[Incidence of SLE in a patient thymectomized for myasthenia gravis]

The appearance of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) as well as thymopoietin (TP3) treatment in a patient who has undergone thymectomy because of myasthenia gravis (MG) is described. To the authors' knowledge this is the first case of this treatment upon the diagnoses above. The therapy was performed for 12 weeks by the Hungarian Thymotrinan (TP3) preparate according to a previous protocol worked out for Hodgkin's disease. At the beginning and during therapy, cellular and humoral immune parameters were monitored. Twenty months after the therapy the patient has remained in clinical remission for both diseases, MG and SLE, respectively. There is a brief survey of the biochemistry of thymic hormones as well as their clinical use, especially in the treatment of autoimmune disorders. The relative rarity of SLE after operative treatment of MG is under discussion together with the effectiveness of substitutional thymic hormone therapy.

[Syncumar induced toxic liver damage]

The authors present a case of chronic hepatitis presumably due to Syncumar treatment. The patient should be maintained on anticoagulant therapy due to combined prosthetic valve insertion. Chromatin activation of blood lymphocytes was investigated to justify the drug induced liver injury. In this test system Syncumar and other anticoagulant derivates gave a positive reaction to a different extent. The increased serum bilirubin and transaminase levels, which indicated liver injury showed regression in the course of the treatment and after changing Syncumar to Marcoumar (Phenprocoumon).

Chromatin activation of blood lymphocytes detected by polarization microscopy and cytophotometry

Blood lymphocytes exhibit chromatin activation upon incubation with substances to which a person is allergic. Chromatin activation can be detected by polarization microscopy. In this work, different methods of evaluating lymphocyte chromatin activation were compared in nine drug-allergic and in eight control subjects. All drug allergics had skin or mucosal involvement, ranging from localized minor herpetic lesions and purpurae through wheal and circumscribed bullous lesions to serum sickness as the most severe form. The mean path difference as the measure of nuclear birefringence was obtained by a polarization microscope using both white light and 551 +/- 7 nm monochromatic light. The equation of Brace-Köhler for converting compensation into path difference for each single cell was used in calculator programs. The values were compared with readings of a cytophotometer operated in transmission mode. Allergy "scores", deriving from the analysis of chromatin activation kinetics due to serial drug dilutions, were also compared using both methods. The results indicate a linear relationship between monochromatic and white light compensation readings and an exponential relationship between mean path difference and mean transmission values at different background amplifications. Operation of the photometer at 25.8% background amplification gave the best correlating results. The two methods gave identical results for the presence (ten tests) or absence (eight tests) of allergy.

Increased 5-phospho-alpha-D-ribose-1-diphosphate synthetase (ribosephosphate pyrophosphokinase, EC 2.7.6.1) activity in rat hepatomas

The behavior of the activity of 5-phosphoribosyl 1-pyrophosphate (PRPP) synthetase (ribosephosphate pyrophosphokinase, EC 2.7.6.1) was elucidated in normal rat liver, in 11 hepatomas of different growth rates, and in rapidly growing differentiating and regenerating liver. Tissue extracts were prepared by centrifugation of 10% homogenates at 100,000 X g for 30 min, and enzyme activity was measured in the protein fractions obtained by 40 and 47% ammonium sulfate saturation of the supernatant fluids from livers and hepatomas, respectively. In the tissue extracts, there was no interfering enzyme activity that utilized PRPP under the standard assay conditions. The affinity of PRPP synthetase for its substrates, ribose 5-phosphate and adenosine triphosphate (ATP), and to Mg2+ was similar in liver and hepatoma extracts. The Km for ribose 5-phosphate was 0.3 mM; for ATP, it was 0.1 mM in the presence of excess Mg2+. The Km for Mg2+ ATP was 1.2 mM in the presence of excess ATP. There was no difference in the affinity of the enzyme for its activators, Mg2+ and inorganic phosphate, in liver and hepatoma preparations; the Km for Mg2+ was 0.6 mM in the presence of excess ATP; the Km for inorganic phosphate was 14.0 mM. The requirement of hepatoma extracts for full phosphate saturation was higher than that of liver extracts (85 versus 65 mM). A standard assay was worked out for the liver and hepatoma systems; in liver, the enzyme activity was linear for 30 min incubation, and in hepatoma it was linear for 15 min incubation. PRPP synthetase activity was proportionate with amounts of protein added over a range of 0.4 to 3.0 mg in both liver and hepatoma extracts. In the liver of normal adult Wistar rats, PRPP synthetase activity was 108 +/- 10 nmol/hr/mg protein. In rat tissues of high cell renewal activity, thymus, testis, spleen, and small intestine, synthetase specific activity was 3.7-, 3.6-, 1.2-, and 1.3-fold higher than that of normal liver. The synthetase specific activity in hepatomas of slow growth rate increased 1.2- to 1.5-fold, and in intermediate and rapidly growing hepatomas it was elevated 1.9- to 4.1-fold higher than that of normal liver.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Measurement of lymphocyte activation by a chromatin topo-optical reaction. Mechanism and specificity of the test

A rapid inexpensive method is presented for detecting peripheral blood lymphocyte chromatin activation by the neutral red "topo-optical" reaction, which causes strong and easily measurable birefringence in the lymphocyte nuclei. This reaction can be enhanced by fixing the cells with 150 mM/l NaCl in 70% ethanol and/or by treating the unfixed cellular suspensions with 0.2 M/l HCl to remove histones. In histone-removed preparations, 30 min DNase I treatment almost completely abolished the birefringent reaction, whereas RNase treatment resulted in only 18% loss. Chromatin activation induced by enzyme inhibition increased chromatin birefringence significantly. The same phenomenon could be induced in sensitive subjects' lymphocytes by specific antigens or haptens much more rapidly. The monocytes were not activated to a significant extent. In non-sensitive subjects different kinetics of antigen or hapten-dependent activation and no cytotoxic effects have been observed. Depletion of T-lymphocytes in vivo in SLE patients or by in vitro treatment with 0.5 mM/l KCN as well as with 0.02% trypsin has caused a significant drop in the mean chromatin birefringence. The effect of trypsin was reversible.

A new method for obtaining viable cells from dermal infiltrates. A study on 2,4 dinitrochlorobenzene induced contact dermatitis

Experimental contact dermatitis has been induced in 2,4 dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB) sensitized guinea pigs. The developing dermal infiltrate was excised and the infiltrating cells were obtained by mechanical extraction alone as well as by the combination with collagenase and elastase treatment. The most viable cells appeared in the elastase and mechanically extracted samples and the least in those subjected to mechanical treatment alone. The most cells in the enzyme-treated samples were present 24 h after re-exposure of the sensitized animals to DNCB consisting mainly of lymphocytes and of polymorphonuclear granulocytes. The optimum conditions for the action of enzymes including optimum duration of the treatment, buffer milieu, aspecific proteolytic effect on foreign substrate and action on T and B cell receptors have been elaborated. It was concluded that 80 min of collagenase treatment with gentle mechanical extraction under specified conditions does not affect any measurable immunologic properties of the liberated cells resulting in the second best yield. A comparison of these data with earlier reports and their significance is being discussed.