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Biomedical subjects

A M Jennings

Publications and source records attributed to A M Jennings.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1988

Spectrum of HIV-1 neutralizing antibodies in a cohort of homosexual men: results of a 6 year prospective study.

Serum samples collected prospectively between 1982 and 1987 from a cohort of homosexual men were analyzed for HIV-1 neutralizing antibodies. Seven seroconverters who became infected between 1982 and 1984 and 12 seroprevalents who were already seropositive in 1982 remained free of AIDS. During the 6 year period, 1 seroconverter and 14 seroprevalents developed AIDS. Healthy seroconverters developed neutralizing antibodies slowly and reached moderate geometric mean titers (GMT) of 1:100 within 3 years of seroconversion. Healthy seroprevalents already had moderate titers in 1982, which increased markedly in 1985-1986 (GMT greater than 1:200) and subsequently returned to the previous level in 1987. Neutralizing antibody titers declined 3 years prior to diagnosis in men who developed AIDS and reached levels significantly lower than those of healthy counterparts 2 years before diagnosis. Analysis of neutralizing antibody activity to several HIV-1 isolates indicated that the lower titers of men who developed AIDS were not due to diminished group-specific reactivity. Thus, high neutralizing antibody titers correlated with better clinical outcome, and low or decreasing neutralizing antibody titer signaled poor prognosis. Although naturally developing neutralizing antibodies may ultimately be inadequate in controlling disease progression, measures able to boost the neutralizing antibody titer of individuals already infected with the virus or to elicit high-titer neutralizing antibodies in individuals at risk may yet prove beneficial in controlling viral spread in vivo or in preventing new infection, presumably in concert with cellular immunity.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1988

Immunological abnormalities 17 years after accidental exposure to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin.

Eighteen workers were reviewed 17 years after accidental exposure to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (dioxin). Clinical assessment showed that they were in good health. A study of several biochemical and immunological parameters in these subjects and in 15 carefully matched controls showed no difference in serum concentrations of hepatic enzymes between exposed workers and controls. Although mean serum concentrations of cholesterol and triglyceride were higher in exposed subjects than in controls, the results did not reach statistical significance. Antinuclear antibodies and immune complexes were detected significantly more frequently in the peripheral blood of workers exposed to dioxin. There was no significant difference between exposed workers and controls in the number of T lymphocytes, B lymphocytes, and helper and suppressor T cell counts in peripheral blood, but the number of natural killer cells identified by the monoclonal antibody Leu-7 was significantly higher in workers exposed to dioxin.

Accidents, Occupational↗
PubMed1988

Von Hippel-Lindau disease in a large British family: clinicopathological features and recommendations for screening and follow-up.

We describe the clinical and pathological features in nine members of a large British family with von Hippel-Lindau disease. Twenty living family members underwent detailed assessment for features of the disease, including retinal examination and computed tomography of the head and abdomen. The hospital records of three deceased family members were reviewed and detailed information about a fourth was obtained from members of the family. As a result of this study, three asymptomatic family members were found to have features of the disease and all three living affected family members were found to have additional features. Lesions discovered included retinal angiomas requiring treatment in four family members, one asymptomatic renal cell carcinoma and one asymptomatic pancreatic endocrine tumour. We also report the occurrence of a spermatic cord mesenchymal hamartoma in von Hippel-Lindau disease.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

HTLV-III neutralizing antibody development in transfusion-dependent seropositive patients with beta-thalassemia.

Sera collected in New York in 1984 from 77 patients with homozygous beta-thalassemia were assayed for antibodies to HTLV-III by ELISA and Western blot techniques. Eight (12%) of the 66 hypertransfused thalassemics were seropositive. Retrospective sera of these eight individuals were examined by radioimmune precipitation (RIP), and assays for neutralization of virus infectivity were performed. With seroconversion, antibodies to viral envelope proteins appeared first and were correlated with development of neutralizing antibody. Affinity purified gp120, the major envelope glycoprotein of HTLV-III, blocked viral infectivity and absorbed neutralizing antibody activity from a positive serum. Neutralizing antibody titers mirrored antibody titers to gp120 by RIP. Antibody to gp120 sometimes occurred in the absence of neutralizing antibody, although the reverse was not true. One thalassemia patient who exhibited antibody to gp120 for 3 yr post-seroconversion failed to develop neutralizing antibody, acquired the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome with central nervous system involvement and lymphoma, and subsequently died. In contrast, all other seropositive thalassemics possessed neutralizing antibodies, and were asymptomatic or exhibited only lymphadenopathy. These results indicate that gp120 elicits neutralizing antibodies in the course of natural infection with HTLV-III. The relationship seen here between neutralizing antibody and better clinical outcome needs to be verified by additional studies.

AIDS-Related Complex↗
PubMed1986

Prevalence of antibodies to HTLV-I, -II, and -III in intravenous drug abusers from an AIDS endemic region.

Antibody prevalences for human T-cell lymphotropic virus (HTLV) types I, II, and III were determined for 56 intravenous drug abusers from Queens, NY. While control serum samples lacked antibodies to all HTLV subgroups, seropositivity among drug users was 41% for HTLV-III, 18% for HTLV-II, and 9% for HTLV-I. Infection by HTLV-I and -II occurred independently of HTLV-III infection. Blacks had greater HTLV-III antibody prevalence than whites (54% vs 16%) and were more likely than whites to be seropositive for HTLV-I or -II (46% vs 11%). They exhibited a greater incidence than whites of double infection with HTLV-I or -II and HTLV-III (27% vs 0%), and 73% were seropositive for at least one of the viruses, compared with only 26% of the whites. The increased HTLV-I and -II infection seen in intravenous drug users suggests that once introduced into a population, these viruses may be transmitted by the same routes as HTLV-III. Transmission may have been restricted mainly to blacks in this study because of local drug use practices.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1985

Severe hyperkalaemia and ketoacidosis during routine treatment with an insulin pump.

During a feasibility study of the use of insulin pumps to treat diabetes ketoacidosis occurred at a rate of 0.14 episodes/patient/year in the first year but was lower in subsequent years. A case of cardiac arrest secondary to hyperkalaemia during ketoacidosis occurred in a patient treated with a pump. The mean (SD) serum potassium concentration on presentation to hospital with ketoacidosis was significantly higher in patients treated with a pump (5.7 (1.1) mmol(mEq)/l) than those treated with conventional injections of insulin (4.9(0.9) mmol/l; p less than 0.01). The high rate of ketoacidosis and raised serum potassium concentrations during treatment with the pump creates doubt about the use of this treatment as an alternative regimen for large numbers of patients in a busy diabetic clinic.

Acidosis↗
PubMed1985

Practice of preoperative assessment by anaesthetists.

The practice of preoperative assessment in 24 departments of anaesthesia in Great Britain and Ireland was surveyed. Most departments had no rigid policies governing assessment, and many served several hospitals. There was little evidence that admission procedures of patients scheduled for surgery or the organisation of operating lists took account of the problems encountered by anaesthetists undertaking preoperative assessment. From the participating departments 415 anaesthetists completed a questionnaire of their individual practice. Most (57%) visited at least 80% of their patients preoperatively, but 22% saw less than 50% of patients. The detection of potential anaesthetic problems and the establishment of rapport with patients were highly rated reasons for conducting such visits. Failure to visit was often related to organisational defects within the hospital service, and anaesthetists saw little prospect of improving these defects. The demands created by the needs of preoperative assessment on the one hand, and the need for a rapid turnover of surgical patients and financial stringency on the other, conflict, and this conflict is not easily reconciled.

Anesthesia Department, Hospital↗
PubMed1982

Anaesthetic emergency service at three hospitals--a decade of change.

The results of a 6-week survey of anaesthetic emergency work completed in 1978 are compared with those from an earlier survey in 1967. Three hospitals sampled, an undergraduate teaching hospital, a district general hospital and a specialized paediatric hospital. At all three hospitals emergency workload increased relative to the population served, with intensive therapy accounting for much of the extra demand. The consequences for the provision of an anaesthetic service are discussed.

Anesthesia Department, Hospital↗