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Biomedical subjects

A D Heggie

Publications and source records attributed to A D Heggie.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

Prevalence and characteristics of pharyngeal group A beta-hemolytic streptococci in US Navy recruits receiving benzathine penicillin prophylaxis.

US military recruits receive benzathine penicillin prophylaxis because of endemicity of group A beta-hemolytic streptococcal (GABHS) infections. GABHS prevalence in Navy recruits receiving single-dose benzathine penicillin prophylaxis was assessed during spring and fall 1989 by culturing throat specimens from randomly selected groups of approximately 230 men before and 2, 4, and 7 weeks after prophylaxis and from men with pharyngitis diagnosed at sick call. Of 60 GABHS isolates, 75% were serotype M-3. The pharyngitis rate increased from 0.18% in the spring to 1.55% in the fall with a concurrent increase in serotype M-3 prevalence from 35% to 91%. The GABHS prevalence rate was three- to fourfold lower after prophylaxis. There were no cases of acute rheumatic fever (ARF) despite predominance of M-3, a rheumatogenic serotype. It was concluded that penicillin prophylaxis continues to be effective for control of GABHS infections and prevention of ARF in Navy recruits.

Drug Hypersensitivity

Effects of viral exposure of the two-cell mouse embryo on cleavage and blastocyst formation in vitro.

The effect of viral exposure of two-cell mouse embryos on their capacity to undergo subsequent cleavage and blastocyst formation in vitro was determined. Exposure to Coxsackie viruses B-4 and B-6, reovirus type 2, influenza virus type A, mouse cytomegalovirus, adenovirus type 5, and mouse adenovirus resulted in statistically significant inhibition of blastocyst formation. Development in vitro was unaffected by exposure to ECHO virus type 11, attenuated poliomyelitis virus type 2, parainfluenza virus type 1, mumps, rubella, and herpes simplex viruses types 1 and 2. Blastocyst formation was also unaffected by exposure of embryos to mouse interferon in a concentration 24 units/ml of culture fluid. Coxsackie virus B-4 was recovered from exposed embryos.

Animals

Pathogenesis of the rubella exanthem: distribution of rubella virus in the skin during rubella with and without rash.

In a previous assessment of the role of rubella virus in the pathogenesis of the rubella exanthem, virus was consistently isolated from cell cultures of skin biopsy specimens of the rash, and it was concluded that presence of virus in the skin was essential to evolution of the rash. For determination of whether virus is present in the skin only in association with rash, punch biopsies were performed concurrently on areas of skin with and without rash. Among paired skin specimens of 16 patients, virus was isolated from sites of rash in 12 and from the uninvolved skin in 10. In another patient, shown by serologic response and recovery of virus from the pharynx to have rubella without a rash, virus was also isolated from the skin. It is concluded that rubella virus is widely disseminated in the skin of patients with rubella irrespective of the presence or distribution of the rash, and that the presence of virus in the skin, although a constant feature of the disease, is only one of the factors involved in the pathogenesis of the exanthem.

Biopsy

Growth inhibition of human embryonic and fetal rat bones in organ culture by rubella virus.

Paired organ cultures of metacarpal, metatarsal, and long bones of previable human embryos of 7 to 12 weeks' gestation and tibias of 17-day rat fetuses with inoculated with live or ultraviolet-inactivated rubella virus or control fluids and the growth of the bones was measured by increase in wet weight. In several cultures the ability of the human bones to incorporate 35S, a measure of rate of mucopolysaccharide synthesis, was tested. Growth of human and rat bones was retarded in cultures inoculated with live virus but not in cultures inoculated with inactivated virus or control fluids. Mean 35S uptake was increased by approximately 25% in virus-inoculated cultures of bones of 9- to 12-week human embryos. No histological abnormalities were seen. These findings suggest that (1) defective bone growth in congenital rubella is a direct effect of viral infection of bone, (2) a disorder of mucopolysaccharide syntheses may contribute to the osseous lesions that occur in this disease, and (3) organ cultures of human embryonic and fetal rat bones may serve as convenient models for studying the pathogenesis of this virus-induced congenital osteopathy.

Animals

Cervical carcinogenesis with herpes simplex virus, type 2.

In the past few years there have been a number of reports correlating a high frequency of herpes simplex virus type 2(HSV-2) infection with lesions of the uterine cervix. These studies have used a clinical history of herpetic infection or the demonstration of herpetic antibodies in the cancer patients. The present study was performed to evaluate any possible carcinogenic activity of the formalin-inoculated herpes simplex virus type 2 in the reproductive tract of the female mouse. This approach to the study was selected because of previous experience with a model system of carcinogenesis of the cervix uteri using coal tar hydrocarbons. Cytologic and histologic preparations from experimental animals and controls are presented to demonstrate the mucosal alterations and tumors observed in the animals. Noninvasive lesions of the cervix were identified in 76.8% and invasive adenocarcinoma detected in 30.2% of the mice.

Adenocarcinoma