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Biomedical subjects

P E Garrett

Publications and source records attributed to P E Garrett.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

IgA and IgM human immunodeficiency virus antibodies in weakly reactive or false-negative blood donors.

Detection of antibodies to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in recently infected donors is crucial to prevent the transmission of HIV infection via blood products. To determine whether specific antibodies of the IgA or IgM class are present as markers of recent infection in donor specimens that have borderline reactivity on routine enzyme immunoassay (EIA) screening, 15 specimens that were positive by immunoblot were tested for IgA and IgM HIV antibodies. All 15 had detectable IgA HIV antibodies, and 14 had IgM HIV antibodies. The 15 specimens were tested further, each by two independent laboratories, with nine licensed EIAs. Two of the nine EIAs found all 15 units positive in both laboratories; seven EIAs found 1 to 5 of the 15 units negative, for a total of 31 false-negative results. The results indicated a difference between the sensitivity of EIA kits using only anti-IgG reagents and of kits using multispecific reagents that react with IgG and other classes of antibody. In a modified procedure, the addition of enzyme-conjugated anti-IgA or anti-IgM to the kit's enzyme-conjugated reagent increased the optical density values of most false-negative specimens to the positive range. It was concluded that licensed kits vary in reactivity with IgA and IgM HIV antibodies and that sensitivity could be increased by improved detection of these classes of antibody.

False Negative Reactions

A clinical chemistry analyzer evaluated by NCCLS guidelines for use in a military field laboratory unit.

In a previous comparison study of "dry chemistry" desktop analyzers, the ChemPro 1000 (Arden Medical Systems) was one of several instruments found suitable for field use. We have now evaluated the linearity, accuracy, and precision of the ChemPro 1000, according to NCCLS Document EP 10-P. We also compared results with those by the SMAC (Technicon) and the Nova 9 (Nova Biomedical) for electrolytes, serum urea nitrogen, and ionized calcium in field and laboratory environments. The precision (CV) of the ChemPro was within acceptable ranges for dry chemistry desktop analyzers for all analytes tested. This instrument is a suitable and reasonable alternative to manual chemistry or to large, automated instrumentation in a field environment.

Autoanalysis

Failure to detect extremely high levels of serum IgE with an immunoradiometric assay.

Two patients with extreme elevations in serum IgE were found to have falsely low levels of IgE when measured by a commercial immunoradiometric assay. Dilution studies performed on serum from both patients revealed the rise and subsequent fall of the dose-response curve characteristic of the high-dose "hook" or prozone effect. Specimens with unexpectedly low levels of serum IgE obtained by either commercial immunoradiometric assay or enzyme immunoassay should be reanalyzed after dilution.

Humans

Clinical utility of oncofetal proteins and hormones as tumor markers.

This article reviews the two most common hormones that act as tumor markers, human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) and prolactin, and the two most common oncofetal proteins, carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and alpha-feto-protein (AFP). Assays for these markers are discussed in terms of their methodologies and performance in the clinical setting.

Adult

Heparin inhibits bovine testicular hyaluronidase activity in myocardium of dogs with coronary artery occlusion.

Bovine testicular hyaluronidase (BTH) reduces experimental myocardial infarct size and ameliorates electrocardiographic signs of ischemia. This study was done to determine if heparin, an in vitro inhibitor of hyaluronidase activity, blocks the action of BTH in the myocardium of dogs after coronary artery occlusion. BTH was administered intravenously as 5,000 NF units/kg at 0.5 and 2.5 hours after coronary occlusion. Heparin was administered intravenously as a 150-unit/kg loading dose, followed by 10 units/kg per hour i.v., beginning 15 minutes before coronary occlusion. The area of myocardial ischemia at risk was assessed by a radiolabeled microsphere technique; the area that developed necrosis was assessed by a histochemical technique. In vivo activity of BTH was assessed by a colorimetric analysis of the BTH substrate, i.e., hyaluronic acid (HA), extracted from myocardial tissue. For biochemical analysis of HA, the heart was divided into anterior myocardium, which included ischemic tissue and posterior nonischemic myocardium. The myocardial HA content of dogs treated with BTH plus heparin (anterior, 3.44 +/- 0.40 micrograms HA/mg protein; posterior, 3.69 +/- 0.33 micrograms HA/mg protein) was not significantly different from control (anterior, 3.61 +/- 0.29 micrograms HA/mg protein; posterior, 3.55 +/- 0.23 micrograms HA/mg protein). In contrast, BTH lowered myocardial HA content (anterior, 2.16 +/- 0.21 micrograms HA/mg protein; posterior, 2.08 +/- 0.14 micrograms HA/mg protein) compared with either BTH plus heparin or control groups in both anterior myocardium (p = 0.006) and posterior myocardium (p = 0.001).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals