Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0432222 (SEM)
 47,337 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The effect of the 21-aminosteroid U74006F on neurologic recovery after a spinal cord compression trauma was investigated in rats. The compression was induced by a blocking weight technique, in which a 35 g (moderate injury) or a 50 g (severe injury) weight was applied for 5 minutes to an 11 mm2 plate over the midthoracic spinal cord. One hour after trauma, the severely injured animals were treated either with U74006F, 3 mg/kg, methylprednisolone, 30 mg/kg, or vehicle, whereas the moderately injured animals received U74006F, 3 mg/kg or vehicle. Neurologic hind limb function was evaluated by the inclined plane technique. On day 1 after trauma, subtotal paraparesis occurred in the 35 g group treated with vehicle (31 +/- 1 degrees, mean +/- SEM) on the inclined plane vs 64 +/- 1 degrees before trauma) and complete paraplegia in the 50 g group (22 +/- 1 degrees). Treatment with U74006F resulted in less hind limb weakness in the 35 g group (42 +/- 2 degrees) but had no beneficial effect in the 50 g group (25 +/- 2 degrees). Neurologic function gradually improved in the 35 g groups over the 9-day observation period. However, those animals treated with U74006F were significantly better over the entire period. In the 50 g group, no recovery from paraplegia was noted over the 4 day observation period in any of the three groups. These results suggest that after weight-induced spinal cord trauma, U74006F is associated with improved neurologic function in moderately injured, but not severely injured animals.
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PMID:Blocking weight-induced spinal cord injury in rats: therapeutic effect of the 21-aminosteroid U74006F. 180 32

Body composition and resting metabolic rate (RMR) were measured in 4 spinal cord injured (SCI) paraplegic men. The level of lesion ranged from T4 to L1, and the duration of disability averaged 7.4 +/- 3.3 (SEM) years. Hydrodensitometry was used to determine percent body fat, fat mass and lean body mass (LBM). RMR was measured following a 12-hour fast and 24 hours post-exercise using a ventilated hood. RMR was also predicted from LBM values based on the equation of Cunningham (1980). Results of the body composition measurements indicated a greater than average amount of body fat for men of this age group. RMR and LBM were significantly correlated (r = 0.98, p less than 0.02). However, measured RMR values were lower than predicted in 3 of the 4 subjects, especially when LBM was relatively low. Further investigation into the relationship between LBM and RMR in SCI individuals is warranted using a larger sample size and with subjects representing a wide range of lesion level.
Paraplegia 1990 Sep
PMID:Body composition and resting energy expenditure in long term spinal cord injury. 178 19

Although patients with acute type A aortic dissection are best managed by emergency surgical intervention, preoperative stroke is known to be an independent predictor of late mortality and is considered by some to be a contraindication to operation because of the risk of precipitating hemorrhagic cerebral infarction and poor long-term outcome. In a series of 272 consecutive, unselected patients with aortic dissection undergoing surgical treatment during a 25-year span (1963-1987), 128 (47 +/- 3% [+/- 70% confidence level (CL)]) had an acute type A dissection. A total of seven patients with acute type A dissection (2.6 +/- 1% of all patients, 5.5 +/- 2% of the acute type A cohort) developed a new stroke preoperatively. Thirteen (4.8 +/- 1%) patients had a diminished or absent carotid pulse, only four (31 +/- 13%) of whom sustained a stroke. One patient died in the immediate postoperative period due to severe brain injury, yielding an operative mortality rate of 14 +/- 14%. Two patients had persistent neurological deficits and died within 4 months of operation; the actuarial survival estimate at 1 year was 57 +/- 19% (mean +/- SEM). One patient recovered function of one upper extremity (preoperative left hemiparesis compounded by paraplegia) but died 6 years later. The remaining three long-term survivors (43 +/- 19%) had major resolution of their neurological deficits and are clinically well 2-8 years postoperatively.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Surgical management of acute aortic dissection complicated by stroke. 276 34

Management of dissections of the descending thoracic aorta remains controversial, especially with regard to timing and method of repair. To clarify these and other issues we have reviewed our total experience with repair of descending aortic dissections between 1962 and 1983. The 44 men and 20 women had a mean (+/- SEM) age of 59 +/- 2 years (range, 19 to 83 years), and in all patients the dissection originated in and was limited to the aorta distal to the left carotid artery (Stanford type B, DeBakey types IIIa and IIIb). Twenty-nine patients underwent operation within 2 weeks of the onset of symptoms (acute), and the remainder had later repair (chronic). During repair, circulation distal to the aortic cross-clamp was supported with cardiopulmonary bypass or shunt in two thirds of patients. Overall, 18 deaths occurred less than or equal to 30 days postoperatively (operative risk 28%), and risk was higher in acute (45%) than in chronic (14%) dissections. Operative risk was not significantly related to protection of the distal circulation. The most serious postoperative complication was spinal cord ischemia manifested by paraplegia in five patients (8%) and transient or permanent paraparesis in six patients (9%). Risk of spinal cord ischemia was significantly lower in patients who had protection of the distal circulation during operative repair (8% vs. 44%, p = 0.003). Late survival, including hospital deaths, was 49% +/- 7% at 5 years after operation; 22 of the 46 patients who survived repair were found to have aneurysms involving the thoracic and/or abdominal segments of the aorta. Our results indicate that repair of chronic dissection of the thoracic aorta has a lower operative risk than repair of acute dissections, and initial medical management of acute dissection may be indicated if no early complications occur. Risk of spinal cord ischemia is significantly reduced by cardiopulmonary bypass or shunt and is preferred over aortic cross-clamping alone. Finally, these patients require careful long-term follow-up because of the high incidence of residual or recurrent aortic aneurysms.
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PMID:Early and late results following repair of dissections of the descending thoracic aorta. 394 28

In defining host resistance factors in uremia, experiments were designed to assess the effect of renal failure serum upon the reactivity of normal human lymphocytes to phytohemagglutinin in vitro. Normal buffy coat cells were resuspended in sera obtained from normal subjects and from 14 patients with renal failure, then stimulated with phytohemagglutinin M and the cellular response measured by the increase in thymidine or uridine uptake. The mean thymidine uptake by stimulated cells in normal sera was 14,389 +/-1695 (SEM) cpm per 2 x 10(6) lymphocytes. Uridine uptake under the same conditions was 12,540 +/-1887 cpm. Compared to these are a mean thymidine uptake of 2740 +/-457 cpm and uridine uptake of 3928 +/-667 cpm in renal failure sera. Both differences are significant at P<0.01 level. For controls representing "chronic illnesses," sera from patients with pneumococcal meningitis, cirrhosis of the liver without jaundice, rheumatoid arthritis, and paraplegia with urinary tract infection did not cause suppression. No single drug had been taken by all the renal failure patients; three patients were taking no drugs. The serum from one patient with acute renal failure suppressed thymidine uptake while her serum obtained after recovery from her illness supported a normal lymphocyte response. Improvement of lymphocyte response was also noted in 9 of 10 sera obtained from patients immediately after hemodialysis. These observations plus the inhibition of stimulated cells by normal serum mixed with renal failure serum indicate the presence of a dialyzable inhibitory factor rather than the absence of a supporting factor in the renal failure sera. Lymphocytes preincubated for 24 hr in renal failure serum responded normally when transferred to normal serum and stimulated. Cells stimulated in normal serum and transferred to renal failure serum within the initial 24 hr of incubation demonstrated depressed thymidine uptake. Also, cell survival for 72 hr incubation as judged by trypan blue exclusion and chromium-51 release was similar in normal and renal failure sera. Thus, the suppressive effect of renal failure serum does not depend upon the initial phytohemagglutinin-cell interaction nor upon a significant cytotoxic effect. These studies demonstrate that a dialyzable factor(s) in the serum of patients with renal failure can greatly suppress one parameter by which an immune function of circulating lymphocytes is assessed and provides at least, a partial explanation for delayed homograft rejections in renal failure as well as the susceptibility of such patients to various infections.
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PMID:Defective cellular immunity in renal failure: depression of reactivity of lymphocytes to phytohemagglutinin by renal failure serum. 557 33