In vitro cultures of human bone marrow have been used to study normal haemopoiesis and to gain information to aid in the treatment of leukaemia patients. A workshop on the development of semi-solid bone marrow cultures was held for two days in Washington on 15 and 16 August 1976. The participants of this workshop discussed some of the technical problems associated with semi-solid cultures of hu...

A recent randomized controlled clinical trial of the immunostimulatory agent thymosin alpha-1 was conducted and showed a trend toward improved survival in patients receiving the drug (P = 0.06). Although this was a relatively small study and the exact mechanism of action of thymosin alpha-1 is not known, the present results further support the evolving concept that, as sepsis persists, a hypoin...

Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) stimulates the development of and the cytotoxic activity of white blood cells. Recombinant human GM-CSF has proven useful in the treatment of blood disorders. The structure of GM-CSF, which was determined at 2.4 angstrom resolution by x-ray crystallography, has a novel fold combining a two-stranded antiparallel beta sheet with an open bu...

BACKGROUND Studies have reported that plasma human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) RNA levels and CD4+ lymphocyte counts in HIV-infected patients improved after treatment with granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF). METHODS In AIDS Clinical Trials Group Protocol 5041, 116 patients were enrolled in a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial of 16 wee...

Anti-murine (m) interleukin-5 (IL-5) antibody was found to inhibit eosinophil (Eo) colony formation stimulated by recombinant human (rh) IL-5, but did not inhibit the production of Eo stimulated by rh IL-3 or granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF). Conditioned medium (CM) prepared from eosinophilic patients' T cells with interleukin-2 (IL-2) stimulation (T-IL-2-CM), was found...

Therapeutic failure in the treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) occurs in 5% of patients infected by Leishmania braziliensis. This study evaluates the use of topically applied granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) combined with the standard dose of antimony to treat refractory cases of CL. Five patients who had received three courses or more of antimony were enrolled in...

This study describes an in vivo model for evaluating the sterilizing activity of compounds against persisting Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The initial treatment with isoniazid and rifampin in granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor gene-disrupted mice reduced the number of bacteria more than 99% within 3 weeks. A subsequent treatment with individual drugs was performed to assess their a...

OBJECTIVE We performed a randomised trial in very preterm, small for gestational age (SGA) babies to determine if prophylaxis with granulocyte macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) improves outcomes (the PROGRAMS trial). GM-CSF was associated with improved neonatal neutrophil counts, but no change in other neonatal or 2-year outcomes. As subtle benefits in outcome may not be ascertainab...

The objective was to determine whether granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) stimulates development of bovine embryos. In each experiment, oocytes were fertilized in vitro, GM-CSF was added to embryo culture medium at 8-10 h or 5 days after insemination, and development was monitored as the proportion of oocytes that formed blastocysts. Addition of recombinant bovine GM-CSF ...

Background Inhalation exposure to fine and ultrafine particles (UFPs) has been associated with respiratory diseases. However, little is known on the quality, threshold levels and concentration of these particles causing adverse health effects. Methods The impact of occupational exposure to submicrometer and UFPs was assessed in 30 healthy police shooting instructors by clinical investigation,...