M. Hall Craggs

Bio: M. Hall Craggs is an academic researcher. The author has contributed to research in topics: Serum albumin & Albumin. The author has an hindex of 1, co-authored 1 publications receiving 31 citations.

Albumin metabolism in hookworm anaemias.

Abstract: 17 patients infected with hookworms were used in a study of albumin metabolism and faecal albumin loss. They were compared with 9 controls. Factors relating to the use of 131 I-labelled albumin as a measure of albumin metabolism are discussed. Some doubt has recently been expressed as to whether faecal activity appearing in this method represents wholly albumin breakdown in or near the gut, or partly endogenous breakdown with subsequent secretion of iodide. The weight of evidence has indicated the former. The method of measuring salivary excretion of iodide and its fate may need elaborating. There seems to be little division of opinion about the bowel origin of excessive albumin losses. It is claimed that hookworm patients lose excessive albumin into their gut. The loss of albumin is roughly 0·1 g. per 100 hookworms of the species Necator americanus . This is equivalent to the loss of 3 ml. plasma per 100 hookworms. This figure agrees very well with other published work based on red cell losses estimated by 51 Cr. There seems to be a satisfactory correlation between albumin and plasma losses on the one hand, and numbers of hookworms harboured on the other. Female hookworms were in the preponderance (ratio 3 : 2). In Kampala only N. americanus was found. The worms were themselves devoid of radio-activity.

Hookworm Infection in Man

Abstract: Publisher Summary Hookworms are parasites of mammals, being most frequent in primates, carnivores, and ungulates, with a few species in other groups, including two aquatic mammals. Their natural distribution, which is determined primarily by the temperature requirements for development of their free-living stages, is equatorial, tropical, or sub-tropical. Three species of hookworm occur in man: Ancylostoma duodenale , Necator americanus and Ancylostoma ceylanicum . The two principal hookworms, A. duodenale and N. americanus , have different geographical distributions. A. duodenale is sub-tropical and does not occur in the northern hemisphere above 52˚ latitude. Above 47˚ latitude its larvae require artificial shelter from the climate since the free-living stages require temperatures in excess of 22˚C. The optimum temperatures for N. americanus are higher, in the tropical range of 25–28˚C. The distributions of both species overlap, although one or other usually predominates. Whenever A. ceylanicum has been recovered from man, it has been found that it usually constitutes only a small proportion of mixed hookworm burdens. The world prevalence of hookworm infection in man exceeds the prevalence of almost all other helminthic infections and of other individual diseases, with the exception of only the common cold.

Intestinal nematode infections in children: the pathophysiological price paid

Abstract: The mechanism by which small animals such as rodents resist or eliminate nematode parasites requires mucosal inflammation as the final effector of the immune response. The resulting freedom from chronic infection may be worth the price of short-term illness. Putative vaccines which attempt to enhance the natural effect will have to take into account the inflammatory cost to the host. Human helminthiases involve a more stable equilibrium between host and parasite. The medical literature on hookworm disease and clinical ascariasis describes, for the former, some chronic inflammatory effects correlated with worm burden, but for the latter a less quantified or predictable set of detrimental effects. We describe a current, systematic study of the inflammatory response to whipworm infection, in which anaemia, growth retardation and intestinal leakiness are viewed as predictable consequences related to infection intensity. There is evidence for the absence of cell-mediated immunopathology. However, a specific, IgE-mediated local anaphylaxis may, at least partly, mediate the deleterious effects. Increased numbers of mucosal macrophages may also contribute to the chronic, systemic effects through their output of cytokines. Similar attempts to show the mechanisms of pathogenesis and quantify the effects of hookworm disease should be undertaken.

Exocrine pancreatic disease and the malabsorption syndrome in tropical Africa.

Abstract: EDITORIAL, COMMENT The study of malabsorption in Uganda, East Africa, has revealed that the majority of patients who have steatorrhoea suffer from exocrine pancreatic disorders. The differing incidence of malabsorption syndromes in a hospital community in Kampala, Uganda, has been compared with the incidence in both temperate and tropical climates and the clinical and laboratory features of this syndrome are discussed.

Rhoads lecture. Effect of Infection on Nutrient Requirements

Abstract: All infections, no matter how mild, decrease nutrient intakes and increase nutrient losses even when subclinical. The losses include decreased intestinal absorption, direct loss of nutrients in the gut, internal diversion for metabolic responses to infection and increased basal metabolic rate when fever is present. In this way, infection influences not only protein and energy status but also that of most other nutrients. The clinical importance of these consequences of infection depends on the prior state of the individual, the nature and duration of the infection, and the diet of the individual during the infection, particularly dietary intake during the convalescent period and whether full recovery takes place before another infection occurs. In industrialized countries particular attention must be paid to the nutrition of hospitalized patients inasmuch as they are frequently debilitated by their primary disease, morbidity, and nutritional status. Morbidity and mortality are increased by nosocomial infections to which the poorly nourished individual is more susceptible.