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Biomedical subjects

J J Miller

Publications and source records attributed to J J Miller.

At least 163 records · Page 9Linked to original sources
PubMed1980

Prolonged use of large intravenous steroid pulses in the rheumatic diseases of children.

Nineteen children with rheumatic diseases refractory to standard treatment were given repeated large "pulses" of corticosteroid therapy. The pulses consisted of four repeated doses of 500 mg of hydrocortisone given intravenously over 20 to 30 minutes at six-hour intervals or of single intravenous injections of 30 mg/kg of methylprednisolone. All patients had temporary relief of signs or symptoms of inflammation. Complications were mild and only one child was removed from therapy because of a complication. Two children were judged to be treatment failures. Five patients have been weaned from all steroid treatment, and eight have required continued pulses at one- or two-week intervals as outpatients to maintain control. All of these have been able to reduce oral prednisone doses. Effects of the two forms of pulse appear similar. However, two children responded to the series of injections of hydrocortisone but not to single doses of methylprednisolone. Pulses have been given for periods up to three years without evident toxicity. Further work to define doses, schedules, and optimal drug is needed since this approach to steroid use appears effective and relatively nontoxic.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1980

Nephropathy in the Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome.

Nephropathy was detected in five of 32 patients with the Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome who were participating in a study of transfer factor (TF) therapy. In two patients, nephropathy was present before TF and did not appear changed by TF therapy. One of these patients subsequently developed progressive renal failure requiring dialysis beginning 5 1/2 years after TF therapy. In two patients, decreased renal function appeared very soon after the administration of TF. One patient showed gradually decreasing renal function beginning after two years of TF therapy. An additional patient was identified who died with renal failure without having received TF. The results suggest that renal failure occurs in the Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome more frequently than generally recognized and that administration of TF may precipitate or accelerate the renal disease in patients with this syndrome.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1979

The immunologic and clinical associations of the split products of C3 in plasma in juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.

A qualitative counterimmunoelectrophoretic assay for the complement activation products C3c and C3d was used to study plasma from children with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) and other rheumatic diseases. Positive tests for C3c,d were found in all patients with active systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), 7 of 10 patients with active systemic JRA, 16 of 29 with active polyarticular JRA, 7 of 20 with active pauciarticular JRA, and in only 2 of 20 with inactive joint disease. The incidence of positive assays for C3c,d in JRA was increased in the presence of positive latex fixation tests, antinuclear antibody tests, or elevated values for antiglobulins as determined by affinity chromatography, but these associations were not statistically significant. Three joint fluids from children with pauciarticular JRA were negative for C3c,d. These studies show that the subgroups of JRA defined by clinical criteria are heterogeneous by current laboratory parameters and that evidence implicating antigen-antibody complexes in the pathogenesis of JRA is lacking in many patients.

Antibodies, Antinuclear↗
PubMed1979

Inhibition of the mixed lymphocyte reaction by fractionated niridazole urine dialysate.

Urine dialysate from rats treated orally with 25 mg/Kg 3H-labeled niridazole was fractionated by DEAE-Sepharose column chromatography and was found to contain three radioactive metabolites and no parent compound. When human niridazole urine dialysate (NUD) was fractionated under identical conditions, fractions corresponding to the three rat NUD metabolites were found to inhibit the human one-way MLR. No inhibition was obtained with fractionated control urine dialysate. It was concluded that nonimmunosuppressive niridazole is metabolized by rats and man to produce three active compounds with the ability to suppress the in vitro response to alloantigens.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

Calcium-dependent increase in spike duration during repetitive firing of Aplysia axon in the presence of TEA.

Repetitive stimulation was studied in the axon of the giant neuron, R2, of Aplysia in the presence of TEA. In 25 or 50 mM extracellular TEA, a plateau develops on the axon spike during repetitive stimulation at frequencies greater than 3/sec. The plateau in extracellular TEA is inhibited by 30 mM CoCl2 or 1 mM CdCl2, and is enhanced by raising the Ca concentration. Intracellular TEA induces a plateau on the axon spike at frequencies less than 1/30sec. This plateau increases in duration with repetitive stimulation at higher frequencies and is inhibited by 30 mM CoCl2 or 1 mM CdCl2. The increase in spike duration during repetitive firing in the presence of TEA is indicative of an increased entry of Ca during the spike train.

Action Potentials↗
PubMed1978

Free proline content and sensitivity to desiccation and heat during yeast sporulation and spore germination.

Ascospores of a strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Hansen were less sensitive to desiccation and heat than vegetative cells. Desiccation resistance was acquired earlier during sporulation and lost later during spore germination than heat resistance. As spores matured, resistance to both stresses increased. With the exception of the first few hours in sporulation medium, when proline appeared to be utilized, the intracellular free proline content increased during sporulation and decreased during spore germination. Not all the proline lost could be detected in the germination medium, indicating that some was metabolically utilized by the germinating spores. Since exogenous proline supplied to vegetative or sporulating cells before desiccation increased their survival, it is suggested that the high level of free proline in mature spores may protect against desiccation stress.

Amino Acids↗