Symptoms and exposure to endotoxin among brewery employees.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to M J Gomes.
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UNLABELLED: We compared hemostatic changes during OLT and HLT after various periods of graft storage, to investigate whether the host liver in HLT protects the recipient from hemostatic deterioration induced by severe graft storage damage. In particular, the mechanism of fibrinolytic deterioration was investigated. The effect of prostaglandin E1 (PGE1) on these parameters was also studied. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 69 pigs underwent either OLT (N = 32) or HLT (N = 37) with a graft stored for 2 hr (N = 31), 24 hr (N = 16), 48 hr (N = 7), or 72 hr (N = 15). PGE1 was given intravenously to both donor and recipient animals and was added to the preservation and flushing solutions. Fibrinolysis (euglobulin clot lysis time, t-PA activity and alpha 2-antiplasmin) and coagulation parameters (activated partial thromboplasmin time, prothrombin time, fibrinogen and platelet count) were measured at several intervals during transplantation. STATISTICS: Univariate non-parametric tests were used for analysis of coagulation and fibrinolysis parameters. For the three main variables- i.e., the type of transplantation, the use of PGE1, and the preservation time, multiple regression analysis was performed. RESULTS: Fibrinolytic activity increased during the anhepatic period of OLT. Graft reperfusion was followed by a rise in t-PA in both OLT and HLT. In HLT, t-PA quickly returned to normal, whereas a continuous increase was found in OLT. The coagulation parameters, in turn, remained unchanged during the anhepatic period and deteriorated in OLT compared to HLT. The duration of graft storage was directly related to the severity of the hemostatic changes, although this effect was more apparent in OLT than in HLT. CONCLUSIONS: Changes in hemostasis are more pronounced in OLT than in HLT. This suggests that the host liver protects the recipient from the effects of graft storage damage, even after long preservation times. Early postreperfusion fibrinolytic activity was presumably due to t-PA release from the graft both in OLT and HLT. The further rise t-PA in OLT might be caused by the release of cytokines from the graft, that subsequently evoke endothelial t-PA release. In HLT, t-PA and cytokines may be cleared by the native liver. No positive or negative effect of PGE1 on coagulation or fibrinolysis parameters was noticed.
The authors present a clinical case of Lymphangioleiomyomatosis of the lung. They analyse the clinical, radiological and functional features and comment on the evolution and therapeutic approach of this rare disorder. To the authors, lung involvement as well as therapeutic decision are important features that affect the prognosis.
UNLABELLED: It is still not clear whether disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) contributes to the hemostatic disturbances in orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). Theoretically the lack of hepatic clearance of procoagulant factors during the anhepatic period and the release of thromboplastic material from the graft might trigger DIC. During heterotopic liver transplantation (HLT) the host liver is left in situ and procoagulant factors may still be cleared; DIC, if present, may not occur until after reperfusion. The aim of the present study was to gain more insight into the underlying mechanism of the coagulation changes during liver transplantation by comparison of OLT and HLT. Thrombin-antithrombin-III complexes (TAT), and indicator of thrombin generation, fibrin degradation products (FbDP) and routine clotting times were assayed in 12 OLTs, 18 HLTs and in a control group of 10 partial hepatic resections (PHR). TAT increased dramatically after reperfusion to 136 micrograms/l in OLT and to 94 micrograms/l in HLT (p n.s.). In contrast, FbDP levels increased only in OLT, to a maximum of 13.8 micrograms/ml. Routine clotting times changed mildly and similarly in both OLT and HLT. CONCLUSIONS: Graft reperfusion triggers excessive thrombin formation, but there are no other signs of subsequent DIC. Any thrombin formed is probably rapidly inhibited by antithrombin-III. The rise in FbDP during OLT is the result of increased fibrinolysis, which occurred only in OLT and not in HLT.
The release of heparin has been mentioned as one of the causes of hypocoagulability after reperfusion of the liver graft. It has been ascribed to endogenous heparin released from the donor liver or to exogenous heparin in the preservation fluid that is released into the recipient after sequestration into the graft during preservation. The aim of this study was to investigate whether systemic administration of heparin to the donor before the hepatectomy contributes to the appearance of heparin in the recipient after reperfusion. We studied 20 patients undergoing an auxiliary heterotopic liver transplantation; 15 donors had received heparin immediately before circulation arrest (median 300 IU/kg body weight), but 5 had not. The thrombin time (TT), activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT), and heparin neutralization test were determined at several intervals during the transplantation.
Although the respiratory tract is the major site for tuberculous lesions, all organs can be affected. The authors review the clinical files of 25 patients admitted to our Department with lung and/or pleural tuberculous disease, confirmed by bacteriology or histopathology, who simultaneously suffered from tuberculosis in other organs. We included 20 men and 5 women, aged from 10 to 74 years (mean: 37.12 years); 6 patients had pleural tuberculosis, 19 had pulmonary tuberculosis, 4 of them having miliary tuberculosis. Lymph node tuberculosis was diagnosed in 14 patients, tuberculosis of the bones in 4, laryngeal tuberculosis in 3 patients, tuberculous pericarditis in 2 patients, epididymitis in 1 and intestinal in another patient. Several clinical aspects are discussed, namely diagnostic procedures, M. tuberculosis identification in inflammatory exudates in 6 patients, in urine in 1, and in histopathology in 9 patients; in the 9 remaining patients extrapulmonary tuberculosis was accepted considering clinical and radiological findings in patients with respiratory tract tuberculosis. We concluded that tuberculosis may still assume severe clinical forms and that patients with tuberculosis should be globally evaluated.
The major cause of the increased tissue-type plasminogen activator activity during orthotopic liver transplantation is still unclear. Both the lack of hepatic clearance of tissue-type plasminogen activator in the anhepatic period and increased endothelial release from the graft on reperfusion have been proposed as the major causes. Heterotopic liver transplantation avoids the resection of the host liver and is a useful model to help differentiate between these two possibilities. In this study the fibrinolytic system was evaluated in 10 orthotopic liver transplantations, 18 heterotopic liver transplantations and a control group of 10 partial hepatic resections. A marked increment in tissue-type plasminogen activator activity, from 0.2 to 5.2 IU/ml (p less than 0.02), was observed during the anhepatic period of orthotopic liver transplantation, which rapidly normalized after reperfusion. In contrast, tissue-type plasminogen activator activity levels remained normal in heterotopic liver transplantation and partial hepatic resections. In orthotopic liver transplantation and in heterotopic liver transplantation no increase occurred in tissue-type plasminogen activator activity after reperfusion. The first venous hepatic outflow after reperfusion did not contain elevated tissue-type plasminogen activator activity levels. Plasma degradation products of fibrin and fibrinogen increased during the anhepatic period of orthotopic liver transplantation (from 2.60 to 8.80 micrograms/ml [p less than 0.008] and from 0.40 to 1.60 micrograms/ml [p less than 0.04], respectively) and remained elevated thereafter. In heterotopic liver transplantation and partial hepatic resections these levels remained low. In conclusion, the lack of hepatic clearance during the anhepatic period is probably the most important factor in the evolution of increased tissue-type plasminogen activator activity during orthotopic liver transplantation.
A Dutch family, of which 13 members are heterozygotes, deficient for alpha 2-antiplasmin (alpha 2-AP) is reported. Clinical studies showed that 2 heterozygotes had a mild bleeding tendency, which presented as bleeding episodes after tooth extraction and after surgery and, in one patient, also as excessive menstruation. Laboratory investigations revealed an alpha 2-AP activity of 62% (51-71) (median and range) and an antigen level of 60% (60-66). The plasminogen binding as well as the fibrin binding properties of alpha 2-AP were normal. Plasminogen concentrations were significantly higher in the heterozygotes compared to the other family members. However, free plasminogen not bound to histidine-rich glycoprotein was not significantly different between these two groups. We propose that in this family the deficiency of alpha 2-AP is due to a decreased synthesis of a normal alpha 2-AP molecule. This present study brings the frequency of heterozygous alpha 2-AP deficient patients with a bleeding tendency to 13 out of 59 heterozygotes reported in the literature.
We compared the anti-mosquito and antimalarial potentialities of placebo-treated versus permethrin-impregnated bed nets in north-western Guinea Bissau. Baseline, pre-intervention entomological and parasitological data were collected during the rainy season of 1990 and bed nets were distributed shortly before the rainy season of 1991. Pairs of 3 ethnically different villages were investigated. The villages in each pair were at least 2 km apart but belonged to the same ethnic group in an ecologically similar area. After one year permethrin-treated bed nets were provided to all people in one village of each pair and placebo-treated bed nets to the other villages. About 98% of mosquitoes caught in bedrooms belonged to Anopheles gambiae and A. melas, which we consider to be the main malaria vectors in the study villages. Mean Plasmodium falciparum sporozoite rate in A. gambiae (9.6%) and A. melas (12.4%) was highest during October-November. The Plasmodium index in children 2-9 years old in the 6 villages, at the end of the rainy season 1990, ranged between 44% and 79%. Of these, 98% were identified as P. falciparum, 1% as P. malariae and 1% as mixed infections of these species. Significant reductions of Anopheles indoor resting densities and malaria parasite rates in humans were recorded in villages which had received permethrin-treated nets, but not in the control villages. The mean number of P. falciparum-infective mosquito bites received indoors in untreated villages during the rainy season was estimated to be about 4 per child and 20 per adult. This inoculation rate was reduced by at least 78% by the use of permethrin-impregnated bed nets. The malaria parasite rates and proportions of people experiencing 'disease with fever' decreased significantly in villages provided with permethrin-treated nets but not in the control villages. Impregnated nets may be an important tool to reduce disease and death due to malaria in Guinea Bissau.
Results of a study carried out in 21 patients with acetylsalicylic acid (Aspirin), hypersensitivity, 17 females and 4 males, aged 16 to 69 years (mean 45.7) are presented. Some patients suffered from several types of allergic symptoms - 11 from Asthma, 3 Rhinitis, 3 Quinke edema, 5 Urticaria and 2 Anaphylactic Shock. Concomitant drug allergies, route of administration and composition of the ingested drug, familiar complaints of drug allergy, nasopharyngeal examination and lung function by spirometry and Acetylcholine tests were evaluated. Blood, sputum and nasal mucous eosinophil count, as well as secretory IgA and its secretory piece identification in saliva and nasal mucous, serotonin and histaminopexic power of serum and immunoelectrophoresis of serum proteins were performed in all patients. Human basophil degranulation test to Aspirin were evaluated in 12 patients. Skin prick tests with one standard range of 21 common allergens were done in all patients and intradermal skin tests with 1 lysine acetyl-salicylate (1/100 and 1/1000) were performed in all patients as well as in a selected control group of 12 healthy subjects.