Hereditary C1q deficiency and systemic lupus erythematosus.

We describe a 27-year-old women with systemic lupus erythematosus, C1q deficiency and cytomegalovirus retinitis. She suffered from severe SLE, with cutaneous and CNS involvement, and died of CNS disease aged 28. Review of 29 other published cases of C1q deficiency shows that SLE in these patients is often severe (five with CNS disease, ten with glomerulonephritis).

Induction of endogenous human cytomegalovirus gene expression after differentiation of monocytes from healthy carriers.

Monocytes are one site of carriage of the human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) genome in healthy human carriers. However, as there are conflicting data detailing the level of HCMV gene expression during persistence in these cells, we have analyzed monocytes for evidence of viral immediate-early, early, and late transcription by using reverse transcription followed by PCR. We were unable to find evidence of HCMV lytic gene transcription in freshly isolated peripheral blood monocytes from HCMV-seropositive subjects.

Subsets of CD8+, CD57+ cells in normal, healthy individuals: correlations with human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) carrier status, phenotypic and functional analyses.

Two different subsets of CD8+, CD57+ cells have been defined, one expressing high levels (CD8high+(CD57+)), the other expressing low levels of surface CD8 (CD8low+(CD57+)). Increased numbers of CD8high+(CD57+) cells correlated with previous HCMV infection. By three-colour fluorescence analysis, the CD8high+(CD57+) population expressed T cell markers such as CD3 and CD5, and most were alpha beta T cell receptor (alpha beta TCR)-positive.

Polymorphonuclear cells are not sites of persistence of human cytomegalovirus in healthy individuals.

Polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNL) have been shown to harbour human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) in viraemic patients, but to date PMNL of asymptomatic healthy subjects have not been examined directly to determine whether this is a normal site of HCMV persistence. Using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), paired DNA samples prepared from adherent peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), which are known to be a site of persistence of HCMV, and PMNL of 10 healthy adults were analysed. All of seven individuals who were HCMV seropositive, and one of three who were seronegative gave a reproducible signal for HCMV DNA in their adherent PBMC, whereas none of the paired PMNL DNA samples gave a positive result.

A significant age shift of the human parvovirus B19 antibody prevalence among young adults in Japan observed in a decade.

A seroepidemiological study on human parvovirus (B19) in Japan was undertaken with serum samples randomly collected from healthy Japanese populations (416 in 1973, 675 in 1984 and 508 in 1987/88). All samples were tested for anti-B19 IgG antibody by the indirect antigen-capture ELISA. The antibody prevalence for ages 0-9 years old in 1984 was significantly higher (16%) than that in 1973 (2%), whereas those for ages 20-29 years and 30-39 years were significantly lower in 1984 (20% and 56%) than in 1973 (67% and 80%) (p < 0.

Repression of human cytomegalovirus major immediate early gene expression in a monocytic cell line.

We have previously shown that a major site of persistence of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) in healthy carriers is in peripheral blood monocytes. However, monocytes are difficult to infect in vitro with HCMV, and HCMV gene expression cannot be reproducibly detected in peripheral blood cells of healthy carriers. Here we show that the monocytic cell line THP1 is non-permissive for HCMV infection due to a block in expression of the HCMV major immediate early (IE) promoter.

Monocytes are a major site of persistence of human cytomegalovirus in peripheral blood mononuclear cells.

We have used the nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) combined with fluorescence-activated cell sorting to define sites of latency of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) in the peripheral blood of healthy subjects. Peripheral blood mononuclear (PBM) cells were separated into T cell or non-T cell populations and monocytes, and were then analysed by PCR for the presence of HCMV DNA. In five of six seropositive subjects, HCMV was found predominantly in the non-T cell population.

Varicella-zoster virus prevalence in Japan: no significant change in a decade.

A seroepidemiologic time-comparison study was conducted to evaluate changes in IgG antibody to varicella-zoster virus (VZV) and to determine VZV prevalence in Japan with randomly collected serum samples from two healthy Japanese populations: 1973 (n = 670) vs. 1984 (n = 677). Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was found to be superior to the immune adherence hemagglutination test (IAHA) especially for detecting seropositivity in adults.

Seroepidemiology of hepatitis A virus in Japan.

A seroepidemiologic study to detect class-specific antibody against hepatitis A virus (HAV) was made with 831 randomly collected sera (415 in 1973 and 416 in 1984) from healthy Japanese. Competitive-inhibition, IgG, IgA, and IgM anti-HAV enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) were used. Both collections showed a low prevalence of IgG anti-HAV in young age groups and it increased rapidly at middle age and plateued at greater than or equal to 94% prevalence in the older age groups.

Varicella in day care centers.

Spread of varicella in day care is controlled by excluding children at the first signs of illness. Exclusion is generally ineffective. Minimally ill children might be permitted to attend day care.

Risk of herpes zoster in children with leukemia: varicella vaccine compared with history of chickenpox.

A study was undertaken to determine whether children immunized with live varicella vaccine are at greater risk of acquiring herpes zoster than children who have had varicella. Children with acute lymphocytic leukemia who had had varicella were compared with those who received live varicella vaccine. During the period of observation, 15 of 73 children who had varicella acquired herpes zoster and none of the 34 children who had been vaccinated.

Effect of transfusions on serologic testing for antibody to varicella.

Serologic testing of patients with acute lymphocytic leukemia for susceptibility to varicella was confounded by prior administration of blood products. Packed red cell transfusions produced fewer problems than plasma-rich transfusions. Seronegative individuals may be transiently seropositive for several weeks.