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Biomedical subjects

H Hallgren

Publications and source records attributed to H Hallgren.

7 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1997

The effect of DHEAS on influenza vaccination in aging adults.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether simultaneous administration of dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) exhibits adjuvant activity in the immune response of aging humans by supplementing influenza vaccination with the maximum single dose of DHEAS that could be practically injected subcutaneously (approximately 7.5 mg). DESIGN: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of DHEAS injection with 1993-94 and 1994-95 influenza vaccine in older subjects. In addition, initial safety, tolerability, and control testing with 1993-94 influenza vaccine was conducted in young subjects. SETTING: An urban primary care geriatrics clinic. PARTICIPANTS: Seventy-eight older adult volunteers (mean age 78.61 +/- 3.43 years, range 73-90 years) and 20 younger controls (< 40 years, means age 32.76 +/- 5.39 years) were recruited from clinic and community advertising. Subjects were free of disease or medication known to affect immune function. MEASUREMENTS: Immune responses to vaccine at 0, 2, and 4 weeks were measured by vaccine antigen-induced lymphoproliferation in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and serum antibody response by hemagglutination inhibition (HI). RESULTS: The maximum DHEAS dose that could be practically administered subcutaneously was 7.5 mg. Baseline DHEAS levels were significantly lower in older adults (52.1 vs 236.4 micrograms/dL, P < .001). The 1993 old adult DHEAS group HI response tended to be higher for the H3N2 Beijing antigen but not for the H1N1 or B antigen. In subjects with HI titers less then 1:40 for the H3N2 Beijing antigen (n = 29), the post-vaccination titer response tended to be higher among the 16 subjects who received DHEAS (P = .06). The peak response for the H3N2 antigen was associated with the initial DHEAS serum concentration in the DHEAS and placebo groups (R2 = .22, P = .04 and R2 = .21, P = .06, respectively). No significant differences were found for antibody responses to the H1N1 and B antigens or vaccine-antigen induced lymphoproliferation. CONCLUSION: A one-time supplemental dose of DHEAS with influenza vaccination appeared to enhance the specific HI antibody response to the 1993-94 H3N2 antigen in a small group of older adults. These findings were limited to those with lower prevaccination titers and lower DHEAS concentrations. Although clinical implications of these findings for influenza vaccine are uncertain, these results suggest additional detailed immunologic investigations on the role of DHEAS in the aging human immune response are warranted.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Familial alopecia areata. HLA antigens and autoantibody formation in an American family.

Ten members of a white American family, spanning three generations, were studied. Three family members from two different generations were affected with hair loss. Two had alopecia universalis; one had alopecia areata. All subjects were HLA-typed using 131 antiserum samples obtained from multiparous female donors defining 41 HLA-A and HLA-B antigen specificities. Six haplotypes were identified. The affected persons and four other family members shared a common haplotype, HLA-A2,B40. The OKT4 (helper), OKT8 (suppressor-cytotoxic) cells, OKT4-OKT8 (helper-suppressor-cytotoxic) ratios and the percentage of B cells found were comparable for both the 12 control subjects and the family members studied. However, family members showed increased autoantibody formation, decreased T-cell percentages, and concanavalin A-induced suppression of the normal lymphocyte response to mitogens.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

Suppressor cell number and function in alopecia areata.

Several values of immunologic function were studied and correlated with disease activity and extent in 14 patients with alopecia areata, alopecia totalis, or alopecia universalis and in a concurrently studied age- and sex-matched control group. As compared with the control group, the patients showed a significantly increased incidence of autoantibody formation, increased concanavalin A-induced suppression of the normal lymphocyte response to mitogens, an increased proportion of suppressor-cytotoxic cells in the peripheral blood, and a decrease in the absolute B-cell count. Absolute total T-cell counts, quantitative serum immunoglobulin determinations, and lymphocyte proliferation after exposure to the mitogens--concanavalin A, phytohemagglutinin, and pokeweed--and to tetanus antigen were comparable for both groups. Neither the percentage of concanavalin A-induced suppression of the normal lymphocyte response to mitogens nor the helper-suppressor ratio correlated significantly with the extent of hair loss. However, patients, particularly those who demonstrated spontaneous regrowth of hair, had increased concanavalin A-induced suppression in conjunction with an increase in the proportion of peripheral suppressor cells.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1975

Evidence for origin of certain childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemias and lymphomas in thymus-derived lymphocytes.

Lymphoblasts from children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) or malignant lymphoblastic lymphoma were studied using surface markers characteristic of T and B lymphocytes. A B-cell marker, i.e. surface immunoglobulin, was absent in all cases studied. Fouteen of 22 children (64%) had lymphoblasts with one or both markers of T lymphocytes, i.e. receptors for sheep erythrocytes (E) and/or human T-lymphocyte antigen (HTLA) detectable using heterologous antithymocyte sera absorbed with B lymphocytes. In all instances, lymphoblasts which carried E receptors also carried HTLA. However, lymphoblasts in 6 cases carried HTLA but not E receptors. It is possible that ALL may often involve T lymphocytes which are early in differentiation (i.e. prior to development of E receptors) or, alternatively, that E receptors may be lost from T cells following malignant transformation. Thymus enlargement was found only in cases of ALL or lymphoma where T markers were present. Lymphoblasts carried the same markers when examined in various sites and at various times from the same patient.

Adolescent↗