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Biomedical subjects

S M Kuo

Publications and source records attributed to S M Kuo.

47 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Postoperative deep vein thrombosis in the Taiwanese Chinese population.

Reports of the incidence of postoperative deep vein thrombosis in the Chinese population of Taiwan are few in the literature. Over a 3 year period, the fibrinogen degradation products test, the pulse volume recorder, and venography were used to study 220 patients undergoing major operations at the Veterans General Hospital in Taipei, Taiwan. Deep vein thrombosis was found in 17 patients (7.7 percent). A comparison of the three diagnostic methods showed that the sensitivities of the fibrinogen degradation products test and the pulse volume recorder were 56.3 percent and 93.7 percent, respectively; the specificities, 97.4 percent and 95.7 percent, respectively; and the accuracies, 85.5 percent and 95.5 percent, respectively. These results support the combined use of the fibrinogen degradation products test and the pulse volume recorder for screening and diagnosing deep vein thrombosis.

Female↗

Carrier-mediated transport of urate by chicken (Gallus domesticus) renal brush-border membrane vesicles.

1. Urate is transported by an anion exchange system in chicken renal brush-border membrane vesicles. An outward chloride gradient stimulates an overshoot in urate uptake. 2. The anion exchanger is similar to those described for the kidneys of rats and dogs except that the chicken exchanger has a higher specificity for urate. 3. p-Aminohippurate has only a weak affinity, if any, for the urate exchanger. 4. There were no apparent qualitative differences in urate transport between brush-border membrane vesicles from genetically normouricemic and hyperuricemic chickens.

Animals↗

Urate and p-aminohippurate transport in isolated kidney tubules of normal and hyperuricemic chickens.

Urate and p-aminohippurate accumulations of kidney tubule fragments were studied in 5- to 6-week-old normal (LUA) and hyperuricemic (HUA) chickens. Tubules from LUA chicks consistently accumulated two to three-fold as much urate and p-aminohippurate as tubules from HUA chicks and thus confirmed the tubular origin of the urate transport defect in HUA chickens. A sodium gradient was required for optimal urate and p-aminohippurate accumulations and ouabain inhibited the accumulations of both compounds. Similar responses of urate and p-aminohippurate to treatments and reciprocal inhibitions between these compounds suggest that urate and p-aminohippurate are accumulated through a shared transport system.

Aminohippuric Acids↗

Changes in maternal taurine levels in response to pregnancy and lactation.

Taurine levels in various tissues and fluids of female rats were measured throughout pregnancy and lactation. The taurine concentration of liver markedly increased at days 19 and 21 of pregnancy to 188% of levels for nonpregnant, nonlactating control rats and then fell rapidly after delivery to reach only 30% of the control level by 3 days postpartum. Muscle and heart taurine concentrations were significantly negatively correlated with liver taurine levels. Brain taurine levels were low at days 14, 19 and 21 of pregnancy and day 14 of lactation. Urinary excretion of taurine decreased to 32% of control levels at day 21 of pregnancy and was negatively correlated with the hepatic taurine concentration over the course of pregnancy and lactation. The ratio of glycine- to taurine-conjugated bile acids was strongly negatively correlated with the hepatic taurine concentration. The milk taurine level was positively correlated with hepatic taurine concentration during lactation. The hepatic taurine pool appears to increase just before parturition and to rapidly decrease during the first few days of lactation when high levels of taurine are secreted in the milk. Our data suggests that the accumulation of taurine in the liver may be related to both a decreased renal clearance of taurine and a shifting of tauring from other tissues to the liver and that this enlarged pool of hepatic taurine may serve as a source of taurine for secretion in the early milk.

Animals↗

Changes in cysteine dioxygenase and cysteinesulfinate decarboxylase activities and taurine levels in tissues of pregnant or lactating rat dams and their fetuses or pups.

The level of taurine and the activities of the two enzymes involved in its synthesis, cysteine dioxygenase and cysteinesulfinate decarboxylase, were measured in tissues of rat dams during pregnancy and lactation and in their fetuses or pups. The most marked changes observed in the dams included an increased hepatic taurine concentration in late pregnancy (20 days), a decreased plasma taurine concentration during late pregnancy and throughout lactation, and a decrease in tissue cysteine dioxygenase activity in late lactation (20 days). These observations suggest that the dam's taurine pools may be an important source of taurine for secretion in the milk and that pregnant dams may prepare for the onset of lactation by accumulating additional taurine in the liver. There was little if any correlation between the activities of either of these key enzymes in taurine synthesis and tissue taurine levels. The taurine concentrations in liver, brain, heart and plasma of the young decreased between 1 day before birth and 20 days of age. Cysteine dioxygenase and cysteinesulfinate decarboxylase specific activities increased in the brains of pups between birth and 20 days of age, and cysteinesulfinate decarboxylase activity increased in the livers of pups between birth and 20 days of age. Cysteinesulfinate decarboxylase activity in 80-day-old male rats was more than six times that in female littermates, but no effects of sex on cysteine dioxygenase activity or tissue taurine concentrations were observed.

Animals↗

Developmental pattern, tissue distribution, and subcellular distribution of cysteine: alpha-ketoglutarate aminotransferase and 3-mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase activities in the rat.

The tissue distribution, the subcellular distribution in liver, and the developmental patterns of cysteine:alpha-ketoglutarate aminotransferase (CAT) and 3-mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase (MPST) activities were determined in rats of the Sprague-Dawley strain. CAT activity was highest in heart and liver, whereas MPST activity was highest in liver and kidney. CAT activity was located primarily in the mitochondrial fraction with a low level of activity in all other fractions. MPST activity was located in both the mitochondrial and cytosolic fractions. The specific activity of CAT and MPST generally increased in rat liver, heart, and kidney during the developmental period from 18 days of gestation to 26 days after birth. Peak CAT-specific activity occurred at about 4 days of age and peak MPST activity occurred at about 21 days of age; peak activity of both CAT and MPST exceeded the adult specific activities. The distribution and developmental pattern of hydrogen sulfide production from cysteine, catalyzed by the coupled activities of CAT and MPST, was similar to those of CAT activity.

Animals↗

Assessment of ventricular septal defect by echocardiography.

Both 2-D echocardiography and angiocardiography were performed preoperatively in 40 children with isolated ventricular septal defect (VSD). The diagnosis of VSD was confirmed and the size of VSD was measured during operation within on month of the study. There were 27 males and 13 females (age: 10mos-9 yrs). The VSD was classified into perimembranous type (24), supracristal type (14), and AV canal type (2) by surgery. The maximal VSD areas were calculated by 1/4 pi De2 (De = maximal defect diameter measured by 2D echo). The maximal shunt flow areas were measured by color Doppler echocardiography from frame by frame search of the video tape. The maximal shunt flow area was corrected by the body surface area to be the maximal shunt flow area index. A left ventriculogram (LVG) was performed from 4-chamber and left lateral views to measure the maximal diameter of the defect. The maximal defect area of VSD on angiocardiogram was also calculated by 1/4 pi Da2 (Da = maximal defect diameter measured by angiocardiography). The VSD areas measured by different methods were compared by the linear regression analysis. We found that: (1) there is good correlation of the maximal defect diameter and the area of ventricular septal defect by 2-DE and LVG (r = 0.80, p less than 0.0001 v.s. r = 0.78, p less than 0.0001). (2) the ventricular septal defect area by 2-DE had a better correlation with the surgical measurement than that by LVG (r = 0.93, p less than 0.0001, v.s. r = 0.80, p less than 0.0001). (3) the size of ventricular septal defect measured by two-dimensional echocardiography has a better correlation with the MSFAI than the LVG did (r = 0.81, p less than 0.0001, v.s. r = 0.64, p less than 0.0001). Therefore, by measuring the maximal defect diameter, maximal defect area and maximal shunt flow area index, the echocardiography can provide an accurate and non-invasive assessment of isolated VSD in children.

Child↗