A mouse herpesvirus induces relapse of experimental autoimmune arthritis by infection of the inflammatory target tissue.

It is not known what is required for successive relapses in autoimmune diseases or evolution to a progressive chronic disease. Autoimmune arthritis caused by passive transfer of autoantibodies against glucose 6-phosphate isomerase is transient and therefore lends itself well to test for what might extend the disease. Herpesviruses have long been suspected of contributing to human autoimmune disease.

Competitive Specificity Analysis of Natural Antibodies against Epitope of Bacterial Cell Wall Peptidoglycoan: Glucosaminylmuramyl Dipeptide Carrying Adjuvant Activity.

The natural antibodies against glucosaminylmuramyl dipeptide (GMDP), the epitope of peptidoglycan of bacterial cell wall, isolated from human serum by thermal extraction possess a capability to cross-react with determinant of glycan chain - tetrasaccharide consisting of N-acetylglucosamine and N-acetylmuramic acid. The intensity of interaction of natural anti-GMDP-antibodies with specific ligand is significantly higher than with tetrasaccharide. The natural antibodies against tetrasaccharide carry properties of heteroclitic antibodies, i.

Affinity of Serum Natural Antibodies against Peptidoglycan Bacterial Cell Component with Adjuvant Activity.

We studied affinity of natural antibodies of human serum against glucosaminylmuramyl dipeptide (GMDP), the epitope peptidoglycan bacterial cell wall component which carries adjuvant activity. Antibodies against GMDP were isolated from the blood sera of healthy donors using thermal extraction of antibodies from specific ligand on plastic. Determination of the dissociation constant (K(d)) showed equal K(d) in the serum and affinity-purified anti-GMDP-antibodies, i.