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Biomedical subjects

F Ward

Publications and source records attributed to F Ward.

35 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1985

Screening tests for antibodies to cytomegalovirus: an evaluation of five commercial products.

Four hundred and ninety two samples of serum from blood donors were screened for the presence of antibodies specific to cytomegalovirus using radioimmunoassay, a modified complement fixation test, and five commercially available tests: the Cetus CMV IHA, Abbott CMV total AB EIA, Cytomegalisa Stat EIA, Enzygnost EIA, and Virenz G-CMV EIA. A wide variation in results was found, with only 53.5% of the sera giving total concordance by all methods. Rates of seropositivity in the different tests ranged from 34.9% to 59.3%, with sensitivities ranging from 75.2% to 99.1% compared with the radioimmunoassay. Of 211 sera which gave positive results with four or more of the tests, none was negative by the radioimmunoassay and Abbott EIA, three were negative in Cetus IHA and Enzygnost EIA, and 11 were negative in the modified complement fixation test. Virenz G and Cytomegalisa Stat EIAs, however, gave 40 (19%) and 49 (23.2%), respectively, as negative. The results confirmed the reliability of the radioimmunoassay for the detection of the antibody status to CMV, but this test is too elaborate for a screening procedure. The Abbott EIA and Cetus IHA were found to be the most suitable for this purpose in spite of high false positive rates.

Antibodies, Viral↗
PubMed1979

The polyglandular failure syndrome: disease inheritance, HLA type, and immune function.

The occurrence of disease and the inheritance of histocompatibility leukocyte antigens (HLA) were evaluated in 11 patients with the polyglandular failure syndrome and 42 of their relatives. The gene frequency of the HLA-B8 allele (seven of 22) and the HLA-A1, B8 haplotype phenotype frequency (five of 11) were increased in patients with polyglandular failure as compared with a control population. Eleven of 42 relatives had a polyglandular failure illness. Disease prevalence correlated with HLA inheritance in some families, but not all. Patients and diseased relatives had a high incidenceof immunologic dysfunction: autoantibodies, including antinuclear antibodies; elevated serum immunoglobulins (three of 16); abnormal skin tests (four of nine). Polyglandular failure appears to be an HLA-B8-associated syndrome with a high prevalence of disease in relatives. Immunologic dysfunction resulting from a gene(s) on chromosome 6, in linkage dysequilibrium with the HLA-B8 allele, may be a factor in the pathogenesis of polyglandular failure illnesses.

Addison Disease↗
PubMed1977

Hereditary C5 deficiency in man: genetic linkage studies.

Genetic linkage studies were performed on the only reported kindred with genetic deficiency of the fifth component of complement (C5). Thirty family members in four generations were studied for C5 defiency and 32 genetic marker systems. Of these marker loci, 13 were informative in this pedigree. Most importantly, C5 deficiency was excluded (lod score greater than -2.0) from linkage with the major histocompatibility locus (HLA) from a recombination frequency of greater than 15% (in females). Other marker systems excluded from linkage with C5 deficiency included the ceruloplasmin and Duffy loci at a recombination frequency of less than 15%, and the erythrocyte glyoxalase, MN, and Lewis loci at a recombination frequency of less than 5%. The most positive lod score (1.07, theta=0.05) was for linkage between C5 and haptoglobin, but this score does not reach statistical significance. Thus, among the genes for complement components which can be mapped because of deficiency states or polymorphic gene products, C5 joins C1r, C3 and C6 in not being closely linked to HLA. In contrast, close HLA linkage has been demonstrated for C2, C4, properdin factor B and, in one of two families, C8.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1975

The pathology of the lung in byssinotics.

A report of the gross and microscopic appearances in the lungs and the weights of the cardiac ventricles in 43 subjects receiving industrial benefit for byssinosis is presented. In 27 (63%) there was no significant emphysema, in 10 (23%) there were varying amounts of centrilobular emphysema, and panacinar emphysema was found in six (14%). Other changes were of non-specific nature, but most cases showed heavy black dust pigmentation, often associated with centrilobular dilatation of distal air spaces.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Factors influencing oocyte and embryo quality in cattle.

Following in vitro maturation, approximately 90% of immature bovine oocytes will reach metaphase II and extrude the first polar body; approximately 80% will undergo fertilization and cleave, at least once, to the two-cell stage. However, only about 30-40% will ever reach the blastocyst stage. This would suggest that the post-fertilization part of the process of in vitro embryo production, the longest part, is the main period determining blastocyst yield. The experiments described in this paper clearly demonstrate that this is. in fact, not the case and that it is events further back along the developmental axis that determine the proportion of immature oocytes reaching the blastocyst stage. The results also show, however, that the post-fertilization culture period is of profound importance in determining the equality of those blastocysts that do develop, with those produced in vitro consistently being of inferior quality to their in vivo produced conterparts. The challenge for the future is to modify our conditions of post-fertilization embryo culture in an attempt to mimic those that occur naturally in vivo and in that way improve blastocyst quality.

Animals↗