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Biomedical subjects

A H Smelt

Publications and source records attributed to A H Smelt.

60 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1989

Unusual arthritis: be on the alert for leprosy.

A 50-year-old Indonesian man presented with arthritis of the left ankle, wrist and hand joints and a diffusely swollen left hand and foot. A few months later granulomatous skin lesions developed and renewed physical examination revealed a paresis of the intrinsic muscles of the left hand and the left M. extensor hallucis longes and thickening of several peripheral nerves. The skin lesions appeared to be anesthetic. A diagnosis of borderline tuberculoid leprosy was made and treatment resulted in cure with permanent peripheral nerve damage. This case emphasizes the importance of early recognition and treatment of leprosy to prevent nerve damage.

Arthritis↗
PubMed1989

Jaundice caused by hydatid disease of the liver.

Between 1980 and 1985, 40 patients were treated surgically for hydatid disease of the liver. In 4 cases (10%) jaundice was the first and most conspicuous sign of this disease. The patients originated from Spain, Morocco, Turkey and Lebanon. In 2 of these cases the initial diagnosis was hepatitis; one patient was operated on for suspected acute cholecystitis. All 4 patients had an eosinophilia and positive hydatid serology. Hydatid material was found in the biliary tract in two cases, while bile-stained hydatid fluid proved that there was a communication between cystic cavity and biliary tract in the other two patients. Obstruction of the common bile duct by hydatid elements causes jaundice and probably also cholangitis. Calcifications in the cyst are no guarantee against future complications. Surgery is the treatment of choice. When patients from an endemic area present with jaundice, hydatid disease of the liver should be suspected, particularly if eosinophilia also exists.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

Induction of delayed-type hypersensitivity to Mycobacterium leprae in healthy individuals.

Delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) to a soluble Mycobacterium leprae skin test antigen (SML) was successfully induced in healthy volunteers following immunization with 2 X 10(8) killed armadillo-derived M. leprae. No better sensitization was obtained by a mixture of live BCG and killed M. leprae. The relative specificity of the DTH reaction to SML has been demonstrated in this study, since little cross-reactivity was observed to PPD, after immunization with BCG ro M, leprae alone, or combined. Moreover, armadillo-derived M. leprae readily induced a specific hypersensitivity with the time course DTH response associated with protective immunity suggesting that this bacterial preparation may be a candidate for an effective anti-leprosy vaccine.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1981

Failure to induce delayed-type hypersensitivity to Mycobacterium leprae in long-term treated lepromatous leprosy patients.

Lepromatous leprosy (LL) patients whose bacillary load has decreased to almost undetectable levels by long-term chemotherapy failed to develop delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) to Mycobacterium leprae antigen following immunization with killed armadillo-derived M. leprae. When these LL patients were immunization with killed armadillo-derived M. leprae. When these LL patients were immunized with killed M. leprae in a mixture with live BCG, only DTH to purified protein derivative (PPD) was induced. These results are further evidence that immunological unresponsiveness to the leprosy antigen of patients with lepromatous leprosy is antigen-specific and non-reversible.

Antigens, Bacterial↗
PubMed1978

Lymphocyte response of leprosy patients to human-derived and purified armadillo-derived Mycobacterium leprae, BCG and PPD.

The lymphocyte transformation test was applied to compare in vitro lymphocyte responses of tuberculoid (high resistant) and lepromatous (low resistant) leprosy patients to purified Mycobacterium leprae derived from experimentally infected armadillos and crude M. leprae derived from man, as well as to bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) and purified protein derivative (PPD). It was found that the purification procedure using enzymic digestion did not affect the immunogenicity of armadillo-derived M. leprae as compared with the crude human-derived preparation, although 2.5-5-fold higher doses of the purified organisms were required to elicitate equivalent lymphocyte responses. The result indicated the suitability of purified armadillo-derived M. leprae as the standard antigen for lymphocytes transformation tests in leprosy. The cross-reactivity studies show a close relationship between PPD and BCG, but not between M. leprae and PPD or BCG.

Adolescent↗