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Biomedical subjects

T Cunningham

Publications and source records attributed to T Cunningham.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1989

Synovial fluid hydroxyapatite crystals: detection thresholds of two methods.

A method of synovial fluid preparation giving optimal hydroxyapatite detection as well as definitions of the threshold masses of hydroxyapatite in viscous synovial fluid detectable by x ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive analysis is reported. Use of an equal volume of 100% hydrazine with the synovial fluid optimised detection of hydroxyapatite. By x ray diffraction the threshold mass of hydroxyapatite was 500 micrograms and by scanning electron microscopy with associated energy dispersive analysis 5 micrograms.

Centrifugation↗
PubMed1989

[The study of intra-articular infectious agents in reactive arthritis].

Reactive arthritis is differentiated from infectious arthritis by the lack of intraarticular infectious agents. Recently 2 groups, using different techniques have demonstrated intra-articular antigens in cases of reactive arthritis associated with Chlamydia and Yersinia infections. In this article we report the preliminary results of screening cells from synovial fluid for DNA of certain microorganisms by in situ hybridization. Our findings provide complementary evidence of the intra-articular presence of at least parts of microbes.

Antigens, Bacterial↗
PubMed1988

Rapidly progressive osteoarthrosis of ochronotic origin. A pathologic study.

A case of hip osteoarthrosis associated with ochronosis in a 65-year-old woman is reported. Characteristic features of both conditions were observed macroscopically and on light and electron microscopic examination. In the cartilage the pigment deposits were located on and between thick collagen fibrils. In the synovial membrane there were embedded packets of cartilage shards of which the collagen fibrils and pigment were phagocytosed, as well as calcified bone debris whose disaggregation might have explained the presence of some apatite deposits free of any underlying collagen structure. As also previously observed, the present case of ochronotic hip osteoarthrosis is remarkable for the minor osteophyte formation and for the inclusion of pigmented cartilage shards in the osteomedullar remodeled territory. It also demonstrates a collapse of the femoral head cortex presumably related to the rapid clinical and radiologic evolution. By the well-known origin of its chondropathy and by the pigment labeling of the cartilage, ochronotic arthropathy provides an almost experimental model for analyzing a broader problem, i.e., that of the various components of an osteoarthrotic remodeling.

Aged↗
PubMed1987

A model for sidewall adhesions in the rabbit: reduction by an absorbable barrier.

Despite use of surgical adjuvants, pelvic adhesions frequently develop following infertility surgery. Recently a resorbable biocompatible material, TC 7, has been designed to be used as a barrier to reduce adhesion formation. Reproducibly severe sidewall adhesions were only able to be created in one of six models tested. The model consisted of the following steps: excision of a full thickness 2 x 2-cm musculoperitoneal tissue mass, scraping of an adjacent 2-cm length of uterine horn, tamponading of all bleeding, and suturing (6-0 Vicryl) of normal tube and sidewall so as to directly approximate the traumatized tissues. Studies were conducted in 13 rabbits after creation of the bilateral sidewall and horn lesions, each serving as its own control. Choice of control and TC 7 sides was determined randomly. Adhesion formation was examined 2 weeks postoperatively. No residual material was noted at that time. Adhesion scores were the composite total of extent (0-4), type (0-4), and tenacity (0-3) of sidewall adhesions, and were significantly reduced on the TC 7 side as compared with the control side (mean 6.8 +/- 0.4 vs 9.0 +/- 0.3, median 6 vs 9, sign test P = 0.0032). No complications of use of the barrier were noted. It is concluded that use of TC 7, a resorbable biocompatible barrier, was able to significantly reduce postoperative adhesion formation on the rabbit sidewall.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Adhesion reduction in the rabbit uterine horn model using an absorbable barrier, TC-7.

Use of a resorbable barrier (TC-7) to reduce adhesion formation was examined in the rabbit uterine horn model. Early evaluation (four days) established that the material remained where initially placed. Examination at two, four and eight weeks postoperatively in both control and treated groups revealed that the extent of adhesion formation did not change as a function of time. When compared to control animals without TC-7, the treated rabbits has a significant reduction (P less than .01) in postoperative adhesion formation. No complications from use of this fabric were noted, and no gross remnants were noted at the two-week time point. TC-7 appears to be an efficacious barrier for reducing adhesion formation in the rabbit uterine horn model.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

Collagen antibodies in rheumatoid arthritis. Significance of antibodies to denatured collagen and their association with HLA-DR4.

The frequency, specificity, and HLA associations of antibodies to collagen were examined in 54 patients with severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and in 67 control subjects, using native and denatured bovine type II collagen as reactants in a solid-phase radioimmunoassay. Reactivity to denatured collagen was significantly higher in the RA patients than in the controls (P = 0.004). Reactivity to native collagen was substantially lower than reactivity to denatured collagen and was similar in RA patients and controls. DR4 positive RA patients had significantly greater reactivity to denatured collagen compared with DR4 negative RA patients (P = 0.03), but levels of antibody to native collagen were similar among DR4 positive and DR4 negative patients. These data lend support to the idea that denatured collagen is an important secondary reactant in immune-mediated perpetuation of RA.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

The movement of radioactive molecules across dentine in vivo in the dog.

Using a technique for measuring the movement of circulating molecules across the odontoblast-dentinal complex, the movement of water and alpha-aminoisobutyric acid through dentine and into a flow cell prepared on the tooth is described. The movement of water depended on dentine thickness, and varied from 0.40 microliter/min per cm2 in a flow cell overlying an average thickness of 0.74 mm of dentine, to 1.23 microliter/min per cm2 in a flow cell with a dentinal floor of 0.40 mm average thickness. The data suggest that alpha-aminoisobutyric-acid concentrations were lower in dentinal fluid than in blood plasma.

Aminoisobutyric Acids↗
PubMed1984

DR4 related antisera pattern differences in insulin dependent diabetes mellitus and rheumatoid arthritis.

Three allosera patterns of reactivity are described which appear to define subtypes of DR4 and segregate in families with different DR4 bearing haplotypes. There appears to be a preponderance of one particular subtype (termed DR4.3) occurring in type I insulin dependent diabetes mellitus, while in rheumatoid arthritis the distribution of subtypes within DR4 individuals is similar to that seen in controls. Although we refer to DR4 subtypes the proof that these sera are detecting a determinant on the DR molecule and not a product of another locus, an allele of which is linkage disequilibrium with DR4, awaits immunochemical confirmation.

Arthritis, Rheumatoid↗
PubMed1983

Comparison of the effects of heat shock and metal-ion stress on gene expression in cells undergoing myogenesis.

Subjecting 9-day-old quail embryos to an elevated temperature in ovo causes limb, breast, and brain tissues to shift their patterns of protein synthesis from the production of a broad spectrum of different proteins to the new and (or) enhanced synthesis of a small number of heat-shock proteins (HSPs). The HSPs synthesized by undifferentiated breast tissue in ovo (relative masses (Mrs) 88 000, 82 000, 64 000, and 25 000) are similar to those synthesized by explanted breast tissue or by primary cultures of breast myoblasts heat-shocked in culture. Heat-shocked, 120-hour-old myotube cultures synthesize HSPs similar to those detected in heat-shocked myoblasts except that myotubes also exhibit enhanced synthesis of a 55 000 dalton polypeptide and little or no synthesis of a 25 000 dalton HSP; the failure to thermally induce a 25 000 dalton polypeptide in myotubes is related to the fused nature of these cells rather than to their state of differentiation. Myoblasts, as well as myotubes, cultured in the presence of elevated amounts of arsenite, copper, or zinc also synthesize new and (or) enhanced amounts of polypeptides with isoelectric points and immunochemical properties similar to the 25 000 and 64 000 dalton HSPs. However, elevated levels of these metal ions fail to stimulate new and (or) enhanced synthesis of other HSP-like proteins. These results demonstrate that, although the protein synthetic response of myogenic cells to chemical and thermal stress may be similar in some respects, a number of the synthetic responses are clearly different.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

Comparison of four-combination chemotherapy programs in metastatic breast cancer: comparison of multiple drug therapy with cytoxan, 5-FU and prednisone versus cytoxan and adriamycin, versus cytoxan, 5-FU and adriamycin, versus cytoxan, 5-FU and prednisone alternating with cytoxan and adriamycin.

In 126 postmenopausal women with metastatic breast cancer, four chemotherapeutic combination programs were tested. Patients were stratified and randomized to one of the four programs: (1) fluorouracil, cytoxan and prednisone (CFP): (2) fluorouracil, cytoxan and Adriamycin (CAF); (3) cytoxan and Adriamycin (CA); or (4) alternating combinations of CFP-CA. Objective response rates were 17% for 18 patients on CFP, 25% for 40 patients on CAF, 42% for 41 patients on CA and 63% for 19 patients on CFP-CA. CFP-CA provided a significantly higher response rate than either CFP or CAF. The response rate of CA was intermediate. The duration of remission and survival were similar for all four groups. When progression or relapse following remission was demonstrated, patients were rerandomized to either adrenalectomy or tamoxifen. There were no responders either in the 15 patients undergoing adrenalectomy or the 11 patients receiving tamoxifen. In a crossover study, nine adrenalectomized patients received tamoxifen and four tamoxifen-treated patients underwent adrenalectomy. None responded. It appears that response rates to hormonal modalities are reduced in patients previously treated by combination chemotherapy.

Adrenalectomy↗
PubMed1981

Input and distractor modality effects upon the release from proactive interference in children.

Build-up of proactive interference (PI) with visual-picture and auditory-verbal input modalities and the subsequent release from Pi following a change in modality was investigated in three experiments with boys and girls, as follows: Experiment I (n=64) at two mean age levels, 7-6 and 10-5; Experiment II (n=64) at mean age 7-6; and Experiment III (n=48) at age 11-4. PI build-up occurred in both modalities for all ages tested. Release from PI occurred following a change from auditory to visual input by not from PI occurred following a change from auditory shift. In the final experiment, this asymmetrical improvement in performance was dependent upon an interaction between the modality of the input and distractor task on the final or release trial; changing to visual input produced a release effect regardless of the distractor task modality, while auditory input was associated with improvement in recall if a visual distractor task was employed whether or not a shift in input modality had occurred. This improvement was hypothesized to represent a decrease in retroactive interference rather than a release from proactive interference.

Child↗
PubMed1978

Relationship between dimensions of adaptive behavior and sheltered workshop productivity.

A factor analysis was performed on the 24 domains of the AAMD Adaptive Behavior Scale using a sample of 217 adult retarded workshop clients. Of the seven dimensions found to describe adaptive behavior, Personal Independence, Social Maladaptation, and Personal Maladaptation accounted for the majority of variance in the factor matrix. Scores on each of the seven factors were obtained for all clients and used to predict productivity in a workshop setting as defined by average hourly salary for the time period in which the scale was administered. A stepwise regression analysis yielded a highly significant regression effect in which the factors of Personal Independence and Social Maladaptation accounted for 25% of the variance in salary and had a multiple correlation coefficient of .50 with the predicted variable. We concluded that adaptive behavior is a multidimensional variable, significantly affecting productivity in sheltered workshop settings.

Adaptation, Psychological↗