Judy M. Simpson

An evaluation of length and end-phrase of visual analogue scales in dental pain

&NA; Visual analogue scales (VAS) of different lengths (5, 10, 15 and 20 cm) and with different end‐phrases (troublesome, miserable, intense, unbearable and worst pain imaginable) were used to record pain in 50 male and 50 female patients with pulpitis or pericoronitis. All 100 patients successfully completed the questionnaire. High correlation was found between the scores on all the scales. Scales of length 10 or 15 cm had the smallest measurement error. The scale with the end‐phrase ‘worst pain imaginable’ was found to be the best choice for comparing present pain or worst pain between different groups. Using this scale no significant difference was found between the scores of males and females or between those of patients with pulpitis and pericoronitis. This study suggests the use of 10 cm visual analogue scales with the end‐phrase ‘worst pain imaginable’ as being the most suitable for measuring dental pain.

The effect of altering area of application and dose per unit area on sensitization by DNCB

We have investigated the contributions of dose per unit area and area of application to the degree of sensitivity induced by dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB). Subjects sensitized with 35.4 μg/cm2 showed equal sensitization whether the total dose was 250 μg applied to 7.1 cm2 or 62.5μg applied to 1.8 cm2. Three groups of subjects were sensitized with 16.4 μg/cm2 applied as 56μg on 3.5 cm2, 116μg on 7.1 cm2 or 232μg on 14.2cm2. Although the total dose changed by a factor of four, the proportions of subjects sensitized were comparable (66, 50 and 55% respectively), and their degrees of reactivity were similar. This contrasts with previous findings that when the area of sensitization was fixed and the concentration was increased over a similar range, highly significant increases in the proportion of sensitized subjects and degree of reactivity occurred.

Recovery of cutaneous immune responsiveness after PUVA therapy

We studied sensitization to dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB) in psoriatic patients before, during and 2,4, and 6 weeks after a course of photochemotherapy (PUVA). The inhibition of sensitivity observed during PUVA was completely reversed after 6 weeks. Thus the PUVA‐mediated inhibition of cutaneous immune responsiveness is of short duration. However, whether there are long‐term sequelae remains to be established.

A limiting dilution assay to determine the frequency of antigen presenting cells

A limiting dilution assay to measure the functional frequency of antigen presenting cells (APC) has been developed and used to measure the frequency of mouse lymphoid cells which stimulated the mixed leucocyte response. The experiments utilised measurements of proliferation in 20 microliter hanging drop microcultures of activated T lymphocytes. When the data supported a model of single-hit kinetics, the APC frequency in the titrated stimulating cell population was calculated by the method of maximum likelihood. The assay was validated by measuring the frequency of unpurified spleen cells and enriched spleen dendritic cells which presented alloantigens in mixed leucocyte culture. APC frequency in unpurified spleen cells was 1:7254 (SE +/- 2134, 8 experiments) and was increased markedly to 1:15 (SE +/- 7, 7 experiments) when enriched populations consisting 70-95% of dendritic cells were used as stimulators.

A Controlled Trial of GL Enzyme in the Treatment of Acute Myocardial Infarction

GL enzyme (hyaglosidase) is a highly purified component enzyme of hyaluronidase. A therapeutic trial was carried out in the treatment of suspected myocardial infarction among 1,488 patients presenting within 6 h of the onset of symptoms. No significant reduction in mortality at 6 months was observed in the GL group (15.7%) compared with the placebo group (16.4%). Mortality at 2 weeks was also unaffected by treatment (GL 10.3%; placebo 10.9%).