Impairment of lachrymal and salivary secretion and cellular immune responses to salivary antigens in rheumatoid arthritis

During a systematic investigation of 100 unselected outpatients with rheumatoid arthritis, 58 were found to have reduced lachrymal or salivary secretion. No correlation could be detected between the presence or absence of secretory abnormalities and the age or sex of the patient, the presence of nodules or salivary duct antibody, or the occurrence of vasculitis. However, there was a significant correlation between diminished salivary of lachrymal flow and the occurrence of cellular immune responses to a protein fraction of normal human saliva, sensitisation being found in 94% of those with impairment of salivary and lachrymal secretion as compared with 33% of those without.

"Epithelial" foci of presumptive neural origin in cultures of normal mouse colon

Patches of cells, which at the light-microscope level appear to be epithelial, persist for several months in cultures of normal mouse colon. Ultrastructural studies showed that these cells were nerve-associated and were probably derived from the Schwann cell-satellite cell group. True epithelial cells all died out within the first 2 wk of culture, and epithelial cell lines could not be established.

Differences in survival of mouse colon crypts after whole- or partial-body irradiation

The survival of mouse colon crypts after X-irradiation has been studied by the microcolony technique. The Do for crypt survival was 266 rad after whole-body irradiation in air, but when the colon alone was irradiated, the Do was 340 rad. In mice which were breathing 95 per cent oxygen, the Do values were 238 rad for whole-body and 302 rad for colon irradiation. The survival curves were all extrapolated to the same number, and the DQ was also increased with colon irradiation. There was, therefore an enhancement of colon crypt survival of about 27 per cent by local as opposed to whole-body irradiation. These results might be explained by a circulating repair promoter or by the production of a toxin after whole-body irradiation.

Liver in Felty's syndrome

Liver function and histology, together with the haematological changes, were investigated in 12 patients with Felty's syndrome. Six of them were anaemic. The red cell mass was either normal or increased, and the anaemia was due to a considerable increase in the plasma volume. Two patients had increased haemolysis associated with red cell sequestration by the enlarged spleens.In eight patients liver function tests were abnormal, while in five the liver histology showed lymphocytic infiltration of the sinusoids and portal tracts together with portal tract fibrosis. One of these was later found to have a macronodular cirrhosis. In another there were apparent nodules without a true cirrhosis, and this appearance was also seen in two other patients with Felty's syndrome in whom histology was available. An increased blood flow through the spleen was found in the two patients examined.