Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to A G Kulkarni.
A middle aged female suffering from idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), on treatment with steroids, developed bronchopneumonia and pyopneumothorax due to opportunistic infection by Nocardia asteroides. Aspirates obtained from the lungs, liver, spleen, kidneys and bone marrow were positive for Nocardia asteroides, confirming disseminated infection in an immunocompromised host. The patient succumbed to the infection.
A case of primary intramuscular cold abscess in the left deltoid region is described. There was no underlying bone lesion in relation to cervical or thoracic spine, shoulder joint or upper humerus, and clavicle. It is postulated that the cold abscess might have developed as a result of reactivation of BCG lesion when the patient received a fresh dose of tubercular bacilli which produced only lymph node enlargement in the mediastinum because of the partial immunity the patient had.
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Membrane-bound erythrocyte surface sialic acid concentrations in sickle-cell human patients (SS) and in control patients with sickle-cell trait (AS) and normal genes (AA) were assayed. The erythrocyte sialic acid concentration was significantly (P less than 0.001) higher in sickle-cell patients than in non-sicklers and although the concentration was higher in AS than AA individuals the difference was not significant (P greater than 0.05). The anaemic state of the SS patients was shown by a significantly (P less than 0.001) lower PCV than in non-sicklers. This finding is discussed in relation to membrane toughness and subsequent membrane loss leading to irreversible sickling of red cells in the deoxygenated state.
Screening for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (LAV/HTLV-III) antibodies in 3 blood donor populations from India (n = 1,000), Nigeria (n = 500) and Thailand (n = 650; sampling in 1982) with a sensitive enzyme immunoassay (EIA; Abbott) yielded seropositivity rates of 0.5, 2.2 and 1.7%, respectively. Two EIAs with control antigens prepared from uninfected cell cultures ('ELAVIA', VIRGO'), a recombinant Escherichia coli DNA EIA ('ENV/CORE'), Western blot, an immunofluorescence assay and a radio-immunoprecipitation assay confirmed none of the EIA-reactive specimens as truly positive. The lack of specificity of the screening test was also attributable to monochromatic evaluation of the test trays at 492 nm only, and to reactivities against determinants of H9 cells used to grow HIV (HLA antibodies).
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Antibodies to HTLV-I have been detected in sera from 15 (2.0%) of 736 adult blood-donors in Nigeria, in 4 (20.0%) of 20 patients with chronic lymphatic leukaemia, 3 (10.0%) of 30 with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, one of 12 with Burkitt's lymphoma and one of 7 with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. The frequency of positivity was higher (3.6%) in the blood-donors from the guinea and wooded savanna of northern Nigeria than in those from the rain-forest and mangrove swamps of southern Nigeria (1.8% in Lagos and 0.7% in Calabar). Two of the 3 seropositive patients with lymphoma had clinical presentation and courses similar to those of Japanese and Caribbean patients with adult T-cell leukaemia/lymphoma.
Seven hundred cord blood samples were screened for the presence of abnormal haemoglobins by haemoglobin electrophoresis using the cellulose acetate paper electrophoresis technique at pH 8.6. The commonest abnormal haemoglobin was haemoglobin S (HbS), which was detected in 158 (22.57%) samples of which 20 (2.85%) were homozygous. HbC was present in 16 (2.28%) samples 42 (6%) had a fast-moving haemoglobin (HbBarts), and an additional five had only foetal haemoglobin (HbF). The tribal and ethnic distribution of these abnormal haemoglobins was in line with that described earlier by other workers. Attempts to follow up the babies with homozygous HbS, HbC and HbF were not successful.
1,860 serum samples of blood donors from northern Nigeria were tested for the presence of the hepatitis B surface antigen. 8.9% of them were found to be positive. Significant differences in frequency were observed amongst various ethnic groups as well as ABO blood groups.
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ABO and Rhesus blood group data were analysed from 43187 blood donors belonging to 34 ethnic groups, predominantly from northern Nigeria. This is the largest series to be reported on from the whole of West Africa. Group O was found in 46.6% of all those examined, but the numbers varied from 33.13% to 64.35% in different ethnic groups. Group A was found in 23.05% and Group B in 25.95%, but again there was much variation in the distribution of the blood groups in different ethnic groups. There was an overall frequency of 3.64% of Rhesus negatives, ranging from 1.4% to 8.72% in different ethnic groups. The results provide basic but useful information concerning many ethnic groups whose blood groups have not previously been reported.
Out of 11,480 blood donors, 5,380 (46.9%) belonging to a blood group O were screened for the presence of anti-A and anti-B haemolysins. Strong haemolysins (complete lysis of A and/or B cells) were detected in 1,739 (32.3%) of these blood donors. A striking observation was the high frequency of these haemolysins amongst ethnic groups originating from the southern part of Nigeria. Possible causes and consequences during blood transfusion and pregnancy are discussed.
The A, B, O, D, Du, C, c, E, e, M, N, S, s, Kell and Duffy antigens were determined on 190 blood samples from Hausas in the north of Nigeria. The highest gene frequencies in the rhesus system were cDe (0.648) and cde (0.176). Su gene frequency was 0.270. The great majority of subjects were Kell negative (98.9%) and Duffy negative (98.8%). As the MNSs group determinants are carried by glycophorins, which are also receptor sites for Plasmodium falciparum, and the Duffy antigen marks the receptor for P. vivax, the present study provides data of interest in the epidemiology and genetics of malaria.