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Biomedical subjects

A Shahin

Publications and source records attributed to A Shahin.

13 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1995

[Renal tubular dysgenesis].

Renal tubular dysgenesis (RTD) is a very rare malformation, only 24 cases having been described. We present the case of twins born after 28 weeks gestation to a newly-arrived Ethiopian immigrant in whom oligohydramnios was diagnosed when she was admitted. 1 twin had developed polyhydramnios, died before birth and was born with hydrops fetalis. The other newborn suffered from pulmonary distress and anuria, and died 2 days after birth. At autopsy there were no apparent changes in the kidneys or urinary tract, but histological examination showed absence of proximal convoluted tubules. This was attributed to RTD and confirmed by histochemical examination.

Diseases in Twins↗
PubMed1990

An investigation of patients with pulmonary tuberculosis in Kuwait in preparation for studies of immunotherapy with Mycobacterium vaccae.

Sixty-five patients, many of them immigrant to Kuwait, with bacteriologically proven, adult type, pulmonary tuberculosis were studied by many parameters over the 4 months following diagnosis. Twelve were infected with tubercle bacilli resistant to at least one anti-tuberculosis drug. Preliminary evidence suggested that this was frequently primary resistance in patients infected in their countries of origin. The Kuwaiti environment results in very high skin test and lymphocyte proliferative responses (LTT) to shared and species specific antigens of mycobacteria in healthy persons. In comparison, patients with tuberculosis lacked cellular responses to group i and group ii antigens, but had increased IgG and IgA binding to mycobacterial antigens in general. LTT responses to added interleukin 2, and production of alpha interferon, were normal in our patients, but induction of gamma interferon in response to phytohaemagglutinin was reduced initially, rising towards normal during treatment. Biochemical and haematological abnormalities present at the time of diagnosis rapidly corrected. The disease differed from that reported in most previous studies in that fever was uncommon, the disease was never fatal, and most tuberculin tests were not necrotising. This implied that a detrimental immunopathological component is less pronounced in those exposed to the Kuwaiti environment, and a hypothesis is put forward to explain this.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Immunotherapy with Mycobacterium vaccae as an adjunct to chemotherapy in the treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis.

47 patients with adult-type pulmonary tuberculosis attending the Chest Diseases Hospital in Kuwait were given a single injection of 10(9) irradiation-killed M. vaccae after 1 month of a 9-month course of chemotherapy. The patients were followed-up for 3 more months in double blind comparison with 65 patients given an injection of saline (placebo). The immunotherapeutic injection produced a small local lesion in 44/47 patients, 18 of which ulcerated and produced small scars. Immunotherapy made no measurable difference to the bacteriological, biochemical, haematological, or radiological parameters measured. However it was associated with significantly improved weight gain, reduced size of skin test response to Tuberculin, increased lymphocyte proliferation to common mycobacterial antigens, and increased antibody levels to mycobacterial antigens. The changes in skin test and LTT responses were related and occurred in 29% of patients whose recognition of common mycobacterial antigens returned to normal. The remaining patients did not differ in these respects from those receiving placebo. The proportion of patients whose responses were improved was very similar to that achieved using the same immunotherapeutic agent in a group of treated multibacillary leprosy patients.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Improved immunotherapy for pulmonary tuberculosis with Mycobacterium vaccae.

We previously demonstrated that a single intradermal injection of 10(9) irradiation-killed M. vaccae, given 1 month after starting chemotherapy, caused significant changes in responses to mycobacterial antigens. Amongst 38 patients with pulmonary tuberculosis, 29% had lymphocytes responding to common myocobacterial antigens after the injection, compared with only 11% of 49 similar patients after an injection of saline (p less than 0.03). To increase the proportion of responders to these antigens, six modifications of the potentially immunotherapeutic injection, randomized with injections of saline, have been assessed by biochemical, clinical, haematological, immunological and radiological criteria. Subsequent lymphocyte proliferation to mycobacterial antigens enabled the modifications to be ranked in order of efficacy. Tuberculin plus murabutide plus 10(9) irradiated M. vaccae (36% of 25), an autoclaved preparation of 10(9) M. vaccae (45% of 22), and 2 x 10(9) irradiated M. vaccae (75% of 12) were the most effective. Antibody responses in several IgG subclasses to mycobacteria, but not streptococci, were also significantly increased by the most effective modifications over the 8 weeks following injection. Detailed radiological study showed that use of the autoclaved bacilli was followed by a delay in clearing of consolidation, but by better closing of cavities than was found in the control group, suggesting enhanced, or altered, immunological activity around the lesions.

Acetylmuramyl-Alanyl-Isoglutamine↗
PubMed1989

HLA-DR and tuberculin tests in rheumatoid arthritis and tuberculosis.

Responses to four new tuberculins were found to be significantly reduced in 46 patients with rheumatoid arthritis in comparison with a control group of 79. Except for tuberculin itself, the same was found in 111 patients with tuberculosis. In common with patients with tuberculosis and leprosy, those with rheumatoid arthritis did not respond to common mycobacterial (group i) antigen. Three DR haplotypes were found to have significant effects on skin test responsiveness of the rheumatoid patients but had little or no effect on that of the patients with tuberculosis and none on that of the healthy control group. Rheumatoid patients with the HLA-DR4 haplotype had significantly greater responses to all four reagents than did non-DR4 patients, but their responses to leprosin A and scrofulin remained significantly lower than those of the control group. Possession of HLA-DR3 haplotype was associated with skin test positivity approaching normal, but the sizes of responses were reduced. Possession of DR7 was associated with an unexpected reduction in skin test positivity, especially in the case of tuberculin. These results support the hypothesis that mycobacteria, or autoantigens cross reactive with mycobacteria, may be involved in the aetiology of rheumatoid arthritis. The results also show that the regulation and specificity of responsiveness to mycobacterial antigens are different in patients with rheumatoid arthritis with different HLA-DR haplotypes.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

HLA-DR-associated isotype-specific regulation of antibody levels to mycobacteria in rheumatoid arthritis.

Using sera from 75 healthy donors, 68 rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients, and 85 tuberculosis (TB) patients, we have examined the level of antibody of the three major classes binding to seven mycobacterial species, and to three control antigens. The major findings are that IgM binding to mycobacteria is reduced in RA patients who have HLA-DR7 (P = 0.008 for M. tuberculosis antigen), and that IgA binding to mycobacteria is reduced in RA patients who have HLA-DR2 (P = 0.007 for M. tuberculosis; P = 0.0004 for M. nonchromogenicum). These associations were not seen in TB, and were restricted to these antibody isotypes. We believe this is the first report of isotype specific Class II MHC-associated regulation of antibody levels in man. A possible interpretation of our data is that patients bearing these haplotypes are recognizing suppressor epitopes common to all the mycobacterial species tested. Since DR2 and DR7 have recently been shown to be associated with a significantly reduced risk of RA, our findings are compatible with the view that changes in immune responsiveness to mycobacterial antigens, or to autoantigens which cross-react with them, are relevant to RA.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Ultrastructural abnormalities of the liver in total lipodystrophy.

We present the results of light and electron microscopy studies of the liver in an 8-year-old girl with congenital total lipodystrophy. Liver histology revealed cirrhosis, and ultrastructural study showed mitochondrial abnormalities and an increase in the number of peroxisomes. A potential relationship between the high fatty acid concentration in the serum and the peroxisomal proliferation is considered.

Child↗
PubMed1984

Lead poisoning in a West Bank Arab Village.

Eleven patients from the West Bank village of Es-Sawiyeh were admitted with lead poisoning to two Jerusalem hospitals between November 1982 and January 1983. They all belonged to several households of a single large family. Colicky abdominal pains were present in five patients, weakness in four, behavioral changes ranging from irritability to frank psychosis in four, and paralysis in one. Anemia of various degrees was seen in all patients. Basophilic stippling and reticulocytosis were encountered in all patients with moderate to severe anemia. Therapy with edetate disodium calcium and penicillamine resulted in clinical improvement in all patients. A preliminary survey of 270 subjects in the same village disclosed 84 subjects with abnormally elevated blood lead levels, 17 of whom had grade IV lead burden according to the Centers for Disease Control risk classification. Contamination of homemade flour by lead used for stabilizing the metal parts of stone mills was the source of poisoning. As the method of milling in many West Bank villages is similar, these findings may have important implications to the well being of a large section of the rural West Bank population.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

[Lead poisoning].

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1981

[Infectious endocarditis in idiopathic hypertrophic subaortic stenosis. Report of a case (author's transl)].

A case is reported of aortic valve endocarditis in a 53 year-old female patient with idiopathic hypertrophic subaortic stenosis. Emphasis is made on the value of ultrasonography in the diagnosis of both conditions. Ecography has also prognostic interest when big vegetations are found. A comment is made on the need for early surgical replacement of the aortic valve when valvular insufficiency is present.

Aortic Valve↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Renal tubular dysgenesis present in a newborn with meconium ileus.

The combination of renal tubular dysgenesis (RTD) and meconium ileus in a native Israeli is presented for the first time. The clinical diagnosis was oligohydramnios and abruptio placentae, respiratory failure, and anuria refractory to treatment. The autopsy revealed meconium ileus and meconium peritonitis. RTD was established by the detection of a monomorphous undifferentiated population of tubules, absence of proximal tubules, and dense epithelial membrane antigen immunoreactivity of all tubules. The lack of alpha 1-antitrypsin- and lysozyme-immunoreactive tubules was first revealed in the kidney with RTD. These findings extend the possibilities of RTD detection.

Fibrosis↗