白癜风患者血清免疫球蛋白、补体、自身抗体检测及分析

目的 检测白癜风患者血清中免疫球蛋白IgG、IgA、IgM,补体C3、C4,抗核抗体(ANA)、抗甲状腺过氧化物酶抗体(A-TPO)、抗甲状腺球蛋白抗体(A-TG)的水平并进行比较分析.方法 收集门诊确诊为白癜风的患者血清168例和正常体检人群血清88例,性别、年龄分布无统计学差异,采用速率散射比浊法检测白免疫球蛋白IgG、IgA、IgM和补体C3、C4,采用ELISA法检测抗核抗体,采用电化学发光免疫分析法检测A-TPO、A-TG,结果用SPSS19.0统计软件进行分析.结果 白癜风患者组血清中免疫球蛋白IgG、IgA、IgM,补体C3、C4表达水平与正常人对照组差异不具有统计学意义(P＞0.05);白癜风组与正常对照组ANA阳性率分别为8.1％和5.7％,经比较差异不具有统计学意义(P＞0.05);两组间A-TPO的阳性率分别为18.8％和10.2％,差异有统计学意义(P＜0.05);两组A-TG阳性率分别为25.8％和4.5％,经比较差异具有统计学意义(P＜0.01).结论 部分白癜风患者存在体液免疫紊乱,在发病机制上可能与自身免疫性甲状腺疾病有相似之处;免疫球蛋白、补体及抗核抗体等免疫指标的检测在白癜风诊治中评价的意义不大.     

Primary biliary cirrhosis and the nuclear pore complex

Experimental models of autoimmune diseases have led to the conclusion that an immune response to nuclear antigens is a sentinel marker for loss of tolerance and potential tissue damage. Various proteins are targets of antinuclear antibodies in a variety of autoimmune diseases, ranging from systemic rheumatologic disorders to diseases affecting specific organs such as the liver. Autoantibodies against specific nuclear constituents have also been used as probes to understand the structure and the function of the targeted components and their relevance to disease pathogenesis. Approximately a quarter of patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) have antibodies targeting proteins of the nuclear pore complex (NPC), a multi-protein structure that mediates molecular transport across the nuclear envelope. Autoantibodies against the integral membrane glycoprotein gp210 and nucleoporin p62 appear to be highly specific for PBC, an autoimmune disease characterized by progressive destruction of intrahepatic biliary epithelial cells. This review discusses the diagnostic and clinical relevance of anti-NPC antibodies in PBC and the possibility that this autoimmune response may arise as a result of molecular mimicry.     

Assessment of circulating FCεRIa in Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria patients and its correlation with clinical and immunological variables

Chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) is a chronic type characterized by episodes of wheals with or without angioedema. Autoantibody against the alpha subunit of Fc epsilon receptor (FcεRIa) was detected in CSU patients' sera. The study aims to evaluate the clinical utility of skin tests in CSU patients. In addition, it assesses the presence of circulating FcεRIa in CSU patients and their correlation with other clinical and immunological variables. The study includes 40 healthy controls and 40 CSU patients who had urticaria symptoms for at least 8 weeks. All subjects underwent the following tests: autologous serum skin test (ASST), autologous plasma skin test (APST), immunoglobulin E (IgE), antinuclear antibodies (ANA), antithyroid antibodies (ATA). An in-house enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used for FcεRIa detection. The prevalence of ANA and ATA in CSU was 7.5% and 20% respectively. Total IgE was significantly higher in CSU than in controls (p?<?0.0001). The study detected circulating antibody to FcεRIα in 2.5% of controls and 52.5% of CSU patients (p?<?0.0001). The prevalence of antibody to FcεRIa was 27.3% and 83.3% of ASST negative and positive patients respectively (p?=?0.0004). But the prevalence was 17.6% and 78.3% of APST negative and positive patients respectively (p?=?0.0002). In conclusion, Circulating antibody to FcεRIa has a role in the pathogenic mechanisms of CSU.     

Systemic sclerosis and prevalence of monoclonal immunoglobulin

Introduction

The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence of monoclonal immunoglobulin (MIg) among patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) according to the capillary electrophoresis or immunofixation method of detection and to search for any related clinical correlations.

Patients and methods

Retrospective multicenter comparison of capillary electrophoresis and immunofixation results in SSc patients and of the characteristics of patients with and without MIg.

Results

The study included 244 SSc patients (216 women and 28 men, mean age: 55 ± 14 years). Median time since SSc diagnosis was 51 months [0–320]; disease was diffuse in 48% of cases. Ten percent of patients had cancer, including Waldenström macroglobulinemia (n = 1) and multiple myeloma (n = 3).Capillary electrophoresis showed a γ-globulin anomaly in 41% of cases, and immunofixation in 18%: MIg (13.5%) and restriction of heterogeneity (4.5%). Capillary electrophoresis failed to detect 60% of the 33 MIg patients. Measurable MIg concentrations were obtained from 7 patients.MIg patients were significantly older at SSc diagnosis than those without MIg (p = 0.002), had a lower diffusing capacity (p = 0.002), a higher prevalence of pulmonary hypertension and cancer (p = 0.002) and were more frequently positive for anti-mitochondrial and anti-beta2-glycoprotein-I antibodies (p = 0.03 and p = 0.02, respectively). Multivariate analyses showed that only age at test [hazard ratio 1.03 (95% CI, 1.00–1.07, p = 0.04)] and presence of cancer [hazard ratio 4.46 (95% CI, 1.6–12.4, p = 0.004)] were associated with MIg.

Conclusion

Immunofixation detected a high prevalence of MIg among SSc patients especially in patients aged 50-years or older. MIg was not detected by the standard capillary electrophoresis in 60% of cases and was significantly associated with cancer.     

Factors associated with the relapse of cryptogenic and secondary organizing pneumonia

Background

Organizing pneumonia (OP) is a histopathological response pattern to lung inflammation. It is clinically classified into cryptogenic OP and secondary OP, which is associated with various clinical conditions. Rapid resolution with corticosteroids and frequent relapses are common in OP. However, few studies have investigated the factors associated with OP relapse.

Identification of neurotransmitter receptor genes involved in alcohol self-administration in the rat prefrontal cortex, hippocampus and amygdala

About half of the risk to develop alcoholism is related to genetic background and it is well known that alcohol consumption is highly individualized. In this study, we investigated how individual alcohol consumption behaviour in Wistar rats correlated with mRNA expression of 20 genes in the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus and amygdala. We found that the long-term alcohol consumption of an individual could be estimated by the mean of its consumption on Day 2 and 3. This short exposure minimized changes in gene expression induced by alcohol itself. We found a positive correlation in the prefrontal cortex of GABA(A) alpha5 (r=0.96), GABA(B1) (r=0.96), AMPA GluR1 (r=0.93), 5-HT(3A) (r=0.93) and the alpha adrenoceptors (alpha(1A)r=1.00, alpha(1B)r=0.93, alpha(2A)r=0.93) with consumption. In the hippocampus, we found negative correlations with the NMDA NR2A subunit (r=-0.86), the alpha(1A) adrenoceptor (r=-0.89) and the glucocorticoid receptor (r=-0.86). Finally, in the amygdala there was a negative correlation to NMDA NR2A (r= -0.79) and a positive correlation with serotonin 5-HT(2C) (r=0.79). In conclusion, we have used qPCR to identify specific genes in the brain that correlated to alcohol self-administration of an individual animal. This study suggests that alcohol consumption in the early stages of acquisition depends on the genetic background of the individual and that the prefrontal cortex is particularly important in this behaviour.     

Autoimmune comorbidity in chronic spontaneous urticaria: A systematic review

Background and objective

Numerous autoimmune diseases (AIDs) have been linked to chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU). Here, we provide the first extensive and comprehensive evaluation of the prevalence of AIDs in patients with CSU and vice versa.

The role of the CB1 receptor in the regulation of sleep

During the 1990s, transmembranal proteins in the central nervous system (CNS) that recognize the principal compound of marijuana, the delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Delta9-THC) were described. The receptors were classified as central or peripheral, CB1 and CB2, respectively. To this date, it has been documented the presence in the CNS of specific lipids that bind naturally to the CB1/CB2 receptors. The family of endogenous cannabinoids or endocannabinoids comprises oleamide, arachidonoylethanolamine, 2-arachidonylglycerol, virodhamine, noladin ether and N-arachidonyldopamine. Pharmacological experiments have shown that those compounds induce cannabimimetic effects. Endocannabinoids are fatty acid derivates that have a variety of biological actions, most notably via activation of the cannabinoid receptors. The endocannabinoids have an active role modulating diverse neurobiological functions, such as learning and memory, feeding, pain perception and sleep generation. Experimental evidence shows that the administration of Delta9-THC promotes sleep. The activation of the CB1 receptor leads to an induction of sleep, this effect is blocked via the selective antagonist. Since the system of the endogenous cannabinoids is present in several species, including humans, this leads to the speculation of the neurobiological role of the endocannabinoid system on diverse functions such as sleep modulation. This review discusses the evidence of the system of the endocannabinoids as well as their physiological role in diverse behaviours, including the modulation of sleep.