Primary localised pleural neurofibroma: expanding the spectrum of spindle cell tumours of the pleura.

Aims: Primary localised pleural neoplasms are a rare group of thoracic tumours, with solitary fibrous tumour representing the most frequently encountered entity. Two cases of localised pleural neurofibromas involving the pleura are described.

Methods And Results: The patients were both female: 78 and 29 years of age.

Effect of neutralizing antibodies to IL-10 and C5 on the renal damage caused by a pathogenic human anti-dsDNA antibody.

Objectives: There is considerable evidence suggesting that anti-double-stranded deoxyribonucleic acid (anti-dsDNA) antibodies are involved in the pathogenesis of lupus nephritis. It was shown previously using severe combined immune deficient (SCID) mice that when the hybridomas secreting human immunoglobulin G (IgG) anti-dsDNA antibodies, RH14 and DIL-6, were implanted intraperitoneally the antibodies produced by RH14, but not DIL-6, deposited in the kidneys, caused pathological changes in the renal tissues and induced proteinuria. In this study we have further analysed the effect of activated terminal complement proteins and interleukin-10 (IL-10) in the pathogenesis of glomerulonephritis caused by the RH-14.

[Current opinion on diagnosis of primary Sjögren's syndrome].

For many years, Sjögren's syndrome was a purely descriptive diagnosis of symptoms such as xerostomia and dry eye (sicca syndrome). The different classification criteria proposed for Sjögren's syndrome comprise a rather variable spectrum of diagnostic possibilities, at one extreme of which we find an array of exclusively objective parameters while, at the other extreme, the objective parameters and patients' symptoms balance out. Improved accuracy in the diagnosis of Sjögren's syndrome can be attained only through the combination of a symptoms questionnaire, histopathology, scintigraphy or sialography or evaluation of the unstimulated salivary flow and specific autoantibodies.

A primary tumour of the oesophagus with both melanocytic and schwannian differentiation. Melanocytic schwannoma or malignant melanoma?

A 76 year old white woman presented with a four month history of dysphagia and weight loss. Clinical, radiological, and endoscopic examination revealed a pigmented mass in the lower third of the oesophagus. The preoperative diagnosis, including biopsy examination, was that of malignant melanoma.

The renal pathology of primary antiphospholipid syndrome: a distinctive form of endothelial injury.

Some features of the vascular and glomerular pathology of primary antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) are well recognized, but we describe novel glomerular ultrastructural changes that we consider to be pathognomonic of APS. Renal biopsies from eight patients with APS were examined by light and electron microscopy. All had anti-cardiolipin antibodies, and the clinical presentation ranged from fulminant multi-system disease to isolated proteinuria.

Genetic, structural and functional properties of an IgG DNA-binding monoclonal antibody from a lupus patient with nephritis.

Antibodies binding to double-stranded (ds) DNA are strongly associated with renal involvement in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We have generated two new IgG DNA-binding monoclonal antibodies (mAb), RH-14 and DIL-6, from the peripheral blood lymphocytes of two SLE patients with glomerulonephritis using the heteromyeloma cell line CB-F7. RH-14 is an IgG1 lambda antibody which also bound to single-stranded DNA, histones and nucleosomes.

Cyclosporin nephrotoxicity in heart and lung transplant patients.

Twenty-two patients with heart, lung or heart and lung transplants maintained on cyclosporin for periods ranging from 3 months to 10 years developed renal insufficiency which was investigated by renal biopsy. The histopathological changes were: (i) severe vascular and glomerular damage due to thrombotic microangiopathy (TM); (ii) a form of focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS); (iii) glomerular ischaemia. Rather than being separate entities, these changes appeared to represent a spectrum of pathology, some biopsies showing all three forms of glomerular injury.

Scleredema diabeticorum of Buschke confined to the thighs.

We describe a patient with insulin-dependent diabetes without vascular complications in whom scleredema was confined to the thighs. Electron microscopy demonstrated heterogeneity in both the size and density of the collagen fibrils and the presence of filamentous material between them.

Human IgG anti-DNA antibodies deposit in kidneys and induce proteinuria in SCID mice.

We investigated the capacity of five human monoclonal IgG anti-DNA antibodies derived from lupus patients to produce glomerular immune deposits. The hybridomas secreting these antibodies were administered intraperitoneally to severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) mice. Three of the five antibodies (B3, 35.

The lymphoepithelial lesion of gastric low-grade B-cell lymphoma of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT): an ultrastructural study.

Lymphoepithelial lesions are a characteristic feature of primary, gastric low-grade lymphomas of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT). The lymphoepithelial lesions in 12 such lymphomas have been examined by electronmicroscopy and immunohistochemistry. The lymphocytes present in these lesions are neoplastic centrocyte-like (CCL) B-cells and are morphologically and immunophenotypically similar to those of the surrounding lymphoma.

Properties of human thymic B cells.

B cells, distinct from those seen in myasthenia gravis, are present in normal human thymic medulla, concentrated around the Hassall's corpuscles. We have shown that they constitute 33 +/- 4.8% of the total cells in the thymic medulla.

The differential diagnosis of epithelial-type mesothelioma from adenocarcinoma and reactive mesothelial proliferation.

Three monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) have been applied to 14 adenocarcinomas, eight mesotheliomas, and nine reactive mesothelial proliferations. One of these, AUA1, is a novel antibody in this context. It was found in 13/14 of the adenocarcinomas but not in benign or malignant mesothelial tissue, making it a potential substitute for carcinoembyronic antigen (CEA) in the differential diagnosis of mesotheliomas from adenocarcinomas.

Multicystic structures appearing in mature cystic teratomas of the ovary: an immunohistochemical and ultrastructural study.

Multicystic or sieve-like areas are frequently present in the walls of mature cystic ovarian teratomas. This histological, immunohistochemical and ultrastructural study supports the contention that such cysts arise from oleous material which has been extravasated through the cyst wall and become lodged within fibrous tissue and small blood vessels. Some cysts may also arise from degenerate sebaceous glands.

The development of ependyma in the human fetal brain: an immunohistological and electron microscopic study.

The stratified inner layer of the embryonic fetal brain, the ventricular zone (VZ), contains glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)-positive cell bodies of radial glia. The adult cerebral ventricle is lined by a single layer of cuboidal, ciliated common ependymal cells which are, immunohistologically, GFAP negative. In late gestation, the ventricular lining is formed by tanycytes, ependymal cells with short, intensely GFAP-positive basal fibres.

Elastic fibres in patients with systemic sclerosis. A morphological study.

Dermal elastic fibres in biopsies taken from sun-exposed involved digital skin and sun-protected uninvolved skin on the medial aspect of the upper arms from 13 patients with systemic sclerosis were examined by light and transmission electron microscopy. For controls, biopsies were taken from similar sites from 4 age- and sex-matched healthy volunteers and 4 patients with primary Raynaud's phenomenon. On light microscopy only the control digital biopsies showed mild actinic changes of the elastic fibres whereas in all the biopsies from patients with systemic sclerosis identical changes of thickening, clumping and fragmentation of the elastic fibres were observed.

HIV replicates in cultured human brain cells.

Adherent human embryo brain cells have been infected with HIV. Cells replicating HIV were maintained in culture for seven sequential passes over 7 months and continued to produce HIV during that time. Human embryo brain cells displayed glial-cell morphology and expressed glial fibrillary acidic protein.

Pernicious anaemia and mucosal endocrine cell proliferation of the non-antral stomach.

There is a recognised association between pernicious anaemia and the development of gastric carcinoma, endocrine cell hyperplasia, and carcinoid tumour. Multiple endoscopic biopsies from the body mucosa of seven patients with pernicious anaemia showed small intestinal metaplasia with varying degrees of inflammation, fibrosis, and expansion of the lamina propria. Using conventional silver and lead stains, endocrine cells were inconspicuous.

Serotonin-immunoreactive cells in the lamina propria plexus of the appendix.

The lamina propria of the human appendix possesses a recently defined ganglionated neural plexus with neurosecretory-type component cells. In order to elucidate the functional role of this plexus, immunohistochemical light and electron microscopic studies were performed on 21 appendixes. By light microscopy, 18 specimens showed within the lamina propria neuron-like and neurosecretory-type cells that stained positively with lead hematoxylin and were positive for serotonin.

The effects of oestrogen administration on tryptophan metabolism in rats and in menopausal women receiving hormone replacement therapy.

The effects of the administration of oestrogens on the activity of hepatic tryptophan oxygenase have been assessed both directly (by measurement of enzyme activity in vitro) and indirectly (by measurement of urinary excretion of tryptophan metabolites) in rats, and indirectly in menopausal women receiving hormone replacement therapy. Intraperitoneal administration of 500 micrograms of oestradiol or ethinyl oestradiol/kg body wt had no effect on the activity of tryptophan oxygenase in homogenates of liver from mature (13-week-old) female rats. Both adrenalectomy and ovariectomy led to a reduction in the activity of tryptophan oxygenase in homogenates of liver from mature rats; again there was no effect of giving 500 micrograms of oestradiol/kg body wt by intraperitoneal injection.

Fine structure of a neuroendocrine complex in the mucosa of the appendix.

The fine structure of a neuroendocrine complex within the lamina propria of the human appendix is described. This complex contains four types of neurosecretory cells, occasional neurons, Schwann cells, and numerous nerve processes, including axons with varicose swellings. Few of the axons form true synapses, but many make some junctional contact with the neurosecretory cells and with other nerve processes.

Immunohistochemical staining of granular cell tumour for neurone specific enolase: evidence in support of a neural origin.

Eight cases of benign granular cell tumour of tongue and skin all showed immunohistochemical staining for neurone specific enolase (NSE). Four Schwannomas, two neurofibromas and Schwann cells of nerves related to these tumours and the granular cell tumours showed no staining for NSE. NSE is a marker for neuronal type cells of the nervous system and cells of the neuroendocrine system.