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Biomedical subjects

J G Watson

Publications and source records attributed to J G Watson.

11 recordsLinked to original sources

Parenteral acyclovir therapy for herpesvirus infections in man.

Acyclovir is a new antiviral agent which is highly active against herpesviruses in vitro and in laboratory animals. Twenty-three cancer patients with cutaneous and/or systemic herpes zoster or herpes simplex infections were treated with parenteral acyclovir. All had received previous specific treatment for their malignant disease and ten had undergone bone-marrow transplantation. The drug seemed to arrest the progress of the infections and was most effective when given early. Although two patients showed transient increases in blood-urea, possibly the result of acyclovir, the drug was remarkably non-toxic in the doses used.

Adolescent

Purine metabolism in adenosine deaminase deficiency.

Deoxyadenosine was identified in the urine of a second child with almost undetectable levels of adenosine deaminase (ADA) in erythrocyte lysates. Deoxyadenosine excretion thus appears to be characteristic of ADA deficiency: the acid lability of deoxyadenosine (responsible for the frequent confusion of this abnormal urinary metabolite with adenine) may be used in screening for this defect by isotachophoresis. The deoxynucleotides dATP, dADP and dAMP found initially in the child's erythrocytes (in comparable amounts to ATP, ADP and AMP) disappeared after a successful marrow graft from an unrelated donor, as did the urinary deoxy metabolites. Erythrocyte ADA activity decreased after the marrow graft but was still greater than 10% of normal congruent to 10 weeks after the last red cell transfusion.

Adenosine Deaminase

Mobilization of CFU-C by exercise and ACTH induced stress in man.

This study was designed to investigate physiological factors that affect blood CFU-C numbers. Exercise was found to produce a fourfold rise in blood colony forming cells, and a twofold rise in cluster forming cells accompanied by a lymphocytosis. ACTH-induced stress caused a twofold rise in blood colony and cluster forming cells accompanied by a neutrophil leucocytosis. The results suggest that blood CFU-C exchange with a large marginal pool as well as a bone marrown pool. The procedures described could be exploited in the use of leukapheresed nucleated cells as a source of stem cells for bone marrow transplantation.

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone

Successful bone marrow transplant for Fanconi's anaemia.

A 15-year-old boy with Fanconi's anaemia, who required four units of blood each month, received a bone marrow graft from his 9-year-old brother, who has HLA identical and compatible on mixed lymphocyte reaction. Considerable immunosuppression was used and bacterial infection was prevented by vigorous decontamination in a Vickers-Trexler isolator. After the graft the patient's blood counts remained satisfactory for nine months, but it took six months before qualitative immune function was normal.

Adolescent

Evaluation of Vickers-Trexler isolator in children undergoing bone marrow transplantation.

Four children, 5 months to 15 years of age, underwent bone marrow transplantation in Vickers-Trexler isolator tents. Two grafts were elective. During 170 days of isolation no clinical infections due to exogenous micro-organisms developed despite severe immunodeficiency. The decontamination regimen and sterile procedures used, as well as the microbiological results, are described. This form of isolation in paediatric practice was found to be highly acceptable to both patients and staff.

Adolescent