1. Anti-aortic antibodies were frequently detected from the sera of patients with aortitis syndrome. 2. Aortic antigens were demonstrated to exist mainly in the media. The antigenicity was inactivated by collagenase, trypsin and pepsin, but not by DNase-I. Analyses of aortic antigens were also made by ultracentrifugation and column chromatography. 3. Experimental arteritis could be produced in animals by isologous active immunization and heterologous passive immunization. 4. From these results, participation of antigen-antibody reaction in the development of the disease has been speculated. Possible role of streptococcal infection as one of the trigger mechanisms in antibody production has been suggested in combination with evidence indicating hypersensitivity of the patients to infections.

Antibodies, Bacterial↗

PubMed1975

Hemodynamic and clinical significances of atrial fibrillation, pulmonary vascular resistance and left ventricular function in rheumatic mitral stenosis.

Seventy-four patients with rheumatic mitral stenosis were catheterized and hemodynamic and clinical significances of atrial fibrillation, pulmonary vascular resistance and left ventricular function were studied. These data were also compared to those in the 6 control cases. In addition to the correlation of mitral valve area to the functional classification of patients, significance of atrial fibrillation was also demonstrated. Patients with this arrhythmia had lower cardiac index than those with regular sinus rhythm by approximately 20%, throughout the range of mitral valve area observed. The lower average cardiac index was associated with a higher average left ventricular end-diastolic pressure in cases with atrial fibrillation than in cases without the arrhythmia, in the face of similar average heart rate and average mitral valve area; Average pulmonary vascular resistance correlated to the functional classification, but its systematic influence on the relation between mitral valve area and cardiac index was not observed. Abnormalities of left ventricular function were suggested frequently by various combinations of abnormal values in end-diastolic pressure, end-diastolic volume, ejection fraction, angiographically-measured circumferential fiber shortening velocity (Vcf), and pressure-derived maximal contractile element velocity (Vmax). Patients with enlarged left ventricle had significantly lower average cardiac index than those with normal ventricular size.

Adult↗

PubMed1975

Left ventricular asynergy in mitral valve diseases. A cineangiographic study.

Mode of left ventricular contraction was studied by cine left ventriculography in 22 cases with mitral valve diseases and 7 control cases. In rheumatic mitral valve diseases, local hypokinesis of the left ventricular wall and poor contraction of the mitral annulus were observed frequently, at various location and to various extent. Transient asynergic motion of local wall was also seen either during systole or during diastole. Local hypokinesis was seen even in normal-sized left ventricles, and was associated with decreased cardiac pump performance, when its localization was extensive. Severe mitral regurgitation of rheumatic nature was always associated with poor contraction of the mitral annulus, although the reverse was not true.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1975

Further studies on cross-immunity among syngeneic tumors in mice.

In the present studies employing 3-methylcholanthrene (MCA)-induced sarcomas of C3H/He mice, cross-immunity among syngeneic tumors was markedly demonstrated by immunization with living tumor cells after repeated inoculation of gamma-irradiated (13, 000 rads 60Co) tumor cells. Cross-immunity was also markedly shown in the challenge of the other MCA-induced tumor, which was induced in the same mouse in which the immunizing MCA-induced tumor originated, by repeated immunization with gamma-irradiated tumor cells only. On the contrary, cross-immunity was not observed between tumors induced on different mice by repeated immunization with gamma-irradiated tumor cells only. As the result of the immunization with gamma-irradiated tumor cells only, common antigenicity among syngeneic tumors seems to be hardly demonstrated, and antigenic indiviDuality among animals, in which MCA-induced sarcomas originated, seems to be remarkably demonstrated.

Animals↗

PubMed1975