Showing papers on "Blood serum published in 1978"
TL;DR: It is likely that PDGF is released from platelets at sites of vascular damage and that it contributes toward the cell proliferation and connective tissue formation seen in healing wounds and in arteriosclerotic lesions.
659 citations
TL;DR: Methods for multiple-parallel casting of gradient gels in slab gel holders are described and separations in the second dimension are considered (the so called DALT system).
487 citations
TL;DR: These studies indicate that subclinical P. carinii infection is highly prevalent in normal children, analogous to other opportunistic infections where active disease is manifest predominantly in the compromised host.
Abstract: Using Pneumocystis carinii organisms propagated through three passages in embryonic chick epithelial lung cultures, specific antigens and antisera were prepared for use in counterimmunoelectrophoresis and indirect immunofluorescent antibody techniques. These methods proved to be specific and sensitive for the detection of P. carinii antigen and antibody, respectively, in sera, and were applied to the study of cancer patients with P. carinii pneumonitis (PCP), cancer patients without pneumonitis, and normal children. Antigenemia was detected in 95% of patients with PCP, in 15% of cancer patients without pneumonitis, and in none of the normal children tested. In cross-sectional and longitudinal studies of normal infants and children, acquisition of serum antibody to P. carinii was demonstrated to occur progressively with increase in age. By 4 years of age two thirds of the normal children were found to have antibody to P. carinii in titers of 1:16 or greater. These studies indicate that subclinical P. carinii infection is highly prevalent in normal children, analogous to other opportunistic infections where active disease is manifest predominantly in the compromised host.
390 citations
TL;DR: A cross-over study was done with 19 male and 23 female volunteers living in a monastery and a convent, respectively, and showed a strong very low density lipoprotein decrease by the fish diet while, in the men, both low and highdensity lipoproteins increased.
252 citations
TL;DR: A two-site radioimmunoassay has been developed which utilizes nonlimiting numbers of antibody binding sites and it can be shown that in rat and mouse serum (either sex) there is less than 5 ng of NGF per ml, in agreement with the results of the bioassay.
Abstract: High levels of nerve growth factor (NGF) determined by competition radioimmunoassay do not agree with values obtained by bioassay. This discrepancy is illustrated here with rat and mouse serum as examples in which values up to 1000 ng/ml have been found by using competition radioimmunoassays. An explanation for the discordant results is presented: serum components bind NGF with an intermediate affinity (Kd = 10(-7) M) but with a very large capacity (up to 0.5 mg of NGF per ml of rat serum). The binding of 125I-labeled NGF to serum components competes with the binding to the solid-phase antibodies (Kd = 10(-9)M) present in limiting amounts, according to the principle of competition radioimmunoassays. Thus, less radioactivity is recovered bound to the antibodies and this gives the erroneous impression that NGF is present. To overcome this difficulty, a two-site radioimmunoassay has been developed which utilizes nonlimiting numbers of antibody binding sites. This assay provides a reliable determination of NGF levels in serum and it can be shown that in rat and mouse serum (either sex) there is less than 5 ng of NGF per ml, in agreement with the results of the bioassay.
241 citations
TL;DR: In rats with cannulated bile ducts, the labeled IgA appeared rapidly in the bile so that 25% of the injected dose was recovered in 3 h; at the peak of this biliary excretion the specific radioactivity of the biles was about 200 times greater than that of the blood serum.
Abstract: Immunoglobulins were isolated from the serum or ascitic fluid of Lou/Wsl rats bearing plasmacytomas and labeled with 125I. When labeled IgA was injected i.v. it disappeared from the blood serum much more rapidly than IgG2 so that after 3 h less than 10% remained. This rapid disappearance of the injected IgA was not seen in rats with ligated bile ducts. In rats with cannulated bile ducts, the labeled IgA appeared rapidly in the bile so that 25% of the injected dose was recovered in 3 h; at the peak of this biliary excretion the specific radioactivity of the bile (cpm/milligram protein) was about 200 times greater than that of the blood serum. Thus much of the IgA which finds its way into the blood is rapidly and actively transported across the liver so that it enters the gut lumen via the biliary tract.
224 citations
TL;DR: Identification of the trypanocidal factor as high density lipoprotein was confirmed by the finding that serum from patients with Tangier disease, an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by a severe deficiency of high densitylipoprotein, had no trypanoidal activity.
Abstract: The differentiation of Trypanosoma brucei from T. rhodesiense, the causative agent of human sleeping sickness, depends on their relative sensitivities to the cytotoxic effects of normal human serum. The molecule responsible for the specific lysis of T. brucei has now been isolated. Serum lipoproteins were fractionated and purified by ultracentrifugal flotation and chromatography on Bio-Gel A-5m. Trypanocidal activity was recovered in the high density lipoprotein fraction (density, 1.063-1.216 g/ml). Contamination by other serum proteins was checked by crossed immunoelectrophoresis and sodium dodecyl sulfate/acrylamide gel electrophoresis. Only a trace of beta-lipoprotein was found. The trypanocidal activity of pure human high density lipoprotein was identical to that of unfractionated serum when the following were tested: (i) time course of in vitro lysis of T. bruceli; (ii) in vivo destruction of T. brucei; (iii) relative resistance of T. rhodesiense to lysis. Rat or rabbit high density lipoprotein had no trypanocidal activity. Identification of the trypanocidal factor as high density lipoprotein was confirmed by the finding that serum from patients with Tangier disease, an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by a severe deficiency of high density lipoprotein, had no trypanocidal activity.
220 citations
TL;DR: Myocardial imaging complements the electrocardiographic identification of acute myocardial infarction of exericse-induced myocardIAL ischemia and smaller infractions, as assessed with serum enzyme values, and diaphragmatic infarctions were less commonly detected than larger or anterior infarications.
Abstract: A multicenter study of rest and exercise thallium-201 myocardial Imaging in 190 patients from five centers was performed. Exercise images were obtained after graded treadmill or bicycle stress with use of five different gamma camera models and were interpreted by the originating investigator without knowledge of other clinical data. Of 42 patients with less than 50 percent coronary stenosis, 4 (10 percent) had a resting image defect, 1 (2 percent) a new exercise defect and 5 (12 percent) either a resting or an exercise Image defect, or both. Of 148 patients with coronary stenosis of 50 percent or greater, 64 (45 percent) had an image defect in the study at rest, 90 (61 percent) had new or increased defects after exercise, and 115 (78 percent) had resting or exercise defects, or both. New exercise image defects were more common than exercise S-T depression (90 of 148 [61 percent] versus 62 of 148 [42 percent]; P
219 citations
TL;DR: Content of apoprotein A-I was not altered appreciably by exposure to serum or its ultracentrifugal fractions, whereas content of C apoproteins, estimated from intensity of staining of the low molecular weight protein component in polyacrylamide gel electropherograms, increased in all cases except for the density fraction greater than 1.21 g/ml.
204 citations
TL;DR: The absolute concentration and distribution of apolipoprotein B between the free and associated forms of lipoprotein B may represent a useful indicator of the underlying biochemical defect(s) in normolipidemic and hyperlipoproteinemic patients.
Abstract: We examined three immunoassay techniques for measuring apolipoprotein B in serum and major lipoprotein density fractions from normolipidemic and hyperlipoproteinemic persons, comparing values by electroimmunoassay, radioimmunoassay, and radial immunodiffusion assay with those determined gravimetrically. Electroimmunoassay is faster and simpler than radioimmunoassay, and equally precise (within- and between-assay coefficients of variation for both were 5 and 7%, respectively). All the immunoassays gave results that agreed with those by gravimetry for normolipidemic sera and the corresponding lipoprotein density fractions, but only electroimmunoassay results agreed with those by gravimetry for apolipoprotein B in lipoproteins of d less than 1.019 g/ml isolated from hypertriglyceridemic patients. Concentrations of apolipoprotein B in plasma, determined by electroimmunoassay in a population of normal persons and patients with primary hyperlipoproteinemias, were: normals, 980 +/- 200; type I, 700 +/- 160; type IIa, 2000 +/- 260; type IIb, 2180 +/- 300; type III, 1300 +/- 340; type IV, 1470 +/- 400; and type V, 1550 +/- 390 mg/liter (mean +/- SD). Lipoprotein density fractions from the hyperlipoproteinemic patients each had a characteristic distribution of free and associated forms of lipoprotein family B. The absolute concentration and distribution of apolipoprotein B between the free and associated forms of lipoprotein B may represent a useful indicator of the underlying biochemical defect(s).
190 citations
TL;DR: The wear of UHMW polyethylene bearing against 316 stainless steel or cobalt chrome alloy was measured using a 12-channel wear tester especially developed for the evaluation of candidate materials for prosthetic joints, finding wear was not severe except with very coarse metal surfaces.
Abstract: The wear of UHMW polyethylene bearing against 316 stainless steel or cobalt chrome alloy was measured using a 12-channel wear tester especially developed for the evaluation of candidate materials for prosthetic joints. The coefficient of friction and wear rate was determined as a function of lubricant, contact stress, and metallic surface roughness in tests lasting two to three million cycles, the equivalent of several years' use of a prosthesis. Wear was determined from the weight loss of the polyethylene specimens corrected for the effect of fluid absorption. The friction and wear processes in blood serum differed markedly from those in saline solution or distilled water. Only serum lubrication produced wear surfaces resembling those observed on removed prostheses. The experimental method provided a very accurate reproducible measurement of polyethylene wear. The long-term wear rates were proportional to load and sliding distance and were much lower than expected from previously published data. Although the polyethylene wear rate increased with increasing surface roughness, wear was not severe except with very coarse metal surfaces. The data obtained in these studies forms a basis for the subsequent comparative evaluation of potentially superior materials for prosthetic joints.
TL;DR: A new spectrofluorimetric assay procedure for bovine milk N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase (NAGase) is described for use as a routine screening test for the detection of abnormal udder secretions and is considered to be superior to a previously reported spectrophotometric procedure.
Abstract: A new spectrofluorimetric assay procedure for bovine milk N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminidase (NAGase) is described for use as a routine screening test for the detection of abnormal uddersecretions. This procedure uses 4-methylumbel-liferyl-N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminide as substrate. On the basis of the greater sample throughput, increased product sensitivity detection of NAGase and the absence of turbidity problems, it is considered to be superior to a previously reported spectrophotometric procedure (Kitchen, 1976). The correlation coefficient between the somatic cell count and the fluorimetric procedure using 243 quarter fore-milk samples was 0·86. Distribution studies on bovine milk and mammary gland homogenates indicated that this enzyme activity was located predominantly in the soluble whey protein fraction and the post-microsomal supernatant. Mammary gland secretory cells contained high levels of NAGase and appeared to be the major source of the enzyme in milk whilst NAGase from other sources (white blood cells, blood serum) contributed only a minor proportion (5–15%) of the total activity in milk. The implications of these findings on the value of the NAGase test as a means of mastitis diagnosis are discussed.
TL;DR: L lung schistosomula cocultured with allogeneic lymphocytes were shown to acquire major histocompatibility complex (MHC) coded antigens from the cells, and it is possible that as acquired host molecules, MHC gene products may disguise the surface of schistsome parasites thereby rendering them insusceptible to immune attack.
Abstract: Schistosoma mansoni schistosomula recovered from the lungs of inbred mice were shown to possess serologically detectable alloantigens on their tegumental surfaces. Using appropriate antisera and infected congenic and recombinant mice as worm donors, gene products of the K and I subregions of the major histocompatibility complex were demonstrated among these alloantigens acquired by the parasites. In contrast, other cell surface alloantigens, such as Thy 1, Ly 1, and H-Y and the serum proteins albumin, C3 and Ig, could not be detected on the surface of lung schistosomula by means of comparable techniques. In another series of experiments, schistosomula recovered from the lungs of mice and reinjected into allogeneic recipients were shown to exchange their alloantigens during an 87-h period of examination. Similarly, lung schistosomula cocultured with allogeneic lymphocytes were shown to acquire major histocompatibility complex (MHC) coded antigens from the cells. It is possible that as acquired host molecules, MHC gene products may disguise the surface of schistosome parasites thereby rendering them insusceptible to immune attack.
TL;DR: The development of microtiter solid‐phase radioimmunoassays for the detection of Norwalk antigen and its antibody is described, which are at least as sensitive as immune electron microscopy and more sensitive than immune adherence assay.
Abstract: The development of microtiter solid-phase radioimmunoassays for the detection of Norwalk antigen and its antibody is described. The tests are simple to perform and are sensitive and specific. The test for antigen can be used on crude stool filtrates and suspensions. Both tests are at least as sensitive as immune electron microscopy and more sensitive than immune adherence assay.
TL;DR: An immunoassay method was developed in which 125 I-labeled Protein A of high specific activity and functional activity served as a general tracer and Antibody specificity was determined by measuring the ability of compounds related to the antigen or hapten to act as inhibitors.
TL;DR: In Edinburgh and Stockholm, healthy men in Edinburgh and 82 in Stockholm, all aged 40 and selected at random, took part in a study aimed at identifying factors which might explain why, in men of this age, the mortality-rates from ischaemic heart disease are three times greater in Edinburgh men than in Stockholm men.
TL;DR: Glycoproteins of molecular weights isolated from the blood sera of the two Antarctic fishes, Trematomus borchgrevinki and Dissostichus mawsoni, exhibit antifreezing properties in pure H2O or salt solutions, which are abnormal in several other properties related to lowering the freezing temperature and the freezing process itself.
Abstract: Publisher Summary Glycoproteins of molecular weights isolated from the blood sera of the two Antarctic fishes, Trematomus borchgrevinki and Dissostichus mawsoni, exhibit antifreezing properties in pure H2O or salt solutions. As the melting point is not affected, a hysteresis exists between the freezing and melting temperatures, and the glycoproteins are considered to lower the freezing temperature rather than the freezing point. The information obtained on the basic structure of these glycoproteins is shared, and models of antifreeze mechanism are discussed. In these models, the polypeptide is assumed to form a nonideal, nonregular solution in H20. In one model, the ability of the hydrophilic sites of these molecules to enter into favorable competition for hydrogen bonds among the H20 molecules themselves provides for a mechanism of lowering the freezing point. The only over-riding similarity amongthese antifreezing molecules is the predominance of alanine. It is this feature that has primary and critical importance in antifreeze function observed in these fishes. Antifreeze glycoprotein (AFGP) discussed is a collective name for a family of at least eight closely related glycoproteins that account for a major fraction of the protein in the blood serum of certain Antarctic fishes the eight originally observed glycoproteins during electrophoresis in acrylamide gel with borate buffer. Along with lowering the freezing temperature of water to an abnormal extent as based on their particle sizes, active AFGP components also are abnormal in several other properties related to lowering the freezing temperature and the freezing process itself.
Journal Article•
TL;DR: For cardiac blood-pool imaging, Technetium-99m red blood cells labeled by an in vivo technique appears to be superior to the two Tc-HSA preparations studied.
Abstract: Technetium-99m red blood cells (Tc-RBC) labeled by an in vivo technique were compared with two preparations of Tc-99m human serum albumin (HSA) for cardiac blood-pool imaging. Relative distribution of the tracers was analyzed on end-diastolic frames of gated blood-pool studies and on whole-body (head to mid-thigh) anterior pinhole images. The Tc-RBC demonstrated greater relative percentage localization in the cardiac blood pool, higher target-to-background ratios in the left ventricle, and less liver concentration. For cardiac blood-pool imaging, Tc-RBC labeled by the in vivo approach appears to be superior to the two Tc-HSA preparations studied.
TL;DR: No deterioration in major organ function or increase in disease flares was observed in the immunized group as compared with the group that received saline, indicating that influenza vaccination can be safely carried out in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.
Abstract: Forty patients with systemic lupus erythematosus randomly received inactivated bivalent (A/NJ and A/Victoria) influenza vaccine or saline in a double-blind study. During 20 weeks of follow-up, no deterioration in major organ function or increase in disease flares was observed in the immunized group as compared with the group that received saline. Preimmunization antibody titers to A/Victoria were lower in the 40 patients with lupus erythematosus than in age-matched control subjects. Response to immunization, as measured by serum antibody titers, was also lower in the patients with lupus erythematosus, indicating that immune responses must be evaluated on an individual patient basis. Nevertheless, influenza vaccination can be safely carried out in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.
TL;DR: The ELISA test was as sensitive as the IFAT and CFT, but more specific, however, many cross-reactions occurred in infections with other human (and with animal) schistosomes, although to a lesser extent with other helminths.
Abstract: Extensive studies of the use of the ELISA test for the detection of antibodies in Schistosoma mansoni infections are described. A method has been evolved for the determination of the optimum value for the reference serum endpoint. In chimpanzees infected with S. mansoni a crude egg antigen detected antibodies earlier in the infection than did a worm antigen and was generally more reactive. The ELISA test, using the egg antigen, has been applied to sera from populations infected with S. mansoni, with other human schistosomes, or with helminth infections other than schistosomiasis. The ELISA test was as sensitive as the IFAT and CFT, but more specific. However, many cross-reactions occurred in infections with other human (and with animal) schistosomes, although to a lesser extent with other helminths. In surveys in the Sudan the use of blood collected on absorbent paper was only slightly less sensitive for the detection of antibodies than sera, and this technique showed that the prevalence of infection was higher than that measured by stool examination alone. Possible future developments are discussed with a view to improving sensitivity and specificity both for clinical and epidemiological work.
TL;DR: The hamster-protective capacity of human sera correlated well with agglutinin titres, and both types of immunoglobulin from patients with serovar pomona infection protected hamsters against lethal infections with homologous leptospires.
Abstract: SUMMARY
Antibody responses were studied in human patients from whom leptospiral serovars-mainly pomona or hardjo-had been isolated and identified. The antibody to the polysaccharide F4 antigen belonged exclusively to the IgM class, even as late as 10 months after infection. Human sera cross-reacted widely with F4 antigen from heterologous serovars. The antibodies involved in leptospiral agglutination were mainly IgM, but some patients also produced IgG agglutinins. The titres of IgM agglutinins were higher than those of IgG agglutinins and persisted for many months, regardless of the presence or absence of IgG agglutinins. Both types of immunoglobulin from patients with serovar pomona infection protected hamsters against lethal infections with homologous leptospires. The hamster-protective capacity of human sera correlated well with agglutinin titres. Sera from patients infected with serovars other than pomona protected hamsters against challenge with pomona only if they contained agglutinins to that organism.
TL;DR: A number of patients who have involuntary infertility show sperm antibodies in the blood serum, as detected by two quite different methods of spermagglutination, which led to an effort to develop new methods for the treatment of infertility.
TL;DR: To evaluate the feasibility of oral antibiotic treatment for pyogenic arthritis, one or more oral doses of antibiotics were substituted for the drugs being used for parenteral therapy.
TL;DR: An indirect immunofluorescent antibody test was used to detect antibody to Babesia microti in human sera, and cross-reactions among infected patients' sera and antigens of B. microti were common, and titers were highest to the homologous antigen.
Abstract: An indirect immunofluorescent antibody test was used to detect antibody to Babesia microti in human sera. Nine patients from Nantucket Island, Massachusetts infected with B. microti had serum titers greater than or equal to 1,024. Of 84 control sera from New York City residents, 246 sera from patients with possible exposure to ticks, and 36 sera from patients with suspected or confirmed tick bites, none was reactive at titers of 1:16 or above. The within-test reproducibility was within one fourfold dilution in 95% of trials. Test-to-test reproducibility was within one fourfold dilution in 33% of trials and within two fourfold dilutions in 100% of trials. Although cross-reactions among infected patients' sera and antigens of B. argentina, B. equi, B. bigemina, Plasmodium vivax, P. falciparum, and P. brasilianum were common, titers were highest to the homologous antigen.
TL;DR: The chromium and cobalt concentrations in the serum of healthy individuals were determined by neutron activation analysis using irradiated samples at a flux of approximately 10(14) neutrons.
Abstract: Confusion exists about the chromium and cobalt concentrations in the serum of healthy individuals. We determined these elements by neutron activation analysis. The samples were irradiated during 12 days at a flux of approximately 10(14) neutrons.cm-2.s-1. Chromium was selectively separated by distillation after the irradiation. We obtained the following values (mean +/- standard deviation): 0.160 +/- 0.083 mug/liter for chromium, and 0.108 +/- 0.060 mug/liter for cobalt.
TL;DR: Probenecid given at the same time as the bolus injection delayed the disappearance of MTX from the serum and resulted in enhanced concentrations throughout the 24 hours studied.
Abstract: The disappearance of methotrexate (MTX) from the serum after an intravenous bolus injection and intravenous infusion was studied over 24 hours in eight and four patients respectively. Probenecid given at the same time as the bolus injection delayed the disappearance of MTX from the serum and resulted in enhanced concentrations throughout the 24 hours studied. At 24 hours the mean concentration was four times higher than in patients not given probenecid. Overall serum concentrations were even greater than those in patients who had received MTX by intravenous infusion. We suggest that smaller doses of MTX may be given and treatment costs thereby reduced if probenecid is given in addition.
TL;DR: Two Neisseria meningitidis vaccines provided active protection in mice against mucin-enhanced killing by group B type 2 meningococci and induced good titers of type-specific bactericidal and hemagglutinating antibodies in rabbits.
Abstract: Two Neisseria meningitidis vaccines consisting principally of outer membrane protein (lot 138I-0) or outer membrane protein plus group C polysaccharide (lot 138I-M1) were prepared from the group C type 2 strain 138I. Lipopolysaccharide and lipid were removed by gel filtration in the presence of sodium deoxycholate. The vaccines were found to be nontoxic and nonpyrogenic in animals. They provided active protection in mice against mucin-enhanced killing by group B type 2 meningococci and induced good titers of type-specific bactericidal and hemagglutinating antibodies in rabbits. In five volunteers the vaccines were well tolerated and induced significant increases in serum bactericidal activity against both group C and group B strains. Three of five volunteers had a two- to fourfold increase in antibodies to the outer membrane proteins, but these antibodies did not appear to have bactericidal activity. The bactericidal antibodies to both group B and group C strains were directed against the capsular polysaccharides.
TL;DR: The PHA or IAHA S/CSF ratio offers a rapid, reliable method for the diagnosis of HSVE, and each of the latter patients had neurologic diagnoses easily distinguishable from HSVE.
Abstract: Serial concomitant paired sera (S) and CSF were taken from eight patients with biopsy-proved herpes simplex virus encephalitis (HSVE). These specimen pairs were compared with 28 others from patients with various neurologic conditions. Before and after reduction with 2-mercaptoethanol, a ratio of S/CSF antibody titers of ≤20 with either the passive hemagglutinating (PHA) or immune adherence hemagglutinating (IAHA) antibody tests occurred in every patient with HSVE. Diagnostic S/CSF ratios were noted in three patients before biopsy of the brain and in four patients by the tenth day of neurologic disease. Among control subjects, a ratio of S/CSF titers >20 was observed in all but four patients. Each of the latter patients had neurologic diagnoses easily distinguishable from HSVE. The PHA or IAHA S/CSF ratio offers a rapid, reliable method for the diagnosis of HSVE ( P ( JAMA 240:356-360, 1978)
TL;DR: Some characteristics of "yellow fat disease" developed in the mackerel oil group, and this type of vitamin E deficiency seems to be the result of the considerable amount of omega3 fatty acids present in the MackerelOil.