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Biomedical subjects

W B Pittard

Publications and source records attributed to W B Pittard.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1983

Length of gestation and nutritional composition of human milk.

A comparative analysis of the composition of milk produced during the first 14 days of lactation by mothers who deliver prematurely and those who deliver at term is described and these values are contrasted with the composition of donor milk specimens. Twenty-four-hour milk collections (days 3, 7, and 14 postpartum) were obtained from nine mothers delivered between 37 to 42 wk gestation (term) and from 14 mothers who delivered between 28 to 36 wk gestation (preterm). A single spot milk collection was obtained from nine mothers who were 6 to 10 months postpartum (donor). Term and preterm milk was compared on specific postpartum days using an analysis of covariance controlling for 24-h milk volume. The protein, carbohydrate, fat, and energy content varied in a similar fashion in term and preterm milk over the 14 postpartum days studied. Furthermore, there was no significant difference between the two milk groups on any single postpartum day evaluated in terms of protein, carbohydrate, fat, or energy concentration. The milk volumes were significantly greater from the mothers delivered at term on days 7 and 14 (p less than 0.01) and the protein content of both term and preterm milk was negatively correlated with milk volume (r = -0.6 or more on each day studied). The nutrient and energy composition of spot donor milk was highly variable and frequently quite different from either term or preterm 24-h milk collections. These data indicate that milk from mothers who deliver prematurely does not contain significantly different concentrations of nutrients or energy than milk from mothers delivered at term and suggest that the differences previously noted between the two groups may be related to 24-h milk volume.

Female↗
PubMed1983

Lymphocyte proliferation in a 31-week premature neonate with 69, XXX chromosomal constitution.

The clinical syndrome of triploidy has only recently been described with its phenotypic characteristics emerging from a series of descriptive case reports. This paper describes the mitogen induced lymphocyte proliferative responses of a 31-week gestation neonate. Similar data, collected simultaneously, from 27 healthy 30-32-week gestation neonates is also reported for comparison. Since the capability of lymphocytes to become activated is dependent on and indicative of the host's ability to develop a cellular immune reaction, these data indicate no diminution in cell mediated immunity by this polyploid individual.

Female↗
PubMed1982

Effects of theophylline on the neonatal immune response.

Theophylline has recently shown to affect lymphocyte reactivity. In view of its widespread use in newborn intensive care units, the effects of both lymphocyte proliferation and immunoglobulin production at varied theophylline concentrations were measured. In 12 adults and 10 term infants lymphocyte proliferation, as assessed by a whole blood micromethod, was significantly decreased in vitro at 7.5 micrograms/ml. Immunoglobulin production in adults was decreased, by both a plaque forming cell assay and a radioimmunoassay in vitro at 12.5 micrograms/ml. Ten premature infants on theophylline, mean serum level 7.8 +/- 0.4 micrograms/ml, followed for 3-5 wk, showed a slight increase in lymphocyte proliferative responses to pokeweed mitogen. These data demonstrate no in vivo suppression of lymphocyte proliferation in theophylline-treated neonates at low theophylline levels.

Humans↗
PubMed1982

Radioactive excretion in human milk following administration of technetium Tc 99m macroaggregated albumin.

Albumin-tagged sodium pertechnetate (technetium) is routinely used in nuclear medicine for scanning procedures of the lung. The rate of excretion of this radionuclide into breast milk and the resultant potential radiation hazard to the nursing infant have received little attention. Therefore the milk from a nursing mother who required a lung scan because of suspected pulmonary emboli using an intravenous injection of 4 mCi of technetium Tc 99 macroaggregated human serum albumin was monitored. Albumin tagging severely limited the entrance of technetium into her milk and the radioactivity of the milk returned to base line by 24 hours. A total of 2.02 muCi of technetium was measured in the 24-hour milk collection after technetium injection and 94% of this amount was excreted by 15.5 hours. This amount of technetium administered orally to a newborn would deliver a total body radiation dose of .3 mrad. Therefore, an infant would receive trivial doses of radiation if breast-feeding were resumed 15.5 hours after administration of the radionuclide to the mother and nursing can clearly be resumed safely 24 hours after injection.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

Human milk banking. Effect of refrigeration on cellular components.

The storage of human milk at 4 C for 48 hours after expression resulted in a significant (p < 0.02) loss of cellular viability. Further, the concentration of milk macrophages and neutrophils decreased significantly (p < 0.02), presumably via cell adhesion to the milk container or cytolysis. The milk lymphocyte concentration, however, was not significantly affected by storage. Milk passage through a nasogastric feeding catheter had no additional effect on cell viability or concentration. Thus, while current banking methodologies allow greater availability of breast milk's resistance factors to newborn infants, they do so with significant, but not serious, alterations in both the quantity and quality of these components.

Humans↗
PubMed1980

Staphylococcus aureus Cowan I-induced immunoglobulin production in human cord blood lymphocytes.

Human cord blood mononuclear cells (MNC) were stimulated with antibiotic killed Staphylococcus aureus Cowan I bacteria (S. aureus) or pokeweed mitogen (PWM) and cultured for 6 days. Immunoglobulin synthesis and secretion was measured with the indirect protein A plaque-forming cell (PFC) assay. All 14 cord blood specimens stimulated with S. aureus produced PFC comparable to that measured in adult peripheral blood cultures. PWM induced only minimal responses in cord MNC whereas good responses were demonstrated in adult cell cultures. The majority of the cord blood immunoglobulin synthesizing cells produced IgM, however, significant production of IgA was also seen. These observations were confirmed by detection of intracytoplasmic immunoglobulin in plasma cells with the use of fluorescent anti-immunoglobulin antibodies.

B-Lymphocytes↗
PubMed1980

Lymphocyte stimulation assay utilizing newborn heel skin puncture blood samples.

A micromethod for the study of lymphocyte stimulation using small volumes of blood obtained by heel skin or fingertip puncture is described. Heel skin puncture samples from 15 full term newborns and venous blood samples from 6 newborns gave very similar results. A study of paired venous blood and fingertip puncture samples from 5 normal adults and 2 children with severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) showed no significant differences between lymphocyte responses of samples taken from these sites. The responses of adults were significantly lower than those of the full term newborns, while the responses of the SCID patients were markedly depressed. Lymphocyte stimulation studies using blood samples obtained by heel skin or finger puncture provide a useful method for detection of defects in cellular immunity in young infants.

Cells, Cultured↗
PubMed1979

Immunoglobulin synthesis by cord blood lymphocytes.

The IgG, IgA and IgM synthesis by adult peripheral blood and cord blood lymphocytes incubated alone and with pokeweed mitogen was quantitated. The cord blood lymphocytes produced no immunoglobulin even with mitogen stimulation while the adult peripheral blood lymphocytes responded to the mitogen with a significant (p less than 0.04) increase in immunoglobulin production.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Necrotizing enterocolitis in neonates fed human milk.

The incidence of necrotizing enterocolitis encountered in neonates fed only refrigerated human milk was comparable to that in infants fed milk and isotonic formula or isotonic formula alone. The infants fed human milk were significantly (P less than 0.05) smaller, less mature, had lower Apgar scores, and were fed later than the formula-fed infants. The mean age of onset and time between first feeding and onset of NEC was similar among the three groups. These data indicate that refrigerated human milk was not effective in lowering the incidence of NEC. Possible explanations for the occurrence of NEC in neonates fed human milk include: (1) the introduction of a pathogen via contaminated milk; (2) inadequate maternal antigenic stimulation by the neonatal gastrointestinal flora; and (3) adverse affects of storage on cell number and function.

Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous↗
PubMed1976

Neonatal septic arthritis.

Neonatal septic arthritis of the knee was encountered in nine infants during a two-year period, representing an incidence of 16.5 per 1,000 admissions to a neonatal intensive care unit. The etiologic agents included Staphylococcus aureus (3), Klebsiella (1), Streptococcus, group B (2), and Candida albicans (3). Two infants with systemic fungal infection died. Arthritis was the presenting feature of neonatal septicemia in three of six infants with bacterial infection and was accompanied by osteomyelitis in two. In eight of the infants, the same organism was cultured from the skin of the umbilicus as was cultured from the joint. Umbilical catheters had been placed in all of these infants. Full recovery of joint function has been noted in the seven surviving infants.

Arthritis, Infectious↗