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J C Petricciani

Publications and source records attributed to J C Petricciani.

101 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Vaccines: obstacles and opportunities from discovery to use.

Since smallpox, vaccine-development programs have varied, yet common elements exist. Investment in vaccine research and development depends on epidemiology, market size, funding, and liability. Fear of liability inhibits innovation, adaptation of existing methods, and regulatory decision-making. Vaccine evaluation proceeds from animal and in vitro studies to controlled human clinical trials. Successive stages provide the information base necessary for decisions on vaccine approval for general use, but sociopolitical forces can affect the process. The World Health Organization establishes nonbinding international norms for vaccine acceptability that are adopted by many countries. Concerns for purity and safety need to be addressed along with cost and vaccine availability. For example, replacement of brain tissue-derived rabies vaccine in developing countries with a continuous cell line-derived vaccine is possible if purity is balanced in relation to safety. Substantially reducing the toll of infectious diseases will require cooperation and common-sense decisions.

Animals↗
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Nonhuman primate diploid cells for vaccine production.

A cell line was established from male rhesus embryonic lung tissue in 1968. Tests for adventitious agents at every tenth passage were negative. The cells had diploid characteristics, and supported the growth of polio, rubella, and dengue viruses. Tests for latent RNA tumor viruses and tumorigenic potential were uniformly negative. A small clinical trial with rubella vaccine produced in these cells was conducted, and no major adverse reactions were reported. This cell line appears to meet all criteria of acceptability for a safe vaccine cell substrate.

Animals↗
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The effects of the AIDS epidemic on the safety of the nation's blood supply.

Present safeguards for the blood supply consist of three tiers of protection: donor deferral based on a donor's history of risk factors, confidential exclusion of blood units from donors with self-admitted risk factors, and testing of the blood itself. Before the discovery of the AIDS virus in 1983 and 1984, there was no specific test relevant to AIDS that could be used to help improve the safety of the blood supply. The first step was intensified efforts, based on what was then known of the epidemiology of the disease, to take donor histories to identify risk factors. The first specific tests were for the detection of antibodies to the virus and came into use in 1985. The general features of AIDS are described, together with the scientific rationale for the various types of laboratory tests, those for the virus itself, antigens, antibodies, the genetic material of the virus, and T4 lymphocytes. General characteristics of the tests are reviewed. Since testing began, about 30 million units each of blood and plasma have been screened. More than 3,000 infected persons in the blood donor group have been identified as HIV-antibody positive. Thirteen cases of transfusion-associated infection have been documented. They are believed to have occurred because a detectable level of antibodies had not yet formed in the infected donors. Currently, such transmission is thought to occur once in about 40,000 to 250,000 donations, a dramatic improvement from 1983.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Tests for RNA tumor viruses in cell substrates used in virus vaccine production.

Test to detect RNA tumor viruses in cell substrates were reviewed with respect to advantages and disadvantages. Viral induction, electron microscopy, reverse transcriptase assays, density gradient centrifugation, and radioimmunoassays were performed on several cell substrates now in use or being considered for use in vaccine production. RNA tumor viruses were not detected by any of the methods except in the positive control cultures.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Interpretative differences in cytogenetic analyses: preliminary results of a collaborative study.

In an effort to establish some of the parameters which influence differences in interpretation of chromosome aberrations, we initiated a collaborative study with 26 different laboratories located in the U.S., Canada and Europe. They include government, private industry, and academic institutions. Three species were selected for study which vary in chromosome number and complexity of the karyotype. These were the Chinese hamster, human, and African green monkey. Each metaphase was preselected and numbered. This allowed each participant in the study to screen exactly the same cells. Most of the participating laboratories have reported the results of their analyses of the Chinese hamster series, and that data is now being analyzed. A detailed discussion of the study format and the preliminary results on the Chinese hamster cells will be presented.

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