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Biomedical subjects

S Levin

Publications and source records attributed to S Levin.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1989

Prostaglandins and the gastric epithelium: effects of misoprostol on gastric epithelial cell proliferation in the dog.

The effects of the methyl ester analogue of prostaglandin E1, misoprostol, on gastric epithelial cell proliferation were investigated in six dogs given 300 micrograms/kg/day of misoprostol orally for 11 weeks and in six control dogs given placebo for 11 weeks. Misoprostol treatment resulted in a 36% increase in stomach weight (p less than 0.01) and a 30% increase in the length (measured as the cell column count from the base/neck junction to the surface) of the fundic gastric glands (p less than 0.01). This mucosal hyperplasia was predominantly caused by enlargement of the foveolar region of the gland, with little change occurring in the neck or in the isthmus. The hyperplasia was the result of an increased number of mitotic (p less than 0.01) and DNA synthesising cells (p less than 0.05) in each gastric gland, which resulted in a significant increase in the gland cell production rate, from 22.5 to 42.6 cells per gland per day (p less than 0.05).

Alprostadil↗
PubMed1989

Multicentric giant-cell reparative granuloma. A case in the foot.

A case of multicentric giant-cell reparative granuloma in the foot of a 17-year-old boy is reported. Initially, there was a calcaneal lesion and 6 months later, three additional lesions in the forefoot. The calcaneal lesion was treated by curettage and bone grafting, and those in the forefoot by wide excision. The patient has now been free of disease for 18 months.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Interferon treatment in acute progressive and fulminant hepatitis.

A small proportion of patients with acute viral hepatitis run a progressive fulminant course ending in acute liver failure with encephalopathy, and with a mortality rate of 75-80%. In small children and pregnant women mortality is even higher. We have treated 32 patients of all ages with acute progressive and fulminant hepatitis over the last 7 years in an uncontrolled trial with human interferon-alpha (HulFN-alpha), with i.m. doses of 3 x 10(6) u/day (70,000 u/kg per day for infants) for 8 +/- 3 days (mean +/- SD.) In 17 patients hepatitis was due to hepatitis A virus, in 7 to hepatitis B virus, in 6 to non A-non B virus and in 1 case each to herpes and cytomegalovirus. Sixteen patients (50%) recovered including 9 of 22 (41%) who were in Grades III-IV coma when treatment was started. Only 1 of 8 children less than 4 years of age recovered, whereas 15 of 24 (62%) older children and adults survived. Two of three pregnant women with acute fulminant hepatitis survived. In patients who recovered, improvement was often noted on about the fifth day of IFN treatment: 9 of 16 patients died before completing 5 days of therapy. Our studies of the IFN system response to hepatitis viruses showed that the greater majority of patients produce IFN in the acute stage of the infection. However, a minority have a defective IFN response that is more severe and more common in progressive fulminant hepatitis, and in several of these patients IFN response was completely lacking. It is in these cases that IFN treatment is likely to have the greatest value. On the basis of these encouraging preliminary results, it is suggested that a well-controlled, double-blind study be done to evaluate the effectiveness of HulFN-alpha treatment when given early during the course of acute progressive viral hepatitis.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1989

Cerebral vasculitis and hemorrhage in an adolescent taking diet pills containing phenylpropanolamine: case report and review of literature.

Phenylpropanolamine is consumed by millions of persons annually and is sold in varying dosages and combinations for different ailments. Adolescents are an especially susceptible group influenced by its action as an anorexiant. During the past 6 years, several cases have been reported of patients in whom intracerebral hemorrhage developed, with and without concomitant angiographic evidence of vasculitis, after taking phenylpropanolamine. In this report, the 11th documented case of phenylpropanolamine-associated intracerebral hemorrhage with vasculitis is described. This is the first case in an adolescent following the ingestion of an overdose of diet-aid pills. Cases of intracerebral hemorrhage with vasculitis have also been described in users and abusers of amphetamine, methamphetamine, and ephedrine, all sympathomimetics with chemical structures similar to that of phenylpropanolamine. This report should alert pediatricians to the potential use by their patients of nonprescription medications containing phenylpropanolamine whenever unexplained acute cerebral symptoms are present.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

The role of prophylactic antibiotics in the prevention of prosthetic device infections.

This article examines available information concerning the use of antimicrobial agents to prevent prosthetic device infection at the time of surgical implantation. Additionally, the authors comment on the dearth of information concerning prophylactic antibiotics prior to elective surgical or dental procedures to prevent contamination of prosthetic devices already in place.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗
PubMed1989

Particle penetration through sampling prefilters illustrates the analysis error in NIOSH-type procedures for nickel carbonyl.

Sampling and analysis of aerosols generated by plasma are cutting of stainless steel have qualitatively demonstrated particle penetration of sampler prefilters utilized in the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)-type and impinger sampler analytical procedures for measuring the presence of nickel carbonyl. These results illustrate that only a small mass of nickel-containing particles need penetrate the prefilters to exaggerate greatly the inferred concentration of nickel carbonyl. Strong evidence was obtained via the chemiluminescence method that nickel carbonyl concentrations in fact were very low (less than 1 ppb).

Aerosols↗
PubMed1988

A single dominant gene can account for eye tracking dysfunctions and schizophrenia in offspring of discordant twins.

Eye movement dysfunctions (EMDs), detectable during smooth pursuit, occur in a majority of schizophrenics and in 45% of their first-degree relatives. Previous data suggest that they represent a biologic marker for schizophrenia. To determine the mode of transmission of the schizophrenia-EMD complex, the eye movements of offspring of monozygotic and dizygotic twins were recorded. One group of twins was discordant for schizophrenia; the other group for manic depression or reactive psychosis. The data suggest that EMDs and at least some schizophrenias can be considered expressions of a single underlying trait that is transmitted by an autosomal dominant gene.

Affective Disorders, Psychotic↗
PubMed1988

Smooth pursuit eye movements in schizophrenics: quantitative measurements with the search-coil technique.

Eye movements of five schizophrenic and five normal subjects were measured with the magnetic-field search-coil technique. Subjects followed targets moving smoothly at various speeds, either unpredictably in a step-ramp fashion or predictably in a triangular wave. The tracking stimulus was either a small dot or a large, richly-textured image that occupied a large portion of the visual field. Tracking by schizophrenics was abnormal; it was punctuated by catch-up saccades that corrected for smooth following movements of inadequate velocity. We did not, however, find saccadic intrusions, such as square wave jerks. Under all tracking conditions steady-state gains (eye velocity/target velocity) and, in the case of step-ramps, average acceleration in the first 120 ms were lower in patients than in normal subjects. The differences were most pronounced for tracking of the small target, moving at the highest speed tested (30 degree/s), in the nonpredictable, step-ramp waveform. With this stimulus mean steady-state gain was 0.36 (SD +/- 0.12) for the schizophrenic patients and 0.73 (SD +/- 0.11) for the normal subjects. When the target was changed to the large-field stimulus or moved in a predictable (triangular-wave) fashion, tracking improved in both patients and normal subjects, and even more so when these features were combined.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Combined familial adenosine deaminase and purine nucleoside phosphorylase deficiencies.

We studied an Arab family in which two infants died of severe combined immunodeficiency caused by adenosine deaminase (ADA) deficiency. One infant had purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP) activity in the leucocytes only half that of normal. Four other infant siblings had previously died from infections before the age of 2 months. Hyperpigmented skin lesions preceded death in three cases. The healthy parents and three healthy siblings aged 4-9 years had varying degrees of both ADA and PNP deficiencies in both white and red cells. ADA deficiency was pronounced in two siblings, and mild in the third and in the parents, and PNP activity was severely deficient in one sibling, and moderately deficient in the parents and other two siblings, who were all well. Complete absence of ADA from white cells lead to the development of severe combined immunodeficiency, but even minimal residual ADA and PNP activity allowed maturation of the immune system with normal immune function.

Adenosine Deaminase↗
PubMed1988

Patterns of thought disorder associated with right cortical damage, schizophrenia, and mania.

The authors used the Thought Disorder Index to measure thought disorder in 23 patients with unilateral right hemisphere cortical damage, 20 patients with bipolar mania, and 25 patients with schizophrenia. There were no differences in the total amount of thought disorder in these groups, but each showed a unique pattern of thought disorder. Patients with right hemisphere damage displayed fragmented thinking, manic patients displayed playful thinking, and schizophrenic patients displayed idiosyncratic thinking. These findings support the view that thought disorder is manifested in different forms that are relatively specific to psychiatric or neurological condition.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

Structural changes of the gastrointestinal mucosa induced by prostaglandins.

Prostaglandins of the E series, which have been proposed as therapeutic agents for the treatment of peptic ulcers and other gastrointestinal diseases, cause hyperplasia of the gastrointestinal mucosa in experimental animals. The changes are most evident in the stomach, especially the antrum, in which the wall is thickened by hyperplasia of surface mucous cells and/or submucosal edema. In rodents, the non-glandular forestomach becomes hyperplastic and hyperkeratotic. Affected stomachs are heavier and may have a larger surface area than control stomachs. Small intestines may be heavier and have a thicker mucosa, with elongation of villi and crypts. Colonic mucosa may exhibit mild hyperplasia at very high dosages. Conflicting data exist as to whether the gastrointestinal mucosal hyperplasia is more related to increased production or decreased loss of epithelial cells.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

A comparison between the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory and the 'Mensana Clinic Back Pain Test' for validating the complaint of chronic back pain.

Reports on the efficacy of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) for selecting patients with valid complaints of pain have been equivocal. The Mensana Clinic Back Pain Test (MPT) was able to predict, with some degree of success, patients who had a definite organic pathologic condition. However, the MMPI measures personality traits, whereas the MPT measures the impact of pain on a patient's life. To determine which of the two tests would be a better predictor of actual physical abnormalities, and hence valid pain complaints, a comparison was undertaken between the two tests. The charts of 83 patients admitted to the Neurosurgery Service of Johns Hopkins Hospital with complaints of back pain were assessed. MMPI test results, as well as test results for the MPT, were compared to the presence or absence of pathologic conditions on electromyography, nerve conduction velocity studies, thermography, myelogram, or computerized axial tomography scan. The MPT had a correlation factor of -.59700, that was significant as P = .000005. Of the 52 patients scoring 17 points or less on the MPT, 85% had objective physical abnormalities, considered moderate or severe by blind review. Of the 31 patients scoring 18 points or greater on the MPT, only 26% had objective physical findings that were considered moderate or severe. Only the F scale (faking badly) of the MMPI correlated with objective physical abnormalities (r = .21340, P less than .033). However, 60% of the patients with T scores of less than 70 on the F scale had objective findings, whereas 75% of patients with T scores greater than 70 had objective physical findings.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Back Pain↗
PubMed1988

IgA, IgG, IgM, and IgE levels in normal, healthy, non-atopic Israeli children.

IgA, IgG, IgM, and IgE levels in healthy, non-atopic, Israeli-born children aged 20 days to 16 years were analyzed and showed similar age-related values and dynamics as those of white populations found in other countries. No significant effect of sex of the individual or ethnic origin of the parents was found on the IgE values at different ages. This may indicate that total IgE levels are strongly influenced by environmental factors. Establishing tolerance limits at 97.5, 95, 75, 25 and 5th percentiles and the geometric mean provides the practitioner with more complete reference values. The use of multivariate control charts with tolerance limits from normal IgA, IgG, IgM, and IgE levels is described and is offered as an additional tool for the diagnosis of an allergic individual.

Adolescent↗