Comparative nasal absorption of allergens in atopic and nonatopic subjects.

Based on sensitization following intranasal antigen administration, previous investigations have suggested greater absorption of allergens through the nasal mucous membranes of atopic than of nonatopic subjects. In this study mucosal absorption was assessed more directly by determining the capacity of allergens applied intranasally to elicit cutaneous Prausnitz-Küstner (P-K) reactions in nonatopic persons as compared with asymptomatic atopic subjects sensitive to other allergens. Two series of reaginic human serum dilutions were injected intracutaneously in recipients backs, and 48 hours later one series was challenged intracutaneously with test allergen. After the responses had been recorded, concentrated allergenic extract was sprayed into the nose and the second series of P-K sites observed for reactivity. Sometimes these P-K sites were rechallenged intracutaneously the following day to determine passive transfer neutralization. Two allergens were studied: bovine ribonuclease (RNase) and peanut extract. Two sera containing peanut reagins and one with RNase antibodies were each used in 10 to 11 atopic and 9 to 11 nonatopic recipients. The atopic group failed to show greater or more rapid absorption of either allergen through the nose based on the highest serum dilution reacting after nasal challenge. the speed of the reaction, the ratio of the titer by nasal challenge to the intracutaneous titer, or passive transfer neutralization. Controls showed that the results were not influenced by systemic absorption of allergen employed for intracutaneous tests. Drinking the amount of peanut extract applied intranasally did not elicit P-K reactions.     

Growth of diploid cells from breast cancers

Cell cultures were derived from normal and cancerous breast tissues and from metastases by methods that selected for relatively adherent epithelial aggregates. Karyotypic analyses of first or second passage cultures yielded predominantly normal diploid cells. Nonclonal aberrations were more common in tumor-derived than in normal cultures. Three of the cultures that originated from metastases were characterized by abnormal clones. These results support observations based on DNA content, which indicate that a considerable fraction of breast cancers are composed predominantly of diploid cells. They differ greatly from chromosomal findings in long-term cultures of tumor effusions and thus emphasize the karyotypic diversity that can be found in tumors from a single tissue of origin--the breast.     

Identification of a novel allele HLA-B*7805 in a Japanese female

A new HLA-B*78 allele, B*7805, was identified in a healthy Japanese female. The results of her serological HLA class I typing showed an unusual Bw4/Bw6 pattern with strongly positive reactivity to anti-Bw6, i.e. A24, -, B52, -, Bw4, Bw6. In DNA typing, she was typed as A*24, -, B*52, B*78-like, Cw1202, -, (Bw4, Bw6). Cloning and sequencing of exon 2 and exon 3 of her B locus genes revealed a new allele B*7805. The cloned B*7805 differed from B*78021 by three nucleotide substitutions in exon 2 at position 259 (A to G), 261 (C to G) and 272 (A to C), and contained sequences defining Bw6 motif in the region of codon 77 to 83.     

The aniridia-Wilms tumor association: The critical role of chromosome band 11p13

The role of del (11)(p13) as a cause of aniridia, with and without Wilms tumor, is strengthened by demonstration of this chromosome aberration in 3 patients: monozygous twin girls, both of whom have aniridia and mental retardation and one of whom has a Wilms tumor; and an unrelated boy with aniridia and ambiguous genitalia. The break points defining the interstitial deletion for the twins are 11p13 and 11p15.1, while for the boy they are 11p1302 and 11p14.1. These patients and their karyotypes substantiate the critical importance of chromosome band 11p13 (or its hemizygous representation) in the development of aniridia and an associated Wilms tumor diathesis, as had been suggested previously (Riccardi VM, Sujansky E, Smith AC, Francke U, (1978): Pediatrics 61, 604-610).     

Cytotoxicity of ionophore A23187 for basophils and other human blood cells.

The calcium ionophore A23187(A23) at concentrations exceeding 1 microgram/ml has been shown to be progressively cytotoxic for human blood basophils, neutrophils, lymphocytes, and erythrocytes. Toxicity to basophils was considered to be manifested by the increasing inability of 2-deoxyglucose (2DG) to inhibit histamine release (HR) at increasing concentrations of A23. The toxicity to neutrophils and lymphocytes was demonstrated by decreased lactate production (LP) after incubation with A23 of Ficoll-Hypaque fractions greatly enriched in each respective cell type. Red cells present in dextran-sedimented leukocytes were increasingly susceptible to lysis during washing subsequent to exposure to increasing concentrations of A23. A concentration of 4 microgram A23/ml, which is cytotoxic at 37 degrees C, produced optimal and noncytotoxic HR at 22 degrees C. It was possible to reduce A23 concentrations required for optimal HR by increasing Ca++ from 0.6 to 3 mM.     

Translocation (6;9)(p23;q34) in acute nonlymphocytic leukemia: Three new cases

Several recent reports have described cases of acute nonlymphocytic leukemia with a unique chromosome translocation, t(6;9)(p23;q34). We have studied three additional patients who have acute nonlymphocytic leukemia and t(6;9)(p23;q34). Our findings provide additional support for the suggestion that this translocation is yet another distinct cytogenetic abnormality associated with myeloproliferative disorders.     

Chronic myelogenous leukemia with a complex Ph1 translocation in an XYY male

We encountered a 38-year-old Japanese male patient with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), whose bone marrow and peripheral blood cells during the chronic and blastic phases contained a complex Ph¹ translocation and an extra Y chromosome [i.e., 47,XYY,t(9;22;13)(q34;q11;q14)]. A karyotypic analysis of PHA-stimulated lymphocytes showed the constitutional karyotype to be 47,XYY. Thus, it was considered that CML with a complex Ph¹ translocation developed in an XYY male; such a case has not been reported, so far. A B-lymphocyte cell line with the complex Ph¹ translocation was established by the procedure of Epstein-Barr virus transformation. The presence of the complex Ph¹ translocation in the B-lymphocyte cell line suggests that some of the B lymphocytes in this patient originated from the CML clone.