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Biomedical subjects

K Poulton

Publications and source records attributed to K Poulton.

11 recordsLinked to original sources

Ethylmalonic adipic aciduria--a treatable hepatomuscular disorder in two adult brothers.

An adult male presented at 28 years of age with muscle weakness and liver dysfunction. His brother had died suddenly 2 years earlier after presenting with Reye's syndrome. Urine organic acid analysis and muscle and cultured fibroblast fatty acid oxidation studies confirmed a diagnosis of ethylmalonic/adipic aciduria-an inherited defect of fatty acid oxidation. The patient responded favourably to treatment with a low fat/high carbohydrate diet supplemented with riboflavin. This case highlights the importance of considering inborn errors of metabolism, in particular fatty acid oxidation defects, in adults with liver disease, muscle disease or Reye's syndrome.

Adipates

TNF microsatellite a2, b3 and d2 alleles are associated with systemic lupus erythematosus.

We have investigated TNF microsatellite polymorphisms in SLE and their association with both HLA class II alleles and disease expression. A total of 91 Caucasoid SLE and 109 matched Caucasoid controls were recruited for this study. TNF microsatellites a, b and d were typed using fluorescent based semi-automated gene scanning. TNF a2, b3 and d2 allele frequencies were significantly increased in the SLE group compared to controls. These alleles were found to be part of an extended HLA-DRB1*0301 haplotype and have previously been associated with high TNF-alpha production. When the SLE group was analyzed according to presentation of certain clinical features, photosensitivity and Raynaud's phenomenon, the frequency of these alleles (TNF a2, b3 and d2) were also significantly increased. No significant increase in the allele frequencies of TNF a2, b3 and d2 was demonstrated in the group of patients with renal involvement. These data suggest that TNF microsatellite alleles are not independent of HLA associations in SLE and may be important in the expression of certain clinical features in SLE.

Alleles

HLA allele detection using molecular techniques.

There are now many molecular biological techniques available to define HLA class I and class II alleles. Some of these are also applicable to other human polymorphic genes, in particular to those non-HLA genes encoded within the Mhc. The range of techniques available allows laboratories to choose those most suited to their purpose. The routine laboratory supporting solid organ transplants will need to type large numbers of potential recipients over a period of time, probably using PCR-SSOP while donors will be typed singly and rapidly using PCR-SSP with HLA allele compatibility determined by heteroduplex analysis. Laboratories supporting bone marrow transplantation, where time is less pressing, can choose from the whole range of techniques to determine accurately donor recipient Mhc compatibility. For disease studies, techniques defining precise HLA allele sequence polymorphisms are needed and high sample numbers have to be accommodated. When an association is established allele sequencing has to be used. In the near future, the precise role of HLA alleles in transplantation and disease susceptibility is likely to be established unambiguously.

Alleles

Rhabdomyolysis and acute renal failure following carbon monoxide poisoning: two case reports with muscle histopathology and enzyme activities.

Two patients with carbon monoxide poisoning are presented, both of whom suffered rhabdomyolysis complicated by acute renal failure. One patient, an attempted suicide, developed a compartment syndrome of the right thigh that required fasciotomy and recovered after a period of hemofiltration and hemodialysis. Muscle biopsy appearances were consistent with partial muscle infarction. The other patient, rescued from a smoke filled room, exhibited raised creatine kinase but no evidence of muscle swelling. He developed anuric renal failure and adult respiratory distress syndrome and died despite maximum intensive care. Muscle biopsy showed early evidence of muscle necrosis. In both cases there was a marked reduction of enzyme activities in the muscle biopsy consistent with metabolic derangement. Although there was a clinical compartment syndrome in the first case, there was no muscle swelling at the time of biopsy or subsequently in the second case. A direct toxic effect of carbon monoxide may thus have been an important mechanism contributing to the muscle necrosis in the second case, although local ischemia may have been an exacerbating factor in the first case.

Acute Kidney Injury