Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0032285 (pneumonia)
 54,520 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The values of some basic laboratory features on admission to hospital were recorded and compared in 418 adult patients with community-acquired pneumonia, namely erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein, white blood cell (WBC) count, serum lactate dehydrogenase (S-LD), serum alanine-aminotransferase, and serum sodium. Discriminant analysis was performed to obtain an aetiological diagnosis. WBC value of greater than 15 x 10(9)/l strongly indicated a bacterial and, especially a pneumococcal aetiology, whereas increased S-LD could imply a mycoplasmal infection. For patients less than 50 years of age the equation C2 = -1.788 + 0.204 x WBC-0.0909 X S-LD was constructed, in which C2 greater than 0 indicated a pneumococcal aetiology. This function correctly classified 31/33 (93.9%) patients with a mycoplasmal and 20/31 (64.5%) patients with a pneumococcal infection. Patients with viral, Haemophilus influenzae or chlamydial infection could not be discriminated from each other. The age of the patient, WBC and possibly S-LD on admission are easily accessible parameters and these results could therefore be of value in daily clinical practice in hospitals.
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PMID:Rapid aetiological diagnosis of pneumonia based on routine laboratory features. 225 62

This study reports the results of a retrospective review of the case records of 28 seriously ill patients who received intravenous cimetidine (generally 300 mg q8h) for the treatment of gastric discomfort and/or hemorrhage or for prophylaxis against stress-induced ulcers. Most of these patients presented with complex symptoms arising from a variety of pathological conditions including ischemic heart disease, myocardial infarction, cerebrovascular accident, pneumonia, and trauma. A number of patients also had acute gastrointestinal hemorrhage. Over two-thirds of the patients treated with intravenous cimetidine demonstrated a reduction in gastrointestinal symptom severity, and a statistically significant reduction in the mean severity rating for all patients was observed. Adverse reactions reported during cimetidine therapy were generally mild to moderate in severity and required discontinuance of therapy in only one patient. The most common complaint was headache. Intravenous cimetidine administered q8h offers a safe and cost-effective approach to H2-receptor blockade and reduction of gastric acid secretion in patients who are temporarily unable to take oral medication.
Ala Med 1990 Oct
PMID:Intensive care experience with intravenous cimetidine. 228 32

The primary antibody response of mice to phosphorylcholine (PC) is dominated by antibodies using the T15 L chain. Anti-PC antibodies using the 511 L chain are prominent only in secondary responses to PC coupled to proteins, are somatically mutated, and all have an extra amino acid at the Vh-D junction, compared with T15 antibodies. The aim of the experiments reported here was to determine if the extra junctional amino acid alone was sufficient to generate a 511 PC-binding antibody, or if somatic mutation or other junctional changes were also necessary. We also wished to determine if unmutated 511 antibodies had sufficient affinity for PC to appear in the primary response. To increase the frequency of primary 511 antibodies, we generated a series of hybridomas from M167 L chain transgenic mice immunized 4 days earlier with either Streptococcus pneumonia R36a or PC-keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH). We determined the relative affinity of the antibodies, and sequenced their H chain V regions. The results showed that: 1) somatic mutations are not required for 511 antibodies to bind PC; 2) primary 511 antibodies all had lower relative affinities for PC than T15 while having similar affinities to T15 for TNP-aminophenyl PC, and higher affinities for the PC analogs nitrophenyl PC and choline; 3) all antibodies had the 511-specific insertion of an extra amino acid, usually Ala, at the VhD junction, compared with T15; 4) immunization with R36a, but not PC-hemocyanin, elicited antibodies with a specific Tyr----Asp substitution in the D region, indicating Ag selection based on fine specificity differences; 5) the total length of CDR3 was conserved in most anti-PC-hemocyanin antibodies, whereas the anti-R36a antibodies predominantly had longer CDR3 sequences; and 6) there were unique substitutions in most antibodies, including significant sequence heterogeneity in the D-Jh junction. We conclude that Ag selection on the basis of affinity for PC biases the primary anti-PC response in favor of T15, and that 511 precursors with their alternative fine specificities contribute the precursors that are expanded in the secondary anti-PC-KLH responses.
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PMID:Sequence and fine specificity analysis of primary 511 anti-phosphorylcholine antibodies. 251 48

A new patient with Leigh's syndrome (subacute necrotizing encephalomyelopathy due to pyruvate dehydrogenase complex deficiency) is presented. A Turkish boy of consanguinously married healthy parents developed progressive muscle weakness since infancy. At the age of 3 years he was unable to sit, stand or walk. Clinical examination showed general muscle weakness, hypotonia, muscle hypotrophy, bilateral ptosis, partial bilateral external ophthalmoplegia, nystagmus, intention tremor and hypoactive tendon reflexes. The EEG showed diffuse slowing, the cerebral CT scan disclosed mild hydrocephalus e vacuo. Motor nerve conduction velocity was slightly decreased, the EMG revealed signs of neuropathy. In the biopsied muscle only a mild hypotrophy of type 2 fibres was found, no abnormal mitochondria could be detected. The sural nerve was slightly abnormal: loss of large myelinated axons, loss of unmyelinated nerves. CSF protein was elevated to 80 mg/dl, protein electrophoresis revealed the pattern of markedly impaired blood-CSF barrier. Serum lactate and pyruvate were permanently elevated. In the urine the excretion of alanine was raised. The clinical state deteriorated during intercurrent infections; somnolence, vomiting and Cheyne-Stoke's respiration occurred. At the age of 3 1/2 years the child died of pneumonia. In the liver tissue a decreased activity of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex was found. Neuropathological examination of the brain demonstrated wide-spread changes of Leigh's spongiform encephalopathy. Several enzyme deficiencies have hitherto been associated with Leigh's syndrome: This patients confirms earlier findings that a subgroup of Leigh's syndrome is caused by pyruvate dehydrogenase complex deficiency.
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PMID:[Leigh's subacute necrotizing encephalomyelopathy due to decreased activity of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex]. 312 26

A total of 29 Pasteurella multocida strains were isolated in cases of atypical fowl cholera with swelling of the wattles as well as from pigs and calves with pneumonia. All strains were used to study the metabolism of 10 amino acids. Glutaminic acid was found to be metabolized by all investigated strains. Arginine was metabolized by Pasteurella organisms isolated from mammals (calves and pigs), and was metabolized by Pasteurellae isolated from birds. By their positive reaction with proline and their negative one with alanine the Pasteurella strains isolated in cases of acute cholera differed from all other Pasteurella organisms. Asparagine was metabolized only by Pasteurellae isolated in cases of atypical fowl cholera, and serine--only by Pasteurellae isolated from pigs.
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PMID:[Metabolism of free amino acid in strains of Pasteurella multocida and their division into biological types]. 650 59

Group B streptococci (GBS) are important pathogens in neonatal sepsis, pneumonia, and meningitis. The ability of GBS to invade the collagen-rich amniotic membrane of the placenta has been shown in vitro. In the presence of GBS, the collagen fibrils of the amnion appear disordered, suggesting a role for GBS in premature rupture of membranes. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, Sephadex G-200 column chromatography, and gelatin zymograms were used in this study to characterize cell-associated collagenolytic activities of GBS. The synthetic peptide 2-furanacryloyl-Leu-Gly-Pro-Ala (FALGPA), which mimics the primary structure of collagen, was degraded by GBS USF704, a clinical isolate from the placenta of a septic newborn. Cells of GBS USF704 (9 x 10(7) CFU/ml) hydrolyzed 902 nmol of FALGPA over a 24-h period. As reported for zinc metalloenzymes such as collagenase, the hydrolysis of FALGPA by GBS was inhibited by addition of EDTA or 1,10-phenanthroline. Boiling of the cells resulted in loss of activity, while higher activity was observed with crude GBS cell lysates (hydrolysis of 970 nmol of FALGPA in 1.5 h). Antiserum raised against collagenase from Clostridium histolyticum was found to cross-react with cell-associated proteins produced by GBS and to inhibit GBS FALGPA hydrolysis. Twenty-five additional GBS clinical isolates were screened and found to have various levels of FALGPA hydrolytic activity. These observations suggest a cell-associated collagenolytic activity by GBS which may be involved in premature rupture of membranes and neonatal disease.
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PMID:Cell-associated collagenolytic activity by group B streptococci. 796 Jan 47

Pneumocystis carinii is a common cause of life-threatening pneumonia in immunodeficient patients. Pulmonary surfactant protein A (SP-A), an alveolar glycoprotein containing collagen-like and carbohydrate recognition domains (CRD), binds P. carinii and enhances adherence to alveolar macrophages. In this study, we examined the structural basis of the interaction between SP-A and the major surface glycoprotein of P. carinii (MSG). Rat SP-A bound to purified rat P. carinii-derived MSG in a saturable and calcium-dependent manner, which was partially reversible by coincubation with excess monosaccharides, or pretreatment of MSG with N-glycanase. Mutant recombinant SP-As with neutral amino acid substitutions for the predicted calcium- and carbohydrate-coordinating residues of the CRD were synthesized in insect cells using baculovirus vectors and tested for binding to MSG. Substitutions of negatively charged (Glu195, Glu202, and Asp215) and polar residues (Asn214) of the CRD with alanine but not substitution of the Arg197 with glycine reduced the binding of SP-A to mannose-Sepharose beads and to MSG. Deletion of the N-linked oligosaccharides from SP-A by mutagenesis of the consensus sequences for glycosylation had no effect on binding. We conclude that the CRD mediates the binding of SP-A to oligosaccharides attached to MSG.
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PMID:The carbohydrate recognition domain of surfactant protein A mediates binding to the major surface glycoprotein of Pneumocystis carinii. 920 57

Pneumocystis carinii causes life-threatening pneumonia in immunocompromised patients. The inability to culture P. carinii has hampered basic investigations of the organism's life cycle, limiting the development of new therapies directed against it. Recent investigations indicate that P. carinii is a fungus phylogenetically related to other ascomycetes such as Schizosaccharomyces pombe. The cell cycles of S. pombe and homologous fungi are carefully regulated by cell-division-cycle molecules (cdc), particularly cell-division-cycle 2 (Cdc2), a serine-threonine kinase with essential activity at the G1 restriction point and for entry into mitosis. Antibodies to the proline-serine-threonine-alanine-isoleucine-arginine (PSTAIR) amino-acid sequence conserved in Cdc2 proteins specifically precipitated, from P. carinii extracts, a molecule with kinase activity consistent with a Cdc2-like protein. Cdc2 molecules exhibit differential activity throughout the life cycle of the organisms in which they occur. In accord with this, the P. carinii Cdc2 showed greater specific activity in P. carinii trophic forms (trophozoites) than in spore-case forms (cysts). In addition, complete genomic and complementary DNA (cDNA) sequences of P. carinii Cdc2 were cloned and found to be most closely homologus to the corresponding sequences of other pathogenic fungi. The function of P. carinii cdc2 cDNA was further documented through its ability to complement the DNA of mutant strains of S. pombe with temperature-sensitive deficiencies in Cdc2 activity. The P. carinii cdc2 cDNA restored normal Cdc2 function in these mutant strains of S. pombe, and promoted fungal proliferation. These studies represent the first molecular analysis of the cell-cycle-regulatory machinery in P. carinii. Further understanding of P. carinii's life cycle promises novel insights for preventing and treating the intractable infection it causes in immunocompromised patients.
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PMID:Pneumocystis carinii contains a functional cell-division-cycle Cdc2 homologue. 949 Jun 47

Moulder, James W. (University of Chicago, Chicago, Ill.), Dorothy L. Novosel, and Julius E. Officer. Inhibition of the growth of agents of the psittacosis group by d-cycloserine and its specific reversal by d-alanine. J. Bacteriol. 85:707-711. 1963.-d-Cycloserine inhibited multiplication of four members of the psittacosis group in chick embryo yolk sac. d-Alanine reversed each inhibition. In infections with the agent of mouse pneumonitis, the most sensitive member of the psittacosis group tested, d-alanine competitively antagonized the growth inhibition produced by d-cycloserine. Of a number of other potential reversing agents, only dl-alanyl-dl-alanine reversed the effect of d-cycloserine on mouse pneumonitis agent. The significance of the susceptibility of the psittacosis group to d-cycloserine is discussed in light of the known mode of action of this antibiotic on bacteria.
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PMID:INHIBITION OF THE GROWTH OF AGENTS OF THE PSITTACOSIS GROUP BY D-CYCLOSERINE AND ITS SPECIFIC REVERSAL BY D-ALANINE. 1404 52

A 12 y old girl was admitted 24 days after start a WHO multidrug therapy scheme for multibacillary leprosy (dapsone, clofazimine and rifampicin) with intense jaundice, generalized lymphadenopathy, hepatoesplenomegaly, oral erosions, conjunctivitis, morbiliform rash and edema of face, ankles and hands. The main laboratory data on admission included: hemoglobin, 8.4 g/dL; WBC, 15,710 cells/mm3; platelet count, 100,000 cells/mm3; INR = 1.49; increased serum levels of aspartate and alanine aminotransferases, gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase, alkaline phosphatase, direct and indirect bilirubin. Following, the clinical conditions had deteriorated, developing exfoliative dermatitis, shock, generalized edema, acute renal and hepatic failure, pancytopenia, intestinal bleeding, pneumonia, urinary tract infection and bacteremia, needing adrenergic drugs, replacement of fluids and blood product components, and antibiotics. Ten days after admission she started to improve, and was discharged to home at day 39th, after start new supervised treatment for leprosy with clofazimine and rifampicin, without adverse effects. This presentation fulfils the criteria for the diagnosis of dapsone hypersensitivity syndrome (fever, generalized lymphadenopathy, exfoliative rash, anemia and liver involvement with mixed hepatocellular and cholestatic features). Physicians, mainly in geographical areas with high prevalence rates of leprosy, should be aware to this severe, and probably not so rare, hypersensitivity reaction to dapsone.
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PMID:Dapsone hypersensitivity syndrome in an adolescent during treatment during of leprosy. 1565 79


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