Transfer factor treatment of patients with multuple sclerosis. I. Preliminary report of changes in immunological parameters

In five patients with definite multiple sclerosis and lack of cell-mediated immunity to measles and parainfluenza virus antigens, various immunological parameters were studied before and during transfer factor treatment. The study showed that cell-mediated immunity to measles virus antigen, as evaluated by the leukocyte migration agarose test, could temporarily be restored, using repeated injections of transfer factor pooled from unselected, normal blood donors.

HL-A histocompatibility antigens in optic neuritis

HL-A and MLC typing in 54 patients with optic neruitis showed increased frequencies of the HL-A3, 7 and LD-7a determinants of approximately the same magnitude as in patients with multiple sclerosis. The frequencies of the same three determinants were not different in the 11 patients who developed multiple sclerosis during the period of follow-up compared to the remaining patients. There was a significant increase in the frequency of the HL-A3 determinant in patients with oligoclonal IgG of the cerebrospinal fluid at the onset of disease. The connection between this determinant and the occurrence of cerebrospinal fluid changes is not clear. The results suggest that optic neuritis and multiple sclerosis represent different aspects of the same disease entity, rather than two distinct diseases. HL-A and MLC typing did not seem to offer prognostic information as to the later development of multiple sclerosis in these patients, but the observation period is still short.

"Steroid-cell" antibody in endocrine diseases

By means of an indirect immunofluorescence technique, sera from 116 patients with Addison's disease, an equal number of age and sex matched controls and 97 patients with other endocrine diseases were examined for the occurrence of antibody to steroid-producing cells in ovary, testis and adrenal cortex.

Fluorescent staining was observed in the theca cells of growing follicles, the theca lutein cells, testicular Leydig cells and adrenal cortical cells, i. e. cells which contain enzyme systems used in steroid hormone production. The "steroid-cell" antibody was present in 24 % of the patients with idiopathic Addison's disease, equally frequent in males and females, and in 17 % of the patients with tuberculous Addison's disease, but was rarely found in controls, including patients with other endocrine diseases.

Female hypergonadotrophic hypogonadism made an exception, since the "steroid-cell" antibody was found in about half the cases with this condition.

A two-channel Fabry-Perot interferometer for the measurement of Doppler temperatures

The true width of a doppler-broadened emission line may easily be determined by measuring the peak and wing intensities of the fringe pattern. The ratio of these intensities as a function of the half-width of the line and of various instrumental parameters is discussed. This method has been used to study the ion temperature of a pulsed plasma.