The augmentation of antibody responses by preliminary intrabursal priming in the chicken

Direct injection of antigen into bursal tissue of young chickens followed by subsequent intravenous immunization markedly stimulated agglutinin production against Brucella abortus. In contrast, preliminary intravenous immunization did not produce stimulation. The promoting effect of intrabursal injection was antigen-specific. Antigen injection into the bursa reduced the extent to which subsequent bursectomy suppresses the immune response. Bursa cells from young chickens which had been injected with antigen intrabursally were active in transferring the ability to give a secondary response to B. abortus when injected into bursectomized-irradiated chickens. The cells derived from chickens primed intravenously or from normal chickens were inactive. The implant of bursa cells from the 18-day-old chickens which had been injected with antigen intrabursally or intravenously at 11 days of age showed a promoting effect in restoring the ability to give secondary responses to both of B. abortus and Salmonella pullorum as compared with that of the implant of the bursa cells from unimmunized donors. These findings are discussed in relation to the existence of precursor cells that can respond to the antigen with a potential to enhance the antibody response to subsequent antigenic stimuli but are not yet mature enough to produce the antibody.

Temporary interruption of regional blood flow combined with local hyperthermia for cancer chemotherapy

A striking chemotherapeutically curative effect on tumor was obtained by means of temporary interruption of regional blood flow combined with local hyperthermia. By analyzing various basic conditions required for this system using Ehrlich tumor implanted in the hind limbs of mice, the following were found to be essentially indispensable to obtain satisfactory chemotherapeutic effects: (a) a time interval of 1 to 3 min after systemic i.v. administration of drug to the mice, (b) use of a tourniquet on the tumor-bearing mouse limb to stop blood flow, and (c) warming at 37-41 degrees (d) for a period of at least 30 to 60 min. Among the chemotherapeutic drugs tested in the present study, Carbazilquinone (NSC 134679) was the most effective because it revealed the strongest antitumor effect despite its relative innocuousness to nontumorous adjacent normal tissues. Applying the present method, a large syngeneic mouse sarcoma transplanted to the limb 7 days before the experiment also completely regressed in 6 of 9 mice.

Long-term follow-up results of bilateral thalamotomy for parkinsonism

27 patients who underwent bilateral thalamotomy for parkinsonism over the past 10 years have been clinically evaluated. Mean follow-up period was 6.2 years after second surgery. In these cases, 8 returned to full social life without any medication, 4 were capable of social life with medical treatment, 6 were self-sufficient and 3 were semi-self-sufficient in ADL, respectively. Therapeutic drug doses were reduced in all cases. L-Dopa-induced dyskinesia was not observed after second surgery. Speech disturbance, which was not severe, was recognized in 12 cases as a complication.

An eosinophil chemotactic factor present in blister fluids of bullous pemphigoid patients

Tissue eosinophilia is often found in the inflammatory lesions of bullous perphigoid. A study made on naturally occurring eosinophil chemotactic activity in the blister fluids of four bullous pemphigoid patients revealed the existence of this activity in all of them. Sephadex G-25 column chromatography showed that the greater part of this eosinophil chemotactic activity was composed of low molecular substance of which the weight was close to that of vitamin B12 (m.w. 1357). The blister fluids and the sera of these patients contained elevated levels of IgE. An IgE anti-skin basement, membrane antibody was found in two if the four sera, and deposits of IgE were detected along the basement membrane zone of the involved skin in one of the patients. On the basis of these findings, we have reason to believe that an eosinophil chemotactic factor of anaphylaxis (ECF-A) participates in the accumulation of eosinophils in the lesions of bullous pemphigoid.

The bursal origin of an immunocompetent cell for antibody formation in the chicken

Surgically bursectomized and irradiated chickens were given bursal, splenic, bone marrow or thymic cells taken from syngeneic donors, together with killed Brucella abortus and Salmonella pullorum. Blood samples were taken from those chickens 7 days later, and the serum agglutinin titres were determined. The cells of any lymphoid organ taken from 28-day-old chickens were more effective in restoring antibody response than those from 18-day-old ones. The restorative capacities of the bursa and splenic cells were greater than those of the bone marrow and thymic cells. On the other hand, splenic, bone marrow or thymic cells taken from bursa-less chickens, and lymphoid cells taken from normal chickens but treated with anti-bursa serum in the persence of complement, were virtually incapable of restoring the immune response. Bursal, splenic or bone marrow cells taken from neonatally thymectomized chickens, and bursal or thymic cells treated with anti-thymus serum were effective, being comparable with the corresponding cells taken from normal chickens or treated with normal sera, in restoring the suppressed immune response in chickens devoid of the lymphoid system. These facts clearly indicate that the primary and central agent crucial for development of the humoral immune response against the two bacterial antigens tested is the bursa. It is strongly suggested from the results of adoptive immunization using intrabursally primed cells that the cells recognizing Brucella abortus exist within the bursa of 4-day-old chicken.

Stimulation of HeLa-S3 cell aggregation by sugars related to cell membrane in rotation culture

Effect of various sugars related to cell membrane on the aggregation of HeLa-S3 cells was examined in a rotation culture by adding each sugar to the culture medium. Some specific sugars among those tested induced (1) greater size of aggregates and (2) higher synthesis of hyaluronic acid than that of the control. Since the addition of hyaluronidase inhibited the aggregate formation, both in the test and control cultures, with HeLa-S3 cells of both groups forming only small aggregates, it was presumed that the hyaluronic acid synthesized might be of cardinal importance for the formation of aggregates. The specific sugars producing the effect mentioned above were N-acetyl-D-glucosamine, bis(N-acetyl)chitobiose, N-acetyl-D-galactosamine, alpha-methyl-D-glucopyranoside, and N-acetyl-D-mannosamine, while D-glucosamine, beta-methyl-D-glucopyranoside, L-fucose, D-glucose, and a commercially available hyaluronic acid were ineffective. The findings obtained in the present study interestingly ran parallel with the results of previously reported study on the induction of specific biological phenomena by the cell membrane-related sugars.

Glucose intolerance in thiamine-deficient rats

The mechanism of glucose intolerance in thiamine-deficient rats has been examined. Deficient rats showed marked glucose intolerance. However, the hypoglycaemic effect of insulin (1 i.u. kg−1, i.p.) was similar in the deficient, pair-fed and normal groups, though somewhat weaker in the normal group than in the other two groups. After injection of tolbutamide (40 mg kg−1, i.p.), the hypoglycaemic effects in the three groups were the same. Tyramine (10 mg kg−1, s.c.) restored the impaired glucose tolerance of deficient rats to normal, but not that of alloxan diabetic rats. Furthermore, tyramine did not restore the intolerance of deficient rats pretreated with alloxan. These results suggest that the main factor causing glucose intolerance in the deficient rats may be suppressed insulin secretion.