Prevention of detrimental effect of cyclosporin A on vascular ingrowth of transplanted pancreatic islets with verapamil.

The revascularization of pancreatic islet clusters transplanted beneath the renal capsule was studied in a syngeneic mouse model. The degree of vascular ingrowth was visualized by in vivo fluorescence microscopy (fluorescein isothiocyanate-dextran) and judged by a semiquantitative method from coded video recordings. The recipients of isografts were divided into four groups, depending on their daily immunosuppressive treatment: 1) none (controls), 2) 15 mg/kg cyclosporin A (CsA), 3) 0.

T-lymphocyte clone specific for pancreatic islet antigen.

A cloned T-lymphocyte line, BDC-2.5, was derived from a nonobese diabetic (NOD) mouse and has been found to exhibit specificity for islet cell antigen in vitro and in vivo. This clone is a CD4+ T-lymphocyte that proliferates and makes lymphokine in response to islet cell antigen- and NOD antigen-presenting cells.

Effect of cyclosporine on immunologically mediated diabetes in nonobese diabetic mice.

Spontaneous diabetes in NOD mice has an immunologically mediated cause and is a T cell-dependent process. When diabetic NOD mice are grafted with cultured BALB/c islet tissue, the islet graft is destroyed by disease recurrence in the graft. Disease recurrence is a CD4 T cell-dependent process as determined by in vivo administration of anti-CD4 or anti-CD8 monoclonal antibody prior to the grafting of islet tissue.

An epidemiological survey of Raynaud's phenomenon.

A questionnaire was sent to 1000 patients with Raynaud's phenomenon (RP) and an equal number of controls in order to accumulate one of the largest patient data banks currently available. Five-hundred and seventy-one correctly completed paired returns were processed so as to investigate the association between Raynaud's phenomenon and other factors suspected of influencing the condition. The involvement of female sex hormones in RP was indicated by the predominance of women (93%), a 6% (P less than 0.

Thermal entrainment methods for studying Raynaud's phenomenon.

Entrainment occurs when an externally applied periodic temperature stimulus forces the peripheral bloodflow component of thermoregulation to oscillate at the same frequency. This phenomenon can be demonstrated using frequency transforms to analyse the spectral content of the bloodflow, and can be used as a diagnostic test for Raynaud's phenomenon. Correlations were performed between the clinical diagnosis and the objective tests.

Role of the L3T4+ T cell in allograft rejection.

Pancreatic islet and fetal pancreas allotransplantation has been used to examine the role of the L3T4+ T cell in allograft rejection. Tissues were grafted into recipient animals depleted of peripheral L3T4+ T cells by in vivo administration of GK1.5 (anti-L3T4) monoclonal antibody to ask the question: is there a requirement for the L3T4+ T cell in graft rejection? Data show that the requirement for the L3T4+ T cell depends on either the type of tissue transplanted or type of the antigenic disparity between donor and recipient.

Cyclosporine-induced tolerance requires antigens capable of initiating an immune response.

We studied two example where indefinite graft survival could be obtained in rats. In the first, strain DA hearts were permanently accepted in allogeneic PVG rats if the recipients were treated for at least 7 consecutive days with cyclosporine A (CsA) after transplantation. In the second, DA pancreatic islets were permanently accepted in PVG rats if the islets were cultured in vitro for 14 days in high oxygen.

Ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm in Marfan's syndrome.

A rare case of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm in Marfan's syndrome is described. The patient was treated successfully with a straight aortic tube graft. Histology of the aneurysm wall showed changes typical of cystic medial necrosis.

Blocking of delivery of the antigen-mediated signal to the nucleus of T cells by cyclosporine.

Cyclosporine (CsA) inhibits release of interleukin 2 (IL-2) and hemopoietic growth activities such as interleukin 3 (IL-3) from major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-antigen-activated T cells. Production of both lymphokines appears to be coordinately regulated; the antigen dose response, T cell dose response, and time course of lymphokine appearance are similar. The triggering of lymphokine production by these cells is solely dependent on T cell-target cell interaction, as the T cell dose response curve indicates that no cooperation occurs between T cells, and any metabolic contribution by the target cell was eliminated by ultraviolet irradiation.

The effect of adjuvant oxygen therapy on transcutaneous pO2 and healing in the below-knee amputee.

The effects on tissue oxygenation of postoperative adjuvant oxygen have been studied in a group of 20 patients undergoing below-knee (BK) amputation for vascular disease. Ten patients received no therapy, the remainder receiving 28% oxygen for 48 hours following surgery. The results showed that the transcutaneous pO2 in the amputation flaps fell significantly by some 20 mmHg (p less than 0.

Autoimmune diabetes in NOD mouse is L3T4 T-lymphocyte dependent.

Cultured BALB/c islets fail to function when transplanted into diabetic nonobese diabetic (NOD) mice; such grafted tissue is rapidly destroyed by disease recurrence. The cellular requirements for this graft damage are unclear. This study was designed to investigate the role of the L3T4+ T-lymphocyte subset in disease recurrence in the NOD mouse.

A quantitative analysis of antigen-triggered lymphokine production by activated T cells.

We have developed a theoretical model to describe the triggering of lymphokine release from antigen-specific, activated T (T') cells, and we have used this model to define parameters that regulate this interaction. Under assay conditions of T' cell excess, the efficiency of triggering is a function of the target cell type. When various H-2k-bearing target cells were used to trigger B10.