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Biomedical subjects

K H Hsieh

Publications and source records attributed to K H Hsieh.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
PubMed1989

The study of house dust mites in Taiwan.

By using a radioallergosorbent test (RAST) and intradermal skin testing, our previous studies strongly suggested that house dust mites are the most important allergen in Taiwan, especially in asthmatic children. This study was conducted to determine the distribution of house dust mites in houses of mite-sensitive asthmatic children and normals, the species of mites in various house dust samples, the seasonal prevalence, and the relation between the content of mite allergen and the mite density in dusts. Serial samples were collected every month between February 1986 and January 1987 from 61 houses of mite-allergic patients and nine normals. About 1 m2 surface area each of (A) family couch, (B) TV room floor carpet, (C) mattress, and (D) bed room floor carpet was vacuumed for one minute. The flotation method was used to collect mites in dusts and mites were counted under an inverted phase contrast microscope. Identification of house dust mite species was also performed. The RAST inhibition method was used for assay of mite allergen in dust extracts. The results showed the following six points. (1) Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (DP) was the dominant species found in house dust in the Taipei area (78.8%). (2) The mean number of mites was greater in August through November and lowest in July. (3) The content of mite allergen did not correlate with the number of mites in dust sample. (4) The average number of mites in patients' houses was not different from that in normals' houses.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Allergens↗
PubMed1988

Decreased production of interleukin-2 receptors after immunotherapy to house dust.

The magnitude of the T-cell immune response depends on both the amount and the duration of interaction between interleukin 2 (IL-2) and interleukin-2 receptors (IL-2R). In a previous study, we found that IL-2 production was decreased after immunotherapy. In order to delineate further the mechanisms for the decreased lymphoproliferative response after immunotherapy, in vitro production of soluble IL-2R (SIL-2R) was studied in 18 normal children and 21 newly diagnosed and 26 hyposensitized (greater than 2 years) asthmatic children. The results indicate that immunotherapy may modulate the immunobiologic functions of T cells through its effect on IL-2R production, and IL-2R production after allergen challenge may be used to judge the outcome of immunotherapy. However, the implication of such an alteration in the pathogenesis of atopy and the working mechanism of immunotherapy still need further study.

Asthma↗
PubMed1988

Prevalence of childhood asthma in Taipei, Taiwan, and other Asian Pacific countries.

UNLABELLED: Two epidemiological surveys of the prevalence of bronchial asthma in schoolchildren in Taipei, Taiwan, were conducted in 1974 and 1985. The same questionnaire and school, and schoolchildren of the same age (7-15 years), were studied in these two surveys. Bronchial asthma was defined as at least three paroxysmal, recurrent attacks of wheezing and dyspnea in the previous 12 months. A total of 23,678 children were studied in 1974 and 147,373 children in 1985. Data from other Asian Pacific countries were also reviewed. THE RESULTS: 1) The questionnaire was able to differentiate asthmatics from nonasthmatics on the basis of differences in methacholine challenge, intracutaneous skin testing, total eosinophil count, total serum IgE, and RAST between the two groups. 2) The prevalence of childhood asthma increased from 1.30% in 1974 to 5.07% in 1985, with boys dominating in both studies. 3) The increase in asthma prevalence could not be explained by air pollution or exposure to new allergens. 4) The prevalence of childhood asthma in the Asian Pacific countries are generally comparable to those of Western countries, and the present study and studies from Japan and New Guinea showed an increasing tendency. Thus childhood asthma is a major problem in the Asian Pacific countries as well as in Western countries.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

Chronic granulomatous disease in two Chinese families.

Two Chinese families with X-linked chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) are reported. The first case was an 11-month-old male baby and the second a 2-month-old male baby. Both patients presented with persistent infections caused by Staphylococcus and Candida since birth. Neutrophil functions were studied in patients and a number of family members. Chemotaxis and phagocytosis were normal in every subject. Slide and spectrophotometric nitroblue tetrazolium (NBT) tests of both patients were abnormal and remained unchanged in spite of treatment with ascorbic acid, levamisole, sulfamethoxazole, trimethoprim and isoniazide. Mothers were proved to be carriers as evidenced by the presence of both normal and CGD phagocytes in the slide NBT test. During the 2-month follow-up period, the percentage of normal phagocytes from the mother of case 1 varied from 12% to 73%, which correlated with the fluctuation of spectrophotometric NBT value. The slide NBT test of the mother of case 2 was nearly normal in face of the presence of CGD phagocytes. Both carrier mothers were healthy and asymptomatic.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗
PubMed1988

Selective IgG subclass deficiencies in patients with recurrent sinopulmonary infections: report of two cases.

Two patients with recurrent sinopulmonary infections and normal total serum immunoglobulin levels were found to have selective deficiencies in IgG subclasses. The serum of one patient contained abnormally low IgG2 and IgG4; and the other was deficient in IgG4. Both patients responded to the treatment with high dose intravenous immunoglobulin. The experiences on these two cases strongly suggest that IgG subclasses should be checked in patients with recurrent sinopulmonary infections in face of normal total immunoglobulins.

Child↗
PubMed1988

[Immunological study of colostrum].

Breast milk has many advantages over cow's milk in feeding of infants. Breast-fed newborns usually have much less chance of infections than do bottle-fed ones. In this communication, the cellular and humoral immunocompetent components in the colostra of 80 mothers were studied. The results showed: 1) Colostrum contained a large number of viable leukocytes as blood, but the vast majority was monocyte/macrophage (63.76%); 2) T and B lymphocytes were present in the colostrum, the number of T cell was much less than that of the blood; 3) The colostral mononuclear cells (MNC) had lymphoproliferative responses to mitogens and the mitogenic capability decreased gradually postpartum; 4) The colostral MNC were able to produce interleukin 2, and 5) Immunoglobulins G, A and M and C3 and C4 were present in small amount in the colostrum, however, the concentration of IgA was nearly half of that of the blood. In conclusion, colostrum contains a lot of cellular and humoral immunocompetent components which will confer newborns with passive immunity to various microorganisms.

B-Lymphocytes↗
PubMed1987

Defective monokine production and decreased responsiveness of polymorphonuclear leukocytes to recombinant interleukin-1 in asthmatic patients.

Augmented IgE production and increased infections are often seen in allergic patients. As monocytes (MN) and polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) are involved in both immune regulation and inflammatory reaction, MN function in terms of monokine production stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (MN supernatant; MN-sup) and its biological activity and the response of PMN to MN-sup and recombinant interleukin-1 (rIL-1) regarding chemotactic activity and expression of IgG Fc receptor (FcR) were studied in 26 normal children and 28 new and 22 hyposensitized (HS) asthmatic children. The results showed the following. There was no difference in IL-1 production, as assayed by thymocyte proliferation, among the three groups. All MN-sup from the three groups could enhance IL-2 production, but that of new patients was less efficient. In the absence of PWM, MN-sup of new patients greatly augmented the production of IgG, IgA, IgM, and IgE, but that of HS patients could enhance only IgE synthesis. MN-sup of patients enhanced less efficiently the chemotactic activity and FcR expression of PMN from healthy volunteers, and PMN from asthmatics responded much less vigorously to rIL-1 regarding the above-mentioned functions. The number of PMN with membrane IL-1 was much lower in allergic patients. Thus the abnormal MN and PMN functions may be used to explain partly the augmented IgE production and increased infections in allergic patients.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Long-acting angiotensin II inhibitors containing hexafluorovaline in position 8.

An improved synthesis of hexafluorovaline (Hfv) derivatives, i.e., DL-Hfv-OBzl and Boc-DL-Hfv, is described. Incorporation of hexafluorovaline into angiotensin resulted in [Sar1,Hfv8]AII and [Sar1,D-Hfv8]AII. At the nanogram/milliliter dose range, the L congener was 20-100 times more active as either angiotensin agonist or angiotensin antagonist than its D diastereomer on isolated tissue preparations. At the microgram dose range, both [Sar1,Hfv8]AII and [Sar1,D-Hfv8]AII were significantly more effective than [Sar1,Leu8]AII as angiotensin II inhibitors, producing prolonged blockade of the pressor response toward angiotensin II for over 1 h.

Angiotensin II↗
PubMed1987

Lysis of primary hepatic tumours by lymphokine activated killer cells.

Lymphokine activated killer cell is a newly described lytic system against a variety of solid tumours and is distinct in several respects from the classic cytolytic T cell and the natural killer systems. This study was conducted to evaluate the lytic activity of lymphokine activated killer cells against fresh autologous and allogeneic, as well as cultured hepatocellular carcinoma cells. Lymphokine activated killer cell was generated by incubating peripheral blood mononuclear cells with various concentrations of recombinant IL-2 (rIL-2, Cetus, USA) for various periods of time. A four hour 51Cr release assay was used to measure cytotoxicity. The results show that fresh and cultured hepatocellular carcinoma cells were only slightly susceptible to natural killer cells. Normal hepatocytes were resistant to lymphokine activated killer-mediated lysis. Lymphokine activated killer cells could be generated from mononuclear cells of hepatocellular carcinoma patients and normal subjects with lytic activity against fresh autologous and allogeneic and cultured hepatocellular carcinoma cells, but lymphokine activated killer cells from the former was less efficient than that from the latter. It is concluded that the adoptive immunotherapy with combined rIL-2 and lymphokine activated killer may be worth trying in early cases of primary hepatocellular carcinoma.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Myasthenia gravis: population differences in disease expression and acetylcholine receptor antibody titers between Chinese and Caucasians.

Clinical features and anti-acetylcholine receptor (AChR) titers were compared in Chinese (n = 258) and Caucasian (n = 258) myasthenia gravis populations. The former had more early onset and ocular cases, lacked the Caucasian late onset peak, and had fewer severe cases. The distribution of anti-AChR titers was broadly similar in the two populations, and their sera reacted equally well with AChR in both races. The significantly lower (chi 2 = 14.6; p less than 0.001) median anti-AChR titer in the Chinese population can be accounted for by the higher frequency of ocular cases and lower frequency of moderate or severely affected cases.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Immunological changes after hyposensitization in house-dust-sensitive asthmatic children: a review.

Patients with allergic diseases are characterized by the presence of elevated total serum IgE and specific IgE antibodies against a variety of environmental allergens. To explore the causes for augmented IgE antibody production and the working mechanisms of hyposensitization (HS), a series of studies has been conducted on house-dust-sensitive, newly diagnosed, and hyposensitized asthmatic children and normals. The specific IgE and IgG antibodies were measured by radioallergosorbent test; the lymphoproliferative capability was measured by 3H-thymidine incorporation; the allergen-specific suppressor activity was determined by the extent of house-dust-activated, interleukin-2 (IL-2)-expanded lymphocytes to suppress the allergen-induced proliferation of autologous mononuclear cells (MNC); and IL-2 was produced by stimulating MNC with allergen or phytohemagglutinin (PHA) and quantitated by its capability to support the proliferation of mouse IL-2-dependent cytotoxic T-cell line. The results showed: 1) HS was effective in 90% of patients in terms of decreased attacks and medication taken; 2) the patients were defective in suppressor T-cell function for IgE production; 3) HS was able to restore the regulatory T-cell function and increase the production of IgG-blocking antibody; and 4) IL-2 production may be used as an indicator for initiation and discontinuation of HS. Therefore, hyposensitization is an effective and specific treatment for allergic bronchial asthma and can partially correct an immunoregulatory aberration in atopic individuals.

Asthma↗