Inhibition of Polyclonally Induced Immunoglobulin Secretion by Aurothiomalate

The influence of sodium aurothiomalate on the secretion of immunoglobulins by normal human lymphocytes in vitro was investigated by means of a reverse hemolytic plaque forming cell (PFC assay, Aurothiomalate inhibited the FFC response induced by pokeweed mitogen (PWM) and by Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in a dose dependent manner. The inhibition was irreversible, as pre-incubation for 2 h with the drug followed by extensive washing and further culture in gold salt–free medium still caused an inhibition of the PFC response to PWM and to EBV. Cell proliferation was not significantly affected, suggesting that the inhibition of PFC formation was not due to cytotoxicity. Pre–incubation of monocytes/macrophages (Mø's), T lymphocytes and B lymphocytes with the gold compound prior to culture with PWM showed that M0's and B cells were highly sensitive, whereas T lymphocytes where resistant to the drug. The findings indicate that aurothio-malate inhibits the polyclonally induced PFC response by interfering with accessory Me function and by affecting the B lymphocyte itself.     

Humoral Immunity to Dietary Antigens in Atopic Dermatitis

Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) employing a biotin-avidin amplification step are described for the quantification of human serum IgG antibodies to the dietary antigens ovalbumin (OA) and beta-lactoglobulin (BLG). The analytical quality of these assays was acceptable. Antibodies were measured in 16 patients with mild or moderate atopic dermatitis (AD), in 31 patients with a history of AD, and in closely matched controls. Levels of serum anti-OA antibodies did not differ in patients and controls, whereas anti-BLG antibodies tended to be higher in patients with mild or moderate AD than in controls (P less than 0.05).     

Chimerism studies in HLA-identical nonmyeloablative hematopoietic stem cell transplantation point to the donor CD8(+) T-cell count on day + 14 as a predictor of acute graft-versus-host disease.

Chimerism analysis of hematopoietic cells has emerged as an essential tool in nonmyeloablative hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. We have investigated the development of donor chimerism in granulocytes and CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells in blood and bone marrow of 24 patients with hematologic malignancies who received HLA-identical sibling peripheral blood stem cell grafts after conditioning with fludarabine and 2 Gy of total body irradiation. The T-cell chimerism of blood and bone marrow was tightly correlated. Complete donor chimerism was reached earlier in the granulocytes than in the T cells. Mixed T-cell chimerism was common at the time of onset of acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD), and both CD4(+) and CD8(+) donor T-cell chimerism increased with the occurrence of aGVHD grades II to IV (P =.0002 and P =.019, respectively). The rate of disappearance of recipient CD8(+) T cells was faster in patients with aGVHD grades II to IV than in patients without clinically significant aGVHD (P =.016). This observation indicates a role of graft-versus-lymphohematopoietic tissue reactions in creating complete donor T-cell chimerism. A donor CD8(+) T-cell count above the median on day +14 increased the risk of subsequent development of aGVHD grades II to IV (P =.003).     

Mosaicism of the CAG repeat sequence in the Huntington disease gene in a pair of monozygotic twins

We report on a pair of monozygotic twins belonging to a family segregating Huntington disease (HD). In routine DNA analysis of blood cells, they displayed three alleles of the CAG repeat sequence in the HD gene. Two different cell lines, carrying the normal allele together with either an expanded allele with 47 CAGs or an intermediate allele with 37 CAGs, were detected in blood and buccal epithelium from both twins. To our knowledge, this is the first case described of HD gene CAG repeat length mosaicism in blood cells. Haplotype analysis established that the 37 CAG allele most likely arose by contraction of the maternal 47 CAG allele. The contraction must have taken place postzygotically, possibly at a very early stage of development, and probably before separation of the twins. One of the twins has presented symptoms of HD for 4 years; his skin fibroblasts and hair roots carried only the cell line with the 47 CAG repeat allele. The other twin, who is without symptoms at present, displayed mosaicism in skin fibroblasts and hair roots. If the proportion of the two cell lines in the brain of each twin resembles that of their hair roots (another tissue originating from the ectoderm), the mosaicism in the unaffected twin would mean that only a part of his brain cells carried the expanded allele, which could explain why he, in contrast to his brother, has no symptoms at this time.     

Clinical and pathological characterization of an osteoma in a barred owl

Osteomas are rare in birds. An osteoma of the left proximal radius was diagnosed in an adult barred owl based on gross, radiographic, and pathologic findings.     

Expression of blood group antigens including HLA markers in human adult liver

The localisation of the principal blood group antigens has been studied in human liver. These blood group antigens included the erythrocyte antigens and the antigen of the major histocompatibility complex. This study was performed by the indirect immunofluorescence technique using polyclonal antibodies of human or animal origin and monoclonal antibodies from hybridomas. This study has shown that the normal hepatocyte is lacking in blood group antigens. On the contrary, the biliary cell was rich in antigenic markers: the main antigens expressed were Lewis, Pr, HLA-A and B antigens. In Kupffer cells, only i and HLA-DR antigens were clearly expressed. The endothelial cells of blood vessels mainly show A, B, H, HLA-A and B antigens; HLA-DR and Pr are slightly expressed. HLA-DR antigens were more strongly expressed on veins than on arteries. Dendritic cells have been identified in the portal space of human liver. They bore i and HLA-DR antigens.     

A case of 46,XX,r(X) (p1q1) diagnosed by in situ hybridization

A small marker chromosome was identified as an X-derived ring chromosome by in situ hybridization with a biotinylated X-chromosome specific a-satellite DNA probe. This procedure clearly determined the chromosomal origin of the marker chromosome, which had been impossible to define by conventional cytogenetic techniques including high resolution banding.     

H-reflexes are less depressed following muscle stretch in spastic spinal cord injured patients than in healthy subjects

The size of the soleus H-reflex was measured after a slow (17 deg/s) passive stretch of ankle plantarflex ors and compared to its control size without muscle stretch in ten neurologically healthy subjects and in six spastic spinal-cord-injured patients. Two seconds after the end of the stretch, the size of the H-reflex was reduced to about 30% of its pre-stretch size in the healthy sub jects. The depression remained for 10–15 s. In the spastic, spinal-cord-injured patients, stretch caused significantly less reduction in the size of the H-reflex. The H-reflex also regained its pre-stretch size much faster than in healthy subjects. We suggest that the smaller depression of the H-reflex observed in spastic patients may be involved in the pathophysiology of spasticity.     

An association study of the cholesteryl ester transfer protein TaqI B polymorphism with late onset Alzheimer's disease

Cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) is reportedly able to affect the amount of cholesterol available for deposition and/or removal from peripheral tissues, in its capacity to mediate the transfer of cholesterol from high density lipoprotein (HDL) to very low density lipoprotein, in exchange for triacylglycerols from the latter. The TaqI B polymorphism of the human CETP gene has been associated with decreased CETP mass and an increase in HDL-cholesterol. While many studies have addressed the atherogenic or anti-atherogenic potential of this polymorphism, little is known about its effect on neurodegeneration, despite the fact that CETP is expressed in the brain and the disturbance of cholesterol homeostasis appears to be an important factor in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). In this report, we have compared the distribution of the TaqI B polymorphism in an independent population of 102 clinically diagnosed late onset AD patients and a spousal control group of 97 individuals. We have also examined the possible interaction between this polymorphism and two other polymorphisms suspected of affecting cholesterol flux, namely apolipoprotein E APOE epsilon4, and lipoprotein lipase LPLS447X. No statistically significant differences have emerged with respect to either genotype or allele frequencies between the AD and control populations. CETP TaqI B did not interact significantly with either APOE epsilon4 or LPLS447X, in this study.