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Biomedical subjects

R A Good

Publications and source records attributed to R A Good.

At least 973 records · Page 54Linked to original sources
PubMed1971

N-terminal amino-acid sequence of African lungfish immunoglobulin light chains.

The sequence of the N-terminal ten amino acids of the unblocked light chains derived from the low molecular weight immunoglobulin of a dipnoid fish, the African lungfish (Protopterus aethiopicus), has been determined. A degree of sequence heterogeneity as extensive as that displayed by pooled mammalian light chains was encountered. The major N-terminal sequence of the amino acids of light chains from lungfish immunoglobins can be made homologous with that of various Elasmobranchean, Chondrostean, Avian, and Mammalian species if an internal deletion of two base triplets in the gene coding for light chains from lungfish immunoglobulins is assumed. The existence of a deletion and/or insertion mechanism may have profound biological significance, since it would be ideal for the introduction of variability into immunoglobulin chains without sacrificing certain integral features of the antibody molecule.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1971

Opsonic defect in patients with cystic fibrosis of the pancreas.

Cystic fibrosis of the pancreas is one of the most common inborn errors of metabolism. The high incidence of morbidity and mortality in these patients is primarily due to severe and frequent pulmonary infection. To date, no immune deficiency has been found in cystic fibrosis patients. Their sera contain normal quantities of immunoglobulins and hemolytic complement. In an assay of phagocytosis by alveolar macrophage, six out of nine sera from cystic fibrosis patients failed to support normal phagocytosis of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. This deficiency could be corrected by increasing the concentration of serum used in the assay. By contrast, their sera supported normal phagocytosis of Pseudomonas by blood polymorphonuclear leukocytes and continued to support normal phagocytosis when serum dilutions were used. Two patients with severe isolated deficiences of serum immunoglobulin A were found to have a similar defect in the alveolar macrophage assay, but normal phagocytosis by polymorphonuclear leukocytes. It is postulated that cystic fibrosis patients may have a quantitative and (or) functional defect of IgA antibodies, specific for Pseudomonas, and possibly of importance in the pathogenesis of their pulmonary disease.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1971

Laminar airflow protection in bone marrow transplantation.

A laminar airflow room was used to provide a low-pathogen environment for a child with lymphopenic immune deficiency transplanted with paternal bone marrow. Comparison of flora from the patient, personnel, and the environment indicated that no colonization with exogenous organisms occurred in the patient during the 45-day period of study. The number of organisms recovered from the laminar airflow room was exceedingly small. Conventional hospital isolation rooms contained more bacteria and fungi than the laminar airflow room, even when strict aseptic procedures were followed in the former. Patients with lymphopenic immune deficiency and agranulocytosis admitted to conventional isolation rooms were colonized with exogenous organisms within 1 week. Each developed infection with these strains, and one patient died. Laminar airflow isolation seems at present the best means to prevent exogenous infection during hospitalization of patients with lymphopenic and other severe immune-deficiency diseases and may be essential when bone marrow transplantation is performed to treat their immunological defect.

Air Microbiology↗