Biopsies from skin of normal appearance from 18 patients treated with carbamazepine and diphenylhydantoin were investigated by a direct immunofluorescence technique. Seventeen had deposits of plasma proteins at the dermoepidermal junction, 16 had deposits in the vessel walls, and one had autofluorescence of the nuclei in the epidermis and vessel walls. These findings did not correlate with changes in serum IgG, IgA, IgM, IgD, IgE or alpha 2-macroglobulin. Eight patients had elevated alkaline phosphatase, 4 elevated IgG and one elevated IgA. Three had low values of IgA, and all had normal values of IgM, IgD and IgE, and blood cells. In three patients, carbamazepine was withdrawn, whereupon the deposits disappeared in two and decreased in the third, who changed to another drug. The changes were quantitatively and qualitatively similar to those seen in systemic lupud erythematosus induced by these drugs.

Adult↗

PubMed1977

Quantitative and qualitative estimations of IgE bound to basophil leukocytes from hay fever patients.

IgE was removed from human basophils of 4 nonatopic persons and 10 hay fever patients allergic to timothy grass pollen by treating the cells with buffer adjusted to pH 4. IgE could be removed and refixed to the same cells. Refixation was demonstrated by immunofluorescence and by the ability of basophils to release histamine on exposure to timothy pollen. Removed total IgE and specific IgE directed against timothy pollen were estimated, and a linear correlation to the level of total IgE and specific IgE in serum was found. The total number of IgE molecules per basophil was calculated to be in the range of 30,000 to 300,000, and timothy-specific IgE constituted 4%-15% of the total IgE molecules on the cells. It was furthermore established that specific cell-bound IgE was linearly correlated to the pollen concentration releasing 20% of the histamine contents of the basophils. Separated 2gE from sensitized and nonsensitized basophils could be bound to basophils from other patients, resulting in a change in cell sensitivity. This could be ascribed to additional binding to free cell receptors as well as to a partial replacement of bound IgE. Basophils from non-atopic persons could not be sensitized by incubation with surface IgE from atopic persons. The results indicate that acid treatment is a simple method suitable for removing IgE from basophils. This IgE is intact and can be quantitated.

Adult↗

PubMed1977

Immune complexes in cystic fibrosis.

Eleven patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) chronically infected with mucoid P. aeruginosa and ten patients without P. aeruginosa infection were examined for occurrence of circulating immune complexes, for immune complex deposits in the dermo-epidermal junction of the skin and for precipitins against P. aeruginosa, S. aureus, H. influenzae and D. pneumoniae antigens. The serum concentrations of haptoglobin, orosomucoid, immunoglobulins, C1q, C3, C4 and total haemolytic complement, antinuclear and rheumatoid factor activities as well as white blood cell counts and erythrocyte sedimentation rates were determined also. The results indicated that 6 patients from the chronically P. aeruginosa infected group, exhibiting a spectrum of serum precipitins against P. aeruginosa antigens, also had immune complexes in the serum, while only one patient (suffering from selective IgA deficiency) in the group without P. aeruginosa infection was positive for soluble immune complexes. Granular deposits of IgM was found in the skin of 10 of the chronically P. aeruginosa infected patients and in 7 of the patients without P. aeruginosa infection. A few pactients in both groups had dermo-epidermal deposits of C1q, C3 or fibrinogen as well. Eight of the patients in the chronically infected group and five in the group without P. aeruginosa infection had organ non-specific antinuclear factors. The haptoglobin levels appeared to be elevated in the chronically infected patients (p less than 0.05). None of the other parameters showed any significant difference between the two groups.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1977

Immunoglobulin deposits in the dermo-epidermal junction zone in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. Rheumatoid arthritis and temporal arteritis compared by serological testing including alpha2-macroglobulin.

In biopsies from normal-looking skin, immune complexes in the dermo-epidermal junction zone were found by a direct immunofluorescence technique in 14 of 17 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, in 6 of 12 patients with rheumatoid arthritis, but in none of 10 patients with temporal arteritis and 25 normal controls. Blood samples were obtained simultaneously from all patients and high titres of IgG organ-nonspecific antinuclear factors with complement-fixing properties were found to be closely related to systemic lupus erythematosus. IgG granulocyte-specific antinuclear factors were related with rheumatoid arthritis, while high concentrations of plasma fibrinogen were characteristic of temporal arteritis. No significant increases or differences in blood values of alpha2-macroglobulin were found between the groups and no correlation was found with deposits in the skin.

Adult↗

PubMed1977

Immune deposits in the dermo-epidermal junction in rheumatoid arthritis.

Skin biopsies from forty patients with rheumatoid arthritis were studied for presence of immune deposits in the dermo-epidermal junction zone. In about half of these unselected patients with classical and definite rheumatoid arthritis, IgM, complement components and fibrinogen antigenic material were found. A positive correlation is demonstrated between immune deposits and the presence of cryoglobulins in serum. The presence of complement components in the skin deposits was found to be clearly related to the clinical activity of the disease, as judged by Lansbury's index.

Adult↗

PubMed1975

[Leukocytopenia and hemodialysis].

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Adult↗

PubMed1975

Hyperparathyroidism and pregnancy. Report of a case and review of the literature.

A 28-year-old gravida III, with a history of two unsuccessful pregnancies, was admitted with hyperemesis gravidarum and was found to be suffering from hyperparathyroidism (HPT). She was treated surgically and was later delivered of a wellformed, premature girl. The literature is reviewed and the histories of 40 females (including the patient of this case report) with a minimum of 93 pregnancies while suffering from HPT shows, that HPT during pregnancy is a serious condition for the fetus as well as for the mother. There was an increased incidence of spontaneous abortion, perinatal death, premature birth and neonatal morbidity. The mothers suffered from increased episodes of renal calculi and hyperemesis gravidarum. The exacerbations nearly always occurred in the first and second trimesters or post partum.

Adult↗

PubMed1974

[Hyperparathyroidism and pregnancy].

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Abortion, Spontaneous↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Detection and characterization of Leishmania in tissues of patients with post kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis using a specific monoclonal antibody.

Sections from skin lesions and draining lymph nodes of patients with post kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis were examined using an immunoperoxidase method and a monoclonal antibody directed against Leishmania donovani. Parasites were detected in 22 of 25 biopsies (88%). In parallel sections stained by haematoxylin and eosin, parasites were detected in only 5 of 25 of the biopsies (20%). The demonstration of whole parasites or parasite antigen is diagnostic.

Animals↗