Effects of danazol on endothelial cell function and angiogenesis.

Objective: To determine the effects of the androgen-like synthetic steroid, danazol, on endothelial cell function and angiogenesis.

Design: In vitro cell culture models were designed to investigate three critical steps involved in angiogenesis: endothelial cell proliferation, invasion, and tube formation.

Setting: Research laboratory at a level one trauma center.

Autoantibody reaction to myelin basic protein by plasma parvovirus B19 IgG in MS patients.

The etiology of multiple sclerosis (MS) remains unclear. To determine if autoantibodies to myelin basic protein (MBP) are produced during parvovirus B19 infection, a competitive ELISA was performed using plasma from MS patients exhibiting high IgG titers for parvovirus. Our results showed the addition of MBP decreased the binding of IgG to B19 antigen in a dose dependent fashion suggesting a possible link between parvovirus B19 and a subset of patients with clinical MS.