Alzheimer's disease Braak Stage progressions: reexamined and redefined as Borrelia infection transmission through neural circuits

Brain structure in health is a dynamic energized equation incorporating chemistry, neuronal structure, and circuitry components. The chemistry "piece" is represented by multiple neurotransmitters such as Acetylcholine, Serotonin, and Dopamine. The neuronal structure "piece" incorporates synapses and their connections. And finally circuits of neurons establish "architectural blueprints" of anatomic wiring diagrams of the higher order of brain neuron organizations. In Alzheimer's disease, there are progressive losses in all of these components. Brain structure crumbles. The deterioration in Alzheimer's is ordered, reproducible, and stepwise. Drs. Braak and Braak have described stages in the Alzheimer disease continuum. "Progressions" through Braak Stages benchmark "Regressions" in Cognitive function. Under the microscope, the Stages of Braak commence in brain regions near to the hippocampus, and over time, like a tsunami wave of destruction, overturn healthy brain regions, with neurofibrillary tangle damaged neurons "marching" through the temporal lobe, neocortex and occipital cortex. In effect the destruction ascends from the limbic regions to progressively destroy the higher brain centers. Rabies infection also "begins low and finishes high" in its wave of destruction of brain tissue. Herpes Zoster infections offer the paradigm of clinical latency of infection inside of nerves before the "marching commences". Varicella Zoster virus enters neurons in the pediatric years. Dormant virus remains inside the neurons for 50-80 years, tissue damage late in life (shingles) demonstrates the "march of the infection" down neural pathways (dermatomes) as linear areas of painful blisters loaded with virus from a childhood infection. Amalgamation of Zoster with Rabies models produces a hybrid model to explain all of the Braak Stages of Alzheimer's disease under a new paradigm, namely "Alzheimer's neuroborreliosis" in which latent Borrelia infections ascend neural circuits through the hippocampus to the higher brain centers, creating a trail of neurofibrillary tangle injured neurons in neural circuits of cholinergic neurons by transsynaptic transmission of infection from nerve to nerve.

Spirochetal cyst forms in neurodegenerative disorders,...hiding in plain sight

Here is proposed a hypothesis that a completely unsuspected biology exists for pathogenic spirochetes, namely that the cystic spirochetal forms (long thought to be static and resting or just a dormant cohort) actually are capable of killing mammalian host cells. At least two "lethal" scenarios are proposed; first, the host cell destruction from the "inside out" by small caliber cystic forms invading the host cell cytoplasm, and second host cell destruction by engulfment of entire host cells by large caliber cystic spirochetal forms. Conventional thinking about spirochetal cyst forms is divided between two polar spheres of influence; one a majority community that completely denies the existence of spirochetal cyst forms, and a second group of academically persecuted individuals who accepts the precepts of such antebellum scientists as Schaudinn, Hoffman, Dutton, Levaditi, Balfour, Fantham, Noguchi, McDonough, Hindle, Steiner, Ingraham, Coutts, Hampp, Warthin, Ovcinnikov, and Delamater. Microscopic images of cystic spirochetes are difficult to ignore, but as has been the case in this century, academic "endowments" have nearly expunged all cystic spirochetal image data from the current textbook versions of what is the truth about the spirochetaceae. If the image database from the last century is obliterated; many opportunities to diagnose will be lost. Variously sized cystic spirochetal profiles within diseased nerve cells explain the following structures: Lewy body of Parkinson's disease, Pick body, ALS spherical body, Alzheimer plaque. Borrelia infection is therefore a unifying concept to explain diverse neurodegenerative diseases, based not entirely on a corkscrew shaped profile in diseased tissue, but based on small, medium and large caliber rounded cystic profiles derived from pathogenic spirochetes which are..."hiding in plain sight".

Transfection "Junk" DNA - a link to the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease?

A transfection product incorporates in one molecule of human DNA, an inserted segment of DNA from another species. This communication addresses the hypothesis that a novel variation of the theme of transfection, namely "junk transfection" for which no protein product and no RNA is transcribed, might offer insights into the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. It is hypothesized that spirochetal DNA gains access to the intracellular compartment of nerve cells during the subclinical latency phase of neuroborreliosis and chemically combines with human DNA. A previously reported Molecular interrogation of Alzheimer's disease autopsy tissues has yielded novel DNA sequences containing the 11 q human chromosome and a short piece of the Borrelia burgdorferi Flagellin B DNA. Although the usually encountered transfection product bundles an entire nonhuman gene within it, this model proposes that shorter inserts into the human genome constitute "junk transfection" because no protein is derived from them. Junk transfections would offer an important new cognitive model for the detection of occult infections as the root causes for the Tauopathies, which are degenerative neurological disorders, including Alzheimer's disease.

A life cycle for Borrelia spirochetes?

Subsequent to Schaudinn and Hoffman's visualization of Treponema pallidum in 1905, many distinguished syphilologists proposed that spirochetes have a life cycle. What is the "essence" of a life cycle? Simply put, life cycles are diverse arrays of life forms, which emerge in an ordered sequence; which are "connected" to one another across primary and secondary hosts, and constitute a cycle with "circular" relationship between hosts. Fecal-oral life cycles and blood-to-blood life cycles are exemplary of host parasite relationships in this realm. The "blood-to-blood" begins and ends with an insect taking a blood "meal". In this operatic scenario, a "blood-less" insect functions simultaneously as a hypodermic needle and as an incubator for some of the infectious components. The initial phase is inside the body fluid compartment of an insect. The second phase is in the blood or body fluid of a warm-blooded mammal. Third, is the phase inside the cell of a mammalian host. And a final portion of the "life" marked by "death" of the parasitized mammalian cells and the release of infectious parasites which return to the "warm" blood where the "cold blooded" vector again takes a blood meal. The cycle then begins again. In each phase of a blood to blood life cycle, the infectious agent changes its shape. Blood phase "profiles" look different from "tissue phase" profiles. Some of the tissue phase profiles may be "invisible". Borrelia spirochetes offer an excellent example of a life cycle, by virtue of the insect vector to mammalian "piece", the blood and intracellular residence "pieces" and the morphologic diversity "piece". Stereotypes of what a spirochete "should " look like, have actually produced a state of "perseveration" in spirochetal pathobiology. We have been "stuck" like a broken record, on the corkscrew form, and have failed to see the rest of the life cycle. Cystic, granular, and cell wall deficient spirochetal profiles, which were well known in the 19th and 20th centuries by such titans as Schaudinn, Hoffman, Noguchi, Delamater, Steiner, and Mattman, have been repudiated by professional microbiologists, and by pathologists who practice and who confer the status of 21st century truths in microbiology matters. Proper microscopic study, as is required by Dr. Robert Koch's second postulate, for establishing links between microbes and disease, presupposes that the microscopist be aware of the complete array of morphologic repertoires of the alleged pathogen. (Morphologies, which are herein introduced.).

Plaques of Alzheimer’s disease originate from cysts of Borrelia burgdorferi, the Lyme disease spirochete

Here is hypothesized a truly revolutionary notion that rounded cystic forms of Borrelia burgdorferi are the root cause of the rounded structures called plaques in the Alzheimer brain. Rounded "plaques' in high density in brain tissue are emblematic of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Plaques may be conceptualized as rounded "pock mark-like" areas of brain tissue injury. In this century, in brain tissue of AD, plaques are Amyloid Plaques according to the most up to date textbooks. In the last century, however, Dr. Alois Alzheimer did not require amyloid as the pathogenesis for either the disease or for the origin of its plaques. Surely, amyloid is an event in AD, but it may not be the primal cause of AD. Indeed in plaques, amyloid is regularly represented by the "congophilic core" structure which is so named because the waxy amyloid material binds the congo red stain and is congophilic. However an accepted subset of plaques in AD is devoid of a congophilic amyloid core region (these plaques "cotton wool" type plaques, lack a central congophilic core structure). Furthermore, there is "plaque diversity" in Alzheimer's; small, medium and large plaques parallel variable cystic diameters for Borrelia burgdorferi. Perturbations of AD plaque structure (i.e. young plaques devoid of a central core and older plaques with or without a central core structure) offer room for an alternate pathway for explanation of ontogeny of the plaque structures. If amyloid is not required to initiate all of the possible plaques in Alzheimer's, is it possible that amyloid just a by product of a more fundamental primal path to dementia? If a byproduct status is assigned to amyloid in the realm of plaque formation, then is amyloid also an epiphenomenon rather than a primary pathogenesis for Alzheimer's disease. In the "anatomy is destiny" model, cysts of borrelia are always round. Why then not accept roundness as a fundamental "structure determines function" argument for the answer to the mystery of why Alzheimer plaques are always round? Parataxis causality, a concept borrowed from philosophy, is the error that comes from linking two events, which occur contemporaneously or in close proximity to one another with a cause and effect relationship. Parataxis tells us that what appears to be cause and effect in the couplet "amyloid plaque" merely by a proximity relationship may be "spurious causality" which is a cognitive dead end.

The roles of alcohol and alcohol expectancy in the dampening of responses to hyperventilation among high anxiety sensitive young adults

Previous research suggests that high anxiety sensitivity (AS) young adults are particularly sensitive to alcohol's dampening effects on their responses to arousal-induction challenge [Alcohol.: Clin. Exp. Res. 24 (2000) 1656.]. This sensitivity to alcohol reward may place high AS individuals at increased risk for alcohol abuse. Over-and-above alcohol's pharmacological effects, tension-reduction expectancies might contribute to alcohol's reactivity-dampening effects in high-AS individuals. The present study examined the role of alcohol and alcohol expectancy factors by activating expectancies experimentally. Forty-eight high-AS young adults were randomly assigned to one of three beverage conditions: alcohol (pharmacology plus expectancy), placebo (expectancy only), and control (no pharmacology and no expectancy). Following beverage consumption and absorption, participants underwent a 3-min voluntary hyperventilation challenge. Replicating and extending previous findings, participants in the alcohol condition showed dampened affective and somatic responses to the challenge, and marginally dampened cognitive responses to the challenge, compared to both placebo and control participants. However, placebo participants did not display dampened responses to the challenge relative to control beverage condition participants. Additional analyses suggested that activation of tension-reduction expectancies might have contributed to an "inverse placebo" effect among high-AS participants administered placebo. Implications of the results for future research and for the prevention and treatment of alcohol problems among high-AS individuals are discussed.

Effects of alcohol on the response to hyperventilation of participants high and low in anxiety sensitivity

BACKGROUND

Previous research suggests that high levels of anxiety sensitivity (AS; fear of anxiety symptoms) may constitute a risk factor for alcohol abuse. The present study evaluated the hypothesis that high AS levels may increase risk for alcohol abuse by promoting a heightened sober reactivity to theoretically relevant stressors and heightened sensitivity to alcohol's emotional reactivity dampening effects, which would negatively reinforce drinking in this population.

METHODS

One hundred and two undergraduate participants (51 high AS, 51 low AS) with no history of panic disorder were assigned to either a placebo, low-dose alcohol, or high-dose alcohol beverage condition (17 high AS, 17 low AS per beverage condition). After beverage consumption and absorption, participants underwent a 3 min voluntary hyperventilation challenge.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

High-AS/placebo participants displayed greater affective and cognitive reactivity to the challenge than low-AS/placebo participants, which indicated increased fear and negative thoughts (e.g., "losing control") during hyperventilation among sober high AS individuals. Dose-dependent alcohol dampening of affective and cognitive reactivity to hyperventilation was observed only among high-AS participants, which suggested that high-AS individuals may be particularly sensitive to alcohol-induced reductions in their degree of fear and negative thinking in response to the experience of physical arousal sensations. In contrast, dose-dependent alcohol dampening of self-reported somatic reactivity was observed among both high- and low-AS participants. We discuss implications of these results for understanding risk for alcohol abuse in high-AS individuals, as well as directions for future research.

Biochemical and functional antigenic mimicry by a polyclonal anti-idiotypic antibody for chlamydial exoglycolipid antigen

A vaccine developed by using a genus-specific antigen (Ag) of Chlamydia trachomatis would elicit a wide range of protection against various chlamydial infections. We have produced an anti-idiotypic antibody (Ab2) in guinea pigs which, in rabbits, mimics the immunogenicity of a genus-specific exoglycolipid Ag (GLXA) of C trachomatis. Furthermore, the Ab2 fulfills the functional criteria of an 'internal image' of the nominal Ag: it inhibits the binding of the idiotypic (Id) monoclonal Ab (mAb1) to GLXA, and it induces in rabbits anti-anti-Id antibody (Ab3) which recognizes both the affinity-purified nominal Ag GLXA and whole organisms. Moreover, Ab3 induced by immunization of rabbits with guinea pig Ab2 neutralizes infectious heterologous chlamydiae and prevents in vitro and in vivo infection. Taken together, these results demonstrate functional and biochemical mimicry of the Ab2 for the chlamydial GLXA and suggest that anti-idiotypic Ab to GLXA is a potential candidate vaccine against chlamydia-related diseases.

Oral immunization with an anti-idiotypic antibody to the exoglycolipid antigen protects against experimental Chlamydia trachomatis infection

Chlamydia trachomatis is the leading cause worldwide of preventable infectious blindness (trachoma) and sexually transmitted disease, including nongonoccocal urethritis and pelvic inflammatory disease. To date, no effective vaccine against C. trachomatis infection has been identified. A monoclonal anti-idiotypic antibody (anti-Id) to the chlamydial exoglycolipid antigen (GLXA) was tested in a murine model of ocular chlamydial infection for its ability to induce systemic immunity, which reduces microbiologic and clinical disease. The anti-Id to GLXA, delivered either systemically in soluble form or orally after encapsulation in poly(lactide) microspheres, induced significant protective immunity against ocular challenge of mice with a human biovar of C. trachomatis. Protection was associated with induction of anti-GLXA antibody and anti-chlamydial neutralizing antibody.

The rightward gas vesicle operon in Halobacterium plasmid pNRC100: identification of the gvpA and gvpC gene products by use of antibody probes and genetic analysis of the region downstream of gvpC

The extreme halophile Halobacterium halobium synthesizes intracellular gas-filled vesicles that confer buoyancy. A cluster of 13 genes on the 200-kb endogenous plasmid pNRC100 has been implicated in the biosynthesis of gas vesicles. Here, we show that two gas vesicle proteins are encoded by genes in the rightward operon, gvpA and gvpC, by Western blotting (immunoblotting) analysis with antibodies directed against LacZ-GvpA and LacZ-GvpC fusion proteins. Our results are consistent with previous data showing that the gvpA gene product is the major gas vesicle protein and demonstrate for the first time that the gvpC gene product is also present in H. halobium gas vesicles. Northern (RNA) blotting analysis showed two RNA species, an abundant 0.35-kb transcript of gvpA and a minor 2.5-kb transcript of gvpAC, and a third gene 3' to gvpAC, named gvpN. The gvpN gene encodes a hypothetical acidic protein with a molecular weight of 39,000 and a nucleotide binding motif. We used a site-directed mutagenesis method involving double recombination in Escherichia coli to insert a kanamycin resistance cassette just beyond the stop codon of gvpN. Introduction of the mutated gene cluster into an H. halobium mutant with a deletion of the entire gas vesicle gene cluster resulted in gas vesicle-positive transformants; this result suggests that gvpN is the last gene of the rightward gas vesicle transcription unit. We discuss the design and utility of the kanamycin resistance cassette for the mutagenesis of other genes in large operons.

Examination of chlamydial glycolipid with monoclonal antibodies: cellular distribution and epitope binding

A chlamydial glycolipid antigen (GLXA) is shed into the medium of C. trachomatis-infected cell cultures. This study screened monoclonal antibodies (mAb), prepared in different laboratories by immunization with embryonated egg propagated elementary bodies (EB), for their ability to bind with infected cells and to react with purified GLXA isolated from supernatants of infected McCoy cells. The fluorescent antibody (FA) staining pattern exhibited by a number of mAb indicated that they bound antigen present within the inclusion and at the inner membrane surface of infected cells; the observed pattern differs significantly from the distribution seen when anti-lipopolysaccharide (LPS) (mAb) were used. The staining pattern observed by immunofluorescence was confirmed and extended by ultrastructure studies of immunogold-labelled, infected human endometrial gland epithelial cells (HEGEC) and a human endometrial carcinoma-derived cell line (RL95-2). Additionally, the immunoelectron microscope studies revealed binding within the inclusion and on reticulate bodies, within the cell cytoplasm and at the surface of infected cells. The specificity of the reactive mAb, examined by molecular shift chromatography and isolated, affinity-purified GLXA, indicated that two mAb of the IgG isotype recognized an antigen which had been purified from tissue culture supernatants by affinity chromatography using an IgM mAb. The results suggest that GLXA is an important determinant whose role and function during in vitro and in vivo infections deserves further analyses.

Clinical implications of delayed growth of the Lyme borreliosis spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi

Lyme borreliosis, a spirochetal infection caused by Borrelia burgdorferi, may become clinically active after a period of latency in the host. Active cases of Lyme disease may show clinical relapse following antibiotic therapy. The latency and relapse phenomena suggest that the Lyme disease spirochete is capable of survival in the host for prolonged periods of time. We studied 63 patients with erythema migrans, the pathognomonic cutaneous lesion of Lyme borreliosis, and examined in vitro cultures of biopsies from the active edge of the erythematous patch. Sixteen biopsies yielded spirochetes after prolonged incubations of up to 10.5 months, suggesting that Borrelia burgdorferi may be very slow to divide in certain situations. Some patients with Lyme borreliosis may require more than the currently recommended two to three week course of antibiotic therapy to eradicate strains of the spirochete which grow slowly.

Gestational Lyme borreliosis. Implications for the fetus

Great diversity of clinical expression of signs and symptoms of gestational Lyme borreliosis parallels the diversity of prenatal syphilis. It is documented that transplacental transmission of the spirochete from mother to fetus is possible. Further research is necessary to investigate possible teratogenic effects that might occur if the spirochete reaches the fetus during the period of organogenesis. Autopsy and clinical studies have associated gestational Lyme borreliosis with various medical problems including fetal death, hydrocephalus, cardiovascular anomalies, neonatal respiratory distress, hyperbilirubinemia, intrauterine growth retardation, cortical blindness, sudden infant death syndrome, and maternal toxemia of pregnancy. Whether any or all of these associations are coincidentally or causally related remains to be clarified by further investigation. It is my expectation that the spectrum of gestational Lyme borreliosis will expand into many of the clinical domains of prenatal syphilis.

Anti-idiotypic antibodies that protect cells against the action of diphtheria toxin

An anti-idiotypic serum prepared against the combining site (idiotype) of specific anti-diphtheria toxoid antibodies was characterized with respect to its interaction with highly diphtheria toxin-sensitive Vero cells. Although the anti-idiotypic serum protected Vero cells against the cytotoxic action of diphtheria toxin, it did not prevent the binding of 125I-labeled diphtheria toxin to the cells but did inhibit the internalization and degradation of 125I-labeled toxin. This anti-idiotypic serum immunoprecipitated a cell-surface protein from radiolabeled Vero cells with an apparent Mr of approximately 15,000. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that the anti-idiotypic serum contains antibodies that carry an internal image of an internalization site on the toxin and that a cell-surface protein involved in toxin internalization possesses a complementary site recognized by both the toxin and the anti-idiotypic antibodies.

Temporal arteritis associated with Borrelia infection. A case report

A 71-year-old man had sudden vision loss associated with headache. A temporal artery biopsy revealed a typical picture of giant cell arteritis. Subsequent steroid therapy failed to restore sight. A later blood culture contained spirochetes compatible with Borrelia species, and a silver stain of the temporal artery biopsy specimen demonstrated a similar spirochete. Treatment with i.v. ceftriaxone sodium led to some limited return of sight. To our knowledge, this is the first case report of a spirochete compatible with Borrelia found in a temporal artery biopsy specimen.

Use of an autologous antigen in the serologic testing of patients with erythema migrans of Lyme disease

We attempted to detect an early rise in antibody titers to Borrelia burgdorferi in the serum of patients with erythema migrans of Lyme disease by utilizing B. burgdorferi isolates obtained from patients' own skin lesions instead of the B31 reference strain. B. burgdorferi was isolated from nine of 23 skin biopsy specimens submitted for culture. Elevated antibody titers were not detected in any of the 23 acute serum samples by immunofluorescence assay. The antigens derived from patient isolates were no more effective than the reference strain in detecting antibodies in patients with early Lyme disease.

Lyme disease. A neuro-ophthalmologic view

Lyme borreliosis is a spirochetal infection with a potential to produce a clinical disease in the human host with protean manifestations as diverse as the spectrum of disease caused by Treponema pallidum. Neuro-ophthalmologic manifestations of Lyme borreliosis are emphasized in this short review. A brief historical chronicle of Lyme disease is offered. Potential pitfalls in the diagnosis of Lyme disease with an emphasis on false negative serology and currently available diagnostic modalities are presented. Therapeutic options for Lyme borreliosis are briefly reviewed.

Characterization of an antigen secreted by Chlamydia-infected cell culture

A soluble genus-specific chlamydial antigen has been isolated from the supernatants of cultures infected with Chlamydia trachomatis and from other sources. The antigen is a glycolipid that is secreted during the infective cycle. This exoglycolipid can be hydrolysed and fractionated into polysaccharide and lipid components. Both fractions retain antigenic activity. An immunodominant antigenic determinant of the lipid component contains fatty acids of C17 and C18:1. The polysaccharide immunodominant epitope gives rise to gulose when derivatives are formed. The secretion of the antigen into the media supernatant, the presence of gulose and the observed molecular weight are consistent with properties of alginate secreted by Gram-negative bacteria. Chemical analyses and SDS-PAGE indicate that the exoglycolipid is markedly different from LPS.

Concurrent neocortical borreliosis and Alzheimer's disease

Borrelia spirochetes were directly visualized in autopsy brain tissue from a patient with Alzheimer's disease and were cultured from cerebral cortex in artificial media. The authors propose that, as occurs in tertiary neurosyphilis and general paresis of the insane, Borrelia species may invade the brain, remain in a latent state for many years, and cause dementia in the absence of other focal neurologic deficits. An undetermined fraction of patients with Alzheimer's disease may be shown to have late tertiary neuroborreliosis.

Oral immunization against chlamydial eye infection

The effects of enteric administration of different preparations of Chlamydia trachomatis prior to ocular challenge with live chlamydia were compared to the immunity that develops after recovery from ocular infection. Oral immunization with either live homologous serovar B or with formalin-killed heterologus serovar L2 did not influence the response to subsequent ocular challenge. Although oral immunization with live serovar led to protection against heterologous ocular challenge with serovar B, oral immunization with noninfectious UV-irradiated serovar L2 led to more severe and prolonged disease. An immunizing regimen designed for maximal mucosal and systemic immunity also resulted in protection against homologous ocular challenge. Although protection was correlated with the presence of serum IgA antibodies, no clear mechanism for the protective ocular immunity to chlamydial infection has emerged. These studies show that it is possible to stimulate mucosal immunity to induce protection against subsequent ocular challenge with C. trachomatis that is equal to that which follows prior ocular infection.

Antigens of Chlamydia trachomatis

Chlamydia trachomatis is an obligate intracellular parasite that elaborates antigens on its surface. These antigens are divided into genus-, species-, subspecies-, and serovar-specific determinants. The genus, or group antigen(s), are lipopolysaccharides similar to those found in gram-negative bacteria and a glycolipid that is secreted by infected cell cultures. Species-specific antigens differentiate Chlamydia trachomatis from Chlamydia psittaci and are expressed on the outer membrane. These proteins range in molecular weight from 155,000 to approximately 40,000. Monoclonal antibodies to outer-membrane proteins have demonstrated the presence of subspecies-reactive antigenic determinants. Type-specific antigens are associated with the major outer-membrane protein and are secreted from infected cells as well. The molecular weights of these proteins range from 30,000 to 40,000. These antigens may participate in the binding of the organism to target cells and in an enzymatic process of some type that initiates endocytosis. The significance of the soluble antigens detected in the microenvironment in vitro may suggest immune-complex formation, a process that could contribute to the immunopathology of the disease.

Nonvariant antigens limited to bloodstream forms of Trypanosoma brucei brucei and Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense

The presence of nonvariant antigens (NVAs) limited to bloodstream forms of Trypanosoma brucei brucei and Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense was demonstrated for the first time by immunodiffusion and immunoelectrophoresis. Noncloned and cloned populations were employed in preparation of polyclonal antisera in rabbits and of antigens to be used in the immunologic reactions. The NVAs could be shown best in systems in which hyperimmune rabbit sera (adsorbed with procyclic forms to eliminate antibodies against antigens common to bloodstream form and procyclic stages) were reacted with trypanosomes characterized by heterologous variant-specific antigens (VSAs). The NVAs demonstrated in this study are very likely different from the common parts of VSAs. As has been suggested by experiments with living trypanosomes, at least a part of the NVAs appears to be located on the surface of the bloodstream forms. In these experiments involving the quantitative indirect fluorescent antibody test, the amount of fluorescence recorded for the heterologous system, i.e. ETat 5 trypanosomes incubated with anti-AmTat 1.1 serum, equalled approximately 3.0% of the fluorescence emitted by the AmTat 1.1 bloodstream forms treated with their homologous antiserum. Evidently, only small amounts of NVAs are present on the surfaces of T. brucei bloodstream forms. In addition to the NVAs, the electrophoresis results suggested the presence of antigenic differences between procyclic stages belonging to different T. brucei stocks.

Immune response of owl monkeys to topical vaccination with irradiated Chlamydia trachomatis

The conjunctivae of owl monkeys were topically vaccinated with purified Chlamydia trachomatis organisms that had been inactivated by 60Co irradiation and lyophilized onto an inert carrier. Vaccinated monkeys developed antibody in serum and tears, while control animals given a placebo had no detectable titers. When challenged 35 days after the start of administration of the vaccine, all monkeys showed evidence of infection. The vaccinated group had a longer course of disease and more ocular discharge than did controls. Antibody levels in both serum and tears were nearly 10-fold higher after infection in vaccinated animals than in controls.

Inhibition of cholesterol side chain cleavage by active site directed antibody to corpus luteum cytochrome P-450

Goat antibody IgG produced against bovine corpus luteum mitochondrial cytochrome P-450 (P-450scc) associated with cholesterol side chain cleavage (CSCC) was used to compare immunological characteristics of mitochondrial cytochrome P-450s from the bovine adrenal cortex (BAM), bovine corpus luteum (BCLM), and human placenta (HPM). In Ouchterlony double diffusion, anti-P450scc produced a single band with BAM and BCLM P-450scc, but not with HPM P-450scc or BAM P-450 11 beta. Appropriate concentrations of this anti-P-450scc IgG inhibited the conversion of cholesterol to pregnenolone in BCLM and BAM preparations equivalently, but inhibition of placental P-450scc was considerably less. The addition of BCLM iron sulfur protein and iron sulfur protein reductase to HPM P-450scc increased CSCC approximately 5-fold. Under these conditions, anti-P-450scc inhibited CSCC in HPM. Solubilized and sonicated BCLM preparations were inhibited equivalently but more than whole mitochondria. Addition of anti-P-450scc IgG to BAM increased 11 beta-hydroxylation activity in concentration-dependent fashion. It appears that the cytochrome P-450sccs from BAM and BCLM are very similar if not identical, but immunologically different from HPM P-450scc. The BAM P-450 11 beta is immunochemically distinct from BCLM P-450scc. The CSCC and 11 beta-hydroxylation systems of the adrenal are intimately linked because inhibition of P-450scc markedly stimulated 11 beta-hydroxylation. Finally, the inhibition of CSCC activity of BAM, BCLM, and HPM P-450 indicates that the antigenic effect is directed toward the active site.

Purification and properties of a factor from leukaemic T cells which non-specifically enhances the antibody response

A non-specific immunoenhancing factor from leukemia owl monkey peripheral T lymphocytes has been purified and partially characterized. Owl monkey enhancing factor, OMEF, is a glycoprotein with a molecular weight of 39,000 and an isoelectric point of pH 6.5. It acts at nanogram levels on day 2 of the in vitro immune response to enhance the number of plaque-forming cells produced to sheep red blood cells in a murine assay system but has no effect when added on day 0 to this system but has no effect when added on day 0 to this system. Antibodies to the purified factor have been produced and binding studies show that OMEF cross-reacts with other antisera raised to an enhancing factor produced by a mixture of human allogeneic lymphocytes but shows no cross-reactivity to a murine enhancing factor.

The conversion of an enhancing factor to a suppressor factor by the formation of an aggregate molecule

A non-specific suppressor factor, owl monkey suppressor factor, OMSF, from leukaemic owl monkey peripheral T lymphocytes has been isolated and characterized. OMSF is a glycoprotein of a molecular weight of 66,000 which can be produced from purified owl monkey enhancing factor, OMEF, by both Tris buffer dialysis and by repeated freezing and thawing. SDS gel electrophoresis demonstrates that OMSF is composed of 39,000 mol. wt subunits which co-migrate with the OMEF molecule. This suppressor acts at less than nanogram levels on day 0 of the in vitro immune response to suppress the number of plaque-forming cells produced to sheep red blood cells in a murine assay system and has little effect when added on day 2 to this system. OMSF is bound by antibodies raised specifically against OMEF and inhibits the binding of OMEF to this antiserum in a competitive radioimmunoassay. These results suggest that both enhancement and suppression of the immune response can be mediated by the same molecule under different circumstances.

Isolation and purification of a type-specific antigen from Chlamydia trachomatis propagated in cell culture utilizing molecular shift chromatography

Various techniques have been utilized for antigen solubilization, isolation, and purification. This report is the first to describe the isolation and purification of a type-specific antigen from Chlamydia trachomatis serotype A grown in cell culture. The type-specific antigen was prepared from Chlamydia trachomatis serotype A organisms grown in baby hamster kidney cells (BHK21). The extraction process employed a combination of both pH change and Triton X-100 solubilization. The soluble extract was radioiodinated and subjected to ion exchange and gel filtration chromatography. The fractions eluted were tested for type specificity utilizing the IgG prepared from exhaustively cross-absorbed hyperimmune sera from rabbits immunized with homologous organisms. Molecular shift chromatography was employed for analysis. Small samples of the isolated antigen were later used as markers for preparation of larger quantities necessary for antigenic characterization. The purified type-specific antigen has a m.w. of 30,000 to 32,000.

Isolation and purification of a type-specific antigen from Chlamydia trachomatis propagated in cell culture utilizing molecular shift chromatography

Various techniques have been utilized for antigen solubilization, isolation, and purification. This report is the first to describe the isolation and purification of a type-specific antigen from Chlamydia trachomatis serotype A grown in cell culture. The type-specific antigen was prepared from Chlamydia trachomatis serotype A organisms grown in baby hamster kidney cells (BHK21). The extraction process employed a combination of both pH change and Triton X-100 solubilization. The soluble extract was radioiodinated and subjected to ion exchange and gel filtration chromatography. The fractions eluted were tested for type specificity utilizing the IgG prepared from exhaustively cross-absorbed hyperimmune sera from rabbits immunized with homologous organisms. Molecular shift chromatography was employed for analysis. Small samples of the isolated antigen were later used as markers for preparation of larger quantities necessary for antigenic characterization. The purified type-specific antigen has a m.w. of 30,000 to 32,000.

Changes in immunoferritin labeling of Rickettsia tsutsugamushi after serial cultivation in 60Co-irradiated BHK cells

The immunolabeling characteristics of Rickettsia tsutsugamushi (Gilliam strain) were examined by using a purified immunoglobulin G fraction of antibody to R. tsutsugamushi raised in rabbits. Formalin-fixed rickettsiae were reacted with this antibody and then with ferritin-conjugated goat anti-rabbit Fc antibody. R. tsutsugamushi cultivated in yolk sacs was used to raise antibody for this study. When rickettsiae in BHK-21 cells infected from yolk sac seed material were immunoferritin labeled, the binding of ferritin was found to be dense and uniform on the outer surface of the rickettsiae in disrupted host cells. Immunolabeling of purified suspensions of extracellular rickettsiae resulted in the uniform ferritin labeling of the microorganism. Aggregation of these rickettsiae by antibody appeared to depend upon the purity of the pellets. Immunoferritin labeling examined at high magnification revealed ferritin very close to the outer dense leaflet of the outer membrane. On some rickettsiae or on focal sites of others, the labelin; was several ferritin particles thick, suggesting the presence of a thick coating. The immunoferritin labeling of R. tsutsugamushi during successive serial passages in BHK-21 cells revealed decreased labeling with each passage, and by the 10th passage there was no detectable labeling. However, these rickettsiae inoculated back into yolk sacs regained their immunoferritin labeling. R. tsutsugamushi passed back into yolk sacs after four serial propagations in BHK-21 cells regained their labeling on the first passage in yolk sacs. However, rickettsiae from the 20th serial passage in BHK-21 cells required five passages in yolk sacs to reestablish their previous labeling affinity. Rickettsiae which did not label after 20 passages in BHK cells regained some of their labeling characteristics when sonicated. Antibody against rickettsiae cultivated in BHK-21 cells continued labeling rickettsiae even after 9 serial passages in BHK-21 cells.

Isolation of a type-specific antigen from Chlamydia trachomatis by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis

This report describes the isolation of a type-specific antigen of a serotype A strain of Chlamydia trachomatis. The antigen could be identified in sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide electrophoretic (SDS-PAGE) analysis of immunoprecipitates of homologously reacted lysates from Bolton-Hunter 125I-labeled elementary bodies, solubilized by sonication and treatment with Nonidet P40. The electrophoretic pattern of this precipitate revealed a peak of unique mobility that was not reproduced by heterologous or control precipitates. Immunoadsorbtion of test antigen with purified IgG fractions from homologous antisera completely removed this peak, whereas similar adsorbtion wth heterologous IgG had minimal effect. Comparison of this antigen in SDS-PAGE with protein standards revealed an approximate m.w. of 27,000.

Separation and partial characterization of a type-specific antigen from Chlamydia trachomatis

Type-specific antigens of Chlamydia trachomatis have been demonstrated by the mouse toxicity prevention test and a variety of immunofluorescent techniques. In addition, biologic activity has been associated with these antigens in terms of type-specific immunity to trachoma infections. This report is the first to describe the detection of a soluble type-specific antigen of C. trachomatis and its separation from those antigens that cross-react among different immunotypes. Test antigens were prepared by labeling the surface components of purified, yolk sac grown organisms with a radioiodinated intermediate (Bolton-Hunter reagent, 125I). The organisms were solubilized with Triton X-100 and gel filtered through Sepharose 6B. All fractions were then tested in radioimmunoassay for binding with rabbit antisera raised against solubilized immunogens prepared from homologous and heterologous strain organisms propagated in BHK-21 cells. A fraction demonstrating homologous binding only was used in subsequent modified procedures for the preparation of quantities of type-specific antigen sufficient for analysis. The antigen appears to be a heat labile, cell surface protein associated with apparent immunogenic activity during the course of actual chlamydial eye infection.

Isolation and partial characterization of an antibody enhancing factor from leukaemic owl monkey cell cultures

Herpesvirus saimiri inoculated into owl monkeys (Aotus trivirgatus) causes leukaemia and lymphoma. Peripheral lymphocytes from leukaemic monkeys grown in culture are predominantly T lymphocytes. The supernatants from these cultures contain a factor which enhances the antibody response of murine B cells to sheep red blood cells (SRBC). The factor has been partially characterized by ammonium sulphate precipitation, DEAE-chromatography, gel filtration over Sephadex G-150 and disc-gel electrophoresis. The enhancing factor is a protein with a molecular weight of approximately 40,000.

Immunity to chlamydial infections of the eye. IV. Immunity in owl monkeys to reinfection with trachoma

In a study of trachoma in owl monkeys, it was found that owl monkeys are equally susceptible to low and high doses of trachoma and that resistance to reinfection persisted for six months in the majority of animals. Previous infections with a single trachoma type did not elicit greater resistance than previous infections with two types. Both serum antibodies and eye secretion titers correlated well with resistance to reinfection, but it is not as yet clear if either or both play a substantial role in immunity to trachoma.

An indirect immunofluorescent test for human antibodies to tetanus toxoid using an insoluble toxoid as antigen

An indirect fluorescent antibody (FA) test for detection of human antibodies to tetanus toxoid is described using an ethylchloroformate-prepared polymer of tetanus toxoid as the particulate slide test antigen. Titres of the FA test were compared with those obtained with the toxin neutralization (TN) test in mice. No antisera were FA-positive at less than 0-0025 AU/ml. Positive correlation of the FA test with the TN test was 50% between 0-0025 and 0-01 antitoxin units/ml (AU/ml) and 100% between 0-02 and 160 AU/ml. In general, an increase in FA titres correlated with an increase in TN titres beginning at about 0-08-0-16 AU/ml.