Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

G Holm

Publications and source records attributed to G Holm.

At least 253 records · Page 14Linked to original sources

Immunologic profile of patients with cured Hodgkin's disease.

Blood lymphocytes from 9 patients with Hodgkin's disease (HD) were studied. The results were compared with those of 6 seminoma testis patients and 9 healthy unrelated controls. All patients were in complete and unmaintained remission more than 10 years after termination of radiotherapy. The mean T-lymphocyte count of HD patients was lower than that of controls and seminoma testis patients. Lymphocyte DNA synthesis induced by pokeweed mitogen and phytohaemagglutinin was normal in both patient groups. Concanavalin A-induced DNA synthesis was low in 4 patients with HD although the mean stimulation of the group did not differ from controls or seminoma testis patients. Lymphocyte activation by PPD was slightly decreased in the 2 patient groups. No increase in spontaneous lymphocyte DNA synthesis was observed. The responding and stimulatory capacity in mixed lymphocyte culture was decreased in 3 and 2 HD patients respectively. 4 out of the 9 patients with HD but none with seminoma testis displayed severe impairment in T-lymphocyte functions. As 1 of the 4 had been treated solely by surgery, late effects of irradiation can only partly explain the results. The results may favour a hypothesis postulating a constitutional defect contributing to the immunoincompetence in HD.

Adolescent↗

Persisting lymphocyte deficiences during remission in Hodgkin's disease.

Blood lymphocytes from nineteen patients with Hodgkin's disease were tested in vitro before and after treatment. The patients were retested in complete and unmaintained remission at least 15 months after termination of radiotherapy. All patients except two had been treated with total nodal irradiation. The lymphocyte-DNA synthesis induced by concanavalin A (Con A) and PPD was poor and the spontaneous DNA synthesis was increased in untreated patients. Most patients had a T lymphocytopenia before treatment. After irradiation the total lymphocyte counts were reduced drastically. The number of T lymphocytes was particularly low, though the number of B lymphocytes decreased as well. However, the lymphocyte response to Con A and PPD remained low and unchanged. The results may suggest a persisting immunodeficiency in Hodgkin's disease as reflected by the lymphocyte response to Con A and PPD.

Adult↗

Prognostic factors in Hodgkin's disease. I. Analysis of histopathology, stage distribution and results of therapy.

An unselected material of 83 consecutive and previously untreated adult patients with Hodgkin's disease (HD) from the Stockholm area is presented. The distribution of patients according to age was characteristically bimodal. The histopathological subtypes were 16% lymphocyte predominance (LP), 33% nodular sclerosis (NS), 37% mixed cellularity (MC) and 11% lymphocyte depletion (LD). The patients were treated with aggressive megavoltage irradiation and multidrug chemotherapy. Major factors affecting prognosis were age, clinical stage and constitutional symptoms. Patients with LP and NS subtypes had only slightly better prognosis that patients classified as MC and LD. The overall survival was 68% at 41/2 years, which is close to that reported from other groups with similar composition of their materials with regard to age, histopathology and stage.

Adolescent↗

Acute energy deprivation in man: effect on serum immunoglobulins antibody response, complement factors 3 and 4, acute phase reactants and interferon-producing capacity of blood lymphocytes.

The effects of 10 days of total energy deprivation on serum levels of immunoglobulins, antibodies acute phase reactants and on interferon production were evaluated in fourteen healthy, normal-weight males. A significant depression was noted of the serum levels of complement factor 3, haptoglobin and orosomucoid. The titres of mercaptoethanol-sensitive specific antibodies to flagellin were higher in the subjects inoculated at the end of the starvation period than in controls and those inoculated at the start of the period. The serum levels of IgG, IgM, IgA, IgE, alpha-1-antitrypsin and complement factor 4, and the interferon-producing capacity of blood lymphocytes, were not changed. Thus, 10 days of total energy deprivation depresses the serum levels of several acute phase reactants and re-feeding may enhance antibody production.

Antibodies↗

Effects of submaximal physical exercise on adipose tissue metabolism in man.

In order to follow early metabolic adaptations in adipose tissue, which may lead to a decrease in fat cell size and body fat obtained by physical training, two sets of experiments were performed. Obese subjects and a control group exercised on a bicycle at two-thirds of maximal working capacity for one hour. Twenty-four hours thereafter, either on ad libitum diet, or on an isocaloric diet supplemented with calories corresponding to the expanded calories during the work load, an adipose tissue biopsy was taken and fat cell metabolism studied. In obese subjects on and ad libitum or on an isocaloric diet the lipolytic process was increased after the exercise but no significant effects were found on the rates of glucose metabolism. Furthermore, a relationship between cell surface and metabolism was found before, but not after, the work in all groups. No changes were seen in lipoprotein lipase activity. Obese subjects on a controlled diet showed a somewhat higher insulin and catecholamine responsiveness of adipocytes than was the case in the obese subjects on an ad libitum diet. This may well be due to the differences in carbohydrate intake, a factor of importance for hormonal responsiveness of fat cells. The increased basal lipolysis after exercise may be caused by the release of lipolytic hormones, and may well be the first sign of an adaption of the organism to diminish the fat stores as seen in physically trained subjects.

Adipose Tissue↗

Hypersensitive reactions and antibody formation during L-asparaginase treatment of children and adults with acute leukemia.

One hundred and fourteen patients with acute leukemia, 57 children (10 AML and 47 ALL) and 57 adults (37 AML and 20 ALL) were treated with L-asparaginase (Asnase) 200 or 1000 IU/kg daily for 30 days unless withdrawn on account of side effects. Combinations with other cytotoxic drugs were used in all but eight patients. Hypersensitive reactions, decrease in Asnase activity in plasma, and bivalent antibodies to Asnase appeared more frequently in adults (28%, 46%, and 79%, respectively) than in children (16%, 17%, and 25% respectively). There was a clear association between these three parameters. Thus hypersensitive reactions generally developed at the time of or after the decrease in plasma Asnase activity. Antibodies were detected only where Asnase activity had disappeared from the plasma. This time sequence, and in vitro experiments, suggest the formation of antigen-antibody complexes which might be responsible for inactivation of Asnase and for the development of hypersensitive reactions. However in many cases antibodies were found without concomitant enzyme inactivation or hypersensitive reactions. Antibodies to Asnase of IgE type (reagins) were found in only 10 children and 6 adults. There was no correlation between hypersensitive reactions, decrease in Asnase activity, and IgE antibodies. The frequency of remission among patients developing bivalent antibodies to Asnase was 68% (13/19) in contrast to 27% (3/11) among patients whose sera contained no detectable antibodies to Asnase, but the difference was not statistically significant.

Adult↗

Lymphocyte abnormalities in untreated patients with Hodgkin's disease.

The study comprises 38 unselected and untreated patients with Hodgkin's disease (HD) and 23 healthy persons. Highly purified blood lymphocytes were analyzed for cells forming rosettes with sheep red blood cells (T lymphocytes), and lymphocytes bearing surface immunoglobulin (B lymphocytes) and/or carrying receptors for complement. Their DNA synthesis, spontaneously, or after activation with mitogens (phytohemagglutinin, concanavallin A, poke weed mitogen) and purified protein derivative (PPD) was measured. Delayed skin hypersensitivity to PPD and mumps antigen was studied. Most HD patients had low numbers of T lymphocytes (50% of the cases below normal range) while the mean B-lymphocyte level was normal but with a greater variation than in the control group. Lymphocytes from most patients were poorly stimulated by T-cell mitogens. Two-thirds of the patients and one healthy control had negative skin reaction to 2 TU PPD and the DNA synthesis of their lymphocytes after activation with PPD was low. Large lymphoid cells (greater than 9-mm diameter) were commonly present in HD blood and the spontaneous DNA synthesis was high, particularly in lymphocytes from stage B patients. The percentage of T lymphocytes and the stimulation of lymphocytes by T-cell mitogens or by PPD, a T-lymphocyte function, did not correlate and each test only detected defects in about half the cases. Simultaneous application of all tests revealed abnormalities of blood T lymphocytes in 33 out of 38 patients. Although the defects were usually more pronounced in patients with advanced disease, the impairment of T lymphocytes and their functions is present in all stages of Hodgkin's disease.

B-Lymphocytes↗

Influence of cell size on the effects of insulin and noradrenaline on human adipose tissue.

In the present study dose-response relationships of the effects of noradrenaline and insulin on fat cells of different sizes were performed. Adipose cells larger than 100 mum were more responsive (expressed as absolute effects) to the lipolytic action of noradrenaline as well as to the antilipolytic effect of insulin. This suggests that in the larger cells the capacity, i.e. the sum of factors contributing to the ability to stimulate or inhibit the metabolic rates, was greater than in the smaller ones. In contrast the sensitivity to these agents, i.e. the readiness to respond, was not different between small and large cells. It is shown that the concentrations of insulin needed to obtain an antilipolytic effect is far below that needed to stimulate glucose incorporation. This discrepancy in insulin concentrations required may be due to binding of insulin to receptors with different affinity.

Adipose Tissue↗

Extensive nodular infiltration of extra-osseous tissues in human myelomatosis. A case report.

The autopsy findings of a woman with myelomatosis diagnosed half a year before her death are described. She had an IgG-lambda myeloma which initially responded to treatment. However, subsequently she developed a condition characterized by massive soft tissue involvement with increased number of plasma cells in peripheral blood. Rounded hard myeloma infiltrates were disseminated through the body, only sparing the adrenal glands and intracranial structures.

Female↗

Monoclonal B-lymphocytes in peripheral blood of patients with plasma cell myeloma. Relation to activity of the disease.

Antisera were produced in rabbits against idiotypic determinants of the myeloma protein from 3 patients with IgG-k myeloma. The antisera did neither cross-react nor react with normal immunoglobulin (Ig). Idiotypic Ig-structures were demonstrated by indirect immunofluorescence (IFL) on 70-94% of peripheral B-lymphocytes inuntreated patients. The total numbers of circulating B-lymphocytes were increased with a simultaneous decrease of T-lymphocytes. Only one of the patients had blood lymphocytes which stained for cytoplasmic Ig with idiotypic antiserum. The monoclonal lymphocyte population decreased gradually during treatment. Plasma cell counts in bone marrow, IgG concentration in serum and erythrocyte sedimentation rate decreased simultaneously, whilt the haemoglobin concentration increased. Very few monoclonal lymphocytes were present during remission. Later, the monoclonal lymphocyte population began to increase in 2 of the patients in parallel with clinical signs indicating relapse. It is concluded that presence of monoclonal B-lymphocytes indicates dissemination of the disease and that they may belong to the malignant cell clone.

B-Lymphocytes↗

Membrane bound IgG on erythroblasts in pure red cell aplasia following thymectomy. A case report.

A case of pure red cell aplasia appearing 6 months following thymectomy is reported in a 43-year-old man. Immunofluorescence studies of the patient's bone marrow have demonstrated the presence of membrane-bound IgG on the majority of erythroblasts and some mature erythrocytes. It is suggested that the IgG represents anti-erythroid autoantibodies. The number of Ig-bearing lymphocytes in peripheral blood was decreased as was the level of immunoglobulins indicating a B-lymphocyte deficiency. T-lymphocyte functions were without remarks. The patient was initially treated with corticosteroids and oxymetholone. He responded well to this therapy but relapsed 9 month later. Cyclophosphamide treatment was started and followed by a complete haematologic remission.

Adult↗