Humoral and cellular immunity in patients with acute aseptic meningitis.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Acute Disease↗
Biomedical subjects
S Kam-Hansen
Publications and source records attributed to S Kam-Hansen.
Immunoglobulin-producing cells in blood and cerebrospinal fluid during the course of aseptic meningoencephalitis.
The protein A plaque assay was used to quantitate the number of IgG-, IgA-, and IgM-producing cells per 20 X 10(3) lymphocytes in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and peripheral blood (PB) from 23 patients with aseptic meningoencephalitis (AM) in the acute stage 1-10 days after onset (group I) and during late convalescence after 19-38 days (group II) and in PB from healthy controls. In the acute stage, IgG- and IgM-producing cells were found with significantly higher frequency in both CSF and PB than in the late convalescence. In both patient groups there were more Ig-producing cells in PB than in CSF. The predominant Ig class in PB of AM patients was IgA, just as in healthy individuals. In CSF, IgA- and IgG-producing cells predominated at similar frequencies. In the group I patients, there were positive correlations between numbers of Ig-producing cells of each class and the corresponding CSF Ig index, an indicator of intrathecal Ig synthesis. Since high numbers of Ig-producing cells could be found in CSF that was otherwise normal, enumeration of Ig-producing cells is considered a more sensitive indicator of the immune response intrathecally than measurement of free Igs.
Adolescent↗
Specificity of immunoglobulins synthesized within the central nervous system in neurosyphilis.
Cerebrospinal fluid from four patients with serologically and clinically verified neurosyphilis contained oligoclonal bands when analysed by isoelectric focusing. By antiserum immunofixation these bands consisted by IgG, and by antigen immunofixation and autoradiography the bands were shown to contain treponemal antibodies. Treponemal antibodies synthesized within the CNS were also detected in polyclonal CSF IgG fractions in two of the patients. In one patient with neurosyphilis followed over 2.5 years, local synthesis of IgM and IgA disappeared within 1 year after treatment, while IgG synthesis persisted. In this patient, besides treponemal antibodies, antibodies against herpes simplex virus were also detected in oligoclonal and polyclonal IgG fractions of CSF. The presence of treponemal antibodies synthesized within the CNS was identified in 2 of 16 controls with negative serological tests for syphilis. This might reflect a previous contact with apathogenic treponemes, and the intrathecal antibody synthesis might be a result of an unspecific activation of memory lymphocytes in CNS.
Adult↗
Viral antibody activity of oligoclonal and polyclonal immunoglobulins synthesized within the central nervous system in multiple sclerosis.
Thin-layer polyacrylamide gel isoelectric focusing (PAG IEF), a very high capacity method for separating immunoglobulins (Ig), was performed on cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum. It was followed by antigen immunofixation with measles, mumps, herpes simplex (HSV), and rubella virus antigens and anti-human Ig autoradiography in order to demonstrate viral antibodies in separated Ig zones. Two of 11 control patients and 21 of 25 patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) displayed one or more zones of viral antibodies in the CSF without any counterpart, or with distinctly fainter zones, in the serum. Such reaction patterns were taken to indicate the possibility of intrathecal antibody synthesis. Antibody synthesis to measles was found in one to five zones in 76% of the patients with MS; antibody zones were found to HSV in 36% of the patients, to mumps in 12%, and to rubella in 12%. In 36% of the patients, two or three different antibody specificities (of which one was always measles) were found simultaneously in individual autoradiogram zones. For all viral antibodies detected in the CSF autoradiograms, their counterparts in oligoclonal or polyclonal IgG zones (or both) were demonstrable by PAG IEF of the corresponding CSF. The majority of patients with MS also had one or more oligoclonal CSF IgG zones without known antibody specificity. Antigen immunofixation and autoradiography are mainly qualitative. It is not known whether the viral antibodies present in oligoclonal or polyclonal IgG zones in MS CSF reflect a polyclonal B cell activation, a disease-specific immune reaction, or both.
Adolescent↗
Immunoglobulin-producing cells in CSF and blood from patients with multiple sclerosis and other inflammatory neurological diseases enumerated by protein-A plaque assay.
Using the Protein-A plaque assay, numbers of IgG + IgA + IgM producing cells determined in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) were 0.1-5% in CSF and 0.1-0.7% in peripheral blood; interestingly, 7 of 11 MS patients had IgM producing cells in CSF. In patients with aseptic meningitis (AM), the corresponding values were 0.04-7.5% in CSF and 0.4-2.4% in peripheral blood. There were more Ig producing cells in peripheral blood from patients with AM and MS than in healthy subjects. A correlation between numbers of IgG producing cells in CSF and the concentrations of intrathecally produced IgG (CSF IgG index) was registered in patients with AM; the same was the true for IgA. The Protein-A plaque method, adopted for 20 X 10(3) lymphocytes, makes possible enumeration of Ig-producing cells in CSF and discrimination among cells secreting different Ig classes, thereby being a powerful tool for studying immune reactions in the CNS-CSF compartment.
Adult↗
Oligoclonal IgG and free chains in multiple sclerosis demonstrated by thin-layer polyacrylamide gel isoelectric focusing and immunofixation.
A modified technique of isoelectric focusing on thin-layer polyacrylamide gel followed by immunofixation with monospecific antisera was used to identify individual cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum proteins and to define the oligoclonal reaction observed in multiple sclerosis (MS). "Normal" IgG gave about 20 to 30 bands at pH 3.5 to 9.5, IgA about 10 bands at pH 3.5 to 6.4, beta-trace protein a smear at pH 3.5 to 8.5, and gamma-trace protein 1 or 2 bands at pH 8.0, 9.5 or both. Up to 11 oligoclonal IgG bands migrating between pH 6.5 and 9.5 were found in CSF from 26 of 27 consecutive patients with MS and also in 20 of the corresponding sera, although at lower numbers and concentrations. In 26 patients, 1 or more of the bands corresponding to normal polyclonal IgG were stronger in CSF than in serum. These data support the hypothesis that two colonies of lymphocytes are activated intrathecally, one of them synthesizing oligoclonal and the other polyclonal IgG. Up to 11 mostly faint bands of free light chains, predominantly of lambda type and migrating between pH 3.5 and 9.5, were found in 8 of 9 CSF specimens from patients with MS.
Adult↗
Characterization of active T cells in CSF and blood in multiple sclerosis patients and controls.
In thirty-two patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), significantly lower percentages of active T cells--that is, lymphocytes which have been incubated at 37 degrees C for 1 h before 5 min rosetting with sheep erythrocytes--were found in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) than in blood, whereas the reverse was observed in twenty of twenty-two patients with other neurological diseases (OND). No significant difference was found between percentages of active T cells in blood in MS, OND, and healthy controls. Lymphocytes from MS CSF are extensively temperature-labile when examined under different test conditions; without incubation at 37 degrees C for 1 h, active T cell percentages in CSF of both patients with MS and OND were, in fact, higher than in peripheral blood. The mitogen response patterns of enriched active T cells and unseparated lymphocytes from peripheral blood did not discriminate between patients with MS and healthy controls. Although active T cell values have been shown to correlate with cell-mediated immunocompetence, they have not yet been defined functionally. One of the explanations for the present findings could be that lymphocytes themselves in MS patients' CSF are at least partly virus-infected.
Adolescent↗
Active T cells and humoral immune variables in blood and cerebrospinal fluid in patients after acute unilateral idiopathic optic neuritis.
The active T cell rosette test--that is determination of T lymphocytes with high affinity for sheep erythrocytes after incubation at 37 degrees C for 1 h--defines a T cell subset that has been claimed to parallel cell-mediated immunocompetence in e.g. viral diseases. In 16 patients who have had acute unilateral idiopathic optic neuritis (ON), lower percentages of active T cells were found in CSF compared to blood, irrespective if the interval between the first bout of ON and the present study was 2 months or 26 years, and irrespective of degree of mononuclear pleocytosis or humoral immune variables in CSF. The same distribution of active T cells has previously been observed in multiple slcerosis (MS). The percentages of active T cells in peripheral blood from the patients with ON were normal. Determination of active T cell does not seem to discriminate those patients with ON who are likely to develop MS. One explanation could be that ON and MS have an etiologic agent in common but that a part of patients with ON have an until now undefined competence to limit the demyelinating process.
Adult↗
Active and total T cells in blood and cerebrospinal fluid during the course of aseptic meningitis.
Patients with aseptic meningitis (AM) were examined with the active T cell rosette test, which has been claimed to reflect cell-mediated immunocompetence more accurately than determination of total T cells. Higher percentages of active T cells were demonstrated in CSF compared to blood regardless if specimens were obtained on days 1-4, days 5-10, or later than 20 days after onset of symptoms, Active T cell percentages in CSF decreased when values for specimens obtained on days 5-10 were compared with those taken later than 20 days after onset, while no significant variations of active T cell percentages in blood were observed. The percentages of total T cells were higher in CSF than blood in specimens from days 5-10, and later than 20 days after onset, but no significant fluctuations of total T cells occurred in either CSF or blood over the course of AM.
Adolescent↗
Distribution and function of lymphocytes from the cerebrospinal from the cerebrospinal fluid and blood in patients with multiple sclerosis.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Adult↗
Observations on the effect of injection of lymphocytes from multiple sclerosis and Guillain-Barré syndrome in the rabbit eye model.
The effect of 10 X 10(5) peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) obtained from patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) and healthy controls was studied after injection into the rabbit eye. Infiltration of inflammatory cells, strikingly localized to myelinated strips, was obtained with PBL from some of the MS patients and controls, indicating the non-specificity of the phenomenon. PBL from 2 GBS patients gave the strongest infiltration. No effect was obtained with 10 X 10(4) PBL or CSF lymphocytes from MS patients, indicating that the number of lymphocytes is an essential factor in the induction of lesions.
Adult↗
Studies on the humoral and cell-mediated immune response in a patient with Mollaret's meningitis.
A patient with Mollaret's meningitis with protracted course and a strong immune response within the central nervous system is described. The findings of IgG bands in agarose gel electrophoresis of CSF together with elevated CSF IgG index values are in accordance with intrathecal synthesis of IgG, possibly against an antigen persistent in the CNS. Subgrouping of CSF lymphocytes morphologically (B/T, active T cells) and functionally (stimulation with mitogens) showed that these cells differed from peripheral blood lymphocytes. A defect in the regulatory function of T cells may be responsible for the continuing pathologic process in Mollaret's meningitis.
Antibodies, Viral↗
Reduced in vitro response of CSF lymphocytes to mitogen stimulation in multiple sclerosis.
By means of a microculture technique and calculation of incorporation of 14C-thymidine, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) lymphocytes from multiple sclerosis (MS) patients showed low or absent proliferation when stimulated with phytohaemagglutinin, concanavalin A, or pokeweed mitogen, in contrast to peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) obtained simultaneously and investigated in parallel. A lower proliferation of CSF lymphocytes compared with PBL was also found in acute aseptic meningitis, although it has been reported that CSF lymphocytes show greater proliferation than PBL when specifically stimulated. The low proliferation of MS CSF lymphocytes on mitogen stimulation may be a consequence of prolonged sensitization to an as yet unidentified antigen. The proliferation of MS CSF lymphocytes was not improved by adding irradiated PBL, making helper cell insufficiency less likely. MS CSF had no inhibitory effect on proliferation of PBL, arguing against an inhibitory effect of soluble factors in the CSF as an explanation for the depressed response of CSF lymphocytes.
Cells, Cultured↗
Reduced number of active T cells in cerebrospinal fluid in multiple sclerosis.
Using a modification of the active rosette test of Wybran and Fudenberg, we found that the percentages of active T cells were significantly lower in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients than in blood obtained simultaneously from these patients, or in the CSF or blood from patients with other neurologic diseases. These results suggest that in MS there may be a depression or deficiency of a functional subpopulation of T lymphocytes confined to the central nervous system.
Adolescent↗
Long-term transfer-factor treatment for multiple sclerosis.
In groups of 16 patients with multiple sclerosis, 13 months' double-blind treatment with transfer factor from random normal donors differed from placebo treatment only in producing a temporary restoration of lymphocyte reactivity to measles virus antigen, and did not arrest the degeneration of nerve tissue.
Adult↗
Selective impairment of hearing and vestibular function in a brain stem lesion.
A case of sudden bilateral hearing loss in a diabetic patient is reported. Acoustic-vestibular examination indicated a lesion localized in the brain stem although no other neurological abnormality was found. Postmortem examination demonstrated severe vascular changes of the brain stem. Areas of fresh infarction and necrosis were found localized to the cochlear and vestibular nuclei. The case demonstrates that central vascular disorders may be the cause of sudden severe hearing loss even without other neurological symptoms or signs.
Aged↗
B and T lymphocytes in cerebrospinal fluid and blood in multiple sclerosis, optic neuritis and mumps meningitis.
B and T cells were defined in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and blood of 18 multiple sclerosis (MS), five optic neuritis, and 17 mumps meningitis patients by counting immunoglobulin-bearing lymphocytes for B cells, and the capacity of rosette formation with sheep erythrocytes of T-cell determination. Patients with MS and mumps meningitis had significantly higher T-cell values in CSF compared to blood, while the B cell value was significantly lower in CSF in mumps meningitis only. MS patients also displayed significantly lower B-cell values in blood compared to mumps meningitis patients and blood donors. No significant differences were observed between MS patients in exacerbation and in remission.
Adolescent↗
Transfer factor treatment of multiple sclerosis. A pilot study.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Clinical Trials as Topic↗