A role of autoimmunity in the etiopathogenesis of Landau-Kleffner syndrome?

Four children, 3 boys and 1 girl, with the syndrome of acquired aphasia Landau-Kleffner were followed up during the last 10 years. In 3 children an episodic form of the disease with a good response to corticosteroid treatment and with a favourable prognosis was observed. In the other 1 no improvement of speech function was observed and also epileptic fits were reduced only with difficulty.

An immunological study of Lyme disease.

84 patients in the second or third stages of serologically diagnosed Lyme disease suffering from different forms of central as well as peripheral nervous system involvement were tested for the participation of autoimmune mechanisms. Cell hypersensitivity to the encephalitogenic basic protein and to antigens from peripheral myelin was evaluated on an Opton cytopherometer according to the effect of the macrophage slowing factor--liberated during short-term incubation of sensibilized lymphocytes by the respective antigen--on the mobility of tannin-treated sheep red blood cells in an electric field. Judged by the presence of autoimmune reactions.

Some immunological characteristics of subjects suffering from frequent herpes simplex virus recrudescences.

Some parameters of specific and non-specific immunity were tested in a group of 44 subjects suffering from frequent herpes simplex type 1 (HSV-1) or herpes simplex type 2 (HSV-2) recrudescences. The tests performed included determinations of (i) HSV complement-independent and complement-dependent neutralizing antibodies, (ii) antibodies to glycoprotein C of HSV-1 and glycoprotein G of HSV-2, (iii) antibodies to viral capsid and early antigens of Epstein-Barr virus, (iv) antibodies to tetanus toxoid, (v) serum levels of IgM, IgG, IgA, transferrin, prealbumin and C'3 and C'4 components of complement, (vi) active and total T lymphocytes, (vii) phagocyting activity of polymorphonuclear neutrophils, eosinophils and mononuclear cells, (viii) skin reactivity to tuberculin, toxoplasmin, candidin, tetanus and diphtheria toxoids. In the patients the following deviations from the control groups were noted: (i) Antibody levels to homotypic but not to heterotypic HSV were enhanced, (ii) serum IgM levels were elevated, (iii) percentages and numbers of active and total T lymphocytes were decreased, (iv) phagocyting activity of neutrophils was depressed but that of eosinophils was increased.

[Immunologic study of Lyme borreliosis].

In 84 patients in the second or third stage of serologically proved Lyme borreliosis suffering from different forms of central and/or peripheral nervous system involvement the participation of autoimmunological mechanisms was investigated. The cellular hypersensitivity to encephalitogenic basic protein and to antigens from peripheral myelin was evaluated on the cytopherometer Opton according to the influence of macrophage slowing factor--liberated during the short-term incubation of the sensibilized lymphocytes with specific antigen--on the mobility of tanned sheep red blood cells in the electrical field. The frequency of positive findings in comparison with the results in other types of neuroinfections, examined previously, put the Lyme borreliosis on the first place.

Placebo-controlled study with subunit herpes simplex virus vaccine in subjects suffering from frequent herpetic recurrences.

The safety and efficacy of a subunit herpes simplex virus (HSV) type 1 vaccine were tested in a small-scale double-blind trial carried out in a group of 42 volunteers suffering from frequent recurrences of herpetic lesions. The patients were paired according to sex, age, type of virus isolated, previous history of the disease and some non-specific immunological markers. One member of each pair received repeated doses of HSV vaccine, the other a placebo.

First experience with ELISA serosurvey for tick-borne borreliosis (Lyme disease) in Czechoslovakia.

Antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi were searched for in the sera from two groups of hospital patients and one group of healthy agricultural workers. The antibody response was measured by the authors' own modification of the ELISA method employing the antigen prepared from Borrelia recurrentis strain propagated in laboratory mice. Positive antibody titres to Borrelia were demonstrated in 5 out of the 44 patients admitted to the Infectious Diseases Clinic, in 8 out of the 32 patients from the Neurologic Clinic and in 16 out of the 52 healthy agricultural workers living in areas infested with ticks.