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K Dicke

Publications and source records attributed to K Dicke.

25 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1984

Mycobacterial pulmonary infections after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation.

Allogeneic bone marrow transplant recipients are prone to pulmonary infections caused by a wide spectrum of organisms. Nonetheless, the recognition of lung disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis in two patients and Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare in a third patient at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Hospital represents the first report of these agents occurring in allogeneic marrow recipients. Diagnosis can be difficult due to atypical presentations, initial negative culture results, and the presence of more than one pathogen in these compromised hosts. In the case involving Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare infection, culture of material obtained by bronchoscopy established the diagnosis when repeated sputum samples showed no growth. A vigorous search for mycobacteria is suggested in allogeneic bone marrow transplant recipients with pulmonary infections.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Obstructive lung disease after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation.

We report the cases of 3 patients with marked dyspnea and an obstructive ventilation disorder associated with chronic graft-versus-host disease after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation. This disorder was characterized by recurrent pulmonary infections and colonization of the lower respiratory tract by Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Two patients have shown rapidly progressive deterioration with death following due to respiratory failure. Intensive therapy with antibiotics, bronchodilators, high-dose steroids, and azathioprine was not effective in arresting the malignant course of this disorder.

Adult↗
PubMed1980

Radiosensitive, thymic hormone-sensitive peripheral blood suppressor cell activity in cancer patients.

Suppressor cell activity which was radiosensitive in most subjects and thymic hormone sensitive in some was identified in patients with cancer, and compared to simultaneously studied normal controls. Suppressor cell activity was measured in cocultures of normal lymphocytes with patient lymphocytes added in microwells using the blastogenic response to phytohemagglutinin and concanavalin A as the measure of activity. Thirty-five patients (lung cancer, 21; leukemia in remission, seven; and various solid tumors, seven) and an equal number of controls were studied. Suppressor cell activity was identified in 71% of the patients. In approximately 75% of these, the suppressor cell activity was radiosensitive (4000 to 6000 rads). For the phytohemagglutinin response, suppressor cell activity was thymic hormone sensitive in approximately 40% (Thymosin Fraction 5 or thymic humoral factor), and for the concanavalin A response, it was thymic hormone sensitive in about 25% of the cases. There was a significant correlation between the presence of immunodeficiency (defined as a phytohemagglutinin response < 35,000 or a concanavalin A response < 12,000 cpm) and the presence of the suppressor cell activity. The suppressor cell activity was heterogenous relative to its radiosensitivity and thymic hormone sensitivity. Suppressor cell activity was observed in all the patient categories. These results indicate that certain available therapeutic manipulations may have significant effects on suppressor cell activity and should be an important subject for further investigation.

Antineoplastic Agents↗
PubMed1980

Host defense deficiency in hairy cell leukemia and its correction by leukocyte transfusion.

A similar defect host defense mechanisms in hairy cell leukemia was defined in two patients. Surface-adherent monocytes were not detected in the peripheral blood nor were monocytes that mediate antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) to isoantibody-coated human erythrocytes. In addition, lymphocytes of both patients failed to show blastogenic responses to concanavalin A (Con-A) and pokeweed mitogen (PWM) but showed a vigorous response to phytohemagglutinin (PHA). Other immunologic abnormalities were present but were either moderate in degree or were not present in both patients. In vitro lymphocyte blastogenic responses were fully restored by incubation of patients' leukocytes with a normal donor's adherent monocytes. One patient received daily allogeneic leukocyte transfusion for 4 days. This resulted in complete normalization of monocyte adherence and ADCC that persisted for several months after transfusion and was associated with hemotalogic improvement. Therapy in case 1 resulted in correction of the blastogenic responses to Con-A and PWM. Thus, a host defense defect in hairy cell leukemia has been defined in 2 patients and a preliminary result suggests that therapy with leukocyte transfusions may be useful in the postsplenectomy patient with an infectious complication and should be explored further.

Antibody-Dependent Cell Cytotoxicity↗
PubMed1978

Suppressor cell activity in cancer patients: a possible role for thymic hormones.

We have identified the presence of suppressor cell activity in the peripheral blood of immunosuppressed stage IV cancer patients. The patients' cells had a diminished mitogenic response to phytohemagglutinin (PHA) and suppressed the PHA mitogenic response of a normal donor's peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL). Thus, PBL from a cancer patient whose PHA mitogenic response was 3932 counts per minute (cpm), cultured together with a normal donor's PBL with a PHA mitogenic response of 82,865 net cpm, caused a greater than 50% reduction in the latter (37,651 net cpm). Suppressor cell activity was present in 12 of 14 patients tested. This effect was partially mitigated by irradiation with 4000 rads in nine of 14 patients. Preincubation of the patients' cells with thymosin followed by the addition of thymosin to the co-cultured cells mitigated the suppressor activity in five of ten patients and thymic humoral factor did the same in four of 11 patients. A radiosensitive and thymic hormone-responsive suppressor cell may be present in the peripheral blood of cancer patients. Confirmation of this preliminary observation and further characterization of the cell or cells is currently being undertaken.

Female↗