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B Pirofsky

Publications and source records attributed to B Pirofsky.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1978

Immunologic aspects of malignancy.

Animal experimental studies and clinical observations closely relate the development and course of malignancy with immune function. The immune apparatus serves as a homeostatic system capable of recognizing "sell" from "non-self." Neoplasia is characterized by new surface components against which immune reactivity may be directed. Subpopulations of lymphocytes are stimulated by such tumor antigens leading to both humoral and cellular responses. Immunodeficiency, the surveillance role of immune responses, and immune competition are intimately concerned with the eventual outcome of the malignant state. These concepts are examined as supplying the theoretical background for development of new therapeutic procedures. Immunotherapy in the future may offer the most effective means of controlling the neoplastic state.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

Immunosuppressive therapy for severe chronic uveitis.

Twenty-five patients with severe, progressive, chronic uveitis who were poorly responsive or unresponsive to corticosteroid therapy received low-dose prednisone and cytotoxic immunosuppressive therapy. Azathioprine (2.0 to 2.5 mg/kg) or chlorambucil (6 to 8 mg) was combined with prednisone (10 to 15 mg) daily in a long-term therapeutic program. All 25 patients exhibited a therapeutic response. In 18 of 25 patients, complete quiescence of the inflammatory process was observed. The remaining seven patients showed a substantial decrease of uveitis with persistence of some inflammatory changes. Adverse side effects that resulted from this therapy were infrequent.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1978

When autoimmune hemolytic anemia complicates chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Autoimmune hemolytic anemia often develops in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, particularly elderly women. It is heralded by a drop in the hematocrit, elevation of reticulocytes, development of jaundice, or a rise in the indirect fraction of serum bilirubin. Evidence of hemolysis supports the diagnosis, and a positive result of the Coombs test confirms it. Survival time is considerably shorter in patients who have both diseases than in those with chronic lymphocytic leukemia alone. Presenting symptoms in patients with the two diseases may include weakness, dizziness, fever, or hemorrhagic phenomena. If the anemia is severe, palpitations, otic pulsations, and cardiac decompensation are common. Physical examination may show enlargement of reticuloendothelial structures. On the other hand, some patients may be essentially asymptomatic. The hemolytic process must be treated as a separate entity, as even vigorous treatment of the leukemia often does not control it. Corticosteroid therapy is preferred, with splenectomy as a second line of defense. If the patient is not a good surgical risk, chemotherapy should be considered. Transfusions are usually incompatible but should be risked if progressive congestive failure, neurologic disturbance, angina, or signs of an impending infarct are present.

Aged↗
PubMed1977

Silent renal involvement in systemic lupus erythematosus.

20 patients with active SLE without clinical evidence of renal involvement underwent percutaneous renal biopsy. 12 had varying proliferative changes on light microscopy. Of 19 ultrastructural examinations performed only 3 had no electron-dense deposits. Serum C3 and C4 levels were 63 +/- 8 and 8 +/- 2 mg% in patients with subendothelial deposits, compared to 142 +/- 27 and 27 +/- 6 mg%, respectively, in patients without deposits (p less than 0.01). All patients with diffuse proliferative changes had subendothelial deposits; however, one with normal light microscopy and another with focal proliferation also had them. It is concluded that no variant of lupus nephropathy can be excluded on clinical grounds alone.

Blood Urea Nitrogen↗
PubMed1976

Immunologic studies of human plasma cells.

Purified plasma cell suspensions were produced from 3 subjects with malignant plasma cell disease. Various physical, biological, and immunological properties of these cells were studied. Neoplastic human plasmablasts were found to be denser than their mature forms, in contrast to the usual relationship of the lymphoid, myeloid, and erythroid series. The human plasma cells did not respond to phytohemagglutinin stimulation and were found to be weakly reactive in mixed lymphocyte-plasma cell cultures. Potent antisera was produced against such cells, and the antisera demonstrated a broad cross reactivity with various human lymphocyte populations. The data suggest a lymphoid origin for human plasma cells and possibly a specific relationship to B-type lymphocytes.

Cross Reactions↗
PubMed1976

Clinical and bronchial provocation studies in patients with meatwrappers' asthma.

Reactive airway disease has been meatwrappers employing polyvinyl chloride (PVC) soft wrap film and thermally activated price labels. Sixty-nine percent of 96 meatwrappers responding to a mail survey had work-related respiratory, mucous membrane, or systemic complaints. Smokers developed more pronounced symptoms than nonsmokers. Work-simulated bronchial provocation tests were carried out in 14 symptomatic meatwrappers. Following a 3-hr exposure to polyvinyl chloride fumes, 3 of 11 workers developed a mean decrease of 25% in FEV, and 7 of 11 workers developed a mean decrease of 13 mm Hg in their PaO2. Following a 30-sec to 20-min exposure to price label adhesive fumes, 9 of13 workers developed a mean decrease of 49% in FEV1 and 12 of 13 developed a mean decrease of 20 mm Hg in their PaO2. Though a hypersensitivity reaction to one or more components in PVC or price label adhesive emissions is suspected, the precise pathogenesis of this syndrome remains unknown. The entire spectrum of meatwrappers' syndrome must be interpreted as a complex response to both PVC and price label adhesive fume exposure.

Adult↗
PubMed1976

Antigen heterogeneity of human B and T lymphocytes.

Rhesus monkeys were immunized with normal human lymphoid cells, cultured lymphoid cells, and chronic leukemic lymphocytes. Antisera were analyzed by cytotoxicity and immunofluorescence techniques to study the antigenic characteristics of human lymphocytes. In an attempt to obtain a reagent specifically reactive with T (thymus-derived) lymphocytes, an antispleen antiserum was absorbed with cellf from five B- (bone marrow-derived) cell lines. After absorption, the antiserum killed 60-75% of peripheral blood lymphocytes and 40-50% of tonsil cells, so that there was a relationship between the percentage of killed cells and the proportion of T lymphocytes. However, when cells after cytotoxic treatment were assayed for rosette formation with sheep erythrocytes (a T-cell marker) 5-20% of viable rosette-forming lymphocytes were found. Therefore, this antiserum was cytotoxic for only 75-90% of T cells. From studies performed with antisera prepared against spleen and B-cell lines, we conclude that lymphoblastoid cells are antigenically different and deficient in comparison to normal B lymphocytes. In addition, cultured B-cell lines appear to be antigenically heterogenous, as shown by the cytotoxic activity remaining in antispleen and anti-B-cell lines sera after absorption with various numbers and types of lymphoid cell lines. After absorption with normal lymphocytes, an antiserum produced against chronic lymphatic leukemia cells had specific activity associated with 12 chronic lymphatic leukemia cells tested. Absorption of the same antiserum with leukemic cells from two patients showed that a certain degree of antigenic heterogeneity also exists among chronic leukemic lymphocytes.

Agammaglobulinemia↗
PubMed1976

Antithymocyte antiserum therapy in myasthenia gravis.

The therapeutic effect of goat anti-human thymocyte antiserum globulin (ATG) was assessed in 10 patients with myasthenia gravis. Prolonged, low dose therapy was used with 1-0--1-6 grams protein administered intramuscularly over a 28-73 day period. Varying degrees of therapeutic response were noted in 8 patients. Fllow-up examinations for over 5 years have been maintained and relapse rates determined. The clinical criteria for aptients selection and characteristics of therapeutic response are presented.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1976

Digital ischemia and gangrene preceding renal neoplasm. An association with sarcomatoid adenocarcinoma of the kidney.

A 63-year-old woman had acute onset of rapidly progressive Raynaud phenomenon and digital gangrene. Prior to the detection of a sarcomatoid renal carcinoma, prominemt hypergammaglobulinemia, microhematuria, and weight loss were noted. Following nephrectomy, the patient showed improvement of the Raynaud phenomenon, with complete healing of digital ulcers and decrease of gama-globulin levels. Immunofluroescence studies demonstrated substantial deposits of IgG that lined the tumor cells in a linear and diffuse pattern. Electron-dense deposits were seen in the endothelium of arterioles int the tumor by electron microscopy. These findings suggest that antibodies to tumor antigens may have participated in the induction of digital vasculitis and Raynaud phenomenon.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed1976

Antilymphocyte antiserum effect on incidence of spontaneous malignancy. I. Long term treated mice.

Long term potent immunosuppression was administered to normal 7-week-old BALB/c mice without exogenous neoplastic induction. Antilymphocyte antiserum was given biweekly for 8 weeks and azathioprine daily for 347 days. Significant immunodepression was demonstrated after 348 days of theraphy. After 2 years, all animals were sacrificed and examined for neoplasia. There was no evidence that such immunodepression increased the incidence of spontaneous malignancy. The study suggests that immunosuppressive therapy is not inately oncogenic.

Animals↗
PubMed1975

The prognostic and therapeutic implications of DNA:anti-DNA immune complexes in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

Serum samples serially obtained from 50 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) were studied for antibody to deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and circulating DNA:anti-DNA complexes during the active and inactive phases of their disease. The patients were divided into four categories: Group I: six patients without clinical evidence of central nervous system (CNS) or renal involvement. Group II: three patients with CNS lupus. Group III: nine patients with normal urinalyses and glomerular filtration rates, but morphologic evidence of glomerular disease. Group IV: 32 patients with overt lupus nephritis. Elevated anti-DNA levels were observed in 16 of 18 patients (88 per cent) in groups I, II and III during active disease. This persisted in 14 (77 per cent) during remission. DNA:anti-DNA complexes were demonstrated in four of 18 (22 per cent) during active disease and disappeared in all but one patient with progressive disease. In 30 of the 32 patients (94 per cent) in group IV, DNA binding was increased during active disease; this persisted in 21 (70 per cent) despite remission. Complexes were observed in 25 of the patients in group IV (78 per cent) with active disease. In six of these patients, complexes have persisted; two have died, one has progressed to renal failure and the remaining three patients continue to manifest active disease. This study suggests that measurement of DNA:anti-DNA complexes provides a valuable additional index of disease activity and prognosis in SLE.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1975

The effect of oxisuran on human immunological responsiveness.

Immunological function was evaluated in 9 patients who received oxisuran at a dose range of 5-90 mg/kg, for periods of 5-40 weeks. Bone marrow cytotoxicity and lymphopenia did not occur. Established humoral immunological reactions were unaffected by oxisuran. Only 6 of 19 previously positive skin tests reverted to negative. Primary cellular immune reactivity was markedly suppressed. Allogenic skin graft survival was prolonged to a mean of 30.7 days and only 2 of 9 patients were successfully sensitized to dinitrochlorobenzene and Keyhole limpet hemocyanin, respectively. Both IgG and IgM responses to primary typhoid immunization were inhibited. In vitro peripheral blood lymphocyte activity in phytohemagglutinin and mixed lymphocyte culture tests remained normal. These data suggest that oxisuran interferes with the afferent limb of the immune system and may thereby be clinically useful in human transplantation.

Adult↗
PubMed1975

Immune haemolytic disease: the autoimmune haemolytic anaemias.

The autoimmune haemolytic anaemias are common syndromes, with protean clinical features reflecting a variety of significant associated diseases. A diagnosis of this state should alert the clinician to the possibility of an aberrant immune mechanism. Years may elapse between development of the haemolytic process and the eventurl emergence of the entire disease pattern. The haemolytic anaemia should be considered as the easily diagnosed part of a complex, multisystem disease resulting from malfunction of the immune apparatus. Therapy can be exceedingly difficult. The following outline is suggested as a general approach: 1. Start prednisone 60 mg daily. If a therapeutic response occurs, continue this dosage until the haematocrit reaches 30 per cent. A slow but progressive reduction should then be initiated. 2. If prednisone dosages greater than 15 mg daily are required to maintain the remission, treat as a therapeutic failure. 3. If no response occurs after one week of prednisone, start azathioprine 2.0 to 2.5 mg/kg. 4. If no response is apparent after two additional weeks (three weeks of prednisone), progressively reduce and eventually discontinue prednisone. 5. If no response occurs after a total of four weeks of azathioprine, one of two alternative therapies should be started: (a) perform splenectomy, or (b) increase azathioprine by 25 mg daily, every one to two weeks, until either a response occurs or reduced bone marrow function is observed. 6. If azathioprine and splenectomy both fail, experimental therapies such as antithymocyte antiserum or thymectomy should be considered. 7. Transfusions are to be used only as temporary paliation in life-threatening neurological or cardiovascular complications.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1975

Recent advances in the immunopathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic multisystem inflammatory disease having definite etiologic associations with ethnic, genetic, viral and immunologic factors. Its pathologic hallmark, vasculitis, is currently felt to be the end result of an immune-complex mechanism. Several clinical and serologic variants of SLE are recognized including discoid lupus erythematosus (DLE), mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD) and drug-induced equivalents-such as procainamide-induced lupus (PIL). The distinguishing features of these variants as well as their prognosis and therapy are discussed in relation to recent developments in the immunopathogenesis of SLE.

Animals↗