Biomedical subjects

E E Lower

Publications and source records attributed to E E Lower.

42 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

PubMed1988

Marrow granulomas in coal workers' pneumoconiosis. A histologic study with elemental analysis.

The differential diagnosis of bone marrow granulomas is lengthy but has not previously included coal workers' pneumoconiosis. This report describes the first case in which noncaseating epithelioid granulomas containing anthracotic pigment and birefringent silica containing crystals were discovered in the marrow of a patient with progressive massive fibrosis of coal workers' pneumoconiosis. The silicotic nature of the crystals was confirmed using energy dispersive x-ray microanalysis. There was no evidence of a mycobacterial, fungal, or other etiology for the granulomas. This case demonstrates that coal workers' pneumoconiosis should be added to the differential diagnosis of bone marrow granulomas and that marrow examination may be a source of tissue for documentation of specific occupational exposures.

Aged↗

PubMed1988

Bleomycin causes alveolar macrophages from cigarette smokers to release hydrogen peroxide.

Alveolar macrophages (AM) were retrieved by bronchoalveolar lavage from 20 patients. Following AM purification by glass adherence, the effect of bleomycin on hydrogen peroxide and lactic dehydrogenase release was assessed by colorimetric methods. All AM from nine nonsmokers had no detectable spontaneous release of hydrogen peroxide. The AM did not release hydrogen peroxide when stimulated with bleomycin (25 mU/mL). AM from all eleven smokers spontaneously released hydrogen peroxide (36 +/- 5.3 nm/10(6) AM, mean +/- SEM). AM from eight of the eleven smokers released more hydrogen peroxide when incubated with bleomycin (smokers 55 +/- 6.8 nm/10(6) AM, p less than 0.05). There was no difference in the amount of lactic dehydrogenase released by AM spontaneously or when incubated with bleomycin at 25 mU/mL, suggesting that this dose of bleomycin was not directly toxic to the AM. Results from this study further support the premise that bleomycin pulmonary toxicity may result from the generation of reactive oxygen metabolites and that cigarette smoking may predispose to bleomycin pulmonary toxicity.

Bleomycin↗

PubMed1988

Spontaneous hydrogen peroxide release from alveolar macrophages of patients with active sarcoidosis: comparison with cigarette smokers.

Alveolar macrophages from patients with active pulmonary sarcoidosis have been shown to secrete several factors, such as interleukin-1 and alveolar macrophage-derived growth factor. We examined alveolar macrophages from nonsmoking patients with sarcoidosis undergoing bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) for evaluation of disease activity. We compared these cells with macrophages from smoking and nonsmoking control patients. The amount of hydrogen peroxide released by the macrophages either spontaneously or after stimulation by phorbol myristate acetate was measured. The alveolar macrophages from smokers spontaneously released hydrogen peroxide, as we previously observed. The macrophages from the patients with sarcoidosis also released detectable amounts of hydrogen peroxide, but the macrophages from the non-smokers did not. Alveolar macrophages from all three groups released hydrogen peroxide when stimulated with phorbol myristate acetate. The macrophages from all three groups were examined for the presence on the surface membrane of beta-galactosidase, an enzyme that appears on the surface of older, activated macrophages. The macrophages in the BAL fluid of the patients with sarcoidosis had less beta-galactosidase staining than did those from the smokers, although they released comparable amounts of hydrogen peroxide. These findings suggest that alveolar macrophages in the BAL fluid of patients with sarcoidosis are younger, more monocyte-like, and activated by various factors, including gamma-interferon.

Humans↗

PubMed1988

The anemia of sarcoidosis.

Anemia and leukopenia have been reported in sarcoidosis. In order to characterize the prevalence and association with disease activity, 75 patients with active pulmonary sarcoidosis were studied. One or more hematologic abnormalities were identified in 87% of patients studied. Anemia was present in 21 patients (28%), and bone marrow examination in 17 anemic patients revealed noncaseating granulomas in 9 patients and absent iron stores in 8 patients. The bone marrow aspirates did not show characteristics seen in other anemias of chronic disease, such as tuberculosis. In the majority of unexplained anemia cases, hemoglobin levels normalized with prednisone treatment. Forty-one of 75 patients (55%) had lymphopenia. Anemia found in patients with active sarcoidosis was associated with noncaseating granulomas in the bone marrow and an improvement with steroid therapy.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Cyclin D1, retinoblastoma, p53, and Her2/neu protein expression in preinvasive breast pathologies: correlation with vascularity.

OBJECTIVES: Preinvasive breast pathologies show a degree of vascularization that correlates with risk of invasion. Recently, numerous oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes have been shown to regulate neovascularization. Therefore, we examined archival tissues of preinvasive breast pathologies by immunohistochemistry for alterations in the expression of four proteins, cyclin D1, retinoblastoma (Rb), p53, and Her2/neu, known to be important in breast tumorgenesis, and correlated these data with tissue vascularity. METHODS: Vascularity was determined by immunologic detection of von Willebrand factor. For carcinoma in situ (CIS) both stromal vascularity (MVD) and vascular cuffing (MCD) were determined. RESULTS: We found that cyclin D1 expression was increased in usual hyperplasia (11% of cases). Atypical hyperplasia, noncomedo CIS and comedo CIS were positive in 43, 49, and 57% of cases, respectively. Changes in Rb and p53 were rare in hyperplasia but occurred in 8 and 10% of CIS, respectively. Her2/neu protein was identified rarely in atypical hyperplasia and in both noncomedo and comedo ductal CIS. Neither Rb nor Her2/neu expression correlated with vascularity. p53 immunoreactivity correlated positively with both MCD and MVD. Cyclin D1 was negatively associated with MVD. CONCLUSION: These data suggest that p53 and cyclin D1 proteins may regulate the microvessel density of preinvasive breast pathologies.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Prevalence of digital clubbing in bronchogenic carcinoma by a new digital index.

OBJECTIVE: Clubbing can be a paraneoplastic manifestation of bronchogenic carcinoma. We assessed a new digital index of clubbing and used it to determine the prevalence of clubbing for different cell types of lung cancer. METHODS: Clubbing was assessed by measurement of the thickness of both the base of the nailbed (distal phalangeal depth--DPD) and the distal interphalangeal depth (IPD) of the index finger in a control group compared to patient groups with either chronic obstructive lung disease, or lung cancer. RESULTS: Of the 55 normal subjects, no patient had a DPD/IPD ratio of more than 1.05 on either hand, while 11% of the patients with COPD had a ratio of more than one. For the cancer patients, 33% had a ratio greater than one, with 30 of 109 (37%) having a ratio > 1.05 (chi(2) = 17.6, p < 0.0001). There was no difference in the prevalence of clubbing between the 33 squamous cell patients, the 43 adenocarcinoma patients, and the 33 small cell lung carcinoma patients included. CONCLUSIONS: Measurement of the interphalangeal and distal phalangeal distance demonstrated that one-third of patients with lung cancer had evidence of clubbing. The type of bronchogenic carcinoma did not appear to affect the proportion of patients with clubbing.

Adenocarcinoma↗