Lysis of P3HR-1 cells induced to enter the viral cycle by antibody-dependent and independent immunological mechanisms.

The P3HR-1 Burkitt lymphoma line carries the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) genome and a small proportion of the cells (1-3%) enter the lytic cycle spontaneously. Treatment with TPA and n-butyrate elevates considerably the number of virus-producing cells (25-35%). Cells which enter the lytic cycle express the EBV early antigen EA, the viral capsid antigen VCA, and the membrane antigen MA.

[Primary hyperparathyroidism: clinical and laboratory spectrum].

The authors analyze clinical and laboratorial features of 13 patients with surgically confirmed primary hyperparathyroidism (HPT). Among them, 8 presented renal lithiasis, 7 had bone disease, and 2 had both. All patients were hypercalcemic and had elevated serum carboxyterminal levels of PTH.

Ligands of CR2 do not interfere with C3 fragment fixation or enhanced NK sensitivity of Raji cells treated with human serum.

Raji cells activate the alternative complement pathway (ACP) and fix C3 fragments when incubated in human serum (HS). Earlier experiments have shown that CR2 molecules are involved in this phenomenon and the opsonized cells have elevated sensitivity to the lytic effect of CR3-bearing NK cells. We show here that Raji cells treated with CR2 site-specific ligands, (C3d, OKB-7 and HB-5 mAbs, and a synthetic peptide which binds to CR2) generated and bound C3 fragments after exposure to HS.

Requirement of leukocytic cell adhesion molecules (CD11a-c/CD18) in the enhanced NK lysis of iC3b-opsonized targets.

Treatment of Raji or Daudi cells with human serum under conditions which allow the alternative pathway of C activation results in their C3-opsonization and enhanced sensitivity to NK-mediated lysis. The effector lymphocytes have low buoyant density, carry CD16 and HNK1 markers as well as the CD11a-c/CD18 leukocytic cell adhesion molecules. One of these molecules, made up of CD11b-CD18 (alpha- and beta-chains), is also the receptor for iC3b.

Staphylococcus aureus skin carriage and development of peritonitis in patients on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis.

We conducted a 15-month prospective study to investigate the skin carriage of Staphylococcus aureus and the development of peritonitis in 43 patients undergoing continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). Sixteen of 43 patients (37%) were chronic carriers of S. aureus in the anterior nares and/or in the exit-site of the catheter; 12 patients (28%) were intermittent carriers, and 15 (35%) were noncarriers.

Elevated NK-mediated lysis of Raji and Daudi cells carrying fixed iC3b fragments.

Raji and Daudi cells were opsonized with C3b, iC3b, and C3d fragments by using purified complement components. The sensitivity of C3-opsonized cells to lysis mediated by low density blood lymphocytes was studied. Raji and Daudi cells carrying C3b or C3d fragments were lysed with similar efficiencies as the nonopsonized cells.

[Nutritional assessment of chronic renal patients in hemodialysis programs. A multicenter study].

The food intake and the nutritional status of 100 chronic renal failure patients on maintenance hemodialysis in 10 facilities in the city of São Paulo were studied. The average food intake obtained through 3 days of dietary diaries showed a caloric intake of 26.6 +/- 10kcal/kg/day (mean +/- SD), 24% below the minimum daily caloric intake recommendation and a protein intake of 1.

Urography versus DMSA scan in children with vesicoureteric reflux.

Following the diagnosis of primary vesicoureteric reflux, identified as part of the investigation of urinary tract infection, 299 refluxing kidneys in 202 children (aged 0-14 years) were prospectively evaluated using intravenous urography (IVU) and the DMSA renal scan at least 4 weeks after urine infection. There was 88% concordance between IVU and the DMSA scan, but in 12% there were discrepancies manifested in 37 kidneys from 31 children. Thirty-four kidneys were normal on IVU but showed scars of reflux nephropathy (RN) on the technetium 99m--dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) renal scan; 4 of these (2 infants and 2 pre-school children) had severe generalized changes on scanning.

Lymphocytes stimulated by allogeneic B cell lines cleave the third component of complement and fix C3 fragments. Their nonspecific lytic capacity is elevated against complement receptor type 2-carrying targets.

Human blood lymphocytes stimulated in mixed cultures by allogeneic B cell lines were shown to cleave C3 molecules. The B cell lines were derived from Burkitt lymphoma patients: 1) established from their EBV-negative lymphoma, 2) the EBV-positive sublines converted in vitro, and 3) lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCL) i.e.

Characterization of circulating immune complexes detected by monoclonal rheumatoid factor and conglutinin radioimmunoassays in SLE nephritis.

By utilizing a monoclonal rheumatoid factor (mRF) and bovine conglutinin (K) in radioimmunoassays, ICs detected in sera of patients with lupus nephritis were partially characterized. The mRF-RIA detected high levels of ICs in 86.9% of patients with active SLE and in only 22.

Glomerular hematuria in diabetics.

Three hundred and twenty outpatients with diabetes mellitus (DM) were studied to evaluate the prevalence, origin (glomerular or nonglomerular), significance and possible association of glomerular hematuria (GH) with other clinical and laboratory features. In patients with 24 h proteinuria equal or superior to 500 mg, hematuria was seen in 16 out of 22 (72.7%); for those with 24 h proteinuria between 150 and 500 mg 5 out of 23 (21.

Elevated NK sensitivity of Raji cells carrying acceptor-bound C3 fragments.

The majority of cell lines derived from Burkitt lymphomas carry CR2 on their plasma membrane cell lines of haematopoietic origin can activate C3 present in human serum through the alternative pathway. However, only the lines that carry CR2 were shown to bind C3 fragments. This bond can be either fixation to acceptor sites or attachment to the CR.

The elevated natural killer sensitivity of targets carrying surface-attached C3 fragments require the availability of the iC3b receptor (CR3) on the effectors.

Human serum-treated Raji and Daudi cells were shown to bind C3 fragments on their surface as a consequence of their capacity to activate C via the alternative pathway. C3 molecules were detectable on the cell surfaces up to 24 h after serum exposure. The C3 fragment-coated cells showed increased sensitivity to spontaneous lymphocyte-mediated cytotoxicity.

Diabetes mellitus and hypertension. State of the art lecture.

In rats with streptozotocin-induced diabetes an increase in arterial blood pressure was observed as early as the first week after the drug was injected. Blood pressure reached maximal values around the fourth week and remained stable for a long period of follow-up. The responsiveness of these rats to the three major vasopressor hormones, angiotensin II, norepinephrine, and vasopressin, was decreased in the early phase of diabetes and returned to normal in the late phase.

Pindolol, not propranolol, reverses cardiac hypertrophy in renal hypertensive rats.

Reversal of cardiac hypertrophy has been obtained by treatment with some antihypertensive drugs but has not been achieved consistently with beta blockers. To investigate whether this difference might be explained by the distinct hemodynamic actions of the drugs, we studied the effects of propranolol and pindolol, beta blockers with distinct modes of action, on cardiac hypertrophy of hypertensive male Wistar rats, two-kidney, one clip (2K1C) Goldblatt model (n = 33) and sham-operated control rats (n = 34). We also assessed the effects of such therapies on the ventricular pumping ability during open-chest, transient aortic occlusion.

Hypertension. A major public health problem in Brazil.

Data collected from various geographical areas show that hypertension is a major public health problem in Brazil. Hypertension is estimated to occur in over 8 million Brazilians and cardiovascular disease-related mortality figures, to which hypertension is a major contributor, increased from 11.8% of the total mortality rate in 1930 to 30.

Acute hemodynamic action of captopril in congestive heart failure: contrasts between refractory and untreated patients.

To compare the hemodynamic mode of action of captopril in patients with Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) with high- or low-plasma renin activity, we studied the systemic and renal hemodynamic changes induced by this drug in patients with refractory CHF (Group I) or untreated CHF (Group II). Plasma Renin Activity (PRA) was 7.46 +/- 3.

Consequences of reversal of hypertensive cardiac hypertrophy by captopril on left ventricular pumping ability and performance.

Left ventricular hypertrophy can be reversed by treatment of hypertension with captopril but the consequences of this regression are not yet fully described. We studied the maximal capacity of the hypertrophied and hypertrophy-reversed ventricle to generate pressure during transient total occlusion of the aorta, and also the left ventricular end-diastolic pressure required to meet this maximal effort. Two-kidney, one clip Goldblatt (renal hypertensive rats; RHR) hypertension was induced in 17 Wistar rats, eight of which were treated with captopril (RHR-C: 50 mg/kg given orally) from the fourth to the eighth week.

Glomerular hemodynamics and hormonal participation on cyclosporine nephrotoxicity.

The mechanism of cyclosporine A (CyA) nephrotoxicity is unclear. In order to evaluate renal microcirculation seven euvolemic Munich-Wistar (MW) rats were studied after acute CyA treatment (50 mg/kg, i.v.

Alternative pathway of complement activation by stimulated T lymphocytes. II. Elevation of cytotoxic potential against complement receptor-carrying cell lines.

Exposure of lectin-stimulated (concanavalin A, phytohemagglutinin and pokeweed mitogen) blood lymphocytes to human serum or to purified C3 increased their cytotoxic capacity towards complement receptor positive targets such as Raji and Daudi cells. The lysis of complement receptor-negative lymphoblastoid cell lines was not influenced. The lytic capacity of lymphocytes exposed to 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate was not elevated by human serum.

Alternative pathway of complement activation by stimulated T lymphocytes. I. Binding of C3 fragments.

Human blood lymphocytes cultured for 3 days with concanavalin A (Con A), phytohemagglutinin or pokeweed mitogen, in mixed lymphocyte culture with added interleukin 2 and stimulated by a lymphoblastoid cell line were found to activate and bind C3 molecules when exposed to human serum. The split products of C3 were detected in the supernatants and on the surface of the activated cells. The surface-attached C3 fragment on the Con A blast was identified as C3b by immune adherence i.