Prostaglandin E₁ has peripheral vasodilating and platelet coagulation inhibiting activities. It has been shown to be effective for obstructive vascular diseases and peripheral circulation disturbances. In clinical use, it is required to be administered on either intraarterial or i. v. drip infusion route in massive doses, since it is inactivated in the lung. Recently, a new prepration Lipo PGE₁ has been developed which has conquered these defects and which possesses a targeting effect.
The authors applied Lipo PGE₁ in 13 cases of systemic lupus erythematosus complicating skin and finger tip ulcers, Raynaud's phenomenon, rashes or thrombophlebitis. Lipo PGE₁ was administered at 5 to 10 μg daily as PGE₁ on i. v. drip infusion route for 2 to 19 weeks. As to global improvement rating, improvement rate as calculated by including slightly improved or better results was 92.3%. Utility rating gave a utility rate of 84.6% for slightly useful or better results. As to side effects, a transient angialgia was observed in 2 cases, indicating that there is no problem as to safety. From these results, it is considered that Lipo PGE₁ is useful for improving various symptoms due to peripheral vascular diseases associated with SLE.

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Tht effect of IFNs (α, β, γ) against β₂-microglobulin (β₂-m) of hematological tumor cell lines (Molt-4, Raji, Daudi, K562) was investigated. The cell lines were cultured with IFNs in different concentrations and culture times. The amount of cells's β₂-m in Molt-4 culture increased intensely by IFN-α, γ and increased with time up to 96 hours. In the Raji cell culture, the increase rates of cells's β₂-m by IFNs were less than 100%, however the increase rates of supernatants' β₂-m by IFN-α, β were higher than that of cells' β₂-m. In Molt-4, K562 culture, when compared with the Raji culture, and opposite conditions occurred. Cells' and supernatants' β₂-m in Daudi culture were not detected by enzyme immunoassay. Maximal expression of cells' β₂-m in K562 culture with IFNs were observed for one day, that rate with IFN-γ was about 2 times higher than IFN-α, β. Thus, expression of cells' β₂-m was observed to be stronger when tumor cell was cultured adding IFN which was produced by a cell similar to the cell line. It is suggested that β₂-m is an important marker against tumor active condition and IFN effects in vitro for tumor therapy.

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In this study, a new autoantibody was identified in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), which was tentatively named as anti-HaT-1 antibody.
It was shown by double immunodiffusion method that anti-HaT-1 antibody had independent specificity from the hitherto reported autoantibodies in sera of patients with connective tissue diseases.
The antigenicity of the HaT-1 antigen was destroyed with treatment by trypsin, whereas it was not inactivated by digestions with either DNase or RNase.
The HaT-1 antigen was considered to be an acidic protein with approximate molecular weight of 150, 000 daltons. The HaT-1 antigen was present in soluble extracts of human and rat livers but not detected in those of rabbit and calf thymus or Raji cell. The HaT-1 antibody was detected in sera of 9 out of 45 RA patients, 2 out of 16 RA patients with Sjogren's syndrome. And RA patients with anti-HaT-1 antibody had higher incidence of digital angitis (nailfold thrombosis) and subcutaneous nodule than those without this antibody (p<0.01).
It was suggested that anti-HaT-1 antibody is a new antibody which was specific to RA.

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A male patient with hyper IgE syndrome was followed up for 15 years and was studied immunologically and histologically. Clinical symptoms started with furunclosis at 3 months of age, followed by pneumonia, laryngitis, paronychia, pyothorax, sepsis and osteomyelitis during the first decade. The characteristic coarse facial features appeared around 6 or 7 years of age. Furunclosis decreased thereafter, but purulent lymphadenitis and pneumonia due to staphylococcus aureus continued to repeat. Bronchitis and pneumonia increased the frequency since 17 years of age and chronic shortness of breath and clubbed fingers appeared at 23 years of age. Immunological studies revealed markedly increased serum IgE, decreased secretory IgA, moderately decreased chemotaxis of polymorphonuclear leukocytes, unresponsiveness to DNCB and increased anti staphylococcal IgE antibody, anti IgE autoantibody and FcεR+ B-lymphocytes. Supernatant of leukocyte suspension from the patient stimulated by sonicated protein A negative staphylococci contained significant amount of histamine and had a strong inhibitory activity on chemotaxis of polymorphonuclear leukocytes. On a skin biopsy of the patient, spontaneous degranulation of mast cells was observed. Standing on these findings, the patient was treated with disodium cromoglycate, an nhibitor of mediator release from mast cells, and marked decrease of the frequency of his bronchial and/or pulmonary infection was obtained.

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It has been reported that the immunity is low in patients with chronic renal failure. On the other hand, along with recent advance in hemodialytic technology, patients on long-term hemodialysis are increasing in number, and the rehabilitation and carcinogenicity of long-term hemodialysis patients are now attracting wide attention. In this paper, for the purpose of studying on the carcinogenicity of those patients and its cause, the incidence of malignant neoplasms was searched and cellular and humoral immunity were investigated.
Out of 504 hemodialysis patients, eighteen (3.57%) were found to have malignant neoplasm, mainly cancers of digestive tract, and to be significantly higher compared with healthy people.
In the study on immunity, on the lymphocyte subsets research using flow cytometry, OKM1 positive cells (NK/K-cells) were decreased significantly in hemodialysis patients. But on the lymphocyte blast formation by PHA mitogen, similar responses were noted.
However, the suppression activity of peripheral lymphocytes of hemodialysis patients for PHA mitogen response of healthy lymphocytes was strongly higher than the activity of healthy.
Furthermore, serum IAP in those patients were increased significantly. On the other hand, patients of chronic renal failure are under chronic anemia and have a high chance of recieving blood transfusions.
When compared between recieving and non-recieving blood transfusions, OKT4 positive cells (helper/inducer T cells) were decreased to a degree in the group recieving blood transfusions.
These results indicated that decrease of the cell-ular and humoral immunity could be the cause of the high incidence of malignant neoplasms in hemodialysis patients.

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In order to study the cell-mediated immunity in patients with cancer of the gastrointestinaltract, peripheral mononuclear cells of patients treated generally of locally with OK-432 weretested for T-cells, B-cells, natural killing (NK) activity, antibody dependent cell-mediatedcytotoxic (ADCC) activity, interleukin 2 (IL-2) production with determination of serumlevels of interferon (IFN).
The results were as follows: (1) In 32 patients with systenic treatment by OK-432, NKactivity and serum IFN levels showed a significant (p<0.05). (2) In 22 patients treated withlocal injection of OK-432, NK and ADCC activity increased significantly (p<0.01). In 2cases of these patients, tumor mass regressed with disappearance of malignant cells inthe repeated biopsy specimens.
(3) In 18 patients treated without OK-432, NK activity ADCC activity and IL-2 productionshowed significant decrease (p<0.05).
(4) In patients with better prognosis, T-cell percent and NK activity were significantlyhigher than those in patients with poorer prognosis.

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The number of patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) has been increasing in several countries, especially in United States and western European countries. Recently, patients with AIDS have reported in Japan, however, the number of the patients is surprisingly small compared with other highly industries countries.
It is well known from epidemical studies that AIDS occurs mainly among homosexual men. It was the reason why we had tried to examine the immunological coditions and the antibody to HTLV-III, a causative agent of AIDS, among Japanese homosexual men.
Our results showed that the immunological conditions among Japanese homosexual men were mildly disturbed, especially low mitogenic responce to ConA and PWM and low IL-2 production of lymphocytes and hypergammaglobulinemia, although PHA response and response to IL-2, NK cell activity and gamma-IFN production were completely restored. These results confirmed the previous reports that immunological abnormalities were found among the non-AIDS and/or healthy homosexual men. The antibody to HTLV-III was negative in all plasma tested, and we could not find the patients with AIDS, clinically diagnosed. However, our results might suggest the following hypothesis; the homosexual life style may lead them to immunological disturbances and increasing the risk of infections and in such circumstances, HTLV-III will promote these conditions to full blown states of AIDS.
And our results may also contribute for the epidemical study of AIDS in Japan as a valuable basal study.

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A 41-year-old female with high grade fever and polyarthralgia was diagnosed as SLE from polyarthralgia, leukopenia, LE cell and high titer anti-nuclear antibody. The serum IgA level was as long as 9mg/dl and unchanged by the treatment with prednisolone, while the serum IgG and IgM were increased and responded to the treatment.
The persentage of E rosette-forming lymphocytes in the peripheral blood was 79% and the persentage of surface-IgA bearing cells in non E rosette-forming cells was 20%.
When PWM-induced IgA synthesis by lymphocytes from normal control and the patient were measured, the level of IgA was about a quarter of normal synthesis. Co-culture of T cells from normal control and B cells from the patient resulted in reduced synthesis of IgA. Co-culture of the patient T cells and normal B cells also resulted in reduced synthesis of IgA. Thus the pathogenesis of IgA deficiency in the patients may be due to both B cells and T cells dysfunction.

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A case of systemic lupus erythematosus with herpes simplex encephalitis and its successful treatment with adenine arabinoside was reported. A 24-year-old female with systemic lupus erythematosus for the past 11 years was admitted to Sapporo General City Hospital because of fatigue, headache and fever. She had been receiving prednisolone (about 20mg/day, as a maintenance dose) for over 11 years. On the first hospital day, she suddenly began to have generalized convulsions and lost consciousness, followed rapidly by paralysis on her right side. Laboratory data proved no aggravation of systemic lupus erythematosus. Electroencephalogram findings revealed periodic slow and sharp waves complex from the left anterior temporal area. Computed tomography scan showed a high density area and a surrounding low density of the left medial temporal lobe. Cerebrospinal fluid was slightly bloody. The protein content was 292mg/dl and cells were 329/3. Herpes simplex virus antibody of cerebrospinal fluid was positive by enzymelinked-immunosorbent assay and fluorescent assay.
The above findings were compatible with herpes simplex encephalitis. Adenine arabinoside therapy (700mg/day) was begun on the 2nd hospital day. Right hemiplegia was cured on the 4th hospital day and conciousness was recovered completely on the 9th hospital day.
This case appeared to be the first instance of herpes simplex encephalitis and systemic lupus erythematosus.

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For the purpose of inducing the anti-tumor effect in the portal vein, the intrasplenic serial Biological Response Modifier (BRM) administration was performed by using our original morbilized spleen subcutaneous locating rats. In a view point of endogenous Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF) production, lipopolysaccaride, BCG, and OK 432 were chosen as administrating BRM and injected into the spleen frequently.
The study of the portal blood serum revealed that BRM administration group gained higher cytotoxic activity against L 929 cells significantly (p<0.05) than control group, which is possibly concerned with TNF. And interferon production in portal vein increased significantly (p<0.05) in BRM administration groups.
On the other hand, the study of the mononuclear cells in the portal vein and spleen after intrasplenic serial BRM administration showed higher cytotoxic activity against YAC-1 cells than control group significantly (p<0.05).
According to the result of our study, the activation of the latent immunological function of the spleen, which is the largest lymphoid system in vivo, could induce many-sided antitumor effect in the portal vein. Therefore, it is prospective that intrasplenic serial BRM administration could be new process for suppression of the portal venous implantation.

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