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Biomedical subjects

S Skrede

Publications and source records attributed to S Skrede.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

Fatty acid metabolism during hypothermic perfusion of the isolated dog kidney.

Perfusion of isolated dog kidneys was performed at 8--12 degrees C using an albumin solution containing caprylic acid (about 6 mmol/l) and long-chain fatty acids (about 0.5 mmol/l). During 48 h the amounts of caprylic acid in the perfusate fell by about 3 mmol, whereas long-chain FFA increased by 0.2--0.3 mmol and small amounts of arachidonic acid appeared. [14C]palmitate or [14C]linoleate--when added--decreased by about 10% in the perfusate. The decrease was mainly due to exchange with kidney phospholipid fatty acids. Only about 0.4% was recovered as [14C]CO2. The amounts of total phospholipids in kidney tissue decreased by up to 10% during the perfusion (when 10% kidney weight gain was taken into account), whereas lysophospholipids, cholesterol, triglycerides and free fatty acids remained essentially unchanged. The distribution of fatty acids in the total phospholipid fraction was strikingly altered. The relative amounts of arachidonic acid increased, whereas all other major fatty acids decreased. Synthesis of arachidonic acid by chain elongation of perfusate [14C]linoleic acid could not be demonstrated, and no evidence was found for a significant increase of the total amounts of arachidonic acid. The possibility that arachidonic acid-containing phospholipids in the kidney are preferentially preserved during the hypothermic conditions is discussed.

Animals↗

Serum lipoproteins in children with anaemia.

Plasma and erythrocyte lipids were estimated in 9 children with different types of anaemia and in 9 healthy control children. The anaemic children had rather high plasma triglcerides, but low total cholesterol and phospholipids. The levels of high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol were particularly low, with a mean of only 70% of the controls. A positive correlation was found for haematocrit with HDL cholesterol, but not with low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol. Plasma albumin was at the same level in both groups of children, however, suggesting that the diluting effect of increase in plasma volume could only partly explain the lowering of HDL cholesterol. A striking, inverse correlation between HDL cholesterol and very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) triglycerides was present in the anaemic children. Anaemia in children adds to previously recognized pathophysiological condditions which induce inversely interrelated changes in HDL and VLDL.

Anemia, Aplastic↗

Hepatic lipase and lipoprotein lipase in postheparin plasma in liver disease. relations to plasma proteins.

Hepatic lipase (HL) and lipoprotein lipase (LPL) in postheparin plasma have been studied in patients with different liver disorders and in a reference group. The dose of heparin (100 I.U./kg body weight) used intravenously to get maximal release of both HL and LPL was the same in patients and in healthy individuals. The release of HL was maximal in healthy controls after 2-5 min, but in patients with liver disease the maximum was not reached until 15 min after heparin administration. The time course of the release of LPL showed the same pattern in patients and controls. The activity of HL was below the lowest observation in the reference group in 8 out of 20 patients with liver diseases, and was not measurable in 3 of them (2 with chronic active hepatitis and 1 with alcoholic cirrhosis). The activity of hepatic lipase was positively correlated with the levels of coagulation factors and with the concentration of prealbumin in the total patient material. The results indicate that low activity of hepatic lipase is a sign of liver parenchymatous injury, and out study gives indirect evidence of the hepatic origin of this enzyme in man.

Blood Proteins↗

Proficiency survey of serum protein analyses in Scandinavia.

A lyophilized human pool serum was distributed to Scandinavian clinical chemical laboratories for routine quantitation of different serum proteins. The analytical repertoir of the laboratories, and the methods and reference materials used, were registered. For almost all proteins the results varied considerably between the laboratories (CV 8--29%). The reasons for this variation are discussed together with possible recommendations to improve the accuracy of protein measurements.

Analysis of Variance↗

Bile acids measured in serum during fasting as a test for liver disease.

Total serum bile acids were estimated by an enzymic (3alpha-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase) method in 173 fasting patients with different liver diseases, classified into 17 groups by morphological criteria. The results were not highly correlated with those for any of the other 24 tests included in the study, but moderate correlations were observed with bilirubin or alanine aminotransferase (positive) and with prealbumin (negative) in a few patient groups. The sensitivity of total bile acids in serum of fasting individuals as a liver-function test was rather high, comparable with that of serum enzymes. When discriminant analysis was used to identify optimal combinations of tests for the separation of different groups of liver diseases, we found that data on serum bile acids added some new information to that carried by the other 24 tests.

3-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenases↗

Transitory IgA-deficiency, persistent IgE deficiency and recurrent respiratory tract infectious disease after splenectomy.

In a 14 year old boy, a ruptured spleen was removed. Two months after the splenectomy he developed recurrent infections of the respiratory tract. A deficiency of IgA and IgE in his blood serum was found. His impaired resistance to respiratory tract infections responded well to substitution therapy with IgA. Spontaneous clinical recovery occurred during 3 years after the splenectomy, and was parallelled by a slow return of IgA to normal levels, whereas the absence of IgE persisted. The identical twin brother of the patient, who had his spleen intact, had normal levels of serum IgA and did not suffer from frequent respiratory tract inflammations.

Adolescent↗

Acute peripheral facial palsy. Part of a cranial polyneuropathy?

In 14 of 16 consecutive patients with acute peripheral facial palsy, one or more (up to four) other nerves were involved. The nerves affected in addition to the facial nerve were as follows: trigeminal (ten patients), vestibular (eight), cochlear (six), vagus (one), and upper cervical (five). Virus was not isolated from any of the patients. A fourfold increase or decrease in complement-fixing antibody titers was present in eight patients (in four, varicella-zoster; in one, varicella-zoster and mumps; in two, cytomegalovirus; in one, mumps). Further, two of the patients with varicella-zoster antibodies showed clinical signs of herpes zoster oticus. About one fourth of all patients had an increase of ESR and of alpha2-globulins in serum, and two thirds of them had increased gamma-globulins in CSF. Acute peripheral facial palsy seems to be part of a cranial polyneuropathy and may be caused by a viral infection.

Acute Disease↗

Serum lipids and latent coronary insufficiency.

A group of 2014 'healthy' men were examined clinically, by resting ECG/exercise ECG and by the estimation of serum cholesterol and triglycerides. On repeated collection of specimen, standardization of factors related to the individual and influencing serum lipids was difficult to obtain. Thus, serum triglycerides were higher early in the week, at least partly due to habits of alcohol consumption. 140 of the participants (7.0%) were suspect of coronary heart disease (CHD) according to their symptoms/signs, and coronary angiography in 105 of them showed sixty-nine cases (3.4%) with pathological angiograms. Values for serum cholesterol and triglycerides are presented from a subgroup of 1832 men where no signs of CHD were found. Serum cholesterol and triglycerides were significantly higher in the group with pathological angiograms.

Adult↗

Serum cholesterol and triglycerides in children with anaemia.

Serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels were determined in 17 children with various forms of anaemia and varying rates of red cell production. Anaemic patients had low serum cholesterol values, and a good correlation between Hb and serum cholesterol levels was found. The serum triglyceride levels were also low in most patients, but the results were less closely related to Hb. No relationship could be demonstrated between the rate of red cell production as judged by reticulocyte counts, and serum cholesterol or triglycerides. Apparently all lipoprotein classes are reduced in individuals with uncomplicated anaemias. This hypolipidaemia can only partly be explained by the diluting effect of the increase in plasma volume accompanying anaemia.

Anemia↗

Serum immunoglobulins and organ non-specific antibodies in diseases of the liver.

Serum immunoglobulins and C3 levels, auto-antibodies to smooth muscle (SMA), mitochondria (MA), and nuclei (ANA), rheumatoid factors (RF), HB-antigen and HB-antibody were studied in 9 groups of liver disease. Hypergammaglobulinaemia was a prominent feature in most groups, IgG being particularly raised in active chronic hepatitis, IgM in primary biliary cirrhosis, and IgA in alcoholic liver disease, respectively. IgE was often increased in alcoholic liver disease and was frequently low in hepatic tumours, whereas IgD showed no typical pattern in any liver disorder. SMA was most frequently found in active chronic hepatitis (68%), and MA in primary biliary cirrhosis (58%), while ANA was detected in 50% of the patients with active chronic hepatitis. However, a pronounced over-lap of tissue antibodies was observed among the various groups of liver disease, particularly in active chronic hepatitis and primary biliary cirrhosis. The concurrent presence of SMA and ANA was most frequent in active chronic hepatitis. It was not excluded that antibody titres might have provided better diagnostic discrimination, since titration of antibodies was not performed. Low C3 levels in active chronic hepatitis were correlated with low levels of other liver-synthetized proteins, and no evidence was found of increased consumption by immunologic reactions.

Acute Disease↗

Nucleotide pyrophosphatase and phosphodiesterase. I. Organ distribution and activities in body fluids.

We estimated nucleotide pyrophosphatase and phosphodiesterase I activities in human and rat organs and in body fluids from man and dog. The highest organ activities were found in epididymis, kidney, liver, and intestine. In body fluids, the activity was highest in seminal plasma, followed by intestinal lymph, serum, heart lymph, cerebrospinal fluid, milk, and urine. The ratio nucleotide pyrophosphatase/phosphodiesterase I and the urea resistance of phosphodiesterase I differed among human organs, body fluids, and blood cells. Different isoenzymes probably exist. The activities in serum share several properties with those in several organs--e.g. pH-optimum 9.6-9.8, dependency on Zn2+, and the effects of inhibitors. Phosphodiesterase I in erythrocytes, which has not been described previously, differs from enzyme from other sources by lower pH optimum (8.5), dependency on Mg2+, inhibition by Zn2+, and stimulation by dithiothreitol.

Adult↗

Hepatic copper content, urinary copper excretion, and serum ceruloplasmin in liver disease.

Increased liver copper concentration and raised serum ceruloplasmin were demonstrated in primary biliary cirrhosis and disorders of the biliary tract, and occasionally in chronic active hepatitis and cirrhosis of the liver. Eight of 13 patients with primary biliary cirrhosis had liver copper content as high as seen in patients with hepatolenticular degeneration (is greater than 250 mjg/g dry weight). Normal liver content was found in patients with acute hepatitis, steatosis of the liver, hepatic amuloidosis, haemochromatosis, and Gilbert's syndrome. The urinary copper excretion was increased (is greater than 75 mjg/24 h) in half the patients with primary biliary cirrhosis and occasionally in the other patient groups. Serum ceruloplasmin was raised in more than half of all patients, and none had levels below the reference range. Raised heaptic copper content did not always coincide with enhanced urinary copper excretion, but was significantly correlated with this parameter and also with ceruloplasmin, alkaline phosphatases, and vitamin-K-dependent clotting factors, but not with ALAT. Combination of laboratory data, as found in typical cases of hepatolenticular degeneration, was not observed in this study, including 66 patients.

Acute Disease↗

The effect of generalized hypoxia upon flow and composition of cardiac lymph in the dog.

Generalized hypoxia lasting 60 seconds more than doubled the cardiac lymph flow in dogs. The number of erythrocytes per mm3 of cardiac lymph increased by about 300%. However, there was no change in total protein or in the concentrations of different lipids following hypoxia. Thus, the transfer of erythrocytes across the myocardial interstitium increased by a factor of ten, and proteins and lipids by 150%. An increase of the capillary surface area probably explained the increased lymph flow. Permeability for macromolecules through the endothelial cells was not increased, since the selectivity for different lipids did not change. The increased transfer of erythrocytes may be explained by an increased permeability through intercellular junctions. The triglyceride content of thoracic duct lymph decreased by about 60% in the corresponding period, but no changes in flow or permeability were observed.

Animals↗

Viral infection as a cause of acute peripheral facial palsy.

Among 51 patients with acute peripheral facial palsy, varicella-zoster virus was isolated from the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in one case, and Herpesvirus hominis from the nasopharynx in two cases. In 12 other cases, complement-fixing antibody or hemagglutination inhibition tests indicated a recent viral infection (varicella-zoster, seven; herpes simplex, one; cytomegalovirus, one; influenza type B virus, two; and mumps virus, one). One additional patient had clinical signs of herpes zoster oticus. About one third of these 16 virus-positive patients, but also one third of the remaining group, had increased levels of alpha 1-antitrypsin, orosomucoid, haptoglobin, and immunoglobulins. Evidently, an inflammatory reaction preceded or coincided with the facial palsy in both groups. In CSF, an increase of total proteins and gamma-globulins was frequently found among all 20 patients examined (eight were virus-positive).

Acute Disease↗

Nucleotide pyrophosphatase and phosphodiesterase I. Demonstration of activity in normal serum, and an increase in cholestatic liver disease.

Nucleotide pyrophosphatase activity with uridine diphosphoglucose and dephospho-CoA as substrates was demonstrated in normal human serum. The enzyme has a pH-optimum of about 9.6 and is inhibited by EDTA. Phosphodiesterase I (hydrolysis of thymidine-5'-monophospho-p-nitrophenylester) was also found in normal human serum, with a pH-optimum of about 9.8 and a Km of 0.20-0.25 mM. Probably both activities should be attributed to one enzyme. Different isoenzymes may exist, however. The activity of nucleotide pyrophosphatase/phosphodiesterase I in normal serum in many respects resembles an enzyme previously isolated from liver plasma membranes. Phosphodiesterase I activity was increased in normal pregnancy, in primary biliary cirrhosis, and in patients with bone lesions, but not in acute viral hepatitis or active chronic hepatitis. In primary biliary cirrhosis, the activity of phosphodiesterase I paralleled an increase of alkaline phosphatases.

Acute Disease↗