Search results for "Control subjects"
showing 10 items of 55 documents
Increased respiratory burst activity of monocytes and polymorphonuclear leukocytes in psoriasis.
1982
SUMMARY We studied the respiratory burst activity of peripheral blood monocytes and polymorphonu clear leukocytes (PMN) in eleven patients with psoriasis and eleven healthy controls, using zymosan particles to activate the phagocytes in vitro. The activation of the phagocytes was measured in a luminol-enhanced chemiluminescence (CL) assay. We found a significantly higher respiratory burst activity of both monocytes and PMN in patients with psoriasis compared with the control subjects. The percentages of monocytes in psoriatics did not differ from those of the controls. The higher amount of zymosan-induced CL activity generated in the patient group was unrelated to the age of the individual.…
Searching for a Gastrointestinal Subgroup Within the Somatoform Disorders
2001
The authors examined whether patients suffering from functional gastrointestinal symptoms constitute a separate group within the broader concept of the somatoform disorders. The authors compared 103 patients with a severe gastrointestinal syndrome, 220 patients with a somatization syndrome according to DSM-IV, and 250 clinical control subjects with nonsomatoform mental disorders. The gastrointestinal group showed more catastrophizing thinking, complained more about autonomic sensations, felt bodily weaker, was less tolerant towards bodily discomfort, had developed more hypochondriacal fears and behaviors, was more depressed, and was more severely disabled in different areas of psychosocial …
Lexical decision tasks in depressive patients: semantic priming before and after clinical improvement.
2002
SummaryThis study was designed to evaluate the effect of semantic priming with a lexical decision task in 22 depressed patients (DSM-III-R, 1987) and 30 control subjects. These patients were evaluated twice: first when they arrived at the hospital, and secondly, after clinical improvement. Clinical improvement was evaluated using standard depression rating scales. A lexical decision task involving semantic relations (related vs. unrelated, e.g., apple-pear) was used to evaluate the processing of semantic information. The results showed that, for the first evaluation, the depressives presented similar semantic priming to control subjects. When we compared semantic priming in the first and th…
Aqueous Humor Levels of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor in Retinitis Pigmentosa
2008
PURPOSE To determine the level of vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A) in aqueous humors of patients with retinitis pigmentosa (RP). METHODS A prospective, comparative control study. Aqueous humor was collected from 16 eyes of 16 patients with RP. The level of VEGF-A was determined with a commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit. The control group comprised 16 aqueous samples from 16 patients about to undergo cataract surgery and without any other ocular or systemic diseases. RESULTS The concentration of VEGF-A in aqueous humor was markedly lower in patients with RP than in control subjects (Mann-Whitney U test, P < 0.001). The level of VEGF-A was 94.9 +/- 99.8 …
Nitric oxide metabolites (nitrite and nitrate) in young patients with recent acute myocardial infarction
2008
Nitric oxide (NO) has a role in the pathophysiology of acute and chronic cardiovascular events. We studied the plasma concentration of NO stable end products (nitrite and nitrate - NO x ) in 43 patients aged <46 years, with recent acute myocardial infarction (AMI). The evaluation was effected at the initial stage, after 3 and 12 months. We subdivided the patients into subgroups according to the number of the main cardiovascular risk factors and to the extent of coronary disease. In the whole group the NO x concentration was initially increased and progressively decreased after 3 and 12 months, remaining at both times significantly higher than in control subjects. The patients with more risk…
Blue-yellow deficiency in workers exposed to low concentrations of organic solvents
1997
Objectives: To evaluate the effects of low concentrations of organic solvents on color vision. Methods: Color vision was examined in 24 workers exposed to mixtures of solvents and in 24 control subjects. Exposure to mixtures was below the threshold-limit values. Color vision ability was assessed using the Ishihara plates (to screen for congenital dyschromatopsia), the Farnsworth panel D-15 test, the Lanthony desaturated panel D-15 test, and the Standard Pseudoisochromatic Plates part 2 (SPP2 test). Results: The comparatively less sensitive Farnsworth panel D-15 test failed to show any difference between the groups, but the Lanthony panel D-15 desaturated test as well as the SPP2 test showed…
The distinction of bipolar II disorder from bipolar I and recurrent unipolar depression: results of a controlled family study.
1993
The aim of the study was to differentiate bipolar II, bipolar I and recurrent unipolar depression by their familial load for affective disorders. Eighty bipolar, 108 unipolar, 80 control subjects and interviewed first-degree relatives were diagnosed according to Research Diagnostic Criteria using the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia – lifetime version. The morbid risks for bipolar I disorder were equivalent in relatives of bipolar I (3.6%) and bipolar II (3.5%) subjects and lower in relatives of unipolar subjects (1.0%). The morbid risks of relatives for bipolar II disorder distinguished bipolar II subjects (6.1%) from bipolar I subjects (1.8%), from unipolar depressives (…
MRS SHOWS ABNORMALITIES BEFORE SYMPTOMS IN FAMILIAL ALZHEIMER DISEASE
2006
Background: Pathologic change in Alzheimer disease (AD) begins some years before symptoms. MRS has the potential to detect metabolic abnormalities reflecting this early pathologic change. Presenilin 1 (PS1) and amyloid precursor protein (APP) mutation carriers have a nearly 100% risk of developing AD and may be studied prior to symptom onset. Methods: Short echo time proton MR spectra were acquired from a midline posterior cingulate voxel in presymptomatic carriers of PS1 or APP mutations (“presymptomatic mutation carriers” [PMCs]; n = 7) and age- and sex-matched control subjects (n = 6). Ratios of N-acetyl aspartate (NAA), myo-inositol (MI), and choline-containing compounds (Cho) to creati…
Farm-related exposures and childhood brain tumours in seven countries: results from the SEARCH International Brain Tumour Study.
2003
A total of 1218 cases of childhood brain tumours (CBT) and 2223 control subjects from the general population were included in a population-based case-control study conducted in nine centres in seven countries. Mothers were asked about farm- or agriculture-related exposures. Significantly elevated odds ratios (OR) for CBT were associated with children's personal and maternal prenatal exposure while living on a farm with pigs (child OR = 1.7, mother OR = 2.3), horses (child OR = 1.6, mother OR = 1.8), dogs (child OR = 1.5, mother OR = 1.5) and cats (child OR = 1.5, mother OR = 1.7). Children who were exposed to pigs, horses and cats combined, while living on a farm, had a threefold elevated O…
Zinc and smoking habits in the setting of hypertension in a Spanish populations.
2014
The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship between trace and toxic amounts of zinc (Zn) in biological samples (blood and urine) and the smoking habits of hypertensive patients and healthy control subjects in Valladolid (Spain). In order to compare biological samples, the concentrations of these samples were measured using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The limits of detection for Zn in blood plasma ranged between 4.22 and 17.34 μmol l(-1) and were <0.08 μmol g(-1) creatinine in urine. The results of this study indicate that the highest mean values of serum Zn were found in non-hypertensive nonsmokers (13.39±4.35 μmol l(-1)), whereas the highest urine Zn valu…