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Biomedical subjects

G J Friou

Publications and source records attributed to G J Friou.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Clinical and biological characteristics of Ureaplasma urealyticum induced polyarthritis in a patient with common variable hypogammaglobulinaemia.

Persistent infectious polyarthritis caused by Ureaplasma urealyticum in a patient with common variable hypogammaglobulinaemia is described. The patient developed a symmetrical, destructive polyarthritis and tenosynovitis associated with a markedly depressed synovial fluid glucose concentration and characteristic soft tissue abscesses. The ureaplasma organism developed resistance to multiple antibiotics and persisted for five years. The organism was identified repeatedly in many joints by culture, confirmed by DNA hybridisation, and mycoplasma-like structures were shown in synovial tissues by electron microscopy.

Adult

Ductular carcinoma of the breast: serum antibodies to tumor-associated antigens.

Serum antibodies to tumor-associated antigens of breast carcinoma have been studied by indirect immunofluorescence in 109 patients with breast carcinoma and 125 controls, including age/sex matched normal individuals, patients with nonmalignant disease, and patients with malignant disease other than breast cancer. We report here that sera of a large proportion of patients with ductular carcinoma of the breast have antibodies to cell surface and/or intracellular antigens of autologous tumor cells and include evidence that the antigens are absent from a considerable range of normal and other types of malignant tissues. In addition to testing of control sera, specificity of the reacting antibodies was investigated further by testing of sera with normal breast tissue and the absorption of sera from breast cancer patients with various normal tissues and cancer cells. The significance of the findings in breast cancer is discussed.

Antibodies, Neoplasm

IgG antibodies to double-stranded DNA in systemic lupus erythematosus sera. Independent variation of complement fixing activity and total antibody content.

Antibodies to double-stranded deoxyribonucleic acid were studied using the kinetoplast of Crithidia luciliae. Titers were determined separately by conventional immunofluorescence and the complement fluorescent technique, and results by the two methods were compared. Complement fixing activity varied independently of antibody content in whole serum and in IgG fractions. The well established correlation of complement fixing activity of this antibody with activity of lupus nephritis appears related, therefore, to qualitative rather than solely quantitative differences. This finding has important implications for the clinical assessment of patients with lupus, and investigations on the relationship of anti-DNA antibodies to lupus nephritis.

Antibodies

Selective decrease in antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity in systemic lupus erythematosus and progressive systemic sclerosis.

With the use of two target cells (chicken erythrocytes and Chang cells), the antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCMC) of peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and progressive systemic sclerosis (PSS) was studied. Patients with active SLE had a significant reduction in ADCMC against Chang cells whereas cytotoxicity against chicken erythrocytes did not differ significantly from that of a control population. Similarly, a group of PSS patients with positive anti-DNP antibodies demonstrated a selective reduction in ADCMC against Chang cells. These findings support the concept that different effector cells mediate ADCMC against chicken erythrocytes and Chang cells, and indicate that in some patients with SLE and PSS there is a selective reduction or blockade of the ADCMC effector cell active against Chang cells.

Antibody-Dependent Cell Cytotoxicity

In vitro activity of anti-DNA antibodies from SLE patients in antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity.

Peripheral blood lymphoid cells from normal individuals were cytotoxic to target cells coated with DNA when incubated with serum from patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) but not when incubated with serum from normal subjects. Sera from SLE patients with clinically acitve disease were more active than sera obtained from those patients in remission. In the absence of normal lymphocytes, SLE sera were not cytotoxic to the DNA-coated cells. The active fraction in the serum appeared to be IgG anti-DNA antibodies. These studies indicate that anti-DNA can operate through the antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity mechanisms in vitro.

Antibodies

Immunologic responses in patients with lepromatous leprosy.

Immunologic responses were measured in 46 patients with lepromatous leprosy. These patients were not distinguishable from controls on the basis of responses to soluble intradermal antigens, sensitization to contactants, peripheral blood T- and B-cell percentages, in vitro lymphocyte responses to a mitogen, or the prevalence of autoantibodies. Generalized immunologic abnormalities in patients with lepromatous leprosy are neither predisposing causes nor necessary accompaniments of lepromatous leprosy, but are probably remote sequellae of the illness. By implication, the generalized immunologic abnormalities reported in other diseases are likely to be remote sequellae of the particular illness.

Adult

Renal damage in systemic lupus erythematosus with normal renal function.

Renal biopsies were performed on 12 patients with definite systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) with normal renal function. Three had had previous nephropathy which responded to treatment, with return of urinalysis and function to normal. Specimens were studied using light microscopy (LM), immunofluorescence (IF), and electron microscopy (EM). Mild to moderate abnormalities were found in all patients. Changes by LM (primarily hypercellularity) were found in 11 specimens (no glomeruli were obtained in one) and classified as inactive. IF studies were positive in eight of the 12 biopsies with either focal or diffuse distribution of IgG, IgM, and/or C3. EM changes were observed in all cases and were of mild to moderate severity. They included focal to multifocal glomerular hypercellularity, basement membrane thickening, foot process fusion, and mesangial and intramembranous electron dense deposits. No subepithelial or subendothelial deposits were found. Microtubular structures were present in three specimens. These data suggest that careful study of renal biopsy specimens may reveal evidence of kidney involvement in all patients with SLE.

Antibodies, Antinuclear

Cytotoxic activity of human lymphocyte plasma membranes.

Plasma membrane fractions isolated from normal human peripheral blood lymphocytes have considerable cytolytic activity towards a cultured human lymphoblast cell line and mouse mastocytoma cells. Other subcellular fractions, including lysosomes, have low cytolytic activity. It is suggested that this cytotoxic potential in lymphocyte plasma membranes is normally latent but can be activated by prolonged and intimate contact with target cell plasma membranes.

Cell Membrane

Antinuclear antibodies in chronic psychotic patients treated with chlorpromazine.

The authors found a significantly higher incidence of antinuclear antibodies (ANA) and positive lupus erythematosus cell tests in chronic psychotic patients who received 400 mg a day or more of chlorpromazine (CPZ) for at least 7 weeks than in those who had taken 50 to 300 mg a day for varying periods or those who had received no CPZ for at least 3 months. Despite the high incidence of ANA, there was no observed development of lupuslike syndrome. The authors suggest that CPZ in high doses may induce ANA in humans.

Adult

Cryoglobulinaemia in patients with infectious endocarditis.

Serum cryoglobulins were found in nineteen out of twenty patients with infectious endocarditis. The cryoglobulins were of the 'mixed type' consisting of IgG, IgM and IgA. C3 and fibrinogen were present in some specimens. The concentration of the cryoglobulins tended to fall with therapy and clinical improvement of the patients. Serum antibodies to the offending bacterial organism were not preferentially concentrated in the cryoglobulins. In contrast, IgM rheumatoid factor was present in the cryoglobulins, though undetectable in the corresponding serum. These findings are consistent with the view that cryoglobulins represent circulating immune complexes which may be important in the pathogenesis of immunological sequelae sometimes found in patients with infectious endocarditis.

Adult

Reduced antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity in systemic lupus erythematosus.

The peripheral blood mononuclear cells from twenty-three patients with SLE were studied. They showed a reduction in antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity. This reduction was significantly related to disease activity. No correlations were found with other clinical features. Some of the possible explanations for this finding are discussed.

Adult

Immunoglobulin deposits in lepromatous leprosy skin. Presence of deposits in apparently uninvolved skin and occurrence of serum antiepithelial antibodies.

Immunoglobulin deposits were detected in ten of 13 biopsy specimens from apparently uninvolved skin of patients with lepromatous leprosy. There were deposits of IgM at the dermoepidermal junction in the skin of five patients, and deposits of IgM along the dermal collagen and elastic fibers in the skin of the other five. The deposits were eluted with acid buffers and high molarity salt solution. Circulating IgG antibodies to intercellular substance of epithelial cells, similar to those present in pemphigus vulgaris, were found in 25% of patients with lepromatous leprosy who were studied. These antibodies appeared to be different from the skin-bound immunoglobulin deposits.

Adult

Immunoglobulin deposits in skin in systemic lupus erythematosus.

Immunoglobulin deposits in the dermal-epidermal junction of clinically normal skin from patients with SLE were eluted by acid buffer. The eluates contained antinuclear and antibasement membrane antibody activities. The anti-BM antibody reacted with skin and esophageal but not glomerular basement membrane. Enzymatic studies indicated that the antibody reacted with carbohydrate moeities in the basement membrane. The anti-BM antibody was not present in corresponding sera of SLE patients.

Acetates

Complement fixing antibodies to DS-DNA in systemic lupus erythematosus: a study using the immunofluorescent Crithidia luciliae method.

Crithidia luciliae, a hemoflagellate, was used in an immunofluorescent procedure to assay for antibodies to ds-DNA and their capacity to fix complement. Positive reactions with this method were limited to systemic lupus erythematosus patients, and sensitivity was comparable to the DNA binding assay. Complement fixing activity of antibodies to ds-DNA in 45 sera was determined using kinetoplast ds-DNA of Crithidia luciliae and an antiserum to C3. Complement fixing antibodies to ds-DNA were found in nearly all patients with documented active renal involvement and absent in nearly all patients with no, or inactive renal involvement.

Antibodies