Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to J Banks.
A case of gastric involvement in a long standing patient with fibrotic sarcoidosis is reported. The diagnosis was made by the finding of Schaumann bodies in the gastric mucosa. At autopsy, the lungs were honeycombed with numerous Schaumann bodies, one of which shows ossification.
Nineteen stable asthmatic patients were given killed influenza virus intramuscularly. In 9 patients who developed a fourfold or greater rise in haemagglutination antibodies, an increase in airway sensitivity to histamine was demonstrated 48 h later. There was no significant change in histamine sensitivity in those patients who failed to develop a fourfold rise in haemagglutination antibodies. The increased histamine sensitivity was not associated with a deterioration in asthma symptoms, peak expiratory flow, nor an increase in bronchodilator requirements.
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We present six patients with laryngocoeles , one of whom presented as an emergency to a Chest Unit. A swelling in the neck was present in five, two patients had hoarseness progressing to stridor and three complained of dysphagia. No underlying cause was found in any of the patients. Surgical management was necessary in five with good results.
Forty seven patients (82% male) with pulmonary infection caused by Mycobacterium xenopi have been reviewed. Pre-existing lung disease was present in 35 (75%). In 21 patients the disease was characterised by a subacute illness developing over a period of two to four months, while in another 20 patients there was a longer history of chronic respiratory problems often associated with slowly progressive changes evident from chest radiographs. Response to treatment was poor and unpredictable, and was not related to the results of in vitro sensitivity tests, pre-existing lung disease, or mode of onset of symptoms. Eleven patients (23%) were cured with chemotherapy. The best drug regimen appeared to be rifampicin and isoniazid combined with either streptomycin or ethambutol. Another 12 (26%) showed favourable responses to drug treatment initially, but eventually relapsed. Four patients had progressive disease while receiving prolonged courses of chemotherapy. Resection was performed in five patients with resultant cure in four. Since the prognosis with drug treatment alone is so unpredictable it is suggested that resection might be part of first line treatment, and that it should usually be performed if patients fail to respond to initial chemotherapy or if they relapse.
Inhalation histamine dose-response curves were constructed 15 minutes after inhalation of saline placebo or verapamil (4 mg) for eight patients with mild atopic asthma in a double blind, random manner. No significant change in baseline specific airways conductance occurred after inhalation of verapamil, though there was a significant decrease in sensitivity to histamine (increase in threshold of response) (p less than 0.01). There was, however, an associated significant increase (p less than 0.01) in the slopes of the subsequent histamine dose-response curves.
We describe a patient in whom a haemothorax produced ipsilateral Horner's syndrome, inequality of the carotid and radial pulses and superior vena caval obstruction.
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Murine erythroleukemia cells (MELC) are virus-transformed erythroid precursors that appear to be blocked at an erythroid precursor stage comparable to the erythroid colony-forming unit (CFU-e). These cells are useful in examining factors regulating terminal differentiation. Induced MELC are characterized by a coordinated program of gene expression, including commitment to terminal cell division, accumulation of globin mRNAs and corresponding hemoglobins, and accumulation of several other proteins, including the chromatin-associated protein H1(0). Two cloned variant cell lines, DR10 and R1, have been developed from inducer-sensitive DS19 cells by selection for inducer resistance. DR10 and R1 cells fail to display commitment to terminal cell division when cultured with dimethyl sulfoxide (Me2SO), hexamethylene bisacetamide (HMBA), or butyric acid. Both cell lines are induced by all three agents to accumulate H1(0). DR10 cells are resistant to Me2SO-mediated accumulation of hemoglobin but are sensitive to HMBA- or butyric acid-mediated accumulation. R1 cells are resistant to Me2SO- and HMBA-mediated accumulation of hemoglobin but are sensitive to butyric acid-mediated accumulation. Both DR10 and R1 are commitment-negative MELC variants, displaying variable responses to inducers with respect to other features of terminal erythroid cell differentiation.
A case is reported in which a tracheal tumour presented with symptoms suggestive of bronchial asthma. In the assessment and management of airways obstruction and wheeze, it is important to bear in mind that disease other than asthma and chronic bronchitis may present in this way.
Thirty-five patients (88% male) with pulmonary infection caused by Mycobacterium kansasii have been reviewed. Sixty-six per cent had pre-existing lung disease, chronic bronchitis and emphysema accounting for half of the disorders. Unilateral lesions were present in 69% of patients whose chest radiographs were reviewed and 90% had cavitating disease. The development of unilateral or bilateral disease appeared to be independent of any delay in starting treatment. Five patients died while receiving treatment, but none of these deaths was due to M kansasii infection. The remaining 30 patients were successfully treated with drug regimens, all of which included rifampicin and 86% of which included ethambutol. There was 100% sputum conversion, with no relapses after a mean follow-up period of five-and-a-half years. Rifampicin and ethambutol given for a mean period of 15 months appeared to be a non-toxic, effective combination.
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There are a number of agents which, when added to cultures of murine erythroleukemia cells (MELC), markedly increase the probability of commitment to express the characteristics of terminal erythroid differentiation, including loss of proliferative capacity and increased accumulation of globin mRNA and hemoglobin. Some characteristics of inducer-mediated commitment of MELC to terminal erythroid differentiation were examined by determining the effects of dexamethasone (an inhibitor of inducer-mediated MELC differentiation) and of hemin (an inducer of globin mRNA accumulation). Previously, it was shown that exposure of MELC to hexamethylene-bisacetamide (HMBA) leads to commitment, detectable within 12 hr. MELC cultured with both HMBA and dexamethasone do not express commitment. MELC transferred from culture with HMBA and dexamethasone to cloning medium without these agents express commitment to terminal erythroid differentiation, indicating that MELC retain a "memory" for some early HMBA-mediated changes leading to commitment which occur even in the presence of the inhibitory steroid. The kinetics of commitment in experiments in which exposure to HMBA is interrupted, or dexamethasone is added to the culture in HMBA, suggest that there is a rate-limiting step early in the commitment process. The memory for this step persists for more than one cell cycle. Addition of hemin to cultures with HMBA and dexamethasone initiated accumulation of globin mRNA but does not reverse the steroid-mediated inhibition of terminal cell division (that is, the cells retain their proliferative capacity). Inducer-mediated MELC commitment is associated with accumulation of the chromatin protein IP25; dexamethasone does not inhibit this accumulation. Accumulation of IP25 may be inducer-related, but it is not sufficient to cause expression of terminal erythroid differentiation.
Chlamydia trachomatis (strains L2 and DE) were found to infect fertilized mouse ova in vitro. Inclusions were found in the trophoblast, but not in the embryo.
The sialoglycopeptides produced by HM7 human melanoma and fetal uveal melanocyte cultures grown in the presence of [3H]glucosamine and [35S]sulfate were isolated from the Pronase digests of cells, spent media, and intracellular material. From the melanoma culture, six sialoglycopeptides, accounting for 43% of the total 3H radioactivity in the nondiffusible cell-associated glycopeptides, were purified. A major glycopeptide (GPIb) having an apparent molecular weight in the range 12 000-15 000 showed specific sialic acid dependent to interaction with wheat germ agglutinin (WGA). It was found to contain mainly O-glycosidically linked oligosaccharides having the structure (AcNeu) leads to 0-2[Gal leads to GalNAc]; some N-glycosidically linked saccharides were also present. A second WGA-binding glycopeptide (GPIa) was smaller and less anionic and had a higher proportion of N-glycosidically linked saccharides than GPIb. The normal fetal cultures yielded either no (iris) or markedly reduced (melanocytes) quantities of the WGA-binding glycopeptides. The four WGA-nonbinding sialoglycopeotides purified from melanoma were shown to have complex (N-acetyllactosaminly type) oligosaccharides linked via N-acetylglucosamine to asparagine with either no or insignificant amounts of O-glycosidically linked saccharides. The corresponding glycopeptides from melanocytes were of smaller molecular size and lower anionic charge, reflecting an overall lower degree of glycosylation.