Setting the scene: a historical and personal view of immunologic diseases, autoimmunity and ANA.

Dr. Friou reviews here his research experiences in immunology beginning over fifty years ago, and dealing with his early background experience with group A streptococcus, antihyaluronidase, and rheumatic fever, and cell mediated responses in Boeck's sarcoid. Details of his introduction of the immunofluorescent technique of Harvard Prof.

Clinical and biological characteristics of Ureaplasma urealyticum induced polyarthritis in a patient with common variable hypogammaglobulinaemia.

Persistent infectious polyarthritis caused by Ureaplasma urealyticum in a patient with common variable hypogammaglobulinaemia is described. The patient developed a symmetrical, destructive polyarthritis and tenosynovitis associated with a markedly depressed synovial fluid glucose concentration and characteristic soft tissue abscesses. The ureaplasma organism developed resistance to multiple antibiotics and persisted for five years.

Effects of human 17 kDa interleukin 1, 25-31 kDa thymocyte stimulating activity and the 6-9 kDa interleukin 1 inhibitor on calcium release in the newborn murine calvarial assay.

The effects of human monokines on calcium release from cultured newborn murine calvarium were studied. Highly purified interleukin 1 (IL-1) (17 kDa) and recombinant IL-1 beta in the concentration range 0.2-20 U/ml released significant amounts of calcium.

Changes in circulating monocytes in patients with progressive systemic sclerosis.

Circulating monocytes in 30 patients with progressive systemic sclerosis (PSS, scleroderma) and 28 age and sex matched normal controls were studied. Binding of the lectin peanut agglutinin (PA) was significantly reduced in PSS monocytes (p less than 0.001) together with a reduction in the density of nonspecific esterase staining (p less than 0.