Well differentiated thyroid carcinoma is associated with human lymphocyte antigen D-related 11 in Eastern Hungarians: a case of changing circumstances.

Background: Using serologic human lymphocyte antigen (HLA) typing, the authors previously described a strong association between well differentiated thyroid carcinoma and HLA D-related 1 (HLA-DR1) in a population of unselected patients from Eastern Hungary.

Methods: In the current study, the authors used polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformational polymorphism to determine the HLA-DR type in 75 patients with well differentiated thyroid carcinoma from the same area as their previous population, and they compared the current results with the results from a group of 170 healthy controls.

Results: A significant increase in HLA-DR11, rather than HLA-DR1, was observed in patients with well differentiated thyroid carcinoma among a population of patients from the same area that was studied previously.

No mutations in the translated region of exon 1 in the TSH receptor in Graves' thyroid glands.

We have amplified a 285 base pair by nested polymerase chain reaction 38 nucleotide downstream from the most 5' transcription initiation site (7) encoding 55 of the 57 residues of exon 1 of the human TSH receptor. These DNA were amplified from 10 tissue blocks of thyroid tissue removed at subtotal thyroidectomy from 10 patients with Graves' disease. The amplified 285 nucleotide fragments were sequenced in search of mutations in the coding region of exon 1 and polymorphism in the 120 nucleotides of the untranslated region upstream of the first ATG codon.

Clinical and family studies in Hungarian patients with gout.

In this study we examined 22 Hungarian male probands with gout and 105 of their first degree relatives. This was the first family study in Hungary in which the characteristics of distribution of gout and hyperuricaemia among patients with gout and their first degree relatives, as well as the possible correlation between the prevalence of the disease and MHC class I antigens was investigated. Our gout patients showed the following characteristics: (1) There was a typical onset after age 40, benign oligoarticular form of arthritis, underexcretion of uric acid, moderate hypertension without evidence of reduced renal function, and a relatively high frequency of hyperostosis.

HLA-DR1 is associated with vitiligo.

In Eastern Hungary, vitiligo is found to be associated with HLA-DR1. When other autoimmune disorders are also present, DR3 is also increased.

Phagocytosis of autologous platelets by human neutrophil granulocytes.

The phenomenon that the autologous human platelets can be phagocytosed in vitro by neutrophils and monocytes of healthy human donors (being free of antiplatelet autoantibodies) was demonstrated earlier. In this study we have confirmed electron microscopically the phenomenon of phagocytosis. Besides, using flow cytometric analysis, we have shown that a possible way for the bridge-formation between the washed platelets and neutrophils can be the linkage via IgG + C3b complexes bound to the Fc receptors of platelets.