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Biomedical subjects

N E Hansen

Publications and source records attributed to N E Hansen.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

Neutrophil kinetics in acute bacterial infection. A clinical study.

Neutrophil kinetics in peripheral blood were studied with DF32P-labeled cells in eight patients during severe acute bacterial infection. Contrary to previous studies in man, the blood transit time of labeled neutrophils was short and the neutrophil turnover rate increased, up to ten times the normal, during the early phases of infection. This early phase was followed by a period in which the specific neutrophil radioactivity in the blood remained constant for up to 50 hours, probably indicating that in early convalescence neutrophil egress from the bone marrow to the blood is almost stopped. The demonstration of increased neutrophil turnover may seem to illustrate what might be considered an obvious fact, but is in contrast to previous findings and seems to obviate the prevailing theory of quantitatively unchanged but redistributed neutrophil kinetics during bacterial infection in man. The mechanism which apparently abruptly stops neutrophil egress from the bone marrow to the blood during early convalescence is unknown.

Acute Disease↗

Lysozyme activity in cerebrospinal fluid. Studies in inflammatory and non-inflammatory CNS disorders.

Lysozyme activity was measured in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from 114 patients with inflammatory (bacterial and serous meningitis, polyradiculitis, encephalitis) and non-inflammatory (multiple sclerosis, CNS tumors, cerebral vascular diseases) CNS diseases. Highly elevated values were found consistently in patients with bacterial meningitis. Elevated values were found also in patients with encephalitis, polyradiculitis, multiple sclerosis and CNS tumors, but a considerable overlapping between these groups and normal controls precludes the use of CSF lysozyme measurements as a diagnostic aid in the latter disease groups. Simultaneous measurements of lysozyme, albumin and IgG in CSF and serum suggested that the mechanism for increased CSF lysozyme values in bacterial meningitis is mainly a breakdown of the blood/brain barrier, whereas the increased CSF lysozyme values in the remaining groups of patients are more likely caused by production of lysozyme by cells within the meninges (neutrophilic granulocytes, monocytes?).

Blood-Brain Barrier↗

Immune deposits in the dermo-epidermal junction in rheumatoid arthritis.

Skin biopsies from forty patients with rheumatoid arthritis were studied for presence of immune deposits in the dermo-epidermal junction zone. In about half of these unselected patients with classical and definite rheumatoid arthritis, IgM, complement components and fibrinogen antigenic material were found. A positive correlation is demonstrated between immune deposits and the presence of cryoglobulins in serum. The presence of complement components in the skin deposits was found to be clearly related to the clinical activity of the disease, as judged by Lansbury's index.

Adult↗

Sequential studies of lymphocytes, neutrophils and serum proteins during prednisone treatment.

Seven patients (6 with connective tissue diseases, 1 with bronchial asthma) have been studied before, during, and after prednisone therapy. Maximum dose was 15 mg daily, which was tapered off to zero within three months. All patients showed striking subjective improvement during therapy. The ESR reflected this improvement but the acute phase proteins did not. The serum concentration of prealbumin rose significantly during the period of most intensive steroid treatment. IgE decreased in the patient with bronchial asthma, but otherwise the immunoglobulins did not change, and positive serological tests remained unchanged. Contact sensitization to haptens was induced without impairment during therapy. Prednisone induced rises in blood lymphocyte and neutrophil concentrations. Lymphocyte transformation, both mitogen- and antigen-induced, was not influenced by therapy, but PPD-induced inhibition of leucocyte migration decreased. Neutrophil phagocytosis was unimparied, but bactericidal capacity, stimulated nitroblue tetrazolium reduction, and neutrophil and plasma lysozyme concentrations were all depressed during treatment with prednisone.

Adult↗

Serum lysozyme in Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.

Serum lysozyme (muramidase) was determined in 72 patients with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis. Serum lysozyme was elevated in both disease groups. The mean enzyme level was significantly higher in Crohn's disease than in ulcerative colitis, but there was a considerable overlapping between the groups, which makes serum lysozyme determination of dubious value in the differential diagnosis between Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. No correlation was found between the serum lysozyme concentration and the activity of the diseases.

Adolescent↗

Neutrophilic granulocytes in acute bacterial infection. Sequential studies on lysozyme, myeloperoxidase and lactoferrin.

The changes in intraneutrophilic and plasma concentrations of the three antibacterial proteins lysozyme, lactoferrin, and myeloperoxidase were studied sequentially during acute bacterial infection in nine patients. Intraneutrophilic concentrations of the three proteins were decreased by more than 50% during the 1st week of infection, followed by a slow increase over the following 2 weeks. Nadir values coincided with maximal toxic granulation of the neutrophils. The data suggest that neutrophilic granulocytes are deficient during early bacterial infection, possibly because of deficient synthesis of antibacterial proteins in the bone marrow, and that neutrophil toxic granulation is the visual counterpart of this defect. The plasma concentrations of the three proteins showed considerable differences: whereas plasma lysozyme did not show any sequential changes, plasma myeloperoxidase was high at the start of infection and quickly decreased towards normal values, and plasma lactoferrin, high in the first samples, showed a secondary peak 1 week after onset of disease, before normalization was seen. These differences may result from differences in the signals are specific for the individual antibacterial protein and not for the different types of neutrophil granules.

Adult↗

Sequential studies of lymphocyte responsiveness and antibody formation in acute bacterial meningitis.

Lymphocyte transformation responses in vitro were studied in eight patients with acute bacterial meningitis (in five due to Neisseria meningitidis). Sequential studies were done from 24--48 hr after the first symptoms of infection to complete recovery. In all cases lymphocyte transformation was depressed during the acute phases of illness. The responses to microbial antigens were more affected than the responses to mitogens. The course of the lymphocyte responses to the causative micro-organism showed no difference from the responses to other microbial species. A moderate shift towards increased sensitivity of the lymphocytes to lower doses of the causative micro-organism was observed during the course of illness in three cases. In N. meningitidis infection, a rapid rise was seen in the serum titres of complement-fixing antibodies and in the number of precipitating antibodies, whereas the rise in immunoglobulin concentrations was more prolonged. Characteristic patterns of elevation and return towards normal were found in the serum concentrations of the acute-phase reactants alpha1-antitrypsin, haptoglobin, and orosomucoid. It is concluded that the lymphocyte transformation responses in vitro during severe bacterial infection are largely governed by non-specific factors, and that studies of lymphocyte responses to micro-organisms should always include other microbial species as controls.

Antibody Formation↗

Neutrophil defect in multiple myeloma. Studies on intraneutrophilic lysozyme in multiple myeloma and malignant lymphoma.

Intracellular lysozyme concentration was measured in neutrophilic granulocytes from 25 patients with multiple myeloma. At diagnosis intraneutrophil lysozyme activity was significantly reduced (mean reduction 50%). During clinical remission after 1-4 months of intensive chemotherapy values were normalized. In 18 cases studied at various stages of the disease from 6 to 70 months after diagnosis there was a significant negative correlation between the duration of the disease and neutrophil lysozyme concentration. The decrease in neutrophil lysozyme concentration was significantly correlated to clinical disease activity and the percentage of plasma cells in bone marrow aspirates, whereas there was no correlation between the concentration of M-protein in serum and the neutrophil lysozyme concentration. Plasma lysozyme concentration was normal. In contrast, neutrophil lysozyme concentration was normal in 18 patients with stage III-IV malignant lymphoma. Plasma lysozyme in this group was significantly higher than normal. The difference in neutrophil lysozyme patterns between multiple myeloma and malignant lymphoma supports the hypothesis that the defect in neutrophil maturation seen in malignant blood disorders is directly related to the infiltration of the bone marrow by pathologic cells.

Antineoplastic Agents↗

Plasma myeloperoxidase and lactoferrin measured by radioimmunoassay: relations to neutrophil kinetics.

In 31 patients, covering a wide range of blood neutrophil counts and turnover rates, the plasma concentrations of myeloperoxidase and lactoferrin have been measured with radioimmunoassays and compared to neutrophil kinetic parameters, measured with DF32P-labeled neutrophils. It was found that the plasma concentrations of both proteins correlated significantly with the total number of neutrophils in the blood (TBGP=total blood granulocyte pool) as well as with the neutrophil turnover rate (GTR=granulocyte turnover rate), which is evidence that neutrophilic granulocytes are the main suppliers of myeloperoxidase and lactoferrin to the plasma. In contrast to the previously demonstrated better relationship between the GTR and plasma lysozyme, a protein also originating in neutrophil granules, both myeloperoxidase and lactoferrin correlated better with the TBGP. These differences may reflect differences in the mode of release of intragranular proteins from neutrophils to the plasma. The correlation of the plasma lactoferrin concentration with the TBGP was so good as to suggest its use in the clinical assessment of the TBGP.

Arthritis, Rheumatoid↗

Neutrophil kinetics in corticosteroid induced neutrophilia measured by plasma lysozyme.

A single dose of prednisone (2 mg/kg orally) resulted in a mean rise in neutrophil counts to 2.3 (range 1.5-3.6) and a mean decrease in plasma lysozyme to 0.73 (range 0.50-0.87) times the value before the steroid was given in 10 haematologically normal persons. There was no change in the intraneutrophilic lysozyme activity. It is concluded that the decrease in plasma lysozyme is compatible with a reduction in the egress of neutrophils to the tissues and a decrease in the neutrophil turnover rate.

Adult↗