Immunology

A selection of interesting papers that were published in the two months before our press date in major journals most likely to report significant results in immunology.     

Successful Treatment of Kasabach-Merritt Syndrome with Prednisone and Epsilon-Aminocaproic Acid

The Kasabach-Merritt syndrome is characterized by thrombocytopenia and localized coagulopathy associated with a hemangioma. Most techniques applied to eradicate the tumor or accelerate its involution (surgery, radiation therapy, embolization) are invasive and require transfusion of large amounts of blood products. In some cases, medical treatment is the only alternative. Efficacy of steroids and antifibronolytic agents has already been described, but even this approach is associated with the administration of blood products. We report two cases of infants with Kasabach-Merritt syndrome associated with cardiac and hepatic hemangiomas. At admission, both had signs of cardiac failure. They were successfully treated with prednisone and epsilon-aminocaproic acid (EACA). Blood products were not required once the diagnosis was made. These observations have important implications for the management of patients with Kasabach-Merritt syndrome because they show that even in severe cases blood transfusions can be avoided by the use of prednisone and EACA.     

Effect of Bendazac Lysine on lens and retina in diabetics

The possible beneficial effects on the lens and retina which Bendazac Lysine may have in the treatment of adult diabetic patients were investigated. Twenty patients, ranging in age from 54.80 ± 5.86 years old, were studied. The average duration of the diabetes was 11.32 ± 4.10 years. Thirteen patients had background retinopathy. The metabolic controls carried out during the study were satisfactory (HbA1<11%). Bendazac Lysine (500 mg three times a day) was administered for 6 months. Blood-retinal barrier permeability (VPR and VPRt) and lens transmittance (t) were evaluated prior to and 6 months after treatment by fluorophotometry. No statistically significant differences between the pre- and post-treatment values of the retina permeability were observed, however, there was a statistically significant improvement (p<0.05) (initial value: t= 0.813 ± 0.040 and final value: t=0.823 ± 0.037) in the lens transmittance. The authors conclude that Bendazac Lysine has a beneficial effect on the lens in the diabetic adult although no improvement in the permeability of the blood-retinal barrier has been observed.     

Treatment of cutaneous T cell lymphoma with intermediate doses of interferon alpha 2a

In this study we treated 6 patients with epidermotropic cutaneous T cell lymphoma (CTCL) with intermediate doses of recombinant alpha 2a interferon (18-100 x 10(6) IU/week) for 2-6 months. One patient experienced complete clinical remission in spite of a persistent dense lymphocytic skin infiltrate. One patient was markedly improved and 2 patients were moderately improved. The clinical condition of the 2 remaining patients was unchanged by interferon treatment. In all cases lesions relapsed a few weeks after treatment was discontinued. This study shows that interferon can be used to treat epidermotropic CTCL. However, a 2- to 6-month treatment using moderate doses did not lead to the high percentage of remission previously reported by others with high doses of recombinant alpha 2a interferon, for longer periods. This result suggests that interferon should be used at high doses and/or for long time periods for clinical improvement of CTCL patients.     

Selective attention to facial emotion and identity in schizophrenia.

The selective attention to facial emotion and identity was investigated in 12 patients with schizophrenia and 12 healthy participants. Both patients and controls were required to perform two classification tasks (according either to identity or emotion). Two separate values for identity (person A/person B) and for emotion (fear/anger) were used. When the classification task was on one dimension, the other dimension was either correlated, constant, or orthogonal (Garner WR. The Processing of Information and Structure. Potomac, MD: Erlbaum, 1974, Garner WR. Interaction of stimulus dimensions in concept and choice processes. Cognitive Psychology 1976;8:98-123). Results indicated that both patients and healthy participants had an asymmetrical pattern of performance: they were able to selectively attend to the identity of the face presented, regardless of the emotion expressed on the face, but variation in identity interfered with the classification of facial emotion. Moreover, a correlational study indicated that the identity interference on emotion classification for schizophrenic patients covaried with the severity of their negative symptoms. The selective attention competencies in schizophrenia and the independence hypothesis of emotion and face recognition are discussed in the framework of current face recognition models.     

Radioimmunoassay method for the detection of IgE antibodies specific to alcuronium

A radio-immunoassay (RIA) was used to screen for specific IgE to myorelaxants. Alcuronium was coupled to epoxy-activated Sepharose. Sixteen patients with anaphylaxis to alcuronium (n = 2), gallamine (n = 2) or suxamethonium (n = 12) were studied. The diagnosis was established by intradermal tests (ID), passive cutaneous anaphylaxis tests and human basophil degranulation tests. The amount of non specific label retained by Sepharose-ethanolamine (with sera of patients) and Sepharose-alcuronium (with sera of 11 control subjects) was estimated. The RIA was positive 10/16 (8/14 patients having reacted to a muscle relaxant other than alcuronium). The RIA seemed to be useful in the diagnosis of anaphylaxis to muscle relaxants. Drug-reactive antibodies were specific of the quaternary ammonium radical, which was the common allergenic determinant of all molecules of muscle relaxants. This test accounted for in vitro cross-reactivity, but had no predictive value for the clinical risk of crossed-anaphylaxis. This risk was best assessed by ID; it was positive in three cases. Although it was not possible to compare ID and RIA, the interpretation of which was different, both tests should be recommended for the detection of sensitivity to muscle relaxants.     

Synthesis and properties of (D)- and (L)-lactide stereocopolymers using the system achiral Schiff's base/aluminium methoxide as initiator

The polymerization of lactides with various D /L enantiomeric compositions using achiral Schiff's base/aluminium methoxide as initiator (SALENAlOCH₃) in dichloromethane solution at 70°C is reported. The conversion was kept below 70% in order to limit transesterification reactions. The polymers obtained after precipitation show a narrow molecular weight distribution (ratio of weight- to number-average molecular weights M _w/M _n = 1,1–1,2) and an optical rotation higher than that expected from the optical purity of the starting monomers. The examination of the thermal properties reveals that whatever their enantiomeric composition all the prepared polymers are crystalline. This unusual behavior is explained by an end-chain propagation mechanism producing stereocopolymers with long enantiomeric sequences, i.e., increased isotacticity as substantiated by an examination of the microstructure of the polymers by means of ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance. A stereocomplex formation was observed for stereocopolymers with optical purities below 40%.