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Biomedical subjects

W A Woodward

Publications and source records attributed to W A Woodward.

15 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Effects of androgen suppression and radiation on prostate cancer suggest a role for angiogenesis blockade.

Antiandrogen therapy is an important modality in the treatment of prostate cancer. Recent research into the role of angiogenesis in tumour growth and metastasis has uncovered links between antiandrogen therapy, radiation therapy and angiogenesis, which have exciting implications for the treatment of prostate cancer. Angiogenic cytokines such as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) have been identified in prostate cancer cells and tumours, and androgens appear to stimulate VEGF. This article assesses the antiangiogenic effects of hormonal therapy and assesses the role that angiogenesis may play in the observed cooperation between hormonal and radiation therapies for prostate cancer.

Androgen Antagonists↗
PubMed1999

N-Cadherin expression and signaling in limb mesenchymal chondrogenesis: stimulation by poly-L-lysine.

Cellular condensation is a requisite step in the initiation of mesenchymal chondrogenesis in the embryonic limb bud. We have previously shown that cellular condensation of limb chondroprogenitor mesenchymal cells is accompanied by elevated expression of N-cadherin during chondrogenesis both in vivo and in vitro. N-Cadherin-mediated cell-cell interaction is also functionally required for proper mesenchymal chondrogenesis both in vivo and in vitro. In this report, we have further analyzed the functional importance of N-cadherin in the cellular condensation-chondrogenesis pathway by examining N-cadherin expression and related activities in high density micromass cultures of chick limb mesenchymal cells in which chondrogenesis is being stimulated with the cationic polymer, poly-L-lysine (PL). The chondrogenesis-promoting action of PL is thought to involve the clustering of cells via ionic cross-linking, perhaps mimicking the action of an endogenous matrix component. Immunohistochemistry, immunoblotting, and Northern blot analysis all show that PL treatment results in a time-dependent increase in N-cadherin expression at both the protein and mRNA levels. In addition, inhibition of N-cadherin function with a neutralizing monoclonal antibody directed to its extracellular domain inhibits the chondrogenesis-stimulating effect of PL. PL treatment also alters the tyrosine-phosphorylation state of the N-cadherin associated signaling protein, beta-catenin. These results suggest that N-cadherin-mediated cell adhesion is a requisite regulatory component of the limb mesenchymal chondrogenic differentiation program, involving at least in part beta-catenin tyrosine phosphorylation as a signaling step.

Animals↗
PubMed1981

Cross-validation of a heroin addiction (He) scale in a treatment setting.

An He (Heroin addiction) scale has been developed from the MMPI for differentiating incarcerated addicts from nonaddicts. Its clinical utility has not been tested among addicts seeking treatment in hospital-based treatment programs. In this cross-validation study, the He scale did not differentiate heroin users (n = 336) from polydrug users (n = 179). Further, White heroin users scored significantly higher than Black heroin users. Findings were similar in both analysis of variance and co-variance designs, both when potentially-confounding covariates were controlled and uncontrolled (i.e., the covariates age, education, socioeconomic status, and admission status). Although the scale showed promise for differentiating compulsive users of proscribed drugs categorized generally (but not heroin users specifically), nevertheless additional refinement of the scale is needed before it can be applied in hospital settings. Race, age, and admission status emerged as subject background characteristics meriting systematic attention in scale refinement.

Adult↗
PubMed1980

MMPI factor scale differences among heroin addicts differing in race and admission status.

Predictions that personalities of compulsive heroin users differ as a function of ethnicity and admission status were tested in an analysis of covariance design (covariates: age, intelligence, and socioeconomic status) using four MMPI factor scales as personality measures (i.e., anxiety, repression, somatization, and unconventionality). Those volunteering for treatment (n = 260) expressed significantly more anxiety and somatization than nonvolunteers (n = 67); White heroin users (n = 144) registered significantly more anxiety and repression than Blacks (n = 183). These findings, contraindicating the notion that one personality characteristic is associated with heroin addiction, underscore the necessity for developing personality typologies before assessing the role of psychosocial dimensions in theories and treatment of heroin addiction.

Adult↗
PubMed1977

Combination of a preference pattern with the triangle taste test.

When dealing with the problem of obtaining information concerning consumer preferences for two competing brands of a product, one would like to assume that the consumers sampled can actually distinguish between the two brands. Often this is not the case and we have combined the standard triangle test of sensory perception with a preference test in order to obtain information concerning the consumers' ability to distinguish between the two brands. Assuming an underlying multinomial distribution, the maximum likelihood estimators (MLE) of the conditional probability that a person prefers brand A given that he can discriminate between the two products is then obtained. The estimator obtained is a ratio of linear combinations of observed multinomial proportions. The variability of this estimator is assessed by means of the jackknife statistic, the asymptotic variance of the MLE, and Monte Carlo studies. Application of the results obtained to taste test involving two brands of potato chips is discussed.

Consumer Behavior↗
PubMed1976

Anticholinergic activity of antipsychotic drugs in relation to their extrapyramidal effects.

Antipsychotic drugs were evaluated with two indices of anticholinergic activity, mydriasis in mice in vivo and antagonism of carbamylcholine-induced contractions of guinea-pig tracheal strips in vitro. The drugs from most to least potent as oral mydriatic agents were mepazine, clozapine, thioridazine, promazine and chlorpromazine. Trifluoperazine, pimozide and haloperidol were inactive. These results were consistent with the hypothesis that anticholinergic activity of antipsychotic drugs is inversely related to their propensity to produce extrapyramidal effects in man. In vitro results appeared to predict the incidence of extraphyramidal effects less accurately than in vivo results.

Animals↗