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Biomedical subjects

A J Ammann

Publications and source records attributed to A J Ammann.

At least 163 records · Page 9Linked to original sources
PubMed1975

Thymus transplantation in patients with thymic hypoplasia and abnormal immunoglobulin synthesis.

Fetal thymus transplantation was performed in three patients with thymic hypoplasia with abnormal immunoglobulin synthesis, one patient with ataxia telangiectasia, and one patient with immunodeficiency with eczema and thrombocytopenia. All patients received transfer factor before transplantation of a fetal thymus i.p. Reconstitution of cell-mediated immunity occurred in three of five patients. Two of the three patients with reconstitution of cell-mediated immunity also had evidence of improved antibody-mediated immunity. Reconstitution of cell-mediated immunity was characterized as occurring rapidly and being of varying duration, and was unassociated with HL-A chimerism. Successful reconstitution of immunity in these patients may have been related to several factors, including the use of fetal thymus less than 6 hr after abortion, i.p. transplantation, and a synergistic effect of transfer factor.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1975

Serum IgA in the diagnosis of nasopharyngeal and paranasal sinus carcinoma.

The serum immunoglobulin-A level was elevated in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (mean 526 plus or minus 188 mg/100 ml) and paranasal sinus carcinoma (mean 451 plus or minus 124 mg/100 ml) prior to radiation therapy. After treatment, the IgA levels were lower in nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients. Elevated serum IgA values were also noted in patients with recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Serum IgA determinations may be useful as an additional diagnostic test for squamous cell carcinoma of the nasal and oropharynx.

Carcinoma, Squamous Cell↗
PubMed1975

Antibody-dependent lymphocyte killer function in human immunodeficiency diseases.

Antibody-dependent cell immunity to the lymphocyte system (ABCIL) has been shown to be a function of a non-thymus-processed cell in the experimental animal. To evaluate its role in the human and to assess its clinical usefulness, we assessed ABCIL in twenty-five patients with various immunodeficiency (ID) syndromes. Our technique measures the lysis of 51Cr-labelled normal human lymphocytes coated with HL-A-specific antibody. Cytotoxicity is expressed as a percentage of 51Cr released after subtracting the spontaneous target cell release. Mean values in normals are 20+/-2 (s.e.). The ten patients with AB deficiency had a mean ABCIL of 7-9+/-2 (Pless than0-01). All eight patients with cellular ID had normal ABCIL (18+/-2), while the ten patients with combined ID had variable results. Effector cell function in the ABCIL test correlated (r=0-74; Pless than0-05) with the percentage of B cells in the peripheral blood. No correlation was found between ABCIL function and serum immunoglobulin levels or rosette-forming cells in the peripheral blood. There is a function for B lymphocytes other than as a precursor of antibody-synthesizing cells.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1975

T-cell reconstitution by thymus transplantation and transfer factor in severe combined immunodeficiency.

Reconstitution of cell-mediated immunity was achieved in a 5-month old female infant with severe combined immunodeficiency by fetal thymus transplant given simultaneously with two units of transfer factor. Thymus was obtained from a 15-week gestational age male fetus, and the two units of transfer factor from the lymphocytes of 500 ml of peripheral blood. Three weeks after transplantation, two nel HL-A antigens were detected on the infant's lymphocytes, one of which was present in the mother of the thymus donor; at the same time, some of the infant's own HL-A antigens disappeared. Thereafter, the percent of rosette-forming cells (T-cells) increased and the in vitro response to phytohemagglutinin and allogeneic lymphocytes became normal, and delayed skin tests became positive. Karyotyping of peripheral blood lymphocytes posttransplantation reveals an XY (male) pattern. These results suggest lymphocyte re-population as a result of the thymus-transfer factor therapy. Five months after transplantation, the patient has normal cellular immunity but persistent hypogammaglobulinemia. She is free of infection and growing normally on gammaglobulin injections.

Female↗
PubMed1974

Combined immunodeficiency presenting as the Letterer-Siwe syndrome.

Four infants with skin rash, hepatosplenomegaly, lymphocytosis, eosinophilis, and histiocytic infiltration of the lymph nodes and skin are described; in each of these infants an initial diagnosis of the Letterer-Siwe syndrome was made. Postmortem findings of thymic dysplasia and poorly differentiated, lymphopenic peripheral lympoid tissue in each of the four infants, as well as antimortem clinical findings in one, established a diagnosis of severe combined immunodeficiency. From these and similar cases in the literature, we postulate that the Letterer-Siwe syndrome may not be an unusual presentation of combined immunodeficiency. Appropriate immunologic studies will help to differentiate the two disorders.

Autopsy↗
PubMed1974

Immune response to acute otitis media in children. I. Serotypes isolated and serum and middle ear fluid antibody in pneumococcal otitis media.

Seventy percent of pneumococci isolated from the middle-ear cavity of infants and children with acute otitis media were of one of the seven serotypes 1, 3, 6, 14, 18, 19, or 23. The immunological response in the serum and middle-ear fluid from otitis media caused by one of these serotypes was studied in 61 children by using either indirect hemagglutination or indirect fluorescent antibody tests, or both. Twenty-six of the patients had pneumococcal antibody present in the acute serum and 28 had it in the convalescent serum by at least one method. Thirteen of the 49 middle-ear fluids examined had antibody by the indirect fluorescent antibody technique. Serum pneumococcal antibody was found to reside predominantly in the immunoglobulin G or immunoglobulin M classes, whereas pneumococcal antibody with middle-ear fluid was found to be distributed equally among all three classes. Approximately 25% of the patients (16 of 61) had a positive immune response to their infection as evidenced by increased levels of pneumococcal antibody in the convalescent serum. The percentage of patients responding immunologically increased with age: 12% of infants less than 12 months showed a significant response, whereas 48% of children over 24 months responded.

Age Factors↗