We investigated the factor (s) in sera from patients with esophageal cancer that induced suppressor T cells for antibody production driven by pokeweed mitogen (PWM), one way mixed lymphocyte culture reaction (MLR), natural killer (NK) activity, or killer T cell activity against allogenic lymphoid cell line (Raji), or autologous EB virus transformed lymphoblasts (EBV-TL), using TnonG cells treated with sera from patients.
There were no serum which induced suppressor T cells for one way MLR or NK activity, while some sera induced suppressor T cells for antibody production or killer T cell activity against EBV-TL.
The activity inducing suppressor T cells for killer T cells against EBV-TL was fonnd in the fraction of MW 43, 000_??_50, 000 by sephadex G 100 gel chromatography.
The factor was considered to be different from the factor which induce suppressor T cells for antibody production.

View full abstract

Immunologic studies on fifteen cases of farmer's lung, which were clinically and pathologically defined, were performed and the following results were obtained.
1) Nine of the 13 patients had clinical pictures of Arthus in type.
2) Precipitating antibodies against Micropolyspora faeni and/or Thermoactinomyces vulgaris were found in 14 out of 15 patients.
3) Five of the 12 patients had high levels of serum immune complexes.
4) Almost all the patients showed decreased cell-mediated hypersensitivity.
5) Only two out of 12 patients showed decreased levels of serum complement.
6) Alveolitis were found in all patients and granuloma were found in 10 out of 14 patients in histologic examination of the lung.
7) None of the patients showed depositions of immunoglobulin on capillary wall of the lung, but two cases showed depositions of complement along the blood vessels of the lung on immunofluorescence study.
8) The frequencies of HLA antigens of patients with farmer's lung were compared to these of the Japanese control, resulting in no statistically significant differences between them.
From these results, it was speculated that allergic reactions of both type III and type IV of Coombs and Gell's classification might perticipate in the development of farmer's lung.
HLA antigens specific to farmer's lung were not found out in Japanese patients with farmer's lung.

View full abstract

Clinicopathological studies were done in 7 patients with rheumatoid arthritis who developed proteinuria and/or hematuria while receiving gold salts. Hematuria was found as the major abnormal finding in 5 out of 7 patients. After discontinuation of gold therapy, proteinuria and/or hematuria had been improved or disappeared. The decreased renal function test such as less than the value of 50ml/min in creatinine clearance was, however, observed in 4 out of 7 patients. The improvement of renal function in 2 patients was not obtained even after avoidance of gold injection. The clinical outcome of one of the patients became worse and uremic.
Light microscopic study of renal biopsy specimens revealed various glomerular lesions (minor glomerular abnormality 2, focal and segmental lesions 1, mesangial proliferative glomerulonephritis 2, membranous glomerulonephritis 1, sclerosing glomerulonephritis 1) and tubulointerstitial change were observed in 3 cases. Using X ray energy dispersive analysis, gold depositions were found within proximal tubular epitherial cells in all cases.

View full abstract

A 20 year-old female patient with recurrent upper respiratory infection was found to have hypogammaglobulinemia (0.08g/dl) and low serum levels of whole immunoglobulin classes (IgG: 182mg/dl, IgA: less than 0.7mg/dl, IgM: 5.0mg/dl, IgD: less than 2.0mg/dl, IgE: 0.2u/ml) under the diagnosis of common variable immunodeficiency. She had leucopenia of WBC: 3, 600/cumm, Ly: 35%, and T-cell: 85%, B-cell: 12%, OKT3⁺: 73.1%, OKT4⁺: 26.6%, OKT8⁺: 40.3%, OKT 4/8 ratio: 0.66, in association with hypochromic anemia of RBC: 433×10⁴/cumm, Hb: 9.9g/dl, s-Fe: 43μg/dl, UIBC: 367μg/dl.
In vitro IgG synthesis by peripheral blood mononuclear cells from this patient in culture with stimulation of Pokeweed Mitogen (10μl/ml) was lower than controls. The amount of IgG produced by B-cells from the patient was enhanced in co-culture with T-cells from normal donors. T-cells from the patient could not increase IgG synthesis by normal B-cells in coculture. And the addition of patient T-cells as the third population into the culture of normal T- and B-cells did not suppress IgG production. These results indicated that hypogammaglobulinemia found in this patient was caused by defect of helper T-cell function rather than abnormality of B-cells in response to help of normal T-cells or enhanced suppressor T-cell activity.
The co-existence of helper T-cell dysfunction and iron deficiency anemia found in this patient is intriguing with speculation that lymphoid systems play a role in iron absorption through small intestine.

View full abstract

Phenotypic heterogeneity and NK cell activity of lymphocyte subset expressing Leu-7 marker were investigated in 17 patients with myeloma and 20 age-matched controls. Co-expression of T cell antigen (Leu-1, Leu-3a and Leu-2a) on Leu-7⁺ cells was analyzed by two-color immunofluorescence, and the NK cell activity of peripheral lymphocytes was measured against ⁵¹Cr-labeled cell line K-562 (E/T:25). The proportion of Leu-7⁺ cells in the peripheral blood was higher in myeloma patients (31.5±10.3%, mean±1SD) than in control subjects (20.5±4.9%). Co-expression of Leu-1 or Leu-2a marker was increased on Leu-7⁺ cells in myeloma patients compared with normal controls (14.4±6.4% vs 7.3±4.3% for Leu-1; 17.0±7.3% vs 5.8±2.1% for Leu-2a). This indicated that the increase of OKT-8⁺/Leu-2a⁺ cells in myeloma patients, which was reported by us to be correlated with increase in serum monoclonal Ig levels, may be due to the Leu-7⁺ cell with Leu-2a. On the other hand, peripheral lymphocytes from myeloma patients and normal controls had similar NK cell activity (44.7±21.5%, 53.1±15.0%, respectively). These results suggest that the increased Leu-7⁺ cells co-expressing T antigen in myeloma patients had low NK cell activity. Since the Leu-7⁺ cells co-expressing Leu-2a marker are known to suppress Ig production of B-lymphocyte, the increase of them may be involved at least in part in the immunodeficiency of myeloma patients.

View full abstract