Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0038187 (starvation)
 24,951 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Under iron-starvation, the highly pathogenic Yersinia synthesize several iron-regulated proteins including two high-molecular-weight polypeptides (HMWP1 and HMWP2). From the chromosome of Yersinia enterocolitica serovar O:8 (strain Ye 8081), the genes coding for the HMWP2 (irp2) and its promoter were cloned into plasmid pUC18 (pIR2) and used as a probe. We show here that the irp2 gene is present only in the highly pathogenic strains and that its promoter is iron-regulated in Escherichia coli. After introduction of the pIR2 plasmid into a fur mutant of E. coli, both the iron-starved and the iron-replete bacteria expressed the HMWP2. Repressibility of irp2 by iron was restored by introduction of a plasmid carrying the fur gene. These results demonstrate that the irp2 promoter is controlled by the Fur repressor in E. coli. Mutagenesis of the chromosomal irp2 gene of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis was obtained by homologous recombination with a 1 kb fragment of this gene cloned on the suicide plasmid pJM703.1. Inactivation of irp2 resulted in the non-expression of both HMWPs, while introduction of plasmid pIR2 into the mutant strain led to the synthesis of the HMWP2 only. Therefore, it is probable that the genes coding for the HMWPs constitute an operon where irp2 is upstream of irp1. When comparing the virulence of the wild-type strain and of its irp2 mutant derivative, we found that the 50% lethality (LD50) for mice of the mutant strain was increased, whatever the route of infection, but more markedly when injected parenterally. Accordingly, these data demonstrate that a mutation in the irp2 gene alters the pathogenicity of Y. pseudotuberculosis.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Molecular cloning, iron-regulation and mutagenesis of the irp2 gene encoding HMWP2, a protein specific for the highly pathogenic Yersinia. 155 51

The suicide rate in the United States rises consistently with age. Silent suicide is defined as the intention, often masked, to kill oneself by nonviolent means through self-starvation or noncompliance with essential medical treatment. Silent suicide frequently goes unrecognized because of undiagnosed depression and the interjection of the personal belief systems of health-care providers and family members. Elderly individuals committing silent suicide are often thought to be making rational end of life decisions. However, the elderly committing silent suicide must be distinguished from terminally ill patients who refuse further treatment in order not to prolong the act of dying. The clinical/legal issues surrounding silent suicide will be discussed.
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PMID:Silent suicide in the elderly. 270 38

As a result of cultural factors, perinatal mortality may not be the most appropriate measure of health. Comparisons of the health of different countries should not be based on only 1 criterion unless general attitudes are the same. In developed countries, where abortion is widely available, unwanted pregnancies are handled before delivery. In some developing countries in Africa, however, population control may take the form of allowing a newborn to die of starvation, for example. Given this cultural difference, Third World countries rank lowest in perinatal health. It is suggested that mortality and morbidity should be calculated decade by decade before an index is derived. A 20-year old from a developing country, where there is no drug problem and attempted suicide is rare, might receive a higher health rating than his counterpart in developed countries.
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PMID:Perinatal mortality--a suitable index of health worldwide? 287 38

Thirteen patients met our criteria for severe acetaminophen hepatotoxicity over a 5-year study period. Six patients had therapeutic misadventures (not attempting suicide), and seven were attempting suicide. Five of six patients in the therapeutic misadventure group were chronic alcoholics, and three were taking other drugs reported to cause hepatic microsomal enzyme induction. In the suicide group, two of seven patients were alcoholics, and one patient was taking another inducing drug. All six patients in the therapeutic misadventure group had nausea, vomiting, or starvation, whereas two of seven patients in the suicide group had similar characteristics. Starvation could deplete the protective factor glutathione, thus augmenting hepatotoxicity. In the therapeutic misadventure group, four of six patients developed acute tubular necrosis, as compared to two of seven in the suicide group. One patient died in each group. Clinicians should be aware of these features as part of the spectrum of acetaminophen toxicity.
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PMID:Clinical features of acetaminophen toxicity. 335 89

A group of 47 patients suffering from chronic recurrent duodenal ulcers was subdivided into two groups according to whether the first manifestation of the disorder occurred early or late in the life of each individual. A comparison of the two groups revealed that the patients in group I (early manifestation) had a larger number of constitutional handicaps along with a higher incidence of dispositional prior experience with regard to object loss and that they assumed social responsibility at an early age. Group II (late manifestation) was characterized by a larger number of depressive psychoses, a higher incidence of alcohol abuse, and by attempts at suicide. Apart from this, the patients in group II often complained of muscular pain syndromes. Patients in group I frequently exhibited the characteristics of the ulcer type described by Alexander as well as chronic anger. Patients in group II most often had the personality structure of so-called psychosomatic patients or suffered from depressive disorders affecting their personalities and from chronic anxiety. The two characteristics which were most typical for recidivation were: 1. Actualization of experienced bereavement and 2. unspecific activation as a result of the will to assert themselves in stress situations. In 41% of the cases there was evidence of somatic factors as e.g. starvation, abuse of alcohol or abuse of analgetics. Long-term prophylaxis has been effected by psychopharmacological agents as well as by psychotherapeutic techniques.
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PMID:[Ulcer disease. Studies of patients with chronic recurrent duodenal ulcer in an attempt to differentiate subgroups based on age at disease onset, psychopathologic and biographical data]. 376 11

Insights gained by a group of American maternal and child helath (MCH) care nurses during a 1983 exchange tour to Kenya, sponsored by Professional Seminar Counsultants, are decribed. Kenya is a poor, predominantly rural country. The annual population growth rate is 4.1%, and 60% of the population is under the age of 16. The government's annual per capita health expenditure is only US$4, there is little emphasis on pediatrics as a speciality, and the linguistic diversity of the population complicates the delivery of health care services. As a result of these factors, the MCH care system in Kenya differed markedly from the systems observed in previous exchange tours to China and the USSR. Kenya's population is served by a variety of government, private, and missionary hospitals and by government health centers. The health centers are staffed by 2 nurses and 2 assistants who provide maternity, family planning, and immunization services. The staff also diagnoses and treats common illnesses. Service are provided free for patients under the age of 16, and minimal fees are collected from older patients. The largest hospital in the country is the 1600 bed, Joma Kenyatta National hospital which employs 900 nurses and serves as a refereal hospital for complicated cases and as a teaching and research center. 42% of the hospital staff nurses are registered nurses and 58% are enrolled nurses. Disease patterns in Kenya and the US are markedly different. In Kenya, infectious diseases are more common than chronic diseases, and amony children the major causes of death are starvation, measles, whooping cough, malaria, tubercluosis, and diarrhea. Marasmus and protein calorie deficiency are the 2 major types of childhood malnutrition found in Kenya. Nurses frequently provide health education services and even teach mothers how to grow nutritious foods for their children. Rh incompatibility is rare in Kenya, but ABO incompatibility is common. Othr common diseases, raraly found in temperate climates, include Burkitt's lymphoma, leprosy, and tropical ataxic neuropathies. The visiting nurses were at 1st shocked by some of the practices and customs they observed; however, as they learned more about the rationall behind these practices, shock gave way to appreciation. Children's wards lacked playthings, the walls were devoid of pictures, and the rooms were sparsely furnished. The lack of material items, however, was more than compensated for by the rich stimuli provided family members and friends, who not only visited the chilren, but performed a variety of nursing tasks. The family centered approach also provided a sense of security for the patients. A Masai paramedic explained how the custom of polygamy ensures adherence to the 2-year postpartum sexual taboo which, in turn, facilitates prolonged breast feeding. The nurses also became acquainted with the social value of adolescent circumcision rites. These rites are illegal but still performed in many rural areas. The rites are physically painful, but they provide a mechanism for easing the transition from adolescent to adult status. The rites help young people assume measningful roles in the society and provide them with clearly specified identities. As a result, adolescent suicide is rara among the rural villagers.
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PMID:Health care in Africa. 646 42

Multicopy plasmids that have been engineered to produce large quantities of a single gratuitous (non-functional, non-toxic) protein are often problematic. When fully induced, these engineered constructions produce very sick bacteria. The reasons for this may be found in the physiology of wild-type laboratory strains that have been selected to grow at maximum rates with optimal quantities of their proteins. Such bacteria apparently experience the accumulation of gratuitous proteins as an internal shift down and they respond to this with a starvation response. Unlike the shift down associated with a change of growth media, the production of large quantities of gratuitous protein is not associated with a new pre-programmed steady-state of balanced growth. Consequently, the starvation response continues until the bacteria commit suicide by, among other things, destroying their ribosomes.
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PMID:Bacterial growth inhibition by overproduction of protein. 884 28

Poverty is the main reason why babies are not vaccinated, clean water and sanitation are not provided, curative drugs and other treatments are not available, and mothers die in childbirth. It is the main cause of low life expectancy, handicap, disability, and starvation, and a major factor in mental illness, stress, suicide, family disintegration, and substance abuse. Poverty is spreading, just as the gap between rich and poor is growing in both developed and developing countries. In 1989, the World Health Assembly asked the World Health Organization (WHO) to pay attention to the special needs of the most poor countries, a request which led to the development and launching of the Intensified Cooperation with Countries and Peoples in Greatest Need initiative. The goals of the initiative are to enable poor countries to develop public policies and implement strategies for improving the health status of their populations, to promote innovative intersectoral action, and to make the best possible use of international cooperation in health matters. The main task has been to develop and implement community-based strategies for primary care in approximately 30 countries. In-country actions are described for Angola, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, China, Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau, Moldova, Myanmar, Vietnam, and Yemen. Lessons learned are presented and future requirements considered.
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PMID:The poorest first: WHO's activities to help the people in greatest need. 965 19

A new strategy in anticancer gene therapy uses stress-responsive cellular promoters that offer the advantage of enhanced gene expression in a variety of tumors. Although the feasibility of their selective expression has been demonstrated, functional evidence of their ability to activate therapeutic agents within the tumor environment leading to tumor eradication has not been established. Glucose deprivation, chronic anoxia, and acidic pH known to persist in poorly vascularized solid tumors strongly induce the transcription of the glucose-regulated protein 78 (grp78) gene, which encodes an Mr 78,000 stress-inducible protein. In this report, we tested directly the efficacy of the grp78 promoter in a retroviral system to drive the expression of the herpes simplex virus-thymidine kinase (HSVtk) suicide gene, using a murine fibrosarcoma model, in the context of their syngeneic, immunocompetent hosts. Our results showed that under glucose starvation conditions, the expression of HSVTK was enhanced in tumor cells where the HSVtk gene was driven by the internal grp78 promoter, in contrast to the Moloney murine leukemia virus long terminal repeat, where suppression was observed. We further demonstrated that in vivo, HSVTK expression was elevated to much higher levels inside tumors when driven by the internal grp78 promoter, resulting in complete eradication of sizable tumor mass, with no recurrence of tumor growth. Our study suggests that the glucose starvation-inducible grp78 promoter could be useful for enhanced expression of a variety of therapeutic agents within the solid tumor environment.
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PMID:Use of the glucose starvation-inducible glucose-regulated protein 78 promoter in suicide gene therapy of murine fibrosarcoma. 1039 51

Food refusal occurs for a variety of reasons. It may be used as a political tool, as a method of exercising control over others, at either the individual, family or societal level, or as a method of self-harm, and occasionally it indicates possible mental illness. This article examines the motivation behind hunger strikes in prisoners. It describes the psychiatrist's role in assessment and management of prisoners by referring to case examples. The paper discusses the assessment of an individual's competence to commit suicide by starvation, legal restraints to intervention, practical difficulties and associated ethical dilemmas. Anecdotal evidence suggests that most prisoners who refuse food are motivated by the desire to achieve an end rather than killing themselves, and that hunger-strike secondary to mental illness is uncommon. Although rarely required, the psychiatrist may have an important contribution to make in the management of practical and ethical difficulties.
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PMID:Food refusal in prisoners: a communication or a method of self-killing? The role of the psychiatrist and resulting ethical challenges. 1063 97


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