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Biomedical subjects

A Adler

Publications and source records attributed to A Adler.

At least 145 records · Page 8Linked to original sources
PubMed1983

Renal calcium and magnesium handling in water immersion in nephrotic patients.

The effect of water immersion to the neck on renal calcium and magnesium handling was studied in 11 nephrotic patients. There was an increase in the urinary excretion of both calcium and magnesium on immersion, and a return towards preimmersion control values in the hour following immersion. Clearances of calcium and magnesium, and fractional excretion of calcium and of magnesium all increased significantly during water immersion, and decreased in the postimmersion hour. However, magnesium excretion was 10-50 times greater than calcium excretion. Fractional excretion of sodium was highly significantly related to fractional excretion of calcium (p less than 0.001) and magnesium (p less than 0.001). The relationship between fractional excretion of phosphate and fractional excretion of calcium was statistically significant (p less than 0.05), as was that between fractional excretion of phosphate and that of magnesium (p less than 0.01). Magnesium and calcium fractional excretions were significantly correlated (p less than 0.01). It was concluded that the increase in calcium and magnesium excretion on immersion is likely to be related to the sodium diuresis caused by central hypervolemia due to immersion.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

Development of resistance to MOPC-315 plasmacytoma after intralesional and intraperitoneal melphalan therapy of tumor-bearing BALB/c mice. I. Enhancement of in vivo rejection responses by combined chemotherapy-immunotherapy.

Experimental and clinical evidence indicates that some chemotherapeutic agents may enhance tumor cell immunogenicity. This study was undertaken to test the possibility that melphalan [L-phenylalanine mustard (L-PAM)]--a clinically useful drug--can modulate tumor cells in vivo and in vitro in a syngeneic experimental system of MOPC-315 plasmacytoma in BALB/c mice and that this modulation can be expressed in vivo by enhanced tumor resistance. Tumor-bearing mice were treated with L-PAM intralesionally and ip by a split-course chemotherapy to avoid excessive toxicity of the drug. As a result of this treatment, about 60% of the mice had complete tumor regression; of these, 40-60% were resistant to viable tumor cell challenge and were designated as "cured-immune." Immunogenicity of irradiated MOPC-315 was tested in BALB/c mice; significant protection against tumor cell challenge was not achieved. In vitro L-PAM-treated MOPC-315 cells induced a measurable but weak antitumor response. Combination of both therapeutic approaches, i.e., chemotherapy and active immunization by L-PAM-treated tumor cells, was attempted with the use of various schedules. Immunotherapy given after L-PAM-induced tumor regression significantly enhanced in vivo antitumor response to challenge by 10(4) and 10(5) viable MOPC-315 tumor cells. When immunotherapy was attempted before chemotherapy in the presence of actively growing though still occult tumor, it reduced the chemotherapy cure rate and resulted in a low rate of tumor resistance. Addition of BCG did not remarkably affect the results. The findings point to the importance of timing of active immunization relative to tumor load and chemotherapy. The implication is that chemotherapy-induced regression is mediated by host immune mechanisms in this experimental model.

Animals↗
PubMed1981

Water immersion in nephrotic syndrome.

Five adults suffering from nephrotic syndrome were immersed up to the neck in 1.3 m of warm water for four hours. There was a mean weight loss of 2 kg; 1 kg was lost through sweat and 1 kg was lost through urine. Thirty-five millimoles of sodium was excreted in the urine in four hours, 15 times more than on control days. The urine became hypotonic to plasma in the first two hours of immersion. Aldosterone levels did not change on immersion in three patients, but fell from elevated levels in two others. It is concluded that water immersion up to the neck in nephrotic patients warrants further investigation as a therapeutic agent in those cases that are not responding to conventional diuretic therapy.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1980

Immunocompetence, immunosuppression, and human breast cancer. II. Further evidence of initial immune impairment by integrated assessment effect of nodal involvement (N) and of primary tumor size (T).

Comprehensive immune function by integrated score was assessed in 158 operable, 55 inoperable, and 52 metastatic breast cancer patients relative to 107 healthy controls. The score was derived from in vivo response to PPD and DNCB and in vitro lymphocyte stimulation by PPD and PHA. Proportion of E-RFC was significantly lower in patients than in controls but was not found to correlate directly with the above functional criteria. Fifty-one percent of the patients with early, operable tumors were shown to be at least partially immunosuppressed by integrated score achievement vs. 11% of controls. This proportion rises to 68% of inoperable and 89% of metastatic patients. Quantitative analysis by graded response revealed an additional, significant degree of immune impairment in the respective patient groups by all testing parameters. Depression of immune function in operable patients was not related to age nor influenced by surgery. Immunocompetence of patients with mammary dysplasia did not differ from controls. Increasing size of primary tumor (T) was not found to be matched by progressive degree of immunosuppression, excepting that associated with large T4 tumors. Patients with lymph node involvement (N+) were not significantly immunologically inferior to those without (N0) where the larger operable T2-3) tumors are concerned. In the smallest, T1 tumors, nodal involvement (N+) is accompanied by remarkable immunosuppression relative to T1N0 cases. This finding suggests a pre-existing immune defect inherent in T1N+ patients. It supports the hypothesis that the immunosuppression associated with early breast cancer is primary, patient related. Secondary tumor-induced depression of immune response characterizes advanced and metastatic human breast cancer.

Adult↗
PubMed1980

Immunocompetence, immunosuppression, and human breast cancer. III. Prognostic significance of initial level of immunocompetence in early and advanced disease.

The prognostic significance of immunocompetence determined at diagnosis was analyzed in 158 operable breast cancer patients followed for 3--6 years, in terms of disease recurrence and of length of disease-free period (DFP) and in 52 patients with metastatic disease in terms of length of survival. In vitro lymphocyte stimulation by PPD and PHA were of higher predictive value with respect to probability of disease recurrence than in vivo cutaneous reactivity to PPD and DNCB. Conversely, length of DFP and of survival were found to correlate better with in vivo than within vitro parameters. Absolute number of peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) and percent of E-rosette-forming cells (E-RFC) proved devoid of prognostic value. Prognostic separation was best brought out upon analysis by integrated score of immunocompetence, comprising the four functional parameters. Probability of disease recurrence was 0.43 for all operable patients, as calculated by actuarial method 48 months postoperatively; it was 0.26 for optimal and 0.61 for suboptimal responders (P less than 0.0001). Separate analysis of Stage 1 (N0) and Stage II (N+) patients revealed prognostic segregation within each stage: probability of recurrence in Stage I was 0.06 for optimal vs. 0.41 for suboptimal responders (P less than 0.001) and in Stage II it was 0.45 vs. 0.79, respectively (P less than 0.01). These findings may prove valuable for a more selective patient allocation for post-mastectomy adjuvant therapy. Length of DFP was found inversely proportional to initial immunocompetence, with a mean of 23.5 months for good responders and 12.8 months for poor responders (P less than 0.01). Length of survival of metastatic patients was found to correlate with initial (pretreatment) levels of immunocompetence, mean survival being 29.5 months for those with preserved immune function and 12.3 months for the immunosuppressed (P less than 0.001). It was concluded that initial immunocompetence, determined by parameters of cell-mediated immunity, shows strong prognostic association with the subsequently observed course of human breast cancer.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Immunity in wart resolution.

The involvement of the humoral and cell-mediated immune systems in the regression of wart infection has been investigated extensively in recent years. This review examines the supporting evidence for the roles of humoral and cellular immunity in wart regression and its possible implications. From the available data it does not appear that a conclusion can be drawn that only humoral or cell-mediated immunity is involved, or that both are essential, in the regression of wart infection. Studies by several investigators, however, suggest that, since agents known to stimulate the cell-mediated immune system have been reported to be followed by the successful resolution of warts, the cell-mediated immune system appears to play a critical role in wart resolution. It may be that the direction which should be taken in eradication of warts resistant to conventional modalities of treatment is one which relies upon the stimulation of the patient's immune system in a very specific manner. Probably the most efficient way to accomplish this, based on available data, would be by autogenous vaccination. Following the patient's humoral and cell-mediated immune response prior to, during, and following treatment with autogenous vaccination may help to elucidate the precise mechanism by which the successful resolution of warts occurs.

Antibody Formation↗
PubMed1979

Tetraethylthiuram disulfide (Antabuse) inhibits the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum.

Plasmodium falciparum in culture grows optimally at 3% oxygen. Oxygen levels down to 0.5% still support growth, but anaerobic conditions do not. These findings, and the absence of the Krebs cycle in Plasmodium, suggested that in this organism oxygen may not function in electron transport but rather may act through metalloprotein oxygenases. Tetraethylthiuram disulfide (Antabuse, disulfiram) and its reduction product diethyldithiocarbamate inhibit many metalloprotein oxygenases and have a lipid/H2O partition coefficient and high binding constant for metal ions, favoring selective toxicity to the malaria parasite. These compounds exhibited active antimalarial effects in vitro in concentrations down to 0.1 microgram/ml, the lowest level tested. Tetraethylthiuram disulfide at a level as low as 1 microgram/ml inhibited parasite glycolysis with no effect on glycolysis of normal erythrocytes. Erythrocytes pretreated with this drug at 10 microgram/ml did not support growth of the parasite.

Animals↗
PubMed1976

Malignant melanoma of the head and neck in children. Review of the literature and report of a case.

Perusal of the literature revealed that until 1970, 13 children with malignant melanoma of the head and neck had been reported. This group includes two cases of melanoma that developed in a giant cell nevus, as well as one case of congenital melanoma. The biologic features of prepubertal melanoma appear basically analogous to those of the adult variety. Malignant melanoma of the auricle is described in a 2 1/2-year-old child. Surgical therapy was given, and BCG vaccination was used as an adjuvant. The patient is alive and free of signs of the disease 2 1/2 years following the operation. This appears to be the third reported case of malignant melanoma of the external ear in a child.

Child, Preschool↗