PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

P B Beeson

Publications and source records attributed to P B Beeson.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1986

One hundred years of American internal medicine. A view from the inside.

The term internal medicine began to be used by German writers in the late 19th century to designate a branch of practice incorporating the growing understanding of morbid anatomy, microbiology, physiology, and biochemistry. American practitioners of internal medicine began to take a respected place in world medicine toward the close of the 19th century. Noteworthy changes followed World War II, owing to allocation of large sums of money for biomedical research by governments, philanthropic organizations, and the pharmaceutical industry. Clinical problems in this period shifted in preponderance from acute infections to the chronic diseases that accompany aging. Complex diagnostic procedures, together with a diversity of therapeutic choices, created need for full-time teachers and clinical investigators in medical schools, as well as for subspecialists in practice. The pendulum may have swung too far toward specialization, and in the future a substantial proportion of practitioners of internal medicine will still continue to serve as generalist physicians.

Diagnosis↗
PubMed1982

Genetic disorders of leukocyte function: what they tell us about normal antimicrobial mechanisms of human phagocytic cells.

Analysis of three inherited defects of granulocyte function (Chediak-Higashi Syndrome, CHS; Chronic Granulomatous Disease, CGD; Myeloperoxidase Deficiency, MPO) has highlighted critical events for the antimicrobial function of these cells and placed others in perspective. Prompt phagosomal fusion may be more important for digestion of organisms rather than killing as indicated by the mild bactericidal defects in the CHS. The formation of O2- and H2O2 during the phagocytic respiratory burst is central for the broad antimicrobial activity of granulocytes. MPO, on the other hand, while perhaps normally participating in granulocyte antimicrobial action, appears to be essential only for the effective killing of eukaryotic organisms such as certain fungal strains. While the non-oxidative killing mechanism of neutrophils have stimulated much recent interest and were the first to be defined no specific inherited defects have been discovered which are clinically important. Genetic disorders of macrophage effector function remain to be clearly defined as do those of eosinophils. The lessons learned from the study of the granulocyte defects discussed have provided both the technology and approach to the analysis of the antimicrobial and cytocidal mechanisms of these important phagocytic cells.

Blood Bactericidal Activity↗
PubMed1977

Protective role of complement in experimental Escherichia coli endocarditis.

Fourteen strains of Escherichia coli were tested for ability to cause infective endocarditis in rabbits prepared by prior placement of an intracardiac catheter. Strains that were resistant to the bactericidal action of serum caused E. coli endocarditis in 91.4% of rabbits, whereas serum-sensitive strains usually failed to cause persisting infection (11.3% infected, P less than 0.001). Although serum-sensitive E. coli lodged on heart valves within 1 h after intravenous injection, they survived less than 24 h in most normal rabbits. In contrast to normals, all five C6-deficient rabbits injected with a serum-sensitive strain of E. coli developed infective endocarditis (P less than 0.005). No correlation was found between the presence of K1 antigen and the incidence of experimental E. coli endocarditis. Thus, the ability of strains of E. coli to establish persisting endocardial infection in rabbits appears to be directly associated with resistance to the complement-mediated serum bactericidal system. These findings may explain in part the rarity of gram-negative bacillary endocarditis in patients; they also indicate that in certain special circumstances the serum bactericidal system can play a decisive role in host defense.

Animals↗
PubMed1977

The eosinophil.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Adrenal Cortex Hormones↗