Inter- and intra-examiner reliability of motion palpation for the thoracolumbar spine

An inter- and intra-examiner reliability study was conducted to determine the reliability of a standardized method of motion palpation. Eight senior students in the Palmer College Public Clinic palpated the thoracolumbar spine of 32 student volunteers. Each volunteer was palpated twice by each examiner to allow inter- and intra-examiner analysis. Each examiner had at least 1 yr of experience using the procedure. Only the most hypomobile motor unit of the spine was recorded. Analysis of the data revealed statistically significant agreement for intra-examiner reliability. Inter-examiner reliability was not statistically significant. T9-T10 was chosen significantly more often by the palpators as the most hypomobile motor unit.     

Protection against infection with Neisseria meningitidis group B serotype 2b by passive immunization with serotype-specific monoclonal antibody

Hybridomas derived from mice immunized with Neisseria meningitidis serogroup B serotype 2b (B,2b) outer membrane preparations produced monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) specific for major outer membrane proteins of classes 1, 2, and 5. The MAbs were examined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay against a selected panel of seven strains of N. meningitidis (B,2b) of different sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis patterns, a serotype 2a, and a nontypable strain. The five MAbs selected were all bactericidal and of different immunoglobulin subclasses. None of the MAbs reacted with other bacterial strains in a dot-enzyme immunoassay. The corresponding antigenic determinant for each MAb was localized on a specific outer membrane protein by immunoblotting of sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis patterns of major outer membrane proteins. MAbs M5-11 and M5-30 bound to the class 2 protein and were serotype 2b specific. MAb M2-20 bound to the class 1 protein, and MAbs M5-16 and M5-19 bound to the class 5 protein. A mouse model of infection was established whereby a local infection progressed to lethal bacteremia over 3 days, and 50% of the animals were killed with an intraperitoneal injection of 10 meningococci plus 4% mucin and 1.6% hemoglobin. The ability of the MAbs to provide passive protection against experimental infection with N. meningitidis (B,2b) was examined. Both serotype-specific MAbs M5-11 and M5-30 were highly protective even though they were of different immunoglobulin subclasses. The class 5-specific MAb offered no protection, while the class 1-specific MAb gave limited protection. It may therefore be possible to provide protection against serotype 2b infection by using as vaccine the class 2 serotype-specific surface-exposed outer membrane protein epitopes defined by MAb M5-11 or M5-30.     

Isolation and immunological characterization of a group of new B lymphomas from CBA mice

We have isolated and characterized a new series of B lymphoma which occurred spontaneously in a group of CBA/N mice that were transferred with spleen or lymph node cells from 24-month-old CBA/Ca mice. Tumor cell lines from six CBA/N mice that received spleen cells were rescued and designated as BKS-2, BKS-3, BKS-4, BKS-5, BKS-6, and BKS-7. Also, tumor cells from a recipient of lymph node cells were rescued and the resulting cell line was designated BKL. These tumor cells expressed membrane immunoglobulin (mu, kappa), major histocompatibility complex Class I and Class II molecules, B220, Lyb8, Fc receptors, J11d, interleukin 2 receptors, and Ly1. All of the tumors did not express the T cell specific markers Thy 1.2, L3T4, and Lyt2.1. They appeared to be clonal in origin, since they exhibited common rearrangements at both heavy and light chain immunoglobulin loci. Phenotypically, these lymphomas appeared to be analogous to immature B cells. Also, these lymphomas displayed different functional reactivities when treated with various B cell mitogens and growth factors in vitro. Anti-mu antibodies which normally induce B cell growth inhibited the proliferation of these lymphoma cells in vitro, whereas they responded to lipopolysaccharide, T cell-derived growth factors, and interleukin 5 by enhanced proliferation. These tumor cells expressed constitutively high levels of c-myc mRNA.