Treatment with zincum metallicum CH5 in patients with liver cirrhosis. Preliminary study.

The zinc, an important enzymatic cofactor, is involved in many metabolic processes. Its deficiency might be due either to malabsorption or to excessive utilization. In the medical literature of the latest 10 years, zinc was considered to play a part in the immune processes. The authors of the present paper intend to study the zinc and immunoglobulin levels in various diseases, i.e., chronic progressive hepatitis, liver cirrhosis (LC), dermatitis, bronchial asthma. This preliminary investigation was carried out in 30 patients with LC in whom serum zinc values were assayed by atomic absorption spectrophotometry and the immunoglobulin levels were determined using the Mancini type simple radial immunodiffusion technique. All these patients presented considerable decrease of serum zinc concentration, the values ranging between 3.06 and 7.65 mumol/l as compared with 19.8 +/- 1.5 mumol/l in the controls, alongside with the increase of immunoglobulins G and M. In the patients treated with Zincum metallicum CH5 it was observed after about 30 days of treatment that the clinical state was considerably improved and IgG and IgM as well as serum zinc had resumed their normal values. This treatment should not be interrupted since in LC, without permanent additional supply, the serum zinc returns rapidly to the initial deficit or even lower.

Zinc supplementation of chelation therapy in saturnism. Preliminary study.

The effect of zinc supplementation of chelation therapy in saturnism was studied in 20 patients hospitalized in the Clinic of Occupational Diseases of the Colentina Hospital. In 10 patients 400 mg/day zinc sulphate in two uptakes was administered concomitantly with the chelation therapy. The other 10 patients received only chelation therapy. The period necessary for the correction of the anemic syndrome was estimated comparatively by studying the evolution of the following parameters: hemoglobin, reticulocytes, red blood cells with basophilic granulations. Zinc supplementation of the chelation therapy had a favourable effect by reducing the necessary period for the correction of anemic syndrome.

The in vitro action of a succussed substance on the proliferative response of human lymphocytes stimulated with phytohemagglutinin.

Human peripheral blood lymphocytes from healthy controls, immunodepressed patients presenting chronic bacterial infections or neoplasias and from allergic patients were stimulated in vitro with phytohemagglutinin (PHA) in culture medium supplemented or not with 1 x 10(-7), 1 x 10(-15) or 1 x 10(-30) succussed dilutions or bee venom or phosphorus in tridistilled water. The most significant inhibition due to DNA incorporation was noted in lymphocytes from allergic patients cultivated in media supplemented with 1 x 10(-30) succussed substance dilution in the presence of PHA. The cells from immunodepressed patients did not show a significant inhibition at 1 x 10(-30) dilution. Hypothetically, we try to explain these findings as the expression of the changes induced by the succussed solution on the water molecule which in turn, influences the chemical structure of the cellular membrane and implicitly, its functions.

The frequency of allergens implicated in bronchial asthma in different areas of Romania.

The study carried out on 582 asthma patients and 164 healthy controls, ranging in age from 5 to 60 years, dwelling in four different towns ( Sibiu , Medias, Baia Mare, Sighetul Marma tiei ) showed that the most frequently involved antigen in allergic bronchial asthma was house dust (50.3 to 86%), followed by Dermatophagoides pteronissinus and atmospheric fungi, and the most frequently encountered associations were likewise between these allergens, hence the orientation towards a specific hyposensitizing therapy. In these localities with a rich gramineous vegetation there was a high per cent of sensitization to the polen of these plants. Sensitization to woollen hairs has been reported in a high percent in the region of Maramure s and is linked to its ethnical characteristics. In many cases the patients also exhibited hypersensitiveness to bacteria, associated with environmental allergens, the vicious circle realized by an allergic-infectious mechanism being known. The conclusions of the study on the etiology of bronchial asthma in these geographical areas will be used as a basis for the treatment and its orientation.