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Biomedical subjects

A C Ferguson

Publications and source records attributed to A C Ferguson.

10 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Correlation of bronchial eosinophil and mast cell activation with bronchial hyperresponsiveness in children with asthma.

Bronchial hyperresponsiveness in asthma has been associated with increased numbers of eosinophils and mast cells in the bronchial airway. It is unclear if these cells are important in the pathogenesis of hyperresponsiveness, and the role of mast cells has been discounted because they are effectively stabilized by beta-adrenergic drugs. Because the pathogenesis of asthma in children may be different from that in adults, and to find out if cellular activation is associated with bronchial reactivity, we studied 17 children with mild to moderately severe chronic asthma who had been treated with intermittent brochodilator therapy and compared their bronchial responsiveness to histamine with the levels of eosinophil cationic protein and mast cell tryptase in broncholavage fluid. The number of eosinophils in lavage fluid was correlated with histamine responsiveness (r = -0.444, p < 0.05) but not with levels of cationic protein (r = 0.33, p = NS). Bronchial responsiveness to histamine was highly correlated with mast cell tryptase (r = -0.714, p < 0.005), but there was no correlation with eosinophil cationic protein (r = -0.355, p = NS). We conclude that in children with chronic asthma mast cells as well as eosinophils contribute to bronchial hyperresponsiveness. Activated mast cells may play a primary role, possibly by tryptase-induced upregulation of bronchial smooth muscle tone.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Reduction of seating pressure using FES in patients with spinal cord injury. A preliminary report.

The aim of this study was to investigate the use of functional electrical stimulation (FES) as a means of pressure sore prevention in seated spinal cord injured (SCI) subjects. Nine SCI subjects took part in tests in which electrical stimulation was applied to the quadriceps with the lower legs restrained. Ischial pressures were measured during periods of quiet sitting and FES application. A strain gauged lever arm was used to measure the knee moment during quadriceps stimulation. The average pressure drop at the right and left buttocks was 44 mmHg and 27 mmHg respectively. In general the greatest reductions occurred in subjects with larger knee moments; however, there was no direct relationship between the pressure reduction obtained and the quadriceps strength. This form of FES may be useful as a prophylactic aid in the management of pressure sores in SCI subjects.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Bronchial hyperresponsiveness in asthmatic children. Correlation with macrophages and eosinophils in broncholavage fluid.

Bronchial responsiveness assessed by histamine bronchial challenge testing in 22 children with chronic stable asthma was compared with the number of inflammatory cells per milliliter of broncholavage fluid obtained by fiberoptic bronchoscopy. Hyperresponsiveness was closely correlated with increased counts of eosinophils and macrophages and with the ratio of eosinophils to macrophages. There was no correlation of neutrophil or lymphocyte counts with bronchial hyperresponsiveness and none of the cell types was correlated with airway obstruction. Our findings support the hypotheses that macrophages may be important in the development of bronchial hyperresponsiveness in children with asthma and that they may modulate bronchial responsiveness both directly and by recruitment of eosinophils.

Asthma↗
PubMed1989

A comparison of chiropractic, medical and osteopathic care for work-related sprains and strains.

The cost of care and the number of days lost because of work injury were analyzed from information gathered in a postal card survey sent to all Iowa back or neck injury claimants (sprain/strain) on record for 1984. Descriptive findings for the flow of care of the respondents were evaluated and a comparison made of the benefits and costs of care received by patients treated by chiropractic doctors (DCs), medical doctors (MDs) or osteopathic doctors (DOs). The analysis focused on those workers who lost enough time from work to qualify for compensation (4 days or more), whose cases were closed and who received all their care from one health professional. For those who received care from DCs (n = 266), the mean number of compensated days lost from work was at least 2.3 days less than for those who were treated by MDs (n = 494; p less than 0.025) and at least 3.8 days less than for those who were treated by DOs (n = 102; p less than 0.025). Consequently, much less money in employment compensation was paid, on the average, to those who saw DCs. Findings on provider care costs are less clear-cut because care-cost data on only a portion of the cases was recorded on the State records used. For the data available, the median provider cost was highest for patients who saw DCs, but the mean was highest for those who saw MDs. The study showed that 38% of claimants did change doctors. When change of provider occurred, days lost from work and cost of care varied widely across the care options, but generally, fewer workdays were lost and lower amounts of disability compensation and provider cost paid when chiropractic was included in the care pattern.

Absenteeism↗
PubMed1978

Cellular immunity and nutrition in refractory disseminated blastomycosis.

In a previously healthy 13-year-old girl with disseminated blastomycosis, immunodeficiency was considered because of lymphopenia and the slow response of her lung disease to therapy with amphotericin B. Cellular immunity was found to be profoundly impaired, with absent delayed cutaneous hypersensitivity to several common antigens, a decreased count of thymus-dependent lymphocytes in the peripheral blood and a greatly diminished in-vitro proliferative response of lymphocytes to phytohemagglutinin (PHA). Humoral immunity was intact. Two additional types of therapy were assessed: subcutaneous injection of transfer factor was associated with an unsustained increase in lymphocyte counts and a positive cutaneous response to PHA but no clinical change; parenteral alimentation to ensure an adequate energy intake was associated with rapid clinical improvement, the development of delayed hypersensitivity to four additional antigens, and the return of lymphocyte counts and proliferative response to normal. These findings suggest that increased energy intake rather than transfer factor therapy was responsible for the child's recovery, and they emphasize the importance of adequate nutrition in the maintenance of intact cellular immunity.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1978

Prolonged impairment of cellular immunity in children with intrauterine growth retardation.

Cellular immunity was studied in 17 newborn infants, in eight children aged 1 to 5 years with intrauterine growth retardation, and in age-matched control subjects. At birth T and B peripheral blood lymphocytes were decreased, and delayed cutaneous hypersensitivity to phytohemagglutinin was diminished. In vitro PHA-induced lymphocyte proliferation was similar to that in control subjects but was greater than in healthy adults. In later childhood the numbers of T lymphocytes were normal, but their proliferative capacity was significantly reduced and cutaneous hypersensitivity was minimal or absent. Prolonged impairment of cellular immunity in these children may explain their increased susceptibility to infection and inadequate response to immunization, and predispose to the development of allergic, autoimmune, and neoplastic disease.

Aging↗
PubMed1977

Correlation of cutaneous hypersensitivity with lymphocytic response to Candida albicans.

The relationship between delayed cutaneous hypersensitivity to Candida albicans and in-vitro lymphocytic proliferative response using a highly sensitive micro-technic was studied in 26 healthy adult subjects and six children with chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis. The maximum in-vitro lymphocytic proliferative response in adult subjects with cutaneous hypersensitivity, 18.94 +/- 4.16 (SE), was significantly greater than that in those without cutaneous reactions, 2.49 +/- 0.45 (SE) (P less than 0.005). A close correlation was found between cutaneous hypersensitivity (mean diameter of induration at 48 hours) and in-vitro lymphocytic proliferative response (r = 0.73, P less than 0.001). A cutaneous reaction of 5 mm or more of induration after injection of 0.1 ml of 1:100 Candida albicans extract corresponded to an in-vitro lymphocytic proliferative index of 5 or more (P less than 0.005), which supports the previously empiric use of 5 mm of induration as an indicator of intact cellular immunity in clinical practice. In the children with chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis, no consistent relationship between cutaneous hypersensitivity and lymphocytic proliferative response was found. Administration of Levamisole resulted in increased lymphocytic proliferation in vitro, and the development of cutaneous hypersensitivity, suggesting potentiation of cellular immune function.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1977

Serotonin metabolism in cystic fibrosis.

The average blood serotonin level of 67 children with cystic fibrosis was found to be about twice that of age-matched normal children. There was no corresponding increase in the urinary excretion of 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA). Children with cystic fibrosis were well able to metabolize serotonin taken by mouth. No significant correlations were found between the blood serotonin level and the platelet count, height, weight, skinfold thickness, and pulmonary function test, 5 out of 44 patients had raised serum IgE levels, and their mean blood serotonin was higher than in those with normal IgE levels. No explanation for this emerged. Comparable findings (raised blood serotonin normal platelet count, normal urinary 5-HIAA) have been reported only in severe mental retardation. Further study of this phenomenon is warranted because (a) a raised blood serotonin level is sufficiently characteristic of cystic fibrosis to explore its use in diagnosis, and (b) it may help to explain the pathogenesis of cystic fibrosis and (c) the metabolism and function of serotonin.

Adolescent↗