Low-avidity antibodies to carbonic anhydrase-I and -II in autoimmune chronic pancreatitis.

Antibodies (Abs) to carbonic anhydrase (isoforms CA-I and CA-II) have been considered pathogenic factors in the development of autoimmune pancreatitis. Besides, such autoAbs might accelerate the pancreatic damage in alcoholic chronic pancreatitis (CP). The aim of the present study was to evaluate the presence of serum Abs to CA-I and CA-II in CP and the relative affinity of these Abs.

Induction of cell death by sera from patients with acute brain injury as a mechanism of production of autoantibodies.

Objective: To investigate the capacity of blood draining from the central nervous system of patients with acute brain injury to induce cell death, and to determine whether this phenomenon could be a way to induce the production of autoantibodies.

Methods: The induction of cell death of several human leukemia cell lines cultured in vitro in the presence of serum collected from the brain or the systemic circulation of patients with acute brain injury was analyzed by flow cytometry after staining with annexin V and propidium iodide. The percentages of apoptotic lymphocytes derived directly from the patients were also quantified.

Changes in peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets in elderly subjects are associated with an impaired function of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis.

A growing body of evidence indicates that ageing brings a progressive disruption in the immune and endocrine systems. However, very few reports have correlated the changes in the immune system with the endocrine function in the elderly. The aim of the present study was to investigate the changes occurring in the peripheral blood lymphocyte subpopulations with age and correlate them with the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) function.