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Biomedical subjects

D Taylor-Robinson

Publications and source records attributed to D Taylor-Robinson.

At least 217 records · Page 12Linked to original sources
PubMed1988

Inflammatory joint disease and human immunodeficiency virus infection.

Nine men positive for antibody to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) who developed peripheral, non-erosive arthritis were followed up. The clinical features were compatible with reactive arthritis but were atypical in several respects: the joint symptoms were generally severe, persistent, and unresponsive to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. The onset of arthritis was associated with various infections, none of which are known to be associated with the development of reactive arthritis. HLA typing was performed for three patients, all of whom were positive for HLA-B27. HIV was isolated from the synovial fluid of one patient. No patient had AIDS before developing arthritis, but four progressed to having AIDS after a mean of 7.5 months, and two died. Arthritis resolved in only one patient. The possibility of HIV infection should be considered in all patients with conditions suggesting reactive arthritis. Synovitis in patients with severe immunodeficiency has important pathogenetic implications.

Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal↗
PubMed1988

Lectin typing of Haemophilus ducreyi.

The cell wall carbohydrates of 43 strains of Haemophilus ducreyi isolated in different parts of the world were subjected to lectin analysis using commercial panels containing 14 different plant lectins of known specificity. Preliminary evidence indicated both intrastrain and inter-strain variation in cell wall carbohydrate composition. In addition, it was possible to group strains from different geographical areas by lectin agglutination patterns. Lectin typing might thus become a useful marker system for epidemiological investigation of Haemophilus ducreyi infections.

Agglutination↗
PubMed1988

Loss of cytomegalovirus infectivity after treatment with castanospermine or related plant alkaloids correlates with aberrant glycoprotein synthesis.

Many plants contain polyhydroxyalkaloids which are potent inhibitors of glucosidases, enzymes involved in oligosaccharide trimming. These are important in determining the final configuration of specific glycoproteins. Human cytomegalovirus (CMV) encodes a number of glycoproteins, some of which ultimately reside in the outer envelope of the mature virion and are important for virus infectivity. Treatment with three polyhydroxyalkaloids, castanospermine (CAST), deoxynojirimycin (DNJ) and 2R,5R-dihydroxymethyl-3R,4R-dihydroxypyrrolidine (DMDP) blocked the growth of infectious virus, as determined by yield reduction and plaque reduction assays. However, in the presence of CAST, CMV infected cells continued to shed virions into the extracellular medium, as determined by electron microscopy. Envelope glycoproteins of virions produced after treatment with CAST (2.5 mM) were immunoprecipitated with a monoclonal antibody (F5) specific for the gcI family of glycoproteins. Analysis by PAGE-SDS showed an absence of gcI complex 2 (gp52 disulphide-linked to gp130) with a proportional increase in gcI complex 1 (gp52 disulphide-linked to gp95). The results indicated that gp130 alone, or linked to gp52, was important for CMV infectivity. As well as being potential targets for antiviral agents against CMV, inhibitors of glycoprotein trimming reactions may define components of the virion surface important for infectivity.

Alkaloids↗
PubMed1988

Antigenic analysis of Haemophilus ducreyi by Western blotting.

Twenty-one strains of Haemophilus ducreyi were analysed by Western blotting using two antisera produced in mice. Common antigens of molecular weights 58, 46, 41, 28, 22 and 16 kDa were detected in all the strains. The antigens were protein in nature, since they could not be detected in whole-cell lysates which had been treated with proteinase K. The H. ducreyi strains showed antigenic cross-reactivity with strains of H. influenzae and H. parainfluenzae, but showed minimal or no cross-reactivity with seven other species of bacteria.

Haemophilus ducreyi↗
PubMed1988

Characterization of cytomegalovirus isolates from patients with AIDS by DNA restriction analysis.

Thirty-seven isolates of cytomegalovirus (CMV) were obtained from a group of 20 promiscuous homosexual men, either suffering from the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) at the time of CMV isolation, or who developed AIDS subsequently. The isolates of CMV were characterized by the method of DNA restriction analysis. All epidemiologically unrelated strains of CMV exhibited different fragment migration patterns and no one strain appeared to be associated with AIDS or any particular disease pattern in these patients. Sequential isolates of CMV were obtained from nine patients in the study group either from different sites at the same time or from the same site on different dates. In the case of seven of the men, viruses with minor differences in restriction profile were obtained, possibly representing sub-populations of an endogenous strain of CMV. In two of the patients, reinfection with different strains was apparent. We conclude that reinfections with CMV in AIDS patients can occur, but the isolation of strains exhibiting major differences in genome structure seen by restriction enzyme analysis was uncommon.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1988

Plasmid content and protein I serovar of non-penicillinase-producing gonococci isolated in Munich.

One hundred and twenty-four strains of non-penicillinase-producing gonococci isolated in Munich in 1986 were characterized in terms of their plasmid content and protein I serovar. Eighty-two per cent of the strains belonged to serogroup 1-B with over half belonging to either serovar 1B-2 or 1B-3. Half of the 22 serogroup 1A strains belonged to serovar 1A-2. Nineteen strains (15.3%) were found to lack the 2.6 Md cryptic plasmid although seven of these strains contained the 24.4 Md conjugative plasmid. Nine of the 105 strains which harboured the cryptic plasmid also contained the conjugative plasmid. The 19 strains which lacked the cryptic plasmid comprised 10 different serovars, indicating the heterogeneous nature of this group of organisms.

Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins↗
PubMed1988

Failure of Chlamydia trachomatis to pass transplacentally to fetuses of TO mice infected during pregnancy.

Mice (strain TO) were inoculated with a human strain of Chlamydia trachomatis (serovar E) either 14 days before the detection of a vaginal plug (day 1 of pregnancy), or from one to nine days thereafter. The organisms were given via the intraperitoneal route (ip) or intravenously with an additional intravaginal inoculum (iv + ivag). Mice were killed on day 18 of pregnancy and the contents of the uterus examined. Chlamydiae were isolated from at least one placental disk of about a quarter of the mice. Organisms given via the ip route established placental colonisation more effectively. Thus, placental colonisation was detected in five of 16 mice given chlamydiae by the ip route (in six of eight placentas in one mouse), whereas colonisation occurred in only a single placenta from one of nine mice infected via the iv + ivag routes. Chlamydiae were isolated from 13 (6.25%) of 208 placentas examined; the degree of colonisation was variable and the individual placentas were colonised independently. Chlamydiae were not recovered from fetal tissue, even when there was heavy placental colonisation. Nor were they isolated from maternal spleens, even though there was antibody to C. trachomatis in all maternal sera; the titres were in the range 4-2048, depending on the time of chlamydial challenge. These experiments show that C. trachomatis did not cross the placenta and that the pregnancy outcome in these mice was not affected.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Evidence that Chlamydia trachomatis causes seronegative arthritis in women.

Chlamydia trachomatis elementary bodies (EBs) were found in synovial membranes or synovial fluid cell deposits from five of 15 women with seronegative mono- or oligoarthritis by means of a fluorescein conjugated anti-chlamydial monoclonal antibody (Micro Trak; Syva). Genital tract specimens were taken from only five of the patients, one of whom had intra-articular EBs, but none was chlamydia positive. Six of 10 patients tested were HLA-B27 positive, and chlamydial IgG antibody, measured by microimmunofluorescence, was present at a titre of 1/greater than or equal to 64 in the sera of five of the 15 patients, three of the five having EBs in their joints. In contrast, chlamydial EBs were not detected in the joints of a control group of 10 other women, most of whom had rheumatoid arthritis. None of them was HLA-B27 positive, and only one had a chlamydial antibody titre of 1/greater than or equal to 64. Neither Mycoplasma hominis nor ureaplasmas were isolated from the synovial fluids of seven patients and five controls who were tested. Antibody to M genitalium, however, was detected in five of the 10 patients but in none of the controls. This evidence apart, there was no other suggest that mycoplasmas or ureaplasmas might be responsible for arthritis which could not be attributed to chlamydiae.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

DNA hybridisation of cervical scrapes: comparison with cytological findings in Papanicolaou smears.

One hundred and sixty four cervical scrapes were taken over 26 months from 143 women aged 17 to 53 years, using an Ayre spatula. A smear was prepared from each sample for Papanicolaou staining and for cytological examination for evidence of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. The cells remaining on the spatula were harvested for DNA analysis. These samples were probed for HPV 6, 16, and 18 and the results of DNA hybridisation and cytology were compared. Cytological changes of HPV (anucleate keratinised and keratinised squamous cells, koilocytic change and dyskeratosis, or multinucleation, or both) were detected in 103 (72%) of the samples where HPV DNA was detected; koilocytic changes were present in only 67 (48%). It is concluded that screening for a range of viral changes is a more sensitive method of detecting HPV infection than screening for koilocytic change alone.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

The enigma of non-gonococcal urethritis: role for Bacteroides ureolyticus.

Although up to about half the cases of acute non-gonococcal urethritis (NGU) are caused by Chlamydia trachomatis organisms (chlamydiae) and a smaller, ill-defined, proportion probably by Ureaplasma urealyticum organisms (ureaplasmas), the aetiology of all cases is not understood. Clarification of the role of the anaerobe, Bacteroides ureolyticus, was sought in the current study. Seventy five chlamydia negative patients with NGU were treated on a double blind placebo controlled basis with metronidazole. After seven days more of the 35 patients given this drug tended to improve clinically than the 40 given the placebo, but the difference was not significant. Of 23 chlamydia negative but anaerobe positive men, however, 78% (7/9) receiving metronidazole responded clinically, but only 7% (1/14) receiving placebo responded (p less than 0.001). Furthermore, whereas 78% of the anaerobe positive men given metronidazole recovered, only 23% (6/26) of the anaerobe negative men did so (p less than 0.02). No further evidence for the role of ureaplasmas in the aetiology of NGU was obtained, but the data suggest that B ureolyticus organisms, and perhaps other anaerobes, have an important role in a small proportion of cases and that the beneficial effects of metronidazole given on an empirical basis will be confined to anaerobe positive urethritis.

Bacteroides↗
PubMed1988

Sexual transmission of human papillomaviruses in heterosexual and male homosexual couples, studied by DNA hybridisation.

The prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) 6, 11, 16, and 18 in 36 heterosexual couples and seven male homosexual couples with genital warts was investigated for evidence of sexual transmission of genital HPV. The prevalence of virus type and number of copies of viral genome equivalents/cell in the lesions were assessed, and the factors influencing transmission analysed. Our results show that HPV 6 and, to a lesser extent, HPV 11 were the types most readily transmitted, and that transmission appears to depend on the copy number and the duration and frequency of exposure.

DNA, Viral↗
PubMed1988

Infection of the epididymis by Ureaplasma urealyticum.

Ureaplasma urealyticum organisms (ureaplasmas) were isolated from the urethra and epididymal aspirate of a man aged 24 who had acute right sided epididymitis. No other microorganisms were detected, and he had no chlamydial antibody response. A fourfold antibody response to the epididymal ureaplasma isolate was detected by two methods, however, and the patient responded clinically to doxycycline, to which the ureaplasmal isolates were susceptible in vitro. These findings suggest that U urealyticum had a causative role.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

The effect of a toxin from Bacteroides ureolyticus on the mucosal epithelium of human and bovine oviducts.

Bacteria-free filtrates of nine strains of Bacteroides ureolyticus, most of which had been isolated from the urethra of men with non-gonococcal urethritis, damaged the mucosal epithelium of human fallopian tube and bovine oviduct organ cultures. The damage, pronounced after three days, was manifested by loss of ciliary activity. Histological observations, supported by scanning electron microscopy, showed that this loss was due to disruption of the epithelia with sloughing of cells. It is likely that the inhibitory activity of the filtrates was due to endotoxin since lipopolysaccharides extracted from the bacteria had a similar deleterious effect on oviduct mucosal epithelia. It is speculated that B. ureolyticus has the potential for causing damage to the urethral mucosa by the same mechanism.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Critical dependence on antibody for defence against mycoplasmas.

We have shown that mycoplasmas bind spontaneously to neutrophils, as well as directly activating the first component of complement with probable subsequent binding through neutrophil complement receptors. Thus, antibody is not required to opsonize mycoplasmas for neutrophil phagocytosis. Furthermore, mycoplasmas remain viable when phagocytosed in the absence of antibody and may be carried inside neutrophils to various parts of the body to cause infection (e.g. joints). We found that antibody alone inhibits the growth of mycoplasmas in vitro. These observations suggest that the role of antibodies is to control the growth of mycoplasmas on mucosal surfaces; neutrophils play no part in defence and may even aid dissemination of the infection. This helps to explain why patients with hypogammaglobulinaemia are prone to systemic mycoplasma infections.

Antibodies, Bacterial↗