OBJECTIVE: Interleukin 8 (IL-8) acts as a potent chemotactic cytokine and also as an autocrine factor for polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN), thus amplifying the acute inflammatory reaction. We undertook to study the IL-8 producing capacity of PMN in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). METHODS: PMN from twelve patients with active SLE, from fifteen patients with inactive disease and from sixteen healthy individuals were incubated for 24 hours in medium alone, or in medium with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or TNF-alpha. The IL-8 concentration in the culture supernatants was measured by an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: We found that the spontaneous and LPS-stimulated, but not TNF-alpha-stimulated, production of IL-8 by the PMN of active SLE patients were significantly lower than that of healthy individuals. The impaired IL-8 production by SLE-PMN was linked to disease activity but not to the administration of steroid, because incubation of normal PMN or inactive SLE-PMN with prednisolone (1 microgram/ml and 5 micrograms/ml) for 24 hours did not affect IL-8 production. In addition, IL-8 production increased in three active SLE patients after effective treatment with immunosuppressants but not in two cases of ineffective treatment, in the follow-up study. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that decreased IL-8 production is one of the defects of PMN in patients with active SLE, which might predispose SLE patients to infection.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

The reactivity of sera from patients with systemic lupus erythematosus to seven different species of single and double stranded deoxyribonucleic acids.

OBJECTIVE: Anti-DNA antibodies are frequently found in the serum of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). To understand whether the avidity of SLE sera to different species of single-stranded (ss) and double-stranded (ds) DNA is different or not, the reactivity of active SLE sera to seven species of DNA from viral, bacterial, piscine, and mammalian sources was compared. METHODS: Nineteen sera from patients with active SLE were studied for their reactivity to different ssDNA and dsDNA from Escherichia coli (EC), Micrococcus lysodeikticus (ML), Clostridium perfringens (CP), calf thymus (CT), salmon testis (ST), human placenta (HP) and lambda phage by ELISA. The dsDNA was purified by treating it with S1 nuclease and proteinase K, followed by Sephacryl S-300 gel filtration. The ssDNA was purified by absorption on a hydroxyapatite column after heat-cleavage of the dsDNA. RESULTS: The reactivity of SLE sera to 7 species of dsDNA was not significantly different and they recognized a more widely shared epitope. In contrast, the reactivity of these sera to 7 species of ssDNA was erratic and the antigens could be grouped into high (CP and HP), medium (EC, ML, CT, and ST) and low (lambda-phage) antigenicities. CONCLUSION: The anti-ssDNA and anti-dsDNA antibodies of SLE patients recognize more widely shared determinants on the DNA of seven different species. Lambda-phage DNA shows the poorest immunogenicity among them.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Treatment of metastatic bone pain using the bone seeking radiopharmaceutical Re-186-HEDP.

Recent advances in radionuclide therapy offer a new approach for the management of metastatic bone pain. This paper reports the results of dosage escalation studies with 186Re-HEDP as a bone-seeking radiopharmaceutical in patients with bone metastases originating from breast or prostate cancer with regard to toxicity, pharmacokinetics and bone marrow dosimetry and the palliating effect on bone pain. Thrombocytopenia proved to be the dose limiting factor and 186Re-HEDP showed a considerable efficacy in end-stage patients with metastatic bone pain.

Bone Neoplasms↗