Autoantibodies to the constitutive 73-kD member of the hsp70 family of heat shock proteins in systemic lupus erythematosus.

Serum from patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) frequently contain IgM and IgG autoantibodies to the constitutively expressed 73-kD/pI 5.5 member of the hsp70 family of heat shock proteins, as determined by one-dimensional (SDS-PAGE) and two-dimensional (IEF/SDS-PAGE) immunoblotting, and by solid-phase SLE Ig immunoprecipitation experiments using hsp70 protein-specific mAbs as probes. Autoantibodies to hsp70 also were detected in a minority of sera from patients with other rheumatic or viral diseases, but not in normal sera.

A prognostic index for erosive changes in the hands, feet, and cervical spines in early rheumatoid arthritis.

Clinical and laboratory measurements taken at the onset of rheumatoid arthritis in 149 patients were compared with the severity of radiological changes seen at 3 years in the hands and feet, and cervical spine. The strongest association with the severity of peripheral radiological damage was rheumatoid factor (p less than 0.0001 for both the latex titre and RAHA titre).

Early clinical experience with the Syracuse I-Plate: an anterior spinal fixation device.

Sixteen patients were treated with a new anterior internal fixation device after thoracolumbar or lumbar decompression, and fusion with bone grafting. Ten patients had acute burst fractures, four had metastatic tumors, and two had old, healed fractures with deformity. In the acute fracture group, eight patients had neurologic deficits and seven patients experienced improvement.

Autoantibodies to the heat-shock protein hsp90 in systemic lupus erythematosus.

Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) develop multiple autoantibodies to self-antigens. Analysis of autoantibody systems in this and related autoimmune disorders can provide information of etiologic and pathogenetic significance. We report here a previously unrecognized autoantibody to the 90,000-D heat-shock protein, hsp90, a molecule thought to have important functions in the cellular response to stress, virus-induced transformation, steroid hormone receptor action, and cellular activation.

An unusual syndrome of pediatric brainstem trauma.

We report 2 cases of children who developed a delayed hemiparesis following minor closed head injury with no alteration in consciousness and normal CT studies. MRI showed focal lesions in the ventral pons contralateral to the hemiparesis. Both patients recovered to near normal neurologic function within several days of injury.

Nature of IgG anti-lymphocyte autoantibody-reactive molecules shed from activated T cells in systemic lupus erythematosus.

Shedding of cell-surface antigens that react with anti-lymphocyte autoantibodies in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is well-recognized, but the nature of such molecules is unknown. The present investigation demonstrates the rapid shedding of three IgG antibody target molecules of Mr 55,000, 37,000, and approximately 32,000 from the surface of mitogen-activated peripheral T cells during brief incubation at 37 degrees C. Sera lacking IgG anti-lymphocyte antibodies stained none of the three antigens.

Identification of three major target molecules of IgM antilymphocyte autoantibodies in systemic lupus erythematosus.

Three cell lymphocyte antigens of m.w. 55,000, 70,000, and 105,000 to 110,000 were identified by Western blotting as targets of IgM autoantibodies in serum from a group of 49 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

IgG anti-lymphocyte antibodies in systemic lupus erythematosus react with surface molecules shared by peripheral T cells and a primitive T cell line.

IgG anti-T cell autoantibodies are common in SLE serum, react preferentially with activated lymphocytes, and exert early-phase inhibitory effects on antigen-induced T cell proliferation. Little is known about the target molecules in this system, however, because the low titer and low avidity of the most interesting antibodies limit their utility in conventional immunoprecipitation analyses. Therefore, Western blotting was used to demonstrate binding of IgG in anti-T cell antibody-positive SLE sera to four surface membrane molecules shared by peripheral T cells and HSB-2 cells.

Subset specificity of antilymhocyte antibodies in systemic lupus erythematosus. II. Preferential reactivity with T4 + cells is associated with relative depletion of autologous T4 + cells.

Using indirect immunofluorescence and flow cytometry, we determined the proportion and number of T3+, T4+, and T8+ cells in the peripheral blood of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus whose sera were positive for cold-reactive antilymphocyte antibodies versus values in patients whose sera were negative for these antibodies. There was a disproportionate reduction in T4+ peripheral lymphocytes when cold-reactive antilymphocyte antibodies preferentially cytotoxic for this subpopulation were present in autologous serum. The decrease in this subset was responsible for a reduction in the T4:T8 ratio; variation in the number and proportion of T8+ cells was insignificant.

The rheumatology of Paget's disease.

Up to 60% of patients with symptomatic Paget's disease develop articular symptoms in its course. Effective therapy may depend on accurate localization of all symptoms and many patients will have an overlap of bone and articular symptoms which may prove impossible to separate. Over the past 10 years there have been major advances in drug therapy for Paget's disease but still the ideal agent is not currently available.