Maternal hair zinc concentration in neural tube defects in Turkey.

Hair zinc concentration was measured in samples taken from 57 mothers who delivered infants with neural tube defects (NTD) (mainly anencephaly). Control groups consisted of 30 healthy mothers with normal offspring and 37 nonpregnant women from middle-income backgrounds. Zinc concentration was also measured in the hair of eight infants with NTD (four being anencephalic). The mean maternal hair zinc concentration in the NTD group (128.2 +/- 38.9 micrograms/g) was lower than that of the control women (p less than 0.001), whereas the mean hair zinc level of malformed babies (250.4 +/- 85.2 micrograms/g) was significantly higher than that of normal infants (193.4 +/- 39.2 micrograms/g) (p less than 0.05). Maternal nutritional zinc deficiency was thought to be one of the factors responsible for NTD in Turkey.

Effect of zinc supplementation in a Turkish woman with two previous anencephalic infants.

The authors report a case of nutritional zinc deficiency in a young (18-year-old) Turkish woman, who previously delivered 2 anencephalic stillborn infants. The patient was supplemented with 22.5 mg oral zinc sulfate (100 mg ZnSO4.7H2O) for 5 months after her second delivery prior to her third pregnancy. Her blood (plasma and red blood cell) and hair zinc levels returned to normal following zinc supplementation. Good response to Zn supplementation was another criterion of Zn deficiency in this particular case. After an uneventful gestational period, she delivered an apparently normal full-term male child who has grown normally during the first 12 months.

High risk subgroup of acute myelomonocytic leukemia (AMML) with orbito-ocular granulocytic sarcoma (OOGS) in Turkish children. Retrospective analysis of clinical, hematological, ultrastructural and therapeutical findings of thirty-three OOGS.

Thirty-three patients presenting with orbito-ocular granulocytic sarcoma (OOGS) and acute myelomonocytic leukemia (AMML) were diagnosed in Turkish children from 1963 to 1983. OOGS, characterized by exophthalmos, chemosis and orbital masses, was observed in 33 (27.2%) of 121 AML patients compared with 41 children of AMML without ophthalmic tumors during the same period. Eye tumor and bone marrow aspirates were also studied under light and electron microscopies. The comparison of the hematological parameters did not indicate any statistical difference between the groups. Despite similar chemotherapy regimens administered to all patients, the mean survival time was 8.7 months in the OOGS group, which is significantly shorter compared to those without OOGS (28.6 months) (p less than 0.01). These cases may be classified as a "high risk" subgroup of childhood AMML.

Zinc status in pregnancy and the occurrence of anencephaly in Turkey.

Serum and hair zinc concentrations were measured in samples taken from 29 mothers with neural tube defects (NTD) (mainly anencephaly) at delivery. The control group consisted of 20 healthy mothers with normal offspring and 40 nonpregnant women 18 to 34 years of age, from middle income backgrounds. The mean maternal serum and hair zinc concentrations in the NTD group were lower than those of control mothers and the nonpregnant women. The zinc levels in the blood (plasma, red blood cells) and hair of 8 newborn infants with NTD (4 being anencephalic) were compared with those of normal newborn infants. The mean zinc concentration in the hair of malformed babies (250.4 +/- 85.2 micrograms/g) was significantly higher than that of normal infants (193.4 +/- 39.2 micrograms/g) (p less than 0.05) while the mean plasma zinc concentration was significantly lower (59.48 +/- 9.18 micrograms/dl compared with 68.75 +/- 10.89 micrograms/dl) (p less than 0.01). No difference was found between the mean values of red blood cell zinc levels for the two groups of infants. Maternal zinc deficiency was thought to be one of the factors responsible for NTD in Turkey.

Effects of zinc supplementation on linear growth in beta-thalassemia (a new approach).

Linear growth was evaluated in 32 patients with beta-thalassemia major. At the beginning of the study of 40.6% of the patients were below the 10th percentile with biochemical evidence of zinc deficiency. Effects of zinc supplementation on growth velocity (height) were assessed in a controlled manner. Twenty-one children received oral zinc sulphate for a period of 1 to 7 years (15 early- and 6 late-supplemented cases), while the remaining 11 thalassemics were maintained only on conventional transfusion therapy. The mean height velocity of early-zinc supplemented children was significantly greater than that of normal children (P less than 0.01). An increase in height was also observed in the patients who received delayed zinc retardation. The present study demonstrated that zinc deficiency is one of the factors responsible for retarded linear growth in beta-thalassemia major. Only the patients who received zinc supplementation showed an acceleration of growth in height. Administration of zinc could, therefore, be considered as an effective adjuvant therapy in homozygous beta-thalassemia.

Zinc and anergy in pediatric Hodgkin's disease in Turkey.

Blood (serum, erythrocytes) and hair zinc levels were determined in 60 biopsy-proven pediatric Hodgkin's disease cases at diagnosis. Cellular immunity also was assessed through total lymphocyte counts, E-rosette formation, lymphoproliferative response (LP), and delayed cutaneous hypersensitivity tests to dinitrochlorobenzene, streptokinase-streptodornase, purified protein derivative and phytohemagglutinin (PHA) in some of these patients. Interestingly, anergic patients unresponsive to four antigens showed significantly more depressed serum zinc levels as well as decreased lymphoproliferative response to mitogen (PHA). A positive correlation could be shown between serum zinc level, cutaneous anergy and LP. A possible contributing role of zinc deficiency in defective cell mediated immunity in Hodgkin's disease was proposed, and administration of oral zinc, as a natural immunostimulant is considered in this lymphoma.

Synthesis and secretion of the human vitamin B12-binding protein, transcobalamin II, by cultured skin fibroblasts and by bone marrow cells.

Human skin fibroblasts and bone marrow cells were tested for their ability to synthesize the cobalamin-binding protein transcobalamin II. Cobalamin binders secreted in the media of cultured fibroblasts and of dextran-sedimented bone marrow cells in liquid culture could be identified as transcobalamin II on the basis of immunological, electrophoretical and chromatographical identity with serum transcobalamin II. The net secretion of transcobalamin II increased linearly with time of culture, up to 30 days after confluence. The reversible inhibition of transcobalamin II secretion by cycloheximide demonstrated that human fibroblasts are capable of de novo transcobalamin II synthesis. Addition of cyanocobalamin to the fibroblast culture medium induced a reduction of transcobalamin II net secretion, most likely due to preferred uptake of transcobalamin II saturated with cobalamin, as opposed to unsaturated protein. Addition of lysozymal enzyme inhibitors, ammonium chloride and chloroquine, resulted in a markedly increased secretion of transcobalamin II. In the culture medium of fibroblasts, obtained from two transcobalamin II-deficient patients, functionally deficient transcobalamin II was demonstrated on the basis of strongly reduced secretion of immunoreactive transcobalamin II, and the absence of apotranscobalamin II. Individual phenotypes in the culture media of the fibroblasts and bone marrow cells were identical to the corresponding serum transcobalamin II types.

Isolation of granulocytes and labelling with indium 111-oxine sulphate.

The isolation of granulocytes from whole blood and labelling with Indium 111-oxine sulphate are described in detail. To isolate the cells a two-step method was used: (1) removal of the red blood cells by methyl cellulose-Ronpacon and (2) separation of the leucocyte-rich plasma with a double gradient (1077, 1097) technique. 111In-oxine sulphate was prepared by adding 111In-chloride to a buffered solution of oxine sulphate. The labelling of the granulocytes with 111In-oxine sulphate was done by incubation at room temperature for 5 min.

Effect of human serum thymic factor on immature T lymphocytes in acute leukemia and other hematologic malignancies.

In 37 patients with acute leukemia and in 13 patients with other hematologic malignancies, E-rosette formation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells, before and after incubation with human serum thymic factor, was studied. This assay showed that incubation with thymic factor caused a clear-cut increase of E-rosette-forming cells in 8 of the 37 acute leukemia patients. Among the 13 patients with other hematologic malignancies, a similar effect was observed in two with pediatric Hodgkin's disease and in one adult with Waldenström's macroglobulinemia. These results support the contention that a significant percentage of the so-called "null" cells circulating in the blood of the above-mentioned patients were, in fact, immature T cells (T0 lymphocytes) that were shifted to a more mature stage (T1) by thymic factor.

Hair zinc levels in healthy and malnourished children.

In this study the hair zinc levels of 115 healthy subjects, 50 girls and 65 boys, between the age groups 0 to 15 years were determined by using atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The hair zinc levels obtained generally agree with those reported in the literature. The hair zinc levels of the subjects were studied as a function of age, sex and color of hair. It was found that the levels of hair zinc increased as a function of age, whereas no statistically significant differences with respect to sex and color of hair were observed. In a protein-calorie malnourished group of 11 girls and six boys between the ages 0 to 3 years, it was found that the hair zinc levels were significantly higher than a group of healthy subjects of the same age range. In a protein-calorie malnourished group of seven subjects no correlation was found between hair zinc and serum levels.

Ultrastructural studies on AMML and ocular granulocytic sarcoma.

The ultrastructural analysis of the leukemic cells in twelve cases with AMML was considered a valuable tool in the diagnosis of this type of leukemia. Furthermore intracytoplasmic structure resembling virus like particles were observed in three bone marrow and one eye sample of the patients studied. The role of C-type RNA viruses in the etiology of leukemia was discussed.

Hodgkin's disease in Turkish children: a clinical and histopathologic analysis.

Fifty-one cases of Hodgkin's disease in Turkish children under 15 years of age were clinically analyzed, and 40 cases were evaluated histopathologically according to the Rye Conference classification. Complete clinical, laboratory, and radiologic findings for each patient were examined. Most patients were of low socioeconomic class, and nearly all were Caucasian. The most common presenting clinical sign was cervical lymph node enlargement; hepatosplenomegaly was noted in 18 patients. Nearly three times as many males as females were found among the patients whose diseases were histologically analyzed, and most of the children with Hodgkin's disease were in the first decade of life. Classification of the cases revealed a predominance (67.5%) of the mixed cellularity (MC) type. Of 40 patients analyzed, 34 had disease in clinical stage IV, mostly of the MC type. The data indicated a correlation of the high incidence of the MC type of Hodgkin's disease with the socioeconomic and environmental conditions in Turkey.