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Biomedical subjects

K H Rand

Publications and source records attributed to K H Rand.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1981

Human leukocyte interferon treatment of two children with insulin dependent diabetes.

Two patients with newly diagnosed insulin dependent diabetes mellitus were treated with human leukocyte interferon based on the hypothesis that the diabetes was induced by an active viral infection in the pancreatic islets and could be arrested. High peak levels of serum interferon were achieved (100-200 U/ml) with minimal systemic side effects. There was no sustained therapeutic benefit as measured by increased production of endogenous insulin, or of C-peptide, or by a lower requirement for exogenous insulin. Further trials with interferon treatment should be undertaken only if evidence of active viral infection (culture, antigen detection) can be associated with insulin dependent diabetes onset and these markers followed during treatment.

Blood Glucose↗
PubMed1981

Isolation of herpes simplex virus type 1 from gastric contents of a patient with acute pancreatitis.

Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) was isolated from the gastric contents of a young man with acute idiopathic pancreatitis. Although the patient had a marked (eightfold) rise in serum complement fixing antibody titer to HSV-1, there was no evidence of primary infection. The source of the HSV-1 may have been reactivation in the oral or pharyngeal mucous membranes, with swallowing of the virus. HSV-1 is normally quite labile in acid media (less than five minutes at pH less than or equal to 3), but because the patient was receiving cimetidine, lack of gastric acid may have allowed prolonged survival of the virus.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1981

Comparative efficacy of piperacillin and penicillin G in treatment of gonococcal urethritis.

The comparative efficacy of 2 g of piperacillin and 4.8 X 10(6) U of penicillin G in the treatment of uncomplicated gonococcal urethritis was assessed in a randomized prospective study. Sixty-five evaluable patients received piperacillin, and 55 received penicillin G. All patients received either therapy were cured of gonorrhea. We conclude that piperacillin is as efficacious as aqueous procaine penicillin G in the therapy of uncomplicated gonococcal urethritis.

Gonorrhea↗
PubMed1978

Human leukocyte interferon for the treatment of herpes zoster in patients with cancer.

We tested the effect of human leukocyte interferon on early localized herpes zoster infections in three placebo-controlled, randomized double-blind trials involving 90 patients with cancer. There were no significant differences in pretreatment severity of infection or nature of underlying disease in the groups. Higher dosages of more purified interferon in the second and third trials produced a significant (P less than or equal to 0.01) decrease in cutaneous dissemination. No dissemination occurred in those receiving the highest dosage (5.1 x 10(5) U per kilogram per day) (P less than or equal to 0.025). The number of days of new-vesicle formation in the primary dermatome decreased (mean, 2.3 days, P less than or equal to 0.05) in this group. Treated patients had a trend toward less acute pain, and significantly (P less than or equal to 0.05) diminished severity of post-herpetic neuralgia, at the two highest dosage levels. Visceral complications were six times less frequent in interferon recipients. High-dosage interferon appeared effective in limiting cutaneous dissemination, visceral complications and progression within the primary dermatome.

Blood Cell Count↗
PubMed1978

Cell-mediated immunity of cytomegalovirus infection in normal subjects and cardiac transplant patients.

Two assays of cell-mediated immunity, lymphocyte transformation and interferon production, were adapted to test for specific immunity to cytomegalovirus (CMV). Normal individuals seropositive for CMV had a mean transformation index of 7.9 in response to antigen of the Davis strain of CMV, whereas all of 14 seronegative normal individuals had transformation indexes of less than or equal to 3.0. Interferon production in seropositive and seronegative individuals was not statistically different. One to two months after CMV mononucleosis (after the termination of viruria), normal individuals had increased transformation indexes. Recipients of cardiac transplants within six months after transplant had normal levels of antibody to CMV; lymphocyte transformation and interferon production in these subjects were markedly decreased and returned to normal by three years and between one and three years after transplant, respectively. A syndrome of unexplained fever, hepatitis, pneumonitis, leukopenia, and atypical lymphocytes was common in a group of recipients with primary CMV infection. Shedding of virus was frequent in these symptomatic patients and in patients with repeat infection during the first three years after transplant. These assays appear to identify periods of immune deficits correlating with increased incidence of infection with CMV.

Cytomegalovirus Infections↗
PubMed1978

Lymphocyte transformation and interferon production as measures of cellular immunity in lymphoma patients.

Our studies of in vitro cellular immune responses to herpesviruses have shown that, before treatment, lymphoma patients have decreased transformation to varicella-zoster virus antigen compared to herpes simplex virus and cytomegalovirus antigens. Interferon production to varicella-zoster virus and cytomegalovirus antigens is also decreased. During the first six months of treatment, decreased lymphocyte transformation and interferon production to all herpesviral antigens was observed. Among patients in long-term remission, recovery from the suppression associated with treatment was noted except that interferon production to varicella-zoster virus antigen remained decreased.

Antigens, Viral↗
PubMed1977

Cellular immunity and herpesvirus infections in cardiac-transplant patients.

We observed severe infection with herpes simplex virus in cardiac-transplant patients despite their high serum antibody levels to this virus. Therefore, we sought to correlate clinical susceptibility to two herpesvirus (simplex and zoster) infections with specific cellular immunity, assessed by the transformation and interferon responses of peripheral blood mononuclear cells to heat-inactivated antigens. Transformation and interferon response to herps simplex virus was maximally depressed immediately after transplantation, the time when severe and prolonged infection with herps simplex virus occurred. Six months to six years after transplantation, both clinical susceptibility and cellular immunity to herpes simplex virus were normal. Herpes zoster infections were more frequent than normal at all times after cardiac transplantation; depressed or absent cellular responses to the varicella zoster virus paralleled that susceptibility. In these patients the risk of severe herpesvirus infections correlated with depressed cellular immune responses to the specific viral agent involved.

Antibodies, Viral↗
PubMed1977

Adenine arabinoside in the treatment of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy: use of virus-containing cells in the urine to assess response to therapy.

Two patients with biopsy-proved progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) were treated with near-maximal doses of adenine arabinoside (Ara-A), 18.6 and 20 mg per kilogram of body weight per day for 14 days. In both patients, clinical progression of the disease was correlated with an increase in the size of low-density lesions seen by computerized tomography. One of the patients was observed to excrete abnormal epithelial cells into the urine. These cells contained papovaviruslike particles, and JC virus was cultured from the urine sediment. The relative number of these abnormal cells declined during Ara-A treatment. Both patients died shortly after the conclusion of therapy without a change in the progression of the central nervous system disease. Systemic administration of Ara-A did not offer significant clinical benefit in the treatment of these 2 advanced cases of PML.

Aged↗
PubMed1976

Measles in adults. An unforeseen consequence of immunization?

An outbreak of measles occurred in California in the first half of 1975, especially in the San Francisco Bay area. Of four adult patients with complicated cases, two were receiving immunosuppressive chemotherapy, and both died from a giant-cell pneumonia. The clinical presentation in such cases may be atypical, and special viral isolation and immunofluorescent techniques may be diagnostically helpful. A significant (P less than .0005) trend toward the occurrence of measles in adolescents was observed in this epidemic, which may also occur in future epidemics elsewhere. With wide spread but incomplete immunization, it is possible for the nonimmunized to reach adulthood without acquiring natural infection. As a result, internists as well as pediatricians will have to consider the possibility of measles and be aware of its serious potential in the immunosuppressed patient.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1976

Mixed-culture cytopathogenicity between KC and XC oncornavirus indicator lines and "virus-free" human choriocarcinoma cells.

When rat (XC) cells transformed by Rous sarcoma virus and human (KC) cells were cocultivated with appropriate infected cells, cell fusion was extensive and rapid. Many human cell lines were screened, with negative results; however, several hormone-secreting human choriocarcinoma cells fused extensively with both KC and XC cells. No evidence of a virus involvement in this interaction was found by direct examination, transmission, or immunologic tests.

Avian Sarcoma Viruses↗