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A B Carpenter

Publications and source records attributed to A B Carpenter.

25 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Diagnostic procedures in allergy III. Office screening for immune deficiency.

Using the screening tests discussed in this review, the practicing allergist can obtain an adequate assessment of the patient's immune system. Using the clinical nature of the particular patient's infectious history as a guide to the selection of the few simple assays described, the physician can identify those patients who require further evaluation of their immune system. In addition, he can assure those who have concerns about their own or their children's immune system that it is functioning normally.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗

Role of monocytes in polyclonal immunoglobulin production stimulated by sonicates of periodontally associated bacteria.

These studies were initiated to investigate monocyte regulation of polyclonal antibody responses of human peripheral blood lymphocytes stimulated by sonicates of periodontally associated bacteria. With pokeweed mitogen (PWM) as a positive reference, the role of monocytes in the peripheral blood lymphocyte response to Streptococcus sanguis and Wolinella HVS was examined by manipulating the number of monocytes and lymphocytes in culture. In comparison to PWM, optimal responses to the bacterial sonicates required very few monocytes (0.3% of the total cultured cells). Restoration of monocytes to physiological levels resulted in suppression of the response. PWM-stimulated responses were optimal at 5 to 15% monocyte content and were abolished after monocyte depletion. Individuals who were low responders or nonresponders to bacterial sonicates responded at normal levels after manipulation of monocyte concentration. Nonresponders produced normal levels of antibody when the monocyte concentration was reduced to 0.3% but were inhibited after monocyte reconstitution. The effects of monocyte concentration were tested over a wide dose range of bacterial sonicate and found to conform to the observed pattern throughout the dose range tested (10 to 1,000 micrograms/ml). The contrasting monocyte requirement of peripheral blood lymphocytes stimulated with PWM versus bacterial sonicates may reflect a quantitative difference in optimal macrophage concentration or may be due to a qualitative difference in lymphocyte-monocyte interactions in response to these activators.

Adult↗

Autoimmunity in immunopathology.

When the immune system fails to discriminate foreign microorganisms from the body's own tissue, an autoimmune disease may result. The association of immunologic disease with the histocompatibility system, the laboratory findings of autoimmune diseases, and the techniques used to evaluate these diseases are highlighted.

Addison Disease↗

Polyclonal B-cell activation induced by extracts of Gram-negative bacteria isolated from periodontally diseased sites.

The objective of this research was to determine whether gram-negative bacteria frequently isolated from periodontally diseased sites contained polyclonal B-cell activators. Polyclonal B-cell activation, which results in nonspecific activation of multiple B-cell clones was analyzed by a hemolysis-in-gel assay designed to detect a broad range of antibody specificities. Extracts from numerous bacterial strains, including Bacteroides gingivalis, Bacteroides melaninogenicus subsp. melaninogenicus, B. melaninogenicus subsp. intermedius, Fusobacterium nucleatum, Selenomonas sputigena, Capnocytophaga ochracea, and Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans, were tested. Extracts of the above organisms were found to stimulate polyclonal antibody responses in cultures of normal human peripheral blood lymphocytes, although the magnitude of stimulation varied among the extracts. Optimal antibody-forming cell responses were found at stimulator doses between 5 and 1,000 micrograms/ml. We conclude that the resident gram-negative subgingival flora associated with periodontal lesions possesses potent polyclonal B-cell activators. These activators may contribute to disease pathogenesis by inducing B lymphocytes to produce antibody, osteolytic factors, or both and possibly other mediators of inflammation.

Actinobacillus↗

Previous pregnancy outcome is an important determinant of subsequent pregnancy outcome in women with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Women with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) have increased adverse pregnancy outcomes. The reasons for these problems include maternal disease, clinical or serologic activity, medication use, and residual organ impairment from prior disease flares. In retrospective studies, pregnancy data are often treated cross-sectionally, with births rather than mothers as the unit of analysis. Multiple pregnancies from the same mother may be highly correlated with each other. In an unmatched retrospective study, the first two pregnancy outcomes in lupus patients with anticardiolipin antibody (anti-CL IgG or IgM isotype) (cases N = 47) and without anticardiolipin antibody (controls, N = 125) were assessed according to birth order. A good outcome was defined as a full-term (> 38 weeks) live birth without neonatal complications. All other pregnancy outcomes were considered adverse outcomes. Therapeutic abortions and ectopic or molar pregnancies were excluded. Both cases and controls with an adverse outcome in their first pregnancy had at least a 50% chance of another adverse outcome in their second pregnancy. Cases with a late miscarriage (fetal loss at 14 to 20 weeks' gestation) in their first pregnancy had the highest risk, 80%, of an adverse outcome in their second pregnancy. Both previous pregnancy loss and anti-CL antibody status should be considered in the analysis of pregnancy outcomes in women with SLE.

Antibodies, Anticardiolipin↗