Phytochemical Characterization and In Vitro Anti-Inflammatory, Antioxidant and Antimicrobial Activity of Fresen Leaves Extracts from Benin.

Leaves from Fresen (Combretaceae) are commonly used for the treatment of inflammatory conditions, wound healing and bacterial infections in traditional West African medicine. This research focuses on the characterization of the phenolic profile and lipophilic compounds of leaves extracts of . Studies of the in vitro anti-inflammatory activity were performed in TNFα stimulated HaCaT cells and antibacterial activity was evaluated with agar well diffusion and microdilution assays.

Characterization of a homogeneous paraprotein from a horse with spontaneous multiple myeloma syndrome.

A novel myeloma paraprotein has been isolated from a horse with a lymphoid tumor. The protein was a euglobulin and consequently was readily isolated from serum in pure form and high yield by simple dilution in distilled water. The purified intact protein had a molecular weight of 150,000 and was composed of heavy and light chains, both of which had blocked amino-termini and were thus not susceptible to amino-terminal sequence analysis.

The genetic control of antibody formation.

Studies of the molecular biology of lymphoid cells have markedly increased our understanding of how millions of different antibodies can be synthesized by a single animal. To date, the most detailed understanding has been achieved for the mouse, primarily because of the relatively greater experimental availability of this species. These studies, as well as those involving other species, have shown that the complete genes for antibody polypeptide chains are assembled from disparate genetic elements which are originally widely separated in the genome.

Immunoglobulin structure and function: genetic control of antibody diversity.

Recent studies of the molecular biological characteristics of lymphoid cells have markedly increased our understanding of how millions of different antibodies can be synthesized by an individual mammal. In particular, studies have shown how antibody genes are arranged and rearranged within B-lymphocyte clones to provide each cell clone with antibody of defined specificity for antigen. The process involves the assembly, from disparate genetic elements, of a complete antibody gene that will code for an antibody protein.

Quantitative determination of allotypic and idiotypic markers with antisera coupled to N-hydroxysuccinimide-activated sepharose.

N-hydroxysuccinimide activated Sepharose beads (HAS) were used to immobilize allotypic and idiotypic antisera for use in radioimmunoassays. These HAS antisera were compared to antisera solidified with ethylchloroformate (ECF) with respect to their reactivity, specificity, and ability to detect subspecificities of the group a allotypes. The HAS antisera rated favorably in all comparisons with ECF antisera and are far superior with respect to ease of preparation and retention of antibody activity.

Detection of idiotypic cross-reactions among streptococcal antisera from related rabbits.

Idiotypic cross-reactions among antibodies to Group C streptococcal carbohydrate were studied using idiotypic antisera prepared in allotypically matched rabbits. Antibodies with idiotypic cross-specificity to one proband antibody were detected in 58% of the antisera from related rabbits, while approximately 1% of nonrelated rabbits produced antibody with this specificity. The cross-specificity was related to the group a (V(H)) allotype of 133 rabbits tested with only one exception.

Diverse expression of group a allotype specificities on the heavy chains of homogeneous rabbit antibodies.

Variations in the ability of homogeneous antibodies to absorb group a allotype antisera suggest that these V(H) region allotypes comprise a spectrum of specificities. While no homogeneous antibody tested would completely absorb antisera to the group a specificities, the total IgG preparations from individual rabbits was capable of doing so, including preimmune IgG from the rabbits that produced the homogeneous antibodies. Differences in the serologic reactivities of homogeneous antibodies indicate that each possesses only a portion of the spectrum of the allotypic specificities expressed by the total IgG.