal platelets was found to be reactive with eosinophils and common acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (cALL) cells, and some blast cells from patients with non-lymphoid leukaemia. The antibody showed that the platelet-cALL associated antigen (p24) is also expressed on normal eosinophils, and may prove useful for studying the function as well as the differentiation of eosinophils.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

A novel leukocyte differentiation antigen: two monoclonal antibodies TM2 and TM3 define a 120-kd molecule present on neutrophils, monocytes, platelets, and activated lymphoblasts.

We produced two hybridomas by fusion of mouse myeloma cells with splenocytes from a mouse immunized with the THP-1 human monocytoid leukemia cell line. Two cloned hybridoma cell lines, designated as TM2 and TM3, were obtained. They secreted antibodies against a unique cell surface antigen expressed on all normal peripheral blood monocytes, neutrophilic granulocytes, platelets, and mitogen-induced lymphoblasts, some cells from patients with immature-type lymphoid leukemias. However, the antibodies reacted neither with large numbers of peripheral blood lymphocytes nor with red cells. Cross-blocking studies showed that these monoclonal antibodies recognized the same or a nearly positioned antigen epitope. Immunoprecipitation of THP-1 cell extract with TM2 or TM3 under reducing and nonreducing conditions yielded a specific band of mol wt equal to 120,000 daltons. This determinant appeared to be involved in granulocyte chemotaxis, since neutrophilic granulocytes exposed to TM2 or TM3 showed a significant decrease in chemotaxis toward endotoxin-activated serum. These two monoclonal antibodies did not affect O2- release or luminol-dependent chemiluminescence of neutrophils. Moreover, they did not alter platelet aggregation induced by thrombin. TM2 and TM3 will provide a new reagent in defining the linkage between lymphoid and myeloid differentiation and intermyeloid development.

Acute Disease↗