Waterborne outbreak of Campylobacter enteritis

A report is given on an outbreak of enteritis which occurred in July 1982 in a kibbutz near Jerusalem. About 150 of the 512 inhabitants were affected.Campylobacter jejuni was isolated from ten out of 42 stool samples examined toward the end of the outbreak. No other enteric pathogen was found. Strong circumstantial evidence indicated an association between the outbreak and the use of water from an unprotected reservoir, but no bacteriological confirmation was obtained.     

The use of fenbendazole in the treatment of commercial turkeys infected with Ascaridia dissimilis

Birds on a commercial turkey Farm were treated with fenbendazole on two separate occasions. For each treatment, fenbendazole was administered in the feed for 3 days at 30 mg/kg. Mean Ascaridia dissimilis total counts in randomly selected birds were 14.4 and 33.0 prior to the first and second treatments, respectively, whilst post-treatment counts averaged only 0.1 and 0.3, respectively. Anthelmintic effectiveness as demonstrated by both treatments was >99.0%. No untoward effects were noted with either fenbendazole treatment. After fenbendazole withdrawal, routine treatments with piperazine dihydrochloride were commenced with no apparent anthelmintic effectiveness. Mean total nematode burdens rose to 153.9 with a high individual count of 451. The potential for severe ascaridiasis when effective anthelmintic intervention is precluded was demonstrated.     

Discovery and implications of the immunogenicity of free small synthetic peptides: powerful tools for manipulating the immune system and for production of antibodies and T cells of preselected submolecular specificities

Recent studies from this laboratory have found, contrary to a long-held belief, that synthetic peptides of a protein, as small as six residues, when immunized in their free form (i.e., without coupling to any carrier), elicit the formation of antibodies with submolecular binding specificities to preselected protein regions. These peptides could represent either the antigenic sites of the protein or surface regions that are not immunogenic when the intact protein is the antigen. In either case, the antibodies bind specifically to the intact protein, exclusively at the region used in immunization. Monoclonal antibodies with preselected specificities can also be produced by hybridoma technology from the spleens of the immunized animals. Furthermore, free synthetic peptides have been employed to generate T-cell lines and T-cell clones with specificities to preselected immunogenic locations and also to induce tolerance to such preselected locations. These fascinating breakthroughs indicate that free synthetic peptides may be used in the future as powerful tools in basic investigations and in therapeutic and diagnostic applications.     

Thromboresistant properties of hydrophilic gels

The thromboresistant properties of hydrophilic gels based on copolymers of nitrogen-containing heterocyclic vinyl compounds with vinyl monomers were investigated. The hydrophilic gels were shown to prevent adsorption of fibrinogen, activation of procoagulants, and adhesion of platelets. Hydrogen surfaces possess selective affinity for plasma albumin. The authors consider that the thromboresistant effect of hydrophilic gels is due to the competitive action of plasma albumin. Modification of hydrophilic gels increases their thromboresistant properties.Laboratory of Thromboresistant Materials, Institute of Transplantation of Organs and Tissues, Ministry of Health of the USSR, Moscow. (Presented by Academician of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR A. M. Chernukh.) Translated from Byulleten' Éksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 89, No. 3, pp. 296–298, March, 1980.     

Genetic control of the immune response to haemoglobin. II. Studies using purified alpha-chain and beta-chain as immunogens

Mice of independent haplotypes and several recombinant inbred strains were immunized with highly purified preparations of either the alpha-chain or beta-chain subunit of human adult haemoglobin. Cells from the sensitized lymph nodes were challenged in vitro with the appropriate subunit (or in some cases both chains) and cell proliferation assessed by 3H-thymidine incorporation. Mice of the H-2b and H-2d haplotypes were high responders to alpha-chain while mice of the H-2f, H-2j, H-2k, H-2r, H-2s, H-2u, and H-2v haplotype were low responders. the low responsivenesss of B10.A(4R) and B 10.MBR and high responsiveness of B10 indicated that the Ir gene(s) determining responsiveness to the alpha-chain subunit resides in the I-A subregion of the mouse major histocompatibility complex. Mice of the H-2d, H-2f, and H-2s haplotypes were high responders and H-2b, H-2j, H-2a, and H-2u haplotype mice were low responders to beta-chain. H-2k, H-2p, H-2r, and H-2v haplotype mice were intermediate responders to beta-chain. The low responsiveness of B10.S(8R) and B10.TL and the high responsivenes of B10.S(9R) mapped the Ir gene(s) to beta-chain to the I-A subregion. Data collected from challenging high responder cells with both subunit indicated that alpha-chain and beta-chain do not crossreact. These results are discussed in reference to earlier observations suggesting that the low responsiveness of some strains of mice to priming and challenging using the intact haemoglobin molecule might be due to a negative regulatory influence mediated by one of the subunits. In the absence of this influence these mice would respond normally.     

A technique for the identification of glycoprotein antigens in immune complexes and its application to the detection of a common glycomprotein in sera of patients with burkitt's lymphoma and nasopharyngeal carcinoma

A new technique for the detection of glycoprotein antigens in immune complexes (IC) isolated from serum is described. The technique was developed with a model IC system consisting of ovalbumin (OVA)-rabbit anti-ovalbumin antibodies (aOVA), at 3 times antigen excess. OVA-aOVA IC added to normal human serum (NHS) were purified by absorption onto and elution from tubes coated with rheumatoid factor (RF) and were subjected to electrophoresis in polycrylamide gels. Concanavalin A (Con A) binding proteins were detected by treating the gels with radioiodinated Con A ¹²⁵Con A), followed by autoradiography. IC isolated from sera of patients with Burkitt's lymphoma (BL) and Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma (NPC) were analyzed before and after reduction with dithioreitol. Two closely spaced proteins of about 40 kdalton were identified in the reduced samples in 26 of 30 BL sera (86%) and in 24 of 30 NPC sera (80%) but were not seen in 30 sera of African patients with a variety of unrelated tumors nor in 12 sera of European blood bank donors.