Search

The BB rat is a well-known animal model for the study of autoimmune thyroid disease. Anti-thyroglobulin antibodies can be detected in the circulation from the age of 6 weeks onwards, and accumulations of lymphoid cells occurs in the thyroid of up to 60% of animals at the age of 20 weeks and over. The rat, however, stays euthyroid, the thyroid is not destroyed, and hence the disease is not yet well characterized. The study reported here shows that the thyroid weights of 41 % (40/97) BB rats were raised from week 6 onwards in comparison to those of Wistar controls. Morphologically. BB thyroids showed a strong similarity to the human disease entity 'colloid goitre', namely an active growth, high columnar epithelium, branching and budding of thyrocytes, no signs of thyroid destruction and in 42% of rats at the age of 22-26 weeks, a development of intrathyroidal lymphoid tissue. Plasma TSH was not significantly raised in the animals. For this reason the presence of immunoglobulins which stimulate the growth of thyroid cells (the so-called TGTs) was determined in 12-16-week-old BB rats (n = 10) and in control Wistar rats (n = 10). At this time a significant difference could be recorded in thyroid weights between BB/O rats and Wistar controls (20.1 ± 6.0 mg vs. 15.8 ± 2.9 mg, respectively), even in the absence of any intrathyroidal lymphoid cell infiltration. Protein-A-Sepharose purified serum IgG of these animals was used to detect TGI-activity via the 'Feulgen Cytochemical Bioassay'. Of the BB/O rats, eight were clearly positive for TGI, all of the Wistar rats were negative. The data show that the autoimmune prone BB rat may thus serve as an animal model for euthyroid goitre associated with thyroid stimulating antibodies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A factor which inhibits the random migration of monocytes in vitro was found in the serum of nearly half of Graves' ophthalmopathy patients. This factor was found in serum of only 4% of the healthy controls. When the Graves' ophthalmopathy patients were subdivided, on clinical criteria (pain, redness, swelling and impaired function), into patients with active disease and patients with inactive disease, the serum factor was found in 61% of the patients with active inflammatory disease and only in 14% of the patients with inactive disease. Furthermore this factor was also found in the serum of patients with an acute episode of uveitis, suggesting that it may be a useful marker for assessment of a localized inflammatory process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Differences in expression of HLA-B27 antigens on immune competent cells might play a role in the susceptibility to environmental factors which may be responsible for the initiation of ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Using a quantitative complement-mediated lymphocytotoxity assay we determined the expression of HLA-B27 antigens on the membranes of mononuclear cells obtained from 20 patients with AS, four patients with other seronegative arthropathies and eight healthy controls. The variation in expression of B27 between individuals was quite extensive, but there was no significant difference in the mean titration curves obtained for each of the three groups. These findings suggest that the expression of HLA-B27 antigens on the membrane of mononuclear leucocytes does not play a role in the pathogenesis of AS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The in vivo immunization of mice with human lymphoblastoid cell line LHN13 generates direct cell-mediated cytotoxicity by spleen cells. The lytic activity appears as early as day 3 after the intraperitoneal inoculation of 7.5 × 106 cells and persists at least until day 11. The killer cells do not adhere to plastic and are not retained on nylon wool columns or on Degalan beads coated with mouse Ig plus rabbit-anti-mouse Ig. The effector cells are partly inhibited by treated with anti-Thy-1.2 serum plus complement, but this inhibition appears to be non-specific since anti-serum alone or normal mouse serum plus complement have the same effects. Heat-aggregated IgG strongly inhibits cytotoxicity, indicating that the effector cells are Fc-positive and that such receptors are implicating in lysis. Altogether, these features strongly argue for an ADCC phenomenon. The involvement of antibodies is demonstrated by the fact that eluates (56°C, 30 min) from immune cells alone induce lysis in the presence of normal spleen cells as effectors. The lytic activity of these eluates can be removed by specific adsorption on protein A coupled to Sepharose beads and on the human lymphoid target cells. Positive complementation between immune and non-immune spleen cells suggests that the arming process may occur in vitro during the assay, when antibodies are released by plasmacytes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sera obtained from 26 patients with Fuchs' heterochromic cyclitis were examined for the presence of autoantibodies directed against the anterior segment of the eye by means of immunofluorescence techniques. Antibodies against human iris tissue could not be detected, whereas autoantibodies against corneal epithelium were found in almost 90% of cases. This is the first report describing the presence of autoantibodies in patients with Fuchs' heterochromic cyclitis and it provides a further clue that immunological mechanisms might play an important role in the aetiology of Fuchs' heterochromic cyclitis. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Enteric infections with Gram-negative bacteria are thought to play an important part in HLA-B27-associated disease such as Reiter's syndrome and reactive arthritis. But the role of bacterial infections in HLA-B27-positive ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and acute anterior uveitis (AU) is still controversial. A special interest has recently been devoted to the role of klebsiella infection in HLA-B27-associated disease. We studied the humoral immune response against a 'cross-reactive' strain of Klebsiella pneumoniae in 62 patients with anterior uveitis and 33 healthy controls. The anterior uveitis patients were subdivided into 25 HLA-B27-negative patients without AS (B27- AU+ AS-), 17 HLA-B27-positive patients without ankylosing spondylitis (B27+ AU+ AS-), and 19 HLA-B27-positive patients with ankylosing spondylitis (B27+ AU+ AS+). Total serum IgA was higher in patients than in controls in both the B27+ AU+ AS+ and B27+ AU+ AS- patients but not in the B27- AU+ AS- group. No abnormalities were observed in the total serum IgG levels. The level of both the IgG and IgA klebsiella antibodies did not differ in the various patient groups tested as compared with the controls. Comparisons between the patient groups showed that the IgG anti-klebsiella response was higher in B27-positive patients patients without AS than in those with AS. These results suggest that stimulation of mucosal surfaces may play a role in HLA-B27-associated anterior uveitis. Whether klebsiella organisms are involved in this stimulation remains unclear. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Clinical, pathological, and immunological analysis of 20 patients with ocular adnexal lymphoid disease has demonstrated several parameters which are useful for distinguishing malignant from benign lesions. Patients in the fourth or fifth decade of life presenting with an acute history of pain, oedema, epiphora, double vision, and ptosis, with a mass localised in the lacrimal gland area, are more likely to have a pseudolymphoma or a chronic inflammatory lesion than a true non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). It is not possible to obtain a definite diagnosis without surgical intervention, because only three out of nine patients with orbital NHL had evidence of a monoclonal B cell population in peripheral blood on admission to the Orbital Centre. Furthermore it was confirmed that the identification of the various orbital lymphoid infiltrates becomes more distinct when immunological techniques are added to the clinical and histopathological methods of investigation. Multidisciplinary cooperation leads to further improvement of diagnosis and treatment of ocular adnexal lymphoproliferative disease. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A relationship between the occurrence of Mooren's ulcer and hookworm infections was suggested by Kuriakose in 1963. Sixteen patients with clinical diagnosis of Mooren's ulcer and 15 local controls from Sierra Leone were tested with respect to serum immunoglobulin levels, circulating antibody to hookworm, circulating antibodies to corneal epithelium, stool smears, and eosinophil and lymphocyte levels. Both patients and healthy controls had circulating antibodies to corneal epithelium and to hookworm. In the controls the titres of hookworm antibodies were significantly lower than in the patients, though in both groups most people had intestinal parasite infestations as detected by the stool smear. Further investigation failed to demonstrate any other significant immune alteration in the patients as compared with local controls. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We have observed that the intensity of the direct antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) response after an inoculation of foreign tumour cells varies with the strain of mice studied. The inoculation of a human lymphoblastoid cell-line into CBA/J, BALB/c, or DBA/2 mice gives rise to a good cytotoxic response by the host K cells armed with specific antibodies. In contrast, A/J, B10.A, C57BL/6 and B10.S mice respond poorly under the same conditions. The high response is dominant in F1 hybrids between high and low responders and is also expressed among F2 backcrosses with the H-2 phenotype of low responders, suggesting that non-H-2 genes are also implicated in the regulation of ADCC. The genetic control is not exerted at the level of antibody secretion but at that of K-cell activity, since sera from high or low responders are equally effective in arming an ADCC reaction, whereas K cells from low-responder strains are less efficient than those from high-responder strains. The natural killer (NK) activity of the same strains has been screened. The results show a good correlation with some high- and low-responder strains, such as CBA and DBA/2 or A/J and SJL, respectively, but not with C57BL/6, B10.S or B10.A strains. Thus, in addition to common genes controlling both lytic functions, there are specific genetic factors influencing the balance between NK and K cells. These findings confirm the general view that NK and K cells represent only partially identical subsets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patients with serious inflammatory Graves' ophthalmopathy should be treated with anti-inflammatory drugs or radiotherapy to prevent complications like fibrosis, while those with non-inflammatory ophthalmopathy may be treated by surgery immediately. It is often difficult, however, to distinguish inflammatory from non-inflammatory Graves' disease. We therefore present a simple clinical classification here to differentiate between these two conditions. This classification is based on the classical signs of inflammation--pain, redness, swelling, and impaired function. After two consecutive clinical examinations an 'activity score' can be determined, ranging from 0 to 10 points. In a retrospective study testing the efficacy of this classification we found that patients with an activity score of 3 or more at the beginning of therapy responded well to anti-inflammatory drugs, while those with a lower activity score mostly did not. Comparing the pretreatment activity score with the degree of enlargement of the extraocular muscles on the CT scan, we found a significant correlation between these two parameters: the higher the activity score, the more the enlargement of the muscles. We conclude that this classification facilitates the proper selection of patients for treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We investigated the incidence of circulating corneal epithelium antibodies in patients with uveitis. A high percentage of the patients (42%) were positive, whereas only 4% of controls had these antibodies in their serum. Significantly more patients with anterior and diffuse uveitis had corneal epithelium antibodies than did those with posterior uveitis. Subdivision of anterior uveitis into HLA-B27 positive versus negative patients showed a higher incidence of the antibodies in the HLA-B27 positive group. A previous history of uveitis may play a role in the pathogenesis of peripheral corneal thinning diseases, for which an autoimmune aetiology has been suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]