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Biomedical subjects

G Lamoureux

Publications and source records attributed to G Lamoureux.

14 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1979

Trace elements and acute phase reactants in gold treated rheumatoid arthritis patients.

Abnormal concentrations of trace elements, sulfhydryl groups, amino-acids and serum proteins were found in patients with rheumatoid arthritis similar to other chronic inflammatory conditions. These changes have been called the phase reaction. In this study, a systematic profile of the phase reactants was established in rheumatoid arthritis at the onset and during its modulation by chrysotherapy (gold sodium thiomalate 25 mg i.m. weekly). It was shown that this treatment, if successful, is capable of reverting to normal measures of the phase reaction. It was also found that the pattern of the profile varied in individuhe eventual beneficial or toxic effects. In these preliminary studies, no parameters or group of parameters of the phase reaction were predictive of the therapeutic outcome. Extended observations (over 6 months) and more individual profiles are being analyzed to gain insight into these features of inflammation and their modulation by chrysotherapy.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Trace element determination in serum by proton-induced x-ray emission.

We report the use of proton-induced x-ray emission (PIXE) as an analytical method in clinical research. The experimental set-up and target preparation procedures are briefly discussed together with the methods of automatic data acquisition and analysis. Results from a clinical project involving rheumatoid patients receiving chrysotherapy are presented.

Arthritis, Rheumatoid↗
PubMed1978

HLA and complement typing in olivo-ponto-cerebellar atrophy.

HLA antigen typing was carried out in a family with an autosomal dominant form of spinocerebellar degeneration [possibly olivoponto cerebellar atrophy (O.P.C.A.)--Type 1]. Eleven ataxic patients, three possibly ataxic subjects, two unrelated spouses and 13 clinically normal at risk siblings were typed for ABO and Rh blood groups, HLA-A and HLA-B antigens, C4 component of the complement and a number of other serum proteins (Clq, beta-1A, beta-1C, C5, beta-lipoproteins). No solid evidence for linkage between the ataxia gene and the HLA or C4 loci could be demonstrated in this family. Certain serum proteins, and particularly beta-lipoproteins were found to be significantly reduced in some sub-groups of subjects.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1977

Earthworm coelomocytes in vitro.

Contamination and low viability of earthworm coelemocytes in tissue culture have delayed in vitro studies. Using penicillin, streptomycin, tetracycline and Amphotericin B, Lumbricus terrestis coelomocytes were maintained viable and uncontaminated for 10 days at 15degreesC in medium L-15 supplemented with 5 to 10% fetal bovine serum. The coelomocytes survived for at least 10 days with 85% viability as assessed by trypan blue exclusion assays and phagocytosis of heat-killed yeast. Studies on the thymidine uptake, however, were negative. With the involvement of coelomocytes in tissue graft rejection, in vitro techniques can now be applied to study their capacity in the immune response.

Amphotericin B↗
PubMed1976

Immunological features in multiple sclerosis.

A clinical and laboratory profile of the immunological system of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) strongly suggested that many specific immune deficiencies exist in MS. The immunological history showed that patients with MS had had more tonsillectomies, appendicectomies, and childhood infections than matched controls, which suggested that there had been problems in controlling various types of childhood infections. The cell-mediated immune response and the circulating antibody titres were specifically impaired against a variety of antigens. Patients with MS had significantly lower serum antibody titres than controls against many naturally occurring antigens-namely, diptheria and tetanus toxoids, adenovirus, and mumps viruses. Raised serum antibody titres were found against measles and varicella zoster viruses while no difference was found towards other antigens. The delayed hypersensitivity reaction and the immunological memory of patients with MS were also greatly reduced against the mumps skin test antigens. There were normal amounts of circulating T and B lymphocytes, and the phytohaemagglutinin, concanavallin A, pokeweed mitogen, and encephalitogens lymphocyte transformation was not different from that in controls. These results indicated that patients with MS have more infectious problems than normal people and that both their T and B cell systems cannot mount a fully normal immunological response to some viral and bacterial antigens, while they give an increased response to others.

Adult↗
PubMed1975

Inhibition by serum of autoimmune aspermatogenic orchitis.

Inhibition by serum of experimental autoimmune orchitis (EAO) was studied in guinea-pigs. It was found that the capacity of an autoantigen, antigen P, purified from guinea-pigs' spermatozoa, to produce lesions of EAO could be inhibited by mixing antigen P with a small amount of normal human serum before injection into guinea-pigs. In protected animals, cell-mediated immunity and humoral antibodies to antigen P were also significantly suppressed.

Animals↗
PubMed1975

Inhibition by serum of encephalitogenic activity of myelin basic protein.

Basic protein of myelin from bovine brain (B-BPM) in Freund's complete adjuvant (FCA) is highly encephalitogenic for the guinea pig. However, when B-BPM is mixed with serum from various species it loses its encephalitogenic effect but not its immunogenic properties. When the synthetic tryptophan peptide matching residue 115-126 of human BPM is mixed with normal human serum it loses both its encephalitogenic and immunogenic effects. The time of exposure to serum necessary for complete inhibition of encephalitogenic activity of B-BPM varied: rat, horse, sheep and human sera produced their inhibitory effect immediately after mixing, whereas guinea pig serum required 8h. The capacity of serum to abrogate the encephalitogenic effects of B-BPM was not due to complete degradation of the molecule by proteinases in serum, because all animals injected with the B-BPM serum mixture gave cutaneous delayed hypersensitivity reactions to B-BPM. The inhibitory effect could be attributed to a factor in serum which is non-dialysable, thermostable at 56 degrees C, for 1 h, and present in high concentration in fetal calf serum. It may be an alpha2 macroglobulin which can act selectively on the main encephalitogenic determinant, around or within residues 115-126 of the basic protein of myelin.

Animals↗
PubMed1975

Cerebrospinal fluid proteins in multiple sclerosis.

Various CSF proteins were studied in 255 definite multiple sclerosis patients at various disease stages and compared with corresponding values obtained from 174 controls. The CSF changes in acute multiple sclerosis patients included a significant increase of total proteins and of gamma globulin, IgG, IgA, IgM, alpha-2 ceruloplasmin, 7S-gamma-1, and cytotoxic index for nerve cells in tissue culture, and significant decreases of pre-albumin, alpha-1, and alpha-2 and of the beta/gamma globulin ratio. The CSF levels of IgG, IgA, and IgM remained significantly higher in steroid-treated multiple sclerosis patients than in controls, but the levels often were significantly reduced while patients were on treatment or in remission. During remission or treatment with ACTH and/or steroids, the alpha-2 ceruloplasmin, 7S-gamma-1, and cytotoxic index were significantly reduced and the pre-albumin, alpha-1, and alpha-2 globulin classes and the beta/gamma ratio showed a tendency to return to normal.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[PHA transformation of coelomocytes of Lubricus terrestris].

This transformation was studied at various concentrations of PHA and during different periods of incubation. The coelomocytes were separated into adhering and non-adhering cells. The adhering cells were separated into trypsin-sensitive and trypsin-resistant. Results have clearly shown (P less than or equal to 0.01) that the coelomocytes do transform to PHA. Only the trypsin-resistant adhering cells (5-10%) having a high phagocytic activity, were capable of inducing the transformation of the non-adhering coelomocytes. None of these sub-populations of coelomocytes did transform alone. These results reinforce the existence in earthworms of a T-cell like function and perhaps receptors similar to those observed in higher vertebrates and confirm the cooperation of two cell types to achieve this activity.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Multiple sclerosis: a multi-specific immune deficiency disease].

New immunological data (Brit. med. J., 1976, 1, 183-186) lead us to a fundamental reconsideration of the immunopathological concept of multiple sclerosis (MS). The increased incidence of the infection rate during childhood, the low humoral and cell-mediated immune responses towards many bacterial and viral antigens and the presence of these specific immune deficiencies in a group of doubtful MS cases being at the first bout of the disease, led us to consider MS as a multi-specific immune deficiency disease, possibly having its origin in the genes controlling the immune response to these specific antigens. We now consider MS as being the end result of multi-specific immune deficiencies, which would explain the increased incidence of tonsillectomies, appendicectomies and repeated infections during childhood and the presence of numerous small inflammatory and pyrexic processes, often benign, but susceptible to cause in the target tissue--the central nervous tissue--the demyelinization process which could well be not specific at all. This new optic opens the way to the use of different immunotherapy regimens including transfer factor or whole lymphokines, and stimulation of the immune response with immunological adjuvants rather than immunosuppressive agents used during recent years (like steroids, ACTH) which have an antiinflammatory as well as an immunosuppressive function.

Antibody Specificity↗