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Biomedical subjects

U Patel

Publications and source records attributed to U Patel.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Choosing the correct length of ureteric stent: a formula based on the patient's height compared with direct ureteric measurement.

AIM: To evaluate a formula based on the patient's height for choosing the correct length of ureteric stent and to compare its accuracy with that of direct ureteric length measurement. METHODS: Thirty-five patients (41 ureters) with ureteric obstruction were prospectively studied. All received Percuflex 8F double pigtail ureteric stents. Stent lengths were chosen according to patient height: < 5 ft 10 in (<178 cm) = 22 cm; 5 ft 10 in to 6 ft 4 in (178-193 cm) = 24 cm; > 6 ft 4 in (>193 cm) = 26 cm. The final stent position was graded using a 5-point scale (0 representing ideal length, with -2 and +2 being too short and too long respectively). Stent length acceptability using direct ureteric measurement was then estimated using the same 5-point scale; and the results compared. RESULTS: Patient's height correctly predicted stent length in the majority of ureters (grade 0 = 61%), with no stent being too short. In comparison, direct ureteric measurement oversized the stent in 83%, correctly predicting stent length in only 17%. CONCLUSION: Patient's height is a more reliable guide to ureteric stent length than direct ureteric measurement, particularly in the dilated and tortuous ureter. This may be because the redundant ureter is capable of significant shortening under the influence of the ureteric stent.

Adolescent↗

Neuroleptic malignant syndrome presenting as pulmonary edema and severe bronchorrhea.

Neuroleptic malignant syndrome is a rare (incidence, 0.02%-3.2%) but dangerous complication following the use of neuroleptic drugs. When not promptly recognized, this disease carries a high mortality (10%-20%) and morbidity rate. We report an unusual case of neuroleptic malignant syndrome that presented predominantly with autonomic instability in the form of recurrent episodes of respiratory distress. The respiratory distress was initially caused by pulmonary edema and later was caused by severe bronchorrhea. We propose that aspiration pneumonia resulting in respiratory failure, the leading cause of death in neuroleptic malignant syndrome, may be a result of a combination of altered mental status and bronchorrhea. This has therapeutic implications because early institution of bromocriptine/dantrolene can prevent aspiration pneumonia and, hence, mortality from respiratory failure.

Amantadine↗

Oxazolidinones mechanism of action: inhibition of the first peptide bond formation.

Oxazolidinones are potent inhibitors of bacterial protein biosynthesis. Previous studies have demonstrated that this new class of antimicrobial agent blocks translation by inhibiting initiation complex formation, while post-initiation translation by polysomes and poly(U)-dependent translation is not a target for these compounds. We found that oxazolidinones inhibit translation of natural mRNA templates but have no significant effect on poly(A)-dependent translation. Here we show that various oxazolidinones inhibit ribosomal peptidyltransferase activity in the simple reaction of 70 S ribosomes using initiator-tRNA or N-protected CCA-Phe as a P-site substrate and puromycin as an A-site substrate. Steady-state kinetic analysis shows that oxazolidinones display a competitive inhibition pattern with respect to both the P-site and A-site substrates. This is consistent with a rapid equilibrium, ordered mechanism of the peptidyltransferase reaction, wherein binding of the A-site substrate can occur only after complex formation between peptidyltransferase and the P-site substrate. We propose that oxazolidinones inhibit bacterial protein biosynthesis by interfering with the binding of initiator fMet-tRNA(i)(Met) to the ribosomal peptidyltransferase P-site, which is vacant only prior to the formation of the first peptide bond.

Drug Interactions↗

Early cardioversion of atrial fibrillation facilitated by transesophageal echocardiography: short-term safety and impact on maintenance of sinus rhythm at 1 year.

BACKGROUND: For patients presenting with atrial fibrillation of only a few weeks duration, the use of transesophageal echocardiography offers the opportunity to markedly abbreviate the duration of atrial fibrillation before cardioversion. We sought to determine if the shorter duration of atrial fibrillation allowed by a transesophageal echocardiography strategy had an impact on the recurrence of atrial fibrillation and prevalence of sinus rhythm during the first year following cardioversion. METHODS: Transesophageal echocardiography was attempted in 539 patients (292 men, 247 women; 71.6 +/- 13.0 years.) with atrial fibrillation > or =2 days (66.1% <3 weeks) or of unknown duration before elective cardioversion of atrial fibrillation. Therapeutic anticoagulation at the time of transesophageal echocardiography was present in 94.6% of patients, and 73.4% of subjects were discharged on warfarin. RESULTS: Atrial thrombi were identified in 70 (13.1%) patients. Successful cardioversion in 413 patients without evidence of atrial thrombi was associated with clinical thromboembolism in 1 patient (0.24%, 95% confidence interval: 0.0--0.8%). In patients with atrial fibrillation <3 weeks at the time of cardioversion (a duration incompatible with conventional therapy of 3 to 4 weeks of warfarin before cardioversion), the 1-year atrial fibrillation recurrence rate was lower (41.1% vs. 57.9%, P <0.01), and the prevalence of sinus rhythm at 1 year was increased (65.8% vs. 51.3%, P <0.03). No other clinical or echocardiographic index was associated with recurrence of atrial fibrillation or sinus rhythm at 1 year. CONCLUSIONS: Early cardioversion facilitated by transesophageal echocardiography has a favorable safety profile and provides the associated benefit of reduced recurrence of atrial fibrillation for patients in whom the duration of atrial fibrillation is <3 weeks.

Adult↗

Impaired repair activity of a truncated DNA polymerase beta protein.

DNA polymerase beta (polbeta) is an essential enzyme for gap filling synthesis in damaged DNA template involved in base excision repair pathway. A truncated polbeta protein is expressed in primary colorectal and breast adenocarcinomas. To determine a possible alteration in the functions of the enzyme, a human cell line named HeLapolbetadelta expressing the truncated form of polbeta has been established. These cells revealed a significantly reduced level of repair activity evaluated by gap filling synthesis and polbeta activity. More importantly, the HeLapolbetadelta cells are hypersensitive to MNNG, a DNA alkylating agent. It appears from the responses that the gap filling synthesis of WT cells, a HeLa cell line overexpressing wild-type polbeta protein, was inhibited by HeLapolbetadelta protein.

Cell Survival↗

Pain after transrectal ultrasonography-guided prostate biopsy: the advantages of periprostatic local anaesthesia.

OBJECTIVE: To prospectively evaluate the efficacy and safety of periprostatic local anaesthesia (LA) during prostatic biopsy guided by transrectal ultrasonography (TRUS), as 20-65% of men report moderate to severe pain, and there is anecdotal and published evidence that periprostatic anaesthesia improves patients' tolerance. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In all, 157 patients were prospectively recruited and sequentially randomized to receive either LA or no anaesthesia. Sextant biopsies were taken in all men but some had more than six biopsies. All were asked to complete questionnaires immediately after TRUS-guided biopsy and for the subsequent week, giving pain scores and recording any morbidity, including symptoms of infection; analgesic use was also surveyed. RESULTS: Patients given LA had significantly lower pain scores at the time of biopsy than those given no anaesthesia, with median (sd) pain scores of 1.53 (0.7) and 1.95 (0.65) (P < 0.001), respectively. In addition, there was a trend towards less analgesic use by those given LA, although this was not statistically significant. There was no difference in the amount of haematuria, haematochezia or haematospermia, or infection rate, between the groups. The additional cost and time of the procedure was minimal ( pound3.00 and 3 min/per patient, respectively). CONCLUSION: Periprostatic LA infiltration is a quick and simple procedure which significantly improves immediate pain with no added morbidity; we strongly advocate its use to improve patient tolerance of TRUS-guided prostate biopsy.

Aged↗

Primary antegrade ureteric stenting: prospective experience and cost-effectiveness analysis in 50 ureters.

AIM: To evaluate the success rate and cost efficiency of primary antegrade ureteric stenting (antegrade ureteric stent insertion as a single procedure without preliminary drainage). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A policy of primary stenting was tested in 38 patients (50 ureters) with obstructive hydronephrosis, of acute or chronic onset and of benign or malignant origin. Patients with suspected pyonephrosis were excluded. Patients successfully primarily stented (group 1) were compared to a group stented as a traditional two-stage procedure (group 2). End point assessments were screening time, equipment used, procedure-related costs, bed occupancy and technical and clinical success rate. Using these cost and outcome measures, a cost-efficiency analysis was performed comparing the two strategies. RESULTS: 40/50 (80%) ureters were considered primary stent successes. The average procedure-related bed occupancy was 2 days (range 1-2 days). Simple equipment alone was successful in 16 cases. Van ( pound46/case). The mean screening time was similar for the two groups (13.5 min vs Andel dilatation catheters and peel-away sheaths were frequently used (23 ureters). Expensive equipment was rarely necessary (four cases) and average extra equipment cost was small 15.3 min; P > or = 0.05). There was a minimum saving of pound800 per successful primary stent. The cost-effectiveness of a primary antegrade stenting strategy was pound1229 vs pound2093 for secondary stenting. CONCLUSION: In carefully selected patients, the majority of obstructed ureters can be primarily stented using simple equipment. The reduced hospital stay and overall success rate significantly improves the cost competitiveness of antegrade ureteric stenting.

Acute Disease↗

Identification of inhibitors of bacterial transcription/translation machinery utilizing a miniaturized 1536-well format screen.

This report presents the miniaturization of a HTS screen to identify inhibitors of prokaryotic transcription-translation in a 1536-well format. The in vitro assay design utilized the bacterial expression machinery to drive expression of a firefly luciferase reporter gene, which was read as an endpoint luminesence measurement. This multicomponent system permits identification of inhibitors at different steps in this pathway. Successful miniaturization required integration of homogeneous assay formats, robust liquid-handling workstations, and second-generation imaging systems. Comparison of data from a triplicate 1536-well screen of a subset of a target library that had been previously validated and followed up for hit confirmation in a 384-well plate format confirmed that triplicate screening yields data of higher confidence and quality, eliminates the time-consuming and potentially error-prone step of cherry-picking, and reduces the number of false positives and negatives. The substantial savings of reagents and reduction of the numbers of plates to process obtained in a 1536-well format as compared to a 384-well format allowed a full triplicate evaluation of the entire library of 183,000 compounds at lower cost and in less time. The triplicate-screen statistics are consistent with a highly reliable data set with a coefficient of variation of 14.8% and Z' and Z values of 0.57 and 0.25, respectively. This screen resulted in the identification of 1,149 hits (0.63% hit rate), representing a compound population at 2.5 standard deviations from the mean cutoff. Furthermore, the data demonstrate good agreement between IC(50) values derived for this assay in a 1536-well format and 384-well format.

Bacteria↗

Rotational digital subtraction angiography of the renal arteries: technique and evaluation in the study of native and transplant renal arteries.

Rotational digital subtraction angiography (RDSA) allows multidirectional angiographic acquisitions with a single injection of contrast medium. The role of RDSA was evaluated in 60 patients referred over a 7-month period for diagnostic renal angiography and 12 patients referred for renal transplant studies. All angiograms were assessed for their diagnostic value, the presence of anomalies and the quantity of contrast medium used. The effective dose for native renal RDSA was determined. 41 (68.3%) native renal RDSA images and 8 (66.7%) transplant renal RDSA images were of diagnostic quality. Multiple renal arteries were identified in 9/41 (22%) native renal RDSA diagnostic images. The mean volume of contrast medium in the RDSA runs was 51.2 ml and 50 ml for native and transplant renal studies, respectively. The mean effective dose for 120 degrees native renal RDSA was 2.36 mSv, equivalent to 1 year's mean background radiation. Those RDSA images that were non-diagnostic allowed accurate prediction of the optimal angle for further static angiographic series, which is of great value in transplant renal vessels.

Anastomosis, Surgical↗

Cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL).

Cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL) is a recently described neurovascular disease affecting young to middle age individuals. The disease is caused by mutations in the Notch3 gene located in the short arm of chromosome 19. Clinically, the disease is characterized by migrainous headaches (with or without aura), mood disturbances, focal neurologic deficits, transient ischemic attacks, strokes, and dementia. Pathologically, the disease is characterized by a stereotypic degeneration of the arterial walls (especially in the intracranial compartments) with deposition in the media of a nonatheromatous, nonamyloidotic substance that under the electron microscope (EM) appears as a granular osmiophilic material (GOM), pathognomonic for the disease. The nature of the GOM is undetermined and the pathogenesis remains to be elucidated. A review of current literature in English language is presented on the clinical, radiologic, pathologic, and genetic features of CADASIL.

Adult↗

Synthesis and SAR of adatanserin: novel adamantyl aryl- and heteroarylpiperazines with dual serotonin 5-HT(1A) and 5-HT(2) activity as potential anxiolytic and antidepressant agents.

Several novel functionalized adamantyl aryl- and heteroarylpiperazine derivatives were prepared and examined in various receptor binding and behavioral tests to determine their serotonin receptor activities. Many compounds demonstrated modest to high affinity for 5-HT(1A) receptors, with compounds 9, 13, 23, 33, 34, and 43 being the most potent at this site. Compound 1, 2-[4-(2-pyrimidinyl)-1-piperazinyl]ethyl adamantyl-1-carboxylate, demonstrated relatively high affinity for 5-HT(1A) receptors (K(i) = 8 nM) and acceptable selectivity versus D(2) receptors (K(i) = 708 mM); however, it lacked in vivo activity in serotonergic behavioral models. In contrast, compounds 9 (WY-50,324, SEB-324, adatanserin), adamantyl-1-carboxylic acid 2-[4-(2-pyrimidinyl)-1-piperazinyl]ethylamide, and 13, adamantyl-1-carboxylic acid 2-[4-(2-methoxyphenyl)-1-piperazinyl]ethylamide, demonstrated high affinity for 5-HT(1A) binding sites (K(i) = 1 nM for both) and moderate affinity for 5-HT(2) receptors (K(i) = 73 and 75 nM, respectively). Both compounds also demonstrated partial 5-HT(1A) agonist activity in vivo in rat serotonin syndrome and 5-HT(2) antagonist activity in quipazine- and DOI-induced head shake paradigms. The selective 5-HT(1A) partial agonist and 5-HT(2) antagonist activity of 9 was accompanied by significant anxiolytic activity in an animal conflict model. On the basis of this profile, compound 9 entered development as a combined anxiolytic and antidepressant agent.

Animals↗

Ligands for the tyrosine kinase p56lck SH2 domain: discovery of potent dipeptide derivatives with monocharged, nonhydrolyzable phosphate replacements.

p56lck is a member of the src family of tyrosine kinases. Through modular binding units called SH2 domains, p56lck promotes phosphotyrosine-dependent protein-protein interactions and plays a critical role in signal transduction events that lead to T-cell activation. Starting from the phosphorylated dipeptide (2), a high-affinity ligand for the p56lck SH2 domain, we have designed novel dipeptides that contain monocharged, nonhydrolyzable phosphate group replacements and bind to the protein with KD's in the low micromolar range. Replacement of the phosphate group in phosphotyrosine-containing sequences by a (R/S)-hydroxyacetic (compound 8) or an oxamic acid (compound 10) moiety leads to hydrolytically stable, monocharged ligands, with 83- and 233-fold decreases in potency, respectively. This loss in binding affinity can be partially compensated for by incorporating large lipophilic groups at the inhibitor N-terminus. These groups provide up to 13-fold increases in potency depending on the nature of the phosphate replacement. The discovery of potent (2-3 microM), hydrolytically stable dipeptide derivatives, bearing only two charges at physiological pH, represents a significant step toward the discovery of compounds with cellular activity and the development of novel therapeutics for conditions associated with undesired T-cell proliferation.

Crystallography, X-Ray↗

Phosphotyrosine-containing dipeptides as high-affinity ligands for the p56lck SH2 domain.

Src homology-2 (SH2) domains are noncatalytic motifs containing approximately 100 amino acid residues that are involved in intracellular signal transduction. The phosphotyrosine-containing tetrapeptide Ac-pYEEI binds to the SH2 domain of p56lck (Lck) with an affinity of 0.1 microM. Starting from Ac-pYEEI, we have designed potent antagonists of the Lck SH2 domain which are reduced in peptidic character and in which the three carboxyl groups have been eliminated. The two C-terminal amino acids (EI) have been replaced by benzylamine derivatives and the pY + 1 glutamic acid has been substituted with leucine. The best C-terminal fragment identified, (S)-1-(4-isopropylphenyl)ethylamine, binds to the Lck SH2 domain better than the C-terminal dipeptide EI. Molecular modeling suggests that the substituents at the 4-position of the phenyl ring occupy the pY + 3 lipophilic pocket in the SH2 domain originally occupied by the isoleucine side chain. This new series of phosphotyrosine-containing dipeptides binds to the Lck SH2 domain with potencies comparable to that of tetrapeptide 1.

Binding, Competitive↗

Differences between relapsing-remitting and chronic progressive multiple sclerosis as determined with quantitative MR imaging.

PURPOSE: To investigate the cross-sectional relationships among multiple quantitative brain magnetic resonance (MR) imaging measurements in patients with relapsing-remitting versus chronic progressive multiple sclerosis (MS). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-eight patients with MS (relapsing-remitting, 26, chronic progressive, 12) were examined. Lesion volume on T2-weighted MR images, contrast material-enhancing lesion volume, percentage of brain parenchymal volume (brain volume/[brain volume + cerebrospinal fluid volume), and magnetization transfer ratio histogram peak height for the whole brain were calculated. RESULTS: Significant negative correlation was noted between volume on T2-weighted images and magnetization transfer ratio histogram peak height for both the relapsing-remitting and chronic progressive groups (P < .001 for both). A positive correlation was demonstrated for lesion volume on T2-weighted images and enhancing lesion volume in the relapsing-remitting group (P < .01) but not in the chronic progressive group. Negative correlations were demonstrated for enhancing lesion volume and magnetization transfer ratio histogram peak height (P = .02), for Expanded Disability Status Scale score and magnetization transfer histogram peak height (P = .02), and for Expanded Disability Status Scale score and percentage of brain parenchymal volume in the relapsing-remitting group (P = .004) but not in the chronic progressive group. CONCLUSION: The cross-sectional relationships among multiple quantitative brain MR imaging measurements are different between relapsing-remitting and chronic progressive MS.

Adult↗