Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to P Lieberman.
A patient with asthma related to his work in a greenhouse with Lathyrus odoratus was studied. Specific IgE against pollen of this cultivar of the Leguminosae family could be demonstrated, indicating a type I allergic mechanism. Monitoring of serial PEFR measurements and nonallergic bronchial responsiveness warrant diagnosis of occupational asthma.
Chronic nonallergic rhinitis is a diagnosis of exclusion. The pathophysiology underlying this disorder is unknown. There probably are several mechanisms involved and several different variations of this condition. Therapies which have been approved for use in the treatment of chronic nonallergic rhinitis include topical corticosteroids and azelastine. Topical corticosteroid preparations that have received approval are fluticasone, budesonide, and beclomethasone. Topical nasal saline also has been established as a beneficial adjunct to therapy in some instances. Other therapies have included capsaicin, silver nitrate, botulin toxin, and various surgical procedures. These procedures include turbinate reduction, which has been performed by a number of techniques including submucosal diathermy, cryosurgery, laser cautery, and classic resection. Ethmoidal and vidian neurectomies have been performed by excision, diathermy, and cryotherapy. These procedures have met with varying degrees of success.
There are multiple problems of iodinated contrast physiology and iodinated contrast reactions that remain unresolved. The author's recent work has included studies in four of these areas. (I) In evaluating complement activation following contrast reactions, significant drops in total hemolytic complement were found, as well as that the reactors had lower baseline complement levels than nonreactors. (II) The leukocytes of atopics and of nonatopics were incubated with contrast and a greater release of histamine was found among the atopics than among the normal subjects. (III) Since histamine can be shown to be released from leukocytes by contrast, I-125-sodium diatrizoate was incubated with blood to detect any cellular association for the contrast. Significant retention of radioactivity was demonstrated by the leukocytes and not the erythrocytes. (IV) The gluteraldehyde technique was used to conjugate diatrizoate bovine serum albumen. After injection of this conjugate into a rabbit, antibody activity in the rabbit serum to the diatrizoate was demonstrated via the enzyme-linked immunospecific assay system.