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Biomedical subjects

R Hällgren

Publications and source records attributed to R Hällgren.

At least 199 records · Page 11Linked to original sources
PubMed1983

Glucose intolerance in patients with chronic inflammatory diseases is normalized by glucocorticoids.

Nine of 16 patients with inflammatory connective tissue diseases (rheumatoid arthritis, polymyalgia rheumatica, scleroderma and mixed connective tissue disease) had glucose intolerance defined a a K-rate less than one but a normal early insulin response to intravenous glucose loading. The degree of the impaired glucose handling was related to the degree of inflammatory activity as defined by acute phase reactants. Glucocorticoid therapy induced within three days an improved and normalized glucose tolerance and an augmented early insulin response (p less than 0.001). The glucocorticoid effect was still present up to six months of ongoing therapy. It is suggested that glucose intolerance in chronic inflammation is a consequence of a peripheral insulin antagonism and an inhibition of insulin secretion. This inhibition may be mediated directly or indirectly by inflammatory cell products and may be sensitive to glucocorticoids.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

Studies on the phagocytic activity of the granulocytes in psoriasis and palmoplantar pustulosis.

A kinetic method was used to determine the rates of phagocytosis of IgG-coated and C3b-IgG-coated latex particles by neutrophil granulocytes from twenty patients with psoriasis and twenty with palmoplantar pustulosis (PPP). Patients with psoriasis showed a highly increased rate of uptake of IgG-coated particles. An increased rate was also observed in patients with PPP. These results indicate enhanced Fc-receptor function. In healthy controls the uptake rate of C3b-IgG-coated particles was at least 30% higher than that of particles coated with IgG alone. In nearly half of the patients in the psoriasis and PPP groups the uptake rate failed to increase in the normal way, indicating that C3b dysfunction is common in both psoriasis and PPP. In neither group was there any relationship between the rate of phagocytosis and the clinical severity of the disease.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

Purine and monoamine metabolites in cerebrospinal fluid: parallel purinergic and monoaminergic activation in depressive illness?

In the cerebrospinal fluid of 38 patients with major depressive disorders the purine metabolites hypoxanthine and xanthine were positively correlated to the monoamine metabolites HVA and 5HIAA (p less than 0.0001). Hypoxanthine was also positively linked to the noradrenaline metabolite MHPG (p less than 0.005). By the use of multiple regression analysis 70% of the variance in hypoxanthine and 51% of the variance in xanthine were explained by HVA and 5HIAA. The scored magnitude of memory disturbance during depression was positively correlated to hypoxanthine, xanthine, HVA, and 5HIAA, while the degree of somatic anxiety as well as worrying was or tended to be negatively correlated to the same biochemical markers. The conspicuous relationship observed between purine and monoamine metabolite concentrations in CSF during depressive illness might indicate a parallel purinergic and monoaminergic activation of the brain. The observation that certain isolated depressive symptoms appear to relate to hypoxanthine/xanthine in CSF is consistent with the hypothesis of a central role of purines in behaviour.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Elevated serum levels of pancreatic polypeptide are related to impaired glucose handling in inflammatory states.

Glucose handling and insulin secretion were studied in patients with inflammatory connective tissue diseases and correlated to circulating levels of immunoreactive pancreatic polypeptide (PP). The patients had normal fasting serum levels of insulin and normal insulin response to intravenous glucose loading. Ten of 16 patients had an impaired glucose tolerance, defined as a K rate of less than one. The basal PP levels, which were elevated in half of the patients, were inversely correlated to the K values but showed no relationship to basal or maximum insulin levels. The degree of the impaired glucose handling in the patients was related to the degree of the inflammatory activity as defined by acute-phase reactants. Elevated PP levels may be partly responsible for impaired glucose tolerance in inflammatory states either as an inhibitor of peripheral insulin activity or as an inhibitor of hypersecretion of insulin, needed to overcome decreased tissue sensitivity for insulin.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

Total serum IgE in uremia and after renal transplantation.

Uremic patients on maintenance hemodialysis, but without clinical evidence of atopy or diabetes mellitus, had serum levels of total IgE significantly lower than in healthy controls matched for age and sex. Patients with uremia due to diabetic nephropathy had higher IgE levels than the reference group. No correlation was found between total IgE levels and length of dialysis treatment. After renal transplantation, the IgE levels decreased on average to 31% of the pretransplant values over a 60-day observation period. Bacterial or viral infections or episodes of kidney rejection had no apparent influence on the IgE synthesis in the patients with transplant. No correlation was detectable between pretransplant IgE levels and six-month survival of the kidney graft. The low IgE concentrations in uremia are suggested to reflect altered T-cell regulation of the IgE production. The raised IgE levels in diabetic patients could not be explained by specific reagins against insulin, but may have reflected an influence of abnormal carbohydrate metabolism on IgE synthesis. The fall in IgE levels following transplantation is proposed to be attributable to the combined corticosteroid-azathioprine treatment.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

The effect of hyaluronic acid on neutrophil function in vitro and in vivo.

HA affects neutrophil function both in vitro and in vivo at picomolar concentrations. The present data suggest that the activity of HA is directed against some very basic metabolic mechanisms in the cell involving the increased synthesis of ATP and increased glucose metabolization. A preliminary clinical trial suggests that subcutaneous injections of HA may be used in the therapy of patients with undue susceptibility to bacterial infections but firm conclusions as to this point has to await regular controlled clinical trials.

Chemotaxis, Leukocyte↗
PubMed1982

Lactoferrin, lysozyme, and beta 2-microglobulin levels in cerebrospinal fluid: differential indices of CNS inflammation.

The CSF levels of lactoferrin, lysozyme, and beta 2-microglobulin (beta 2 mu) were measured in patients with evident, probable, or possible inflammatory CNS reactions and compared to those found in neurologically apparently healthy patients. Patients with viral CNS infections had significantly raised beta 2 mu and lysozyme levels but normal lactoferrin levels, indicating a local activation of lymphocytes and monocytes but not of granulocytes. Patients with bacterial CNS infections had significantly raised levels of all three cell markers, but the increase of lysozyme and lactoferrin was relatively more pronounced than that of beta 2 mu, indicating that the inflammatory response to bacterial agents is dominated by monocytes and granulocytes. Patients with primary or secondary malignant brain tumors were characterized by a moderate increase of beta 2 mu and a considerable increase in both lysozyme and lactoferrin, i.e., the same protein pattern as observed in bacterial CNS infection. The lysozyme levels were moderately increased in half the patients with benign cerebral tumors while the levels of beta 2 mu and lactoferrin were normal, indicating that benign and malignant brain tumors induce different local inflammatory CNS reactions. Half the patients with pituitary gland adenoma had elevated beta 2 mu and lysozyme levels but normal lactoferrin levels, suggesting that immunological mechanisms are associated with the adenoma development. Patients with MS had moderately but significantly raised CSF levels of beta 2 mu and lysozyme and a third of them also had raised levels of lactoferrin, a protein pattern suggesting a low-active inflammatory process in CNS involving mononuclears and granulocytes. A similar protein pattern was found in Guillain-Barré syndrome. In cerebrosarcoidosis we noted considerably increased lysozyme and beta 2 mu but normal lactoferrin levels, consistent with the idea that the sarcoid granuloma mass is dominated by monocytic inflammatory cells. The data obtained indicate a clinical value of lactoferrin, lysozyme, and beta 2 mu as differential indices of inflammatory cell reactions taking place in various CNS processes.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

Smoking and circulating IgE in bronchial carcinoma.

The serum concentrations of total IgE were significantly raised in smokers compared to those who had never smoked (p less than 0.005) among male patients with bronchial carcinoma, while no differences were found between smoking and non-smoking female bronchial carcinoma patients. The total IgE levels in male and female patients with non-malignant pulmonary diseases were not correlated to smoking habits. No significant differences in the IgE levels were observed between smoking males subgrouped according to the WHO histological types of bronchial carcinoma. Males with carcinoma who had stopped smoking more than 10 years ago had significantly reduced IgE levels compared to male cancer patients continuously smoking (p less than 0.01). These data, indicating that smoking is associated with elevated IgE levels in males with bronchial carcinoma, might suggest that smoking in certain, preferably male, individuals induces an impaired cellular immunity which is reflected by an enhanced IgE synthesis and a depressed resistance to carcinogens of tobacco smoke.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

Indices of inflammatory cell activity and pulmonary function in different stages of sarcoidosis.

The present study was carried out to compare radiological and physiological changes in sarcoidosis with biochemical markers for inflammatory cell populations. Of 53 patients with sarcoidosis, 28 had respiratory symptoms and 30 past or present bilateral hilar adenopathy without symptoms. A clinical score based on lung function tests and radiological findings correlated well with elevations of lysozyme and beta2-microglobulin in serum, indicating increased inflammatory cell activity in patients with more severe lung affection. A covariation between beta2-microglobulin and lysozyme was found, suggesting concomitant activation of macrophages and lymphocytes in sarcoidosis. Serum levels of lactoferrin were elevated in patients with a disease of short duration but did not correlate with the severity of the lung affection. The closing volume also seems to be abnormal in the early course of the disease, while elevated lysozyme and beta2-microglobulin levels rather seem to reflect the extent of the pulmonary affection.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

Abnormal pancreatic polypeptide response to intravenous glucose in uraemics. A possible mechanism behind impaired glucose tolerance in uraemia.

Glucose handling and insulin secretion were studied in chronic haemodialysis patients and correlated with circulating levels of immunoreactive pancreatic polypeptide (PP). No correlation was found between the elevated basal levels of PP and K-rate or the maximum insulin response after a single intravenous injection of glucose. Fifty-three per cent of the patients had a normal glucose tolerance defined as a K-rate more than 1. This group of uraemics had a tendency to an exaggerated insulin response compared with the controls but no significant changes of serum-PP levels after a glucose stimulus were observed. In contrast, uraemic patients with a K-rate less than 1 and normal insulin response, showed significant increases of serum-PP at 4 and 6 min after glucose administration. Among all uraemic patients we found a significant inverse correlation between the K-rate and the early PP response (P less than 0.05) and a significant positive correlation between the K-rate and early insulin response (P less than 0.05). PP release in response to acute hyperglycaemia may be one mechanism behind impaired glucose handling in uraemics, either by reducing peripheral insulin activity or by preventing insulin secretion sufficient to overcome the decreased tissue sensitivity to insulin.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

Cerebrospinal fluid ferritin in newborn infants. Elevated levels in cerebral infection or bleeding.

One hundred and four infants with neurological symptoms or suspected infection during the neonatal period were consecutively investigated with respect to ferritin and albumin concentrations in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). In some cases serial determinations of CSF ferritin were performed during the period in the neonatal unit. CSF ferritin was significantly higher in infants that recovered very soon from a transient neonatal disorder (TND) than in apparently healthy adults. No difference in CSF ferritin was found between full-term infants with TND and pre-term infants with TND or asphyxiated infants. Three out of five infants with septicaemia or meninigitis showed a marked increase in CSF ferritin during the observation period, and the same finding was made in three infants with intracranial bleeding, in whom CSF ferritin values 100 times the upper reference limit for infants with TND were recorded. In two infants with neonatal convulsions secondary to asphyxia moderate CSF elevations were observed. No correlation was found between ferritin and albumin in CSF, suggesting that other mechanisms than passive penetration from blood into CSF must have been responsible for the raised levels of CSF ferritin. More likely the observed ferritin increments reflect ferritin release from macrophages undergoing phagocytosis either induced by cerebral bleeding or due to infectious agents.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

Neutrophil and eosinophil degranulation during hemodialysis are mediated by the dialysis membrane.

During hemodialysis of heparinized blood without having a patient in the circuit, the serum concentrations of lactoferrin, myeloperoxidase (MPO) and eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) steadily increased, indicating neutrophil and eosinophil degranulation. The increments in serum of these granular proteins were more pronounced using plate dialyzers than capillary dialyzers. The release of granule constituents does not seem to reflect merely a sequestration of granulocytes in the dialyzer, since the increase of the serum concentrations of lactic dehydrogenase was very modest. The intracellular contents of lactoferrin, MPO, lysozyme and ECP were reduced after experimental dialysis in the granulocytes isolated from the blood, indicating that the cells in association with degranulation were not entrapped in the dialyzer. The relatively modest increase of the plasma concentrations of lysozyme during experimental hemodialysis, in spite of the reduction of the intracellular content of lysozyme, was explained by the propensity of lysozyme for adhering to the dialysis membrane. Serum samples obtained at different times during dialysis did not induce an enhanced release of granular proteins from isolated granulocytes in vitro. The earlier observed increase during hemodialysis of the serum concentrations of granular proteins in uremic patients can be explained by the dialysis membrane triggering granulocytes to degranulate.

Blood Proteins↗
PubMed1982

Elevated serum levels of lactoferrin and eosinophil cationic protein in schizophrenic patients.

The serum levels of lactoferrin, eosinophil cationic protein (ECP), lysozyme and beta 2-microglobulin have been measured in schizophrenic patients in an attempt to elucidate the activity and turnover of neutrophil and eosinophil granulocytes, macrophages/monocytes and lymphocytes, respectively. Serum-lactoferrin and serum-ECP levels were significantly (P less than 0.001) higher in the patient group as compared to healthy controls in contrast to blood cell counts and serum-lysozyme and serum- beta 2-microglobulin levels which all were within normal limits. The results were not affected by anti-psychotic therapy. A significant correlation was found between serum-ECP and serum-lactoferrin levels which may suggest a common underlying cause of the elevated levels. The findings suggest an increased eosinophil and neutrophil activity and/or turnover in schizophrenia and may have a bearing on the well-known altered inflammatory response associated with this syndrome.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

Kinetic studies of phagocytosis. III. The complement-dependent opsonic and anti-opsonic effects of normal and sle sera.

The influence of serum on phagocytosis related to the complement system was examined by means of a kinetic phagocytosis method using IgG-coated particles, isolated polymorphonuclear neutrophil leucocytes (PMNs), fresh serum, in vitro activated sera and in vivo activated sera. The previously described opsonic properties of C3b and C4b were confirmed by the enhancement of phagocytic rate by the opsonization of IgG particles with C3 and C4. An anti-opsonic effect of serum was revealed by the initial inhibition of PMN phagocytosis of IgG-coated particles in the presence of fresh serum. In vitro activated norma fresh serum and in vivo activated SLE sera mediated a prolonged or even irreversible inhibition of phagocytosis dependent on the degree of complement activation. Investigation of this anti-opsonic effect of serum, which was heat-labile, suggested that it was caused by an inhibition of the interaction between the Fc receptor and IgG mediated by the C1q component of the C1 complex.

Complement Activating Enzymes↗
PubMed1981

Elevated serum immunoglobulin E in bronchial carcinoma: its relation to the histology and prognosis of the cancer.

Total IgE and specific IgE antibodies against six common allergens were measured in the sera of 217 unselected patients with bronchial carcinoma. Their median total IgE level was significantly increased as compared to the median levels found in two control populations consisting of 246 individuals representing the adult general population and 143 patients with benign pulmonary disorders. The frequency of serological atopy, i.e., the presence of specific IgE antibodies, was also significantly increased in the cancer population as compared to the controls. In contrast, the incidence of possible clinical atopy was about five times higher in the general population than in the cancer group. Patients with bronchial carcinoma typed as adenocarcinoma had the best prognosis and also had nonelevated IgE levels in contrast to patients with bronchial carcinoma typed as squamous cell carcinoma, small or large cell carcinoma. The favourable prognosis with nonelevated IgE levels also was demonstrated in patients with squamous cell carcinoma. It is suggested that the elevated IgE levels in bronchial carcinoma reflect impaired cellular immunity.

Adenocarcinoma, Bronchiolo-Alveolar↗
PubMed1981

Serum ferritin in alcoholics and the relation to liver damage, iron state and erythropoietic activity.

Serum ferritin was measured in two groups of alcoholics; one comprised 71 individuals on ambulatory control and with varying current alcohol intake and the other 19 alcoholics followed with serial determinations during two weeks of abstinence Serum ferritin was elevated in 26 subjects in the larger group, and 22 of them had elevated ASAT and ALAT values. Low-grade but significant correlations were found between serum levels of ferritin and serum concentrations of some variables used to detect liver affection (ASAT, ALAT, bilirubin and gamma-GT). Serum ferritin and ASAT declined in a parallel fashion in the 19 patients studied longitudinally, so that the ferritin:ASAT ratio described a straight line. No correlation was found between serum ferritin or the serum ferritin:ASAT ratio and serum iron. Neither was any correlation observed between the magnitude of the changes in serum ferritin and the changes in serum iron, serum transferrin or circulating platelets or reticulocytes observed in the serially followed alcoholics. These data indicate that elevated serum ferritin in alcoholics is associated with the degree of liver affection and not with the degree of erythropoietic activity.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

Hemodialysis-induced increase in serum lactoferrin and serum eosinophil cationic protein as signs of local neutrophil and eosinophil degranulation.

Transient reduction in circulating polymorphonuclear granulocytes and eosinophils were observed early in hemodialysis. About a threefold increase in serum-lactoferrin occurred 2 h from the start of hemodialysis. Increments of the serum levels of eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) were observed as early as 1 h after initiation of hemodialysis, reaching maximum levels (about a fourfold increase from initial levels) 1 h later. When fresh blood was circulated through a dialyzer without having a patient in the circuit considerable increases of lactoferrin and ECP were also found. The intracellular contents of lactoferrin and ECP in granulocytes isolated from peripheral blood were unaffected throughout the dialysis period. Sera obtained at different times during dialysis induced no release of granular proteins from isolated granulocytes in vitro. The raised serum concentrations of lactoferrin and ECP during dialysis suggest that a local degranulation of neutrophils and eosinophils may take place probably in the dialyzer.

Adult↗