Intrathecal synthesis of anti-myelin basic protein IgG in HIV-1+ patients

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1)-infected individuals frequently develop a broad spectrum of neurological syndromes, classified as HIV-1-associated cognitive/motor complex. Diffuse demyelination of hemispheric white matter is a commonly observed in HIV-1 infected brain, but the events leading to myelin destruction are still obscure. Since oligodendrocyte infection by HIV-1 is not proven as yet, myelin damage in HIV-1 infection may result from indirect mechanisms such as the excessive release of myelinotoxic substances or the triggering of autoimmune responses directed to myelin constituents. To verify the latter hypothesis, we searched for elevated anti-myelin basic protein (MBP) IgG levels in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum of 25 patients with HIV-1 infection, 12 with multiple sclerosis (MS), and 9 with non-inflammatory neurological diseases (NIND). CSF, but not serum, anti-MBP IgG levels were more frequently elevated in HIV-1⁺ (16/25, 64%) than in MS (3/12, 25%) or NIND (0/9) patients. By using the anti-MBP IgG index, the anti-MBP IgG antibody specificity index (ASI), and the search for anti-MBP oligoclonal IgG, we ascertained that anti-MBP IgG were produced within the CNS in 13 of 25 (52%) HIV-1⁺, in 6 of 12 (50%) MS, and in none of NIND patients. The incidence of increased CSF anti-MBP IgG levels was higher among HIV-1⁺ patients at stage II–III (4/4, 100%) or at stage IV B (7/9, 78%) than among those at stage IV C–IV D (5/12, 42%). Although our data indicate that intrathecal anti-MBP IgG may occur early during HIV-1 infection and that they are more common in patients with HIV-1-associated cognitive/motor complex, the possible demyelinating role of these antibodies remains to be demonstrated.     

No evidence for association between the −112G/A polymorphism of UGRP1 and childhood atopic asthma

BACKGROUND: Susceptibility to asthma is known to involve genetic factors. Genome-wide screens have indicated that the chromosome 5q31-q34 region is linked to and/or associated with asthma. A new gene, named UGRP1 and reported by Niimi et al., encodes uteroglobin-related protein and is expressed in the lung and trachea. Niimi et al. showed the -112G/A polymorphism of the UGRP1 gene to be associated with asthma in a case-control study. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the present study was to replicate this association and confirm the possible role of the UGRP1-112G/A polymorphism in the aetiology of childhood asthma in a Japanese population. METHODS AND RESULTS: We conducted a transmission disequilibrium test (TDT) in 131 families identified through paediatric patients being treated for asthma. A case-control study was also carried out by comparing the probands and 137 unrelated non-atopic non-asthmatic Japanese children and 211 unrelated healthy Japanese adults. The -112G/A polymorphism was genotyped by the PCR-RFLP method. The TDT revealed that the -112A allele was not preferentially transmitted to asthma-affected children (P=0.85). Neither the presence of at least one A allele in an individual's genotype (sum of the G/A and A/A genotypes) nor the -112A allele was more prevalent among the asthma subjects than among the control subjects. CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate that the UGRP1-112G/A polymorphism does not play a substantial role in genetic predisposition to childhood asthma in this Japanese population.     

In vivo receptor binding,neurochemical and functional studies with the dopamine D-1 receptor antagonist SCH 23390

Summary A series of in vivo experiments were undertaken, relating functional (motor activity, body temperature), dopamine (DA) receptor binding and neurochemical (catecholamine synthesis and utilization, DA release) aspects of the pharmacology of SCH 23390 in the rat.The compound inhibited the locomotor hyperactivity, but not the hypothermia, induced by the potent DA stimulant DP-5,6-ADTN. Interstingly, SCH 23390 simultaneously failed to displace DP-5,6-ADTN from its binding sites in the rat striatum—used as a direct in vivo biochemical index of DA (D-2) receptor interaction. The spontaneous locomotion in non-pretreated rats was likewise inhibited by SCH 23390. The locomotor-suppressive action, but not the DP-5,6-ADTN-displacing capcity of the D-2 blocker haloperidol was significantly enhanced by SCH 23390, suggesting that motility can be suppressed by either enhanced D-1 or D-2 (postsynaptic) receptor blockade, but also that the D-1 and D-2 sites involved may be physically distinct.SCH 23390 only slightly altered in vivo neurochemical of DA synthesis, release and nerve-impulse flow, indicating that, while similar in suppressing dopaminergic behaviour, the D-1 antagonist is less effective than traditional neuroleptics as an activator of DA neuronal feedback mechanisms. The weak increases of DA synthesis and release nonetheless obtained were equal in magnitude (30–40%) in the limbic vs. striatal brain areas; also in this respect, SCH 23390 thus differs from classical neuroleptics, which generally display more marked effects in the striatum than in limbic tissue.No major changes in the in vivo indices of NA synthesis and utilization (or in 5-HT synthesis) were found after SCH 23390 administration, by and large supporting the DA receptor specificity of the compound.In summary, the studies demonstrated that SCH 23390 can offset and accentuate, respectively, behavioural consequences of D-2 receptor stimulation and blockade. Importantly, at the same time no direct interaction at the level of D-2 DA receptor sites in the striatum was detected. Only slight, D-2 antagonist-like, changes in neurochemical indices of dopaminergic activity were observed after D-1 receptor blockade by means of SCH 23390. With regard to DA agonist hypothermia, SCH 23390 was without effect per se, but (at a high dose) attenuated the action of the D-2 antagonist haloperidol. The observations may indicate that the complex interactions between central D-1 and D-2 receptor-controlled mechanisms that influence behaviour, neurochemistry, and possibly autonomic nervous expression, are not identical.     

rhIL－1α对小鼠骨髓细胞长周期培养中造血细胞增殖的影响

应用小鼠骨髓细胞长周期培养（ＬＴＢＭＣ）体系，观察重组人白细胞介素－１α（ｒｈＩＬ－１α）对造血细胞增殖的影响。结果显示，经ｒｈｌＬ－１α作用后，小鼠ＬＴＢＭＣ中悬浮细胞数增多，其中粒单系祖细胞（ＣＦＵ－ＧＭ）数量也明显增加，维持时间延长。表明ｒｈＩＬ－１α能促进小鼠造血细胞在体外ＬＴＢＭＣ中增殖并分化，而且与剂量有关系。ｒｈＩＬ－１α加入的时间，以骨髓细胞２次接种时同时加入为好，延迟加入则作用减弱。本实验对骨髓干、祖细胞体外扩增和自体骨髓移植等方面的研究有一定意义。     

Infantile autism—fragile X: Molecular findings support genetic heterogeneity

Twenty-two members of 18 families with autism have been examined for the presence of mutations and abnormal methylation in the FMR-1 region at Xq27.3. All patients fulfilled diagnostic criteria of infantile autism. A characteristic pattern of insertion and methylation were detected after Southern blot analysis in 7 autistic individuals expressing the fragile site at Xq27.3. Normal DNA patterns were observed in 15 autistic boys cytogenetically negative for the fragile site. The results indicate a lack of involvement of the FMR-1 region in infantile autists negative for fragile X expression. © 1992 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

High-risk AML evidenced by a monoclonal antibody

A monoclonal antibody has been raised against a surface membrane antigen present on leukemic myeloblasts. In 52 consecutive patients with acute myeloid leukemia treated in a standardized fashion with intensive chemotherapy the immunologic subclass with respect to this antigen was correlated to the clinical outcome. We found the expression of this antigen to predict a poor prognosis, when measured as survival of CR-patients and as survival after 1st relapse.     

Effect of gamma-interferon on IL-1 alpha, beta and receptor antagonist production by normal human keratinocytes

Abstract In inflammatory dermatoses. activated T cells produce inter-feron-gamma (IFN-γ), which interacts with keratinocytes and contributes to the direct activation of these cells by inducing, among other factors, the expression of HLA-DR antigens and intercellular adhesion molecule-1. However, the action of IFN-γ on epidermal cell cytokine production is not known. Our aim was to assess the effect of IFN-γ on the production of IL-1 by normal human keratinocytes cultured in low calcium medium (MCDB153). In comparison with controls, the addition of nontoxic IFN-yγ concentrations (50-500 U/ml) to cell cultures induced a significant increase of IL-1α and IL-1β production predominantly after 100 U/ml treatment in the cell extracts as well as in the supernatants at 24h and 48h. The production of the antagonist. IL-1RA, was also enhanced and the effect of the critical concentration (100 U/ml) was more evident. However, the absence of a characteristic dose response could not be explained by an antiproliferative effect of high IFN-γ concentrations (250 and 500 U/ml) on cultured keratinocytes or by the induction of the nuclear stress protein, Hsp72. two phenomena known to down-regulate IL-1 biosynthesis. In conclusion, the modifications in keratinocyte IL-1 production under IFN-γ stimulation can contribute to activate the epidermal cells and thus involve them in the local immune response.     

Fever and feeding in the rat: Actions of intrahypothalamic interleukin-6 compared to macrophage inflammatory protein-1β (MIP-1β)

The chemokines, macrophage inflammatory protein-1 (MIP-1) and its subunit MIP-1β, induce an intense fever in the rat when they are injected directly into the anterior hypothalamic, pre-optic area (AH/POA), a region containing thermosensitive neurons. The purpose of this study was to compare the central action on body temperature (T_b) of MIP-1β with that of interleukin-6 (IL-6), which also has been implicated in the cerebral mechanism underlying the pathogenesis of fever. Following the stereotaxic implantation in the AH/POA of guide cannulae for repeated micro-injections, radio transmitters which monitor T_b continuously were inserted intraperitoneally in each of 15 male Sprague-Dawley rats. Each micro-injection was made in a site in the AH/POA in a volume of 1.0 μl of pyrogen-free artificial CSF, recombinant murine MIP-1β, or recombinant human IL-6. MIP-1β in a dose of 25 pg evoked an intense fever characterized by a short latency, a mean maximum rise in T_b of 2.4 ± 0.21°C reached by 3.7 ± 0.42 hr, and a duration exceeding 6.5 hr. Injected into homologous sites in the AH/POA, IL-6 induced a dose dependent fever of similar latency and a mean maximal increase in T_b of 1.2 ± 0.25°C, 1.8 ± 0.15°C, and 2.1 ± 0.22°C and duration of 6.2 ± 1.28 hr, 6.7 ± 0.49 hr, and 6.8 ± 0.65 hr when given in doses of 25, 50, and 100 ng, respectively. These results show that MIP-1β and the highest dose of IL-6 induce a fever of comparable intensity, but MIP-1β exerts its action in a much lower concentration. Thus, the de novo synthesis and subsequent action of the MIP-1 family of cytokines on neurons of the AH/POA in response to a pyrogen challenge apparently play a functional role in the pathogenesis of fever. Further, the endogenous activity of IL-6 in the hypothalamus which is enhanced in response to a lipopolysaccharide also may reflect its essential part in the acute phase response to a bacterial challenge. Copyright © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 modulation by tumor necrosis factor in experimental allergic encephalomyelitis

Anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) antibodies inhibit passively transferred experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) in SJL mice. The possibility that this occurs through interference in TNF's upregulation of endothelial cell adhesion molecules was investigated. Expression of both vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) on spinal cord vessels increased during EAE. The upregulation of VCAM-1 was markedly reduced or prevented by anti-TNF treatment. Leukocytic infiltration was 15-fold lower in anti-TNF-treated than diseased animals. Spinal cord endothelial expression of VCAM-1, though not ICAM-1 or fibronectin, positively correlated with the extent of T cell, B cell or monocyte infiltration in each animal.     

维生素E对小鼠胸腺和脾脏T淋巴细胞转化及MΦ诱导IL－1的影响

ＶＥ缺乏组、１／３需要量组、需要量组、３倍需要量组、２０倍需要量组的初断奶小鼠喂养８周后观察Ｔ淋巴细胞转化及Ｍ中诱导ＩＬ－１反应。结果表明，ＶＥ增强半合适、合适剂量ＣｏｎＡ诱导的胸腺、脾脏Ｔ淋巴细胞转化，且半合适剂量诱导的反应高于合适剂量，ＶＥ增强合适剂量ＰＨＡ诱导的脾Ｔ细胞反应，但不影响其诱导胸腺Ｔ细胞反应。ＶＥ还提高ＭΦ诱导ＩＬ－１生成。上述实验以缺乏组反应最弱，３倍量组反应最强，而２０倍量组反有下降趋势。