[Apolipoprotein(a) isoforms immunoblotting detection: comparative study of two methods]

This study reports the comparison between two methods (chemiluminescence and enzymatic colorimetry) for revelation of apolipoprotein(a) [apo(a)] isoforms by immunoblotting in 102 Ivorian healthy subjects. Apo(a) isoform sizes were determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate-agarose-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) followed by immunoblotting using enzymatic colorimetry or chemiluminescence. Within-run precision was comprised between 4.9% and 9.2% for colorimetry and between 2.9% and 4.6% for chemiluminescence. Both methods have detected apo(a) isoforms in all patients, even when lipoprotein(a) concentrations were under detection limit (0.02 g/L). The two methods were significantly correlated (r = 0.96 to 0.98, p<0.0001). Even though the chemiluminescence method exhibited better performances than the colorimetric method, both techniques could be used indifferently.

[Reversible immunosuppression, liver and kidney markers, calcium and phosphorus in the healthy rabbit]

AIM

The aim of this study was to determine one or several doses of Methylprednisolone ( MP) who leads a long time of immunosuppression without disrupting phosphor and calcium, liver and kidney markers at the healthy rabbit.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

This study was made to fifteen rabbit. Five (5) batches were constituted according to Nacl and Methylpredmisolone administered dose by body weight. Control batch ( Nacl 0,9%); batch I (2,5mg / kg MP); batch II ( 5mg / kg MP); batch III ( 10mg / kg MP) and batch IV ( 15 mg / kg MP). Biochemical parameters were measured by chemical and enzymatic methods.

RESULTS

The results of this study showed an immunosuppression during seven days with 10 and 15 mg / kg of MP doses (P < 0.05). The biochemical disturbances were only observed with 15 mg / kg dose where calcium was lowered to day 15 and TGO increased to day 3 according to day 0 (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

This study showed that the doses which lead a long time of immunosuppression ( 7 days) are 10 and 15 mg / kg of MP, then the dose which does not disrupt the biochemical parameters is 10 mg / kg of MP.

Combination of KIR and HLA gene variants augments the risk of developing birdshot chorioretinopathy in HLA-A*29-positive individuals

Birdshot chorioretinopathy (BCR), a chronic ocular inflammatory disease with characteristic choroidal lymphocytic infiltrates, has been strongly associated with human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-A29. Although HLA-A29 occurs frequently in all populations, BCR affects only a small percentage of HLA-A29-positive Caucasians, indicating additional susceptibility factors for BCR. Discovery of HLA class I-specific killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIR) led to a series of epidemiological studies implicating KIR-HLA gene combinations in disease. Here, we characterized KIR-HLA pairs in BCR patients and controls carrying HLA-A*29 as well as controls lacking HLA-A*29. KIR-HLA pairs implicated for weak inhibition (KIR2DL2/3+HLA-C1 and KIR3DL1+HLA-Bw4(T80)) in combination with activating KIR genes associated with autoimmunity (KIR2DS2, 2DS3 and 2DS4) augment the risk of developing BCR in HLA-A*29-positive individuals. The reciprocal association of strong inhibitory pairs (KIR3DL1+HLA-Bw4(I80) and KIR2DL1+HLA-C2) in combination with those implicated in protection from infection (KIR3DS1+HLA-Bw4(I80) and KIR2DS1+HLA-C2) was observed in HLA-A*29-negative controls. These results suggest that a profound effect of KIR2DS2/S3/S4 in the absence of strong inhibition may enhance the activation of natural killer cells and T-cell subsets against intraocular self-antigens, thereby contributing to pathogenesis of BCR.