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Biomedical subjects

J Petersen

Publications and source records attributed to J Petersen.

At least 181 records · Page 10Linked to original sources

[Leisure activities and sports in younger pacemaker patients].

Based on a semistructured questionnaire the consequences of pacemaker treatment on leisure activities in 81 patients aged 20 to 60 years were investigated. At follow up after an average of 33.8 months, 36 of the 72 survivors participated in the following out-of-the-home physical activities: Badminton (3), bicycle-riding (6), firefighting (1), fishing (3), golf (2), gymnastics (3), handball (1), hunting (4), riding (1), running/jogging (4), sailing (5), shooting (2), skiing (3), soccer (5), swimming (1), theatre (1), chorus (1), and tennis (2). No significant changes in the levels of activity before and after pacemaker implantation were observed. Twenty of the patients did not feel the pacemaker had affected their levels of physical activity while ten patients experienced improvement in their physical capacities. Six patients felt that the pleasure in performing their favourite sport was restricted mainly due to fear of damaging the battery. Fifteen patients (21%) were members of sport clubs. These results imply that several leisure activities are available for pacemaker patients. In case a particular sport is of interest, this should be taken into account when the sitting of the pacemaker battery is decided.

Adult↗

Human T cell responses to the Epstein-Barr nuclear antigen-1 (EBNA-1) as evaluated by synthetic peptides.

A panel of synthetic peptides derived from Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) nuclear antigen 1 (EB-NA-1) was used to examine human T cell responses to this antigen. In six of seven normal persons with past EBV infection, T cell precursors specific for five peptides (P27, amino acid residues 83-101;P62, 148-166;E31, 353-367;E41, 368-381; and E11, 461-474) were detectable. The precursor frequencies were in the range of 1:20,000 to less than 1:100,000 peripheral blood mononuclear cells as determined by limiting dilution analyses. Only two of these peptides were predicted as alpha-helices; all peptides were glycine-rich. Four other peptides were not reactive in the seven individuals tested. T cell responses were not detectable in donors without prior EBV infection. Infectious mononucleosis patients investigated 4-6 weeks after diagnosis had likewise no detectable peptide-specific T cell precursors. Thus, it appears that T cells recognizing peptides from EBNA-1 arise and persist in people with past EBV infection.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

IL-5-dependent conversion of normodense human eosinophils to the hypodense phenotype uses 3T3 fibroblasts for enhanced viability, accelerated hypodensity, and sustained antibody-dependent cytotoxicity.

Human peripheral blood-derived eosinophils were assessed for their viability, density, and functional properties after 7 days of culture with purified mouse IL-5 and mouse 3T3 fibroblasts. Whereas none of the eosinophils remained viable after 7 days of culture in the absence of IL-5, 38 +/- 12% and 61 +/- 14% (n = 6, mean +/- SD) of the eosinophils survived in the presence of 1 pM IL-5 alone or 1 pM IL-5 in the presence of 3T3 fibroblasts, respectively (p less than 0.05). Direct contact between the fibroblasts and the eosinophils was not needed for this enhanced IL-5-dependent viability. After 7 days, 66 +/- 7% (n = 6) of the cocultured eosinophils were viable when the two cell types were separated by a 0.4-microns filter. As assessed by density-gradient centrifugation after 7 days of IL-5 exposure, all of the original normodense eosinophils became hypodense. The time course of this conversion was accelerated by the presence of 3T3 fibroblasts. Enhanced helminthic cytotoxicity was maintained by the 7-day cultured eosinophils only if they had been cocultured with fibroblasts. Eosinophils killed 10 +/- 11% (n = 5), 48 +/- 17%, and 31 +/- 15% of the larvae when they were cultured for 7 days in IL-5 alone, in IL-5 in direct contact with 3T3 fibroblasts, or in IL-5 with filter separation of the fibroblasts and the eosinophils, respectively. The ability of IL-5 to induce progenitor cells to differentiate selectively into eosinophils, and of 3T3 fibroblasts to facilitate the IL-5-mediated conversion of normodense eosinophils to hypodense eosinophils with increased viability and antibody-dependent cytotoxicity suggests a role for both hematopoietic and tissue factors in determining the presence and pathobiologic function of activated hypodense eosinophils in patients with hypereosinophilic conditions.

Animals↗

Interleukin 5 and phenotypically altered eosinophils in the blood of patients with the idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome.

We report that the hypodense eosinophil population in three patients with corticosteroid-unresponsive IHES was uniquely long lived ex vivo in the absence of exogenous cytokines. Serum or plasma from these patients conferred prolonged viability ex vivo to normodense eosinophils from reference donors and converted them to a functionally activated hypodense phenotype. In that antibody against IL-5 neutralized this activity in IHES serum, excessive quantities of this cytokine may account for the characteristic eosinophilia and long-lived, functionally augmented eosinophil phenotype in this disorder.

Adult↗

Isolation and characterization of the 47 kDa protein and the D1-D2-cytochrome b-559 complex.

The 47 kDa polypeptide and a protein complex consisting of the D1 (32 kDa), D2 (34 kDa) and cytochrome b-559 (9 kDa) species were isolated from a Tris-washed Photosystem II core complex solubilized with dodecylmaltoside in the presence of LiClO4. Although the 43 kDa chlorophyll-binding protein is readily dissociated from the Photosystem II complex under our conditions, two cycles of exposure to high concentrations of detergent and LiClO4 were required for complete removal of the 47 kDa chlorophyll-binding protein from the D1-D2-cytochrome b-559 complex. Spectroscopic characterization of these two species revealed that the 47 kDa protein binds chlorophyll a, whereas the D1-D2-cytochrome b-559 complex shows an enrichment in Pheo a and heme on a chlorophyll basis. A spin-polarized EPR triplet can be observed at liquid helium temperatures in the D1-D2-cytochrome b-559 complex, but no such triplet is observed in the purified 47 kDa species. The zero-field splitting parameters of the P-680+ triplet indicate that the triplet spin is localized onto one chlorophyll molecule. Resonance Raman spectroscopy showed that: (i) beta-carotene is bound to the reaction center in its all-trans conformation; (ii) all chlorophyll a molecules are five-coordinate; and (iii) the C-9 keto group of one of the chlorine pigments is hydrogen-bonded. Our results support the proposal that the D1-D2 complex binds the P-680+ and Pheo a species that are involved in the primary charge separation.

Chlorophyll↗

Assessment of demyelination, edema, and gliosis by in vivo determination of T1 and T2 in the brain of patients with acute attack of multiple sclerosis.

This study intended to investigate the possibility of magnetic resonance (MR) to characterize the acute plaque due to multiple sclerosis (MS). To obtain information, in vivo measurements of relaxation processes were performed in 10 patients with known acute MS plaques, using a whole-body superconductive MR-scanner, operating at 1.5 T. The measurements were repeated several times, from onset of the disease and during remission by use of six-point partial saturation inversion recovery and 32-echo multiple spin-echo sequences, giving T1 and T2, respectively. We also focused on the issue, whether T1 and T2 relaxation processes in fact were monoexponential. The results of the first T1 and T2 measurements of the acute plaques were not clearly different from T1 and T2 of presumably chronic plaques obtained in a group of chronic MS patients previously (H.B.W. Larsson, J. Frederiksen, L. Kjär, O. Hendriksen, and J. Olesen, Magn. Reson. Med. 7, 43 (1988)). In some of the acute plaques a slight initial increase in T1 and T2 was seen, when the measurement was repeated in about 10 days. Thereafter T1 decreased slowly in all but one patient as a function of days. In all cases the T1 relaxation process followed a monoexponential course. The T2 relaxation process was a monoexponential function in the acute plaques, when measured within 20 days from onset of disease. After an average of 78 days, however, the T2 relaxation process clearly became biexponential in all but two patients. Later some of the relaxation curves changed back toward monoexponentiality. Thus, the study shows that it is possible to detect significant changes in MR parameters during the evolution of the disease, and these changes are discussed in relation to knowledge of pathoanatomical events in MS.

Acute Disease↗

Lymphocyte phenotype does not predict immune function in pediatric patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus type 1.

To determine whether assays of lymphocyte phenotype were predictive of antigen-specific immunologic function in children infected with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), we compared the antigen-specific cellular and humoral functions (tetanus toxoid-induced T lymphocyte blastogenesis and anti-tetanus toxoid antibody) with the patients' T lymphocyte phenotype, determined at the same time. Although both HIV-1-infected patient populations studied (pediatric hemophilia patients and other pediatric patients) had decreases in the values determined by their functional and phenotypic assays, no association between the functional and phenotypic assays was demonstrated. Thus some HIV-1-infected patients with a normal phenotype had no antigen-specific function, whereas other patients with a markedly abnormal T lymphocyte phenotype had normal antigen specific T lymphocyte function. These results indicate that the assessment of HIV-1-infected patients should include assays of antigen-specific immune function in addition to assays of T lymphocyte phenotype.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗

The simulation of continuous arteriovenous hemodialysis with a mathematical model.

We have developed a mathematical model that predicts the performance of continuous arteriovenous hemodialysis. Given patient (plasma protein concentration, hematocrit, mean arterial pressure, central venous pressure) and circuit (flow resistance, membrane hydraulic permeability, dialyzer mass transfer coefficient, ultrafiltrate column height, dialysate flow rate) characteristics as inputs, predictions of hydraulic and oncotic pressure distribution, filtration rate, blood flow, total, diffusive, and convective urea clearances are provided. The model was tested by perfusing a circuit with bovine blood under conditions of pure ultrafiltration, zero net ultrafiltration and dialysis, or combined ultrafiltration and dialysis (countercurrent dialysate flow at rates of 10, 20, and 30 ml/min). In order to permit computation, membrane hydraulic permeability and flow resistances were measured. Dialyzer mass transfer coefficient for urea could not be measured directly and so was determined by fitting model predictions to measured urea clearances. For all conditions of operation, a urea mass transfer coefficient of 0.014 cm/min successfully simulated the data. Predictions of blood flow, filtrate generation rate, and circuit pressure distribution were accurate. At lower dialysate flow rates, urea clearance approximated the sum of dialysate flow and filtration rate. At higher dialysate flows, however, departure from this ideal blood-dialysate equilibrium was observed. Model predictions regarding the relative contributions of diffusion and convection to urea clearance were explored. Under conditions of nearly perfect equilibration of urea between blood and dialysate at the blood inlet, the model predicts that the diffusive clearance of urea will increase with increasing rate of filtration and may exceed the rate of dialysate inflow.

Hemofiltration↗

Susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis maps to a T-cell epitope shared by the HLA-Dw4 DR beta-1 chain and the Epstein-Barr virus glycoprotein gp110.

Rheumatoid arthritis is associated with the HLA antigen HLA-DR4. Disease susceptibility maps to the amino acid sequence QKRAA located in the third hypervariable region of the DR beta-1 chain. This region is thought to be a site of recognition for the T-cell antigen receptor. We searched for an antigen in the human environment that could induce T-cell recognition of this sequence. An analysis of protein and DNA databases revealed that the Epstein-Barr virus glycoprotein gp110, which is encoded by the BALF4 open reading frame, contains the sequence QKRAAQRAA, which is highly homologous to the rheumatoid arthritis susceptibility determinant. Experiments using antibodies to synthetic peptides showed that the QKRAA determinant is expressed on the gp110 protein. Humans with serologic evidence of Epstein-Barr virus infection had serum antibodies to gp110 and peripheral blood T cells that recognized peptides from gp110 and HLA-Dw4 encompassing the QKRAA determinant.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Subjective consequences of permanent pacemaker therapy in patients under the age of retirement.

During a 5-year period, 81 patients ages 20 to 60 years old had implantation of a permanent cardiac pacemaker at the University Hospital, Odense. At follow-up, during 1985, the 73 survivors received a semi-structured questionnaire regarding subjective consequences of pacemaker therapy, and 72 people (98.6%) agreed to participate. The mean pacing period (range) was 33.8 (11-72) months. Surgical intervention was required in 14 patients (19.4%) during follow-up. Regarding all symptoms 67 patients (93.1%) perceived benefit from the pacemaker. The effectiveness of cardiac pacing was most pronounced in subjects suffering from syncope and/or dizziness. Eight patients (11.1%) perceived anxiety most frequently due to fear of pacing failure. Physical complaints were present in 17 patients (23.6%), and the discomfort was mainly due to the size of generator, pain/tenderness from the scar or a sensation of "impulses"/palpitations. To the majority (49 patients or 68.1%) pacemaker treatment did not influence quality of sexual activity. Six patients (8.3%) perceived an improvement, whereas a corresponding number felt deterioration in sexual activity following pacemaker implantation. Pacemaker therapy had not affected life quality in 30 (41.7%) of the patients. However 31 patients (43%) felt an improvement, and only a minority of ten patients (13.9%) perceived deterioration in quality of life owed to pacemaker therapy.

Adult↗

B lymphocyte function in multiple myeloma: analysis of T cell- and monocyte-dependent antibody production.

T-cell and B-cell functions were studied in 35 patients with untreated multiple myeloma (MM) and in 16 patients with MM treated with prednisolone, melphalan and vincristine. The numbers of CD4+ T cells were normal in untreated MM patients, but markedly decreased in treated patients, whereas CD8+ cell numbers were normal in untreated and treated patients. Mitogen-induced as well as antigen-induced lymphocyte proliferative responses were reduced, but not further affected by treatment. The antigen-induced proliferative responses by lymphocytes of treated, but not of untreated patients, correlated positively to the proportions of CD4+ cells among MNC. Taken together, the findings suggest selective loss of CD4+ subpopulations during cytotoxic treatment. Pokeweed mitogen (PWM)-induced Ig production was generally low, but significantly reduced Ig production was only seen in experiments employing MM B cells and monocytes co-cultured with irradiated T-enriched cells. Irradiated MM T cells displayed normal helper function when co-cultured with normal B cells stimulated with PWM. MM B cells and monocytes cultured with irradiated normal T cells produced little Ig; however, MM monocytes were not suppressive. In 2 of 3 patients with either IgG-kappa or IgA-kappa myeloma, the numbers of PWM-stimulated B cells that produced kappa chains were somewhat higher than those found among normal MNC. The impaired ability of antibody production by B cells from untreated MM patients seems to relate to intrinsic B cell defect(s) rather than to abnormal regulation by T cells or monocytes. However, disturbances in the functions of CD4+ cells may be observed in treated MM.

Aged↗

The relationship between serum enzyme activity, infarct site, and cardiac complications after a first myocardial infarction. A follow-up study in general practice.

The aim of the present study was to relate the clinical course in patients after a first acute myocardial infarction with the site and size of infarct, estimated from standard enzyme measurements. One hundred and eight consecutive patients who suffered an acute myocardial infarction for the first time were followed-up after 30 months in general practice. Twenty-six patients had died and 8 had had another infarction. Sixty-two of the surviving patients had received treatment for ischaemic heart disease, usually for angina pectoris and less often for heart failure and arrhythmias. No correlation was found between ischaemic heart disease requiring treatment and the enzyme-estimated size or the site of the infarct. With anterior infarcts there was, however, an overweight of arrhythmias requiring treatment. Of the patients at work, 31% had changed job or job status because of ischaemic heart disease. At the end of the 30 month period, 50 patients were in functional class 1 and 2, and 32 in functional class 3 and 4 (New York Heart Association's classification).

Adult↗

Diagnostic value of lymphography in cervical cancer stage Ib.

The value of lymphography in the diagnosis of lymph node metastases was investigated in 89 patients with stage Ib cervical carcinoma. All patients underwent radical hysterectomy. The lymphography (radiological diagnosis) was compared with the histopathological examination of the corresponding lymph nodes. The positive predictive value of the lymphography was 13% and that of the negative predictive value 98%. It is concluded that lymphography is not reliable for the diagnosis of lymph node metastases in cervical cancer stage Ib.

Female↗

How normal are "normal" square wave jerks?

Fifty normally sighted young subjects underwent horizontal electro-oculographic (EOG) examination to investigate fixation stability of the saccadic system. The number of square wave jerks (SWJ) and saccades per minute were calculated in three clinically used test conditions: (1) with a fixation point; (2) in darkness; and (3) with eyes closed. SWJ were recorded in all conditions. The highest number of SWJ per minute were found in darkness and with closed eyes. The analysis of the findings shows a range of normalcy for these three clinically used EOG conditions from which pathology can be inferred.

Adult↗

Digital manipulation of the thrombosed arterio-venous conduit.

The utility of a bedside technique for digital manipulation of the thrombosed arterio-venous conduit was retrospectively reviewed. During an 18 month period the records of all patients at this institution who were undergoing chronic hemodialysis, via a forearm modified arterial bovine heterograft, and who were successfully treated by digital manipulation for graft thrombosis were examined. Thirteen patients who underwent 30 successful graft manipulations constituted the study group. Bedside manipulation attempts were performed from one to 72 hours from the period of last known function. Complete response to the technique was indicated by the appearance of a pulse and panrhythmic bruit and thrill throughout the conduit. The average duration of restored flow was 58.6 days (range one to 430 days). No serious or life threatening complications (e.g. problems related to pulmonary thromboembolism) were observed. Conduit thrombosis secondary to faculty cannulation, prior hypotension, or extrinsic compression was amenable to the technique; however, when occlusion was secondary to an intrinsic problem in the graft (stenosis of the venous or arterial anastomosis), operative revision was required. If successful, the technique allows for immediate dialysis access without the need for additional measures. The procedure has negligible morbidity and can spare the patient considerable time and expense.

Arteriovenous Shunt, Surgical↗