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Biomedical subjects

H E Heier

Publications and source records attributed to H E Heier.

59 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

Blood B and T lymphocytes and in vitro cellular immune reactivity in untreated human malignant lymphomas and other malignant tumors.

Peripheral blood lymphocytes and their in vitro reactivity have been recorded prior to treatment in 18 patients with Hodgkins disease, 11 with lymposarcoma, 13 with reticulosarcoma, 20 with various solid tumors and 37 normal control persons. The mean total numbers of lymphocytes, those of T lymphocytes,and the mean reactivity to PHA and ConA were reduced in all groups except lymphosarcoma, although with varying degrees of statistical significance. The percentages of T and B lymphocytes appeared to be normal in all groups, but the ranges of values were somewhat greater than among the normal controls. The mean total numbers of B lymphocytes were normal in all patient groups. All reductions seemed to be more pronounced in patients with disseminated than in those with localized disease, but none of these differences was statistically significant. All patient groups appeared to have reduced reactivity in MLC, while the ability to stimulate control lymphocytes was nearly normal. The results fail to indicate an in vitro immunological abberation specific to Hodgkin's disease. It seems that human malignant, neoplastic diseases are associated with a relatively selective reduction of the total numbers and reactivity of blood T lymphocytes. Various explanations of the reactivity impairment are proposed. The pathogenesis of the reduction of the total number of blood T lymphocytes remains obscure.

Adult↗

DNA synthesis in unstimulated blood lymphocytes of patients with untreated malignant lymphomas or other malignant tumors.

Blood lymphocyte DNA synthesis, as expressed by 24-h uptake of 3H-thymidine in culture of mononuclear peripheral blood leucocytes has been reduced prior to treatment in 18 patients with Hodgkin's disease, 11 with non-leukaemic lymphosarcoma, 13 with reticulosarcoma and 20 with various solid tumors, and compared to 37 normal control subjects.The 3H-thymidine uptake was significantly increased in all the patient groups, but no significant difference existed between them. Increased uptake of 3H-thymidine did not appear to correlate with the degree of dissemination in any of the patient groups or with the presence or absence of general symptoms in malignant lymphoma. It is concluded that increased DNA synthesis in peripheral blood lymphocytes is a feature not limited to Hodgkin's disease, but found in non-Hodgkin's malignant lymphomas and other malignancies to about the same extent.

Cells, Cultured↗

Early and late effects of irradiation for seminoma testis on the number of blood lymphocytes and their B and T subpopulations.

High voltage irradiation of the iliac and paraaortic lymph nodes for seminoma testis induces a grave, acute blood lymphocytopenia. A major part of this effect is probably caused by irradiation of the blood. Indications are presented that B lymphocytes are more gravely affected than T lymphocytes. It is possible that the treatment leaves a relatively radioresistant subpopulation of lymphocytes, mostly consisting of T lymphocytes. The total number of blood lymphocytes is normalized five to ten years after treatment. Six months after treatment the percentage of B lymphocytes is clearly higher than normal, remaining so for the first three years. The percentage of T lymphocytes is unchanged both during therapy and at all intervals thereafter. The results therefore indicate that the number of B lymphocytes is more rapidly normalized after radiotherapy than that of T lymphocytes, and that the post-irradiation lymphocytopenia is mainly a T lymphocytopenia. However, this shift in B/T lymphocyte ratio is not permanent, being completely or nearly normalized after ten years. This pattern of regeneration seems to be essentially the same in patients who have received additional treatment to the mediastinum, probably meaning that the thymus has only a marginal influence on the regeneration of T lymphocytes in the adult organism. It is possible that the rapid recovery of B lymphocytes relates to the ability of the bone marrow to extend into non-irradiated parts of the skeleton after radiation destruction.

Adult↗