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Biomedical subjects

T Reunala

Publications and source records attributed to T Reunala.

At least 199 records · Page 11Linked to original sources

IgA antigliadin antibodies: a marker of mucosal damage in childhood coeliac disease.

Antigliadin antibodies in serum samples of 31 children with coeliac disease were measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent technique. In young patients (less than 2 years) tested before gluten withdrawal IgA antigliadin antibody levels were invariably above the levels of 36 controls. The titres fell rapidly when gluten was eliminated from the diet and rose on its reintroduction. The titres were not always greater than the control level in older untreated patients. IgA antigliadin antibodies seem to be a good marker of the immune reaction in the jejunum triggered by gluten. In 2 IgA-deficient patients gluten challenge caused an increase in IgM antigliadin antibodies, and at the same time the number of IgM-containing cells increased in the jejunal mucosa. Rising IgG antigliadin antibody levels after gluten elimination were seen in 6 patients, 5 of whom had very low complement C3 levels before gluten elimination.

Age Factors↗

Circulating IgA- and IgG-class antigliadin antibodies in dermatitis herpetiformis detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

A sensitive and technically simple enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed to demonstrate circulating IgA- and IgG-class antibodies to gliadin, a component of wheat gluten. Serum samples from 24 patients with dermatitis herpetiformis (DH), 5 with coeliac disease (CD) and 75 normal controls were analysed. Antigliadin antibodies (AGA) of the IgA class were detected in 71% of DH patients, all of the CD patients and 19% of the controls. IgG-AGA was found in over 90% of DH patients and controls and in all of the CD patients. The mean ELISA values of both IgA- and IgG-class AGA were significantly higher in DH patients than in the controls. The occurrence of circulating IgA-class AGA is compatible with the hypothesis that these antibodies can be deposited in the skin, e.g. as immune complexes, or due to cross-reactivity of gliadin and dermal reticulin.

Adolescent↗

Renal involvement and circulating immune complexes in dermatitis herpetiformis.

A fine-needle kidney biopsy was performed on eleven patients with dermatitis herpetiformis (DH) who had no previous signs or symptoms of renal disease. Of the eight patients whose biopsy specimens were representative, electron microscopic examination showed mesangial deposits in five. A subsequent conventional renal biopsy was obtained from one of these five, and immunofluorescence microscopy revealed IgA and complement deposits in the glomeruli. Renal involvement was not related either to the degree of jejunal villous atrophy or to the deposition of IgA and complement in the skin. Glomerular deposits, however, were associated with a high frequency of circulating IgA and IgG class immune complexes and IgA class antigliadin and antireticulin antibodies. These results suggest that, in DH, immune complexes or antibodies derived from the gut can be deposited in the kidney.

Adult↗

IgE-mediated occupational allergy to a spider mite.

Two patients who suffered from allergic rhinitis, conjunctivitis and contact urticaria caused by the two-spotted spider mite (Tetranychus urticae, Koch) are described. Both patients worked in a greenhouse where they came in contact with both spider mites and predator mites living on bean leaves. Prick, Prausnitz-Küstner and RAST tests indicated type I allergy to spider mite but not to predator mite. Both patients had a high level (RAST score 4) of spider-mite-specific IgE in their sera. Radioallergosorbent test (RAST) inhibition studies revealed no cross-reactivity between spider mite and house dust mite allergens. These results show that spider mites, which are herbivorous mites found in nature, in greenhouses and even in homes, can cause IgE-mediated allergy in man.

Adult↗

IgA nephropathy associated with celiac disease and dermatitis herpetiformis.

IgA nephropathy was found in three patients with celiac disease; two of them also had dermatitis herpetiformis. These observed associations widen the spectrum of the diseases that have been reported to coexist with IgA nephropathy. This study focused on the possible intestinal origin of the glomerulonephritis.

Adult↗

Immunoglobulin and complement deposits in the skin and circulating immune complexes in scabies.

Sixteen patients with papulovesicular, 6 with nodular and one with a Norwegian scabies were studied. Direct immunofluorescence (IF) examination revealed C3 deposits in the skin lesions of 13 of the 18 patients. Among them were all 6 cases with nodular scabies. C3 was found mostly in dermal vessel walls and 3 of the patients also showed IgM and 2 IgA deposits at the same site. No circulating immune complexes were found, with a solid-phase C1q radioimmunoassay (RIA), but HSV- and RSV-RIA methods detected IgM antibodies of rheumatoid factor type in 5 of the 15 sera examined. These results suggest that local complement activation and perhaps also immune complex deposition may by important in the pathogenesis of the papular and nodular skin lesions of human scabies.

Adult↗

Persistent pruritic papules from deer ked bites.

Deer ked (Lipoptena cervi L.), a haematophagous louse fly of deer, also attacks man and can cause persistent pruritic papules. Nineteen patients with this conditions were examined. They suffered attacks while carrying out their work, or merely walking, in forested areas. The bite papules appeared mostly on the head and back. They were very itchy and resistant to treatment and persisted from 2 weeks up to 12 months. Histologically, a typical insect bite reaction was found without any signs of retained deer ked mouth parts. Direct immunofluorescence showed deposits of C3 in dermal vessel walls in 7 of the 11 papules examined. Skin tests with a deer ked whole body extract were positive in all patients tested, showing both immediate and delayed reactions. Moreover, 57% of the patients tested had elevated serum IgE levels. All these findings suggest that IgE, complement and cell-mediated immune mechanisms are involved in the pathogenesis of deer ked bite reactions.

Adolescent↗

Lymphoma in dermatitis herpetiformis: report on four cases.

Four patients suffering from protracted dermatitis herpetiformis (DH) developed lymphomas while undergoing gluten-free diet treatment. This had lasted between 6 months and 4 years. The first patient died of histiocytic lymphoma involving mesenterial lymph nodes, liver, spleen and blood marrow. The second patient died of histiocytic lymphoma disseminated in the ileum, colon, stomach and mesenterium. This patient had been operated on 14 years earlier for a solitary ulcerating lymphoma in the ileum. The third patient had a localized histiocytic lymphoma in the colon. This was successfully removed by hemicholectomy. The fourth patient had a lymphocytic lymphoma of B-cell origin in the inguinal lymph nodes which was treated with radiotherapy. These 4 patients with lymphomas suggest that, like coeliac disease patients, DH patients also run an increased risk of developing lymphomas.

Adult↗

Celiac disease or dermatitis herpetiformis in three patients with porphyria.

Celiac disease was diagnosed in one patient with variegate porphyria, and dermatitis herpetiformis in two patients, one with acute intermittent porphyria and the other with erythropoietic protoporphyria. The probability that celiac disease or dermatitis herpetiformis should occur in three patients with porphyria in Finland is less than 0.2%. Neither a consistent HLA pattern nor any other explanation can be offered for the association between these diseases.

Adult↗

Inflammatory cells, IgA, C3, fibrin and fibronectin in skin lesions in dermatitis herpetiformis.

Skin lesions were produced by application of 50% potassium iodide to twelve patients with dermatitis herpetiformis (DH). Perivascular cellular infiltrates were found to be characteristic of developing lesions. The cells were mainly round cells; alpha-naphthyl acetate esterase staining revealed that in 24-h lesions the mean percentage of T-lymphocytes was 43%, that of mononuclear phagocytes 6% and that of non-T/non-M cells (mainly B-lymphocytes) 44%. The percentage of the latter was highest (mean 81%) in 6-h specimens, suggesting that these cells are participating in the early stages of lesion formation. The infiltrating cells in dermal papillae and within subepidermal vesicles were predominantly polymorphonuclear leukocytes (mean 86%) with some mononuclear phagocytes and non-T/non-M cells. Immunofluorescence examination confirmed that fibrin deposition is characteristic of the initial lesions of DH and showed that the same is true of fibronectin. Seven out of eight patients had fibronectin deposits in dermal papillae. IgA was found in all and C3 in most of the specimens and, with the exception of papillary vesicles and blister cavities, the intensity of IgA and C3 fluorescence showed no marked alterations during the development of lesions.

Complement C3↗

PUVA treatment and skin cancer: A follow-up study.

Altogether 525 PUVA-treated psoriatics were re-examined. The mean follow-up period since the beginning of PUVA therapy was 2.1 years (range 1-3.6 years). In 107 cases (20%) the total UVA dose was below 100 J/cm2 and in 20 (4%) over 1000 J/cm2. During PUVA treatment or at re-examination of 14 of the 525 patients (3%) were found to have skin lesions suspected of being malignant. A total of 23 biopsies were taken and in one case a basal-cell carcinoma was histologically verified. This had almost certainly been present before the beginning of the PUVA therapy. Two other patients, both previously treated with methotrexate, had reversible lesions with Bowenoid histology. Both these patients had received a total UVA dose of more than 1000 J/cm2. The incidence of skin carcinomas in the present PUVA treated series was lower than that in hospitalized psoriatics treated with regimens other than PUVA and was not higher than the incidence in the age-matched general population in Finland.

Adult↗

Aromatic plants--a cause of severe attacks of angio-edema and urticaria.

Celery and parsley were confirmed as etiological agents in 14 patients with severe attacks of angio-edema and urticaria. All of the patients proved to be atopic. Without exception they all had positive prick test reactions to mugwort. The patients were examined using the scratch - chamber test method and all of them showed positive reactions to celery and 12 patients to parsley. No peroral provocation tests were performed because of the severity of the reactions in the past. Passive transfer by the prausnitz-Küster technique was positive in two patients.

Adolescent↗

Theoretical considerations on HLA-associated illness-susceptibility genes in dermatitis herpetiformis and psoriasis.

The frequency of an HLA-associated illness-susceptibility (Is) gene can be estimated by a simple equation: the frequency of the Is gene is equal to the prevalence of the disease in the population divided by the penetrance of the illness in first-degree relatives with the HLA marker antigen, with the quotient further divided by two. This equation is valid if the gene is dominant and its gene frequency is low. An analysis of HLA data of 61 patients with dermatitis herpetiformis (DH) showed that the HLA-associated DH susceptibility gene is obviously dominant. The frequency of this DH susceptibility gene was estimated to be at least 0.0005 and the frequency of psoriasis susceptibility gene about 0.02 in Finland.

Dermatitis Herpetiformis↗