Search PubMedSearch

Biomedical subjects

R D Thornes

Publications and source records attributed to R D Thornes.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

A critical analysis of the use of sialic acid determination in the diagnosis of malignancy.

The measurement of serum sialic acid in sera from individuals with leukemia, breast, gastrointestinal, lung and bladder cancers, brucellosis and manic depression is described. The serum sialic acid levels were also examined in mice bearing Landschutz ascites tumours. The presence of sialic acid-enriched glycopeptides in serum was shown. The results indicate that while sialic acid may be significantly elevated in sera of some tumour-bearing individuals, it is not solely tumour-derived. Its application as a tumour marker is limited and requires critical analysis.

Animals

The rarity of liver toxicity in patients treated with coumarin (1,2-benzopyrone).

1. Two thousand, one hundred and seventy-three patients with cancer or chronic infections were treated with coumarin in a clinical trial. 2. 0.37% of these patients developed elevated liver enzyme levels during therapy with coumarin. 3. This hepatitis was probably a form of idiosyncratic hepatotoxicity and may have been immune in origin.

Adult

Chronic human brucellosis and anti-anergic treatment with levamisole.

Dysfunction of the cellular immune mechanism was found in 23 patients with persistent symptoms of brucellosis of more than one year's duration when skin tested for delayed hypersensitivity to dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB). Eighteen patients had low normal or depressed E rosetting capacity of their lymphocytes. Anti-anergic treatment with levamisole 150 mg daily for one month and for two consecutive days each week for six months produced an exacerbation of symptoms after one to four weeks followed by complete relief from symptoms in 15 patients and partial relief in four. Vitamin A was used to potentiate the effect of levamisole in seven patients.

Agglutination Tests