The age at onset of overt leprosy among patients presenting at the Addis Ababa leprosy hospital.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to B Naafs.
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Borderline leprosy patients with a reversal reaction were studied and short-term steroid treatment compared with prolonged steroid treatment using voluntary muscle testing (VMT) to assess the results. Prolonged steroid treatment was shown to be superior to short-term treatment and free of harmful effects. It is concluded that with the described antireaction treatment, permanent nerve damage can be prevented, provided that the reversal reaction is detected in time (within 3-4 months).
Lymphoproliferative responses to Mycobacterium leprae and P.P.D. were measured in 23 lepromatous and borderline lepromatous leprosy patients and in 27 of their normal siblings. At the same time siblings HLA-D-identical with the patients were identified by the absence of a mixed-lymphocyte reaction. The 7 siblings who were HLA-identical to lepromatous patients responded as well to M. leprae as did the 20 HLA-non-identical normal siblings. In contrast, 22 of the 23 lepromatous patients failed to respond to M. leprae but responded normally to P.P.D. The specific unresponsiveness of lepromatous patients thus does not result from an HLA-linked genetic defect and the defective cell-mediated immune response to M. leprae seems to be acquired, not inherited. Lepromatous patients may be high responders to antigens shared by M. leprae and other microorganisms in whom a strong antibody response has blocked the induction of an M. leprae-specific-cell-mediated immune response.
Metronidazole was found to be of no value in the treatment of five cases of Ethtiopian mucocutaneous leishmaniasis.
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The way in which the A-V node adapts its conduction time to stepwise alterations of atrial stimulation rates was studied under different conditions of vagal nerve activity (open chest, anaesthetised rabbit). Increase of stimulation rate induced oscillatory adaptation to a longer conduction time. Decrease caused shorter conduction times without oscillation. The time constant did not differ. Oscillation amplitude and time constants were markedly influenced by vagal activity. The observed phenomena can be explained on the basis of a time and voltage dependent K+ conductance.
Eight cases of imported mycetomata in The Netherlands are reviewed. Seven of these were cultured; only one isolate, Actinomadura madurae, belonged to a species commonly known as an agent of mycetoma. The remaining strains either belonged to very rare species, such as Phialophora cyanescens, or could not be identified at all. The list of possible agents of mycetoma apparently needs to be expanded. In addition, the concept of endemic occurrence of aetiological agents of eumycetoma needs revision. Divergent saprophytes may be involved which are able to survive in human tissue.
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Sensory testing (ST) as a parameter in assessing nerve damage and as a guide in anti-reaction treatment is discussed in comparison with established methods like voluntary muscle testing (VMT) and motor nerve conduction velocity (MCV). Sensory testing is shown to be a valuable addition to the existing tests and may even be used as a single parameter.
Sixty serum specimens obtained from 16 lepromatous patients at intervals during the first year of DDS treatment were studied in crossed immunoelectrophoresis against an M. leprae sonicate for possible variations of specificities and titers of antimycobacterial antibodies. All sera tested showed antibody activity against M. leprae, the number of precipitation lines produced varying between two and seven. In individual patients the numbers and positions of the precipitation lines remained remarkably constant throughout the period of study.
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