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Biomedical subjects

E R Eichner

Publications and source records attributed to E R Eichner.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1978

Clinical usefulness of polymorphonuclear leukocyte vacuolization in predicting septicemia in febrile children.

Vacuolization of the polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMN) has generally been regarded as an indication of bacterial infection and has been particularly useful in diagnosing septicemia. In an effort to predict septicemia, peripheral blood smears from 69 febrile children were examined and systematically scored for severity of vacuolization. Thirteen children had remarkable vacuolization compared to the others. These 13 included only five children with bacterial illnesses and only one of the seven children with septicemia. Our finding that PMN vacuolization was neither diagnostic of septicemia nor predictive of bacterial infection suggests that the specificity of the link between vacuoles and bacteremia needs to be reassessed.

Bacterial Infections↗
PubMed1977

Clinical correlates of bone marrow plasmacytosis.

In light of the variable clinical expression and bone marrow plasmacytosis of multiple myeloma, we studied prospectively the prevalence and clinical correlates of bone marrow plasmacytosis in 133 anemic medical inpatients. Seventeen patients (13%) had 5% or more, and four patients (3%) had 10% or more marrow plasma cells. Only two patients (with plasmacytosis of 7.4% and 46.2%, respectively) had multiple myeloma. Lung infections (pneumonia, tuberculosis, abscess) accounted for 41% of the cases of plasmacytosis. We found that plasmacytosis correlated with the severity of pneumonia and that active pulmonary tuberculosis was usually associated with notable plasmac. ytosis. Cancer and liver disease were not important causes of plasmacytosis in this study. There was a correlation between plasmacytosis and serum hyperglobulinemia. A correlation between advancing age of the patients and increasing prevalence of plasmacytosis was attributed in part to an increasing prevalence of serious illness with age. However, some elderly patients with apparently benign disorders had unexplained plasmacytosis.

Adult↗
PubMed1976

Homozygous beta thalassemia in a black adult: follow-up after two decases.

A 54-year-old woman, perhaps the oldest living American black with homozygous beta thalassemia, has had a relatively benign clinical course since her case was first reported two decades ago. Despite progressive splenomegaly, she has remained active without blood transfusions. This case emphasizes the mildness of homozygous beta thalassemia in black subject.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1976

Folic acid metabolism in normal, folate deficient and alcoholic man.

Folate metabolism was studied in normal, folate-deficient and alcoholic man by tracer measurements of plasma clearance, urinary excretion, tissue storage and release of folate using both [3H]pteroylglutamic acid (3H-PteGlu) and 14C-methyl-H4PteGlu. Alcohol ingestion did not adversely affect tissue uptake of folates. Whether in normal or folate deficient subjects, the relative clearance rates of 3H-PteGlu and 14C-methyl-H4PteGlu were maintained in the face of alcohol ingestion and there was no evidence of increased urinary loss of intact vitamin or labelled breakdown products. As measured by the flushing technique, the rate of storage or tissue binding of 3H-PteGlu was not influenced by folate deficiency, folate store depletion or alcohol ingestion. However, alcohol may retard the release of methyl-H4PteGlu from tissue stores to plasma. A significantly greater recovery of 14C-methyl-H4PteGly with flush was observed in those normal subjects who ingested alcohol for 6 d. A partial block in the rate of release of tissue folate stores would be a possible mechanism behind the rapid depression in serum methyl-H4PteGlu levels and early induction of megaloblastic erythropoiesis which has been observed following acute alcohol ingestion.

Alcoholism↗
PubMed1976

Folic acid binding protein and folate balance in uremia.

To determine the incidence and importance of folate deficiency in uremia, we studied 41 patients who had chronic uremia but who were not receiving hemodialysis. Serum folate level was assayed by microbiological, whole serum radioassay, and heat-extracted radioassay techniques. Mean serum folate level, as determined with the Lactobacillus casei method, was 6.9 ng/ml (normal, more than 3.0 ng/ml). The mean heat-extracted radioassay serum folate level was 6.6 ng/ml. Only 10% of our patients had subnormal serum folate values, as determined with these techniques. No cases of megaloblastic anemia were discovered, and the hematologic profiles correlated with L casei and heat-extracted radioassay serum folate values. The mean serum folic acid binding protein (FABP) level was significantly greater for the uremic patients than for control patients (26% vs 9.9%, respectively; P = .0005). Our results show that elevated levels of serum FABP spuriously depress the serum folate level, as determined with the whole serum radioassay technique, but apparently do not retard delivery of folate to the tissue in vivo.

Creatinine↗
PubMed1975

Oral contraceptives, serum folate, and hematologic status.

Previous reports have suggested deleterious effects on folate balance in users of contraceptives. A study of folate in 526 women attending a family-planning clinic demonstrated, both with the Lactobacillus casei assay and with a new radioassay, that the mean serum folate level for women taking oral contraceptives was not significantly lower than that for women in a control group. There was no correlation between serum folate level and length of time oral contraceptives were taken. Also, there was no macrocytosis or hypersegmentation of polymorphonuclear leukocytes and no case of macrocytic anemia in the 280 users of oral contraceptive agents. Probably, oral contraceptive agents do not cause folate deficiency anemia in otherwise normal subjects.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed1975

Clinical and laboratory observations on serum folate-binding protein.

We studied the effect of serum folate-binding protein (FBP) on folate radioassays and the relationship of the serum level of unsaturated FBP to the serum folate level in various clinical states. Our modification of a heat-extracted radioassay was compared to a whole serum radioassay. Our results confirmed the existence of elevated serum levels of unsaturated FBP in some normal subjects, in some women taking oral contraceptives, and in most patients with uremia. Elevated levels of unsaturated FBP will produce falsely low results in folate radioassay unless the FBP has been destroyed by heat, as was done in the modified radioassay here presented. In normal and uremic subjects, serum folate and unsaturated FBP levels tended to correlate, whereas in patients taking large doses of folic acid the level of unsaturated FBP fell as the level of serum folate rose.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed1973

Effect of alcohol on serum folate level.

Alcohol was given orally and intravenously to normal and chronic alcoholic volunteers to study its effect on folate metabolism. Oral alcohol, given to nine subjects on a low folate diet, caused a greater fall in serum Lactobacillus casei folate levels than that seen in eight subjects on a low folate diet alone. This alcohol-induced fall in serum folate level occurred largely during the 1st day of the protocol. Although brief infusions of intravenous ethanol had no effect on serum folate level, a 13 h infusion caused a striking fall in serum folate level between the 8th and 10th h. When ethanol was stopped, the serum folate level returned rapidly to normal. Two chronic alcoholic subjects with different basal levels of serum folate were studied for several weeks on a low folate diet plus alcohol. The serum folate level fell promptly in each subject, rose when alcohol was temporarily stopped, and fell when alcohol was resumed. Folate-deficient megaloblastic anemia developed in 3 wk in the subject with initially marginal serum folate levels, but failed to develop in almost 7 wk in the subject with normal folate stores, as reflected by initially high serum folate levels. Thus, the alcohol-induced fall in serum folate level was apparently not a result of depletion of folate stores. In vitro experiments ruled out an assay artifact as an explanation for the alcohol-induced fall in serum L. casei folate level. It seems likely that alcohol interferes with the delivery of n-5-methyltetrahydrofolic acid from storage areas.

Acetaldehyde↗