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Biomedical subjects

M Błaszczyk

Publications and source records attributed to M Błaszczyk.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1991

Immunological markers of the subsets of systemic scleroderma and its overlap.

The studies performed repeatedly in 298 cases of systemic scleroderma (SSc) disclosed high prevalence of antinuclear antibody (in about 95% of the cases) with the use of HEp-2 cells as the substrate for indirect immunofluorescence method. Anticentromere antibody (ACA) was found in 25% of acrosclerosis cases, but in 50% of patients with cutaneous involvement limited to the digits, i.e. almost without cutaneous indurations. The visceral involvement was comparable in cases positive and negative for ACA, and a follow-up of these patients showed that the course, although protracted, was not always mild as previously believed. Scl 70 antibody proved to be a most characteristic marker of SSc, appearing in about 87% of diffuse variety and in above 50% of acrosclerosis cases. The most important finding was the detection of the coexistence of ACA and Scl 70 antibody in 10 of 180 cases studied by three methods: indirect immunofluorescence, double immunodiffusion, (for Scl 70) and immunoblotting with recombinant kinetochore antigen for ACA and recombinant Topoisomerase I antigen for Scl 70 antibody. These antibodies, believed to be mutually exclusive, are most often missed due to masking effect on HEp-2 cells by the stronger antibody, usually Scl 70. Its detection proved to be possible by evaluation of different serum dilutions and several cell mitoses, and confirmed by immunoblotting with recombinant antigens. Of practical significance are the clinical correlations between Pm-Scl antibodies, showing homogeneous nucleolar staining on HEp-2 cells, and overlap or atypical SSc cases with concomitant muscle involvement. This antibody was found to have a surprisingly high association with atypical SSc or scleromyositis of children.

Antibodies, Antinuclear↗
PubMed1990

Cytotoxic effects of sera from patients with systemic scleroderma: comparison of three different in vitro methods.

Sera from 93 patients with systemic scleroderma including incipient or prodromal acroscleroderma and from 43 healthy individuals were studied for cytotoxic effects on endothelial cells by means of three different in vitro methods. Inhibition of 3H-thymidine incorporation by endothelium was caused by about 33% of sera, almost exclusively from patients with diffuse scleroderma and the transitional form: acroscleroderma--diffuse scleroderma. An antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity assay revealed cytotoxicity of about 37% of sera from patients with diffuse scleroderma and the transitional form but also of a proportion of sera from patients with CREST syndrome with pronounced vascular changes. Serum cytotoxic activity, revealed by both methods, was related with more frequent involvement of muscle and kidney in the patients. A direct 51Cr release assay showed the cytotoxicity only in 4 of 68 cases in diffuse scleroderma with pronounced internal organ involvement. Thus, depending on the method used, various types of cytotoxicity could be detected in sera from patients with systemic scleroderma.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Autoantibodies to nucleolar antigens in systemic scleroderma: clinical correlations.

Indirect immunofluorescence(IIF) and double immunodiffusion (DID) were performed on the sera of 64 patients who had a nucleolar immunofluorescence pattern on HEp-2 cells. Forty-nine of the sera were from 296 patients with systemic scleroderma (SSc) and 15 sera were from 214 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). A homogeneous nucleolar staining pattern was found in 45 of the 64 sera (70.3%), a clumpy fluorescence associated with fibrillarin antibody in 14 (21.8%) and a speckled pattern was found in five of the sera (7.8%). There was a clear correlation between the sera which showed a homogeneous nucleolar staining pattern with symptoms of the polymyositis/scleroderma overlap syndrome that differed from SSc with concomitant myositis. The clumpy pattern was mainly associated with diffuse scleroderma and the speckled pattern with limited scleroderma (previously called acrosclerosis).

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Are ACA and Scl 70 antibodies mutually exclusive?

Serological studies using indirect immunofluorescence, double immunodiffusion and immunoblot with recombinant Topo I and kinetochore antigens were performed in 180 patients with systemic scleroderma. In the sera of 10 patients, we found coexisting ACA and Scl 70 antibodies, and this was confirmed by all three methods. The relationship between the coexistence of these antibodies and the clinical features of the disease is not clear, although in all these cases there was pronounced vascular involvement.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

[Diagnostic value of the lupus band test in patients treated by chronic hemodialysis].

The diagnosis of systemic lupus erythematosus in cases with advanced renal failure is a serious clinical problem. The purpose of the study was an analysis of the incidence of various non-renal criteria (according to ARA) for the diagnosis of SLE in patients with chronic renal failure of various aetiology and find out whether the lupus band test in these patients may serve as an additional criterion for the diagnosis of SLE. The studied group comprised 39 patients with chronic renal failure (28 men and 13 women) aged 17-58 years. In this group 29 cases were treated with dialyses and 10 conservatively. The most frequent clinical sign (apart from renal changes) accepted as diagnostic criteria for the SLE was polyserositis and leucopenia and thrombocytopenia. In no case antinuclear antibodies, antibodies against DNA and against soluble nuclear antigens were found. Positive LBT was obtained in 72.4% of cases with chronic renal failure, particularly frequently in the dialysed patients. A positive result of the LBT cannot be of decisive importance in the diagnosis of SLE but may suggest a need of more detailed investigations (determination of Ro antibodies) for confirmation of the diagnosis.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Phototests in patients with various forms of lupus erythematosus.

Responses to ultraviolet B (UVB; 290-320 nm) were tested in 227 patients with main forms of lupus erythematosus (LE): discoid LE (DLE), discoid disseminated LE (DDLE), systemic LE (SLE), and subacute cutaneous LE (SCLE). Four parameters were evaluated: minimal erythema dose (MED), its distribution, persistence of erythema, and photoreproduction of lesions. Patients with LE differed considerably from controls in their UVB reactivity. In addition, there were significant differences between various LE forms, even after a single UV exposure. Lowered MED in comparison to controls was observed most frequently in SLE patients (64.4%) and least frequently in DLE patients (32.1%). Prolonged persistence of erythema induced by 1-2 MED was a constant finding in SCLE. In SLE and DDLE, it was observed in more than 80% of patients, and in DLE in 56.7% of examined cases. Photoreproduction of lesions after single UVB exposure was observed most frequently in SCLE (62.5%) and only in 10% of DLE patients.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

Theophylline-resistant and theophylline-sensitive "active" and "total" E rosette-forming lymphocytes in patients with systemic scleroderma.

Using the E rosette test and its modification with theophylline, we have studied T regulatory lymphocytes in various forms of systemic scleroderma. Mean percentages of active rosette-forming cells (ARFC) as well as the fraction resistant to theophylline incubation (ARFC-res) were significantly decreased, irrespective of the variety of the disease, compared to the age-matched controls. Late ("cold") rosette-forming fractions were unimpaired. The theophylline-sensitive fraction of total rosette-forming cells (TRFC-sens), which contains mainly cells from the suppressor circuit, was found to be lowered in all patients groups studied, whereas the ARFC-sens fraction was significantly decreased only in patients with diffuse scleroderma over 50 years of age, in whom there was a tendency to a more severe course, as manifested by pronounced systemic organ involvement. The lowered values of E rosette tests were found in a majority of SSc patients and were correlated with the appearance in the sera of factors capable of inhibiting ARFC formation by normal human peripheral blood T lymphocytes. Normal values of the E rosette test were related to the presence in the patients' sera of factors stimulating ARFC formation by normal lymphocytes. We surmise from the results that in SSc patients the T-cell defect is not only restricted to T suppressor cells but also refers to the active theophylline-resistant fraction containing mainly T inducer and T cytotoxic cells.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Natural killer cell activity of peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with various forms of lupus erythematosus.

Natural killer (NK) cell activity of peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 28 patients with cutaneous discoid lupus erythematosus, seven with subacute cutaneous lupus erythematosus, and 17 with systemic lupus erythematosus was studied using a 4 h 51Cr release assay using K-562 cells as target cells. NK cell activity was found to be markedly decreased not only in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus but also in a proportion of cases of subacute cutaneous lupus erythematosus and cutaneous discoid lupus erythematosus (57% and 39% respectively). There was a relationship between the activity and severity of LE and the decrease in NK cell activity.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Denitrification of high concentrations of nitrites and nitrates in synthetic medium with different sources of organic carbon. III. Methanol.

The denitrification of nitrites and nitrates (1000 mg N/l) in medium containing methanol as a source of organic carbon was studied. Continuous cultures of mixed population of autochtonic microflora from bottom sludge of nitrogenous wastewater reservoir were set up in a chemostat-type column and packed bed reactor. The efficiency of denitrification of nitrates in packed bed reactor was 506.7 mg N/l/h whereas denitrification of nitrites was from 8.7 to 16.0 mg N/l/h depending on the granulation of the filing material. In the latter case 83% nitrogen was removed from the medium. One of the factors causing low efficiency of denitrification of nitrites is excessive alkalization of the medium in the bed. The use of a three-step bed with adjusted pH resulted in complete denitrification of nitrites with efficiency 60 mg N/l/h. The bacteria inside the bed were dominated by Paracoccus denitrificans and by Pseudomonas aeruginosa when nitrates were present. The sensitivity of P. denitrificans to high concentrations of nitrites seems to be the second factor contributing to low efficiency of denitrification with methanol as organic substrate.

Culture Media↗
PubMed1985

Quantitative selection of denitrifying bacteria in continuous cultures and requirement for organic carbon. I. Starch.

A mixed population of bacteria from bottom sludge of nitrogen wastewater reservoir was incubated in continuous culture in medium containing 1000 mg nitrate nitrogen/l and starch. Maximal efficiency of denitrification was 5 mg N/l/h. Marked changes in participation of denitrifying bacteria (16-76%) among total number of bacteria was observed, this being dependent on the ratio of starch concentration (CS) to nitrogen concentration (CN) in the medium. The optimal CS/CN ratio ensuring highest participation of denitrifying bacteria was 3.2. The amount of starch required for the denitrification of a defined quantity of nitrogen is negatively correlated (r = -0.98) with the frequency of the occurrence of denitrifying bacteria (XD) and is: CS = (5.53-0.028XD) CN. The denitrifying bacteria in continuous culture were dominated, depending on CS/CN ratio and flow rate of medium, by Alcaligenes faecalis, Paracoccus denitrificans or Pseudomonas mendocina, that is species unable to hydrolyse starch.

Bacteria↗
PubMed1984

The function and morphology of the liver in porphyria cutanea tarda.

The aminopyrine breath test, postprandial serum bile acids, and routine liver tests were assessed as indicators of liver dysfunction in 38 patients with porphyria cutanea tarda. In 17 patients needle biopsy specimens of the liver were obtained. Bile acids were increased in almost all the patients studied (97%) but impairment of aminopyrine demethylation was found in only 45%. More than 50% of cases had elevated activities of serum alanine aminopeptidase, leucine aminopeptidase, gammaglutamyl transpeptidase (GGTP), and alanine aminotransferase (ALAT). All liver biopsy specimens showed fluorescence characteristic of porphyrins. Histologic examination of biopsy material revealed cellular lesions in all cases, the most common pathological findings being fatty degeneration of varying degree and iron accumulation. The most frequent electronmicroscopic changes in the liver were fat droplets, granules containing bile material, and siderosomes in the cytoplasm of hepatocytes. However, there was no evident relationship between morphological and functional liver changes.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Effect of various sources of organic carbon and high nitrite and nitrate concentrations on the selection of denitrifying bacteria. II. Continuous cultures in packed bed reactors.

The effect of different organic compounds, nitrites and nitrates at the concentration of 1,000 mg N/l on the quantitative and strain-specific selection of denitrifying bacteria was determined in anaerobic packed bed reactors. Both the source of carbon and nitrogen form influenced strain specificity and the frequency of occurrence of denitrifying bacteria. The frequency of denitrifying bacteria within packed bed reactor ranged in different media from 11% (glucose and nitrates) to 100% (methanol and ethanol with nitrates). A single species selection was observed in the presence of nitrites within packed bed reactor: Pseudomonas aeruginosa in medium with acetate. Pseudomonas stutzeri in medium with ethanol, Pseudomonas mendocina in medium with methanol and Pseudomonas fluorescens in medium with glucose. When nitrates were present in packed bed reactor, the dominating bacteria were: P. stutzeri in medium with acetate, P. fluorescens in medium with ethanol, Paracoccus denitrificans in medium with methanol and Alcaligenes faecalis in medium with glucose.

Acetates↗