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Biomedical subjects

W Dodds

Publications and source records attributed to W Dodds.

12 recordsLinked to original sources

Prevalence of autoantibodies to autonomic nervous tissue structures in Type 1 diabetes mellitus.

AIMS: The pathogenesis of diabetic autonomic neuropathy is multifactorial, but recent studies have suggested a link between the presence of autoantibodies to nervous tissue structures and severe, symptomatic autonomic neuropathy. The present study was designed to examine the true prevalence of these autoantibodies in a large clinic-based population of Type 1 diabetic patients compared to nondiabetic controls. METHODS: The presence of complement fixing autoantibodies to vagus nerve (CF-VN), sympathetic ganglion (CF-SG) and adrenal medulla (CF-ADM) was assessed by immunofluorescence in a large cohort of patients (n = 394) of varying duration of Type 1 DM (median 28 years, range 6 months to 73 years) and 160 age and sex-matched nondiabetic control subjects. RESULTS: All three autoantibodies were frequently detected in Type 1 DM (CF-VN, 22.1%; CF-SG, 30.7%; CF-ADM, 13.2%) but only rarely in healthy control subjects (4.4%, 4.4% and 3.1%, respectively; P < 0.0005 for all). There was no association between any of the autoantibodies and retinopathy (fundoscopy), peripheral somatic neuropathy (biothesiometry) or nephropathy (urinary albumin-creatinine ratio). CONCLUSIONS: Our results on this large cohort establish the extensive presence of autonomic nervous tissue autoantibodies in Type 1 DM. Their role in reflecting, causing or predicting autonomic neuropathy remains to be determined.

Adolescent↗

Access to diabetes treatment in northern Ethiopia.

Treatments for diabetes in Ethiopia are at present only available in hospitals so many patients must travel great distances to obtain insulin, tablets, and diabetes education. We reviewed all 496 people with diabetes attending the diabetic clinic at Gondar Hospital (281 with Type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus (DM) and 215 with Type 2 (non-insulin-dependent) DM. Half of the patients came from rural areas, all but 3 of them travelling more than 20 km, one-quarter of them more than 100 km and 33 patients (13%) more than 180 km. It is likely that many patients who fail to attend from the more distant areas have died. We are developing a scheme which would enable diabetic patients to be treated at rural health centres by nurses trained in the principles of diabetes care which could greatly improve the outlook for diabetic patients in Ethiopia.

Adult↗

Pachydermoperiostosis in childhood.

We report a family with pachydermoperiostosis (idiopathic hypertrophic osteoarthropathy) spanning four generations with 10 affected individuals, four of whom are children although pachydermoperiostosis is rare in childhood. In this family, with intermarriage, the inheritance is autosomal recessive and it is possible that there are individuals who are homozygous for the pachydermoperiostosis gene. These individuals do not appear to be more severely affected, although one of them had a cleft palate and congenital heart defect which may be a manifestation of being homozygous.

Asthma↗

Women in sport.

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Body Composition↗

Follicular stimulation for in vitro fertilization using pituitary suppression and human menopausal gonadotropins.

Multiple follicular stimulation is a prerequisite to the efficient use of in vitro fertilization (IVF) and gamete intrafallopian transfer (GIFT). For some individuals, however, this stimulation may be difficult using standard superovulation protocols because of dominant follicle formation, suboptimal estradiol response, or premature luteinizing hormone surge. A group of such individuals with several previous failed attempts at superovulation were studied. Follicular stimulation was accomplished using a long-acting agonist of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) for pituitary suppression followed by human menopausal gonadotropin (hMG) for follicular stimulation. Fourteen cycles (12 IVF, 2 GIFT) were completed in 12 individuals. There were no cycle cancellations. Mean number of prior cycle cancellations per patient was 3.1 +/- 0.4. Mean number of mature oocytes recovered was 3.9 +/- 0.5. Two pregnancies resulted. Pituitary suppression with a long-acting agonist of GnRH followed by hMG appears to be an effective adjunct to current superovulation regimens.

Adult↗

Genetic variants of properdin factor B (Bf) in rheumatoid arthritis.

Properdin factor B (Bf) phenotyping was carried out in 392 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and in 360 controls. In RA there were increased frequencies of both the Bf*S gene (83 vs 78%; pc = 0.0003) and the BfSS genotype 73 vs 61%; pc = 0.0002) and reduced frequencies of the Bf*F1 gene (0.5 vs 2.2%; pc = 0.03) and the BfFS genotype (20 vs 29%; pc = 0.0007). The frequencies of Bf*S in DR4 positive and DR4 negative RA were similar so that the findings were not accounted for by linkage disequilibrium between DR4 and Bf*S.

Arthritis, Rheumatoid↗

Clinical and immunogenetic studies in multicase rheumatoid families.

We have studied HLA haplotypes, autoimmune diseases and circulating autoantibodies in 23 families with multiple cases of rheumatoid arthritis; 76 per cent of rheumatoid arthritis and 70 per cent of non-rheumatoid individuals were positive for HLA-DR4. The haplotypes Bw44-Bf*S-DR4; B40-Bf*S-DR4; and B15-Bf*S-DR4 were found in 13, 9 and 7 per cent of probands respectively and the B15-Bf*S-DR4 haplotype was found between four and five times more frequently in DR4-positive rheumatoid arthritis than in DR4 positive, non-rheumatoid arthritis families. Rheumatoid arthritis segregated with a DR4 positive haplotype in 13 families and with a DR4 negative haplotype in seven. Analysis of HLA haplotype sharing showed greater than random sharing by affected siblings which is in keeping with genes within the MHS influencing susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis. Autoimmune thyroid disorders were seen in 8 per cent of family members investigated. They were significantly more frequent in those families in which rheumatoid arthritis segregated with a non-DR4 bearing HLA haplotype. This suggests that genes for autoimmune thyroid disease might predispose to rheumatoid arthritis independently of DR4. These genes are probably not HLA-linked, as there was no trend for HLA haplotype sharing to be increased in sibling pairs with either rheumatoid arthritis and thyroid disease or rheumatoid arthritis and thyroid autoantibodies respectively.

Adolescent↗

Family studies in RA - the importance of HLA-DR4 and of genes for autoimmune thyroid disease.

The segregation of HLA haplotypes with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) was studied in 13 selected, multicase families. HLA-DR4 was present in 77% of RA probands (32% controls). No single haplotype was associated with RA in different families. Analysis of HLA haplotype sharing in affected relatives showed no significant difference to the expected distribution. It seems likely therefore that the HLA-DR4 antigen itself rather than a linked susceptibility gene predisposes to RA. In 2 of 3 HLA-DR4 negative families, there were members with autoimmune thyroid disease. It is suggested that genetic susceptibility to RA may be associated with both HLA-DR4 and genes for autoimmune thyroid disease.

Adolescent↗