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Biomedical subjects

G Jeffers

Publications and source records attributed to G Jeffers.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

Urinary 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine in infants and children.

Several diseases of prematurity are thought to be related to oxidative injury and many of the available markers are unsatisfactory. An assay was developed using HPLC with electrochemical detection for the quantitation of urinary 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) as a proposed indicator for oxygen-derived free radical injury to DNA in preterm infants. A median value of 3.79 micromol/mol creatinine was obtained for normal children (2-15 years old, n=14). Urinary 8-OHdG excretion in neonates ranged from 0-99 micromol/mol creatinine. There were no gestation or birthweight related differences in urinary 8-OHdG, and no correlation with urinary malondialdehyde. Mean 8-OHdG excretion increased with postnatal age (r=0.80, p < 0.0001, n=15), mirroring the growth velocity curve. These changes could also be due to changes in the activity of the enzyme responsible for 8-OHdG excision. Urinary 8-OHdG levels are unlikely to accurately reflect oxygen derived free radical activity given the strength of the relationship with growth.

8-Hydroxy-2'-Deoxyguanosine↗

Plasma hypoxanthine: a marker for hypoxic-ischaemic induced periventricular leucomalacia?

Cerebral ischaemia of the immature brain may result in cavitating periventricular leucomalacia (PVL), an important association of cerebral palsy. Hypoxanthine measured by high performance liquid chromatography was used as a marker of peripartum hypoxia and ischaemia in 116 infants at risk of PVL. PVL was detected by ultrasound. The 81 infants who were unaffected had median (range) gestation of 30 weeks (24-32), weight of 1336 g (724-3790), and a plasma hypoxanthine concentration of 7.8 mumol/l (2.4-48.9). The seven infants who had cavitating PVL had a median gestation of 28 weeks (26-30), weight of 1165 g (682-1860), and a hypoxanthine concentration of 31.9 mumol/l (7.1-149). Cavitating PVL was significantly dependent only on hypoxanthine when controlling for the effects of weight and gestation. This suggests that peripartum hypoxia-ischaemia may be one of the aetiological factors in cavitating PVL. Oxidation of hypoxanthine during reperfusion generates free radicals which may contribute to the tissue destruction of PVL. The association of hypoxia-ischaemia with PVL suggests that PVL may be modified by reducing free radical activity.

Biomarkers↗

Experimental infection of goat fetuses in utero with a stable, rough mutant of Brucella abortus.

Fetuses of goats in their last trimester of pregnancy were experimentally infected with Brucella abortus strain RB51, a stable rough mutant deficient in the perosamine O-chain content of its lipopolysaccharide. RB51 maintained its rough phenotype in vivo and did not induce abortion. Infection with RB51 resulted in the production of significant levels of IgG type antibodies specific for B abortus cellular antigens distinct from the perosamine O-chain. These findings suggest that strain RB51 will be useful in the pregnant goat for studying the role of brucella antigens other than the lipopolysaccharide O-chain in the immune response to brucellosis.

Animals↗

Cellular and humoral responses of Brucella abortus-infected bovine fetuses.

Fifty-nine bovine fetuses naturally and experimentally infected with Brucella abortus were studied. Lymphoid hyperplasia in multiple lymph nodes, lymphoid depletion in the thymic cortex, adrenal cortical hyperplasia, and disseminated inflammatory foci composed mainly of large mononuclear leukocytes were present in infected fetuses. Histopathologic changes in naturally infected fetuses were indistinguishable from those infected fetuses inoculated in utero. Fetuses inoculated with 1.0 X 10(3) to 1.0 X 10(5) colony-forming units of strain 2308 B abortus were aborted on postinoculation day (PID) 7 to 19. Fetuses obtained by PID 9 and 10 had increased immunoglobulin concentrations and antibody. Increased cortisol values were present in fetuses obtained as early as PID 6. The initial fetal inflammatory response was composed of large mononuclear leukocytes. In fetuses obtained by PID 9 to 10, moderate numbers of neutrophils mixed with mononuclear leukocytes were present in the inflammatory foci. This shift in the initial inflammatory reaction coincided with the appearance of agglutinating antibody.

Animals↗

Equine infectious anemia virus: development of a simple reproducible method for titrating infectivity of the cell-adapted strain.

An equine dermal cell line between the 14th and 30th subpassages was used to develop a reproducible method of titrating the infectivity of the cell-adapted strain of equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV). Cells inoculated with EIAV were subcultured or fed once each week and were monitored for the production of P26 antigen of EIAV in supernatant fluids. Ultrathin sections were prepared once each week and were examined for the detection of budding virus-like particles (VLP). The VLP could not be detected in the infected cells subcultured once each week. When the medium was changed once week and when the cells not transferred, budding VLP were detected routinely after 3 to 4 weeks, Feeding of the infected cells once each week was used to establish the infectivity assay. The reproducibility of the assay on a frozen viral stock preparation was within an endpoint of one tenfold dilution.

Animals↗