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Biomedical subjects

R L Hunter

Publications and source records attributed to R L Hunter.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1985

Quantitation of apo-, mono-, and diferric transferrin by polyacrylamide gradient gel electrophoresis in patients with disorders of iron metabolism.

We have developed a polyacrylamide gradient gel electrophoretic method to quantitate apo-, mono-, and diferric transferrin based upon differences in their molecular size. Purified transferrin saturated to different extents (3% to 98%) with iron showed proportions of the three forms as predicted from an approximately random distribution of iron between the two metal-binding sites. The iron distributions in sera of 14 normal individuals similarly correlated with the predicted values. In contrast, 22 of 43 patients with diseases associated with abnormalities in iron or transferrin metabolism had a disproportionate increase in monoferric transferrin. This abnormality occurred in seven of nine patients who had received bone marrow transplants, seven of 14 with chronic liver disease, and eight of nine menstruating women with probable iron deficiency anemia. Interestingly, 11 patients with malabsorption or chronic renal disease had normal iron distributions. The finding of abnormal distributions of iron on transferrin suggests that gradient gel analysis may be a useful tool for studying the physiologic mechanisms controlling iron utilization.

Anemia, Hypochromic↗
PubMed1984

Agarose electrophoresis and immunonephelometric quantitation of cerebrospinal fluid immunoglobulins: criteria for application in the diagnosis of neurologic disease.

The cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) IgG index, the CSF to serum albumin ratio, and electrophoresis on agarose gel of CSF and serum were evaluated retrospectively for their usefulness in the differential diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS). Standardized procedures were adopted for grading the intensity of oligoclonal banding and for the certainty of diagnosis of MS. One hundred and forty-nine patients were studied, including 23 with definite multiple sclerosis (MS), 12 with probable MS, 20 with possible MS, 20 with inflammatory neurologic disease, 65 with noninflammatory neurologic disease, and nine with no neurologic disease. The CSF IgG index and the CSF to serum albumin ratio were calculated from nephelometric measurements of serum and CSF IgG and albumin. The intensity of oligoclonal banding was graded relative to the density of the prealbumin band. Eighty-eight per cent of cases of definite MS had distinct oligoclonal bands, and an equal number had an elevated IgG index. These tests were not specific for MS, however, since 50% of cases of inflammatory neurologic disease and 5% of those with noninflammatory neurologic disease had an elevated IgG index. Similarly, 48% of cases with inflammatory disease and 25% with noninflammatory disease had oligoclonal bands. However, only patients with definite MS (21%) or possible MS (4%) had prominent oligoclonal bands whose density was greater than or equal to that of prealbumin, together with a CSF IgG index greater than 1.50. This combination of findings therefore may enhance the level of suspicion of MS. By contrast, an isolated increase in the CSF to serum albumin ratio may suggest a diagnosis other than MS.

Albumins↗
PubMed1984

Transferrin in disease. I: A potential prognostic indicator in patients undergoing bone marrow transplantation.

Transferrin levels were measured immunochemically and the levels of several other plasma proteins were estimated by high resolution agarose gel electrophoresis in serial serum samples from nine patients undergoing bone marrow transplantation for aplastic anemia or leukemia. Three of five patients with low pretreatment transferrin levels died during initial hospitalization, and the other two suffered severe complications prior to recovery. All four patients with pretreatment transferrin levels within the normal range were discharged, three of them with minimal complications. Serial studies demonstrated that transferrin levels fell with the onset of infections or graft-versus-host disease and rose with recovery. Similar changes were not seen with any of the other plasma proteins measured. These results suggest that measurement of serum transferrin may reveal important prognostic information about patients undergoing bone marrow transplantation.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

Transferrin in disease II: defects in the regulation of transferrin saturation with iron contribute to susceptibility to infection.

Patients with leukemia were found to have a high percentage of saturation of their serum transferrin with iron to an extent only rarely observed with other malignancies. This was associated with a reduced ability of their serum to inhibit the growth of a test strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Serum iron, transferrin, and related parameters were measured serially in patients undergoing bone marrow transplantation for leukemia or aplastic anemia. It was found that a high proportion of these patients also have a high saturation of their transferrin with iron. This was related to three distinct physiologic deficits: a low level of serum transferrin; a high level of iron; and an inability to reduce the level of serum iron during infection. Three of six patients who were unable to reduce their serum during fever and infection subsequently died of sepsis. These data support the hypothesis that derangements in nonspecific serologic defense mechanisms involving iron contribute to susceptibility to infection in patients with leukemia undergoing bone marrow transplantation.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

Standardized automated assay for functional alpha 1-antitrypsin.

We describe an enzymic assay for the functional activity of alpha 1-antitrypsin, in which tosyl-Gly-Pro-Lys-p-nitroanilide acetate (Chromozym PL) is the trypsin substrate. For the indicating reaction, the concentration of substrate is about double the Km of its reaction with trypsin. This assay is an improvement over reactions involving N-alpha-benzoyl-DL-arginine p-nitroanilide as substrate, the solubility of which in water is less than the Km of its reaction with trypsin. The assay is standardized in terms of active sites of trypsin inhibited per liter of serum, with p-nitrophenyl-p'-guanidinobenzoate as the active site titrant. The results agreed well with those by an immunonephelometric assay for alpha 1-antitrypsin (r = 0.953). The within-run and run-to-run precision was approximately 3%. The results of the assay varied linearly with alpha 1-antitrypsin concentration from 0 to 60 mumol/L of serum. The minimum sample size was 50 microL, and analysis of 24 samples took less than 20 min.

Aniline Compounds↗
PubMed1984

The adjuvant activity of nonionic block polymer surfactants. II. Antibody formation and inflammation related to the structure of triblock and octablock copolymers.

We tested the ability of 17 surface-active agents to enhance antibody formation and inflammation. The surfactants were all block copolymers of hydrophilic polyoxyethylene (POE) and hydrophobic polyoxypropylene (POP), which differed in m.w. and mode of linkage of POP to POE. Mice were injected in each rear footpad with 1.25 mg of each surfactant with 25 micrograms of bovine serum albumin in an oil-in-water emulsion. Each agent produced a distinct pattern of immune response and inflammation. Preparations that are large and insoluble with the POE chains flanking the POP chains were very effective adjuvants for increasing antibody formation. They also activated complement and induced the release of chemotactic factors from serum. Increasing the percent of POE decreased adjuvant activity and inflammation. Decreasing the m.w. of the molecules while maintaining the proportions of POP and POE decreased the adjuvant activity and increased inflammation. Preparations synthesized in the reverse order, with the POP flanking POE, tended to induce granulomas instead of antibody. These data demonstrate that block copolymer surfactants have a spectrum of biologic activities that depend on the size and arrangement of their constituent parts. We suggest that much of the activity of these agents derives from their ability to form adsorptive surfaces similar to those of a mycobacterial glycolipid, quartz, and monosodium urate.

Adjuvants, Immunologic↗
PubMed1983

Isolation and convulsivant effect of the "insulin-like" protein obtained from the exocrine pancreas of Bradypus tridactylus L.

1. A pancreatic insulin-like protein fraction with low electrophoretic mobility showing high molecular weight is present. 2. Isoelectric focussing studies showed that the high molecular weight protein has a pI about 7.4 when used at a pH range between 3.5 and 8.0. 3. The partially purified aldehyde-fuchsin positive high molecular weight protein fraction gave a positive effect for the convulsivant test in mice. 4. A high molecular weight insulin-like protein in pancreatic juice was found. 5. Insulin was found by radioimmunoassay in the basal and post stimulation pancreatic juice.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Immunomorphologic changes in regional lymph nodes associated with cancer.

Morphologic patterns in regional lymph nodes draining resected tumors correlate with in vitro immunologic data and have been reported to predict survival, stage of disease, and presence or absence of metastases. The strength of the relationship between immunomorphologic findings and survival rates varies with the type of tumor, perhaps because of relative immunogenicity, tumor size and growth rate, or even the stimulation of the lymph nodes by infection. Nevertheless, there is remarkable agreement among investigators on key observations, which yield more prognostic information than can be obtained by standard methods.

Breast Neoplasms↗
PubMed1982

The fine structure of the placental labyrinth in the sloth, Bradypus tridactylus.

The placental labyrinth of the three-toed sloth (Bradypus tridactylus) was examined by electron microscopy. The material available was from two fetuses of 55 mm and 150 mm crown-rump length (CRL). The placenta of the younger specimen was a transition form between the syndesmochorial type and the endotheliochorial type. The interhemal membrane of the 55 mm CRL specimen consisted of the following components: 1) hypertrophied maternal endothelial cells surrounding the maternal vessels; 2) a small amount of extracellular material and spindle-shaped cells, both presumed to be of maternal origin; 3) a layer of syncytial trophoblast that had an unusual, reticulated or sponge-like appearance; and 4) the fetal capillary endothelium. In addition, the fetal connective tissue contained hypertrophied mesenchymal cells that were characterized by abundant granular endoplasmic reticulum. The placenta of the 150 mm CRL fetus was poorly preserved, but it was possible to determine that the placenta was of the endotheliochorial type. There was a close apposition of maternal endothelium and trophoblast. The results confirmed virtually all of lhe light microscopic observations of Wislocki (1927; 1928b). The ultrastructure of the sloth interhemal membrane is compared to that of other endotheliochorial placentas, particularly that of the shrew, with which it shows many cytological similarities.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

Immunologic abnormalities in two patients with pulmonary hyalinizing granuloma.

Pulmonary hyalinizing granuloma (PHG) is a disease of slowly enlarging pulmonary nodules made up of dense bundles of collagen accompanied by an infiltrate of chronic inflammatory cells. The etiology is unknown. Although it has been suggested that the lesions represent an exaggerated immune response to unidentified agents, results of a detailed immunologic work-up of these patients have not been published. This report presents the laboratory findings of two patients with biopsy-proven PHG who have been followed four and eighteen years. Autoantibodies were detected (antinuclear antibody, rheumatoid factor, and positive antiglobulin tests), although clinically there was no evidence of a specific collagen-vascular disorder. Both patients had elevated levels of circulating immune complexes. These data suggest that immune complex mechanisms may be important in the pathogenesis of PHG.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

Adjuvant effect of nonionic block polymer surfactants in humoral and cellular immunity.

The adjuvant activities of four chemically similar, but physicochemically different nonionic surface-active agents called pluronic polyols F 68, L 31, L 101 and L 121 were studied. These four agents were tested in mice using an experimental model developed for studying the adjuvant activity of the cationic surface-active agent dimethyl dioctadecyl ammonium bromide (DDA). L 121 and DDA enhanced the primary antibody response to sheep red blood cells (SRBC) while F 68, L 31 and L 101 suppressed this response. The secondary humoral response to SRBC was enhanced by the polyol L 121 while the secondary response to dinitrophenylated bovine serum albumin (DNP22-BSA) was enhanced by both L 121 and L 101. DDA and the polyol L 101 were very effective adjuvants for induction of delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) to SRBC and DNP22-BSA after intracutaneous immunization of mice with a mixture of antigen and adjuvant. Since the four pluronic polyols were composed of identical chemical constituents, we proposed that difference in their activities as adjuvants were due to variation in their physicochemical properties. A correlation was found between a physicochemical parameter, the hydrophilelipophile balance (HLB), and the adjuvant activities of the pluronic polyols and several other types of nonionic surface-active agents. The agents which were strong adjuvants all had HLB values within a narrow range which classified them as spreading agents.

Adjuvants, Immunologic↗