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Biomedical subjects

E Kjems

Publications and source records attributed to E Kjems.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1993

Melanoma and pregnancy. A review.

In the last half-century the incidence of cutaneous malignant melanoma has increased all over the world according to available reports. No association between risk of melanoma and age at menarche, first birth, menopause or duration of reproductive period has been proven so far. Studies on the effect of parity on relative risk and survival have given divergent results with multiparous women possibly having a better prognosis than nullipara. Women with melanoma diagnosed during pregnancy tend to have thicker tumours, shorter disease-free interval and, maybe, lower 10-year survival rate than non-pregnant matched controls. There is no conclusive evidence that therapeutic abortion improves the cure rate. Multivariate analysis has failed to unveil impaired prognosis in women who become pregnant subsequent to diagnosis.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Survival of Danish cancer patients 1943-1987. Malignant melanoma of the skin.

Survival after malignant melanoma in Denmark has improved remarkably in all age groups and people of each sex over the last 30 years. During the study period 1943 87, the proportion of patients presenting with an earlier stage of disease at the time of diagnosis increased. No major change has taken place with respect to treatment. Extent of disease, age and sex exerted a steady influence on survival during the study period. Melanoma patients with localized disease had a far better survival expectancy than those with disseminated disease at the time of diagnosis. Age at time of diagnosis had a clear impact on subsequent survival, younger patients having a better prognosis than older ones. In all age groups, women had a higher relative survival rate than men.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1981

Infection with RS streptococci in pigs.

RS streptococci were isolated from pigs that died in an outbreak of septicemia and meningitis in a Danish herd of swine. Most of the affected pigs were 7-9 weeks old. Experimental inoculation of SPF pigs with a culture of the streptococci isolated from the brain of a pig that had died during the outbreak showed that the bacterium was pathogenic for pigs. Out of 35 8-15-week-old pigs inoculated, nine developed arthritis and one died in septicemia. At necropsy, four of the pigs were found to have endocarditis. Blood cultures from pigs with endocarditis were constantly positive throughout the experiment, i.e., until the pigs died 5-7 weeks after inoculation. In vivo loss of capsular antigen was observed. A human strain of R streptococci isolated from a case of septicemia was also shown to be pathogenic for pigs.

Animals↗
PubMed1980

Serotypes of group B streptococci and their relation to hyaluronidase production and hydrolysis of salicin.

A total of 252 strains of group B streptococci were serotyped and examined for their ability to ferment lactose (lac+), to hydrolyze salicin (sal+), and to produce hyaluronidase (hy+). Of these strains, 67 had been isolated from bacteremia and meningitis in infants less than 2 months old. Eighty-one strains were isolated from bacteremia and meningitis in adults, and 104 strains were from various other infections. Type III was the most common in neonatal disease, especially if isolates from cases of bacteremia in infants less than 10 days of age were not included. Only 6% of the strains were lac+. Sal+/hy+ strains were never type III, but 91% of the strains belonging to the other serotypes were sal+/hy/. Results showed that 81% of the sal+/hy- strains and 95% of the sal-/hy+ strains were type III, and sal-/hy+ strains were more than twice as frequent as sal+/hy- strains in serious neonatal infections, in contrast to the other two disease groups, in which the opposite was found to be the case. These reactions may be used as additional markers in epidemiological studies.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

New serotypes of group B streptococci isolated from human sources.

Antisera raised in rabbits against two nontypable group B streptococci, which were not agglutinable in a specific group B antiserum, were tested with acid extracts of 78 nontypable human group B streptococci. One antiserum (12351) reacted with 15 strains, and the other (7271) reacted with only 2 strains. Antiserum to Wilkinson's strain SS 1169 (NT 1) reacted with three strains. Antiserum against strain 12351 appears to be a useful antiserum against a new type antigen, which is probably polysaccharide in nature.

Antigens, Bacterial↗
PubMed1976

Streptococcal bacteriophage 12/12-borne hyaluronidase and its characterization as a lyase (EC 4.2.99.1) by means of streptococcal hyaluronic acid and purified bacteriophage suspensions.

Hyaluronic acid was obtained from filtrates of heat-killed cultures of Streptococcus pyogenes group A, strain K56, by simple ethanol precipitation and treatment with an adsorbent. The hyaluronic acid is pure as judged from chemical and sedimentation analyses. Particles of streptococcal bacteriophage 12/12 were isolated from phage-lysed group A streptococci by polyethylene glycol precipitation and isopyenic centrifugation. Electron micrographs of negatively stained preparations showed a typical Bradley group B virus with a long, flexible, cross-striated tail and a knob- or star-like structure at the distal tip of the tail. The hyaluronic acid is depolymerized upon incubation with the phage 12/12 virions. After extensive digestion, a mixture of at least four oligosaccharides is formed, the two smallest of which are a tetra- and octasaccharide terminating in reducing N-acetyl-D-glucosamine. The tetrasaccharide shows an absorption maximum at 231.5 nm with a molar extinction coefficient epsilon = 4820 litres X mole-1 X cm-1, and it is therefore concluded that the bacteriophage-borne hyaluronidase catalyses a beta-elimination. Accordingly it is classified as a hyaluronate lyase (EC 4.2.99.1).

Bacteriophages↗
PubMed1973

A rabbit family of restricted high responders to the streptococcal group A-variant polysaccharide. Selective breeding narrows the isoelectric focusing spectra of dominant clones.

Immunization of rabbits from a closed colony with streptococcal Group A-variant vaccines identified about two-thirds of them as low and heterogeneous responders. One-third of the rabbits showed a restriction of the response independent from the magnitude. Selective breeding from one monoclonal high-responder male and two restricted high-responder female rabbits succeeded in segregation of high-responder progeny after two generations. Their antibody levels were on the average 2.5 times higher than those of the random group of rabbits and a small group of low-responder offspring. Immunization of 13 offspring originating from rabbits bred for restricted high response to the streptococcal Group C polysaccharide revealed that 11 progeny were restricted high responders and 2 progeny monoclonal high responders. This finding suggests that high responsiveness to the Groups A-variant and C polysaccharides is inherited as genetically linked traits. Selective breeding combinations between restricted and monoclonal high-responder rabbits by brother-sister matings succeeded in narrowing the isoelectric focusing spectra of Group A-variant-specific antibodies in the offspring. It furthermore revealed a preferential expression of monoclonal antibodies after three generations with a similar net charge as those identified first in the original monoclonal paternal parent. These data suggest that similar copies of structural genes for the variable regions are transmitted from the parent to the progeny.

Animals↗