Possible sex-correlated transmission of maternal class I HLA haplotypes.

Forty-seven alleles of class I HLA-AB loci (14 for locus A and 33 for locus B) were identified in 787 participants in two groups of unrelated families. Group I included parents and children typed for bone marrow transplantation. Group II included families typed for renal transplantation.

Mixed maternal-paternal lymphocyte cultures before and after immunotherapy for recurrent spontaneous abortions.

Problem: The increased reactivity of maternal lymphocytes in reciprocal mixed-maternal-paternal lymphocyte cultures (MMPLC), observed in the presence of control serum after immunotherapy, suggests that immunization with paternal lymphocytes may induce a highly significant cell mediated immune response in specifically alloactivated maternal lymphocytes.

Method: Reciprocal one-way MMPLC were set up with responding maternal or paternal lymphocytes and mitomycin C-treated stimulating lymphocytes. Cultures were set up for 6 days in the presence of 15% maternal or control serum.

Contribution of class I HLA-A2 antigen in immune reactions.

The involvement of the Class I HLA-A2 antigen is briefly reviewed in relation to allograft rejection, the feto-maternal relationship, viral cytotoxic reactions and tumor immunity. It is suggested that the HLA-A2 molecule may have, as compared to other HLA Class I alleles, a dominant role as a restricting element in cytotoxic T-cell recognition in the feto-maternal relationship to male fetuses, in specific viral infections and in tumors. As compared to other HLA Class I alleles, its reduced expression or loss in a variety of tumors suggests its possible important role in tumor immune surveillance.

IN vitro cell-mediated immune reactions in herpes zoster patients treated with cimetidine.

In a double-blind placebo-control study the immunomodulating effect of cimetidine treatment for one week and placebo was investigated for cell-mediated immune reactions of 22 patients with herpes zoster (HZ). The mitogen induced leukocyte migration inhibition test (LMIT) and the in vitro proliferation of the patients' lymphocytes to exogenous IL-2 were used. Before any treatment, the mitogen induced leukocyte migration inhibition capacity (LMIC) of HZ patients was found to be significantly reduced (p < 0.

Distortion in the parental transmission of HLA-A2 haplotypes (locus A,B).

The parental transmission of HLA-2 antigen in association with the epitopes BW4 and BW6 (class I HLA haplotypes locus A,B) was analyzed in sons and daughters from 42 families in which one of the parents carried the HLA-A2 antigen. When the parental transmission of A2 BW4 and A2 BW6 was compared, it was observed that a significantly higher number of siblings inherited the haplotype A2 BW4 from the paternal than from the maternal haplotype. Although the number of cases is small, the mode of inheritance of haplotype A2 BW6 was completely different.