Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

H Baer

Publications and source records attributed to H Baer.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
PubMed1983

Surface washes of living cats: an improved method of obtaining clinically relevant allergen.

Washing the surface of live anesthesized cats with water results in a solution rich in allergen 1 and low in albumin. CIE and CRIE analysis showed the presence of at least seven antigens. All were shown to be immunologically identical to antigens that occur in pelt extracts and saliva. The only allergens that could be detected in surface washes were allergen 1 and albumin. The animals could be washed at monthly intervals to yield approximately the same quantity of allergen 1. This simple procedure could provide an excellent source of potent cat allergen extracts.

Allergens↗
PubMed1982

Impact of diverging anaerobic technology on cul-de-sac isolates from patients with endometritis-salpingitis-peritonitis.

The probability of obtaining accurate identification of bacteria present in the cul-de-sac in cases of polymicrobial bacterial endometritis-salpingitis-peritonitis (ESP) was analyzed on the basis of a comparison of bacteriologic data derived from the hospital laboratory and those engendered by a research anaerobic laboratory. Two sets of paired cul-de-sac specimens from 20 cases of ESP were analyzed at two different laboratories whose anaerobic technology differed from that of the reference laboratory. At University Hospital (Jacksonville, Florida), 22 of 36 (61%) aerobic bacterial isolates were correctly identified, in contrast to only eight of 52 (15.4%) anaerobic isolates. The clinical facility of the University of Florida College of Medicine (Gainesville, Florida) identified 28 of 32 (86.5%) aerobic and 16 of 34 (47.9%) anaerobic isolates. The probability of accurately delineating the anaerobic bacteria present in polymicrobial peritonitis which may develop in patients with acute salpingitis was directly related to the degree of sophistication in anaerobiology. Since most institutions cannot provide sophisticated anaerobiology, the authors contend that therapy cannot be contingent upon microbiologic data and that the clinician must rely primarily on clinical and biophysical parameters to monitor the effectiveness of therapy.

Anaerobiosis↗
PubMed1982

Cat allergens.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Allergens↗
PubMed1982

A standardized quantitative skin-test assay of allergen potency and stability: studies on the allergen dose-response curve and effect of wheal, erythema, and patient selection on assay results.

A quantitative skin-test assay of allergenic potency was developed and tested on 28 allergic patients. The best-fit linear regression line was calculated from the sum of erythema or wheal diameters obtained from four intradermal threefold serial dilutions near the endpoint. Each line must have a correlation coefficient greater than 0.85 and the slopes of reference and test extract lines must not be significantly different. The relative potency can be calculated from the horizontal distance between the reference and test lines. The between-assay reproducibility was determined by comparing references against themselves. The 95% confidence limits were 54% to 186% when erythema was used and 27% to 367% when wheal was used. The narrower limits for the assay using erythema maybe due to the 5.5 times steeper slope of erythema lines than wheal lines. Potency results on five commercial extracts were highly correlated with potency results by RAST, AgE assay, or rye I assay. Extracts with isolectric focusing patterns dissimilar from the references were of significantly lower potency by in vivo and in vitro assays. The measured potency of two low-potency short ragweed extracts varied significantly with patient sensitivity to heat-stable and heat-labile ragweed allergens, indicating that patient selection may significantly affect assay results. Dose-response lines using either histamine or short ragweed by puncture (P) and intradermal (ID) techniques in the same patient showed that P/ID dose for equal erythema response was 909 for histamine and 31,250 for ragweed. This quantitative skin-test assay is highly re[rpdicob;e, yields potency data comparable to those of in vitro tests, can be applied to studies of extract stability, and is suitable as a primary bioassay of allergenic activity.

Allergens↗
PubMed1982

Antigenic and allergenic changes during storage of a pollen extract.

The changes that occur in the antigens and allergens of a timothy grass pollen extract during storage were measured by radioallergosorbent test (RAST) inhibition, isoelectric focusing, (IEF), crossed immunoelectrophoresis (CIE) and crossed radioimmunoelectrophoresis (CRIE) and a dye-binding protein assay. Storage intervals varied from 7 to 92 days at temperatures of 4 degrees, 22 degrees, and 35 degrees C and the freeze-dried extract was rehydrated and stored in either phosphate-buffered saline with 50% glycerol (PBSG) or Coca's solution (CS). For extracts stored in CS at 35 degrees C, allergenic activity as measured by RAST inhibition dropped by almost one half at 7 days and certain of the IEF, CIE, ad CRIE bands were no longer visible, showing that these properties correlated with allergenic activity. After 65 dys, no IEF bands were visible but three CIE bands could be visualized. At 22 degrees the changes were slower and at 4 degrees C no changes were observed for the 92-day storage time. Extracts stored in PBSG showed some of the same changes but were much more stable at all temperatures. During storage, the protein content as measured by dye binding was also reduced, showing tha proteins were fragmenting. Because some of the allergenic proteins disappeared more rapidly than others, there was not only a loss in total allergenic activity but also a change in specificity. This raises serious questions concerning the use of such extracts, especially for diagnosis.

Allergens↗
PubMed1981

Cyclic variation in the adherence of group B streptococci to human vaginal epithelial cells.

Studies conducted on three normally menstruating women demonstrated a distinct cyclic variation in adherence of group B streptococcus type III to vaginal epithelial cells. This cyclic variation consisted of a gradual rise in adherence during the first half of the menstrual cycle, reaching a maximum on day 14, followed by a sharp decline to low levels of adherence that persisted through the second half of the cycle. These changes in adherence correlated directly with the variation in the pyknotic index of the vaginal epithelial cells, suggesting that hormonal factors played a role in adherence of group B streptococci to vaginal epithelium.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

Induction of persistent tolerance to urushiol in humans.

Young nonimmune subjects were injected intramuscularly multiple times with small amounts of urushiol oil derived from poison oak. One week after the last injection this group and another group of age-matched controls were exposed to a sensitizing dose of the oil painted on the skin. All were challenged at 1 mo, then each year for 7 yr. Initially all experimental subjects were tolerant to high challenge doses; this persisted for 1 yr, at which time experimental subjects were no longer completely tolerant but were clinically tolerant (hyporeactive). This state persisted for at least 4 yr, and this represents complete tolerance followed by long-lasting hyposensitization.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1981

Comparative efficacy and safety of nalidixic acid versus trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole in treatment of acute urinary tract infections in college-age women.

One hundred and thirty-five college-age women with acute urinary tract infections caused by gram-negative Enterobacteriaceae were treated by random allocation with either nalidixic acid (NA), 1 g every 6 h for 7 days, or trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (TMP/SMZ), 160/800 mg every 12 h for 10 days. The clinical and bacteriological cure rates were 98.0% in each group on the last day of therapy. At 1 and 4 week posttherapy, both the clinical and bacteriological cure rates for NA declined to 90.0 and 74.0% respectively; for TMP/SMZ, they declined to 93.0 and 72.0% respectively. By 4 weeks posttherapy, 96.0% of the TMP/SMZ group and 93.0% of the NA group had remained free of the initial urinary pathogens. Neither drug was associated with emergence of resistant bacterial mutants in urine. The antibody-coated bacteria tested (ACBT) localized 31.5% of the infections of the kidney and 67.7% to the bladder. Upper tract symptoms did not correlate with the presence of a positive ACBT. The response to therapy was similar for the two regimens regardless of ACBT results. After treatment, the emergence of resistant Enterobacteriaceae in fecal flora was 1.1% in the NA group and 2.3% in the TMP/SMZ group. The incidences of drug reactions were 7.0% with NA and 6.3% and TMP/SMZ.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

Treatment of uncomplicated urinary tract infections with trimethoprim versus sulfisoxazole, with special reference to antibody-coated bacteria and fecal flora.

A total of 331 college-age women with urinary tract infections were studied. These women were assigned randomly to the following groups: 50 patients treated with 400 mg of trimethoprim (TMP) per day for 14 days (designated the TMP400/14d group); 50 treated with 2.0 g of sulfisoxazole (SZ) per day for 14 days (SZ/14d group); 120 treated with 200 mg of TMP per day for 10 days (TMP200/10d group); and 111 treated with 2.0 g of SZ per day for 10 days (SZ/10d group). By the last day of therapy, clinical and bacteriological cure rates were 100% in the TMP400/14d, SZ/14d, and TMP200/10d groups and 97.1% in SZ/10d group. At 1 week after therapy ended, the initial urinary pathogens remained eradicated in 100% of the TMP400/14d group, 98.2% of the TMP200/10d group, 95.6% of the SZ/14d group, and 98.0% of the SZ/10d group at 4 weeks after therapy ended, the clinical cure rates were 92.0% in the TMP400/14d group, 92.0% in the SZ/14d group, 89.0% in the TMP200/10d group, and 90.0% in the SZ/10d group. At 4 and 24 weeks after therapy ended, the recurrence rates in the four treatment groups did not differ significantly. The antibody-coated bacteria test localized 39.5% of the infections to kidneys and 56.8% of the infections to bladders. Neither symptoms nor responses to therapy were correlated with the antibody-coated bacteria test results. Both TMP at a dose of 200 mg/day and SZ were tolerated well. TMP at a dose of 400 mg/day was associated with a skin rash in 24% of the patients receiving this therapy. TMP suppressed fecal Escherichia coli. SZ increased the number of sulfa-resistant fecal isolates; however, this phenomenon did not affect the rate of sulfa-resistant recurrences.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1981

Allergenically active components of cat allergen extracts.

The allergens involved in cat allergy have been studied in pelt extracts, saliva, serum, and urine. Using crossed immunoelectrophoresis (CIE) to examine the antigenic content, and crossed radioimmunoelectrophoresis (CRIE) and RAST to examine the allergenic content, it was found that allergen 1 of Dr. Ohman is the most important allergenic component, whereas albumin and several unidentified proteins play a minor role. Allergen 1 was not detectable in serum and urine. The allergenic and nonallergenic proteins of pelt extract and saliva were identical by CIE, suggesting that pelt extract proteins are mainly of salivary origin.

Allergens↗
PubMed1980

Quantitative and qualitative effects of povidone-iodine liquid and gel on the aerobic and anaerobic flora of the female genital tract.

Povidone-iodine solution (Betadine Solution) produces a dramatic fall in the numbers of total aerobes and anaerobes recoverable from the posterior vaginal pool in the first 10 minutes following administration. Within 30 to 120 minutes, near baseline counts for both aerobic and anaerobic bacteria are re-established. When the vehicle for the povidone-iodine is changed to polyethylene glycol (Betadine Vaginal Gel) an effective antibacterial effect can be documented over a 3 hour period.

Adult↗
PubMed1980

The heat stability of short ragweed pollen extract and the importance of individual allergens in skin reactivity.

A short ragweed pollen extract that was heated in a boiling-water bath remained skin reactive for some allergic individuals and lost reactivity for others. Comparison of heated and unheated extract by immunodiffusion showed that AgE, AgK, and Ra3 could not be detected in the boiled extract but Ra5 was present. By inhibition of the radioallergosorbent test the concentration of Ra5 remained essentially unchanged, but the concentrations of AgE and Ra3 were greatly diminished. The sera of these ragweed-allergic individuals were analyzed for IgE antibodies to AgE, Ra3, and Ra5. Skin reactivity in 17 ragweed-allergic individuals to the heated extract correlated significantly with the levels of IgE antibodies to Ra5. However, the large number of individuals reacting to the boiled extract indicates that Ra5 is not likely to be the only heat-stable allergen. Skin reactivity of the unheated extract did not correlate with IgE antibody levels to any allergen. The results underscore the importance of individual allergens in the materials used for skin testing.

Allergens↗
PubMed1980

Urinary tract infection caused by Staphylococcus saprophyticus.

This study was designed to determine whether Staphylococcus saprophyticus was an important cause of urinary tract infection (UTI), as has been reported by European, but not by American, investigators, S. saprophyticus was the second most common cause of UTI in young (mean age, 20 years), sexually active female outpatients without known preexisting kidney disease or preceding manipulation of the urinary tract. Most cases presented as acute cystitis, but frank pyelonephritis and UTI in pregnant females were observed. The organism was rarely found as a contaminant in urine cultures. When present in the mucocutaneous flora of the anal-urogenital area, the organism was significantly associated with UTI by the same organism. These results show that S. saprophyticus should be accepted as an important urinary tract pathogen of young female patients in the United States. A simple adequate laboratory identification may be based on resistance to novobiocin (disk diffusion test), absence of hemolysis and coagulase, and intense pigment production (65% of strains yellow, 35% white).

Adolescent↗