ABSTRACT
Smoking histories were obtained from 79 patients with primary hepatocellular carcinoma (PHC) (of whom 40 were negative and 39 positive for serum hepatitis B surface antigen), 39 patients with liver cancer not primary in the liver (LCNP), and 204 hospitalized controls. All subjects were Caucasians of Greek nationality and residence. No significant difference in smoking habits was found between controls and either PHC patients positive for serum hepatitis B surface antigen or LCNP patients. In contrast, there was a highly significant association between smoking and PHC negative for serum hepatitis B surface antigen (P less than 10(-4)); this association was not accounted for by the greater alcohol consumption of smokers. The risk ratios were 1.3, 2.5, 3.7, and 8.4 for current smokers of 1-10, 11-20, 21-30, and 30+ cigarettes per day.
Subject(s)
Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/etiology , Hepatitis B Antigens , Liver Neoplasms/etiology , Smoking , Alcohol Drinking , Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/immunology , Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/secondary , Hepatitis B Antigens/analysis , Humans , Liver Cirrhosis/complications , Liver Cirrhosis/immunology , Liver Neoplasms/immunology , Liver Neoplasms/secondary , RiskABSTRACT
Serum, erythrocyte and urinary zinc were serially measured during the early ten days following major surgery or thermal burns in 18 and 8 patients, respectively. Serum zinc gradually decreased and erythrocyte and urinary zinc increased during the first three postoperative or post-burn days. Thereafter, both serum and erythrocyte zinc gradually returned to preoperative levels in the patients subjected to surgery, while serum zinc continued to fall progressively despite a rapid restoration of erythrocyte zinc to control values, in the burned patients. It is suggested that in contrast to the early postoperative or post-burn hypozincemia, which may be attributed to a redistribution of zinc from plasma to tissue, continued decrease in serum zinc following thermal burns may indicate a mobilization of zinc to the burn site and eventually result in significant zinc depletion.
Subject(s)
Burns/metabolism , Surgical Procedures, Operative , Zinc/metabolism , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Child , Erythrocytes/metabolism , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Zinc/bloodABSTRACT
The serum concentration of immunoglobulins G, A, and M was studied in 390 inhabitants of a rural community and in 204 residents of an urban area of Greece. It was found that serum IgA levels were significantly higher in the rural area where intestinal infections were more prevalent. No significant difference in serum IgG was found between the two groups. IgM was found to be lower among residents of the rural area. The present findings suggest a possible ecological association between increased IgA and chronic exposure to intestinal infection.
Subject(s)
Bacterial Infections/immunology , Immunoglobulin A , Intestinal Diseases/immunology , Adolescent , Adult , Age Factors , Aged , Bacterial Infections/epidemiology , Female , Greece , Humans , Immunoglobulin G , Immunoglobulin M , Intestinal Diseases/epidemiology , Male , Middle Aged , Rural Population , Sex Factors , Urban PopulationABSTRACT
Substances having the chromatographic behaviour and the bioassay properties of prostaglandins (PGE and PGF) were detected in the urine of 30 patients with kidney disease and 15 healthy subjects. The mean urinary PGE and PGF values in 15 patients with chronic glomerular disease or nephrosclerosis were significantly lower than those of 15 patients with chronic pyelonephritis and other forms of chronic interstitial nephritis, polycystic kidney disease, obstructive nephropathy or diuretic phase of acute renal failure, and of the mean PGE and PGF values found in the healthy subjects. It was suggested that in contrast to disease affecting primarily the renal medulla, chronic glomerular disease and nephrosclerosis are accompanied by a decrease of renal prostaglandin synthesis and/or release.
Subject(s)
Kidney Diseases/urine , Prostaglandins E/urine , Prostaglandins F/urine , Glomerulonephritis/urine , Humans , Hypertension, Renal/urine , Male , Middle Aged , Nephrosclerosis/urine , Polycystic Kidney Diseases/urine , Pyelonephritis/urineABSTRACT
1. The effect of oral administration of an inhibitor of prostaglandin synthetase, indomethacin, on the natriuresis induced by the infusion of sodium chloride (saline) was studied in 11 healthy volunteers. 2. The administration of indomethacin did not alter sodium excretion before saline infusion, but it resulted in a significant increase of the natriuresis after saline infusion. This increase was not accompanied by any change in post-infusion urine flow rate or free water reabsorption. 3. It is suggested that intrarenal prostaglandins might suppress the natriuretic effect of saline infusion, probably by increasing sodium reabsorption in the distal nephron.
Subject(s)
Cyclooxygenase Inhibitors , Indomethacin/pharmacology , Natriuresis , Adolescent , Adult , Female , Humans , Infusions, Parenteral , Kidney/metabolism , Male , Middle Aged , Natriuresis/drug effects , Prostaglandins/biosynthesis , Sodium/urine , Sodium Chloride/administration & dosageSubject(s)
Immunity, Cellular , Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic/immunology , Adult , Antigens , Cell Migration Inhibition , Female , Humans , Leukocytes/immunology , Male , Middle Aged , Skin TestsABSTRACT
Intestinal transit times and daily stool weights were measured in 14 residents of Athens and 22 residents of a small village of Greece. Subjects in rural Greece have significantly shorter transit times (38.4 vs 56.8 hr) and heavier daily stools (172 vs 131 g) than those living in Athens. These findings may be attributable to the more refined diet of the urban Greek population and may explain the different incidence of certain bowel diseases in the urban and rural population of Greece.
Subject(s)
Gastrointestinal Motility , Adult , Aged , Dietary Fiber , Feces/analysis , Female , Greece , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Rural Population , Time Factors , Urban PopulationABSTRACT
An ileocaecal tumour in a patient with alpha-chain disease in remission was studied immunohistochemically by a quantitive immunoperoxidase method. The tumour which was histologically shown to be a plasmacytoma consisted of 68% alpha cells and 15% lambda cells; no kappa cells were found. Away from the tumour the pattern of immunoglobulin-producing cells was normal. It is concluded that the abnormal cell causing alpha-chain disease remains inactive and that the patient developed a plasmacytoma from a different cell clone.
Subject(s)
Heavy Chain Disease/complications , Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains , Immunoglobulin alpha-Chains , Intestinal Neoplasms/complications , Plasmacytoma/complications , Adult , Humans , Immunoenzyme Techniques , Intestinal Neoplasms/pathology , Male , Plasmacytoma/pathologyABSTRACT
Spironolactone, 200 mg/24 hours, was administered for 4 days to 18 clinically healthy subjects and 10 hospitalised patients with normal renal function. Changes of fractional renal clearance of magnesium before and after spironolactone administration were studied in the first group. Corresponding changes of the ratio of renal clearance of potassium to renal clearance of magnesium were studied in the second group. After spironolactone administration, fractional clearance of magnesium showed a statistically significant decrease in relation to its values before spironolactone administration, while the ratio clearance of potassium/clearance of magnesium showed no statistically significant change. The results suggest that spironolactone administration decreases the renal excretion of magnesium and potassium in an equivalent manner.
Subject(s)
Kidney/metabolism , Magnesium/metabolism , Metabolic Clearance Rate/drug effects , Spironolactone/administration & dosage , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Female , Humans , Kidney/drug effects , Magnesium/blood , Magnesium/urine , Male , Middle Aged , Potassium/metabolismABSTRACT
Clinical, immunological, and histological recovery in a patient with alpha-chain disease is described. The patient, a 27-year-old Greek man, presented with severe steatorrhoea, abdominal pain, oedema, and hypogammaglobulinaemia. Treatment with tetracycline produced only temporary remission. Intermittent therapy with prednisone and cyclophosphamide together with antibiotics was followed by clinical recovery, return of histological appearances of the small intestine to normal, and disappearance of free alpha-chain protein from the serum. The patient remained well one year later without treatment.
Subject(s)
Cyclophosphamide/therapeutic use , Immunoglobulin A/analysis , Prednisone/therapeutic use , Tetracycline/therapeutic use , Adult , Beta-Globulins/analysis , Biopsy , Celiac Disease/immunology , Celiac Disease/pathology , Diet Therapy , Fluorescent Antibody Technique , Glucose Tolerance Test , Glutens , Heavy Chain Disease/drug therapy , Heavy Chain Disease/immunology , Heavy Chain Disease/pathology , Humans , Immunoelectrophoresis , Immunoglobulin G/analysis , Immunoglobulin M/analysis , Intestinal Absorption , Intestinal Mucosa/pathology , Jejunum/pathology , Male , T-Lymphocytes/immunology , XyloseABSTRACT
The cellular immune mechanisms of patients with adenocarcinoma of colon or rectum were evaluated by studying the lymphocyte response to PHA stimulation. Our results indicate that the serum of cancer patients causes a decreased blastic transformation and H(3) thymidine uptake of the lymphocytes of patients as well as of normal controls. A defect of the lymphocytes unrelated to serum factors was also present in some cancer patients. However, no relationship was found between the degree of transformation and the presence of metastases in the lymph nodes.
