Immunofluorescent tracing of cytoplasmic components involved in keratinocyte differentiation

Sera with epidermal cytoplasmic antibodies (E.C.A.) produced by human subjects after bone marrow transplantation have been studied by indirect immunofluorescen on rabbit lip sections. These sections were used in order to give on a single specimen, areas of mucosa, of parakeratotic and of orthokeratotic epithelium. It has been demonstrated that E.C.A. distinguished the basal cell layer from the upper cell layers on the three areas. Moreover, E.C.A. were not found to react identically on mucosal, parakeratotic and orthokeratotic epithelium. These findings strongly suggest that the target antigens for E.C.A. are molecules involved in keratinocyte differentiation.     

Antibodies to outer root sheath of hair

By screening 1500 sera obtained from patients undergoing a bone marrow graft, five sera have been selected which contained antibodies to the basal cell layer (B. C. L.) of the outer root sheath (O. R. S.) of hair follicles. It was demonstrated that these sera reacted with the B. C. L. of the O. R. S. but not with the B. C. L. of the adjacent epidermis. The change in antigenic properties was situated at the orifice of the sebaceous gland canal; thus basal cells below this orifice express an antigen distinct from those expressed by the epidermal basal cells. This is a novel example of tissue specific differentiation antigens that are linked to the type of keratinocyte differentiation.     

Acute Interstitial Pneumonitis and Carbamazepine Therapy

ABSTRACT. A 14-year-old girl with skin rash and acute interstitial pneumonitis is presented. She had been taking carbamazepine for two months. Withdrawal of carbamazepine resulted in a prompt improvement of the clinical picture and a normalization of lung function tests. A hypersensitivity reaction to carbamazepine is suggested and the importance of a skin rash as first sign of a generalized reaction is stressed. Lymphocyte-stimulation-tests with carbamazepine were strongly positive in the patient and not in healthy persons nor in patients taking carbamazepine without adverse effects.     

Complicated Forms of Tachycardia‐Mediated Cardiomyopathy Associated with Idiopathic Left Ventricular Tachycardia

Idiopathic left ventricular tachycardia is an infrequent form of ventricular tachycardia associated with a structurally normal heart. The prognosis is usually benign; however, sustained cases have been reported. In this report, we describe two cases of persistent idiopathic left ventricular tachycardia complicated by tachycardia‐mediated cardiomyopathy. In the first case, the patient developed a right ventricular thrombus with subsequent pulmonary embolism. In the second case, the patient developed acute pulmonary edema. Both cases were cured by catheter ablation. (PACE 2011; e52–e55)     

ADDITIONAL DATA ON HEPATIC FUNCTION TESTS IN CYSTIC FIBROSIS

ABSTRACT: Feigelson, J., Pecau, Y., Cathelineau, L. and Navarro, J. (49, Bd Bessieres 75-Paris XVIIO, France). Additional data on hepatic function tests in cystic fibrosis. Acta Paediatr Scand 64:337, 1975.–Fifty cystic fibrosis (CF) patients, of whom 9 had multilobular cirrhosis, were observed regularly for a period of 3 years and various liver function tests, indicating cytolysis, cholestasis and cellular insufficiency were performed. Immunoglobulin and prothrombin were assayed. In 9 patients with cirrhosis, the tests were generally abnormal. Two distinct biochemical patterns of cirrhosis were distinguished, one clearly cholestatic and the other of a more cellular type. The distinction was made on the basis of the IgA: Transferrin ratio and of gamma-glutamyl-transpeptidase levels. In the non-cirrhotic patients, a temporary increase of cytolysis and cholestasis was observed in 50 % of the cases.     

X-ray structures of aza-proline-containing peptides

The aza-analogue of proline (AzPro) contains a nitrogen atom in place of the CH^α of the cognate residue. The resolution of the crystal structures of seven AzPro-containing peptides, presenting a set of ten AzPro motifs, reveals the structural properties of this particular aza-residue. Because of sterical hindrances, both nitrogen atoms are out of planarity, and the reduced electronic conjugation in the two AzPro-adjacent amide groups probably explains the longer amide bond distances and the weak proton-accepting character of the two pyrazolidine nitrogens. The absolute configuration of both AzPro nitrogens depends on the chemical nature of the sequence. In all cases, the AzPro residue assumes the same intrinsic three-dimensional structure and presents folding tendencies opposed to those induced by proline.     

A prospective immunofluorescence study of 111 cases of pruritic dermatoses of pregnancy: IgM anti-basement membrane zone antibodies as a novel finding

Since 1981, all pregnant women presenting to our department with a pruritic dermatosis have been investigated by histological and immunopathological techniques. We recruited 111 patients and performed skin histology in 77, 109 direct immunofluorescence tests (DIF), 74 indirect immunofluorescence tests (IIF) and 15 Western blots (WB). We identified: (i) five typical cases of pemphigoid gestationis (PG) (4.5%), corresponding to an incidence of 1/7000 pregnancies. (ii) Five cases without PG but showing circulating anti-BMZ antibodies of IgM type. With the exception of one case, clinical features were homogeneous--occurrence of erythematous papular and/or urticarial lesions on the trunk, and less often, on the limbs between the 32nd and 38th week of pregnancy. Rapid clearance of lesions within a few days was the rule. Whenever performed, DIF was negative and IIF showed circulating anti-BMZ antibodies of IgM type. Western blot studies were negative in these five cases. (iii) One hundred and one cases with negative immunofluorescence tests, considered to be suffering from polymorphic eruption of pregnancy. Our results show the value of systematic immunopathological investigations in pregnant women presenting with a pruritic dermatosis, and raise the possibility of a new entity, as defined by circulating anti-BMZ antibodies of IgM type.     

Epidermis and thymus

Using human sera obtained from bone marrow transplant recipients which contain antibodies to cytoplasmic epidermal antigens, we have found a cross reactivity between epidermis and thymus in immunofluorescence. The shared antigen(s) were only localized in the Hassall's corpuscle on the thymus and the upper (stratum spinosum) compartment of the epidermis. The basal cell layer did not show shared antigens. Antigenic similarity between epidermis and thymus may thus be restricted to a subset of keratinocytes.     

Immunohistochemical identification of interleukin 1α and β in human eccrine sweat-gland apparatus

Bouin-fixed paraffin sections or acetone-fixed cryostat sections were labelled with the avidin-biotin complex (ABC) or peroxidase-antiperoxidase (PAP) method using three monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) and two polyclonal antisera to human recombinant interleukin I beta (IL-I beta) and three polyclonal antisera to human recombinant interleukin I alpha (IL-I alpha). In the secretory coil both IL-alpha and beta were detected in the clear, but not in the dark cells. Both luminal and basal cells of the coiled and straight ducts expressed IL-I alpha and beta, the IL-I labelling being more intense in the luminal cells. IL-I was not usually detected in the initial portion of the intraepidermal eccrine sweat duct, whereas intense labelling was seen in the upper part including through the stratum corneum. In skin biopsies of the palm, taken after exercise, there was only faint IL-I labelling of the secretory cells, whereas the luminal cells of the dermal ducts showed intense labelling for both IL-I alpha and beta. In the acrosyringium, exercise did not alter the pattern for IL-I alpha and beta, except that in the palm, some of the antibodies to IL-I beta produced a more intense immunolabelling of the acrosyringeal cells. This study identifies a distinct and similar distribution of the two forms of IL-I throughout the eccrine sweat-gland apparatus and indicates that part of the IL-I epidermal pool originates from the sweat.