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A monolayer depletion/adoptive immunization protocol that biased the immune response towards recognition of placental macrophage (pMO) antigens was established. BALB/c spleen cells immune to human pMO were adsorbed onto monolayers of the B-cell fine QIMR-WIL. Monolayer-depleted or unfractionated cells were transferred to irradiated recipients, which subsequently were restimulated with pMO then killed for hybridoma production. Screening of hybridomas revealed an increased proportion of pMO-specific hybridomas following transfer and fusion of monolayer-depleted cells. Two monoclonal antibodies (mAh), L9 and L21, which were generated through application of this protocol, are described. L9 recognized an antigen on cells within the villi in sections of term placenta and freshly isolated pMO. With time in culture, expression of this antigen decreased markedly. Macrophages, but no other cell type, in placental cell suspensions expressed this antigen. L9 failed to react with arty peripheral blood cells. Immunoprecipitation and SDS-PAGE analyses indicated that two proteins of molacular weight (MW) 40,000 and 43,000 were recognized by L9. Sections of term placenta and freshly isolated pMO failed to react with L21. After 2–3 days in culture, however, most macrophages expressed this antigen. L21 reacted weakly with peripheral monocytes and granulocytes but not other normal peripheral blood cells. Myeloid cell lines reacted strongly with this mAb only after activation with PMA. SDS-PAGE analyses of the L21 immunoprecipitate under non-reducing conditions revealed a single band of 61,000 MW, while two bands of 46,000 and 49,000 MW were detected under reducing conditions. Cellular distribution and molecular weight analyses indicated that the antigens recognized by these two mAb were apparently distinct from previously defined myeloid antigens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The quality of the sleep in the intensive care unit (ICU) is generally poor. It is known that several factors contribute to this situation., Aim: To describe the experiences of adult patients during night-time sleep in the ICU., Design: A qualitative study using a phenomenological approach was conducted from May to October 2021. Patients were intensive care patients (n = 10) who were treated for at least 24 h in tertiary ICUs., Methods: The data were obtained through semi-structured interviews based on an interview guide. A qualitative content analysis using an inductive approach was performed., Results: The analysis resulted in three main themes: (a) inadequate sleep at night; (b) factors negatively affecting night-time sleep; and (c) patient expectations for improved night-time sleep. Night-time sleep of patients treated in intensive care were determined to generally have inadequate and be interrupted. Patients associated the cause of this situation with the physical environment conditions in the ICU, loud noises made by health employees and emotional reactions. It was stated that some physical environment changes that can be made in ICUs and psychological support will positively affect sleep., Conclusions: Intensive care patients may not have quality night-time sleep because of multifactorial reasons. Noise in the ICU is a significant factor preventing patients from sleeping. In addition to reorganization of the physical environment to ensure adequate sleep, there is a need for an integrated approach dealing with patients' feelings and concerns., Relevance to Clinical Practice: Each patient has their own unique sleep pattern. To ensure effective management of sleep problems, health professionals should organize care and physical conditions in line with guidelines and create patient-specific night-time sleep management programmes., (© 2024 The Author(s). Nursing in Critical Care published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Association of Critical Care Nurses.)

Background: Pre-clinically, hyaluronan (HA) has been demonstrated to systemically target chemotherapeutic drugs to tumours while ameliorating treatment toxicities. This study is a preliminary clinical investigation to determine if HA could be safely used in combination with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and doxorubicin (DOX)., Methods: Thirty patients with metastatic cancer were intravenously administered 500 mg/m2 HA in combination with escalating doses of DOX (30-60 mg/m2) or 5-FU (cumulative dose of 1,350-2,250 mg/m2 per cycle). The effect of pre-administration of 20 mg/m2 of folinic acid on HA/5-FU chemotherapy was also investigated. Patients were randomized to receive either HA/chemotherapy or chemotherapy alone in their first treatment cycle and vice versa for the second cycle. Patients received HA and chemotherapy in all subsequent cycles., Results: Treatment was well tolerated, tumour responses were observed and the co-administration of HA did not alter the pharmacokinetics of clinically relevant doses of 5-FU or DOX., Conclusion: High doses of intravenous high-molecular-weight HA can be safely co-administered with clinical doses of chemotherapy without significantly altering the toxicity or pharmacokinetics of the drugs or HA., (Copyright (c) 2005 S. Karger AG, Basel)

The biosorption of cadmium and lead ions from artificial aqueous solutions using waste baker's yeast biomass was investigated. The yeast cells were treated with caustic, ethanol and heat for increasing their biosorption capacity and the highest metal uptake values (15.63 and 17.49 mg g(-1) for Cd(2+) and Pb(2+), respectively) were obtained by ethanol treated yeast cells. The effect of initial metal concentration and pH on biosorption by ethanol treated yeast was studied. The Langmuir model and Freundlich equation were applied to the experimental data and the Langmuir model was found to be in better correlation with the experimental data. The maximum metal uptake values (qmax, mg g(-1)) were found as 31.75 and 60.24 for Cd(2+) and Pb(2+), respectively. Competitive biosorption experiments were performed with Cd(2+) and Pb(2+) together with Cu(2+) and the competitive biosorption capacities of the yeast biomass for all metal ions were found to be lower than in non-competitive conditions.

Current treatment strategies for high-grade gliomas are inadequate with high rates of disease recurrence and poor overall survival. Photodynamic therapy has been extensively investigated for a variety of tumours including high-grade gliomas. We have previously described a novel boronated porphyrin (BOPP) which has highly selective uptake by tumour cells. A Phase I study documented that BOPP at a dose of 4mg/kg was well tolerated. We report here the survival data arising from this Phase I study. Overall 28 patients (pts) with high-grade gliomas were treated with BOPP photodynamic therapy with a median overall survival (OS) of 14 months (2-48+ months). Sixteen pts had glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) with a median OS of 8 months (2-38+). Of 9 pts with recurrent GBM, the median OS was 11 months (3-38+), with 56% surviving at least 12 months. In conclusion, BOPP photodynamic therapy was associated with encouraging survival particularly in the recurrent GBM setting.

Purpose: To determine the recommended dose, toxicity profile, and pharmacokinetics of a novel boronated porphyrin (BOPP) for photodynamic therapy (PDT) of intracranial tumors., Patients and Methods: BOPP was administered alone in increasing doses (0.25, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 4.0, or 8.0 mg/kg) preoperatively in patients with intracranial tumors undergoing postresection PDT until dose-limiting toxicity (DLT) was observed., Results: Twenty-nine assessable patients with intracranial tumors received BOPP intravenously 24 hours before surgery. The recommended dose was 4 mg/kg. Dose escalation was limited by thrombocytopenia. The most common nonhematologic toxicity was skin photosensitivity. Pharmacokinetic parameters showed increased area under the plasma concentration-time curve and maximum concentration with increased dose. Tumor BOPP concentrations also increased with increased dose., Conclusion: BOPP at a dose of 4 mg/kg was well tolerated. DLT was thrombocytopenia, and photosensitivity was the only other toxicity of note. The efficacy of PDT using BOPP requires further exploration.

Monocytes from HIV-seronegative persons were analyzed for CD4 expression and susceptibility to infection with HIV-1 on the day of isolation and following 1, 2, and 7 days in culture. Although surface CD4 was readily detected on freshly isolated monocytes, these cells were relatively resistant to infection. After 1 to 2 days in culture, when surface expression of CD4 had decreased over 90% to near background levels, cells became susceptible to infection with HIV-1. CD4 expression on monocytes cultured for 7 days was more than four times higher than that on freshly isolated cells, and the cultured cells were fully permissive to infection. These observations suggest that the differing susceptibility of monocytes and monocyte-derived macrophages to infection with HIV-1 is not simply proportional to the level of surface CD4 expression.

Placental adherent cells (PAC), derived by mild enzymic digestion of human placentae and adherence to plastic, were tested for their ability to suppress MLR and CML reactions. Stimulation of allogeneic T cells by cord blood mononuclear cells or by a strongly stimulatory B lymphoblastoid cell line were consistently inhibited by all PAC preparations tested. PAC were fractionated by Fc rosetting and Percoll gradients to produce a number of bands. Suppression correlated with the content of macrophages in each band and was strongest in band 5 which generally contained 94-100% macrophages. The suppressive effect was not inhibited by indomethacin. The possible role of macrophages in suppressing immune reactivity in the placenta is discussed.

The effects on the visual evoked response (VER) of subject behavior, such as accuracy of fixation, stability of eye position, and degree of concentration, are poorly documented. Experiments were performed on 20 normal subjects to investigate the effects on the VER of eye movements, off-center stimulation, concentration on another task, and voluntary defocusing. It was found that there are some conditions under which a normal subject can produce an abnormal VER which could lead to misdiagnosis.

Human placentae have been extracted with combinations of enzymes to optimize the release of mononuclear phagocytes. A mixture of trypsin-DNAase used in sequential extraction was found to provide the best yield of adherent cells which were stable in culture. The majority of adherent cells exhibited phagocytic function and expression of receptor for IgG-Fc (FcR). Subsequent studies established that these functions were co-expressed by the same cells. The FcR+ cells were also shown by immunofluorescence with monoclonal antibodies to display monocyte-macrophage distinctive antigens and class I and class II MHC antigens. The placenta has thus been shown to provide a rich source of class II-positive macrophages suitable for immunological studies.