Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

J F Bach

Publications and source records attributed to J F Bach.

At least 289 records · Page 16Linked to original sources
PubMed1990

Neonatal myasthenia gravis: antigenic specificities of antibodies in sera from mothers and their infants.

Transient neonatal myasthenia gravis (MG) is a human model of passively transferred MG. In an effort to understand the characteristics of the most pathogenic antibodies in MG, we studied the fine antigenic specificities of anti-AChR antibodies in sera from 21 MG mothers (nine of which had transiently transferred the disease) and 17 of their infants. Although in a few cases significant differences in antibody specificities were observed between mothers and infants, whether myasthenic or not, generally the antigenic specificities of the antibodies in sera from infants were very similar to those of their mothers. Furthermore, no characteristic differences were detected between the antibody repertoires of mothers who transferred the disease and those who did not.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗
PubMed1990

Natural thymocytotoxic autoantibodies in non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice: characterization and fine specificity.

The NOD mouse is a model of human juvenile type I diabetes mellitus. As in humans and in the BB rat model, the development of diabetes in NOD mice is accompanied by evident manifestations of cell-mediated and humoral autoimmunity. Beside autoantibodies directed at putative islet cell antigens, NOD sera contain antibodies with specificity for lymphocyte cell-surface determinants. Here we demonstrate that these anti-lymphocyte antibodies have the same characteristics of target cell specificity, of isotype, and of temperature reactivity, as do natural thymocytotoxic autoantibodies (NTA) from lupic NZB mice, or from mice undergoing polyclonal B cell activation. We also demonstrate that the thymocytotoxic activity of NOD sera is not due to cross-reactive anti-insulin antibodies. Biochemical characterization of the determinants recognized by these anti-lymphocyte antibodies reveals two membrane-associated proteins of 28 and 33 kD, partially similar to the two peptides recognized by NTA from NZB mice (30 and 33 kD). Altogether, these results suggest that NOD mice develop manifestations of polyclonal B cell activation similar to those observed in lupus-prone mice. The relationship of these anomalies with the organ-specific pancreatic disease remains to be properly evaluated.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Limited duration of remission of insulin dependency in children with recent overt type I diabetes treated with low-dose cyclosporin.

Preliminary data from our group indicated that cyclosporin A induced frequent remissions of insulin dependency in a group of 40 insulin-dependent (type I) diabetic children if given at the onset of clinical manifestations of diabetes. We report a 2-yr analysis of the response to cyclosporin A in the group of 81 patients included in the initial study. As observed before, a remission could be obtained in most of the patients (65%) in association with a shorter duration of symptoms, less severe hyperglycemia, lower incidence of ketoacidosis, and higher plasma C-peptide concentrations. All remissions ended during the follow-up period after a mean +/- SE duration of 316 +/- 21 days (range 31-850 days). Two parameters were linked to the duration of remissions: the mean circulating level of cyclosporin during the first 3 mo and the duration of prediagnostic polyuria. We were unable to relate the end of a remission to variations in the cyclosporin regimen, titer of autoantibodies, or progression of beta-cell failure. The euglycemic clamp technique revealed that insulin sensitivity decreases with time in patients not taking insulin. At 24 mo, the patients who had a remission of insulin dependency had better glycemic control, lower insulin dosages, and C-peptide levels two- to threefold higher than the nonremission patients and four- to sixfold higher than the historical control subjects. The cyclosporin regimen was well tolerated over the observed period: more specifically, serum creatinine remained unchanged, and kidney biopsies performed at 18-24 mo of treatment were within normal limits.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

[Inflammation and rejection].

The inflammation represents an important cause of allograft tissue lesions during ongoing rejection episodes. Such inflammation is mediated, at least in part, via the release of different soluble mediators. Some of these endogenous inflammation mediators are well known and include prostaglandins, leukotriens, histamine or histaminergic compounds and factors induced by the activation of the complement cascade (C3a, C5a). More recently, different molecules have been characterized, namely cytokines that are potent mediators of both immune and inflammatory reactions. Cytokines are produced by a wide variety of cells types (i.e., inducing immune and non immune cells) and expressing pleiotropic effects. The synergism between these various inflammation mediators finally provoke the anatomopathological lesions characteristic of a rejection process that are vascular lesions, edema formation and white blood cell chemotaxis leading to massive cellular infiltration. The aim of this brief review is to analyze the more recent data of the literature concerning cytokines that, applied to the field of organ transplantation, may provide further insights onto the relationships existing between inflammation and allograft rejection.

Cytokines↗
PubMed1990

[Increase of circulating levels of thymulin in hyperprolactinemia and acromegaly].

The production of thymulin by the thymic epithelium is under complex control involving the endocrine system. Experimental models have suggested that prolactin (PRL) and growth hormone (GH) participate in this regulation but this has not been documented in humans. Using a bioassay we measured circulating thymulin levels in patients with hyperprolactinemia (n = 21), acromegaly (n = 15), or both (n = 6). Thymulin was elevated in these three groups of patients compared with normal subjects or with patients with pituitary disease but no excess in PRL or GH. Contrasting with observations in control groups, thymulin did not decrease as a function of age in patients. No correlation between thymulin and PRL or GH levels was observed while thymulin and insulin-like growth factor 1 levels were correlated. A new radioimmunoassay used in some patients for thymulin determination yielded similar results. Overall these data demonstrate that PRL and GH are involved in the hormonal control of thymulin production by the thymic epithelium in the human.

Acromegaly↗
PubMed1990

[Hypertension induced by cyclosporin A in insulin-dependent diabetic patients. A one-year follow-up].

UNLABELLED: Forty-five recent insulin-dependent diabetics (IDD) were treated with cyclosporine A (CsA) 7.5 mg/kg b.i.d. as single immunosuppressive therapy to achieve remission of diabetes. Measurements of mean arterial pressure (MAP), glomerular filtration rate (GFR:inulin clearance), renal vascular resistance (RVR: MAP x [1-haematocrit] divided by PAH clearance), absolute (UNa.V) and fractional (FENa) urinary sodium excretion, were performed initially (M0) and after 3 (M3) and 12 (M12) months of treatment. Results were (mean +/- SD): [table: see text] Prevalence of hypertension defined as MAP greater than or equal to 107 mmHg was 12% at M3 and 24% at M12. Whereas the maximal changes in GFR and RVR occurred at M3, MAP increased further and sodium excretion decreased at M12. IN CONCLUSION: 1) CyA-induced increase in blood pressure paralleled that in RVR at M3 and decreased sodium excretion at M12. 2) There was a dissociation between MAP and GFR changes after 12 months of treatment with CyA.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

The OKT3 immunosuppressive effect. In situ antigenic modulation of human graft-infiltrating T cells.

OKT3 exerts its in vivo immunosuppressive effects by inducing major peripheral T cell depletion as well as antigenic modulation of the T3/Ti T cell receptor complex. Modulated cells, which reversibly lose the expression of the CD3 T cell receptor molecular complex but still share the CD4 and CD8 antigens, have been shown to be functionally immunoincompetent. Antigenic modulation is maintained as long as significant OKT3 serum levels are present. Cells infiltrating renal allografts from seven OKT3 treated patients were studied by double immunofluorescence to assess whether antigenic modulation could affect cells located in profound organs such as renal allografts. Needle biopsies were obtained in patients given OKT3 (5 mg/day) for at least 10 consecutive days in association with conventional immunosuppressive drugs for treatment of a rejection episode (5 cases) or prophylactically (2 cases). In all patients at the time of biopsy, CD3 positive cells were absent from the circulation, significant OKT3 serum levels were present, and neither IgG nor IgM anti-OKT3 antibodies were detected. Infiltrating cells were double-labeled using a combination of either anti-CD3 and anti-CD4 or anti-CD3 and anti-CD8 monoclonal antibodies. Following 7-14 consecutive days of treatment, all patients given OKT3 for a rejection episode showed a significant decrease in the number of graft-infiltrating lymphocytes. Importantly, all T cells still infiltrating the allograft were CD3-CD4+ or CD3-CD8+ cells, which is exactly the same phenotypical pattern of CD3 circulating modulated T cells. In 6 out of the 7 patients, this phenotypical pattern was associated with clinically normal graft function. These results further underline the fact that antigenic modulation is an important mechanism mediating the immunosuppressive effect of OKT3 both in peripheral blood and in renal allografts.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗
PubMed1990

Monoclonal antibodies to CD3 as immunosuppressants.

Murine monoclonal antibodies specifically directed at the CD3 molecular complex are widely used in clinical transplantation. They are potent inhibitors of immune function and may be administered in association to conventional immunosuppressants. The main purpose of this review is to summarize our present knowledge on the CD3 molecule, to discuss the available data on the clinical use of anti-CD3 MAb (therapeutic effectiveness, mode of action and side effects) and the recent information derived from the use of anti-CD3 MAb in experimental models that are opening new perspective in the applications of anti-CD3 and will hopefully lead to the extension of its clinical use to settings different from transplantation.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

A new monoclonal antibody recognizing the amino-terminal consensus sequence of vertebrate intermediate filament proteins.

The mouse monoclonal antibody ME 101 raised against human peripherin, an intermediate filament protein (IFP) specific to well defined neuronal populations, recognizes all the major classes of vertebrate IFP in immunoblotting assays. Desmin, GFAP, vimentin, peripherin and the lightest neurofilament protein (NF-L) were cleaved into carboxy- and amino-terminal halves by N-chlorosuccinimide at their unique trytophan residue. Whereas the antibody directed against the epitope common to every IFP (intermediate filament antigen or IFA) and located on the carboxy-terminal end of the rod domain recognizes the carboxy-terminal half, the ME 101 antibody, as the present study illustrates, recognizes specifically the amino-terminal half. From the amino acid sequence data of IFP, it is deduced that the cognate epitope is localized on the amino-terminal part of coil la.

Animals↗