Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to S Briggs.
We have seen multiple cases of a characteristic skin lesion produced by smoking crack cocaine. We describe a typical case with photographs demonstrating multiple blackened hyperkeratotic lesions of the palmar aspects of the fingers and palm, some linear, some circular. These involve mostly the dominant hand and are caused by the heat of the glass cocaine pipe.
Anti-human milk fat globule membrane monoclonal antibodies HMFG-1 and HMFG-2 recognize epitopes within the protein core of human polymorphic epithelial mucin (PEM). These have been identified as PDTR and DTR, respectively. Using the solid phase synthesis of immobilized tetrameric peptides, we have systematically investigated the contribution of each amino acid in the immune recognition of the PDTR domain by the antibodies HMFG-1 and HMFG-2. The findings obtained have been interpreted with respect to the presence of, and requirements for elements of secondary structure, which have been identified in this region of the PEM protein core.
Severely burned patients require rapid administration of large volumes of isotonic fluids. Obtaining adequate intravenous (IV) access in children with greater than 70% total body surface area burns may be difficult, time-consuming, and sometimes impossible. This report describes the use of intraosseous infusion technique as a life-saving means of establishing IV access in two severely burned children.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Data are provided which indicate that pyruvate and/or acetaldehyde can reverse the inhibition of alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase by amino-oxyacetate. It was shown that acetaldehyde could reverse the inhibition of gluconeogenesis from alanine and that pyruvate could reverse the inhibition of urea synthesis by amino-oxyacetate.
Urea cycle enzymes of rats were altered by feeding protein-free 15% casein, or 70% casein diets. Cells isolated from the livers of these rats were incubated with 10 mM ammonia and varying levels of ornithine (2 or 10 mM) and lactate (0-10 mM). Conditions providing the greatest rate of urea synthesis depended on the diet consumed and on whether rats were fed or starved 24 hours before cell isolation. Maximum rates of urea synthesis, though not different for the fed and starved groups, increased with the protein content of the diet and were equal to the maximum theoretical rates, as determined by argininosuccinate synthetase activity. This indicates that with optimal conditions, the activity of argininosuccinate synthetase is the rate-limiting factor in the synthesis of urea in isolated hepatocytes.
1. In hepatocytes isolated from 24 h-starved rats, urea production from ammonia was stimulated by addition of lactate, in both the presence and the absence of ornithine. The relationship of lactate concentration to the rate of urea synthesis was hyperbolic. 2. Other glucose precursors also stimulated urea production to varying degrees, but none more than lactate. Added oleate and butyrate did not stimulate urea synthesis. 3. Citrulline accumulation was largely dependent on ornithine concentration. As ornithine was increased from 0 to 40 mM, the rate of citrulline accumulation increased hyperbolically, and was half-maximal when ornithine was 8-12 mM. 4. The rate of citrulline accumulation was independent of the presence of lactate, but with pyruvate the rate increased. 5. The rate of urea production continued to increase as ornithine was varied from 0 to 40 mM. 6. It was concluded that intermediates provided by both ornithine and lactate are limiting for urea production from ammonia in isolated liver cells. It was suggested that the stimulatory effect of lactate lies in increased availability of cytosolic aspartate for condensation with citrulline.
Experiments were conducted to determine whether the rate of entry of arginine into liver varies with changes in dietary protein or in the protein-catabolic state of the animal. It was first established by liver perfusion with [14C]ureidocitrulline that release of arginine by liver is sufficiently small that it can be ignored and that disappearance of arginine from a perfusion medium can be used to measure entry rate. Disappearance rates of arginine were then determined for rats that had been starved of fed either a stock control diet, a 15% casein diet, a 90% casein diet, or which had been injected with cortisol. There was no difference in arginine uptake between the control and 15% casein groups. The high protein group showed a threefold increase in rate of entry of arginine into liver as compared with the control group. Cortisol treatment and 48 hours of starvation also caused a threefold increase in arginine uptake. Cortisol treatment combined with high protein adaptation resulted in a sevenfold increase over controls. It was concluded that rate of entry of arginine into rat liver varies with nutritional and endocrine states.
Serum of breast cancer patients contains high molecular weight, mucin-like glycoproteins which are held to be differentiation markers for certain types of normal epithelia, in particular mammary epithelium. These components have primarily been identified using monoclonal antibodies raised against human milk fat globule membranes, tumour extracts or purified mucins. Even so, many of the antibodies produced react with a discrete region of the mucin protein core involving the hydrophilic turn domain APDTRPAP. The present investigation using the anti-urinary mucin antibody, C595, illustrates both the clinical potential of the mucin antigens in breast cancer studies as well as the exquisite specificity of immune recognition of a complex polymorphic glycoprotein at the level of the individual amino acids.