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M de Boer

Publications and source records attributed to M de Boer.

131 records · Page 8Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Openness to discuss cancer in the nuclear family: scale, development, and validation.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the development and validation of a scale for assessing openness to discuss cancer in the family. METHOD: Two studies were conducted. Study 1 was a cross-sectional study designed to test the factor structure of the scale. Four hundred ninety-eight patients with either breast cancer or Hodgkin's disease were interviewed. In Study 2, a longitudinal study, 133 patients with cancer in the head and neck were tested at four points in time: just before treatment, 6 weeks, 13 weeks and 52 weeks after treatment. Study 2 aimed to confirm the factor structure established in Study 1, to test for construct validity in a new population, to test the psychometric properties of the Openness Scale, and to test the scale's sensitivity to change. RESULTS: In Study 1, a one-factor solution was revealed, resulting in a scale of eight items. In Study 2, the factor structure found in Study 1 was confirmed. In line with theoretical expectations, subjects who perceived their communication about cancer as more open showed more positive rehabilitation outcomes especially at 13 weeks after treatment (less uncertainty, fewer negative feelings, more control, higher self-esteem, fewer psychological and physical complaints). Furthermore, more open communication related with more support by family members and more discussion with the partner. The scale was found to be stable over time. CONCLUSIONS: The scale's construction and subsequent analysis show that open discussion of problems (related to cancer) in the family can be measured reliably with an eight-item instrument. Additional validation of the scale is indicated.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Humanized anti-IgE mAb Hu-901 prevents the activation of allergen-specific T cells.

BACKGROUND: As a result of the very efficient capture of allergens by IgE that focuses to CD23 on B cells or FcepsilonRI on dendritic cells, allergen-specific T cells can be activated after exposure to very low levels of allergens. This IgE-mediated allergen presentation is 100- to 1,000-fold more efficient than fluid phase endocytosis. The aim of the present study was to determine whether humanized anti-IgE mAb Hu-901 can prevent the activation of allergen-specific T cells by inhibiting IgE-mediated allergen presentation. METHODS: A house dust mite major allergen Der p 1-specific T cell line was generated from an allergic asthma patient, and a model was set up to show IgE-facilitated allergen presentation via CD23 on EBV-transformed B cells. In addition, experiments were performed by FACS analysis, detecting the presence of IgE-allergen complexes bound to EBV-B cells by polyclonal FITC-labeled anti-IgE antisera. RESULTS: The anti-IgE mAb Hu-901 inhibited proliferation of allergen-specific T cells at low allergen concentrations. Inhibition was dose-dependent. This effect could be explained by Hu-901 inhibition of binding of allergen-IgE complexes to CD23 expressed on EBV-transformed B lymphocytes. CONCLUSIONS: These data clearly indicate that anti-IgE antibodies for the treatment of allergy exert their effect not only by inhibiting mast cell/basophil degranulation, but also by preventing T cell activation, which possibly explains the effect of anti-IgE treatment on late-phase reactions noted in clinical studies.

Allergens↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Ligation of CD28 on resting T cells by its ligand B7 results in the induction of both Th1- and Th2-type cytokines.

It has been well documented that cross-linking CD28 with mAb can provide a potent costimulatory signal to T cells for the production of IL-2, IL-6, IFN-gamma, GM-CSF and TNF-alpha. Much less is known about the role of the CD28 molecule in the induction of Th2-type lymphokines such as IL-4, IL-5, and IL-10. So far, only limited data are available about the secretion of IL-2, IL-6, IFN-gamma, and GM-CSF by T cells when using B7 as the natural ligand for CD28. We investigated whether B7-CD28 ligation can result in the secretion of Th2-type cytokines using 3T6 mouse fibroblasts transfected with human CD32 (Fc gamma RIIa high-responder allele, 3T6-CD32 cells) or with both CD32 and B7 (3T6-CD32/B7 cells). It was found that upon stimulation through the TCR/CD3 complex, B7-CD28 interaction not only results in the production of cytokines of the Th1 type, but also gives rise to the production of large amounts of Th-2 type cytokines such as IL-4 and IL-10. In contrast to the production of IL-2, IFN-gamma, GM-CSF, and TNF-alpha, the production of IL-4 after co-stimulation with B7-CD28 interaction was restricted to CD45RO+ memory T cells. In addition, the production of IL-4 after co-stimulation by B7-CD28 interaction was not influenced by the addition of IFN-gamma. The production of IFN-gamma was not affected by IL-4, but was slightly inhibited by IL-10.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗