Analysis of the inhibitory effect of peritoneal macrophages on the spread of herpes simplex virus

Peritoneal macrophages obtained from mice after an intraperitoneal injection of tryptose peptone inhibited the development of herpes simplex virus type 2 plaques in syngeneic mouse embryonic fibroblasts. In contrast, peritoneal macrophages, spleen cells, and thymocytes from untreated mice showed only a minimal inhibitory effect on the development of viral plaques. The effect was age dependent. Macrophages from 2 and 3-week-old mice showed weaker functions, requiring a larger number of cells for an equivalent reduction of plaques and virus yield than those from adult mice. When macrophages were treated with procaine, their phagocytic activity was completely abolished. However the procaine-treated macrophages still could inhibit the development of viral plaques. Peritoneal macrophages did not show any increased cytotoxicity against herpes simplex virus-infected cells; plaque inhibition might rather be attributable to their cytostatic effects on target cells.

Serology of Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Demonstration by co-agglutination and immunoelectrophoresis of antigenic differences associated with colour/opacity colonial variants

Serological classification of Neisseria gonorrhoeae by co-agglutination (COA) into previously described antigen classes W and J was confirmed in the present work. Immunization of rabbits with classified organisms gave antibodies which produced the expected results when used in the preparation of COA reagents. Colour/opacity colonial variants of isogenic strains, characterized by stereomicroscopy as opaque and transparent, respectively, were found to influence immunization, absorption, co-agglutination and precipitation in immunoelectrophoresis (IE). It was shown by COA and IE that organisms of opaque colonies often contained an extra antigenic factor(s) which resisted heating at 100 degrees C but was sensitive to treatment with pronase. They were extracted by heating the organisms in saline or lithium chloride solution. Serological classification with COA in clinical isolates was reproducible with reagents for antigen classes W and J. Colony morphology dependent reactions, mostly due to organisms of opaque colonies, occurred in 7% with reagents for antigen class W and in 20% for antigen class J.

[Comparison of carminomycin and rubomycin action on the dynamics of the immune response to the T-independent Vi-antigen of S. typhi]

The effect of carminomycin and rubomycin on the dynamics of the primary immune response to T-independent Vi-antigen of S. typhi was studied. Differences in the character of the antibiotic effect indicative of the high selective effect of carminomycin on the multiplying cells or precursors of the antibody forming plasmocytes were noted. It was found that the carminomycin inhibitory effect on synthesis of hemagglutinins to Vi-antigen was higher than that to sheep red blood cells. Carminomycin was shown to impair the formation of the immunological memory, while rubomycin did not suppress the development of the "memory cell" clone to T-independent antigen.

Effect of lindane on antibody response to typhoid vaccine in weanling rats

The immunosuppressive effect of lindane was assessed in weanling rats over a period of 5 weeks. Agglutinin titres against S. typhi 'O' and 'H', S. paratyphi 'AH' and 'BR' antigens were determined following TAB vaccination in control and lindane-fed animals. The titres attained in non-treated controls were higher significantly than those in treated animals indicating a suppressive effect of lindane on humoral immune responses.

[Effect of a typhoid lipopolysaccharide on the primary and secondary immunological response to ram erythrocytes]

The effect of typhoid bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) on the primary and secondary response to sheep red blood cells was studied. LPS, injected simultaneously with the antigen, stimulated the synthesis of IgM and IgG, as well as the production of rosette-forming cells. When injected on days 2 and 3 after the secondary immunization, LPS induced the maximum stimulation of IgM, IgG and rosette-forming cells, while the injection of LPS prior to immunization induced immunosuppression which particularly affected IgG and rosette-forming cells.

[Effect of BCNU on the kinetics of the primary immune response in mice]

It was shown in experiments on mice administered the alkylating agent BCNU (1,3-bis/2-chlorethyl/-I-nitrosourea) at a dose of 20 mg/kg 48 or 72 hours following immunization wtih sheep red cells that kinetics of producing antibody-forming cells assumes a wave-like pattern with a sharp alternation of rises and falls in the number of antibody inducers. Analysis of the data obtained allowed a conclusion that BCNU does not affect the recruitment -- transformation of the precursor cells to antibody-forming cells.

[Antitumor and immunodepressive action of dexamethasone on a leukemia L-1210 model]

The effect of single administration of dexamethason in doses of 10, 20, 50 and 100 mg/kg on the spleen content of lymphomic colonies, normal colony-forming units and antibody-forming cells was studied in experiments on CBA and DBA/2 mice with transplanted leukemia L-1210. It has bear dependence on the dosage, the immunodepressant action of the drug being more pronounced in CBA mice as compared to DBA/2 mice with leukemia L-1210. The immunodepressant activity of dexamethason is approximately equal to the antineoplasic one. Single administration of the drug has practically no effect on hemopoiesis.

[Immune and autoimmune reactions in the mechanism of action of drug substances, their detoxication and the development of habituation to them]

It has been shown that rausedyl administration is followed by enhanced synthesis of autoantibodies to serotonine and adrenaline. Meanwhile bucarban enhances the synthesis of autoantibodies to endogenous insulin and ACTH to hydrocortisone and testosterone. Activation of the autoimmune system of regulating the balance of endogenous compounds was shown by an increased number of specific antibody-producing cells in the organs and tissues and by the growth of the titer of circulating antibodies in the blood.

[Effect of a high-polymer, metal-containing biostimulator on the immunological reactivity of the body of experimental animals]

"Phodomos", a biostimulator of the "Biomos" group of metal complexes, considerably increases (2-3-fold) antibody production and the phagocytic ability of micro- and macrophages in experimental animals. The preparation has no essential influence on the ability of the bone marrow stem cells for colony formation in the body of irradiated animals.

[Characteristics of the reactions to N-alloantigens of lymphoid cells from hydrocortisone-stimulated and adrenalectomized mice]

The capacity of the spleen, bone marrow and thymus cells from CBA mice (intact, adrenalectomized, and those treated with single or repeated hydrocortisone injections) to induce the lymph node type of "graft-versus-host" reaction (GVHR) in (CBA X C57BL) F1 hybrid recipients was evaluated. Two days after 2.5 mg hydrocortisone injection the capacity of the spleen and bone marrow cells to induce GVHR increased while that of the thymus cells remained unchanged. Seven and particularly 15 days after hydrocortisone injection the spleen cells became less active. Two days following repeated daily hormone injections in a dose of 0.25 mg within 18 days the thymocyte activity in GVHR increased, while that of the spleen and bone marrow cells did not change.

[Formation of an IgM and an IgG immune response depending on the redistribution of T- and B-subpopulations under the action of serotonin]

The syngeneic transfer of spleen cells or spleen and lymph node cells from donors with an elevated serotonin level stimulated, in comparison with the control animals, immune response in the recipients subjected to sublethal irradiation, which was manifested by an increase in the number of plaque-forming and rosette-forming cells. After the combined transfer of spleen cells and bone marrow cells from similar animals a decrease in the number of plaque-forming and rosette-forming cells was observed, while after the transfer of spleen and thymus cells the intensity of immune response remained unchanged. Serotonin was supposed to induce the redistribution of T and B cells in the non-immunized animals, so that suppressor cells migrated from the spleen and the lymph nodes to the bone marrow.

Antigenic competition between horse and sheep red blood cells as a hormone-dependent phenomenon

Various mechanisms for understanding antigenic competition have been proposed, such as macrophage availability, suppressor cells and their soluble products. In view of the regulatory function of some hormones on the immune system, the role of immunosuppressive adrenal corticosteroids in antigenic competition was investigated. When horse red blood cells (HRBC) were injected into rats a five-fold increase in corticosterone blood levels was measured by day 6 and a strong decrease was noted on day 11. In animals injected with HRBC and on day 6 with a second antigen (sheep red blood cells, SRBC), the corticosteroid level was high on day 11. Such high levels are immunosuppressive. To impede such increases in adrenal hormone levels, rats were adrenalectomized. Adrenalectomized or sham-operated animals receiving SRBC only showed no difference in plaque-forming cell (PFC) numbers. All sham-operated rats injected first with HRBC and 5 days later with SRBC showed the expected antigenic competition. Adrenalectomized rats also injected with both antigens sequentially had a five fold increase in number of PFC when compared with the sham-operated controls which had received both antigens. A detailed analysis of these data revealed that a proportion of adrenalectomized animals had PFC numbers within the normal range. In vitro, hydrocortisone enhances the response of spleen cells when only one antigen (SRBC) is present. Prior addition of the unrelated antigen (HRBC) impedes this enhancement. Thus, in a hydrocortisone-enriched culture medium, the presence of the first antigen can interfere with the immune response to the second unrelated antigen, mimicking in vitro a condition of antigenic competition. These findings indicate that hormones may have a role in antigenic competition.

[Fractional distribution of anti-glucagon immunoreactivity (GIR) and amino acid concentration in the plasma in duodenopancreatectomized patients; preliminary report]

Glucagon immunoreactivity (IRG) was measured in plasma of 8 duodenopancreatectomized patients with antiserum 30-K. Arginine infusions failed to raise plasma IRG, whereas in control subjects IRG rose 3-fold. Column chromatography revealed that the basal IRG measured in these plasmas was not due to glucagon (molecular weight 3485) but to other plasma factors, mainly of high molecular weight. This suggests that diabetes mellitus does not require the presence of glucagon to produce the clinical picture, as suggested by other authors. Plasma levels of the amino acids alanine, serine, ornithine, and arginine were significantly (p less than 0.05) elevated, the former two being gluconeogenic substrates and the latter two constituents of the urea cycle. This amino acid abnormality may be a consequence of glucagon deficiency.

Conformational changes of membrane-bound (Na+-K+)-ATPase as revealed by antibody inhibition

As different structural states of the (Na+-K+)-ATPase (EC 3.6.1.3) may lead to a changed reactivity to antibodies, the influence of Na+, K+, Mg++, Pi and ATP on the reaction between highly purified (Na+-K+)-ATPase and antibodies directed against the membrane-bound enzyme was measured. The antigen antibody reaction was registered by measuring the antibody inhibition of (Na+-K+)-ATPase activity. In the membrane-bound but not in the solubilized enzyme four different degrees of antibody inhibition were obtained at equilibrium of the antigen antibody reaction if different combinations of Na+, K+, Mg++ and ATP were present during the incubation with the antibodies. Corresponding to the different degrees of inhibition, different rates of enzyme inhibition were measured. (a) The smallest degree of enzyme inhibition was obtained when (i) only Mg++, (ii) Mg++ and Na+ or (iii) Mg++ and K+ were present during the antigen antibody reaction. (b) The enzyme activity was inhibited more strongly if Na+, Mg++ and ATP were present together. (c) It was inhibited even more if only (i) Na+, (ii) K+, (iii) ATP or both (iv) ATP and Na+, (v) ATP and K+, (vi) ATP and Mg++, or if (vii) no ATP and activating ions were present. (d) The highest degree of antibody inhibition was obtained if Mg++, ATP and K+ were present together. In the presence of Mg++ plus ADP and in the presence of Mg++ plus the ATP analog adenylyl (beta-gamma-methylene) diphosphonate, Na+ and K+ did not influence the degree of antibody inhibition as they did in the presence of Mg++ plus ATP. It was further found that the degree of antibody inhibition in the presence of Mg++, ATP and K+ was affected by the sequence of which K+ and ATP were added to the enzyme prior to the addition of the antibodies. It is suggested that by antibody inhibition different conformations of the (Na+-K+)-ATPase could be detected. These conformations may possibly not occur in the solubilized enzyme and therefore do not seem to be necessarily linked to the intermediary steps of the ATP hydrolysis of the enzyme. The structural changes which are induced by Na+ and K+ in the presence of Mg++ plus ATP are proposed to occur during the Na+-K+ transport.

Ammonium sulphate enhancement of the antigen-antibody reaction. Manual and automated nephelometric studies

The enhancing effect of ammonium sulphate on the antigen-antibody reaction is demonstrated. The effect is compared with that of polyethylene glycol by means of manual and automated nephelometry. The enhancement of both ammonium sulphate and polyethylene glycol is shown to be of the same magnitude in the region of large antibody excess. If however, the antigen-antibody ratio is shifted towards the region of equivalence, the enhancement of polyethylene glycol is more pronounced. The applicability of ammonium sulphate in a continuous flow analyzer for the specific quantitative nephelometric determination of serum proteins is discussed.