PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

S Levin

Publications and source records attributed to S Levin.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1979

Serum lipid response to a high-caloric, high-fat diet in agricultural workers during 12 months.

The effect of a gluttony diet in healthy subjects was studied over an observation period of 12 months. Twenty-six agricultural workers, all of them Yemenite Jews, received a high-caloric, high-fat diet, and the changes in serum cholesterol (CH), high-density-lipoprotein-cholesterol, triglycerides, and body weight were assessed. Yemenite Jews as a group are characterized by low serum CH levels and by a low incidence of coronary artery disease. For a period of 7 months the subjects received a diet of 4553 cal/day, more than double their original "Yemenite diet". After this time they resumed their customary low-caloric diet for 3 months, and thereafter for another 2 months they continued with the high-caloric food regimen. The high-caloric, high-fat diet resulted in the expected increase of serum CH. A similar increase of high-density lipoprotein-CH was found. Serum triglyceride levels changed inversely to those of CH. It is suggested that the altered relation of calories derived from carbohydrates to those derived from fats brought about the decrease of triglycerides, and this irrespective of the increased intake of carbohydrates and fats. The rather small gain of body weight over the trial period--despite the doubled caloric intake--is similar to other studies that showed that the ability of normal individuals to gain weight through overeating varies considerably.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1979

Pneumococcal endocarditis in infants.

A case of pneumococcal endocarditis in an infant is reported together with a review of seven cases previously described in the literature. The prominent presenting symptoms of this usually fatal disease consisted of tachycardia, tachypnea, and cardiomegaly. A new murmur was heard in six of the eight patients. Fever was infrequent. Blood cultures were positive when done. The mitral valve was the site of infection in seven of the patients. In contrast to adult patients, pneumonia and meningitis are rarely encountered in children with pneumococcal endocarditis. The disease was fatal in all four patients before the penicillin era and in three of four patients who received penicillin.

Cardiomegaly↗
PubMed1979

Children's understanding of monosyllabic nouns in quiet and in noise.

A four-alternative, forced choice adaptive procedure was used to measure the lowest intensity at which children could identify monosyllabic nouns that had been standardized to be understandable (at comfortable listening levels) to inner city, 3-year-old children. Results showed no age-related performance changes when the words were presented against a 12-talker babble or against filtered noise. In quit, however, performance improved between the ages of 5 and 10 years. Performance of children with learning problems was poorer than performance of children achieving normal school progress, even though clinical measures of auditory sensitivity showed no differences. Results are discussed in terms of "semantic closure" skills of children.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Immunologic reaction of psychotic patients to fractions of gluten.

Production of a leukocyte migration inhibition factor by peripheral blood lymphocytes in response to challenge with gluten fractions was studied in hospitalized patients with schizophrenia and other psychoses compared with normal individuals and with children and adolescents with celiac disease. The schizophrenic and other psychotic patients could be subdivided into two groups, one that responded in the leukocyte migration inhibition factor test as the celiac patients did and one that responded as the normal control subjects did. The psychotic and schizophrenic patients did not show any evidence of malabsorption. The authors speculate that gluten may be involved in biological processes in the brain in certain psychotic individuals.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1979

Effect of thymic humoral factor on cellular immune factors of normal children and of pediatric patients with ataxia telangiectasia and Down's syndrome.

Cellular immune functions of nine Down's syndrome patients and of nine was Ataxia telangiectasia vs. nine normal children and nine cord bloods, were evaluated using in vitro assays of peripheral blood lymphocytes. The in vitro assays included E rosette formation, antilymphocytic cytotoxicity by an antithymic antiserum and leukocyte migration inhibition factor (LIF) production. The mitogens and antigens used were phytohemagglutinin, purified protein derivative, and monilia antigen. The effect of a thymic hormone (THF) on these parameters was evaluated and it was administered therapeutically to three Down's syndrome patients and to two patients with Ataxia telangiectasia. Most deficient T-cell functions were reversed to normal after incubation of the lymphocytes with THF, or after THF therapeutic administration. In two Down's syndrome cases, the clinical course was not altered by THF administration, while one seemed to benefit from it markedly. One of the Atactic patients recovered from a severe viral infection, while the other died from intractable bronchopneumonia.

Ataxia Telangiectasia↗
PubMed1979

The peroxidase content and the antibacterial activity of the amniotic fluid.

A possible relationship between the antibacterial activity of amniotic fluid and its peroxidase content was examined. Antibacterial activity, assessed by counting colonies of S. aureus following 24 hour incubation, was present in 76% of the samples studied. It was not related to gestational age. Peroxidase activity, assessed by the O-dianisidine method, was not found in any of the amniotic fluid samples examined.

Amniotic Fluid↗
PubMed1979

Thymic deficiency in Down's syndrome.

Children with Down's syndrome (DS) often have small and abnormal thymuses, with lymphocyte depletion, diminution of the cortex, and loss of corticomedullary demarcation--a picture resembling thymic involution. Besides this, they have markedly enlarged Hassall's corpuscles, some surrounded by a sheath of lymphocytes. Patients with DS are known to have increased numbers of respiratory infections; they also have a higher incidence of lymphatic leukemia than do individuals who do not have DS. Studies of cell-mediated (thymic-dependent) immunity demonstrate that children with DS have both diminished numbers of T cells as well as functional deficiency of these cells.

Child↗
PubMed1979

Use of antibiotics in the outpatient setting.

Antibiotics with small but definable mortality, such as chloramphenicol, should not be used when safer drugs will suffice. Antibiotics with a low (1 to 5 per cent) morbidity should not be used when safer drugs are available. Therefore, cleocin, minocycline, or oral erythromycin estolate should rarely be used and regular erythromycin base is almost always preferable. Fever should not be treated with antibiotics since they are not antipyretics. "Colds" should not be treated with antibiotics, but antibiotics should be administered to patients with a history of chronic bronchitis, sinusitis, and recurrent otitis as soon as any symptoms begin. Intramuscular antibiotics should not be given except for benzathine penicillin. Use placebos instead of antibiotics when the patient's psyche demands an intramuscular injection. Make certain that the needle, syringe, and solution are sterile. Agents other than penicillin or cephalosporins should be used in patients with a definite history of penicillin allergy. Combination antibiotics or broad spectrum antibiotics like cephelosporins or tetracyclines should not be used when narrow spectrum antibiotics of known efficacy are available for specific syndromes such as streptococcal pharyngitis.

Ambulatory Care↗
PubMed1979

Is conception in infertile couples treatment-related? A survey of 309 pregnancies.

309 couples with infertility of 1 to 11 years duration in whom pregnancies occurred during examination or treatment were evaluated. The couples were classified into diagnostic groups according to the main cause of their infertility; anovulatory, mechanical, male, cervical, unexplained, combined. Pregnancies were divided into treatment-related and nontreatment-related. Analysis of results revealed that whereas in infertile patients with a defined cause of infertility, the treatment-related pregnancy rate was 73.1%, in the unexplained infertility group the incidence of treatment-related pregnancies was only 6.6%. We concluded that a meticulous fertility survey should be carried out in each infertile couple in order to detect a specific cause impeding fertility, but if such a cause cannot be found, reassuring of patients and decreasing their anxiety is more effective in inducing pregnancy than nonspecific therapy.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Participation of a histamine-Sepharose-adherent subpopulation of human mononuclear cells in the production of leucocyte migration inhibition factor (LIF) in healthy children.

The separation of mouse splenic T lymphocytes into distinct subpopulations by fractionation on histamine-rabbit serum albumin Sepharose (H-RSAS) columns has been described. The H-RSAS-adherent T cells have been attributed regulatory functions associated with B cell activity, T cell-mediated cytotoxicity and the secretion of mediators such as immuno-interferon. The possibility that H-RSAS-adherent T cells exert a similar regulatory effect on an in vitro parameter of T cell-mediated immunity was investigated by assaying the production of leucocyte migration inhibition factor (LIF) in human blood samples, using the agarose droplet method. Phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) and BCG-purified protein derivative (PPD) were used as stimulants of LIF secretion which was measured as a percentage of inhibition of linear leucocytic migration. In normal individuals a highly significant (P less than 0.001) decrease was demonstrated in the production of LIF by peripheral blood leucocytes depleted of H-RSAS-adherent cells. Migration inhibition dropped from 36 +/- 11.7% to 21.2 +/- 12.9% in eighteen cases tested with PHA and from 29.3 +/- 11.7% to 17.2 +/- 9.8% in twelve cases tested with PPD. These results suggest the existence of a lymphocytic subpopulation involved in LIF production which expresses histamine receptors.

Cell Adhesion↗
PubMed1979

Pseudohypoaldosteronism.

Three children, two of whom were siblings, had pseudohypoaldosteronism. The features of this condition include failure to thrive, hyperkalemia, metabolic acidosis, salt wasting, elevated peripheral renin activity, and increased plasma aldosterone concentration. Hyperplasia of juxtaglomerular apparatus was seen in a renal biopsy specimen from one of these patients. Administration of large quantities of salt normalized the serum electrolyte abnormalities and permitted normal growth. Furthermore, the serum electrolyte abnormalities were prevented by administration of increased amounts of salt to one of these children from birth.

Aldosterone↗