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Biomedical subjects

S Read

Publications and source records attributed to S Read.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1987

Humoral and cellular immune abnormalities in adult hemophiliacs followed over a 2-year period.

Immune function was assessed in 93 adult hemophiliacs in the 2 years prior to HTLV-III antibody testing of blood donors and routine heat treatment of coagulation factor concentrates. Parameters of humoral and cellular immunity studied included serum complements, immunoglobulins, immune complexes, blood cell counts, lymphocyte subsets, lymphocyte transformation, 2-5A synthetase, serology for HTLV-III and hepatitis B, skin tests, and clinical status. HTLV-III seropositivity was significantly more prevalent in patients treated with factor VIII concentrate; seropositive patients had a higher proportion of abnormal test results and were more symptomatic. Although many subjects had abnormal test results, specific test results generally did not correlate with type of blood component received or time of preceding treatment. The proportion of tests abnormal in individual patients was correlated with the intensity of factor replacement therapy when the time interval from the last treatment was a covariate. While T8+ lymphocytes were increased and T4/T8 ratios were decreased in many patients, significantly reduced T4+ lymphocytes were seen only in seropositive patients and in those treated with factor VIII concentrate. Neither seropositivity nor presence of symptoms correlated with abnormal lymphocyte mitogenic response or 2-5A synthetase levels, but synthetase levels were increased in 65% of patients tested. Over the 2-year study period, no significant deterioration of clinical or laboratory variables was observed in the patients. Abnormalities of immune function were found to be common in hemophiliacs regardless of type of treatment or of evidence of HTLV-III infection.

Antibodies, Viral↗
PubMed1986

Abnormal erythrocyte choline and influx in Alzheimer's disease.

Choline transport and levels were studied in erythrocytes from patients with Alzheimer's disease and age-matched controls using stable isotopic tracer techniques. The mean erythrocyte choline in the Alzheimer group was 50.1 nmol ml-1 compared to 15.5 nmol ml-1 in the controls. This was significant using a Student's t test at a P of less than 0.0005. Influx of choline into the erythrocyte correlated inversely with erythrocyte choline with high significance. This study suggests that erythrocyte choline is elevated in a subset of patients with Alzheimer's disease and that the low affinity transport system is also abnormal in these patients. This abnormality of choline transport may play a role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease in some patients.

Aged↗
PubMed1985

Aphasia in dementia of the Alzheimer type.

Speech and language assessment in 30 patients with dementia of the Alzheimer type and in 70 normal controls revealed that all Alzheimer patients were aphasic. Throughout most of the course, the language disorder resembled transcortical sensory aphasia, and increasing language impairment correlated with increasing severity of dementia. Aphasia was present regardless of age of onset or family history of dementia. Aphasia is an important diagnostic criterion of dementia of the Alzheimer type.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Amnesia with hippocampal lesions after cardiopulmonary arrest.

A patient developed an amnesic syndrome after cardiopulmonary arrest. Neuropathologic examination revealed pronounced anoxic injury to both hippocampi with little damage to other hemisphere structures. The clinical and pathologic findings suggest that lesions limited to the hippocampus can cause profound amnesia.

Amnesia↗
PubMed1982

Value of computerised tomography in children with non-specific mental subnormally.

Seventy-six children had computerized tomography scans as part of an investigation of mental subnormality; most of them are severely retarded and all those over age 5 years attend special schools. Seventy-two per cent of the children had normal scans. Twenty per cent showed cerebral atrophy and in only 8% was there a specific abnormality (agenesis of corpus callosum, arachnoid cyst, communicating hydrocephalus). None of these findings had any positive prognostic implication. Sedation or general anaesthesia was required for all except one child. Injection pethidine compound was used for children under age 5 years or less than 30 kg in weight, and trimeprazine orally was used for older children. The radiation exposure was high--5.6 rad per scan, which is 100 times greater than that from a posteroanterior and lateral chest x-ray film. For these reasons computerised tomography scans cannot be recommended as a routine part of the investigation of children with non-specific mental subnormality.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1980

Immunological and biochemical analysis of a null mutant of alpha-glycerolphosphate dehydrogenase from Drosophila melanogaster.

A Drosophila null mutant(BO-1-4) of alpha-glycerolphosphate dehydrogenase induced by ethylmethane sulfonate(EMS) was analyzed by double immunodiffusion, enzyme immunoinactivation, immunoelectrophoresis and two-dimensional electrophoresis. Based on all the immunological evidence, this mutant appears to express no protein that can cross-react with the antiserum specific to alpha-glycerolphosphate dehydrogenase. A protein spot corresponding to alpha-glycerolphosphate dehydrogenase was identified on two-dimensional gels of the soluble fly homogenates. The absence of this protein spor on two-dimensional gels of this null mutant further supported the immunological data. The activities of seven other enzymes in the related metabolic pathways were determined for the mutant and the control Drosophila. The null mutant does not show significant alterations in activities of these enzymes. The relationship between the deficiency of this enzyme and the inability for the sustained flight of the null mutant was discussed in terms of cellular metabolic regulations.

Alcohol Oxidoreductases↗
PubMed1980

Herpes simplex in the amniotic fluid of an unaffected fetus.

A woman with a 7-year history of herpes progenitalis was delivered by cesarean section after herpes simplex virus was isolated from the cervix 2 weeks prior to delivery. No overt signs of herpes progenitalis had been observed during this pregnancy. At amniocentesis done the day of delivery to assess fetal maturity, herpes simplex virus was isolated from the amniotic fluid. An unaffected infant was delivered; she remains healthy at 18 months of age. Immunoglobulin levels in fetal serum and amniotic fluid did not indicate fetal infection.

Adult↗
PubMed1978

Linoleic acid in multiple sclerosis: failure to show any therapeutic benefit.

We have studied the effect of a dietary supplement with linoleic acid (LA) in 76 patients with MS. We could detect no effect of this supplement on the progression of neurological findings, the relapse rate, or the severity of relapses. We were also able to show that oral supplementation with a linoleic acid preparation would raise the blood level of LA in these patients. We were unable to show that there was any reduction in the linoleic acid blood levels associated with acute relapses of MS during this study.

Diet↗
PubMed1976

Detection of antibodies to bacterial cell wall peptidoglycan in human sera.

A radioimmunoassay has been developed for the measurement of antibodies to peptidoglycan in human sera including patients with rheumatic fever and juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. The assay is based on the percentage of binding of the hapten 125I-L-Ala-gamma-d-Glu-L-Lys-D-Ala-D-Ala, the major peptide determinant of peptidoglycan. Because of differences in the avidity of the antibodies in different sera, the amount of antibody was expressed as pentapeptide hapten-binding capacity (pentapeptide-HBC in ng/ml of serum). Fourteen out of 105 normal blood donors had a pentapeptide-HBC value greater than or equal to 75 ng/ml serum. Values in healthy children 5 to 18 years of age were less than or equal to 50 ng/ml. Sixty-eight percent of the individuals with rheumatic fever had values greater than or equal to 75 ng/ml, an indication that streptococcal infections can stimulate an immune response to peptidoglycan. Thirty-five percent of the patients with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis had values greater than or equal to 75 ng/ml. Such a finding points to a possible association between bacterial infections and juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.

Acute Disease↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Midlatency auditory evoked responses: differential abnormality of P1 in Alzheimer's disease.

The human 'P1' middle latency evoked potential is postulated to be generated in the thalamus by a cholinergic component of the ascending reticular activating system. To test the hypothesis that P1 and its generator substrate are abnormal in Alzheimer's disease (AD), a disorder of marked cholinergic deficiency, recordings of middle latency responses to click stimuli were carried out. Comparisons between the AD and age-matched control groups indicated normal auditory brain-stem and Pa responses but a significant decrease in P1 amplitude. This P1 abnormality suggests that the midbrain cholinergic cells in AD may be dysfunctional.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Methodological considerations in cognitive disorders or: "the baby needs enough bath water".

Establishing treatment efficacy for neuropsychiatric disorders is an often protracted process due to vagaries of symptoms, course, and probably the inherent variability of the central nervous system. No single study design is likely to be definitive. Thorough evaluation of intracranial drug infusion for illnesses such as Alzheimer's Disease will require extended, multidisciplinary work before true evaluation can confidently be made.

Alzheimer Disease↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Differences in red blood cell choline and lipid-bound choline between patients with Alzheimer disease and control subjects.

The concentrations of red blood cell choline, glycerophosphocholine, phosphocholine and lipid-bound choline were measured in patients with Alzheimer disease (AD) and in normal elderly controls. Red blood cell choline in the Alzheimer group (41.4 +/- 9.2 nmol/ml) was significantly higher (p less than 0.023) than in the elderly controls (18.7 +/- 2.3 nmol/ml). Red blood cell lipid-bound choline (1387 +/- 58 nmol/ml) in the AD group was significantly lower (p less than 0.0022) than in the age-matched controls (1667 +/- 65), while there were no significant differences in glycerophosphocholine or phosphocholine. Plasma choline and lipid-bound choline did not differ significantly between the groups. The mechanisms for these changes still need further study, although the finding of decreased lipid-bound choline supports the concept of altered phospholipid metabolism in patients with AD.

Alzheimer Disease↗