Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to M Kunkel.
In 3 infants with meningoencephalitis caused by Herpes simplex viruses the findings of cerebral sonography corresponded with those of computerized tomography and electroencephalography. The therapeutic success of antiviral chemotherapeutics depends very much on their application at an early stage of the disease, which can be recognized by cerebral sonography.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
There are two serological types of herpes simplex virus, HSV-1 and HSV-2. The types can be differentiated by different methods. After a primary infection HSV reaches the sensory ganglions by the way of peripheral nervous tracts. The virus remains for life in the ganglion as virus genome. After activation and return movement a new infection can appear. A lot of various diseases are caused by primary infection, reactivation or reinfection. The diagnosis in herpes virus diseases includes the detection of virus or viral antigens and the demonstration of specific antibodies against HSV. Effective antiviral drugs are available for chemotherapy of HSV-infection. Acyclovir is a beneficial drug without toxic secondary effects. The prevalence of HSV-antibodies in the population is very high.
The genital herpes infection is mostly caused by HSV-2. The analysis of epidemic data supports the common impression that herpes genitalis markedly increased. The HSV-2 is with few exceptions a sexually transmitted virus, the infectionsity is about 80%. The primary infection with HSV-2 occurs in the youth. HSV-2 survives in a latent stage in the human body for life and causes as a rule to recurrent diseases. The clinical picture is variable. The most severe complication is the sepsis of newborn. The virological diagnosis is made by isolation of virus. The therapy of herpes genitalis is problematic. It is proposed that the HSV-2 plays a key role as an initiating factor in the development of human genital cancer.
A case of babesiosis in an asplenic individual is reported. A course characterized by fever, haemolysis, hepatitis, depressed mental status and non-cardiac pulmonary oedema was observed. Studies performed on the patient's lymphocytes revealed profound depression in mitogenic responses during her acute disease which returned to normal with recovery. Serum factor(s) were implicated in causing these changes. Review of the literature on babesiosis in asplenic hosts revealed European patients with disease caused by bovine species of Babesia are at significantly higher risk of a fatal outcome than North Americans with disease caused by murine species.
21 women with IgM antibodies to cytomegalovirus-induced late antigen (CMV LA) as determined in the first, second or third trimester were tested for the persistence of these antibodies during pregnancy and postpartum. Out of 21 women 16 still showed IgM antibodies against CMV LA by 6-9 months after delivery. No striking differences could be found between women with primary or recurrent CMV infections as well as those who had intrauterine infection.
In the sera of 17 patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) and of 19 patients with tonsillar carcinoma (TC) the titres of IgA, IgG and IgM antibodies to EBV VCA (viral capsid antigen) and of IgG antibodies to EBV EA (early antigen) were determined by the indirect immunofluorescence (IF) method. Significant difference was observed in the frequency of IgA antibodies to EBV VCA and IgG antibodies to EBV EA between NPC patients and controls. There was also a significant difference between the frequency of IgM antibody to EBV VCA and EBV EA antibody titres in TC patients and controls. The geometric mean titre (GMT) of IgG antibodies to EBV VCA was significantly higher in the NPC and TC patients as compared to controls.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
The role of oxygen metabolites in mediating virucidal activity was studied in two cloned macrophage-like cell lines. The parental cell line, J774.16, upon appropriate stimulation with either phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) or aggregated immunoglobulin, is induced to oxidize glucose via the hexose monophosphate shunt and produce O2- and H2O2. A variant derived from it, clone C3C, is defective in oxidative metabolism and cannot be stimulated to produce O2- or H2O2. Significant differences in yields of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) between stimulated clone 16 cells and unstimulated cells could be obtained only when low multiplicities were used for infection. Under the same conditions, PMA stimulation of the variant clone C3C produced no reduction in yields. The effect of PMA on virus yields in clone 16 was short-lived and dose dependent. PMA stimulation of either cell line had no effect on the number of infectious centers, suggesting that the antiviral effect was likely to be an extracellular, rather than an intracellular, one. Using glucose oxidase plus aglucose to generate H2O2 in solution, we observed that H2O2 alone is capable of killing limited amounts of VSV. The inactivation of VSV, both by H2O2 in solution and by activated clone 16 cells, could be inhibited by catalase. We conclude that intracellular resistance to VSV is primarily mediated through nonoxidative mechanisms, since activated macrophages can kill only a limited number of infectious virus particles extracellularly by means of secreted H2O2.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
IgM and IgG antibodies against Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) capsid antigen and antibodies against EBV nuclear antigen and heterophil antibodies were investigated in 115 paired sera of children with acute infections and in 100 sera of healthy controls of the same age and sex. EBV-specific IgM antibodies could be recognized in 13.7% of the patients and in 7% of the controls. Antibodies against EBV nuclear antigen were not detected in the IgM-positive sera.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
The abdominal, infrarenal aneurysm of the aorta shows a very unfavorable spontaneous outcome. Therefore, every patient should be operated on without delay. The surgical procedure consists of a partial resection of the aneurysm and the reconstruction of the vascular flow by means of a synthetic prosthesis. The most dangerous complication of the aneurysm is its rupture. Emergency surgery of a ruptured aneurysm is accompanied by essentially higher risks: The mortality rate lies between 34 and 90%. The prognosis of the operation varies with the patient's age, coronary sclerosis, and renal insufficiency. The diagnosis of the aneurysm can clearly be made with sonography, angiography, and computer tomography. In the case of a ruptured aneurysm, clinical signs are of primary importance. Angiography is not indicated here. From May 1969 until November 1976, 41 patients were operated on in our clinic: 23 electively and 18 after rupture. The mortality rate of the elective cases amounted to 17% and that of the ruptured to 72%.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.