Biomedical subjects
R A Thompson
Publications and source records attributed to R A Thompson.
Nursing personnel administration within a hospital.
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Meningococcal meningitis associated with persistent hypocomplementaemia due to circulating C3 nephritic factor.
Two teenage patients who presented with meningococcal meningitis were found to have persistently low C3 levels even after recovery. This was accompanied by circulating C3 nephritic factor, which persisted for more than 12 months in each case. Neither patient had evidence of partial lipodystrophy or of glomerulonephritis initially, although one patient subsequently developed mesangioproliferative glomerulonephritis following a second admission with pneumococcal pneumonia. It is possible that the generation of the nephritic factor was initiated during the presenting illness.
Noninvasive techniques in cerebrovascular diagnosis.
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Cutaneous viral infection as a presentation of intestinal lymphangiectasia.
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Polymorph function in asthma.
In vitro polymorph movement, phagocytosis and bactericidal activity were compared in asthmatics, patients with bacterial infection and control subject. No gross defects were observed, but statistical analysis indicated that asthmatics have depressed polymorph movement (P less than 0.05) and lower augmentation of an intracellular enzyme activity (NBT reduction), associated with bactericidal function (P less than 0.01). As expected, polymorphs from patients with bacterial infection are capable of increased NBT reduction (P less than 0.001). Correlations between a wide range of clinical and laboratory data were also performed by computer analysis. Among significant findings were indications that atopic extrinsic asthmatics, in comparison with intrinsic asthmatics, have raised unstimulated NBT activity (P less than 0.05) and lower augmentation in response to endotoxin (P less than 0.05), as well as increased IgE and eosinophil counts (P less than 0.002). These findings suggest that in extrinsic asthmatics there may be some impairment of polymorph function which would account for an increased tendency to respiratory infections or to a prolonged recovery from such infections.
A simple, rapid ELISA method for the detection of DNA antibodies.
Employing an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique the serum antibodies against native (double stranded) and denatured (single stranded) deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) have been measured in various disease groups and a group of blood donor sera. The ELISA method has been compared with a radioimmunoassay method using native (double stranded) DNA is substrate antigen and a latex-fixation technique using particles coated with soluble deoxyribonucleoprotein (SNP). It is concluded that ELISA offers an economic and reliable alternative to isotope techniques for the assessment of antibody content in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and related disease states for the clinical laboratory.
Staff development and education.
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Studies of cellular and humoral immunity in typhoid fever and TAB vaccinated subjects.
An assessment of both humoral and cell-mediated immune responses to Salmonella typhi antigens in patients with acute typhoid infection, TAB inoculated subjects and in healthy controls is reported. Cell-mediated immunity as assessed by the leucocyte migration inhibition test (LMI), and developed in all cases with typhoid fever. Positive LMI was evident in the first week of the illness and was maintained during the evolution of disease and in some patients was still present after a year. It also developed at the end of 3 weeks in five out of nine TAB vaccinated subjects. Weakly positive LMI was noticed in only two of twenty asian and caucasian controls. Antibodies, determined by the standard Widal test, were significantly raised in both patients with typhoid fever and TAB inoculated subjects. The antibodies and cellular reactivity developed almost simultaneously but there was no correlation between the agglutination titres and LMI positivity, implying that they are independent of each other. Typhoid patients also showed significantly raised serum IgM and IgA levels and increased concentrations of secretory IgA in their saliva.
Humoral and cell-mediated immune responses in chronic typhoid carriers.
Humoral and cell-mediated immune responses to Salmonella typhi were studied in 10 chronic typhoid carriers, and in healthy controls. Carriers showed impaired cellular reactivity to S. typhi antigens in the leucocyte migration inhibition test (LMI). Carriers did not show a generalized depression of cell-mediated immunity in that delayed hypersensitivity skin test responses to recall antigens, peripheral blood T cell numbers, and lymphocyte transformation responses to mitogens were normal. Lymphocyte transformation in the presence of S. typhi antigen occurred to a greater extent than normal in four of six subjects tested and suggested the possibility of dissociated defects of cellular immunity. Carriers showed normal humoral immunity, as judged by antibodies to the flagellar and somatic antigens of S. typhi and S. paratyphi and to Vi antigens of S. typhi. The results suggest that the carrier state may be the consequence of a specific defect in cell-mediated immune responses to S. typhi.
Distinct genes for fibroblast and serum C1q.
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International collaborative study of four candidate reference preparations for the antigenic and hemolytic measurement of human serum complement components.
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Delayed separation of the umbilical cord, severe widespread infections, and immunodeficiency.
Three of 4 children in a family died from infection before age one year. All 3 had delayed separation of the umbilical cord in the third week. One child was found to have defects both in specific antibody production and in neutrophil function; these were not improved by treatment with ascorbic acid or levamisole.
Heart antibodies in cardiomyopathies.
The reported frequency of circulating heart reactive antibodies in cardiomyopathies has varied and their significance is unknown. In this study such antibodies were sought in patients with primary congestive and hypertrophic cardiomyopathies and other heart diseases. Standard "single sandwich" and the more sensitive "double sandwich" indirect immunofluorescence techniques failed to disclose a significant difference between any cardiomyopathic group and controls in repeated experiments. With both techniques results were subject to considerable method-specific artefacts and observer variation. No published work associating heart antibodies detected by immunofluorescence methods with cariomyopathies adequately takes these into account.
Hypocomplementaemia due to a genetic deficiency of beta 1H globulin.
An 8-month-old Asian boy who presented with the haemolytic uraemic syndrome was found to have a low haemolytic complement, and in particular a very low C3 level, with a normal C4 level. These abnormalities persisted after recovery and were not associated with the presence of circulating C3 nephritic factor. A clinically healthy 3-year-old brother was found to have an identical complement profile, which indicated increased alternative pathway activation. Both brothers had normal levels of the C3b inactivator, but very low levels of beta 1H globulin (less than 10% of a reference standard serum). The parents, who were first cousins, had half-normal levels of beta 1H globulin, and low levels were found in other members of the family, indicating that the defect was inherited.
"Gluten-sensitive diarrhea without evidence of celiac disease".
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A genetic defect of the C1q subcomponent of complement associated with childhood (immune complex) nephritis.
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Immunological mechanisms and cardiomyopathy.
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