Biomedical subjects

B Johansson

Publications and source records attributed to B Johansson.

At least 793 records · Page 44Linked to original sources

PubMed1975

T-Lymphocyte deficiency following adult thymectomin man.

10 patients thymectomized about 20 years earlier were tested for delayed skin reactivity against mumps, streptokinase-streptodornase and PPD antigens. The T and B lymphocytes in peripheral blood were determined. 6 patients were surgically thymectomized and 2 of the received postoperative irradiation. 4 patients were treated with only high dose irradiation to the mediastinal compartment. None of the patients responded to all skin antigens, 1 was positive to two antigens and 3 to one antigen. The remaining patients were non-responders. The number of peripheral blood lymphocytes was slightly decreased in the patients. A significant decrease in the number of T-lymphocytes (p less than 0.005) was found in the whole patient group, and the depression was more pronounced in the surgically thymectomized patients (p less than 0.001). The number of B-lymphocytes was unaltered. It is concluded that the abnormalities in this patient group reflect a T-lymphocyte deficiency. The immunologic status of the patients before treatment is not known. However, in 3 patients with recently discovered untreated thymomas no abnormalities were found. Thus, adult thymectomy in man seem to lead to deficiency of cell mediated immunity, indicating an influence of the thymus in immunological functions during adult life.

Adult↗

PubMed1975

Cytotoxic activity of lymphocytes from patients with Hodgkin's disease.

Blood lymphocytes from twenty-three untreated patients with Hodgkin's disease and twelve healthy controls were studied for their ability to lyse tissue culture cells (Chang cells) labelled with [51Cr]chromate. Lysis induced by patients' lymphocytes in the presence of PHA or rabbit IgG antibodies to Chang cells (ACS) was impaired in some, and higher than normal in others. ACS-induced lysis showed some corlation with the content of lymphocytes carrying receptors for human complement (CRL) in the effectory population. No correlation with immunoglobulin-bearing cells was noted. PHA-induced cytoxicity did not correlate with lymphocyte subpopulations. The observations are consistent with the assumption that effector cells of antibody-induced lymphocyte-mediated cytotoxicity (K cells) may be present among CRL. The K-cell activity and PHA cytotoxicity by lymphocytes tended to decrease at high age, but impaired cytotoxity was also noted in young patients. A preliminary follow-up of patients 1-2 years after the beginning of treatment revealed almost abolished K-cell activity in four patients who died 6--13 months after testing. Patients in incomplete remission or with relapse after treatment had lower mean K-cell activity than those in complete remission. A similar, but less pronounced tendency was found for PHA-induced cytotoxicity. A prognostic role of impaired K-cell activity in Hodgkin's disease is suggested from these data, but requires confirmation in a larger clinical follow-up.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1975

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-associated antibody patterns in relation to the deficiency of cell-mediated immunity in patients with Hodgkin's disease.

Sera from unselected and untreated patients with Hodgkin's disease (HD) were examined for antibodies to Epstein-Barr viral (EBV) capsid antigens (VCA). Delayed cutaneous hypersensitivity reactions were carried out with purified tuberculoprotein (PPD). Highly purified blood lymphocytes of the same patients were studied morphologically and classified for cell surface markers. Incorporation of 14C-thymidine was used as a measure of spontaneous DNA synthesis and DNA synthesis after exposure to different concentrations of three mitogens (PHA, Conconavalin A and pokeweed mitogen) and PPD. The distribution of EBV titres was in good agreement with previous reports. Most patients were lymphopenic, due to subnormal levels of T lymphocytes. The lymphocyte stimulation and skin tests showed different degrees of impairment in a considerable number of the patients. The results in 43 patients indicated that a relation exists between the immune defect and the anti-VCA titres. High serological anti-VCA reactivity was related to a poor cutaneous response to PPD, a decreased level of T lymphocytes in the blood and a depression of mitogen-induced DNA synthesis.

Antibodies, Viral↗

PubMed1974