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Biomedical subjects

A Backman

Publications and source records attributed to A Backman.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

HLA antigens and atopy in children with coeliac disease.

HLA antigens and various aspects of atopy were studied in 42 Finnish children and adolescents with coeliac disease, and the results were compared with findings of recent population studies. The HLA associations were as expected: relative risks for coeliac disease in individuals with HLA-B8, DR3, and DR7 were 8 . 0, 18 . 6, and 15 . 0, respectively. Children with coeliac disease were significantly more often atopic than unselected schoolchildren. Atopy was significantly more frequent and the onset of coeliac disease later for B8/DR3- patients than B8/DR3+ patients. There was no obvious relation between DR7 and atopy. It is concluded that atopy predisposes to coeliac disease partly independently of the HLA-DR3 associated disease susceptibility gene(s), and that different mechanisms may operate in the pathogenesis in coeliac disease patients with and without atopy.

Adolescent

Birch pollen allergy in children. Role of milk feeding during the first birch season of life.

The effect of exclusive breast-feeding throughout the first birch pollen season of life was examined in 59 children compared to 67 children on cow milk formula and to 27 children weaned to cow milk-based formula during their first birch season. The infants were about 3 months of age in their first birch season, and allergy to birch pollen was evaluated at 5 years of age by history and prick and provocation tests. Breast-feeding throughout the first birch season did not prevent birch pollen allergy; a similar birch allergy prevalence of about 10% was found in children initially fed on human or cow milk. Instead, weaning to cow milk-based formula during the first birch season seemed to protect from subsequent development of birch pollen allergy. Analogous results were obtained regarding allergy to grass pollen. This unexpected finding may be related to the immunologic stress on the young infant provided by introduction of cow milk proteins at an early age.

Animals

Viruses of mycoplasmas and spiroplasmas.

Acholeplasmas, mycoplasmas and spiroplasmas of the class Mollicutes have been shown to carry DNA viruses. Morphologically they occur as rods, polyhedrons with short or long tails and as enveloped spheres. These latter resemble enveloped nonlytic animal viruses and are now placed in the new family of bacterial viruses the Plasmaviridae. Viruses of mycoplasmas and spiroplasmas present a suitable experimental model for studies of the virus-cell interactions.

Acholeplasma

Isolation and preliminary characterisation of mycoplasmavirus 20-P.

A mycoplasmavirus, MV 20-P, was isolated from the fastidious, slow-growing human mycoplasma 20-P, previously identified by the growth inhibition test as Mycoplasma hominis type 2. Its broth culture was ultracentrifuged into 35% saccharose, the pellet was resuspensed in buffer, and the suspension was dropped onto laws of the virus indicator Acholeplasma laidlawii BCL-13. The virus was washed off the plaque areas by buffer. MV 20-P appeared in electron microscopy as spherical, enveloped particles about 80 nm in diameter. It was sensitive to lipid solvents. These preliminary results indicate that MV 20-P is a MVL2 type mycoplasmavirus and possibly the first of human origin.

Adsorption

Secretory otitis media and allergy. With special reference to the cytotoxic leucocyte test.

This study is an investigation on whether allergy, and especially food allergy, is more common in patients with secretory otitis media (SOM) than in others. At the same time, the effectiveness of the cytotoxic leucocyte test (CLT) as an aid in the diagnosis of food allergy was also studied. The material comprised 90 patients: 69 suffering from secretory otitis media and 21 without the disease as controls. Patients were studied using allergy history, ear status, tests for nasal and blood eosinophilic cells, total IgE, skin tests for 20 allergens. RAST for milk and wheat, immunoglobulin A, G and M, precipitating antibodies for milk and gluten. Mantoux test, and the CLT for 23 allergens. Allergy was found in 20% of the SOM patients and 10% of the control patients; the difference was not statistically significant. The best methods for verifying allergy were history, skin tests, and tests for nasal eosinophils cells. Laboratory tests could not verify objectively that food allergy was more common among SOM patients than controls, although 16% of the SOM patients compared with none of the controls had a history of food allergy. Of the tests used, the CLT correlated best with a history of allergy, but the results of the different tests were not in accordance wtih each other.

Adolescent

Children's atopy and mastocytosis in the nasal smear.

Nasal secretion samples from 473 children aged 0--15 years were studied in order to evaluate the role of mast cells in the nasal smear in different types of atopy and food allergy. The occurrence of eosinophils in the nasal secretion and in the blood, and susceptibility to upper respiratory infection were recorded. A mast cell count of more than 20 cells per slide was indicative of atopy and there was a clear correlation between eosinophilia and mastocytosis in the nasal smear. No type of allergy seemed to be significantly predominant in the total material, but in young children aged 0--3 years mastocytosis was clearly related to food allergy. The examination of nasal smears for mast cells is a valuable test in diagnosing atopy in children and especially food allergy among young children. However, the test is not reliable enough to be used as a single screening test.

Adolescent

Morphology of the jejunum in children with eczema due to food allergy.

We report the results of a morphometric study of jejunal biopsy specimens from 18 children with eczema due to food allergy. The measurements were compared with those for 13 age-matched children without gastrointestinal or immunological diseases. The patients' ages ranged from 2 months to 4 years. In 14 the food responsible for the symptoms was cow's milk. During the challenge tests with suspected foods 10 children had skin symptoms only (group I) and eight had gastrointestinal symptoms in addition (group II). Both groups showed a significant decrease in the villus/crypt ratio, mostly due to an increase in crypt depth. The counts of lymphocytes and plasma cells in the lamina propria and of intraepithelial lymphocytes did not differ from those seen in the controls. Four patients had increased counts of jejunal eosinophils, but the mean count for the whole group was not significantly increased. Considered nine measurements only five of the patients had moderate changes in jejunal morphology.

Biopsy

Prolonged breast-feeding as prophylaxis for atopic disease.

54 babies who had been solely breast-fed for more than 6 months, 77 babies who had been breast-fed for 2--6 months, and 105 babies who had been weaned to cow's-milk-based formulas at less than 2 months were followed for the first 3 years of life. All the babies had the same pattern of solid food intake until 1 year of age. Compared with formula feeding, prolonged breast-feeding resulted in a lower incidence of severe or obvious atopic disease particularly in babies with family history of atopy.

Asthma

Wegener's granulomatosis in childhood. A clinical report based on 3 cases.

Wegener's granulomatosis is a very rare disease in children; only 10 cases have been reported in the literature. The present report describes 3 cases where Wegener's granulomatosis developed at an early stage, beginning with upper respiratory tract symptoms. All the 3 children have been successfully treated with a combination of azathioprine and corticosteroids.

Adolescent