Biomedical subjects
H Armstrong
Publications and source records attributed to H Armstrong.
Problems in the interface between medicine and the law: the Child and Family Services Act, 1984.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
The international code of marketing of breast-milk substitutes. Part three of a series.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
The international code of marketing of breast-milk substitutes. Part four of a series.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Interpretation of single band patterns in CSF protein electrophoresis.
We have examined the diagnostic significance of finding one band in the immunoglobulin (IgG) region in spinal fluid protein electrophoresis. From January 1983 to January 1986, 855 consecutive CSF electrophoreses were performed on as many patients. A blinded observer identified a single band in the IgG region in 53 cases (6.2%). In only 14 patients (26%), were the clinical features ultimately felt to be due to clinically definite or possible multiple sclerosis (MS). The majority of patients with a single band had another neurological diagnosis (55%) or were neurologically normal (6%). Many of the neurological disorders in which a single band was found were not disorders in which an increased intrathecal synthesis of immunoglobulin or electrophoretic restriction would have been expected. A variety of conditions can produce a single band pattern. The significance of these patterns and the means by which they might be identified are described.
The international code of marketing of breast-milk substitutes. Part two of a series.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Group therapy for parents of delinquent children.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Variation in immunoglobulin G and albumin concentrations during lumbar CSF removal: a reappraisal.
We studied the variation in immunoglobulin G (IgG) and albumin concentrations in serial sampling of the first 25 ml of CSF during lumbar puncture (LP). A linear decremental gradient averaged 15% for both IgG and albumin. Both direction and magnitude of the gradient were unaffected by the position of the patient. In 12 patients with MS, the CSF IgG: albumin quotient was 5.5% greater when computed from the last aliquot, but this difference was not significant. These protein gradients affect the absolute concentrations but arae not likely to affect the interpretation of immunoglobulin indices or electrophoresis patterns.
Isolation and further characterization of the anti-encephalitogenic rat spinal cord protein from brain, spinal cord and peripheral nerves.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Preparative isoelectric focusing in agarose.
A method is described for preparative isoelectric focusing in agarose using low electroendosmotic agarose. Resolution comparable to that seen on analytical polyacrylamide gels is attainable as demonstrated by the isolation of bands with identical idiotypes from the serum of a patient with a monoclonal gammopathy.
Hepatic infarction in ulcerative colitis during pregnancy.
Acute hepatic failure developed at the time of parturition in a 27-yr-old woman. Liver biopsy demonstrated disseminated hepatic infarctions which were confined to the distal segments of the hepatic microcirculatory units. This episode of hepatic infarction was followed by persistent fever and cutaneous vasculitis, which resolved on prednisone therapy. The diagnosis of ulcerative colitis was made 5 mo after recovery from severe hepatic failure.
Yoga: one physician's experience.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Prevention of experimental allergic encephalitis in Lewis rats by rat and bovine spinal cord proteins.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Prevention of experimental allergic encephalitis in guinea-pigs with spinal cord protein: optimum pretreatment schedules and appraisal of plausible mechanisms.
Pretreatment of Hartley guinea-pigs with three injections of 100 microgram of the purified bovine spinal cord protein, (SCP), protected tham from clinical experimental allergic encephalitis (EAE) when they were subsequently challenged with 50 microgram of purified bovine myelin basic protein (MyBP) in Freund's complete adjuvant (FCA). The length of the optimum pretreated schedule was found to be 1 week and the animals were fully protected for 2 weeks. Protection declined thereafter so that by 4 weeks following pretreatment only 40% of the animals were protected. The protected state could be restored several weeks after it had lapsed by repeating the treatment with SCP. Immature animals did not respond well to pretreatment with SCP. Evidence was presented to indicate that specific, non-specific immune suppression or anti-SCP IgG were not involved to a significant extent in protection. SCP-treated guinea-pigs regularly displayed delayed skin hypersensitivity to MyBP after sensitization but there was no correlation between the degree of cutaneous reactivity and protection from disease. Because SCP is localized in the nerve axon, the speculation was advanced that anti-SCP blocking factors might be responsible for preserving axonal function in SCP-treated animals sensitized with MyBP.
Letter: Rupture of plantaris tendon.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Further characterization of the anti-encephalitogenic protein (SCP): isolation from bovine spinal cord and spinal roots.
The three molecular forms of the anti-encephalitogenic protein, beta-SCP, gamma-SCP, and SCP-peptide were isolated in higher yield by a shortened procedure, which involved 1) extraction of bovine spinal cord (BSC) or bovine spinal roots (BSR) with 0.05 M sodium acetate buffer, pH 4.5, 2) batch absorption on CM-52 cellulose, 3) stepwise elution with sodium acetate buffers, pH 5.8, containing increasing concentrations of sodium chloride and finally, 4) removal of trace contaminants by gel-exclusion chromatography on Sephadex G-50 superfine. The m.w. of the purified proteins determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis was 13,200 daltons. The same value for the molecular sizes was obtained by gel-exclusion chromatography by using 0.1% SDS in 0.05M sodium chloride as eluant. In the absence of SDS the molecular sizes estimated by gel exclusion chromatography ranged from 14,000 to 18,500. The amino acid compositions of the beta-SCP and gamma-SCP from BSC and BSR were similar except that beta-SCP from BSR lacked half-cystine whereas gamma-SCP from BSR contained three times as much half-cystine as the SCP forms prepared from BSC. All forms of SCP showed reactions of identity when compared by immunodiffusion analyses with a rabbit anti-bovine SCP serum; none formed precipitin lines with a rabbit anti-bovine myelin basic protein (MyBP) serum.
Parital characterization of the rat anti-encephalitogenic protein (RSCP).
A protein antigenically similar to the anti-encephalitogenic bovine spinal cord protein (BSCP) was detected in saline extracts of rat nervous tissues by immunodiffusion analyses using a rabbit anti-BSCP serum. Rat SCP (RSCP) appears to be evenly distributed throughout all parts of the rat nervous system and occurs also in the thymus, thyroid, and adrenal glands. Although immunodiffusion analyses indicated that RSCP shares some antigenic sites with BSCP, anti-RSCP sera reacted only with RSCP, indicating that the major immunogenic determinants of the RSCP are peculiar to the rat and differ from the immunogenic determinants of human, monkey, rabbit, guinea pig, or bovine SCP. Immunoelectrophoretic analyses of concentrated pastes of rat brain (RB) or rat spinal cord (RSC) in agar at pH 8.6 revealed that RSCP occurs in two molecular forms having the electrophoretic mobilities of a serum beta-globulin and a serum gamma-globulin, respectively. However, gamma-RSCP is the predominant component of extracts of brain or spinal cord. Gamma-RSCP was isolated from RB and RSC by a procedure which involved: a) extraction with 0.05 M ammonium acetate buffer, pH 4.0; b) batch absorption of impurities on CM-52 cellulose; c) batch absorption of RSCP on SP-Sephadex, pH 3.5; d) elution of RSCP from SP-Sephadex, pH 5.5; and finally, e) gel filtration on Sephadex G-50 superfine. Purified gamma-RSCP formed one band when analyzed by polyacrylamide electrophoresis in acid gels containing 8 M urea. In contrast, two bands were always present when gamma-RSCP from brain or spinal cord were subjected to SDS-polyacrylamide electrophoresis in 15% gels. The larger of the two components of brain gamma-RSCP had a m.w. of 12,400 daltons, whereas the two components of spinal cord gamma-RSCP were smaller. The molecular sizes of brain RSCP and spinal cord RSCP was estimated by gel filtration chromatography to be 12,400 daltons. The amino acid compositions of gamma-RSCP prepared from RB or RSC were similar except that gamma-RSCP from RSC contained twice as much half-cystine and a slightly higher proportion of basic amino acid than gamma-RSCP from RB.