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Biomedical subjects

J Piris

Publications and source records attributed to J Piris.

34 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

A method for the quantification of human gastric G cell density in endoscopic biopsy specimens.

A previously described method for estimating G cell density in endoscopic biopsy specimens has been modified to take into account observations of the way in which specimens behave when they are deformed and some of the length-measuring characteristics of a grid used to measure the length of tissue profiles. The relationships between particle densities in sections and particle densities in tissue of which the sections are representative are discussed.

Biopsy

Length measurement by means of a grid.

Experiments were performed which demonstrate some of the length-measuring characteristics of a grid consisting of two sets of parallel lines crossing each other at right angles. If lines of various shapes are repeatedly superimposed at random on such a grid, the mean number of intersections each of these lines makes with the lines of the grid is directly proportional to the length of the line. There is a property of two-dimensional curves, which may be called directional bias, the presence of which in a test curve will increase the variability of the number of intersections made with the grid lines and skew the frequency distribution curve to the right. This effect is markedly reduced by taking the mean of three measurements if the second and third are taken with the grid rotated 30 degrees and 60 degrees respectively from its original position in relation to the test curve. Information gained from these experiments can be applied to stereological problems such as the estimation of particle densities in histological sections.

Cell Count

Optimum dose of sulphasalazine for maintenance treatment in ulcerative colitis.

Sulphasalazine is widely used in the maintenance treatment of ulcerative colitis but the optimum dose is not known. In the present study, 170 patients were allotted at random to three treatment groups, in which the daily dose was 1, 2 and 4 g respectively, and the trial period of treatment lasted for six months. A daily dose of 2 g was found to be much more efficacious than 1 g. A daily dose of 4 g was more efficacious than 2 g but at the price of fairly frequent symptomatic side-effects. Haematological abnormalities were observed at all dosage levels, but they occurred chiefly among the patients on 4 g daily. Both symptomatic and the haematological side-effects were usually associated with high concentrations of serum sulphapyridine and these high levels occurred chiefly among the slow acetylators. It is concluded that, for general use, a daily dose of 2 g sulphasalazine is satisfactory for the maintenance treatment of ulcerative colitis. If a patient does not do well on 2 g daily, it is worth trying a larger dose but in this case the patient's condition should be monitored by blood film, haemoglobin, MCV, and reticulocyte count.

Clinical Trials as Topic

A quantitative study of the influence of fixation on immunoperoxidase staining of rectal mucosal plasma cells.

A quantitative morphometric study of the immunoglobulin-containing plasma cells in rectal biopsies from nine patients with ulcerative colitis and three patients with the irritable colon syndrome is presented. The results show that fixation of the biopsy specimens with formol-sublimate, a mercuric fixative, resulted in better staining with the immunoperoxidase method and that, by comparison with formol saline, higher cell counts were always obtained.

Adult

The effect of topical N-acetyl-5-aminosalicylic acid in ulcerative colitis.

In a double-blind controlled therapeutic trial, retention enemas of N-acetyl-5-aminosalicylic acid (Ac-5-ASA) were compared with dummy enemas in the treatment of active ulcerative colitis. Forty patients were studied, each patient taking one test enema twice a day for 2 weeks. Seventeen of the patients had a mild clinical attack of the disease; the 23 others had sigmoidoscopic evidence of active inflammation although they were in clinical remission. Histological and sigmoidoscopic improvement were significantly commoner in the patients receiving the active treatment than in those taking the dummy preparation. Pronounced histological improvement was only seen in patients taking the Ac-5-ASA enemas. In those patients who had clinical attacks of ulcerative colitis at the start of the study, symptomatic improvement was commoner in the group treated with Ac-5-ASA enemas than in those who received placebo therapy. Ac-5-ASA resembles 5-aminosalicylic acid in its effect on the inflamed mucosa in ulcerative colitis. Further studies into other substituted salicylates may lead to the development of an effective oral agent that does not carry the side effects associated with the sulphapyridine moiety of sulphasalazine.

Aminosalicylic Acids

Comparison of disodium cromoglycate and sulphasalazine as maintenance therapy for ulcerative colitis.

In a trial lasting six months disodium cromoglycate (800 mg daily), sulphasalazine (2 g daily), and these two agents in combination were compared in 120 patients as maintenance treatment for ulcerative colitis. Relapse was defined as recurrence of colitic symptoms accompanied by sigmoidoscopic evidence of inflammation. The patients receiving disodium cromoglycate had a much higher relapse-rate than those taking sulphasalazine and the results with the two agents combined were little different from those with sulphasalazine alone. Disodium cromoglycate in the dose employed is greatly inferior to sulphasalazine as maintenance treatment for the prevention of relapse in ulcerative colitis.

Administration, Oral

Small bowel strictures after blunt abdominal trauma.

Two patients with strictures of the small intestine after blunt abdominal trauma are reported. In the first there were multiple severe injuries and the ileal stricture due to a mesenteric tear was not diagnosed until 6 weeks later. In the second an apparently minor injury was responsible for direct damage to the wall of the jejunum and a subsequent stricture.

Adult

Campylobacter colitis.

A patient is described in whom a campylobacter enteritis closely resembled ulcerative colitis on clinical, sigmoidoscopic, and histological grounds. Selective stool culture techniques may be necessary to differentiate campylobacter colitis from ulcerative colitis proper.

Adult

Gastin cells and fasting gastrin levels in duodenal ulcer patients: a quantitative study based on multiple biopsy specimens.

The number of gastrin-producing cells in biopsy specimens from the gastric and duodenal mucosae in 19 duodenal ulcer patients was quantitated using a morphometric method. The level of immunoreactive gastrin in a sample of fasting serum obtained at the time of the biopsy was measured by radioimmunoassay. The results show no significant difference when compared with those from a group of normal control volunteers. Moreover, there was no correlation between the numbers of gastrin-producing cells and the fasting serum gastrin level in either controls or duodenal ulcer patients.

Adolescent

Tissue eosinophils in ulcerative colitis.

A morphometric method has been used to quantitate eosinophils in the rectal lamina propria. The results from examination of paired biopsy specimens indicate that eosinophil distribution is uniform in the rectum. The number of eosinophils in specimens from patients with long-standing ulcerative colitis is significantly greater than that found in control subjects and increases with increasing clinical activity of the disease. In contrast, when biopsies are obtained from patients in a severe first attack of ulcerative colitis, eosinophil counts are not higher than in controls. The possible significance of these findings is discussed.

Cell Count

Is bird fancier's lung associated with coeliac disease?

Precipitin responses to different avian serum antigens occur in bird fancier's lung (BFL) and coeliac disease. Failure to distinguish between them could encourage an erroneous diagnosis of BFL in patients with coeliac disease, and the recent suggestion that these two disorders are strongly associated may be questioned, partly for this reason. In the present study small bowel biopsy specimens were obtained from 12 of a series of 14 patients proved to have BFL by inhalation provocation tests. None was suggestive of coeliac disease. Of a further 61 patients with biopsy-proved coeliac disease, seven were found to be exposed currently and 33 formerly to birds. As a result of clinical evaluation, BFL was considered a possible cause of undue breathlessness reported by three of the current bird fanciers only, and all underwent inhalation provocation tests. One alone gave positive results. We conclude that if a real association does exist between these two disorders, its clinical importance has been greatly exaggerated.

Alveolitis, Extrinsic Allergic

The role of various cereals in coeliac disease.

It is well established that the consumption of wheat gluten will produce the characteristic mucosal lesion of coeliac disease in subjects who are predisposed to it. The role of other cereals in the pathogenesis of this disease is less certain. In the present study, four different cereals (rye, barley, maize and rice) have been tested by feeding them to volunteer coeliac subjects who had shown good mucosal recovery on a gluten free diet and assessing the effect by serial jejunal biopsy. The biopsy specimens obtained before and after challenge were compared in terms of histology and disaccharidase activity. The results indicate that rye and barley are harmful but that maize and rice are harmless.

Adolescent

An experiment to determine the active therapeutic moiety of sulphasalazine.

Sulphasalazine (S.A.S.P.) is of proven value in the treatment of ulcerative colitis, but its mode of action is unknown. When it is taken by mouth, nearly all the dose reaches the colon intact, where it is split by bacteria into sulphapyridine (S.P.) and 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-A.S.A.). An experiment was devised to determine whether the therapeutic property of S.A.S.P. is a function of the parent molecule or of these two principal metabolites. Retention enemas of S.A.S.P., S.P., and 5-A.S.A. were administered to volunteer patients with sigmoidoscopic evidence of active ulcerative colitis. The experiment was conducted as a blind controlled therapeutic trial, each patient having one of the test enemas daily for two weeks. Pronounced histological improvement was observed in approximately 30% of the patients receiving S.A.S.P. or 5-A.S.A., and in only 5% of those receiving S.P. It is concluded that the active therapeutic moiety of S.A.S.P. IS 5-A.S.A. and that the S.P. functions as a carrier ensuring that the 5-A.S.A. is liberated within the colon.

Administration, Topical