Spontaneous rupture of the Achilles tendon - a sign of hyperlipoproteinaemia (HLP) type II

In biopsies from spontaneously ruptured Achilles tendons a serum lipid and lipoprotein analysis was performed in fifty nine patients. In nine males considerable histological signs of lipid deposition were detectable. The tendon fibers were found to be partly desintegrated. Only in these cases LDL-cholesterol values were found to exceed the normal range indicative of type II hyperlipoproteinaemia (HLP). None of the fifty remaining patients presented biochemical or clinical signs of disorders of lipid metabolism. The observations demonstrate that a spontaneous rupture of Achilles tendom may indicate a primary type II HLP.

Evaluation of the adverse effects of long-term hyposensitization

This study was undertaken to determine if long-term hyposensitization causes late sequelae, particularly those reflecting aberrant immunologic responses. Atopic individuals receiving five or more years of hyposensitization with allergenic extracts showed no increased autoimmune, collagen vascular, or lymphoproliferative disease. In addition, chronic hyposensitization did not have adverse effects on immunologic reactivity as assessed by a number of immune parameters. Particularly noteworthy was the absence of immune complexes in the serum of patients undergoing long-term hyposensitization. This study represents the first systematic investigation of potential adverse effects of long-term hyposensitization.

A new experimental model of systemic connective tissue disease in immunized rabbit

In rabbit, the immumizations with whole Mycobacterium Tuberculosis injected intradermally and its crude cytoplasmic W.S.E. injected intraarticulary induce not only a self-perpetuating synovitis in the stimulated knee but also chronic systemic lesions of connective tissue (non-stimulated knee, both shoulders, aortic artery adventitial valvular endocardium, liver, kidneys and lungs). W.S.E. stimulates precipitating antibody synthesis, skin reaction and lymphoblastic transformation of lymphocytes in vitro. Furthermore, rabbits develop tuberculin skin test and lymphocytic response to P.P.D. The intensity of inflammation in stimulated knee is in direct ratio to intensities of humoral and cellular immunological responses. On the contrary, the incidence of systemic lesions is in inverse ratio to immune responses and intensity of inflammation in stimulated knee.

[Hyperergic collagenoses. Clinical aspects, differential diagnosis and therapy (author's transl)]

On the basis of inpatient and outpatient observations of the longterm course in 44 patients with erythematodes disseminatus, 8 with periarteritis nodosa, 4 with Wegener's granulomatosis, 5 with dermatomyositis, 3 with giant cell arteritis and 9 with scleroderma the pathogenesis, differential diagnosis and therapy of these diseases is discussed. The differential diagnosis and longterm supervision being dealt with particularly thoroughly. Early recognition of the disease episodes and appropriate therapeutic action in the shape of increased doses of prednisolone are important. Additional cytostatics were given if the kidney was involved.

Pulmonary disorders associated with Sjogren's syndrome

Pulmonary disorders occur in 25 to 47 per cent of the patients with Sjogren's Syndrome. These are of two types: 1. related to the major connective tissue disorders which commonly accompany this syndrome, and 2. secondary to the peculiar underlying pathology of Sjogren's Syndrome i.e. sicca disorders of the lung. The latter is the more frequent type, occurring mainly in patients with protected sicca complex unaccompanied by a systemic connective tissue disorder, and consists of chronic bronchitis, subsegmental atelectasis, pneumonia, bronchiectasis, lymphoproliferative pulmonary infiltrates and chronic interstitial pneumonitis which may lead to pulmonary fibrosis. 21 cases of Sjogren's Syndrome, 9 of whom had evidence of pulmonary abnormality, are presented, including a case of interstitial pneumonitis leading to diffuse interstitial pulmonary fibrosis. A review of the literature is included.

Biochemical and pathological changes in tissues of Friesian cattle during the experimental induction of copper deficiency

1. Copper deficiency was induced in five Friesian cattle offered a semi-synthetic diet containing less than 1 mgCu/kg. Changes in blood and liver Cu contents and in the Cu-containing enzymes, ferroxidase I (caeruloplasmin; EC 1.16.3.1) and monoamine oxidase (EC 1.4.3.4) of plasma and cytochrome oxidase (EC 1.9.3.1) of liver and skeletal muscle were monitored during Cu depletion. 2. Rapid decreases in blood and liver Cu and plasma ferroxidase I activity were found at least 80 d before the first appearance of overt clinical signs of deficiency. Plasma monoamine oxidase and liver cytochrome oxidase activities decreased less rapidly and thus may provide useful indices of chronic Cu depletion.

Coeliac disease: a cause of various associated diseases?

Deposition in other organs of immune complexes originating from the small-intestinal musosa is suggested as a possible reason, in some patients, for the described association between coeliac disease and a range of "autoimmune" diseases.