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Biomedical subjects

E B Thorling

Publications and source records attributed to E B Thorling.

14 recordsLinked to original sources

Glutathione redox cycle enzymes and selenium in severe rheumatoid arthritis: lack of antioxidative response to selenium supplementation in polymorphonuclear leucocytes.

The antioxidant capacity of the glutathione redox cycle and the concentrations of selenium in serum, red blood cells or whole blood, and polymorphonuclear leucocytes was evaluated in nine patients with severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and eight healthy controls receiving daily supplementation with 250 micrograms selenomethionine for six months. Serum and whole blood concentrations of selenium and the activity of the selenium dependent enzyme glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) were low in the serum, red blood cells, and polymorphonuclear leucocytes of patients with RA before selenium supplementation. During supplementation serum and whole blood concentrations of selenium and the activity of GSH-Px in serum and red blood cells of patients with RA and serum GSH-Px in controls increased. Selenium and GSH-Px in polymorphonuclear leucocytes were unaffected in patients with RA in contrast with the controls where both were augmented. Glutathione reductase activity in the red blood cells and polymorphonuclear leucocytes of patients with RA was low but increased during selenium supplementation. Whole blood concentrations of glutathione were slightly lower in patients with RA than controls and no difference in the content in polymorphonuclear leucocytes was found between the groups. The activity in red blood cells of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase was high in patients with RA, indicating sufficient function of the hexose monophosphate pathway. The reduced antioxidant activity of the glutathione redox cycle in patients with severe RA was mainly due to the low availability of selenium. This was further supported by the response to selenium supplementation in serum and red blood cells. In the polymorphonuclear leucocytes, however, no biochemical effects of selenium supplementation were seen. This lack of antioxidative response could play a pathogenetic part in inflammation in patients with RA.

Adult

Selenium in human mammary carcinogenesis: a case-cohort study.

In a prospective study conducted on the island of Guernsey a cohort of 5162 ostensibly healthy women was enrolled between 1967 and 1976. Blood samples were drawn from each participant, who also completed a questionnaire, which provided information on established risk indicators in human mammary carcinogenesis. Plasma selenium levels were measured in 46 breast cancer cases diagnosed a mean of 11 (S.D. 4) years after entry into the study cohort and in an age-stratified sample of 138 women drawn from the study base. Plasma selenium level in the cases was 109 (28) micrograms/l and in the base sample 103 (22) micrograms/l (95% confidence interval for the overall difference, -2 to 14 micrograms/l). The adjusted relative risk of developing breast cancer in the different quartiles of the selenium distribution was 0.80, 0.79, 0.72 and 1.00, respectively. Thus, in the present study selenium was not a strong indicator of human breast cancer risk.

Adult

Selenium in human mammary carcinogenesis: a case-referent study.

In a case-referent study on the possible role of selenium in human mammary carcinogenesis, serum selenium was found to be 79 +/- 12 micrograms/l in 66 cases and 81 +/- 12 micrograms/l in 93 referents. An internal trend in serum selenium was observed among cases (TNM stage I 81 +/- 11 micrograms/l and TNM stage II 76 +/- 13 micrograms selenium/l), indicating disease-mediated changes. The evaluation of selenium as a risk indicator in human breast cancer was therefore restricted to TNM stage I patients (n = 36). Multiple logistic regression analyses including variables associated with selenium levels revealed no association between selenium levels and breast cancer risk.

Adenocarcinoma

Glutathione peroxidase in early and advanced Parkinson's disease.

A defective antioxidant scavenging system plays a major role in one of the theories of the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease. The aim of this study was to investigate whether there is a general difference in antioxidant activity between early and advanced cases of Parkinson's disease. Twenty five recently diagnosed patients, without any clinical fluctuations (group A), and 25 patients in a late phase of the disease with severe fluctuations in response to levodopa therapy (group B) were included in the study. Erythrocyte glutathione peroxidase was determined as a measure of antioxidant activity and significantly lower values were found in group B than in group A. Regression analyses in groups A and B showed significant correlation between glutathione peroxidase and duration of disease, but not between glutathione peroxidase and age of patients.

Aged

Lipid peroxidation and antioxidant supplementation in old age.

An age-related rise in blood lipid peroxides measured by the thiobarbituric acid (TBA) method has been reported in several studies. Our study was designed to investigate whether this could be attributed to antioxidant deficiencies in aged individuals. We therefore measured the TBA-value of young and old women and related this to vitamin E and selenium status and the fatty acid composition, triglyceride and cholesterol content of platelet-poor plasma. A significant difference (p less than 0.001) between young and old women in the plasma TBA-value and the plasma lipid parameters was found. Old women had a lower selenium status than the young women (p less than 0.01), but their vitamin E status was fully adequate. Only the lipid parameters correlated significantly (p less than 0.001) with the TBA-value. In a 3-month placebo-controlled supplementation trial with vitamin E and selenium, the plasma TBA-value of the old women did not change. This study shows that the TBA-value of plasma is primarily determined by the fatty acid content and is not influenced by antioxidant supplementation in healthy individuals. The question of the sensitivity of the TBA-test is discussed.

Adult

Adipose tissue levels of fatty acids and tocopherol in young and old women.

Tocopherol concentration and fatty acid composition were determined in samples of subcutaneous adipose tissue from 33 young and 28 old women. Young women exhibited more saturated fatty acids and less monounsaturated fatty acids than old women (p less than 0.01). Adipose tissue tocopherol correlated with plasma tocopherol, with r = 0.49 and p less than 0.01, when the data for young and old were combined. A negative association was found between adipose tissue tocopherol and the n-3/n-6 fatty acid ratio in the old women (r = 0.42; p less than 0.05), suggesting that the tocopherol content of adipose tissue is determined not only by the intake of the nutrient but also by the tissue fatty acid composition.

Adipose Tissue

Selenium in rheumatoid arthritis. A historical prospective approach.

Time-dependent changes in serum selenium concentrations were studied in 28 patients with rheumatoid arthritis and the concentrations were related to disease activity. The mean length of the observation period was 7.3 years and a mean of 6 analyses was performed for each patient. Serum selenium fluctuated with disease activity in most patients and a relatively low concentration was recorded in periods of high disease activity. Gold treatment had no influence on the selenium concentrations and selenium levels measured within the first year of the disease were not demonstrated to have any prognostic significance.

Arthritis, Rheumatoid

Serum erythropoietin in myelomatosis.

Erythropoietin activity in serum was measured using 59Fe incorporation into erythrocytes in protein-starved, hypoxic mice. The activity in serum from 20 patients with untreated myelomatosis was not significantly different from that in 31 saline controls. Only three patients had detectable erythropoietin levels in serum: 0.24 IU/ml, 0.27 IU/ml and 0.50 IU/ml (standard B), respectively. The venous haematocrit was correlated positively with the glomerular filtration rate as measured by 51Cr EDTA-clearance. No correlation could be established between venous haematocrit and serum albumin or serum transferrin. The results are in agreement with the assumption of a defective erythropoietin activity due to renal failure in myelomatosis.

Erythropoietin

The clinical usefulness of serum copper determinations in Hodgkin's disease. A retrospective study of 241 patients from 1963-1973.

Serum copper determinations were routinely performed in 141 men and 100 women with histologically verified Hodgkin's disease, admitted to the Radium Centre for Jutland over a 10-year-period from January 1, 1963, to January 1, 1973. The previously described variations in serum copper with the activity of the disease, increasing with progression and decreasing with improvement, were amply substantiated. Furthermore, the present study showed that the serum copper value at the first admission, before treatment, is statistically significantly correlated to the stage of the disease and consequently probably to the amount of tumor tissue. In men there was also a statistically significant correlation of se Cu to the histologic grade of the bioptic material (classification according to Lukes 1966). In women the correlation was blurred by the effect on serum copper of estrogen, mainly from contraceptive pills and pregnancy. The serum copper is regularly reduced to within normal limits at complete remission; thus, it is proposed that this parameter be included in the criteria for complete remission.

Adolescent