Biomedical subjects
P Brain
Publications and source records attributed to P Brain.
In defence of ancient bloodletting.
The ancients used bloodletting extensively in infectious and other diseases. When recent work on iron and bacterial infection is taken into account, it is possible to argue that bloodletting, which reduced plasma iron and transferrin saturation, might have been of value in increasing resistance to infection by bacteria or plasmodia. Galen's bloodletting methods are summarized, and their probable effect on plasma iron is considered. The ancient physicans who had no specific remedies for infection whatsoever, may well have been justified in making responsible use of bloodletting, both for the treatment and for the prophylaxis of infectious disease.
Haematological differences in three population groups.
The increased absolute lymphocyte counts of Indians and Blacks in comparison with Whites, observed in a former study, were shown, in a study on blood donors, to occur in women rather than men of these two groups. Neutrophil counts showed no sex differences, but were significantly highest in Whites and lowest in Blacks. Indians of both sexes had significantly higher mean red cell counts, together with smaller red cells, than subjects in the other two groups. In no group was a significant correlation observed between body mass and haemoglobin level.
The interpretation of physiological correlates of differential housing in laboratory rats.
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HLA and cancer in South African Indians.
Two-hundred-and-forty-nine Indian cancer patients were tested for 39 HLA antigens and the antigen frequencies were compared with those of 603 control subjects. Comparisons were also made between cancer patients and controls for each ethnic group and for each site of cancer. There was an increase in the frequency of the HLA antigens A11 and Bw52 in patients with malignancies. Heterozygosity at the B locus was significantly increased in patients with cancer of the breast. The Aw24, B17 haplotype was also associated with breast cancer.
Immunological events in acute measles influencing outcome.
77% of 30 children with measles who had severe lymphopenia (less than 2000/mm3; less than 2.0 x 10(9)/1) within 2 days of appearance of rash (group A) subsequently died or progressed to chronic chest disease. This was significantly worse than the outcome in 30 children with measles who had lymphocyte counts more than 2000/mm3 (more than 2.0 x 10(9)/1) (group B) of whom 67% recovered. In group A children the persistence of severe lymphopenia (caused by a reduction in T- and B-cells) for at least 15 days after onset of rash, remained a good predictive index of morbidity and mortality. Reversal of immunoparesis in group A was slower and incomplete 42 days from appearance of the rash in those who subsequently died or developed chronic chest disease compared with those who recovered. All patients who died failed to produce adequate measles antibodies. The therapeutic implications and immunopathological significance of these findings for chronic complications after acute measles are discussed.
Alterations in immune responsiveness in acute measles and chronic post-measles chest disease.
Immune responses in 24 children with acute measles (AM) were compared with those in 20 children who had chronic pulmonary complications (CPMC) following measles. The immuno-suppressive effects of acute measles were extensive: total white cells were reduced and this reduction was accounted for entirely by lymphopenia which was equally expressed among the major lymphocyte sub-populations studied; the function of 'T' cells, assessed by radio-isotope incorporation into phytohaemagglutin (PHA) transformed lymphocytes and delayed skin hypersensitivity (DHR) to dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB), was depressed. Serum IgA was reduced in AM patients. In contrast there was a relative sparing of the measured indices of immunity in patients with chronic post-measles chest disease, with the major defect being an impaired DHR to DNCB. There were minor alterations of complement components in both groups of patients.
'Double marker' lymphocytes in patients receiving tetracycline.
When T and B cell counts, using sheep cell rosettes and surface immunoglobulin as markers, are done on the lymphocytes of individuals who are receiving tetracycline, unusually high numbers of 'double marker' cells are regularly found.
Galen on the Ideal of the Physician.
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Immunoparesis and outcome in measles.
In five children with measles who subsequently died and in one with measles in whom chronic bronchopneumonia developed (group A), immunosuppression was more pronounced during the acute rash (i.e., 3-20 days before death) than in six children with measles who recovered (group B). The absolute total lymphocyte-count (T and B cells) was significantly lower in group A. Mean serum-C3 was also lower in group A than in group B. There were no significant differences between the two groups for other complement factors or for serum-immunoglobulins. The mean phytohaemagglutinin stimulation index (S.I.) for lymphocytes from patients in group A resembled that in group B, although the S.I. in both groups was significantly lower than that in healthy controls. S.I.S were lowest in two patients who died. Counts of total white cells, neutrophils, null cells, and those with both B and T cell markers were not significantly different in groups A and B. The total lymphocyte-count (mean 2117 +/- S.E.M. 375 cells/mm3) in a further nineteen patients with measles who had died, studied retrospectively, was significantly lower than that (4487 +/- 540 cells/mm3) in twenty-seven patients with measles who recovered.
HLA and cancer in South African Negroes.
Five hundred patients with cancer were tested for 32 HLA antigens and the antigen frequencies compared with those of 500 control subjects matched for race, sex and age. Although the overall frequencies showed no significant differences, detailed analysis with regard to site of cancer, age and the number of antigens detected at each locus revealed significant differences. Phenotype tables and haplotype frequencies have been included.
Experimental autoimmune thyroiditis in the vervet monkey.
Autoimmune thyroiditis was induced in two vervet monkeys by immunizing them with human thyroid extract. As expected, both animals developed cytotoxic antibodies which were active against human thyroid and other human cells in tissue culture. In addition, a second serum factor was detected. This was capable of sensitizing human thyroid (and other) cells and rendering them susceptible to killing by normal lymphocytes. This finding implicates antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity in the pathogenesis of autoimmune thyroiditis.
History of medicine: Bull's blood: a mystery of antiquity.
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What does individual housing mean to a mouse?
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Heterophile antibodies. Part II. An evaluation of the effect of autologous blood group substances on the natural formation of agglutinating antibodies to sheep red blood cells.
This study shows that some substances in human secretions can inhibit the agglutination of sheep red blood cells by human antibodies. When present in adequate concentrations, they can also inhibit the reaction of the donor's own sheep red blood cell antibody activity in vito. The subjects in whom this phenomenon was found almost always had low agglutinating antibody titers to sheep red blood cells. The inhibiting activity of saliva for sheep red blood cell antibodies was influenced by the ABH secretor status. Substances reacting against sheep red blood cell antibodies occur in the secretions in considerably smaller quantities than ABH substances.
Heterophile antibodies. Part III. Evidence for linkage of high responder activity to sheep red blood cells and the formation of specific antibodies to HBsAg.
Group A, B and O subjects who produce immune antibodies to group A1 or B red blood cells also produce high titer antibodies to sheep red blood cells. Sheep red blood cells appear to possess AB-like as well as non-AB determinants on their surface membranes, each capable of producing and reacting with antibodies of their respective specificities. The antibodies against AB-like determinants preferentially agglutinate A or B cells whereas non-AB-like determinants preferentially stimulate hemolytic antibodies. Human antibodies reacting with these two kinds of determinants on sheep red blood cells may be produced in response to microorganisms possessing very similar factors on their membranes. Individuals who possess AB-like determinants in their secretions, similar to the determinants present on sheep red blood cells (or microorganisms), often make weaker antibodies to these red blood cells. Subjects lacking corresponding anti-sheep inhibitors in their secretions generally produce stronger sheep red blood cell antibodies. There is a positive correlation between the formation of antibodies to HBsAg and strong agglutinating antibodies to sheep red blood cells, indicating that similar determinants may be found on HBsAg virus and on sheep red blood cells. No such correlation was found for anti-tetanus antibodies.