Idiopathic ureterolithiasis in a renal transplant patient

Only 9 cases of ureteral stone formation in renal transplant recipients have been reported previously. The majority of these occurred in association with hyperparathyroidism. We herein describe a case in which a ureteral calculus caused partial obstruction within 3 months in a euparathyroid recipient of a living related renal transplant.

Immunosuppression in vitro induced by leukemia virus-infected splenocytes (38544)

Immunization of dispersed spleen cells from normal mice in vitro with SRBC was suppressed by simultaneous incubation of the spleen cell cultures with splenocytes from mice previously infected with FLV. Cell-free virus preparations alone did not suppress the antibody response. In contrast, relatively small numbers of splenocytes from infected mice, even when present at a ratio of 1-500 normal spleen cells, significantly suppressed the in vitro immune response to SRBC. Viable leukemic splenocytes were necessary for immunosuppression although the leukemic cells did not have to be in direct contact with the normal spleen cells. Specific anti-FLV serum, when added to the leukemic splenocytes or to normal spleen cells separated from infected cells by cell-impermeable membranes, prevented immunodepression.

[Articular manifestations of cryoglobulinemias]

Manifestations are found in the joints in 27-50 percent of patients with cryoglobulinaemia. They include arthralgia, or less frequently arthritis of distal oligo-articular topography, predominantly in the lower limbs. These manifestations consist of pure synovitis - nonexudative, nondestructive, and usually recurrent. Cold is rarely a precipitating factor. The manifestations are indicative of cryoglobulinaemia when they are associated with other symptoms of the disorder, among which Raynaud's disease and purpura of the lower limbs are the most frequent. Cryoglobulin is demonstrated only if the blood is centrifuged at 37 degrees C before being held at 4 degrees C. Different immunochemical forms of cryoglobulins exist. The list of disorders that accompany cryoglobulinaemia includes multiple myeloma, Waldenström's disease, idiopathic glomerulonephritis, and, in particular, autoimmune diseases, such as the Sjögren syndrome and disseminated lupus erythematosus. In cases of rheumatoid arthritis, cryoprecipitable proteins are found in the synovial fluid and in the serum. Almost half the cases of cryoglobulinaemia are idiopathic cryoglobulinaemias and constitute the purpura-arthralgia-asthenia-cryoglobulinaemia syndrome. Immunological studies indicate that the mixed cryoglobulins that are characteristic of the idiopathic forms, are the circulating immune complexes that are responsible for the visceral lesions. The mechanism of cryoprecipitation remains unknown. Treatment is mainly symptomatic, as immunodepressants give variable results.