Lens-epithelial derived growth factor (LEDGF/DFS70) autoantibodies result in the commonly observed dense fine speckled (DFS) pattern by anti-nuclear antibody (ANA) assay. However, there is no consensus approach for confirmation of this autoantibody specificity. To evaluate current approaches, we examined inter-assay agreement between six anti-LEDGF/DFS70 assays.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To comparatively analyse the aberrant affinity maturation of the antinuclear and rheumatoid factor (RF) B cell repertoires in blood and tissues of patients with Sjögren's syndrome (SjS) using an integrated omics workflow.
Methods: Peptide sequencing of anti-Ro60, anti-Ro52, anti-La and RF was combined with B cell repertoire analysis at the DNA, RNA and single cell level in blood B cell subsets, affected salivary gland and extranodal marginal zone lymphomas of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) of patients with SjS.
Results: Affected tissues contained anti-Ro60, anti-Ro52, anti-La and RF clones as a small part of a polyclonal infiltrate.
J Pediatr Endocrinol Metab
December 2013
We present a case of late diagnosis of an adolescent female with Cushing's disease or excess glucocorticoid secretion due to the presence of an adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) secreting tumor on the pituitary. Her main complaints at first presentation in 2008 were short stature and weight gain. Although these are the main criteria for testing for Cushing's syndrome outlined by the 2008 Endocrine Society guidelines, they were not enough to lead to a timely diagnosis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMackay and Burnet's Autoimmune diseases, published in 1962, marked the beginning of autoimmunity as a clinical science and led to the future acceptance of the existence of autoimmunity. While there is still controversy regarding the mechanisms of autoimmunity, the authors' insightful hypothesis based on clonal selection theory and the emergence of "forbidden clones", due to somatic mutations, is still current, with recent evidence giving further credence to this hypothesis. We salute Mackay and Burnet on the 50th anniversary of this seminal publication.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMultiple sclerosis (MS) is a relatively common disease of young adults. Patients with MS can have a wide range of symptoms and may develop significant disability. The cause of MS is unknown, but immunological mechanisms are important.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPhysiological techniques can be used to detect novel autoantibodies causing alteration of autonomic function after passive transfer to mice. Previously, such antibodies have been detected in patients with type I diabetes mellitus, myasthenia gravis, and Sjogren's syndrome. We now describe a patient with an idiopathic nondiabetic neuropathy with prominent autonomic symptoms, including bladder and bowel dysfunction.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To analyze the performance of different commercial enzyme immunoassay (EIA) kits for measuring antinuclear antibodies (ANA) specific for dsDNA, SSB/La, Sm, and Scl-70.
Methods: EIA kits for detection of ANA from 9 commercial manufacturers were evaluated. The manufacturers were advised that they would be sent coded sera containing mixtures of the Arthritis Foundation/Centers for Disease Control reference reagents, and that they were to use their own test kits to analyze the antibody specificities of these sera and to report the data, in optical density (OD) units or their equivalent.
Systemic autoimmune diseases are characterized by the production of high titer autoantibodies specific for ubiquitous nuclear self-Ags such as DNA, Sm, and La (SS-B), so the normal mechanisms of B cell tolerance to disease-associated nuclear Ags have been of great interest. Mechanisms of B cell tolerance include deletion, anergy, developmental arrest, receptor editing, and B cell differentiation to the B-1 subtype. However, recent studies in our laboratory have suggested that B cell tolerance to the nuclear autoantigen La is limited in normal mice, and tolerance may reside primarily in the T cell compartment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA novel postmenopausal nonhuman primate model consisting of healthy young and old ovariectomized rhesus macaques was used to assess the short-term immunomodulatory effects of transdermally administered estrogen and progesterone. Specifically, we determined estrogen- and progesterone-induced changes in absolute numbers of circulating lymphocytes (B lymphocytes, CD4+ lymphocytes, and CD8+ lymphocytes) as well as lymphocytes expressing the activation markers CD25 and CD69. In addition, we assessed B and T lymphocyte activity, i.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAm J Primatol
January 1990
Data obtained over a 7.5 year period from a captive group of sooty mangabeys were analyzed to examine the relationship between demographic variables and reproductive events. Perineal swelling and reproductive data collected from 67 females contributed to the analyses.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe incidence of wounding in captive groups of rhesus (Macaca mulatta), pigtail (M. nemestrina), and stumptail (M. arctoides) macaques was studied for 21 months.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis paper describes the survival rates of 763 rhesus monkeys maintained at the Yerkes Regional Primate Research Center (YRPRC). The survival rates were determined by methods used to calculate survival rates of human populations. The monkeys were divided into 3 groups based on their specific life histories.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFYoung, sexually mature female rhesus monkeys copulate on more days prior to conception than do older females, and this prolonged discrete mating period is associated with an earlier rise in serum estradiol prior to the first ovulation of the breeding season. The influence of repeated ovulatory cycles and the presence of a suckling infant on the copulatory patterns were examined in two separate analyses. Extending previous work, young, nulliparous females copulated on more days at the first ovulation of the breeding season than did older, multiparous females.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSixty-five interactions where an adult male carried an infant in the proximity of a second male were observed during a 19-mo period in a captive sooty mangabey (Cercocebus atys) social group. The behavior was distributed nonrandomly in both the adult male and infant classes. In all but three of the interactions, the recently deposed alpha male carried an infant in the presence of the newly ascendant dominant male.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAggressive behavior by an adult male toward selected infants and their mothers was observed during a long-term study of reproduction in a captive social group of sooty mangabeys (Cercocebus atys). The highest-ranking adult male in this group was observed to attack and bite three neonates out of a total of 13 infants born in 1982. All three attacks were directed attacks in which infants were grabbed from their mothers and bitten in the head.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDescriptions of the sexual behavior of social-living rhesus monkeys have indicated that mating patterns are characterized by the formation of consort pairs (mutually exclusive male-female associations) and also that females typically mate with multiple males. These reports raise the question of whether these are two different mating strategies or merely sequential phases in a unitary mating pattern. In order to examine this issue, the copulatory behavior of 27 adult females living in a heterosexual group housed in an outdoor compound was monitored both by group scan and focal sampling technique.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe copulatory behavior of a social group of 18 stumptail macaques was observed for 171 hours over a period of 5 months. The occurrence of copulation and several quantitative measures of copulation were compared using sampling periods of 2 hours daily and continuous dawn-to-dusk observation. In this environment copulation was found to occur in brief bouts of relatively short duration.
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