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Biomedical subjects

H R Nevanlinna

Publications and source records attributed to H R Nevanlinna.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1991

Low prevalence of antibodies against human immunodeficiency virus in Finnish haemophiliacs.

National yearly surveys were carried out between 1985 and 1989 to determine the prevalence of antibodies for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in Finnish patients with bleeding disorders. From 192 out of the 214 haemophiliacs (90%) tested, 2 patients were positive for anti-HIV. No seropositivities were found after 1985. Fourteen out of 21 patients (67%) with type III von Willebrand's disease, and 7 out of 8 patients (88%) with factor XIII deficiency were tested with negative results. The low prevalence of anti-HIV (0.94%; 2/213 tested), is mainly due to the self-sufficiency for clotting factors, the low prevalence of HIV in the population, and the use of cryoprecipitate during the critical period.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

A population genetic study in Finland: comparison of the Finnish- and Swedish-speaking populations.

In Finland there is a substantial but geographically limited Swedish-speaking minority (in 1980 6.3% of the total population) which originates mainly from Swedish immigrants during the years 1100-1300 AD. The admixture of this population with the neighbouring Finns was studied using more than 20 blood marker loci. The reference populations, Swedes and Finns, in spite of being part of the genetically rather uniform European populations, differ from each other genetically. These quantitative and also qualitative differences in gene frequencies are mostly due to the Finnish population possessing a number of genetic markers absent or rare in the rest of Europe. The results based on a sample of 620 individuals from the Swedish-speaking population in Finland showed a rather high degree of Finnish admixture, which was estimated to about 60%. This admixture most probably occurred at an early stage since it has reached such a high and geographically homogeneous degree.

Autoantigens↗
PubMed1987

WES, a 'new' infrequent blood group antigen in Finns.

A previously unrecognized infrequent blood group antigen WES occurs with a frequency of 0.56% in the Finnish population, but has an ethnically restricted distribution. Apart from Finns it was found only in 2 donors, most likely of African origin, among 4,655 people tested who represented many different ethnic groups. WES is shown to be a dominant autosomally inherited character different from previously published infrequent antigens. The data allow exclusion from almost all established blood group systems. The WES antigen is destroyed by enzymes alpha-chymotrypsin and pronase. It is also present in plasma of WES+ individuals. Evidence suggests that the soluble form of the antigen is a high molecular weight protein constituent of plasma. Unlike many other antigens present on red cells as well as in plasma, the WES antigen is well developed on red cells of neonates and can also be found in cord serum.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Classification principles and genetics of chronic gastritis.

Two family samples, (i) a sample considered to represent the population at large (431 subjects) and (ii) a sample of first-degree relatives of index subjects (IS) with overt pernicious anaemia (183 subjects) were analyzed in order to evaluate the onset and course of chronic gastritis (CG) and the pathogenetic factors involved with special reference to the effects of genetic variation. The analysis was based on data obtained from two generations: first generation (sibs of the IS) and second (children of the IS). Formulae derived from Poisson process were used for age-correction of the gastritic changes. Otherwise, conventional statistical methods were used in the genetic analysis and the calculation of prevalences of CG. This approach enabled us to achieve a classification of gastritis into more specific subgroups and to evaluate the natural course of the disease. The progression of gastritis in the second generation (children; mean age 35 years) was roughly similar in antrum and body, indicating that gastritis starts as a diffuse process affecting both areas of the stomach to a rather similar degree. The start of CG and its progression is at least to some degree influenced by genetic factors and probably regulated by the male sex. Thus nearly all children of male IS's with a non-atrophic mucosa (normal mucosa or superficial gastritis) showed a normal mucosa suggesting the existence of a particular sex-bound, genetic mechanisms. These mechanisms may prevent or delay the progression of gastritis up to middle age, when a change in dynamics occurs leading to formation of more specific subtypes of CG. In the first generation (mean age 60 years) CG dispersed into more specific subtypes (corresponding to types A and B of Strickland and McKay and type AB of Glass) and to more advanced stages, which were connected with a higher than expected prevalence of advanced stages also in the relatives. The families of IS's with type A atrophic gastritis (AG) (severe AG in the body but no AG in antrum), type B (AG in antrum but no AG in body) and type AB AG (AG in both antrum and body) showed typical dynamic patterns of the age-specific prevalences of AG. Genetic calculations showed that the type A of AG found in pernicious anaemia patients and their relatives is inherited by a simple dominant gene, while this type of inheritance is statistically unlikely in the type B of AG. The type B, on the other hand, exhibited characteristics that indicate a recessive Mendelian inheritance.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

Perinatal mortality from Rh(D) hemolytic disease in Finland, 1975-1984.

Analysis of 41 deaths from Rh(D) hemolytic disease (HDN) in Finland in the past 10 years revealed that 17 occurred in mothers immunized before anti-D IgG was available and three in mothers immunized by blood transfusion in earlier years. Nine deaths were related to loopholes in the anti-D program and could presumably have been prevented by ensuring that all eligible Rh-negative women received anti-D IgG after delivery and abortion. Six deaths were due to immunization during a first pregnancy after the 28th week and three to maternal immunization despite anti-D IgG. Immunization from these sources can only be reduced by anti-D IgG injected antenatally as well as postnatally, though the complete eradication of HDN seems to be beyond our grasp. Giving anti-D IgG to Rh-negative women after the birth of a Rh-positive infant or after an abortion has been common practice in Finland, the former since 1969 and the latter since 1971. Although anti-D prophylaxis has been very effective in reducing the incidence of Rh(D) hemolytic disease, new cases continue to occur. Since the prophylaxis fails to prevent perinatal mortality, we decided to discover how the mothers whose infants died from HDN had become immunized in the past 10 years.

Blood Transfusion↗
PubMed1976

The genetic structure of finland.

The Finnish gene pool derives primarily from a relatively homogeneous Finno-Ugric population established during the Iron Age (100 B.C.-800 A.D.) in the southwest and southeast of Finland. Gene flow from Sweden to the southwest coastal areas, dating from prehistoric times, as well as the patterns of settlement and migration throughout Finland during the past 1000 years, appear to have been the major biosocial factors underlying the genetic structure of the contemporary population. Analysis of genetic variation and covariation at nine polymorphic loci in a large random sample of rural Finns, partitioned into either 8 countries or 27 geographic districts, showed that all of the essential features of the genetic structure suggested by the archaeological and historical data could be distinguished. Procedures for obtaining inference on the genetic structure of such a population are reviewed, including coefficients of similarity and (genetic) distance among subpopulations, the relation between linear or planar geographic structure and genetic covariation, and the methods for describing allelic differentiation. Bias resulting from the inappropriate assumption of a simple phylogenetic model can be substantial, expecially for the analysis of isolation by distance; procedures for avoiding misleading inference on the genetic structure are demonstrated.

Demography↗