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Biomedical subjects

B Bjorvatn

Publications and source records attributed to B Bjorvatn.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
PubMed1980

The in vitro activity of cefamandole against 3312 bacterial isolates. A Norwegian multicentre study.

In a multicentre study the in vitro activity of cefamandole against 3312 bacterial isolates was compared to the antibacterial activity of cephalothin, ampicillin, oxacillin, doxycycline and tobramycin. Cefamandole and tobramycin showed the highest activity against the Enterobacteriaceae isolates, whereas the Staphylococcus aureus isolates were slightly less sensitive to cefamandole than to cephalothin and oxacillin. There was no significant difference between the activity of cephalothin and cefamandole against the isolates of Haemophilus influenzae and enterococci.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗
PubMed1977

Antibodies against BCG antigen 60 in mycobacterial infection.

A sensitive specific radioimmunoassay was developed to measure antibodies against BCG antigen 60, a prominent antigenic component of BCG bacilli which cross-reacts with similar components in many mycobacterial species including Mycobacterium leprae and M tuberculosis. A lepromatous serum pool had anti-BCG-60 activity with a titre of 10(5) and the tuberculoid pool a titre of 10(4). Testing of individual sera showed striking variations within groups of patients with lepromatous and tuberculoid leprosy. In five of the 20 tuberculoid leprosy sera the anti-BCG-60 activity was above the median for the lepromatous group. The current view that antibody formation against mycobacterial antigens is very low in tuberculoid leprosy thus no longer appears to be tenable. Sera from eight patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis also showed a striking variation in anti-BCG-60 content, and the median value of this group was even higher than in those with lepromatous leprosy.

Antibody Formation↗
PubMed1977

Discrepancy between Clq deviation and Raji cell tests in detection of circulating immune complexes in patients with leprosy.

Samples of serum from 45 patients with different clinical forms of leprosy and from 17 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus were studied in parallel for circulating immune complexes with use of two different in vitro tests adjusted to the same degree of sensitivity. The Clq deviation test relied upon the reaction of the complement component Clq with immune complexes. The Raji cell test detected complement-fixed immune complexes that bound to the complement receptors on cultured, bone marrow-derived lymphocyte-like Raji cells. Thirty (67%) of 45 patients with leprosy showed immune complexes according to the Clq deviation test; however, only two (7%) of the 30 samples of sera with positive Clq test results were positive by the Raji cell test. In contrast, 54% of 13 samples of sera from patients with systemic lupus erythematosus positive by the Clq test were positive according to the Raji cell test. Since Clq is known to react with DNA as well as with bacterial antigens, the Clq reaction may in fact be detecting antigenemia in many instances. Considerable caution is warranted in application of sensitive screening tests for assay of circulating immune complexes in various states of infectious diseases.

Antibodies↗
PubMed1977

Antibody response in rabbits to immunization with Mycobacterium leprae.

Mycobacterium leprae purified from liver tissue of an infected armadillo (the A/10 preparation) was tested for antigenic composition by immunization of rabbits and characterization of the antibody response by crossed immunoelectrophoresis. The rabbit antisera detected seven distinct components in the M. leprae preparation. This number is far lower than in similar experiments with other mycobacteria. The M. leprae sonic extract gave far fewer lines after polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and staining with Coomassie brillant blue than sonic extracts prepared from BCG, M. smegmatis, and M. phlei adjusted to the same protein concentration based on the Folin assay. The seven components detected in M. leprae cross-reacted extensively with M. avium, BCG, M. lepraemurium, M. smegmatis, and Nocardia asteroides. The seven components are involved in immune reactions in leprosy; antibodies against all of them were demonstrated in sera from patients with lepromatous leprosy, but the specificity of the antibodies varied from patient to patient. The reason for the demonstration of so few antigenic components and some of the implications of these findings for the use of armadillo-grown M. leprae to develop specific skin test reagents and in other aspects of leprosy research are discussed.

Animals↗
PubMed1976

Rapid detection of measles virus in skin rashes by immunofluroescence.

Specific immunofluorescence was used to detect measles virus antigen in skin rashes. Cryostat sections of punch-biopsy specimens of the skin were stained with use of hyperimmune rabbit and horse antisera to measles virus, also conjugated with fluorescein isothiocyanate, served as controls. Measles virus was specifically demonstrated in 20 of 21 biopsy specimens taken within four days after the onset of exanthema. Measles virus antigen was also found in three of five biopsy specimens from nonexanthematous skin during the first four days of the exanthematous phase. The viral antigen was found in single cells or in clusters of cells in the surface epithelium, skin appendages, and corium. No viral antigen was detected in biopsy specimens taken five to six days after the onset of rash.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1976

Immune complexes and complement hypercatabolism in patients with leprosy.

The occurrence of immune complexes in the serum and the level of the C3 breakdown product C3d in the plasma from patients with leprosy were studied by quantitative methods and the results were compared in various forms of the disease. These studies were performed on sixty-two samples from twenty-six patients. The serum 125I-C1q binding activity was found to be increased by more than 2 s.d., as compared to the normal values, in most of the sera from patients with erythema nodosum leprosum (ENL) (80%) and uncomplicated lepromatous leprosy (82%), but also in the sera from patients with tuberculoid leprosy (58%). In vitro studies suggested that immune complexes involving mycobacterial antigens were present in leprosy sera. An increased C3d level (greater than 2s.d.) was also found in most of the plasma from patients with ENL (70%), but rarely in the plasma from patients with uncomplicated lepromatous leprosy (18%) and never in tuberculoid leprosy patients' plasma. The absence of a significant correlation between the 125I-C1q binding activity and the C3d level in leprosy patients may suggest that extravascular immune complexes are involved in the complement activation occurring in ENL. The quantitation of C3d in plasma may be of some practical interest in the early diagnosis of ENL complications of leprosy.

Adult↗