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K M Venables

Publications and source records attributed to K M Venables.

59 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1985

Interaction of smoking and atopy in producing specific IgE antibody against a hapten protein conjugate.

A survey was carried out of a population of workers exposed to tetrachlorophthalic anhydride, an acid anhydride epoxy resin curing agent known to cause asthma. Using a radioallergosorbent test with a tetrachlorophthalic anhydride human serum albumin conjugate, specific IgE antibody was detected in serum from 24 out of 300 factory floor workers exposed to tetrachlorophthalic anhydride. Of these 24, 20 (83.3%) were current smokers compared with 133 (48.2%) of 276 without antibody (p less than 0.01), and there was a weaker association with atopy, defined by skin tests with common allergens. Smoking and atopy interacted, the prevalence of antibody being 16.1% in atopic smokers, 11.7% in non-atopic smokers, 8.3% in atopic non-smokers, and nil in non-atopic non-smokers (p less than 0.025). Smoking may predispose to, and interact with atopy in, the production of specific IgE antibody to this hapten protein conjugate.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Occupational asthma in a steel coating plant.

An outbreak of occupational asthma, of unknown cause and extent, was detected in a steel coating plant. In 1979 a cross-sectional study which defined occupational asthma in terms of respiratory symptoms detected 21 people with suggestive symptoms among the 221 studied. They all worked in the coating shop, but the plastic coatings used at the plant contained many potential sensitising agents that might have caused the asthma. All 21 developed their symptoms after 1971, and it was found that in this year a supplier had modified a coating allowing, at the temperatures used in the process, toluene di-isocyanate to be liberated. Two of the symptomatic subjects were tested by inhalation of the isocyanate and showed asthmatic reactions and other subjects were found to have asthma related to periods spent at work by records of peak expiratory flow rate. Over half the 21 had a symptom free latent period after first exposure of three years or less, a pattern not seen in other subjects with respiratory symptoms. After the isocyanate had been removed from the process 17 of these subjects became asymptomatic or improved, a greater proportion than in other subjects with respiratory symptoms.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Peak flow rate records in surveys: reproducibility of observers' reports.

Records of peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR), commonly used in hospital in the management of asthma, have not been evaluated as a method of identifying cases of asthma in population surveys. Four observers were asked to report on whether asthma was present or absent in 61 graphs of PEFR recorded two hourly for four weeks during surveys of working population. Agreement within individual observers was measured using a subset of 29 graphs which had been copied and distributed at random among the set of 61; agreement was good, from 90% in one observer to 100% in two. Agreement between observers was measured on the basis of all 61 graphs. Agreement occurred between all four observers in 69% of graphs, between at least three out of four in 97%, and, when pairs of observers were examined, between 72% and 93% of graphs. Graphs assessed as showing asthma demonstrated more within day PEFR variability (expressed as the number of days in which the difference between maximum and minimum readings was at least 15%) than graphs assessed as not showing asthma. Some graphs with little within day variability were assessed as showing asthma, apparently because they demonstrated between day PEFR variability.

Asthma↗
PubMed1983

Tetrachlorophthalic anhydride asthma: evidence for specific IgE antibody.

We describe seven women with asthma induced by occupational exposure to an acid anhydride, tetrachlorophthalic anhydride (TCPA), an epoxy resin hardening agent. Inhalation tests with TCPA at atmospheric concentrations of less than one tenth of a manufacturer's recommended exposure limit provoked asthmatic reactions in the four women tested. None had evidence of pretest bronchial hyperreactivity. Immediate skin prick test reactions were elicited in the seven subjects by a conjugate of TCPA with human serum albumin (TCPA-HSA) but not in others tested. Specific IgE antibody levels to TCPA-HSA, measured by radioallergosorbent test scores, were significantly elevated in the seven, but not in TCPA-exposed and unexposed comparison groups. These results imply that occupational asthma caused by TCPA is an allergic reaction mediated by specific IgE antibody.

Adult↗