Autoantibodies profile of rheumatoid arthritis patients during treatment with infliximab.

Purpose: Therapy with TNFa blocking agents has been associated with increased rate of anti-nuclear antibodies (ANA) and rare cases of lupus like syndromes. Our aim was to prospectively analyze a wide array of autoantibodies in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients before and 14 weeks after starting infliximab.

Material And Methods: In this study, 26 consecutive active RA patients participated.

Undiagnosed systemic lupus erythematosus in a cohort of infertile women.

Problem: Systemic lupus erythematosous (SLE) is a chronic disease with a broad spectrum of clinical and immunological manifestations, therefore, this condition may be frequently misdiagnosed. The current study was conducted to determine the prevalence of undiagnosed SLE among a cohort of infertile women.

Method Of Study: Screening was performed using sequential (two stage) testing, which included a self-completed questionnaire followed by an antinuclear antibody (ANA) test.

Antibody dependent cell mediated cytotoxicity and phagocytosis of senescent erythrocytes by autologous peripheral blood mononuclear cells.

Human red blood cells (RBCs) have a life span of 120 days in circulation, after which they are removed primarily by resident macrophages. Autoimmune antibodies are commonly found on effete RBCs and appear to contribute to their removal from the circulation. In this article, we focused on senescent erythrocytes and studied their removal, in comparison to young RBCs, in two RBC-depletion in vitro assays: antibody dependent cell mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) and erythrophagocytosis.

Anti-heart antibodies in postpericardiotomy syndrome: cause or epiphenomenon? A prospective, longitudinal pilot study.

Objectives: To assess the role of anti-heart antibodies (AHA) in postpericardiotomy syndrome (PPS) and the timing of their appearance in relation to the initial manifestations of PPS.

Design And Subjects: Twenty patients who were scheduled to undergo elective coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) were enrolled in a prospective, longitudinal pilot study.

Methods: Serum was sampled for AHA on the day prior to surgery and at regular intervalsfollowing surgery in all patients.

Prevalence and clinical features of dementia associated with the antiphospholipid syndrome and circulating anticoagulants.

The increasing prevalence with age of antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL), of dementia and of stroke complicates the study of a causal relationship between antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) and dementia. Prolonged aPTT due to circulating anticoagulants (CAC) may serve as a more specific laboratory marker of APS. In a hospital-based study, we examined all patients with CAC and included 23 who fulfilled standard criteria for primary APS.

Dissection of the humoral immune response toward an immunodominant epitope of HIV: a model for the analysis of antibody diversity in HIV+ individuals.

Understanding the dynamics of the humoral immune response to HIV epitopes in the presence of genetic drift and antigenic variation of the virus may reveal critical elements of protective immunity against HIV. Analysis of antibody maturation and diversity is difficult to study at the molecular level in humans. We used a combinatorial phage display peptide library to elucidate antibody diversity in HIV-infected individuals to a single immunodominant epitope in gp41.

Genotypic variation of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase and protease: comparative analysis of clade C and clade B.

Objective: To compare drug-resistant variants from untreated (naive) and treated patients infected with clade B or C virus.

Methods: Consecutive samples (165) from patients throughout Israel were analyzed. All those in the treated group were failing highly active antiretroviral therapy.

Clinical significance of low titer anti-nuclear antibodies in early rheumatoid arthritis: implications on the presentation and long-term course of the disease.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the clinical significance of anti-nuclear antibodies (ANA) detected in the early stages of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), by a retrospective comparison of the clinical, laboratory, and therapeutic characteristics of patients with or without ANA. The files of 99 longstanding seropositive RA patients were reviewed. Data relating to demographics, medical history, family history, physical findings, extra-articular complications, laboratory tests, drugs [dosage, duration.

Immunologic responses of HIV-1-infected study subjects to immunization with a mixture of peptide protein derivative-V3 loop peptide conjugates.

V3 loop peptide sequences from several HIV-1 strains were covalently linked to purified protein derivative (PPD) of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. A mixture of PPD conjugates of V3 loop peptides from six different strains of HIV-1 induced a stronger antibody response than a single V3 peptide-conjugate administered to guinea pigs and humans. Sera from animals immunized with a PPD-six peptide-PPD conjugate neutralized multiple primary-isolate strains of HIV-1.

Comparison of assays for anti-endomysial and anti-transglutaminase antibodies for diagnosis of pediatric celiac disease.

Background: Anti-endomysial antibodies are sensitive and specific markers for celiac disease. This antibody has recently been identified as an antibody to tissue transglutaminase, an enzyme that cross-links and stabilizes extracellular matrix proteins.

Objectives: To evaluate the clinical usefulness of an enzyme-linked immunoassay for anti-transglutaminase antibodies, and to compare the results with those of AEA, the current gold standard serological test for celiac disease.

Dementia and antiphospholipid antibodies.

Antiphospholipid antibodies (aPLAb) may cause both focal ischemic and diffuse brain damage and may be associated with dementia. We have examined the relationship of aPLAb to dementia in the elderly. Blood samples were obtained from 87 consecutive patients with dementia (74 +/- 11 years old) and 69 controls (78 +/- 9 years old), residents of an old age home who were not overtly demented.

Anti-HIV indeterminate western blot in dialysis patients: a long-term follow-up.

In a group of 520 patients undergoing chronic hemodialysis, 23 (4. 4%) were enzyme immunoassay (EIA) positive for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and indeterminate by Western blot (IWB) analysis. The antibodies were mostly directed against p24 and p55 antigens.

Increased intracellular accumulation of macrophage inflammatory protein 1beta and its decreased secretion correlate with advanced HIV disease.

Considering that the chemokine macrophage inflammatory protein 1beta (MIP1beta) may serve as a competitive inhibitor for HIV entry, the objective of this study was to compare intracellular and extracellular levels of MIP1beta, in untreated HIV-infected individuals. HIV patients and healthy controls were tested by two-color flow cytometry for intracellular MIP1beta, in freshly explanted CD4 and CD8 lymphocytes, and in monocytes. Sera and plasma collected on the same day were tested, respectively, by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for MIP1beta concentration and for number of HIV-RNA copies, using nucleic acid sequence-based amplification procedure (NASBA) methodology.

Clinical and immunological study of 7 patients with minocycline-induced autoimmune phenomena.

Purpose: Prolonged treatment with minocycline for acne vulgaris has been associated with the development of arthralgia, arthritis, and other autoimmune phenomena. We characterized the clinical, laboratory, and immunological profiles of seven patients with this syndrome.

Subjects And Methods: Clinically the patients were studied with special emphasis on prior minocycline treatment, presenting symptoms, physical findings, course, and outcome.

Serum amyloid type A may be a predictor of restenosis.

Background: Elevation of acute phase proteins [C-reactive protein (CRP) and serum amyloid type A (SAA)] has been demonstrated in unstable angina with an adverse clinical prognosis.

Hypothesis: The study was undertaken to determine the effect of angioplasty on the levels of SAA and the correlation with postangioplasty restenosis.

Methods: In a university-affiliated tertiary medical center, a prospective case study was undertaken in 55 patients who underwent successful percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) of a single coronary lesion for angina pectoris.

Increased intracellular macrophage inflammatory protein-1beta correlates with advanced HIV disease.

The objective of this study was to correlate between macrophage inflammatory protein-1beta (MIP1beta) and viral loads in untreated, HIV-infected individuals. For that purpose, HIV-positive patients were tested for number of copies of HIV-RNA in plasma and for intracellular MIP1beta in freshly explanted CD8 and CD4 lymphocytes and monocytes. Results demonstrate that the levels of MIP1beta in the various cell populations were significantly higher in the HIV group than in age-matched healthy individuals.

Predictive value of response to treatment of T-lymphocyte subpopulations in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

T-cell types are important in maintaining immune homeostasis in the lung and their imbalance may be associated with several diseases. We examined the relationship between bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) T-cell subset profiles and the clinical course of 46 patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). A flow cytometry cell sorter (FACS) was used to analyse the T-cell subsets.

Cytomegalovirus retinitis in patients with AIDS in Europe. AIDS in Europe Study Group.

The incidence of cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis and risk factors associated with the condition were studied in patients with the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) in a multicenter retrospective cohort study of 6458 patients from 52 centers in 17 countries in Europe. Cytomegalovirus retinitis was diagnosed in 154 patients (2.4%) at the time of AIDS diagnosis, the probability of this diagnosis being significantly higher for those with CD4+ cell counts of < 100/mm3 (3.

Autoimmune and inflammatory responses may have an additive effect in postpercutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty restenosis.

Patients who had an increase in their serum amyloid type A level of > 100% in the first 24 hours after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) and also developed a positive antibody result (antinuclear factor or anticardiolipin), had a relative risk of 10.6 for developing restenosis in the first year after PTCA.

Molecular epidemiology of HIV in Israel.

The aim of this study was to identify the HIV types and subtypes prevalent in Israel among different populations in terms of risk or geographic origin of the HIV infection. A total of 149 blood samples were collected from HIV-positive persons from different risk groups for HIV infection who were living in Israel. HIV subtyping was performed by a V3-based peptide enzyme immunoassay, supplemented by direct sequencing of polymerase chain reaction products from the V3 region.

Organ-specific autoantibodies are possible markers for reproductive failure: a prospective study in an in-vitro fertilization-embryo transfer programme.

This study was conducted to investigate the usefulness of organ-specific autoantibodies as possible markers for reproductive failure. Antithyroid and antiovarian autoantibody concentrations were measured in 78 patients with mechanical or unexplained infertility that were enrolled in an in-vitro fertilization (IVF)/embryo transfer programme with follow-up of the outcome. In all, 16 patients (20.

High-dose intravenous magnesium attenuates complement consumption after acute myocardial infarction treated by streptokinase.

Objective: This study was designed to detect changes in complement levels following acute myocardial infarction and to test whether magnesium sulphate (MgSO4) administration interferes with the complement response that follows acute myocardial infarction.

Design: Twenty-nine patients with acute myocardial infarction treated with streptokinase were included and randomly assigned to three treatment groups. In groups A and B, a bolus of 1 g MgSO4 was infused intravenously followed by 4 g (group A) and 14 g (group B) MgSO4 for 24 h while normal saline was administered in group C (control).

HIV-2 infection in Israel: a new epidemic?

AIDS may be caused by two different retroviruses, HIV-1 and HIV-2. Hitherto only HIV-1 has been reported in Israel. We recently discovered HIV-2 as a solitary pathogen in the blood of two foreign workers from West Africa.

Circulating autoimmune antibodies may be responsible for implantation failure in in vitro fertilization.

Objective: To investigate the role of autoimmune factors as a possible cause for implantation failure as manifested by chemical pregnancy after IVF and ET.

Design: Anticardiolipin, anti-double-stranded DNA (dsDNA), antinuclear antibody, lupus anticoagulant, and rheumatoid factor serum levels were examined in patients with chemical pregnancies and in matched controls.

Setting: An IVF unit, university-based IVF program.

Clinical, epidemiological and natural history study of HIV-1 infection among seropositive homo/bisexuals in Israel, 1986-92. A collaborative study in three medical centers.

The clinical and epidemiological aspects of HIV-1 seropositive homo/bisexuals at three AIDS screening clinics in Israel were analyzed retrospectively for the 4-year period 1986-92. Of 1,526 individuals who attended the clinics a total of 238 (15.5%) were found to be HIV-1 seropositive; 182 seropositives were followed for a mean of 3.