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Biomedical subjects

N T Felberg

Publications and source records attributed to N T Felberg.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1981

Graves' ophthalmopathy--immunologic parameters related to corticosteroid therapy.

Patients with severe Graves' ophthalmopathy may or may not improve with systemic corticosteroids. In an attempt to find immunologic distinctions to correspond with this clinical phenomenon, we have evaluated various parameters in corticosteroid-responsive and corticosteroid-resistant individuals. Percentages and absolute numbers of thymus-derived active and total rosette-forming cells (A-RFC and T-RFC) underwent statistically significant (p < 0.001) increases during successful prednisone therapy in 17 patients . B lymphocytes and complement receptor mononuclear cells did not significantly change with steroid therapy. In the second group, five patients therapeutically resistant to corticosteroids presented with elevated A-RFC and normal T-RFC. When treated with oral prednisone, these patients' A-RFC decreased (p < 0.001), and the T-RFC were unchanged. Corticosteroids increased the lymphoblast transformation response to phytohemagglutinin (PHA) of a steroid-responsive patient, whereas steroids decreased the PHA lymphoblast transformation response of a corticosteroid-resistant patient. A disease activity index to correlate the clinical and immunologic data has been devised. The findings may allow the clinician to predict which patients with Graves' ophthalmopathy are likely to benefit corticosteroid therapy and which patients may be managed better by other methods.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

Familial pars planitis.

Pars planitis has rarely been noted to occur in more than one member of a family. We report the occurrence of this disorder in more than one member of two unrelated families. The affected members of one of these families included a 37-year-old woman and three of her six children. The affected members of the other family were two teenaged brothers. No specific cause for the familial clustering of pars planitis has been identified in the affected members of these families.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1980

Tritiated fluorescein binding to normal human plasma proteins.

Aliquots of normal human plasma that had been incubated with tritiated fluorescein were examined for radioactive binding to proteins. Samples were fractionated by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) and gel filtration. Aliquots removed between zero time and two hours showed no specific radioactive binding peaks by either method. Tritiated fluorescein ran well ahead of all proteins at all times on PAGE and well after the protein eluted from a fractionating column (Sephadex G-75). Ten minutes after intravenous injections, PAGE of plasma from three patients undergoing fluorescein angiography with nonradioactive dye showed the only fluorescent band migrating ahead of all protein bands. These methods failed to demonstrate specific binding of tritiated fluorescein to normal human plasma proteins. We conclude that during angiography, fluorescein exists in plasma as an unbound molecule or is so weakly associated with plasma proteins as to be undetectable by the methods used.

Blood Proteins↗
PubMed1980

Experimental ocular angiogenesis.

In 29 experiments, vascular autologous retina from the contralateral rabbit eye was implanted into corneal pockets in New Zealand white rabbits. The implants induced a neovascular growth of limbal vessels that anastomosed with the vessels of the implant in 15 of the cases. Implantation of vascular autologous iris, choroid, optic nerve extraocular muscle, and conjunctiva also induced neovascularization. Avascular peripheral retina, cornea, and scleral implants did not cause a neovascular response, nor did boiled vascular retina, boiled iris, and boiled choroid. Neovascularization from the retinal and iris intracorneal implants was induced by V2 carcinoma.

Animals↗
PubMed1980

Tumor-associated antibodies in the serum of patients with ocular melanoma. IV. Correction for smooth muscle antibodies.

Serum samples from patients with choroidal malignant melanoma, carcinoma metastatic to the choroid and "normal" controls containing tumor-associated antibodies (TAA) to tissue cultured melanoma cells were examined for the presence of smooth muscle antibody (SMA). Sera found to contain SMA were absorbed with actin or thrombosthenin and reassayed for TAA. With this modification, 72% (78% before absorption) of patients with uveal melanoma, 26% (78% before absorption) of patients with carcinoma metastatic to the choroid and 13% (24% before absorption) of "normal" controls were found to have tumor-associated antibodies in their serum.

Actins↗
PubMed1980

Surface and cytoplasmic antigens in retinoblastoma.

Surface and cytoplasmic antigens in retinoblastoma were examined by antisera prepared against two tissue-cultured retinoblastoma cell lines. In addition, several other antisera, including anti-rhodopsin, anti-rod outer segment, anti-large-molecular-weight protein, anti-S, and anti-P antigen, were also utilized in a complement-dependent cytotoxicity assay in order to explore the tumor cell surface. Antisera to tissue-cultured retinoblastoma cell lines were cross-reactive to both cell lines as was rod outer segment antiserum.

Antigens, Neoplasm↗
PubMed1979

Vitreous inhibition of tumor neovascularization.

Cartilage has been reported to contain a factor that inhibits tumor neovascularization. Rabbit vitreous, another avascular tissue, has also been shown recently to have an inhibitory effect on tumor neovascularization. This report describes our results on the effects of bovine and human vitreous on tumor neovascularization with use of a rabbit cornea model. Inhibition of neovascularization was observed with both bovine and human vitreous in the form of reduced new blood vessel growth over and around the vitreous pellet and subsequent delayed exophytic tumor growth. Stimulation of neovascularization by bovine and human vitreous was also observed as an early, short-lived response.

Animals↗
PubMed1979

E-rosette formation in Graves' ophthalmopathy.

We investigated the lymphocyte characteristics of 77 Graves' disease patients with and without infiltrative ophthalmopathy. Thirteen patients with infiltrative ophthalmopathy without prior antithyroid therapy and 20 euthyroid patients with progressive ophthalmopathy demonstrated decreased percentages of active and total erythrocyte rosette-forming lymphocytes compared to thyrotoxic patients without eye disease and to a control population (p less than 0.001). There was no significant difference in rosette-forming cells between untreated thyrotoxic and treated euthyroid patients with ophthalmopathy. No lymphocytotoxic antibodies or rosette inhibitory factor was present in the sera of patients with infiltrative ophthalmopathy. Untreated and treated patients with lid retraction and mild proptosis without extraocular muscle disease had decreased active rosette-forming cells (p less than 0.001) but normal total rosette-forming cells. Five patients with infiltrative ophthalmopathy who failed to improve with systemic corticosteroids demonstrated elevated active but normal total rosette-forming cells. Differences in rosette formation between ophthalmic and nonophthalmic Graves' disease may represent an associated cell-mediated abnormality that may explain why control of the thyrotoxic state need not correlate with the ophthalmic manifestations of the disorder.

Adult↗
PubMed1978

Subretinal fluid examination of LDH, PGI, and CEA in a case of metastatic bronchogenic carcinoma of the choroid.

A 58-year-old white male with a history of bronchogenic carcinoma presented with a total retinal detachment overlying a choroidal metastasis. His main tumor burden had been extirpated by pneumonectomy followed by radiation therapy four months prior to admission. With the development of a painful, glaucomatous eye, unresponsive to conventional therapy, enucleation was performed. Histologic examination of the enucleated globe revealed a metastatic tumor to the choroid, consistent with primary bronchogenic carcinoma. Aqueous humor and plasma examination revealed elevated ratios (Aqueous humor:Plasma) of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and phosphoglucose isomerase (PGI). Furthermore, subretinal fluid examination demonstrated concentrations of LDH and PGI higher than aqueous humor. While the level of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) in the plasma was normal (less than 2.5 ng/ml) following pneumonectomy, it was 121 ng/ml in the subretinal fluid. This would suggest that a choroidal lesion alone, in the absence of a clinically detectable primary tumor, is insufficient to elevate the plasma CEA.

Aqueous Humor↗
PubMed1978

The reverse Wessely phenomenon: immune corneal rings following systemic immunisation.

Rabbits were hyperimmunised systemically over a 4-week period with bovine serum albumin (BSA) in complete Freund's adjuvants and were subsequently challenged systemically with a massive dose of BSA designed to produce serum sickness. Without any ocular manipulation a spontaneous corneal immune reaction was observed which we termed a 'reverse Wessely phenomenon'. It was due to a reversed sequence of antibody becoming sequestered in the cornea and later responding to antigen entering via the limbal circulation. In the stroma, lymphocytes were prominent and only few polymorphonuclear cells were found, but this may have been due to late sectioning of the corneas tested. The corneal ring formed at the limbus and migrated centripetally ahead of peripheral clouding, which is typical of the Wessely phenomenon. Possible relationships of this reaction with some autoimmune disorders are discussed.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

Presumed spontaneously regressed retinoblastoma.

A history of blindness in one eye since childhood, the fundus appearance of the other eye, and the family history of elevated plasma levels of carcinoembryonic (CEA) antigen and colorectal carcinoma led us to diagnose bilateral spontaneously regressed retinoblastoma. Massive gliosis of the retina was found in the eye enucleated because of blindness and pain. The diagnosis of regressed retinoblastoma should be considered where the pathologic diagnosis of an enucleated eye is massive gliosis of the retina, but where no known cause is present.

Adult↗
PubMed1977

Evaluation of metastatic cancer to the eye. Carcinoembryonic antigen and gamma glutamyl transpeptidase.

Plasma carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and gamma glutamyl transpeptidase (GTP) were studied in 24 patients with cancer metastatic to the uveal tract. Eighty-three percent demonstrated elevated CEA levels, while only 36% (49 of 135 patients) with primary uveal melanoma showed elevated levels. While none of the uveal melanoma patients had a CEA value greater than 10 ng/ml, 58% (14) of the patients with metastatic tumors to the uvea had values greater than 10 ng/ml. Forty-six percent (11) of patients with metastatic tumors to the uvea demonstrated elevated GTP levels that correlated with documentation of liver metastases. Ninety-two percent of the patients with metastatic cancer to the uvea had either an elevated CEA or GTP level. When used together, plasma CEA and GTP levels appear to be helpful in differentiating metastatic tumors to the uvea from primary uveal melanomas. These assays also appear to be useful in determining tumor burden and concurrent hepatic involvement in patients with metastatic tumors to the uvea.

Acyltransferases↗
PubMed1977

Aqueous cytology and enzymes in nematode endophthalmitis.

A 7-year-old girl had a white fundus mass and vitreous cells, compatible with an endophytic retinoblastoma. Aqueous aspiration revealed normal lactate dehydrogenase levels and large numbers of eosinophils, suggesting the diagnosis of nematode endophthalmitis. Treatment with corticosteroids brought about resolution of the inflammation and an excellent visual result.

Adrenal Cortex Hormones↗
PubMed1977

A comparison of antinuclear antibodies and DNA-binding antibodies in chronic open-angle glaucoma.

Antinuclear antibodies (ANA) were examined in the sera of 28 patients with chronic open angle glaucoma (COAG) and 24 normal volunteers by an immunoperoxidase technique. Unlike the results of a previous report, no significant difference in titers was found between the two groups. A highly objective radioimmunoassay for DNA antibody was also employed, giving similar results. The increased incidence of ANA at low dilutions in both COAG and normal groups in this study and its absence when measured by radioimmunoassay suggest that positive ANA reactions at such low dilutions are the result of nonspecific binding. The lack of demonstrable differences from normal in ANA- or DNA-binding antibody does not support the results of earlier studies suggesting a humoral immune or autoimmune mechanism in COAG.

Antibodies↗