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Biomedical subjects

R C Godfrey

Publications and source records attributed to R C Godfrey.

7 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1978

Antibody responses in self-infections with Necator americanus.

Antibody responses were measured in a volunteer infected four times with Necator americanus over a 27-month period. The main source of antigen was culture fluid in which living adult N. americanus had been maintained for several days. Antibodies to worm acetylcholinesterase and IgE antibodies were detected only with this material, but antibodies were identified by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent (ELISA) assay, with either adult worm secretions or extracts of third-stage infective larvae. The total serum IgE level fell after the first infection, but although it then increased during subsequent infections, it never rose above 600 U per ml. None of the antibody responses suppressed the rat of worm development to maturity, or reduced the fecundity of the parasites. However, it is suggested that the development of the immune response may be associated with the waning of the severe gastro-intestinal symptoms which were experienced in this infection, and which are frequently characteristic of hookworm infections.

Acetylcholinesterase↗
PubMed1978

Differences in binding affinity of human IgE for receptors in chopped human lung.

Experiments were performed to ascertain whether IgE in different allergic sera had the same or different sensitizing properties for chopped human lung. When allergic sera were allowed to compete with myeloma IgE for tissue receptors in chopped lung and subsequently challenged with antigen, two groups of sera could be distinguished, one which competed well with myeloma IgE and one which competed poorly. Sera that competed well with myeloma IgE were also able to sensitize for greater histamine release relative to IgE concentration when sensitized lung tissue was challenged with anti-IgE. The converse was true of those sera that competed poorly with myeloma IgE in the antigen assay, in that they sensitized for histamine release only at relatively high IgE concentrations in the anti-IgE assay. The possible significance of these findings is discussed.

Antibody Affinity↗
PubMed1976

The prevalence of immediate positive skin tests to Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus and grass pollen in schoolchildren.

The prevalence of immediate positive reactions to prick testing with house dust mite (Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus) and grass pollen allergens was determined in a random sample of 303 children aged between 8 and 14 years from two Southhampton schools. One hundred and two (33-7%) showed positive reactions, fifty to both D. pteronyssinus and grass pollen, thirty to D. pternyssinus only and twenty-two to pollen only. Allergic symptoms were present in fifty-one of the 102 children with positive skin tests; amongst thirty children with D. pteronyssinus skin sensitivity by itself, only six had sumptoms suggestive of allergic disorder. Significantly more children with positive than with negative tests were reported by their parents to have suffered from recurrent bronchitis during early childhood.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1975

Asthma and IgE levels in rural and urban communities of The Gambia.

Two hundred and thirty-one randomly selected schoolchildren and adults from rural Gambian villates showed no evidence of asthma, nor could any case of asthma be found in three rural villages with a total population of over 1200. In contrast, asthmatic patients were identified without difficulty in the capital town. The geometric mean serum IgE level of 131 rural schoolchildren was 962 mu/ml, whereas that of sixty age-matched urban schoolchildren was 368 mj/ml (P smaller than 0-001). Forty-four asthmatics, all from the capital town, had a mean serum IgE level of 405 mu/ml, not significantly different from that of urban schoolchildren. Twenty-one asthmatics showed skin sensitivity to house dust mite antigen, but their IgE levels were not significantly higher than asthmatics without skin sensitivity. The incidence of positive skin tests to mite antigen amongst normal Gambians, both rural and urban, was around 1%. The findings are discussed in relation to the hypothesis that parasite-induced IgE may prevent the development of atopic illness.

Adolescent↗