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Biomedical subjects

R Penny

Publications and source records attributed to R Penny.

At least 163 records · Page 9Linked to original sources
PubMed1985

The chemiluminescence response of normal human leukocytes to chlamydia trachomatis.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the phagocytic response of normal human polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) and monocytes (MN) to eight serotypes of C trachomatis (B,C,D,E,F,I,J, and L2) using a chemiluminescence (CL) assay, with luminal and lucigenin as amplifiers. The magnitude of the phagocytic cell CL response was proportional to the phagocyte-to-chlamydiae ratio, with a poor CL response detected at a ratio of 1:125 and progressively larger CL responses up to ratios of 1:50,000. The durations of the CL responses to all chlamydiae serotypes tested were considerably longer than that for zymosan. The PMN demonstrated a relatively greater CL response to all chlamydiae serotypes tested when compared with MN. The PMN and MN CL responses to "genital serotypes" (D,E,F,I, and J) (as well as lymphogranuloma venereum serotype L2) were greater than that for "ocular" serotypes (B and C). Inactivation of serum complement and specific chlamydial antibody absorption reduced the CL responses of both PMN and MN. This is the first study to characterize the CL responses of normal human PMN and MN cells to C trachomatis, and it indicates the important role of oxygen dependent antimicrobial systems in the phagocytosis of this common human pathogen.

Animals↗
PubMed1984

AIDS and related conditions. One year's experience in St. Vincent's Hospital, Sydney.

Fifty-six patients were referred in 1983 for assessment in connection with AIDS and related disorders. Clinical and immunological classification of patients was carried out according to the NHMRC criteria. The presence of antibodies to an AIDS-associated retrovirus (ARV) was determined in some patients. Of the 32 patients who could be categorized, three patients had AIDS, and all three had serum antibodies to ARV. Fifteen patients had lymphadenopathy syndrome with impaired T-cell immunity. Ten of 12 patients tested had antibodies to ARV. Symptomatic illnesses resembling lymphadenopathy syndrome, but without immune defects, occurred in nine patients. By contrast, five patients who had no symptoms had impaired immunity, and in seven patients no clinical and immunological abnormalities were found. The classification proposed by the NHMRC was found to be useful in delineating several major clinical and immunological patterns of response to infection with the AIDS-associated retrovirus.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1984

Contact tracing in the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Evidence for transmission of virus and disease by an asymptomatic carrier.

The sexual contacts of a patient with acquired immune deficiency syndrome were traced, and clinical, immunological, and serological evidence was obtained and evaluated. It was determined that the patient acquired the disease from a homosexual man who had no symptoms, but in whom laboratory evidence of immunodeficiency and serological evidence of exposure to the AIDS-associated retrovirus was found.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1984

Factors influencing immune complex localisation.

In systemic immune complex (IC) diseases such as SLE and rheumatoid vasculitis, IC accumulate in a number of tissues, either after deposition from the circulation or from in situ formation. The tissue localisation of IC depends on a delicate balance between the production of IC and the ability of the mononuclear phagocytic system (MPS) to remove them from blood. At times IC are cleared inefficiently, persist in the circulation and subsequently localise in tissues. This review evaluates the role of local tissue factors - anatomical, physiological, physical and immunological - in this process. We report on our studies examining the significance of C3b and IgG Fc receptors in tissues subject to IC deposition. No evidence for such receptors was found with the exception of a C3b receptor in human glomeruli. Our negative findings may be due to methodological difficulties in the identification of in situ receptors. Alternatively, immune receptors may not be present at these extra-glomerular sites and would therefore be unlikely to participate in IC localisation.

Animals↗
PubMed1984

Effect of estradiol on plasma melatonin levels.

Melatonin levels were determined in plasma samples obtained at 15 minute intervals during a 4-hour period (08:00 - 12:00 hours) from a normal adult male on 5 consecutive days. On days 1, 2, and 3, the subject was given estradiol valerate (E2) 10 micrograms/kg at the end of each sampling period. An episodic pattern of melatonin secretion was found. Post E2 mean estradiol levels per 4 hours increased and mean melatonin and testosterone levels per 4 hours decreased significantly. A decrease in melatonin levels post E2 is the reverse of the response expected based on nonhuman animal experimental data.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Decreased neutrophil chemotaxis and chronic granulomatous disease.

A case of chronic granulomatous disease associated with decreased neutrophil chemotaxis is described. It is suggested that defective neutrophil motility may be more common than previously recognized in chronic granulomatous disease. However, the presence of a chemotactic defect does not necessarily imply a more severe clinical course.

Cell Migration Inhibition↗
PubMed1984

Chemiluminescent response to pathogenic organisms: normal human polymorphonuclear leukocytes.

Chemiluminescence (CL) is a sensitive indicator of phagocytosis and intracellular killing; however, little is known of the normal CL response by human polymorphonuclear leukocytes to different pathogenic microorganisms. We investigated the luminol-enhanced CL response of normal polymorphonuclear leukocytes to a number of common bacterial pathogens and two yeasts. We analyzed the CL response to viable and heat-killed microorganisms at 25 and 37 degrees C. The CL response to all microorganisms was greater and more rapid at 37 degrees C. Variable responses were observed with viable and heat-killed microorganisms; some were unaffected, whereas other demonstrated reduced CL. Each microorganism caused a reproducible response pattern, which could be placed into two general categories. In the first category were those which caused a rapid exponential rise and decay in CL: Enterobacter cloacae, Salmonella typhimurium, Shigella flexneri, Staphylococcus aureus, Candida albicans, and zymosan. In the second category were those which rose slowly over a longer time course to a poorly defined peak: Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Proteus mirabilis, and Streptococcus pyogenes. The CL response also reflected serum opsonic activity. The effect of inactivated complement, factor B, and removal of specific antibody were investigated. Increasing the concentration of zymosan gave a proportional rise in peak CL; however, a strain of E. coli caused a variation in peak time rather than peak height. Different CL kinetics were shown for three strains of K. pneumoniae, possibly a result of each having different membrane or cell wall characteristics. This study defines the nature and factors affecting the normal CL response to a variety of common pathogenic microorganisms.

Adsorption↗
PubMed1984

Immunoregulation in juvenile chronic arthritis.

The presence of hyperimmunoglobulinaemia and antinuclear antibodies in patients with juvenile chronic arthritis (JCA) suggests a possible role for immunoregulatory abnormalities in the pathogenesis of the disease. This is further supported by the demonstration in the sera of such patients of an autoantibody active against a suppressor inducer T cell subset. To identify immunoregulatory defects in JCA, a method of measuring concanavalin A (Con A)-inducible lymphocyte suppression of IgG production in vitro has been established. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were cultured in the presence of either medium alone, pokeweed mitogen (PWM), Con A, or PWM together with Con A. IgG present in culture supernates at 8 days was measured by a double-antibody radioimmunoassay. Spontaneous IgG synthesis by lymphocytes by both patients and child controls was found to be more than double that of lymphocytes from adult control subjects. However, lymphocytes of children (patients or controls) did not show stimulation of IgG production in the presence of PWM. Con A-induced suppression of spontaneous IgG synthesis was reduced compared to adult controls in both patients (p less than 0.02) and child controls (p less than 0.05). Con A-induced suppression of IgG synthesis in the presence of PWM was also reduced compared to adult controls in both patients (p less than 0.01) and child controls (p less than 0.01) but was also reduced in the patient group compared to the child controls (p less than 0.01). Thus, spontaneous IgG synthesis in children is increased compared to adults, and IgG-producing cells appear less subject to regulation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Cord serum thyroid-stimulating hormone and thyroglobulin levels decline with increasing birth weight in newborns.

Cord serum thyroglobulin (Tg) and TSH levels were related to birth weight in 3 groups of newborn infants composed of 101 infants. Serum free T3 index, free T4 index, and/or T4 also were determined. Group I consisted of normal term newborns (20 females and 19 males), whose mean +/- SD gestational ages (40.1 +/- 0.7 vs. 40.1 +/- 0.5 weeks) did not differ, but whose mean birth weights (3299 +/- 282 vs. 3757 +/- 447 g) differed significantly (P less than 0.005). In female infants, serum Tg levels (r = -0.401; P less than 0.05) and the log of TSH levels (r = -0.576; P less than 0.005) correlated negatively with birth weight, while Tg levels correlated positively with the log of TSH levels (r = 0.401; P less than 0.05). In contrast, none of these correlations was significant for male infants. However, T4 levels and birth weight correlated positively (r = 0.499; P less than 0.025) in male infants, but not in female infants. Group II consisted of newborns whose birth weights were less than 2500 g (19 females and 19 males). Mean birth weights of female (2032 +/- 301 g) and male (1850 +/- 413 g) infants did not differ significantly (P greater than 0.05). Both the Tg levels and the log of the TSH levels correlated negatively with birth weight in female (Tg, r = -0.891 and P less than 0.005; log TSH, r = 0.600 and P less than 0.005) and male (Tg, r = -0.849 and P less than 0.005; log TSH, r = -0.660; P less than 0.005) infants. Also, Tg levels correlated positively with the log of the TSH levels in female (r = 0.554; P less than 0.01) and male (r = 0.412; P less than 0.05) infants. Free T4 index levels correlated positively with free T3 index levels in female (r = 0.443; P less than 0.05) and male (r = 0.570; P less than 0.01) infants. Group III consisted of 12 normal female term newborns whose mean birth weight (3685 +/- 623 g) was not significantly (P less than 0.2) different from that of the males of group I, and 12 normal male term newborns whose mean birth weight (4104 +/- 248 g) was significantly (P less than 0.005) greater than that of the males of group I. Unlike in lower weight female or male infants, serum Tg levels did not correlate with birth weight or the log of TSH levels.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Birth Weight↗
PubMed1984

Cryptosporidiosis in the acquired immune deficiency syndrome.

Cryptosporidiosis was found in a patient with the acquired immune deficiency syndrome. The microbiological and morphological features of this newly recognized opportunistic infection are distinctive and diagnostic.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1984

The effect of purified alpha 1 antitrypsin on PWM driven IgG synthesis.

As part of a study investigating the mechanisms for the association of alpha 1 antitrypsin (alpha 1 AT) deficiency with immune disorders, the effect of purified alpha 1 AT on PWM driven IgG synthesis of peripheral blood lymphocytes was investigated. This demonstrated that alpha 1 AT in physiological doses enhanced IgG synthesis in stimulated but not resting cells. This effect is probably due to the known inhibition by alpha 1 AT of macrophage function. Increasing number of macrophages are known to inhibit IgG synthesis in the PWM system suggesting that this apparently paradoxical enhancement by alpha 1 AT is probably due to inhibition of these cells.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Bone marrow transplantation in 33 patients with malignant blood diseases and severe aplastic anaemia.

Allogeneic bone marrow transplantation using HLA-identical sibling donors was performed in 29 patients with malignant blood diseases and in four patients with severe aplastic anaemia. Twenty-five patients received immunosuppressive therapy with cyclosporin A to minimize graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and eight received methotrexate. Twenty-one of 29 patients (72%) with malignant blood diseases and three of the four patients with severe aplastic anaemia remained alive and disease-free from 0.5 to 16 (median, seven) months after transplantation. Acute GVHD, predominantly of the skin, occurred in 25 of 28 evaluable cyclosporin A recipients (of whom two died), and in all five evaluable methotrexate recipients. Mild chronic GVHD occurred in 10 of 16 evaluable patients. Interstitial pneumonitis occurred in five patients, of whom two died. HLA-identical sibling marrow transplantation is associated with a mortality similar to that of induction chemotherapy for acute leukaemia, and should be considered in adults with acute leukaemia in remission or relapse, chronic myelogenous leukaemia in metamorphosis or blastic transformation, lymphoma unresponsive to conventional therapy, and in severe aplastic anaemia.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome.

The first Australian case of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), which occurred in a 27-year-old homosexual man, is reported. The patient, an American citizen now resident in Sydney, presented with life-threatening pulmonary consolidation. AIDS is characterized by severe defects in cell-mediated immunity associated with infections and neoplasms (most commonly Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia and Kaposi's sarcoma). The cause of the syndrome is unknown, but it may be a new infectious agent.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1983

HLA antigens in uveitis.

HLA antigens are associated with a number of inflammatory eye diseases, most notably HLA B2 with anterior uveitis (AU). This association varies between different populations and ethnic groups. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between uveitis and HLA A, B and DR locus antigens in an Australian population. Seventy-two consecutive patients with uveitis were studied (37 males and 35 females) over a 6 month period. Thirty-two percent of the AU patients were HLA B27+, as were 42% of males (19% females) with their first attack of AU compared with 60% of males (23% females) with recurrent AU. The only significant difference in etiology between males and females was the greatly increased incidence of rheumatic diseases in males, in whom 77% (10/13) had radiological evidence of sacroiliitis. Additional findings included a lack of association between the HLA B7 cross reactive group and DR locus antigens in AU as well as the lack of any HLA associations in the 13 patients with posterior uveitis (PU).

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1983

Thyroid-stimulating hormone and thyroglobulin levels decrease with chronological age in children and adolescents.

TSH, thyroglobulin (Tg), and the free T4 index were determined and related to chronological age in 24 normal boys (aged 7.6-17.6 yr; mean, 12.6 +/- 1.5 yr) and 20 normal girls (aged 7.8-17.0 yr; mean, 12.2 +/- 1.4 yr). There was no significant (P greater than 0.1) difference in mean serum TSH (3.06 +/- 2.07 vs. 2.97 +/- 2.07 microunits/ml) and Tg levels (25.3 +/- 10.0 vs. 28.0 +/- 14.8 ng/ml) or free T4 index (9.6 +/- 1.6 vs. 9.4 +/- 1.3 micrograms/dl) between boys and girls. Serum TSH levels correlated negatively with chronological age (rs = -0.518; r = -0.562; P less than 0.01), as did serum Tg levels (rs = -0.618; r -0.545; P less than 0.01). On the other hand, a positive correlation was found between serum TSH and Tg levels (rs = 0.455; r = 0.421; P less than 0.01). Free T4 index levels did not correlate with chronological age, TSH levels, or Tg levels. We conclude that both serum TSH and Tg levels vary inversely with chronological age in children and adolescents. Also, a direct correlation was noted between serum TSH and Tg levels. These data as well as those from earlier studies may indicate that pituitary secretion of TSH contributes to serum levels of Tg. The decline in TSH with age may be the result of an increased response of the thyroid gland to TSH or a decline in the MCR of T4 with age.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

Immunological features of HLA-B27 anterior uveitis.

Analysis of the immunological features of anterior uveitis (AU) revealed a dichotomy of abnormalities defined in terms of the HLA-B27 status of the patient. HLA-B27-positive AU was characterised by the occurrence of iris autoantibodies and an absolute T cell lymphopenia during active disease which returned to normal with recovery. This phenomenon was not observed in HLA-B27-negative AU or in controls and could not be attributed to antilymphocyte antibodies as these were not detected. Furthermore, there were no changes in T-cell subsets (helper and suppressor T lymphocytes). Compared with HLA-B27-positive AU patients, the HLA-B27-negative group demonstrated elevated IgE levels and increased prevalence of smooth muscle autoantibodies.

Adolescent↗