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G Joyce

Publications and source records attributed to G Joyce.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

Effect of prolonged ingestion of gamma-linolenate by MS patients.

The absolute electrophoretic mobility of erythrocytes from MS patients is reduced in the presence of 0.08 mg/ml of linoleic or arachidonic acid, whilst that of normal or other neurological disease patients is increased in the presence of these acids. When an MS patient ingests gamma-linolenate (in capsule form equivalent to 413.4 mg of gamma-linolenic acid and 2.664 g of linoleic acid per day) the reaction of MS erythrocytes begins to change. After 3 or 4 months the reaction becomes normal with arachidonic acid (i.e. mobility is speeded up) and 2 months or so later this occurs also with linoleic acid. Very prolonged administration of gamma-linolenate leads to a markedly increased sensitivity to the effect of prostaglandins (PGE2) on RBC mobility. The observations are interpreted to mean the induction of a biochemical-biophysical change in the membranes, and the significance of this in the aetiology and treatment of multiple sclerosis is discussed.

Adult

Erythrocyte-UFA (Eufa) mobility test for multiple sclerosis: implications for pathogenesis and handling of the disease.

Erythrocytes from patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) show a highly significant reduction in their absolute electrophoretic mobility in the presence of linoleic and arachidonic acids (LA; AA). Patients with other (destructive) neurological disease (OND) and normal subjects show an increased absolute mobility of their erythrocytes in the presence of LA and AA. About 40 per cent of blood relatives of MS patients show an intermediate type of reaction - being slowed by LA and speeded up by AA. Administration of LA (or gamma linolenate) to an MS patient for some months leads to change in the mobilities from the MS to normal type, the AA result altering first. The effect of LA and AA on the absolute mobility of RBC may thus be used as a simple laboratory test involving a long established technique and eliminating the animal and other needs of the macrophage electrophoretic mobility (MEM) test. The implications of these findings for our understanding and handling of MS are briefly discussed.

Arachidonic Acids

Liposome toxicity in the mouse central nervous system.

This study has shown that while some liposomes are highly toxic to the central nervous system, others, of different composition, are tolerated well in the dosage used (0.02-0.05 ml = 4-12 mg of lipid/inoculum). Those composed of lecithin-cholesterol-dicetyl phosphate or lecithin-cholesterol-stearylamine produced generalised epileptic seizures and some deaths due to respiratory failure immediately after injection,and a subsequent widespread tissue necrosis. However liposomes composed of lecithin-cholesterol-phosphatidic acid, or dipalmitoyl lecithin only, produced minimal morphological changes and by the sixth day post-injection the pathology was limited to the mechanical trauma caused by the injection. It is concluded that liposomes of appropriate composition may be sufficiently benign to use as carriers of therapeutic agents into the CNS.

Amines