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Biomedical subjects

W J Butler

Publications and source records attributed to W J Butler.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1997

The presence of a C1-inhibitor-like molecule (C1-INH-L) on human sperm: its involvement in sperm motility.

PROBLEM: An 88-92-kDa C1-inhibitor-like molecule (C1-INH-L) was previously identified to elicit cytotoxic sperm antibody response in infertile men and women. Here, we document that it is present on the human sperm surface and could be detected by an enzyme-labeled immunoglobulin G (IgG) fraction of anti-human C1-INH antibody. METHOD OF STUDY: Western blot analysis, enzyme-lined immunoadsorbent assay (ELISA) and computerized sperm motion analysis. RESULTS: The existence of C1-INH-L on the sperm surface is calcium independent. Phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C (PIPLC), EDTA, and acid (pH 3.0) could not remove the C1-INH-L from sperm, but trypsin did. Activated C1s was able to bind to the sperm surface. Immunofluorescence studies localized the protein to the head and midpiece of the sperm membrane. The C1-INH-L exists on both uncapacitated and capacitated sperm surfaces, which suggests that this protein is a sperm-surface protein. The heat-treated (56 degrees C, 30 min) IgG fraction of anti-C1-INH greatly reduced the percentage of motile spermatozoa and the progressive and path velocities in the absence of complement. CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that C1-INH is a sperm membrane-anchored protein that may have complement and sperm motility regulatory function.

Complement C1 Inactivator Proteins↗
PubMed1996

Effect of platelet-activating factor (PAF) on preimplantation mouse B6D2F1/J embryo formation.

Platelet-activating factor (1-O-alkyl-2-acetyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine; PAF) is a potent signaling phospholipid that has been implicated in a variety of reproductive processes. Human, rabbit, and mouse preimplantation embryos produce and secrete PAF. Anti-PAF antibodies interfere with mouse preimplantation development. A controversy exists on whether exogenous PAF is beneficial to preimplantation embryo development. The study objective was to determine the effect of exogenous PAF on embryo formation. One-cell mouse B6D2F1/J embryos were collected from PMSG/hCG primed females mated with fertile males. Embryos were exposed to PAF (0-10 microM) in MEM (0.3% BSA) for 15 min, then cultured in MEM (0.3% BSA) in a 5% CO2 in air, 95% relative humidity at 37 degrees C atmosphere, for 120 hr to the hatched blastocyst stage. PAF (0.1 or 0.01 microM) significantly (P < 0.05) improved preimplantation embryo development and formation in vitro. PAF at higher doses had no significant effect. Supplementation of culture medium with exogenous PAF was beneficial to preimplantation embryo development in B6D2F1/J mice.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

Antibodies to endometrial transferrin and alpha 2-Heremans Schmidt (HS) glycoprotein in patients with endometriosis.

PROBLEM: Identifying the endometrial antigens inciting autoimmunity is important in setting up an antibody assay for a non-invasive diagnosis and clinical monitoring of endometriosis. METHODS: Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis of endometrial extracts, Western blot analysis, passive hemagglutination and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), amino acid sequencing and molecular studies were done on chosen antigens. Forty-six women with endometriosis, 4 women with uterine leiomyomata, 4 with pelvic adhesions, 3 with repeat Cesarean sections (conditions that coexist with or predispose to endometriosis) and 46 controls participated. RESULTS: Antigens with molecular weights (MW) of 64 kDa [isoelectric point (pI) of 3.5-4.0] and 72 kDa (pI of 4.5) bound to IgG in all patients with endometriosis, but not the controls. Amino acid sequencing of the proteins revealed that they had homology to alpha 2-Heremans Schmidt (HS) glycoprotein (MW: 64 kDa) and transferrin (MW: 72 kDa). Endometriosis patients had significant antibody levels to these two proteins (predictive value of 80-90%). The analysis of patients' endometrial RNA detected the message for alpha 2-HS glycoprotein and transferrin. Albumin (pI 5.5) and collagen (pI 3.5) failed to elicit antibody responses. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with endometriosis have significant antibodies to endometrial transferrin and alpha 2-HS-glycoprotein. We can effectively use an antibody assay using these antigens for diagnosing endometriosis.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Human follicular fluid and mouse cumulus cells act synergistically to enhance preimplantation mouse Balb/cJ embryo development.

PROBLEM: The development of preimplantation mammalian embryos in vitro is less than optimal. Follicular fluid and cumulus cells have both been used, independently, to improve preimplantation embryo quality in culture. METHOD: To determine the ability of mouse cumulus cell coculture in the presence of human follicular fluids to support preimplantation mouse Balb/cJ embryo development in vitro. RESULTS: Culture of preimplantation mouse Balb/cJ embryo's independently in human follicular fluid or on mouse cumulus cells had no significant affect on blastocyst. The coculture of mouse Balb/cJ preimplantation-stage embryos on mouse cumulus cells in the presence of human follicular fluid significantly (P < 0.01) improved blastocyst development and the total number of cells per blastocyst. CONCLUSION: Cumulus cells and follicular fluid have a positive synergistic affect on preimplantation mouse Balb/cJ embryo development and formation in vitro.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Target antigen(s) in endometrial autoimmunity of endometriosis.

OBJECTIVE: To obtain the molecular weights (MW) of endometrial antigens eliciting immunoglobulin (Ig) G auto-antibodies in all endometriosis patients irrespective of their place of origin or race, and to verify their specificity and immunogenicity. STUDY DESIGN AND RESULTS: We tested the serum and peritoneal fluid (P.F.) of 76 endometriosis patients and 24 controls from 4 cities against endometrial and implant antigens by Western blot analysis. Endometrial and implant antigens with MW of 34, 46/48, 64, 84, 94 and 120 kDa bound with IgG in serum and PF of most patients, but not the controls. Antigen(s) with MW of 64 kDa was reactive against serum or P.F. IgG of patients from all cities. Specificity: Endometrial and implant extracts did not react with monoclonal antibodies to WBC subsets and 5 sera with nuclear antibodies. Also, the presence of nuclear and endometrial antibodies did not correlate in 20 other patients with endometriosis. Immunogenicity: We immunized rabbits with the native and eluted (MW 29 to 68 kDa and > or = 68 kDa) endometrial and implant proteins. The antiserum had specific IgG binding to the same glandular epithelial antigens as those bound by the patient's serum. CONCLUSIONS: Endometrial antigens with MW of 34, 46/48, 64, 94 and 120 kDa, especially 64 kDa appear to be specific, immunogenic and relevant to endometrial autoimmunity in all patients with endometriosis.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Anti-platelet activating factor (PAF) antibody inhibits CFW mouse preimplantation embryo development.

OBJECTIVE: Our purpose was to investigate the effect of anti-PAF antibodies on CFW mouse embryo development in vitro. DESIGN: We studied the in vitro development of CFW mouse one-cell-stage embryos cultured in MEM supplemented with anti-PAF, anti-IgG, or MEM alone to the hatched blastocyst stage. RESULTS: Mouse embryos cultured with anti-PAF (1:5 dilution; 61%) significantly decreased embryo development compared to controls (MEM alone; 93%), whereas embryos cultured in anti-mouse IgG-supplemented MEM (1:10 dilution; 93%) had no effect. CONCLUSIONS: The results provide additional evidence that PAF is produced and secreted by cleavage-stage embryos and is required during the preimplantation period.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Alpha-minimum essential medium (MEM) enhances in vitro hatched blastocyst development and cell number per embryo over Ham's F-10.

PROBLEM: The development of mouse embryos in vitro is affected primarily by mouse strain-genotype and culture conditions. Embryo culture studies evaluate the effectiveness of culture conditions in supporting one- or two-cell mouse embryo development to the blastocyst stage by reporting the percentage blastocyst formation rate. METHOD: Determining the cell number per cultured blastocyst may also help in determining embryo culture medium quality. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of MEM and Ham's F-10 on overall CFW mouse embryo development and hatched blastocyst cell number in vitro. CFW embryos cultured in MEM had significantly higher (87%; P < 0.001) hatched blastocyst rates than embryos cultured in F-10 (56%). RESULTS: A significant difference in nuclei per hatched blastocyst was found between MEM and F-10 (P < 0.001). The results demonstrate that inbred mouse embryos have significantly higher blastocyst hatching rates and higher cell numbers per blastocyst when cultured in MEM.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Thyroid stimulating hormone causes cumulus expansion in mouse oocytes.

The objective of this study was to determine if thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) could induce cumulus expansion in mouse oocytes in-vitro. The effect of TSH was compared with the effects of LH and FSH. Oocytes were incubated in minimum essential medium (MEM) with and without hormones for 16 h at 37 degrees C under a humidified atmosphere of 5% CO(2) and 95% air. Then LH, FSH or TSH was added into the culture medium at a concentration of 0.25, 0.5, or 1.0 microg/ml, respectively. Cumulus expansion was scored in a subjective manner (O = no expansion; + = slight; ++ = moderate; +++ = maximum expansion) 16 h after addition of the hormones. The percentage of oocytes in the 4 categories of expansion was noted; LH failed (P>0.05) to induce cumulus expansion while TSH and FSH induced cumulus expansion (P<0.05) at all of the doses tested. For FSH, the 0.5 microg/ml dose showed the best response (26% = 0; 18% = +; 10% = ++; 46% = +++). For TSH, the 1.0 microg/ml dose showed the best response (38% = 0; 18% = +; 13% = ++; 31% = +++).

Journal Article↗
PubMed1993

Effect of dehydroepiandrosterone on pentose phosphate pathway activity in the rat colon.

1. The effects of fasting and fasting followed by refeeding on the activities of the oxidative pentose pathway (OPP) and the non-oxidative pentose pathway (NOPP) were estimated by the rate of production of 14CO2 from [1-14C] glucose in isolated rat colonocytes, and the production of hexose 6-phosphates from ribose 5-phosphate in rat colonic cytosols, respectively. 2. The OPP activity in colonocytes from rats in the fasted state was 50% lower when compared to colonocytes from rats refed after a fast. This indicated induction of the rate-limiting enzyme of the OPP, glucose 6-P dehydrogenase (G6-PDH) in the latter instance. No effect on the maximal catalytic activity of the enzymes of the NOPP was seen in colonocytes from rats refed after a fast compared with colonocytes from rats in the fasted state. 3. Isolated colonocytes obtained from the distal colon of rats refed after a fast, showed a significant decrease (30%) in OPP activity when incubated with 50 microM dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA). A similar degree of inhibition was seen with 10 mM butyrate (P < 0.05). In contrast, using colonic cytosols, both DHEA and butyrate had no effect on the maximal catalytic activity of the NOPP. 4. Intraperitoneal injection (i.p.) of DHEA in rats refed after a fast showed a significant increase in the maximal catalytic activity of the NOPP in the distal colon (46%; P < 0.05). A similar elevation in the maximal catalytic activity of the NOPP was seen in the distal colon of DHEA treated pair-fed rats (43%; P < 0.05).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Low level of maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein: its associated anxiety and the effects of genetic counseling.

A low maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein screening result can be expected to cause measurable anxiety for couples, particularly when the woman is younger than 35 years of age. This study was designed to investigate the levels of anxiety present in these patients and show the effectiveness of genetic counseling on this anxiety. The women and their partners were given the State Trait Anxiety Inventory before and after counseling. A control group of low-risk pregnant patients was also given the state anxiety inventory for comparison. The mean level of anxiety for the control group was 36, significantly lower than either the precounseling or postcounseling level of the group with low maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein screening results (p less than .05). The study shows that genetic counseling, in addition to appraising couples of the risks and options involved, does significantly reduce their anxiety level regardless of whether an amniocentesis was performed.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Human follicular fluid contains a follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) receptor binding inhibitor which has FSH agonist activity, is immunologically similar to FSH, but can be distinguished from FSH.

We have previously reported the presence in human follicular fluid (hFF) of a high (greater than 5000) mol wt FSH receptor binding inhibitor (FSH-BI). This hFF FSH-BI was further purified by removal of material insoluble in acidified acetone (pH 4.1) but soluble in diethyl ether (pH 10.5), followed by molecular sieving through Sephacryl S-100. FSH-BI activity eluted from S-100 with an elution volume similar to that of hFSH, but could be distinguished from hFSH on the basis of a differential sensitivity to acid inactivation. Human FSH was inactivated in acetone at pH 4.1 (1 h, 25 C), whereas hFF FSH-BI retained activity under these conditions. Human FF FSH-BI also demonstrated FSH-like agonist activity, defined as the ability to stimulate basal levels of estradiol synthesis in cultured rat Sertoli cells. Human FSH-BI strongly cross-reacted to a commercially available monoclonal antibody used to measure serum hFSH. Indeed, recovery of FSH immunologic activity was significantly greater (134-fold on a mass basis) after partial purification, indicating that antibody recognition sites were apparently masked in unfractionated hFF. In summary, large mol wt hFSH-BI has been partially purified from hFF and found to be similar in size to pituitary hFSH and to have FSH-like agonist activity in vitro. Although distinguishable from pituitary hFSH on the basis of stability to acid, hFSH-BI appears immunologically related to pituitary hFSH so that measurements of hFSH levels in hFF using immunologic techniques should be interpreted with caution.

Acetone↗
PubMed1990

Effect of removal of cumulus cells from one-cell mouse embryos on in vitro development.

The effects of the removal of cumulus cells from fertilized mouse oocytes (one-cell embryos) and the presence of streptomycin in culture medium on in vitro development were studied. Ham's F-10 medium with (0.075 g/liter) or without streptomycin was supplemented with human serum (15%). Cumulus-intact embryos were harvested from oviducts after mice were superovulated with pregnant mare's serum gonadotropin (PMSG) and human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). Hyaluronidase (300 IU/ml) was used to remove the cumuli. Embryos were cultured (i) with cumulus/without streptomycin (n = 238), (ii) with cumulus/with streptomycin (n = 185), (iii) without cumulus/with streptomycin (n = 210), and (iv) without cumulus/without streptomycin (n = 218). Embryonic development was assessed 24, 96, and 120 hr after initiation of culture. Percentage two cells and percentage small or expanded blastocysts were not different (P greater than 0.05) among experimental groups. Percentages (mean +/- SE) hatched blastocysts for the four groups were (i) 36 +/- 8 and 54 +/- 7, (ii) 35 +/- 8 and 55 +/- 6, (iii) 19 +/- 5 and 42 +/- 6, (iv) 23 +/- 5 and 47 +/- 5 at 96 and 120 hr, respectively. Percentages all (small, expanded, and hatched combined) blastocysts were (i) 74 +/- 5 and 74 +/- 5, (ii) 74 +/- 9 and 72 +/- 5, (iii) 56 +/- 6 and 63 +/- 5, and (iv) 61 +/- 5 and 63 +/- 5 at 96 and 120 hr, respectively. A greater (P less than 0.05) percentage of embryos developed to blastocysts and hatched by 96 and 120 hr, when they were cultured with the cumulus intact.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗
PubMed1990

5-fluorouracil exposure during the period of conception: report on two cases.

Two patients who were administered topical vaginal 5-fluorouracil for human papilloma virus lesions became pregnant during treatment. The outcomes in both cases were healthy with normal developmental landmarks at 6 months of age. This experience highlights the potential for a positive outcome.

Administration, Intravaginal↗
PubMed1989

Statistical analysis of epidemiologic data of pregnancy outcomes.

In this paper, a generalized logistic regression model for correlated observations is used to analyze epidemiologic data on the frequency of spontaneous abortion among a group of women office workers. The results are compared to those obtained from the use of the standard logistic regression model that assumes statistical independence among all the pregnancies contributed by one woman. In this example, the correlation among pregnancies from the same woman is fairly small and did not have a substantial impact on the magnitude of estimates of parameters of the model. This is due at least partly to the small average number of pregnancies contributed by each woman.

Abortion, Spontaneous↗
PubMed1988

Discordance in deoxyribonucleic acid analysis of fetus and trophoblast.

Molecular analysis of deoxyribonucleic acid extracted from trophoblast has become an important component of modern prenatal diagnosis. Discrepancies between trophoblast and fetal tissue in both chromosomal and metabolic analysis have been reported. We studied 50 paired fetal and trophoblast deoxyribonucleic acid specimens with a highly polymorphic probe for repetitive "minisatellite" regions of deoxyribonucleic acid that may be areas of high recombination. Four pairs showed persistent variations in bands consistent with differences in fetal and trophoblast deoxyribonucleic acid. Discordance in trophoblast deoxyribonucleic acid as a reflection of fetal genotype may be secondary to mitotic recombination or sister chromatid exchange in the trophoblast, and the possibility of discordance must be considered in interpreting the results of prenatal diagnostic testing on trophoblast specimens.

DNA↗