Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

R Nielsen

Publications and source records attributed to R Nielsen.

At least 163 records · Page 9Linked to original sources

Electron microscopy of Trichomonas vaginalis Donné: interaction with vaginal epithelium in human trichomoniasis.

Light and electron microscopic examination of portio biopsies from eleven patients with trichomoniasis vaginalis revealed in four patients clusters of cells of T. vaginalis (T. vag.) which were attached to the vaginal mucosa. The minimum gap between adjacent trichomonad cells was the size of gap junctions (2 nm). Cells of T. vag. invaded superficially located epithelial cells but did not penetrate to the deeper cell layers of the epithelium. The latter, however, were frequently infiltrated with neutrophilic granulocytes. Contact between cells of T. vag. and neutrophils was not observed. Trichomonads which were attached to epithelial cells contained a dense network of cytoplasmic microfilaments in the part of the cell which came into contact with the epithelium. The remaining part contained the organelles normally seen in T. vag.. Endocytotic cell activity of amoeboid T. vag. occurred from the free cell surface only. A cell coat on the cell membrane--formed by bristles--was confined mainly to pinocytotic invaginations. Glycogen granules which were absent from the larger part of the epithelium were densely packed in the trichomonad cells. The findings in this study indicate that the interaction between the cells of T. vag. and the vaginal epithelium takes place primarily at a distance probably by means of substances released into the vaginal fluid, and secondly by a direct cell contact mechanism.

Adolescent↗

Thyroid autoimmunity: increased frequency in relatives of insulin-dependent diabetes patients.

Thyroid antibodies were found significantly more often in insulin-dependent diabetics than in their spouses or in non-insulin-dependent diabetics. The poor correlation between presence of thyroid autoimmunity and duration of disease and the significantly increased prevalence of thyroid antibodies in first-degree relatives of insulin-dependent probands are interpreted to suggest that thyroid autoimmunity in probands with insulin-dependent diabetes is not secondary to diabetes. Since married couples in which both members had thyroid antibodies were not found more frequently than predicted by chance alone, acquired environmental factors are not the sole determinants of familial thyroid autoimmunity in diabetes; it is likely that inherited predisposition is of major importance. Relatives of probands with thyroid antibodies have significantly higher frequency of these antibodies than do relatives of negative probands. This finding suggests that there are several kinds of insulin-dependent diabetes, one of which may be an "autoimmune" disease.

Adrenal Glands↗

Colostral transfer of immunity to Haemophilus parahaemolyticus in pigs.

Complement fixating antibodies for Haemophilus parahaemolyticus were shown to be transferred from immune sows to their offspring. Colostrum-fed 4-day-old piglets from immune sows resisted intranasal inoculation whereas their littermates, fed on cows' milk, were fully susceptible to the infection. Piglets inoculated later in the suckling period (3 to 8 weeks after birth) when their serumtiters had declined to very low levels, showed some degree of resistance, but the infection was not eliminated from the mucous membranes of the respiratory tract. In chronically infected breeding herds piglets are usually affected during the later part of the suckling period and clinical symptoms are often vague. Though a positive titer is indicative of resistance the results presented above show that protection is usually not complete. Further studies are required to ascertain whether the results obtained here are applicable in a rational control.

Animals↗

Anti-basement membrane antibodies in sera from patients without bullous pemphigoid.

Sera from 208 individuals were examined for antibasement membrane (anti-BM) antibodies by means of an indirect immunofluorescence technique. In sera from patients with bullous pemphigoid 19 of 25 had anti-BM antibodies in titres varying from 80 to 32 000. In 2 of 42 sera from patients with psoriasis, anti-BM antibodies were demonstrated (titres 40-640). Of 58 sera from patients with leg ulcers, antibodies were found in 4 (titres 40-320). Antibodies were found in 2 of 43 patients with cardio-vascular disease (titre 80) and in 1 of 40 control persons (titre 40). Serum from one of the patients with leg ulcers caused a punctate staining pattern unlike the tubular pattern seen in all other positive sera.

Animals↗

Asymptomatic male and female gonorrhoea.

Three hundred and ninety-nine patients attending the out-patient clinic of the Department of Dermatology and Venereology, Rigshospital, Copenhagen, for various venereal complaints were examined during a three-month trial. Neisseria gonorrhoeae was found in 75 female and 89 male patients. 43 women (57%) and 13 men (15%) were asymptomatic at the first visit. The duration of the asymptomatic period exceeded 3 weeks in 25 female (33%) and 7 male (8%) patients. The asymptomatic period in the male group varied from 15 to 90 days and from 4 to 180 days in the females. The majority of the patients with asymptomatic gonorrhoea had been exposed to a sexual contact with proven gonococcal infection, thus emphasizing the importance of contact investigation.

Adolescent↗