Mary Sue McCall

Glucagon antibodies and their use for immunoassay for glucagon.

Summary Non-precipitating antibodies to glucagon have been produced in rabbits and detected by both Berson-Yalow and Skom-Talmadge technics. A basis for an immunoassay for glucagon appears, thereby, to have been established.

The Acanthocyte in Cirrhosis with Hemolytic Anemia

Abstract A patient with severe cirrhosis and hemolytic anemia associated with marked acanthocytosis is described. Wet preparations revealed the acanthocytes to be rigid and nonpliable without roule...

Bacteria as specific binding agents for an isotopic assay of serum folate.

Summary Saturation analysis or competitive inhibition utilizing bacteria (L. casei) as the specific binder permitted the measurement of serum folate. Unlike conventional microbiologic techniques, organism growth rate was not determined. This new “radiomicrobiologic” approach quantitated serum folate by competitive binding of tritiated folic acid during the early “lag” phase of bacterial growth.

The direct Coombs test and reticulocytes.

THE Coombs antiglobdm test has gained wide acceptance in the demonstration of incomplete antibodies. A positive reaction has usually been interpreted to indicate the presence of iso-immune or auto-immune globulins. A positive Coombs test has been observed to develop following administration of phenylhydrazine (Muirhead, Groves and Bryan, 1954; Luginbuhl, 1957)~ in lead poisoning (Sutherland and Eisentraut, 1956) as well as in sensitization of red cells with metallic cations (Jandl and Simmons, 1957). The prompt appearance of the Coombs reaction in these circumstances suggested its dependence upon a non-immunologic mechanism. Sutherland and Eisentraut (1956) reported that, in lead poisoning, sampling from various levels of a column of sedimented erythrocytes demonstrated that the Coombs reaction was primarily confiied to the upper layers, which were rich in coarsely stippled cells and reticulocytes. Identification of reticulocytosis as a cause of a positive direct Coombs test was first reported by Sutherland, Eisentraut and McCall (1957) and similar observations have been noted (Nelken, 1961; Jandl, 1960). The experiments of Jandl (1960) suggested that the protein coating of immature erythrocytes may be due to transferrin. The present study deals with quantitative relationships between the direct antiglobulin reaction and the levels of reticulocytosis, as observed in experimental animals and in patients with spontaneous reticulocytosis as well as an evaluation of the in-vivo survival of the globulincoated reticulocytes.

Nomogram for estimating tissue dose from internally deposited β-emitting radioisotopes

A nomogram is presented for use in estimating tissue dose from internally deposited beta -emitting radioisotopes. A formula is included for converting the dose to roentgens. (C.H.)