Comparison of immunodiffusion and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay in the detection of abnormal antibodies in pigeon breeder's disease.

Aims: To compare the sensitivity of two methods for the detection of serum antibodies to pigeon faecal antigens in patients with pigeon breeder's disease.

Methods: Serum samples stored at -20 degrees C from 50 patients with pigeon breeder's disease, 50 control samples from patients with other respiratory diseases, and 50 healthy blood donors were examined for the precipitating antibodies and IgG antibodies to antigens present in extract of pigeon droppings by immunodiffusion and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), respectively.

Results: Both antigen preparations of pigeon dropping extract were equally effective.

Virus-specific antibodies to Epstein-Barr virus, varicella-zoster virus and rubella virus in renal transplant patients with cytomegalovirus infections.

Renal transplant patients with primary and recurrent cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection had higher antibody titres to Epstein-Barr virus viral capsid antigen (EBV-VCA-IgG) before and after transplantation than healthy blood donors. The geometric mean titres (GMT) of EBV-VCA-IgG were higher in renal transplant patients without CMV infection than in renal transplant patients with CMV infection. Four-fold or greater rises in EBV-VCA-IgG antibody were detected in six patients and a similar rise in antibody to EBV early antigen (EBV-EA-IgG) was detected in one other patient.

Patients with cervical cancer produce an antibody response to an HSV-inducible tumour-specific cell polypeptide.

Anti-sera raised against HSV-2-infected cells (WI) and the sera of animals bearing tumours (TBS) to HSV-2 transformed cells contain antibodies to a set of tumour-specific cell-coded polypeptides. The specificity of these polypeptides for tumour cells is monitored by the ability of [35S]-L-methionine labelled proteins to be immunoprecipitated by these anti-sera, in contrast to control cells from which the polypeptides are not precipitated. The polypeptides which share an epitope and are co-precipitated are of MWs 90,000 (a doublet), 40,000 and 32,000.

Uncontrolled nuclear division in normal x transformed somatic cell hybrids.

Uncontrolled nuclear division (UND), as indicated by progressive multinucleation when cell division is inhibited by cytochalasin B, is a very characteristic property of transformed cells growing in vitro. In an attempt to determine the genetic basis for this transformation phenotype we have produced a series of somatic cell hybrids between different transformed and normal cells. In all hybrids there was suppression of UND but in some this was only transient.

A study of HPV 1, 2 and 4 antibody prevalence in patients presenting for treatment with cutaneous warts to general practitioners in N. Ireland.

Three hundred and seventy-six patients attending their general practitioner with cutaneous warts at five health centres in Northern Ireland were screened for human papilloma virus (HPV) types 1 and 2 IgM antibody using an indirect immunofluorescence test. Eight-eight (23.4%) patients were positive for HPV type 1 IgM and 156 (41.