Showing papers on "Blood serum published in 1974"

A Platelet-Dependent Serum Factor That Stimulates the Proliferation of Arterial Smooth Muscle Cells In Vitro

Abstract: Dialyzed serum from clotted monkey blood (“blood serum”) promotes the proliferation of monkey arterial smooth muscle cells in culture, but dialyzed serum prepared from recalcified platelet-poor plasma (“plasma serum”) is much less effective. Addition of platelets and calcium to platelet-poor plasma increases the activity of plasma serum to the same level achieved with blood serum. Furthermore, addition to plasma serum of a platelet-free supernatant prepared by exposing purified platelets to thrombin also stimulates the proliferation of smooth muscle cells. Thus, much of the growth-promoting activity of dialyzed serum is directly or indirectly derived from platelets. This finding has important implications for the response of arteries to localized injury and provides a key to further understanding of the role of factors derived from blood serum in promoting cell proliferation in vitro.

The Leukocyte Count as a Predictor of Myocardial Infarction

Abstract: The multiphasic-examination findings of 464 persons in whom a first myocardial infarction later developed were compared with those of two control groups, one matched for age, sex and race (ordinary controls), and the other matched in addition for standard coronary risk factors (risk controls). The total leukocyte count, measured, on the average, 16.8 months before the myocardial infarction, was strikingly related to development of infarction. The mean leukocyte count in cases was significantly higher (p<0.001) than in either control group. Ascending from lowest to highest quartile in the cases and ordinary controls the increase in risk of myocardial infarction associated with the leukocyte count was similar to that found for cholesterol and blood pressure. Cigarette smoking, which was strongly related to the leukocyte count, may account for about two thirds of the relation of the count to infarction. The leukocyte count may prove valuable in the routine assessment of risk of myocardial infarction...

Experience in monitoring gentamicin therapy during treatment of serious gram-negative sepsis.

Abstract: This paper reports our experience in monitoring gentamicin therapy during the treatment of 68 episodes of serious Gram-negative sepsis in 65 hospital patients. Most of the patients had major underlying disease. Of those who were adequately treated (peak serum concentrations of 5 μg/ml or more in 72 hours for septicaemia, urinary tract infection, and wound infection; and 8 μg/ml or more at some time during the course of treatment for pneumonia) 84% (46 out of 55) were cured. These serum concentrations could be achieved only by starting with a regimen of 5 mg/kg/day in three divided doses in all adult patients, subsequent dosage being determined by the results of rapid serum assay. The incidence of nephrotoxicity and symptomatic ototoxicity was no greater than in previous series. The main reason for assaying serum gentamicin is to ensure that an adequate dosage is achieved as soon as possible. In patients with impaired renal function or receiving prolonged high dosage assays also serve to guard against an excessive accumulation of gentamicin and an increased risk of toxicity.

Antibody-Coated Bacteria in the Urine and the Site of Urinary-Tract Infection

Abstract: An immunofluorescence test for the detection of antibody-coated bacteria in urinary sediments of patients with urinary-tract infections was studied for its predictive value in determining the site of infection. Antibody-coated bacteria were observed in urine specimens from 34 of 35 patients with pyelonephritis; they were not observed in urines from 19 of 20 patients with cystitis. Most of the patients (20 of 28) with antibody-coated bacteria in the urine had high serum antibody titers against their own infecting bacteria. These results suggest that the immunofluorescence test can be useful in distinguishing infection of the kidney from infection of the bladder. (N Engl J Med 290:588–590, 1974)

Antibacterial activity in serum and urine as a therapeutic guide in bacterial infections

Abstract: The peak and trough levels of bacteriostatic and bactericidal activity of the serum and the urine of 317 patients with cancer and a bacteriologically proven infection were measured, using the patient's microorganism and the serum or urine containing the given antibiotics. When the peak titer of bacteriostatic activity in serum was > 1:8, the infection was cured in > 80% of cases. The response to therapy of patients with urinary tract infections correlated best with the inhibitory level found in the urine; clinical cure was observed in at least 90% of the patients who had a titer of bacteriostatic activity in urine > 1:4. The antibacterial activity of serum was influenced by the in vitro sensitivity of the offending microorganism, and by the composition of the antimicrobial regimen; these two factors were shown to be related to the clinical outcome. It is suggested that the determination of the antimicrobial activity of the serum, early in the course of treated infection, might allow some adjustment of antibiotic therapy. Several authors have attempted to correlate the in vitro sensitivity tests of bacteria to antibiotics and concentrations of these drugs in the serum with clinical results [1, 2]. Organisms have been considered sensitive if they can be inhibited by levels of antibiotics that are easily attained in the bloodstream after administration of the usual doses. As a result of these studies, it has been stated that therapeutic blood levels should be maintained at two to five times the in vitro MIC. One

Studies on the Motility of Plasmodium Sporozoites

Abstract: SYNOPSIS Albumin was found to have a striking stimulatory effect on motility of Plasmodium sporozoites, while serum globulins had an inhibitory effect. Albumin also preserved viability of sporozoites in vitro at 4 C for several days. P. berghei, P. cynomolgi, and P. falciparum sporozoites each had a distinct and characteristic type of motility. P. berghei sporozoites from oocysts had a different type of motility from that of salivary gland sporozoites, each type presumably associated with different invasive capacities at different times during the life cycle of the parasite. This change in sporozoite motility during development was also associated with other physiologic developmental changes in the sporozoite. The degree of motility of a given pool of sporozoites was to some degree associated with other parameters of metabolic activity of these sporozoites, i.e. infectivity, immunogenicity, and secretory activity. Secretions of the rhoptry-microneme complex may play a role in sporozoite motility.

Human Serology in Chlamydia trachomatis Infection with Microimmunofluorescence

Abstract: were from various areas of the world and from whom a TRIC-LGV organism had been isolated were tested. (All isolates had been typed and included all presently recognized immunotypes except type A.) Of the patients tested, 94% had a titer of antibody of > 1:8 against at least one of the 13 antigens used, always including the type isolated. Seventy-nine percent of sera showed a type-specific antibody response, while 15% had a pattern of multiple antibody response that precluded a specific type diagnosis. Among the 6% of patients without evident antibody, all but one were males with mild urethritis. Patients who had classical LGV infection with buboes had antibody to more than one type, often in very high titer. The possibility of rapid disappearance of microimmunofluorescent antibody after

Radioimmunoassay of Estradiol-17β Without Chromatography

Abstract: Several radioimmunoassays for the estimation of estradiol-17β in serum have been reported. For the generation of antisera, the majority of these methods have used steroids conjugated to a carrier protein through sites on the A or D rings. The resulting antisera have shown considerable cross reactivity with related steroids necessitating the use of various chromatographic separation steps prior to the actual radioimmunoassay. The use of haptens in which the carrier protein was conjugated to a steroid molecule through carbon 6 on the B ring (1,2,3) has resulted in the production of highly specific antisera. Conjugation of the protein molecule to other positions which leave the A and D rings available for recognition by antibody should also result in the generation of antibodies with enhanced specificity. In this report, an antiserum was prepared to a conjugate of an 11β-hemisuccinate derivative of estradiol-17β to bovine serum albumin. The resulting antiserum appeared to be specific for 17β-estradi...

Triglycerides and Glycerol Determination after Alkaline Hydrolysis

Abstract: Publisher Summary Triglycerides with the phosphatides, and the free and esterified cholesterol, make up the quantitatively most important lipid fractions of blood. Adipose tissue has the highest triglyceride content, between 60 and 85 %. The measurements of neutral fat by the determination of glycerol by chemical or fluorimetric methods require extraction and careful isolation of triglycerides followed by hydrolysis. In the enzymatic determination of triglycerides in blood serum or plasma, the isolation or purification of the triglycerides or the extraction of fat can be omitted. The glycerol present in serum, plasma, or Folch extracts of tissues before and after ethanolic-alkaline hydrolysis is converted to glycerophosphate and adenosine diphosphate (ADP) with ATPand glycerokinase. The ADP reacts with pyruvate kinase and added phosphoenolpyruvate to give that is reduced to lactate with NADH and lactate dehydrogenase.

Freezing resistance in winter flounder Pseudopleuronectes americanus

Abstract: THE blood serum freezing points of most marine teleosts are within the range of −0.5 to −0.8° C1. As large regions of the oceans have temperatures as much as 1° C below this range2, many marine fish must either increase the osmotic concentrations of their blood or exist in a supercooled state. The latter is unstable and in the presence of ice, supercooled fish will freeze and die.

Protein-calorie malnutrition. A host determinant for Pneumocystis carinii infection.

Abstract: The role of protein-calorie malnutrition inPneumocystis cariniipneumonitis was explored with comparative studies in man and animals. Collective data from 225 cases ofP cariniipneumonitis revealed mean body weights and serum protein values that were below normal. In matched comparison of 44 children with cancer andP cariniipneumonitis, serum albumin values and body weights were significantly lower than those of 44 patients with malignant neoplasms of the same type, duration, and therapy, but who did not have pneumonitis. Of 39 South African children who died with kwashiorkor, three (7.7%) were found to be infested withP carinii, whereas no organisms were found in the lungs of 21 well-nourished and geographically matched children. In Sprague-Dawley rats fed a 23% protein diet for normal growth, none of 15 acquiredP carinii; whereas, 13 of 15 fed a protein-free diet died infested withP carinii.

The mutagenic action of nitroimidazoles. I. Metronidazole, nimorazole, dimetridazole and ronidazole.

Abstract: Summary In L URIA AND D ELBRUCK'S fluctuation test, with streptomycin-resistance and streptomycin-dependence as markers, certain derivatives 0f 5-nitroimidazole having an antiprotozoal activity increased the mutation rate of Klebsiella pneumoniae, Escherichia coli K12 and Citrobacter freundii 425. Among the substances tested, ronidazole showed the highest mutagenic activity, increasing the mutation rate of Klebsiella pneumoniae grown in 0.1 mM solutions by a factor 0f 26.5. The mutation frequency of bacteria grown in 0.1 mM solutions 0f metronidazole (Flagyl®), nimorazole (Naxogin®) and dimetridazole was increased between 3 and 7 times above the normal spontaneous mutation rate. The possible implications of these findings in the application of the substances as human antitrichomonal drugs (metronidazole and nimorazole) or preparations t0 prevent infections by Histomonas meleagridis in poultry (dimetridazole and ronidazole) are discussed.

Serum versus Urinary Antimicrobial Concentrations in Cure of Urinary-Tract Infections

Abstract: The relative importance of antimicrobial concentrations obtained in the serum and urine of broad-spectrum antibiotics in the treatment of urinary infections remains controversial. In a prospective study, 33 consecutive patients were treated with oral oxytetracycline, 250 mg four times a day. Antimicrobial activity could not be detected in the serum of either the 20 patients cured or the 13 regarded as failures. Bactericidal activity in the urine, however, was observed in 18 of 20 cured and five of 13 considered failures. The minimal inhibitory concentrations of the infecting organism to oxytetracycline correlated well with the clinical course of the patient. We conclude that cure of urinary infections depends upon antimicrobial concentrations in the urine rather than in the serum and that testing for antimicrobial sensitivity based on urinary levels should be available in clinical practice. (N Engl J Med 291:1159–1163, 1974)

Thermal Dependence of Striking and Prey Capture by Gopher Snakes

Abstract: persimilis from Yucatan. Occ. Papers Mus. Zool. Univ. Mich. 568. . 1972. Threatened freshwater fishes of the United States. Trans. Amer. Fish. Soc. 101: 239-252. PICKFORD, G. E., F. B. GRANT AND B. L. UMMINGER. 1969. Studies on the blood serum of the euryhaline cyprinodont fish, Fundulus heteroclitus, adapted to fresh or to salt water. Trans. Conn. Acad. Arts Sci. 43:25-70. REID, G. K. 1961. Ecology of inland waters and estuaries. Reinhold Publishing Corp. New York, N. Y. RELYEA, K. G. 1967. Systematic study of two species complexes of brackish water Fundulus (Pisces: Cyprinodontidae). Unpubl. Ph.D. Dissertation, Tulane University. ROOT, R. W. 1931. The respiratory function of the blood of marine fishes. Biol. Bull. 61: 427-456. SLICHER, A. M. 1961. Endocrinological and hematological studies in Fundulus heteroclitus (Linn.). Bull. Bingham Oceanogr. Coll. 17: 1-55. SMITH, C. G., W. M. LEWIS AND H. M. KAPLAN. 1952. A comparative morphologic and physiorsimil s from Yucatan. Occ. Papers Mus. logic study of fish blood. Prog. Fish-Cult. 14:169-172. SRIVASTAVA, A. K. 1968a. Studies on the hematology of certain freshwater teleosts. I. Erythrocytes. Anat. Anz. 123:233-249. . 1968b. Studies on the hematology of certain freshwater teleosts IV. Hemoglobin. Folia Haemat. Lpz. 90:411-418. SWARTS, W. P. 1969. Blood studies of some marine teleosts. Trans. Amer. Fish. Soc. 98: 328-330. TAGATZ, M. E., AND D. L. DUDLEY. 1961. Seasonal occurrence of marine fishes in four shore habitats near Beaufort, N. C. 1957-60. U.S.D.I. Fish Wildlife Spec. Sci. Rep. No. 390. WEED, A. C. 1921. Fishes from Southern Wisconsin. Copeia 99:69-72.

Cholesterol as a bioregulator in the development and inhibition of leukemia.

Abstract: Leukemia in mice and humans is accompanied by a marked deficiency of unesterified cholesterol in the surface membrane of leukemic cells as compared to normal leukocytes This deficiency induces a significant reduction in their membrane microviscosity Since cholesterol in the cell surface membrane is exchangeable with cholesterol in the serum lipoproteins, concomitant to the cellular deficiency of cholesterol, the average level of cholesterol in the blood serum of leukemic patients is substantially below the average normal level Based on these observations and the effect of membrane microviscosity on biological functions, a working hypothesis that describes the role of cholesterol in the development and inhibition of leukemia is suggested This hypothesis can also account for the effect of cholesterol and membrane microviscosity on various other cellular activities of leukocytes

Compositions and methods for depressing blood serum cholesterol

Abstract: The invention disclosed herein relates to novel unit dosage compositions comprising 0.1 to 10.0 grams of quaternary poly[(alkylimino)alkylene] linear polymers free from cross-linking, which compositions are valuable as bile acid binding agents; and the invention also relates to the method of binding bile acids by orally administering such compositions.

The Unpredictability of Serum Concentrations of Gentamicin: Pharmacokinetics of Gentamicin in Patients with Normal and Abnormal Renal Function

Abstract: The pharmacokinetics of gentamicin were studied after a single im injection of gentamicin over a wide range of doses (0.83-3.14 mg/kg) in patients with normal and abnormal renal function. The results of these studies indicated that peak levels in serum following the same dose of gentamicin per kg of body weight vary widely and that rates of disappearance of gentamicin from serum vary considerably in patients with comparable renal function. These data suggest that although nomograms for administration of gentamicin may serve as useful guides, individual measurement of serum levels is desirable in determination of therapy for patients with serious infections or with renal insufficiency and is essential in patients with changing renal function.

Administration of Human Leukocyte Interferon in Herpes Zoster. I. Safety, Circulating Antiviral Activity, and Host Responses to Infection

Abstract: levels > 100 units/ml were obtained more rapidly and were sustained longer after im administration. When an injection was given im on three successive days, peak daily titers rose progressively, suggesting accumulation in tissues. The rate of rise of varicella-zoster complement-fixing antibodies and the titers of interferon in vesicular fluid and cell counts in the patients treated with interferon did not differ significantly from those of a group of control patients. The only adverse side effect of treatment with interferon was fever of 38 C-40 C after injections. Assays of cerebrospinal fluid and urine specimens generally failed to demonstrate significant titers of interferon during periods when serum levels were known to be >100 units/ml. The average level of circulating interferon attained by either the im or iv route was higher than reported levels in naturally occurring human viral diseases and was approximately 17 times the minimal inhibitory concentration for varicellazoster virus in human cell culture.

Immune Response to Acute Otitis Media in Children I. Serotypes Isolated and Serum and Middle Ear Fluid Antibody in Pneumococcal Otitis Media

Abstract: Seventy percent of pneumococci isolated from the middle-ear cavity of infants and children with acute otitis media were of one of the seven serotypes 1, 3, 6, 14, 18, 19, or 23. The immunological response in the serum and middle-ear fluid from otitis media caused by one of these serotypes was studied in 61 children by using either indirect hemagglutination or indirect fluorescent antibody tests, or both. Twenty-six of the patients had pneumococcal antibody present in the acute serum and 28 had it in the convalescent serum by at least one method. Thirteen of the 49 middle-ear fluids examined had antibody by the indirect fluorescent antibody technique. Serum pneumococcal antibody was found to reside predominantly in the immunoglobulin G or immunoglobulin M classes, whereas pneumococcal antibody with middle-ear fluid was found to be distributed equally among all three classes. Approximately 25% of the patients (16 of 61) had a positive immune response to their infection as evidenced by increased levels of pneumococcal antibody in the convalescent serum. The percentage of patients responding immunologically increased with age: 12% of infants less than 12 months showed a significant response, whereas 48% of children over 24 months responded.

A controlled study of morbidity of schistosomiasis mansoni in St. Lucian children, based on quantitative egg excretion.

Abstract: A study of the morbidity of schistosomiasis mansoni was made in 138 school-children (age range, 7–16 years) in St. Lucia. The study was based on quantitative egg excretion data collected over a 4-year period before the study and included a comparable uninfected control group. All examinations were carried out “blind.” Infected subjects were divided into three levels of intensity of infection: heavy, 400 or more eggs/ml of feces; moderate, 100 to 300 eggs/ml; and light, 10 to 75 eggs/ml. The children were hospitalized for medical histories and physical and laboratory examinations. Gastrointestinal symptoms were present at relatively high levels in all groups, and were no more frequent in the Schistosoma mansoni-infected subjects than in the controls. Anthropometric measurements showed no differences among the groups. Hepatomegaly and splenomegaly were significantly more frequent in the heavy-moderate infection group, and extension of the liver below the costal margin was found to increase with intensity of infection. Serum globulin level and skin-test reactivity were directly related to intensity of infection; serum albumin level was inversely related. It was clear that in this St. Lucian study, infection with S. mansoni did not result in disease in most of the school-age subjects investigated; assessment of possible long-term (>4 years) effects was not made. This study provides a method for assessing morbidity of schistosomiasis based on quantitative egg excretion and demonstrates the relation of objective morbidity to intensity of infection.

A study of the abnormal lipoproteins in abetalipoproteinemia.

Abstract: The serum lipoproteins of five patients with abetalipoproteinemia (ABL) were separated by ultracentrifugation and then analyzed either intact or after delipidation. In accord with previous findings, all of the patients lacked serum particles with the characteristics of normal low-density lipoproteins (LDL) and of the LDL apoprotein as assessed by immunochemical methods. Each patient exhibited on every examination an abnormal particle, "LDL", which had the flotational properties of LDL, the polypeptide makeup of high-density lipoproteins HDL, the spectral and morphological characteristics of neither LDL nor HDL, and a relatively low content of cholesteryl esters. The HDL were abnormal in having a marked decrease in their total plasma content, an altered proportion of the subclasses HDL2 and HDL3, and a peculiar polypeptide distribution, comprising both normal and additional components, usually not seen in normal controls. The patients also exhibited a decrease of plasma lecithin-cholesterol acyl transferase (LCAT) activity which probably accounted for the low content of cholesteryl esters in both "LDL" and HDL, and in turn for the unusual appearance of "LDL" on electron microscopy. It is concluded that ABL is a disorder affecting all serum lipoprotein classes. Whether the abetalipoproteinemia previously described and noted in the current studies is related to or independent of the abnormalities observed in the other lipoproteins was not established. How the deficiency of LCAT activity, observed in all patients studied, contributed to some of the observed structural lipoprotein abnormalities also remained undetermined.

Serum ferritin in children with thalassaemia regularly transfused.

Abstract: A controlled trial of continuous chelation therapy in regularly transfused children with homozygous β-thalassaemia has been in progress at the Hospital for Sick Children since April 1966. In the sixth and seventh years of the trial the effect of this treatment on iron overload has been assessed by estimating serum ferritin levels and liver iron concentrations in both chelator-treated and control groups. When compared with non-chelated controls, results of both these estimations were invariably lower in the chelated group. However, all the results in both groups were very high, and fell within the ranges observed in untreated idiopathic haemochromatosis. A close correlation was found between serum ferritin levels and liver iron concentrations in these children, indicating that serum ferritin is a valuable alternative to liver iron concentration in the assessment of visceral iron overload, even when massive tissue siderosis is present.

Method and apparatus for assaying liquid materials

Abstract: Assaying of fluids to determine the level of a substance in a fluid sample such as blood serum involving the reacting of fluid samples with one or more reagents and centrifugally separating reaction constituents and measuring a property of a reaction constituents.