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Biomedical subjects

U May

Publications and source records attributed to U May.

17 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Abraham's discovery of the 'bad mother'. A contribution to the history of the theory of depression.

The author shows how, after Freud struggled in vain from the 1890s to develop a theory of depression, Abraham succeeded for the first time in finding an approach to the understanding of depression a few years before the publication of Freud's 'Mourning and melancholia'. It is contained in his study of the painter Giovanni Segantini (1911), which also includes a description, imbued with a new atmospheric quality, of the mother-son relationship that centres on the concept of the 'bad mother'. The author points out that Abraham's 'good/bad' dimension is effectively absent from Freud's published work up to 1911 and is also at variance with his view of the relationship between son and mother. In later contributions, too, Abraham maintained that unconscious hate directed at the mother, who is experienced as 'bad' but longed for as 'good', was a central factor in the aetiology of depression, a view he had to defend vis-à-vis Freud. The author contends that in the Segantini paper Abraham was describing an inner world similar to that evinced by the work of Melanie Klein and significantly different from Freud's. It is characterised by hate, revenge, death wishes and guilt feelings on the one hand and tranquillity and inner peace on the other.

Austria↗
PubMed2000

Induction of cytochrome P450 (CYP)1A1, CYP1A2, and CYP3A4 but not of CYP2C9, CYP2C19, multidrug resistance (MDR-1) and multidrug resistance associated protein (MRP-1) by prototypical inducers in human hepatocytes.

Human hepatocytes cultured serum-free for up to 6 weeks were used to study expression and induction of enzymes and membrane transport proteins involved in drug metabolism. Phase I drug metabolizing enzymes cytochrome P450 (CYP)1A1, CYP1A2, CYP2C9, CYP2C19, CYP2E1, and CYP3A4 were detected by Western blot analyses and, when appropriate, by enzymatic assays for ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase(EROD)-activity and testosterone-6beta-hydroxylase(T6H)-activity. Expression of the membrane transporter multi-drug resistance protein (P-glycoprotein, MDR-1), multidrug resistance-associated protein (MRP-1), and lung-resistance protein (LRP) was maintained during the culture as detected by RT-PCR and Western blot analyses. Model inducers like rifampicin, phenobarbital, or 3-methylcholanthrene and beta-naphtoflavone were able to induce CYP1A or CYP3A4 as well as EROD or T6H activities for up to 30 days. CYP2C9, CYP2C19 and CYP2E1 expression was maintained but not inducible for 48 days. Also, rifampicin and phenobarbital were unable to increase MDR-1 and MRP-1 protein levels significantly.

ATP Binding Cassette Transporter, Subfamily B, Mem↗
PubMed1999

Freud's early clinical theory (1894-1896): outline and context.

The author points out that all Freud's publications and lectures from the period 1894-1896 had the aim of establishing an aetiological theory of the neuroses and psychoses. Freud found that the clinical pictures covered by the theory had a sexual aetiology and were distinguishable from each other by specific mechanisms. Numerous references are presented to show that what the author calls Freud's early clinical theory had its roots in contemporary neuropathology and psychiatry, and the prevailing views in these disciplines are discussed. He was able to build on the work of predecessors such as Möbius in regard to the causal role of psychic factors. Whereas Freud was of his time in attempting to redefine the category of 'neurasthenia' and adducing the familiar concept of 'sexual noxae', his originality lay in the elevation of these factors, hitherto seen as external, to the status of 'true' causes. In the author's view, the rejection met with by Freud's early clinical theory was due to its pre-experiential 'vision' of the sexual aetiology of the neuroses rather than to its content. She notes that Freud differed from his contemporaries on the concept of and systematic part played by sexuality, as well as on the central role of psychic mechanisms (i.e. of defence).

Female↗
PubMed1999

[Not Available].

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

History, 20th Century↗
PubMed1999

[Not Available].

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Dreams↗
PubMed1992

Ubiquinone biosynthesis. Cloning of the genes coding for chorismate pyruvate-lyase and 4-hydroxybenzoate octaprenyl transferase from Escherichia coli.

Chorismate pyruvate-lyase activity was detected in extracts of Escherichia coli. 4-Hydroxybenzoate was identified as the product of the enzymatic reaction by chemical derivatization and GC-MS analysis. The ubiC gene, coding for the chorismate pyruvate-lyase, was cloned and sequenced. The molecular weight of the gene product was calculated as 18,776 Da and confirmed by expression of the protein in E. coli minicells. The ubiA gene, coding for the 4-hydroxybenzoate octaprenyl transferase, was identified by sequence homology and complementation of a ubiA- strain. It is located directly downstream of ubiC in a typical operon structure.

Alkyl and Aryl Transferases↗
PubMed1990

Naftidrofuryl in the treatment of mild senile dementia. A double-blind study.

After a wash-out period of four weeks 51 patients with mild to moderate senile dementia were treated with either 600 mg naftidrofuryl (n = 23) daily per os or placebo (n = 28) over an eight-week period. When classified according to Hachinski's score, 24 patients were found to be suffering from senile dementia of Alzheimer's type (SDAT), whereas 27 patients presented with vascular dementia (MID). During wash-out and the treatment period the somatic and social symptoms of the disease were assessed by the AGP score. Cerebral performance was evaluated by a battery of tests measuring memory, concentration, psychomotor coordination and degree of depression. Electrical activity of the brain was estimated by a power-spectral analysis of EEG. In the total study group, the naftidrofuryl group showed a significantly better improvement in the results of the psychometric test battery, which was the primary variable during treatment. A parallel development was to be found in the AGP score and electrical brain function. When results of subgroups were analyzed according to the etiopathogenetic background of patients with SDAT, it was possible to show that naftidrofuryl affected psychopathometry and EEG-parameters while patients with MID responded to naftidrofuryl with changes in AGP score and EEG variables. These findings indicate the importance of etiopathologic features in performing studies with nootropic drugs in obtaining information on possible different actions in patients with different kinds of senile dementia.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1986

[Status of drug knowledge in the population].

In the 'Self-Medication' NFP-8 Study (National Research Programme No.8: 'Efficiency and Effectiveness in the Swiss Health Service') an attempt has been made to assess the population's basic knowledge about the proper way of dealing with drugs. The study shows that nearly a third of the adult population has insufficient knowledge. Women and better educated people have above average knowledge whereas old people and, paradoxically, those belonging to specific risk groups (e.g. diabetics, hypertensive persons, regular consumers of alcoholic drinks etc.) tend to underestimate the potential dangers of self medication. The study further suggests that a greater knowledge of drugs promotes a more active attitude to information. On the other hand a comparison with the results of other surveys leads to the conclusion that the existing basic knowledge about the risks of self-medication is often not translated into the appropriate attitude. This is why it is considered all the more important to develop strategies specific to consumer groups which are geared to motivating individual drug consumers to adopt the proper attitude to the problem.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

[Loss events in childhood as predisposing factors for neurotic and psychotic depression (author's transl)].

In a semistructured interview 90 endogenous depressives, 38 neurotic depressive patients, and 41 controls, 47-67 years of age, were questioned to ascertain the loss events during childhood. 1. The endogenous depressives, the neurotic depressive patients, and the control group had experienced an equal amount of deaths and separations in their childhood. 2. The depressive patients who first became ill after their 41st year of life were as frequently separated from their parents during childhood as the control group. Patients who had first become ill before their 41st year of life had experienced a separation from their parents more frequently than the control group. 3. Within the depressive patient group the following applies: Patients with illnesses before the age of 40 had lost their father earlier than those who became ill after 40; likewise, patients who were ill two and more times had more frequently experienced the loss of a father than those who were depressively ill only once.

Aged↗
PubMed1980

[A project for the monitoring of drug risks in public pharmacies].

For several years now, a pharmaceutical risk-reporting system has been accessible to pharmacists in the Federal Republic of Germany, and has proved highly successful. Each month about 100 messages are received from pharmacists, which mainly concern galenic shortcomings, but also undesirable effects, misuse, packing errors and other anomalies. In view of this successful experience abroad, the Swiss Association of Pharmacists (SAV) has decided to install a similar reporting system in Switzerland. The principle is that individual pharmacists supervise, insofar as possible, the pharmaceutical quality of the drugs, and above all record the views of patients (especially complaints), communicating their suspicions to a special board of experts on a reporting sheet. It is the task of this board to check each message, make further enquiries where necessary, and, in appropriate cases, contact the medico-pharmaceutical bodies (official authorities, research and medical institutes, WHO, etc.). These bodies will then set in motion the necessary action. The SAV is convinced that such a reporting system will make a substantial contribution to improving the safety of medicaments.

Drug Hypersensitivity↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Interferon alpha (IFN alpha 2a) therapy for herpes virus-associated inflammatory bowel disease (ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease).

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The etiology and pathogenesis of ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease remain unclear, so that exact causal therapy is not yet possible. In our UC and CD patients, viral infections, particularly of the upper respiratory tract, aggravated the underlying disease. This had led us to use in-situ hybridization to investigate intestinal mucosa for viral agents such as HSV I + II- and Epstein-Barr virus DNA. We found these DNA in the cell nuclei in the surface and glandular epithelia of the affected mucosa of the small intestine and the colon. These findings indicated that viruses may exacerbate these inflammatory bowel diseases. METHODOLOGY: Over a period of 1-4.7 years, we treated 16 patients aged 25-65 with Crohn's disease (12 patients) or ulcerative colitis (four patients). In 14 patients, inflammatory bowel disease had been diagnosed years before (mean, 15.3 years). When we started therapy, 75% of the patients with Crohn's disease had extra-intestinal manifestations; and the CDAI after Best averaged considerably above 150. All patients had been taking either prednisone or prednisolone and/or 5-ASA or SASP and/or azathioprine or metronidazole for many years. Using PCR, mucosal specimens of the small intestine and/or the colon were tested for EBV-, HSV I + II, HHV6- and CMV DNA. In 12 of the 16 patients. EBV- and/or HHV6 DNA were found in the affected mucosa. Since interferon alpha administration has proven effective in chronic hepatitis-B therapy, we decided to administer interferon alpha 2a (13,46,47,55). After stopping the above-mentioned basic therapies, we commenced treatment with 6 million units of interferon alpha 2a subcutaneously 3 times per week for at least six months. Four of the patients showed no signs of improvement, and their therapy was stopped after three months. For the others, therapy was continued until patients were clinically symptom-free and viral DNA could no longer be traced in their mucosal biopsies. RESULTS: With interferon therapy, 12 of the 16 patients showed slow but continual improvement. Particularly impressive was the remission of the extra-intestinal manifestations, which did not recur in any patient during interferon therapy. Four patients did not show any improvement, and the clinical symptom of diarrhea continued. Two patients with ulcerative colitis suffered relapses three and four years later, after severe bouts of para-influenza of the upper respiratory tract. In these two patients, EBV- and HHV6 DNA was found in the inflamed mucosa of the colon. Renewed therapy with interferon alpha 2a successfully cleared up the inflammation. The patient group needed an average of eight weeks to become clinically symptom-free, and an average of six months to achieve complete virus elimination in the pathologically altered mucosa. CONCLUSIONS: For herpesvirus-associated ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, interferon alpha 2a treatment should be started as early as possible to prevent disease becoming chronic. Whether this kind of antiviral treatment will be as effective in the long term, and whether malignant transformation (herpes viruses are potential tumor inducers) will be delayed or prevented, are questions that can be answered only by future long-term studies.

Adult↗