Showing papers by "University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey published in 1985"

HTLV-III infection in brains of children and adults with AIDS encephalopathy

Abstract: Unexplained debilitating dementia or encephalopathy occurs frequently in adults and children with the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Brains from 15 individuals with AIDS and encephalopathy were examined by Southern analysis and in situ hybridization for the presence of human T-cell leukemia (lymphotropic) virus type III (HTLV-III), the virus believed to be the causative agent of AIDS. HTLV-III DNA was detected in the brains of five patients, and viral-specific RNA was detected in four of these. In view of these findings and the recent demonstration of morphologic and genetic relatedness between HTLV-III and visna virus, a lentivirus that causes a chronic degenerative neurologic disease in sheep, HTLV-III should be evaluated further as a possible cause of AIDS encephalopathy.

Biodegradable matrix and methods for producing same

Abstract: Processes for preparaing biodegradable collagen-based matrices in sponge or sheet form wherein in one embodiment a collagen-based material including a collagen selected from the group consisting of types I, II and III collagens is freeze dried to form a collagen-based sponge which is contacted with a crosslinking agent selected from the group consisting of a carbodiimide or a succinimidyl active ester to form an intermediate collagen-based matrix which is subsequently subjected to conditions of severe dehydration to form the collagen-based matrix in sponge or sheet form. In another embodiment, a collagen-based sponge or sheet is first subjected to conditions of severe dehydration followed by contacting the thus formed intermediate collagen-based matrix with a carbodiimide crosslinking compound to form the collagen-based matrix in sponge or sheet form. In still another embodiment of the present invention the cross-linking agent is admixed with the collagen-based material prior to formation of the collagen-based sponge or sheet followed by processing steps of severe dehydration. In a paticularly preferred form of the invention, a carrier compound is incorporated during processing to form a collagen-based matrix in sponge or sheet form impregnated with a carrier compound wherein the carrier compound is selected from the group consisting of types IV and V collagen, fibronecting, laminin, hyaluronate, proteoglycan, epidermal growth factor, platelet derived growth factor, angiogenesis factor, antibiotic, antifungal agent, spermacidal agent, enzyme and enzyme inhibitor.

Progressive encephalopathy in children with acquired immue deficiency syndrome

Abstract: We are reporting the cases of four children with a diagnosis of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) who demonstrated a progressive encephalopathy manifested by loss of motor milestones or intellectual abilities, and weakness with pyramidal tract signs. Two patients were ataxic. One child was cortically blind and suffered myoclonic jerks before his death. Two of the patients had isolated seizures at some time during the disease course. Two patients developed secondary microcephaly and all four patients showed cortical atrophy on computed tomographic scanning. Three of the patients died. Postmortem neuropathological findings included gross cortical atrophy, microglial nodules, and intranuclear inclusions, as are described in the subacute encephalitis reported in adult AIDS patients. We propose that the possible pathogenetic mechanisms of this encephalopathy include opportunistic or persistent viral infection of the brain.

The Accuracy of Experienced Physicians' Probability Estimates for Patients With Sore Throats: Implications for Decision Making

Abstract: Ten physicians recorded their treatment decisions and estimated probabilities of streptococcal infection for patients with sore throats. Of 308 throat cultures, 15 (4.9%) were positive for group A streptococci. The physicians overestimated the probability of a positive culture for 81% of their patients and their estimates and treatment decisions were strongly associated. Of 104 patients treated before culture results were available, only eight had positive cultures. Probability overestimation may have been due to (1) neglect of the low culture-positive rate, (2) assignment of undue importance to weakly predictive or highly intercorrelated clinical features, and (3) a value-induced bias, occurring when features important for treatment are erroneously linked to the likelihood of disease. Cognitive limitations in information processing may limit the effectiveness of pharyngitis management protocols that require subjective estimates of disease probability. (JAMA1985;254:925-929)

Antibiotic bonded prosthesis and process for producing same.

Abstract: Improved prosthesis coated, respectively, with a cationic surfactant, an antibiotic compound and treated with an immobilizing cationic exchange compound, to remove un-antibiotic bound cationic surfactant.

Dysfunction of the pisotriquetral joint: treatment by excision of the pisiform.

Abstract: Sixty-seven painful pisotriquetral joints were treated by excision of the pisiform over a 30-year period. Forty-two patients had a previous history of trauma. Ulnar neuropathy was noted in 22 patients, particularly in those with associated wrist-hand fractures and subluxations or dislocations of the pisiform. The abductor and flexor digiti minimi and the palmar carpal ligament with their common fibrous origin were the most common compressing structures on the ulnar nerve. Chondromalacia was found in 29 and osteoarthritis in 20 pisotriquetral joints. Excision of the pisiform provided complete relief of localized hypothenar pain in 65 wrists with no loss of wrist motion or strength. Neurolysis produced full sensory recovery in all 22 patients and full motor recovery in five of six. No late problems associated with the flexor carpi ulnaris tendon were found after excision of the pisiform.

Development of a Biochemical Profile for Gingival Crevicular Fluid: Methodological Considerations and Evaluation of Collagen-Degrading and Ground Substance-Degrading Enzyme Activity during Experimental Gingivitis*

Abstract: The potential application of gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) analysis to periodontal diagnosis has been examined for more than 25 years. Unfortunately, the information available has not provided the clinician with a more sensitive means of diagnosing periodontal disease or an effective means of monitoring periodontal therapy. A careful review of the literature on GCF, however, suggests that discrepancies occur in the method of GCF collection, the use of GCF for analysis from pooled or isolated crevicular locations, the method of analyzing the samples and the way in which the data is reported. Studies in our laboratory have suggested a technique for GCF analysis that collects GCF from individual crevices with a filter paper strip inserted for a standard time, determines the volume of GCF collected with a calibrated electronic meter and elutes the material into a larger volume of diluent. This approach allows for detection of site-to-site and patient-to-patient differences in GCF volume while providing sufficient samples to analyze GCF for multiple constituents. We have used this approach to evaluate GCF for vertebrate forms of the enzymes collagenase (latent and active forms), beta-glucuronidase and arylsulfatase during the development of experimental gingivitis in man. Interproximal and midradicular areas were studied. Our results indicate that during the 4 weeks of the gingivitis, the absolute amount of active collagenase in GCF increased 550% at the interproximal sites and 190% in the midradicular sites, and the per cent of active collagenase increased from 15 to 71% at the interproximal sites, and from 16 to 36% at the midradicular sites.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Representation of whisker follicle intrinsic musculature in the facial motor nucleus of the rat.

Abstract: Retrograde transport of wheatgerm-agglutinin horseradish peroxidase (WGA-HRP) and fluorescent tracers (true blue-TB, nuclear yellow-NY, and diamidino yellow-DY) from isolated whisker follicles was used to define the somatotopic organization of the facial (VII) motoneurons which innervate the intrinsic follicle muscles. Motoneurons supplying these muscles were restricted almost completely to the lateral (Martin and Lodge, '77) facial subnucleus and the motoneurons which innervated a given follicle were distributed over the entire length of this subnucleus. Cells projecting to dorsal (A-row) follicles were located in the most lateral part of the lateral subnucleus, while those supplying ventral (E-row) follicles were restricted to the medial part of the subnucleus. Injections of different tracers into rostral and caudal follicles within a given row revealed no somatotopic representation of the rostrocaudal axis of the whiskerpad. Additional control experiments demonstrated that some of the labelling obtained with WGA-HRP resulted from spread of this tracer to extrinsic muscles. This was not the case with the fluorescent tracers. The results of the control experiments suggested further that a significant percentage of the motoneurons in the lateral facial subnucleus innervate only intrinsic follicle muscles.

Evaluation of central venous catheter thrombogenicity.

Abstract: Four studies were performed to evaluate the thrombogenicity of different central venous catheter materials. Two of these studies consisted of evaluating the amount of platelet deposition on different catheter materials, firstly in vitro and then in vivo using dogs. In these studies, 51-chromium was used to label the platelets. In the following study, the volume of clot and the degree of fibrin sheath were determined by placing catheters in both arteries and veins of dogs for two to four weeks before removing the vessels and performing a quantitative analysis. For the fourth study, indium labelled platelet deposition with scintillation counting was performed on six dogs in whom catheters had been placed in the femoral and carotid arteries. The vessels in three of these animals were removed 48 hours after imaging was completed to correlate the scintigraphic findings with a quantitative analysis of the clot and fibrin sheath on each catheter. There was a high degree of correlation between all these studies. The most consistently thrombogenic catheter material was polyurethane, and the least thrombogenic catheter material was polyurethane coated with hydromer. Silicone was the next least thrombogenic material examined.

Isolation and partial characterization of the entire human pro alpha 1(II) collagen gene.

Abstract: Using a cDNA probe specific for the bovine Type II procollagen, a series of overlapping genomic clones containing 45 kb of contiguous human DNA have been isolated. Sequencing of a 54 bp exon, number 29, provided direct evidence that the recombinant clones bear human Type II collagen sequences. Localization of the 5' and 3' ends of the gene indicated that the human Type II collagen gene is 30 kb in size. This value is significantly higher than that of the homologous avian gene. The segregation of a polymorphic restriction site in informative families conclusively demonstrated that the Type II gene is found in a single copy in the human haploid genome. Finally, sequencing of a triple helical domain exon has confirmed that a rearrangement leading to the fusion of two exons occurred in the pro alpha 1(I) gene, following the divergence of the fibrillar collagens.

Composition for stimulating bone growth

Abstract: There is disclosed a method of recovering a material active in the formation of new bone and cartilage from demineralized bone extract and the composition of said material on a pliable physiologically acceptable support.

Sequence and analysis of the gene for bacteriophage T3 RNA polymerase

Abstract: The RNA polymerases encoded by bacteriophages T3 and T7 have similar structures, but exhibit nearly exclusive template specificities. We have determined the nucleotide sequence of the region of T3 DNA that encodes the T3 RNA polymerase (the gene 1.0 region), and have compared this sequence with the corresponding region of T7 DNA. The predicted amino acid sequence of the T3 RNA polymerase exhibits very few changes when compared to the T7 enzyme (82% of the residues are identical). Significant differences appear to cluster in three distinct regions in the amino-terminal half of the protein. Analysis of the data from both enzymes suggests features that may be important for polymerase function. In particular, a region that differs between the T3 and T7 enzymes exhibits significant homology to the bi-helical domain that is common to many sequence-specific DNA binding proteins. The region that flanks the structural gene contains a number of regulatory elements including: a promoter for the E. coli RNA polymerase, a potential processing site for RNase III and a promoter for the T3 polymerase. The promoter for the T3 RNA polymerase is located only 12 base pairs distal to the stop codon for the structural gene.

Studies on the oxidation of the dopaminergic neurotoxin 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,5,6-tetrahydropyridine by monoamine oxidase B.

Abstract: 1-Methyl-4-phenyl- 1,2,5,6 -tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) is a chemical that, after injection into experimental animals, including mice and monkeys, causes a degeneration of the nigrostriatal pathway. We carried out experiments designed to study the in vitro oxidation of MPTP by mouse brain mitochondrial preparations. MPTP was actively oxidized by the mitochondrial preparations, with Km and Vmax values very similar to those of benzyl amine, a typical substrate for MAO-B. MPTP was oxidized considerably better than many of its analogs, even those with relatively minor structural changes. Several monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOI) were potent inhibitors of MPTP oxidation, and there was a highly significant correlation between the capacity of the MAOI tested to inhibit MPTP oxidation and benzylamine oxidation. There was no correlation between the capacity of the MAOI to inhibit MPTP oxidation and their capacity to inhibit the oxidation of tryptamine, a substrate for MAO-A. In other experiments, MPTP was an excellent substrate for pure MAO-B, prepared from bovine liver. All of these data. combined with the fact that MAO-B inhibitors can protect against MPTP-induced dopami nergic neurotoxicity in vivo. point to an important role for MAO-B in MPTP metabolism in vivo.

The computerized on‐line Medicaid pharmaceutical analysis and surveillance system: A new resource for postmarketing drug surveillance

Abstract: Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (1985) 38, 359–364; doi:10.1038/clpt.1985.188

Evidence for the activation of female reproduction by males in a marsupial, the gray short-tailed opossum (Monodelphis domestica).

Abstract: Although social factors are known to influence reproduction in a number of eutherian mammals, the effect of these factors on marsupial reproduction has not heretofore been studied. In this study, the temporal pattern of births and of the appearance of vaginal estrus following pairing with a male were examined in the gray short-tailed opossum, a small Brazilian didelphid. Although the estrous cycle is approximately 32 days long in this species, 75% of conceptions occurred within 9 days and 91.6% within 13 days following pairing. When sensory contact was permitted although mating was prevented, females tended to show vaginal estrus 3 to 7 days following pairing with a male. These findings are discussed with respect to possible mechanism, adaptive significance, and evolutionary perspective.

Lactate Dehydrogenase, β-Glucuronidase and Arylsulfatase Activity in Gingival Crevicular Fluid Associated with Experimental Gingivitis in Man*

Abstract: Experimental gingivitis provides a useful model for studying the initiation of periodontal disease in man. This study evaluated over a 4-week period the Plaque Index (PLI), Gingival Bleeding Time Index (GBTI), and gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) for resting and flow volume as well as the concentration and total activity of three enzymes in the GCF (lactate dehydrogenase—LDH, β-glucuronidase—BG and arylsulfatase—AS) from the maxillary right quadrant of eight subjects with healthy gingiva. After rising sharply during the 1st week, the PLI continued to increase during the 2nd week but remained constant during the 3rd and 4th weeks. The GBTI, and the resting and flow GCF volumes, increased steadily throughout the study. LDH concentration in GCF varied minimally during the experiment, while total LDH activity rose slightly over the 4-week period. BG concentration and total activity in GCF rose steadily from baseline to the 3rd week and then either fell or leveled off during the 4th week. AS concentration in GC...

Isolation and characterization of the human fibrillar collagen genes.

Abstract: In order to elucidate some of the mechanisms leading to the pathological expression of the human fibrillar collagens, as well as to understand the evolution of these loci, specific cDNA and genomic clones have been isolated. The primary structure of the COOH-terminal propeptide of the four collagen chains and either part or the entire exon/intron arrangement of the genes have been determined. Interspecies and pairwise comparison revealed that the four loci have evolved at slightly different rates, maintaining, however, remarkably similar exon/intron arrangement. The fibrillar genes, albeit sharing the same elaborate structure, exhibit different sizes that correlate with the average length of their intron sequences, possibly because of their different chromosomal origin.