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Biomedical subjects

J Lieb

Publications and source records attributed to J Lieb.

16 recordsLinked to original sources

Lithium and immune function.

Lithium has potent antiviral and immunostimulating properties which are probably consequences of its actions on prostaglandin synthesis. Although lithium has considerable potential in the prophylaxis of some viral illnesses and other manifestations of defective immune function, it is, paradoxically, capable of activating autoimmune mechanisms in predisposed patients.

Adjuvants, Immunologic

The role of prostaglandin E2 in seminal immunosuppression.

Seminal plasma, which has high antigenic potential and the capacity to induce immunosuppression, has been incriminated as a possible factor in the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Seminal plasma contains high concentrations of prostaglandins, which are capable of inducing immunosuppression. As prostaglandin E2 is noted for its immunosuppressive actions, we designed this study to determine whether this prostaglandin is responsible for seminal immunosuppression. Diluted and undiluted samples of semen from 5 heterosexual donors induced a significant suppression of phytohaemagglutinin-stimulated thymidine incorporation into lymphocytes. However, when the prostaglandin E2 levels of the semen samples were extrapolated to a standard prostaglandin E2 dose-response curve, the estimated values did not agree with the prostaglandin E2 levels. We conclude that prostaglandin E2 may contribute to seminal immunosuppression, but is not solely responsible for it.

Adult

Brief communication treatment of delusional depression with tranylcypromine.

Patients with depressions accompanied by delusional thinking are reported to respond poorly to tricyclic antidepressants. We present four cases of delusional depression successfully treated with tranylcypromine. Three patients had previously been treated unsuccessfully with adequate trials of tricyclic antidepressants and one had been treated with a tricyclic-phenothiazine combination with a poor response. These four patients experienced a dramatic reduction in depression and delusional thinking when treated with tranylcypromine. On the basis of these cases, tranylcypromine appears to be an effective treatment for some patients with delusional depressions.

Affective Disorders, Psychotic

Lithium treatment of chronic cluster headaches.

On the basis of reports of reduced MAO activity in migraine and cluster headaches and on a report that lithium carbonate activates MAO, the authors administered lithium carbonate to two patients whose cluster headaches had brought them to the point of contemplating suicide. Both patients responded quite dramatically. Case 1 has now been virtually free of headaches for over two years and Case 2 has been in remission for over twelve months.

Adult

A double-blind trial of maprotiline (Ludiomil) and amitriptyline in depressed outpatients.

The results of a double-blind trial of a tetracyclic antidepressant, maprotiline (Ludiomil) and a conventional tricyclic, amitriptyline (Elavil), in 67 ambulatory depressives are reported. Hamilton's Rating Scale for Depression was the main outcome criterion. No statistically significant differences were found between the drugs in onset of action, efficacy, side effects or predictors of response. Patients on either drug showed a significant reduction in symptoms after 1 week of treatment and at the end of the trial. Both drugs were tolerated well. A review of double-blind comparisons of maprotiline and tricyclic antidepressants, spanning 13 countries, and including over 900 patients, both ambulatory and inpatient, shows essentially similar results. The main outcome criterion in all these studies was manifest psychopathology assessed on the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression by the treating physician. The absence of additional types of outcome criteria or assessment techniques, which may have detected differences in motor activity or drive as originally postulated, may have obscured results which were expected to be subtle.

Adult