Faecal endotoxin and activity of the gut-associated lymphoid tissue in patients with malignant (B-cell) lymphoma.

On the basis of previously obtained evidence that Gram-negative bacteria may influence the activity of leukaemia, a study of the composition of the flora, the immune stimulation by the Gram-negative bacteria and the endotoxin concentration in faeces was conducted in patients with low-grade malignant B-cell lymphoma as well as in patients with acute leukaemia. In these patients it was investigated whether the number of facultative anaerobic Gram-negative bacteria in the faeces correlated with endotoxin concentration. In addition, IgA coating of Gram-negative bacteria in the faeces was determined and the titre of circulating antibodies to endogenous Enterobacteriaceae species from the faeces of the corresponding patient was studied.

Inefficacy of plasma exchange in cold agglutinin hemolytic anemia--a case study.

A therapeutic trial of plasma exchange was conducted in an 82-year-old woman with severe cold agglutinin hemolytic anemia, who was unresponsive to conventional treatment. In spite of considerable improvement of pertinent parameters (total IgM, cold agglutinin titer and thermal amplitude) this treatment failed to induce a clinical remission. This failure may be the result of the ability of the cold agglutinin to fix complement to the red cell membrane at temperatures much higher than the thermal amplitude.

Successful chemotherapy with deoxycoformycin in adult T-cell lymphoma-leukaemia.

A patient from the Caribbean area with active T-cell lymphoma-leukaemia was primarily treated with deoxycoformycin (DCF), 5 mg/m2 i.v. on 3 consecutive days, followed by 5 mg/m2 i.

The influence of L-asparaginase therapy on the fibrinolytic system.

Fibrinolytic factors were assessed during L-asparaginase administration, to study whether their changes may predispose to a haemorrhagic or thrombotic diathesis. The total level of alpha 2-antiplasmin declined, as well as the ratio of the plasminogen-binding form of alpha 2-antiplasmin to the non-plasminogen-binding form. After cessation of L-asparaginase administration, the ratio increased to 1.