Hudson-St?hli's iron line in the cornea. Occurrence in 1968 and in 1988

Examination of 700 persons in 1968 showed presence of Hudson-St?hli's iron line in 29%. A similar examination by the same author 20 years later revealed a significantly lower occurrence (18%) and fewer cases of binocular occurrence (70% against 43%). The line is most often horizontal. If oblique, it generally passes from the upper nasal to the lower temporal region.     

Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor enhances basophil histamine release induced by non-IgE-dependent stimulators

Some cytokines are known to affect IgE-mediated basophil histamine release. The effect of the cytokine granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) on human basophil and masct cell histamine release was studies further. Blood leukocytes with approximately 2% basophils from 9 healthy individuals were incubated with recombinant human GM-CSF (0.3–30 U/ml) in combination with A23187 (10^–7–10^–6 M) or washedStaphylococcus aureus whole bacteria (0.3–2.5 mg/ml). Histamine release was measured spectrofluorometrically. GM-CSF in itself did not induce histamine release. The addition of GM-CSF to cells stimulated with A 23187 caused a dose-dependent enhancement amounting to mean 70% at 3 U/ml and mean 170% at 30 U/ml (P<0.05). GM-CSF enhanced the bacteria-induced histamine release by 30% at U/ml and by 65% at 3 U/ml (P<0.05). The enhancement did not depend on cell-bound IgE or LPS contamination. In preliminary mast cell experiments with lung tissue we did not find an enancing effect of GM-CSF on IgE-mediated histamine release.     

Cytokine-induced histamine release from basophils of AIDS patients

Basophil leukocytes obtained from AIDS patients, allergic patients and healthy controls were stimulated in vitro with interleukin 4, lymphotoxin, tumour necrosis factor alpha and interferon gamma to examine the histamine releasing effect. The cytokines caused histamine release from the basophils of approximately half the AIDS patients and from 8-17% of the allergic patients. No response was obtained in the control group. Removal of cell surface immunoglobulins abolished the response to cytokines, indicating an Ig-dependent mechanism. Passive sensitization with cell-derived Ig, with Ig deprived of IgE, or with IgG, indicated that cell-bound IgE was responsible for the cytokine-induced histamine release in AIDS patients. This response may be mediated by cytokine-selective IgE antibodies.     

Histamine release from basophil leukocytes induced by microbial antigen preparations in patients with AIDS

Type I allergy against some common microorganisms was investigated in 14 patients with AIDS and 11 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) antibody-positive homosexual men, and in a control group consisting of 13 heterosexual men without HIV antibodies. Basophil histamine release technique was used as a sensitive method to detect type I allergy against Candida albicans (CA), Herpes simplex virus type I (HSV-I) and cytomegalovirus (CMV). Of the 14 AIDS patients 11 (78%) showed significant histamine release when stimulated with CA, and HSV-I caused release in 10 (71%), whereas no response was obtained by CMV. In the group of HIV antibody-positive men only one released histamine when stimulated with CA and HSV-I and this patient also had lymphadenopathia. In contrast to these results, no release of histamine was obtained in the control group consisting of 13 heterosexual men. The histamine release caused by CA and HSV-I is mediated by an immunological reaction, since the release was abolished and regained by removal from and refixation to the cell surface of the cell-bound immunoglobulins. These results suggest an involvement of type I allergy as a pathogenetic co-factor in some infections in AIDS, and allergic type I reactions to CA and HSV-I might be an indicator for the presence of manifest AIDS.     

Danish Ophthalmology – from start to 1865

This short paper mentioned the medical treatment using the ‘holy’ springs, the first ‘eye doctor’ in Denmark, the first picture of spectacles which was found in Viborg Cathedral of the high priest before he performs circumcisio præputii on Jesus Christ, further cataract reclination in Denmark from around year zero and cataract extraction in 1667 in Denmark on a goose by Francisco Borri and on humans by the Danish Georg Heuermann in 1755. Epidemic military eye diseases in 1807, 1856 and 1865 are also described in this study. From 1856, a new ophthalmological period started in Denmark with the first eye hospital (lazaret only for eye diseases), and in 1864, patients with eye diseases were transported from the few beds in the surgical departments in the municipal hospital to the first civil eye department in Denmark, the eye hospital Sct. Annae in Copenhagen. The new scientific period started with Jacob Christian Bentz (ophthalmia granulosa, joint editor of the Danish Medical Journal) and Heinrich Lehmann.     

Membrane sialic acid influences basophil histamine release by interfering with calcium dependence

The influence of the cell membrane content of sialic acid on basophil histamine release was examinedin vitro in allergic patients and normal controls. Enzymatical removal of sialic acid enhanced histamine release induced by allergen and anti-IgE, whereas an increase in membrane sialic acid content by insertion of sialic acid containing gangliosides into the membrane inhibited the mediator release.The reduction in membrane sialic acid content abolished the inhibitory capacity of the calcium channel antagonist nimodipine, whereas the inhibition produced by verapamil and lanthanum was not affected. This difference, together with the previous finding that alterations in membrane sialic acid content is reflected in the cell sensitivity to extracellular calcium, suggest an interaction between membrane sialic acid and the calcium channels involved in basophil histamine release.