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Background The medicinal properties of Inula cappa, a perennial shrub, are ascribed to its roots. In this article, we study the anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory activities of I. cappa root extracts based on its utilization in traditional medicine-treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, menoxenia, fever, jaundice and many others. Methods Anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory activities of I. cappa extracts were studied. The anti-inflammatory activity was determined by carrageenan-induced rat paw edema and cotton pellet-induced granulation method while the immunomodulatory activity was estimated by phagocytic assay method, hemagglutinating antibody (HA) titer assay, delayed-type hypersensitivity assay method, plaque forming cell assay and determination of immunoprophylatic activity. Results The methanolic extract showed maximum reduction in the rat paw edema and showed significant inhibition of the cotton pellet-induced granulomas in rats. The methanolic extract also showed potential immunomodulatory activity in all the assays performed. Two sesquiterpenes, isoalantolactone and germacranolide were also isolated from the methanolic extract. Conclusions The present study supports the evidence that the roots of I. cappa can be used as a potent anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory agent.

Mechanism of the antitumor action of the 4-O-methylglucuronoxylan obtained from beech wood (Fagus clenata Blume) was studied and compared with that of other hemicelluloses. It was revealed that 4-O-methylglucuronoxylan did not show any direct cytocidal effect on tumor cells. Hemagglutinating antibody in mice was markedly enhanced by administration with 4-O-methylglucuronoxylan. Furthermore, treatment with the polysaccharide succeeded to prevent the suppression of hemagglutinating antibody production accompanied with the tumor development. Incorporation of 3H-thymidine into spleen cells at the 4 days after immunization with human red blood cell was increased by the pretreatment of 4-O-methylglucuronoxylan. On the other hand, metabolic process of 4-O-methyglucuronoxylan was followed by the measurement of the radioactivity in plasma, kidney, spleen and liver after intraperitoneal injection with 3H-4-O-methylglucuronoxylan. The polysaccharide seemed to be incorporated into reticuloendotherial systems. An admi...

Pulp tissue from three experimental dogs was tested for its antigenicity before and after incubation with Proco-sol sealer. Reactions to Arthus skin tests showed an increased response to pulp that had been altered in Proco-sol, washed and then injected, as compared with pulp alone. Hemagglutinating antibody titers (1:150 to 1:360) were obtained from pulp tissue altered by Proco-sol. Inhibition tests showed the specificity of the antibody to be at a dilution titer of 1:250. Therefore, a mixture of Proco-sol altered dog pulp tissue and rendered it antigenically active, and a specific humoral response was produced.

Presensitization induced by pretreatment of the recipients with donor species-specific spleen antigen cannot be completely reversed by immunosuppressive drugs. However, there is a suppressive influence of the combined administration of azathioprine and prednisolone on hemagglutinating antibody production after transplantation as well as an effect on function and survival time of renal xenografts.

Pulp tissue from three experimental dogs was tested for its antigenicity before and after incubation with an N2-type paste. Arthus reactions to skin, tests showed an increased response to pulp that had been incubated in N2-type paste and washed then injected as compared with the N2-type paste alone. Hemagglutinating antibody titers (1:180 to 1:320) were obtained from pulp tissue altered by N2. Inhibition tests showed the specificity of the antibody to be at a dilution titer of 1:250. Therefore, N2-type paste altered dog pulp tissue and rendered it antigenically active, and a specific humoral response was produced.

Mice were sensitized with sheep red blood cells (SRBC) and challenged 3–7 days later with a mid tail subcutaneous injection of SRBC. Delayed type hypersensitivity (DTH) was assessed by the amount of tail swelling elicited by antigen challenge and was reflected in a histological pattern of an accumulation of lymphocytes and monocytes-macrophages. The swelling response was specific to the antigen used. The amount of swelling was dependent on the numbers of SRBC used during both sensitization and challenge. The route of administration for sensitization had a variable effect on the DTH response and had significant effects on the amount of hemagglutinating antibody to SRBC. This method of assessing delayed type hypersensitivity in the mouse is rapid, reproducible, and can be done by one individual. We have found the measurement of tail swelling to be a convenient alternative to measuring tissue swelling in a footpad or ear.

Twenty mother dogs, and their 19. fetuses and 57 newborn puppies were examined by the indirect hemagglutination (IHA) test for the transfer of anti-Dirofilaria immitis antibody from mothers to their offspring. The antibody was shown to be passively transferred via colostrum to the puppies and to persist in the puppies for approximately two months. On the other hand, no antibody was detected in the fetuses even when their mothers had high titers. The time-course studies indicated that, on the day of parturition, the colostral IHA titer was identical with that of the maternal serum and also that, within the first 5 to 7 days, the titers of maternal sera rapidly declined and then gradually decreased until 48 days after parturition.

A study was made of antibodies to cow's milk proteins in the sera of 288 persons, mostly children. The sera were assayed for both precipitating and hemagglutinating antibody. Comparisons between the two systems are presented. The incidence of precipitins and/or elevated hemagglutinating titers was analyzed by age, nature of illness, and duration of disability. Chronically disabled children, as a group, had sigficantly higher titers than did normal or acutely ill children. Grouped patients with recurrent or chronic pneumonia, and Aldrich's and Hurler's syndromes, had higher titers than even the other chronically ill children. In the majority of cases it was not possible to attribute a pathogenetic role to the observed antibody. Whether or not these antibodies can be responsible for disease under special circumstances remains unknown.

Summary 1 We have presented in a preliminary form the results of observations on the tuberculin hemagglutination test in relation to the dynamic development of the represented antibody in infants vaccinated in the neonatal period and in infants and children vaccinated at a period of time remote to the neonatal period. 2 We have also examined the dynamic development of the hemagglutinating antibody in patients with primary tuberculosis, and have made some preliminary observations as to the relationship of the amount of antibody formed and the severity of the primary infection. 3 Some aspects of the significance of these observations have been discussed, particularly the failure of infants to develop antibody during the first year after B. C. G. vaccination and the subsequent appearance of antibody among those infants when they reside in homes with a history of tuberculous infection.

With the radioimmunoelectrophoresis technique, ragweed-binding antibodies may be demonstrated in all the immunoglobulins of human sera. One or several different binding antibodies may be present in an individual serum. Beta-2A ragweed-binding activity was present in about two thirds of sera obtained from both untreated and treated ragweed-sensitive patients. Gamma globulin binding antibodies were also present in about two thirds of the untreated sera and in almost all of the treated sera. Beta-2M binding activity was noted in 10 per cent and 29 per cent of the untreated and treated groups, respectively. No correlation could be found between most clinical parameters of ragweed sensitivity and the type of binding antibody. Beta-2M antibodies were associated with younger patients, particularly in the untreated group. Almost all patients developed gamma globulin antibodies following specific therapy. The clinical significance of binding is still unclear. There was some correlation noted between reagin titers and beta-2A binding activity. A more striking correlation between hemagglutinating antibody titers and gamma globulin binding was found.

Adult Lewis rats were injected intravenously with poly- dl -alanyl ribonuclease (PAR) or a heterologous protein and challenged one week later with PAR in complete adjuvant. Dose dependent tolerance to PAR was demonstrated in terms of delayed sensitization, Arthus reactivity and hemagglutinating antibody formation. Delayed reactions in this system could be elicited by the original conjugate or carrier, but not by polyalanyl serum albumin.

Accelerated rejection of renal xenografts in closely related species was obtained by passive transfer of cell-free serum. The serum was not organ-specific and its effect was independent of serum protein precipitins, hemolytic and hemagglutinating antibody. Twenty minutes after passive transfer of se

Pulp tissue from three experimental dogs was tested for its antigenicity before and after incubation with AH-26 sealer. ‡ Reactions to Arthus skin tests showed an increased response to pulp that had been incubated in AH-26, washed, and then injected, as compared with the material alone. Hemagglutinating antibody titers ( 1 500 to 1 800 ) were obtained from pulp tissue altered by AH-26. Inhibition tests showed the apecificity of the antibody to be at a dilution titer of 1:400. Therefore, a mixture of AH-26 sealer altered dog pulp tissue and rendered it antigenically active, and a specific humoral response was produced.

The response to dinitrofluorobenzene (DNFB), bovine serum albumin (BSA), and sheep red blood cells (SRBC) was studied in CBA mice infected with Trypanosoma musculi at days ranging from 3 to 63 days of infection. DNFB contact sensitivity was normal. In 3-, 10-, and 15-day infected mice, anti-BSA hemagglutinating antibody titers were lower than in noninfected controls when determined after 21 days of BSA challenge, and were normal in sera collected after 10 and 14 days. In 14 day infected mice, anti-SRBC indirect plaque-forming cells (PFC) (per million of nucleated spleen cells and per total spleen) were strongly diminished, but anti-SRBC direct PFC were diminished only per million of nucleated spleen cells. In T. musculi recovered mice, the response to DNFB, BSA, and SRBC was normal.

During rinderpest virus infection in rabbits, 19S cold hemagglutinating antibody against rabbit erythrocytes and 7S anti-nuclear antibody, which reacts with the nuclei and/or the nuclear membranes in immunofluorescent staining, were demonstrated. Virus infection that affected the thymus-dependent immune functions was speculated to act as a trigger for the production of these two autoantibodies.

The frequency of red blood cell dimers as a function of antibody concentration has been determined by direct observation. At low concentrations of antibody the frequency of dimers is not a linear function of antibody concentration; therefore the photometric technique of Levine, Puck and Sagik (1) cannot be used for a quantitative estimation of the number of hemagglutinating antibody molecules.

SummaryRecovery of total leukocyte count, hemagglutinating antibody formation to sheep erythrocytes, and skin allograft rejection was defective after sublethal irradiation in adult hypophysectomized rats. These findings could possibly be interpreted as interference of thymus function by hypophysectomy in immunologic recovery after irradiation.

Twelve of 24 sera from nonimmunized atopic mothers at delivery contained hemagglutinating antibody to ryegrass, but no cord sera contained this. Naturally occurring hemagglutinating antibody did not pass through the placenta in demonstrable quantities. In two nonatopic and two atopic mothers immunized with mixed grass during pregnancy, maternal and cord sera contained hemagglutinating activity in equal titers. Artificially induced hemagglutinating antibody passed freely through the placenta. None of the sera obtained from 58 nonatopic mother-cord pairs contained hemagglutinating antibody. Since hemagglutinating antibody to ryegrass in the nonimmunized individual does not cross the placenta, it is probably associated withγ 1A - orγ 1M -globulin

SUMMARY The effect of food and water deprivation on the number of antibody-producing spleen cells and on the rate of clearance of bacteria by the reticuloendothelial system was studied in 5-week-old cross-bred (White Leghorn X Rhode Island Red) chickens. Fortyeight hours of deprivation of food and water resulted in decreased hemagglutinating antibody titer and decreased antibody-producing cells in the spleens of chickens immunized with sheep red blood cells. Deprivation of food and water also slowed bacteria clearance rate from the circulation.