Cows' milk protein-sensitive enteropathy. Combined clinical and histological criteria for diagnosis

Cows' milk protein enteropathy is recognised as a significant cause of persistent diarrhoea and malabsorption in young infants, but there are as yet no generally accepted diagnostic criteria. A combined clinical and histological approach to the diagnosis of cows' milk protein-sensitive enteropathy has been used in 15 patients, and the following set of criteria are proposed. (1) Clinical disease (diarrhoea with or without vomiting) while receiving cows' milk protein. (2) Clinical improvement on a diet free of cows' milk protein. (3) Normal or mildly abnormal histology of jejunal mucosa when taken 6-8 weeks after symptoms subside. (4) Histological relapse, with or without clinical relapse, after re-exposure to cows' milk protein.

Serum immunoglobin A. G and M levels in blood donors of four racial groups in Malaysia

Serum levels were determined in urban Chinese, Malays and Indians and in the forest-residing Orang Asli of age group 11 to 50. There was no difference in the IgM levels in the Chinese, Indians and Malays, but the serum IgG was elevated (p less than 0.05) in the Malays and the serum IgA level (p less than 0.01) in the Indians, when compared to the other two races. In contrast to the three other races there was a significant elevation of all three immunoglobulins in the Orang Asli. The mean immunoglobulin levels of the urban Malaysians are comparable to those reported for Caucasians residing in temperate countries. However, in the Orang Asli, the immunoglobulin levels were higher than observed for populations of the temperate regions but are comparable to the levels reported for several other populations of the tropical regions. Females had higher IgM levels than males in the Chinese, Indian and Malays but in the Orang Asli there was no sex difference in the immunoglobulin levels.

The presence of teh cervical and thoracic thymus lobes in marsupials

Thymus lobes, in 93 marsupial species studied, were found in two different topographical locations: the thoracic cavity (thoracic thymus), the ventral cervical region, superficial to hyoid, sternomastoid, and depressor neck muscles and just beneath the skin (superficial cervical thymus), or in both places. All polyprotodont species examined (42 examples from Didelphidae, Dasyuridae, Thylacinidae, Notoryctidae, Peramelidae, and Caenolestidae) had two to four lobed thoracic thymus and no superficial cervical thymus. Species examined from the diprotodont Burramyidae, Petauridae, Phalangeridae, Phascolarctidae, and Tarsipedidae (17 species) and Macropodidae (32 species) had both a thoracic thymus with two to four lobes, and a pair of superficial cervical thymus lobes. Both of the two genera in the diprotodont Vombatidae, Lasiovhinus and Vombatus, had a cervical thymus; no thoracic thymus was seen in the latter but the former had specimens with and without it. The presence of superficial cervical thymus lobes in only the superfamily Phalangeroidea is discussed with particular reference to herbivorous diet, small litter size, and immunological development of pouch young.

Passage of maternal immunoglobulins to the pouch young of a marsupial. Setonix brachyurus

Prenatal and precolostral newborn quokkas, S. brachyurus, had no immunoglobulins in their serum. Immunoglobulins were not detected in the yolk-sac fluid, the amniotic fluid, or the allantoic fluid, but were present in the uterine fluid, the colostrum, and milk whey. Immunoglobulins were present in the serum of neonatal quokkas that had suckled for at least 24 hr. Initial immunization of a female with Salmonella adelaide flagella and bacteriophage 0 x 174 antigen resulted in high titres of antibodies in her blood 1 week later, but there was a lag of less than 1 week before anti-S. adelaide agglutinins and a lag of 2 weeks before antiphage antibodies were detectable in the serum of the suckling pouch young. A further delay of 2 weeks occurred before serum antibody titres were as high in pouch young as they were in the mother. At no time in development did antibody titres in the sera of pouch young exceed those of the mother. The ability to absorb antibody in the gut ceased 2-3 weeks after the 6-month-old young left the pouch.

The immune response of the quokka (Setonix brachyurus). The production of a low molecular weight antibody

The quokka (Setonix brachyurus) a macropod marsupial endemic to Western Australia forms circulating antibodies to bacteriophage ΦX174, Salmonella adelaide flagella, sheep erythrocytes and bovine serum albumin. The kinetics of antibody production in the primary and secondary responses suggest that the immunological capacity of the quokka is between that of eutherians and the lower vertebrates. Three classes of antibody, macroglobulin, IgG and a low molecular weight antibody (80,000 daltons) were produced. However, the production of low molecular weight antibody was dependent upon the nature of the antigen. Evidence is presented to suggest that while the IgG and low molecular weight classes of antibody share common antigenic determinants on the heavy chains, they are independent entities. A low molecular weight degradation product of IgG accumulated in immune sera but the low molecular weight antibody is neither a degradation nor an anabolic byproduct of IgG immunoglobulin.

Characteristics of blood in the pouch young of a marsupial, Setonix brachyurus

Blood samples were collected from nine prenatal embryos, aged 16-23 days, and 89 pouch young, aged 1-200 days, of S. brachyurus. Where possible, the following determinations were performed on each sample: total erythrocyte and leucocyte counts, percentage haematocrit, differential counts, and haemoglobin concentration. At birth nearly all cells in blood were nucleated eosinophil megaloblasts but subsequently these were replaced by erythroblasts and erythrocytes, so that in pouch young aged 25 days the majority of the red blood cells were erythrocytes. The site of erythropoiesis changed during embryonic and pouch development of young; it occurred in the yolk sac before birth, then in the liver from day 2 to day 100, in the spleen from day 8 to day 200, and from day 10 in the bone marrow, which was the chief site in adults. In the neonatal quokka the total erythrocyte count was 900,000 cells per 1 mm3, the haematocrit was 20-30%, and the haemoglobin concentration was 5 g per 100 ml. In adults the mean total erythrocyte count was 6-7 x 10*6 cells per 1 mm3, the haematocrit was 42%, and the haemoglobin concentration was 13 g per 100 ml. The liver was the first organ to form granulocytes in the newborn; the adult total blood leucocyte count of 11,000 cells per 1 mm3 was reached at 45 days old. The embryonic nature of the haematopoietic tissue in neonatal marsupials is discussed in relation to the development of immunity.

The transmissions of antibodies across the gut of pouch-young marsupials

The transmission of antibodies across the gut of suckling pouch-young was investigated in three species of marsupials (Setonix brachyurus, Macropus eugenii and Trichosurus vulpecula) from Australia.

Mother Setonix, immunized against Salmonella adelaide flagella and Bacteriophage Φ × 174, transmitted the antibodies in milk to their young. In sucrose density gradient runs, the antibody activity in milk whey and in serum of pouch-young, of Setonix and Macropus was found to be in the 7S region only; antibody in the 11S and 19S regions was not detected. Chromatographic preparations of IgM antibodies were fed to pouch-young Setonix which were later bled and their serum titrated for anti-S. adelaide agglutinins and antiphage Φ × 174 activity. The IgM antibodies were not transmitted across the gut in detectable amounts.

Antibodies were present in the blood of pouch-young Setonix within 15–60 minutes of gavage (feeding by stomach tube) of immune serum. In Setonix the capacity to absorb antibodies in the intestine was lost at an age between 170 and 200 days and in Trichosurus it was lost at an age between 98 and 145 days. At these ages the pouch-young were able to leave the marsupium for varying lengths of time. Antibodies did not traverse the rumen wall in a young Setonix whose rumen was isolated from the intestine with ligatures before immune serum was gavaged.