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Biomedical subjects

G E Mullin

Publications and source records attributed to G E Mullin.

11 recordsLinked to original sources

Lymphoma in inflammatory bowel disease.

Nine patients with lymphoma occurring in association with inflammatory bowel disease were admitted to The Mount Sinai Hospital between 1960 and 1983. Five (two men and three women) occurred among 1156 patients (0.43%) with ulcerative colitis (UC) and four (men), among 1480 patients (0.27%) with Crohn's disease (CD), a strong male preponderance in the latter group. In all four of the patients with CD and in four of the five patients with UC, the lymphomas were extraintestinal. The mean age of onset of UC in these patients was late (46 years, 19 years older than in our overall series), with lymphomas occurring a mean of only 12 years later. By contrast, patients with CD had bowel disease much younger (mean age, 26 years), and their lymphomas appeared after a longer disease duration (mean, 24 years). The risk factors for the one patient with colonic lymphoma were similar to those with colitis-associated colorectal carcinoma: extensive and long-standing colitis and relatively young age when malignant disease developed. Four of the patients with lymphoma had associated colonic carcinoma; in three of them, the carcinoma appeared within the first decade of colitis, an unusual occurrence. A second malignant lesion also occurred in three patients with UC.

Adult

Increased interleukin-2 messenger RNA in the intestinal mucosal lesions of Crohn's disease but not ulcerative colitis.

Crohn's disease (CD) is characterized by granulomatous inflammation of the intestinal mucosa, but the etiology and pathogenesis of the inflammatory lesions are unknown. The aim of this study was to determine whether T-cell activation and lymphokine production occurs in the mucosal lesions of this disease. Total cellular RNA was isolated from peripheral blood lymphocytes and from colonoscopic mucosal biopsies of normal individuals and patients with CD of the colon or ulcerative colitis (UC). Levels of interleukin-2 (IL-2) messenger RNA (mRNA) transcripts in samples were determined using a quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction method. IL-2 mRNA transcripts were detected in histologically normal intestinal mucosal biopsies obtained from control subjects. In CD, higher levels of IL-2 mRNA transcripts were detected in the mucosa from areas of active inflammation, but in areas that were histologically normal, levels were similar to control subjects. The levels of IL-2 mRNA transcripts in biopsies from active and inactive UC were similar to control subjects. Levels of IL-2 mRNA in peripheral blood lymphocytes were low and not significantly different in all groups of subjects. In conclusion, the normal intestinal mucosa contains IL-2 mRNA transcripts and may be an important source of IL-2. Furthermore, the inflammatory lesions of CD, but not UC, have higher levels of IL-2 mRNA transcripts, suggesting that T-cell activation and lymphokine secretion in the intestine may be important in the pathogenesis of CD. These data provide further evidence that the pathogenesis of CD and UC are different.

Base Sequence

Role of lymphokines in immunoregulatory function of mucosal T cells in humans and nonhuman primates.

The findings presented above and in other studies provide substantial evidence that lymphocytes in the intestinal lamina propria differ from lymphocyte populations in the circulation or in other tissue sites in a number of ways. First, lamina propria lymphocytes are phenotypically distinct and have evidence of activation. Lymphocytes in the intestinal lamina propria are different in their potential for expression of lymphokine gene products, since activated cells from the lamina propria have high expression of mRNA for IL-2, IL-4, IL-5 and IFN-gamma in comparison to circulating lymphocytes. Mesenteric lymph node T cells also differ from circulating lymphocytes in their high expression of IL-4 and IL-5 mRNA. A further difference between mesenteric lymph node and lamina propria T cells is that the former are capable of proliferating in response to IL-4, whereas the latter are not. These phenotypic and mRNA differences of lamina propria lymphocytes also correlate well with their high helper activity in vitro for immunoglobulin synthesis in the pokeweed mitogen system. Finally, lamina propria T cells at a site of inflammation are able to provide high helper activity in response to specific antigens. These observations are all consistent with the conclusion that T cells in the lamina propria are pleomorphic, but are highly enriched for subpopulations of activated memory cells that are geared for effector functions. These functions are likely to be critical in maintaining normal host defense in the mucosal environment.

Animals

Cutaneous signs of thyroid disease.

Hyperactivity of the sympathetic nervous system produces many of the skin changes of hyperthyroidism, while the hypometabolic state and the accumulation of mucopolysaccharides in the dermis are responsible for hypothyroid cutaneous manifestations. Acropachy, atopic eczema, localized myxedema and nail changes are associated with thyrotoxicosis. Vitiligo may be seen in all three thyroid diseases of autoimmune origin. Hyperpigmentation, pruritus and urticaria are associated with hyperthyroidism.

Dermatitis, Atopic

Cutaneous consequences of accelerated thyroid function.

General and specific cutaneous findings associated with hyperthyroidism are reviewed. Familiarity with these findings may aid the practitioner in the early diagnosis of thyroid diseases. Several normally idiopathic cutaneous diseases can occasionally be controlled if underlying thyroid disease is considered as a cause, and appropriate testing performed.

Dermatitis Herpetiformis