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Biomedical subjects

D Fuchs

Publications and source records attributed to D Fuchs.

583 records · Page 33Linked to original sources
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[Correction of fatal genetic diseases using bone marrow transplantation. 1].

Bone marrow transplantation (BMT) was mainly used for the treatment of immunological, hematological and oncological diseases. Genetic diseases can also be treated by transplantation of normal histocompatible allogeneic bone marrow. This type of marrow transplantation is used for the treatment of inborn errors whose clinical expression is restricted to lymphoid or hematopoietic cells. The therapeutic role of bone marrow transplantation in the treatment of generalized genetic diseases is under investigation. Genetic disorders that can be cured include congenital immune deficiencies, infantile malignant osteopetrosis, thalassemia, infantile agranulocytosis, chronic granulomatous disease, lysosomal storage diseases and others. The use of autologous bone marrow after the insertion of a normal gene (gene therapy) in vitro circumvents the need for a histocompatible donor.

Bone Marrow Transplantation↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Mainstream assistance teams: a scientific basis for the art of consultation.

The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether a consultant-driven prereferral intervention may be shortened in duration, thereby improving its efficiency, without reducing its effectiveness. Subjects were 60 general educators; their 60 most difficult-to-teach pupils without disabilities; and 22 consultants, representing 17 elementary schools in a large metropolitan school system. The teachers were assigned randomly to a short (n = 24) and long version (n = 24) of the prereferral intervention and to a control group (n = 12). Analyses indicated that the two variants of the prereferral intervention improved teacher perceptions of their difficult-to-teach students and decreased referrals for testing and possible special education placement. Moreover, results suggested that the short and long versions were equally effective. Implications for consultation-related activity are discussed.

Child↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Serum neopterin concentrations in Wegener's granulomatosis correlate with vasculitis activity.

Raised serum neopterin concentrations were found in 13 of 27 patients (47%) with Wegener's granulomatosis. The neopterin concentrations significantly correlated with the Birmingham Vasculitis Activity Score as well as with the erythrocyte sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein. High serum neopterin levels were also associated with infectious complications. The finding of increased neopterin concentrations in patients with Wegener's granulomatosis supports the role of cell-mediated immunity and particularly of activated macrophages in the pathogenesis of the disease.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Cervical intraepithelial neoplasia is not associated with elevated serum neopterin levels.

Neopterin, a marker of cellular immune activation, was elevated in patients who had cervical cancer in previous studies. To examine neopterin in the presence of precursors to cervical cancer (i.e., cervical intraepithelial neoplasia) we measured serum levels in 185 colposcopy patients in Jamaica, a country with high cervical cancer incidence, and in 72 age-matched Jamaican women selected from a large population-based sample. We also measured serum levels of beta-2-microglobulin, another commonly used marker of immune activation. Neopterin and beta-2-microglobulin levels were not elevated in colposcopy patients; neither were they related to severity of cervical neoplasia. In multivariable analysis, neither adjustments for detection of cervical human papillomavirus DNA by PCR nor detection of antibodies to human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I (a retrovirus endemic to Jamaica) altered our findings. The absence of a serologically detectable increase in cellular immune activation linked to cervical intraepithelial neoplasia suggests that the immunological response to cervical intraepithelial neoplasia does not involve substantial systemic cellular immune activation.

Biomarkers, Tumor↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis an enigmatic disease with B-cellular and anti-retroviral immune responses.

OBJECTIVES: The most frequent sporadic adult motor neuron disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, affects more men, follows no epidemiologic pattern, and was long considered a pure spinal cord disorder. It now becomes evident that the disease is characterized by spinal, cerebral and extra-neuromuscular changes including B-cellular responses and ultrastructural skin alterations. Do these parameters identify subgroups or correlate with the male preponderance of the disease? METHODS: We analyzed age at and site of onset, sex, duration of clinical disease, and human foamy retroviral seroreactivity in 47 consecutive patients with a definite diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The results were compared with antivisna seroreactivity, immunoglobulin isotypes, circulating immune complexes, neopterin and beta 2-microglobulin as well as skin biopsies in respective subsets of the same 47 patients. RESULTS: Seroreactivity to recombinant human spuma retrovirus (HSRV) envelope and/or capsid protein was positive in 20/47 amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients, and 28/30 competed with specific retroviral antibodies on maedi-visna antigen. Anti HSRV-seronegative patients had lower immunoglobulin IgG3 isotype concentrations, while HSRV-gag plus HSRV-env antibody positives demonstrated highest circulating IgG immune complexes. All 11 amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients partially reacting to recombinant HSRV-env or HSRV-gag antigen were men, and male amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients tended to have higher total cerebrospinal fluid protein levels. Neopterin and beta 2-microglobulin as markers of a cellular immune activation remained basically normal in serum and cerebrospinal fluid. CONCLUSION: We suggest a particular B-lymphocytic and retroviral involvement in this enigmatic, relentlessly progressing, at present untreatable and most frequent neurological system degeneration. To our opinion this situation justifies the search for novel anti-retroviral therapeutic strategies.

Adolescent↗