1/33. Autoaggressive inflammation of the myenteric plexus resulting in intestinal pseudoobstruction.After a 3-year history of severe constipation, a 16-year-old girl required surgery to be relieved of impacted stools. Histologic examination showed ganglionitis in the myenteric plexus of the large bowel and ileum, whereas the submucosal plexus was spared. At this time, antineuronal nuclear antibodies (ANNA-1, anti-Hu) were found at high titer in the serum of the patient. One and a half years earlier, a paravertebral ganglioneuroblastoma had been removed. Histologic examination had shown undifferentiated neuroblasts and morphologically mature ganglion cells with both cell types embedded in an inflammatory infiltrate morphologically similar to the lymphoplasmocytic infiltration seen in the myenteric plexus. The patient's serum was found to bind to nuclei of mouse intestinal tract neurons, thus fulfilling defining criteria for ANNA-1. The serum also reacted with antigens of defined molecular weight in a Western blot, thus fulfilling defining criteria for anti-Hu. Expression of the Huantigen could be visualized in the nuclei of the patient's tumor cells by immunohistochemistry. These tests showed that an antitumor inflammatory response was the cause of the bowel disease. This is the first report of a tumor from the neuroblastoma group that caused paraneoplastic intestinal pseudoobstruction. Ganglionitis and subsequent aganglionosis are the hallmark of the morphologic diagnosis which cannot be obtained by suction biopsy in patients with intact submucosal plexus. Instead, serum testing for autoantibodies can reveal the etiology.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = antigen (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/33. Report of a fatal case of dengue infection with hepatitis: demonstration of dengue antigens in hepatocytes and liver apoptosis.A fatal case of dengue (DEN) infection associated with a spleen rupture and with hepatitis is reported here. Microscopic studies showed numerous areas of spleen rupture with hematomas and revealed necrotic foci in liver samples obtained at autopsy. Although hepatitis was reported in several cases of DEN fever, the mechanism of liver injury remains poorly understood. In this case, immunohistochemistry showed that DEN viral antigens were mostly detected in hepatocytes surrounding the necrotic foci. By in situ detection of dna fragmentation, apoptotic hepatocytes were found to be colocated with DEN virus-infected hepatocytes. These findings suggest that hepatocytes are the major sites of DEN virus replication in the liver and that DEN virus induces apoptosis of hepatocytes in vivo.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 2.5keywords = antigen (Clic here for more details about this article) |
3/33. Human herpesvirus 6-meningoencephalitis in an hiv patient with progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy.Human herpesvirus 6 (HHV6) has been reported as a rare cause of meningoencephalitis and leukoencephalitis. We present an hiv-infected patient with lesions of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), but also meningoencephalitis apparently due to HHV6. immunohistochemistry for HHV6 antigens and in situ polymerase chain reaction for HHV6 genome showed many positive lymphocytes and microglia in the meningeal and cortical lesions. More importantly, dead and dying neurons were conspicuous; some were undergoing neuronophagia and some displayed evidence of HHV6 infection. A pathogenic role for this almost universal, and usually commensal, virus in inflammatory brain lesions and PML is briefly discussed.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.5keywords = antigen (Clic here for more details about this article) |
4/33. Lymphocytic hypophysitis: report of an unusual case of a rare disorder.A 36-year-old non-pregnant woman presented with a four-month history of progressive visual deterioration and amenorrhea. The latest gestation was 6 years earlier. Hormonal study revealed central diabetes insipidus, hypopituitarism, and slightly increased prolactin level. Ophthalmologic examination showed bilateral hemianopsia. In the magnetic resonance imaging an intrasellar mass with supra and retrosellar extension was found. The mass showed a polylobular aspect with heterogeneous signal within the tissue. The normal neurohypophysis could not be identified. Pterional craniotomy was performed. The pathological examinations revealed fibrous tissue with heavy inflammatory infiltrate composed of lymphocytes and plasma cells, islands of eosinophilic epithelial cells stained positively for chromogranin, GH, ACTH, and PRL and negatively for antibodies directed against HLA-II antigens. This case of lymphocytic hypophysitis was not related to pregnancy and involved the neurohypophysis. We discuss the features that can help to make a preoperative differential diagnosis.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.5keywords = antigen (Clic here for more details about this article) |
5/33. Treatment of metastatic melanoma with autologous, hapten-modified melanoma vaccine: regression of pulmonary metastases.A human cancer vaccine composed of autologous tumor cells modified with the hapten dinitrofluorobenzene (DNP) induces cell-mediated immunity to the tumor cells and the development of inflammatory responses within metastatic sites. In this study we determined whether DNP vaccine could induce regression of established metastases. Ninety-seven patients (83 evaluable) with surgically incurable metastatic melanoma were treated with DNP vaccine preceded by low-dose cyclophosphamide. Tumor regression was assessed by standard criteria. The development of cell-mediated immunity to melanoma-associated antigens was measured by delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) testing before and after DNP vaccine treatment. survival analysis was performed by the Kaplan-Meier method. There were 11 antitumor responses: 2 complete, 4 partial and 5 mixed. Both complete responses and 2 of the 4 partial responses occurred in patients with lung metastases. Response durations were as follows: partial responses-5, 6, 8 and 47 months; and complete responses-12 and 29 months. Tumor regression required at least 4 months to become evident and in 2 cases maximum regression was not observed until 1 year after beginning treatment. patients who exhibited tumor regression survived longer than those who did not (median survival times: responders, 21.4 months; non-responders, 8.7 months; p = 0.010). DTH to DNP-modified and unmodified autologous melanoma cells was induced in 87% and 42% of patients, respectively. The DTH response to unmodified cells was significantly associated with prolonged survival. Autologous DNP-modified melanoma vaccine can induce clinically meaningful regression of metastases and small lung metastases appear to be unusually sensitive. The development of DTH to unmodified, autologous tumor cells may be an important indicator of the vaccine's efficacy.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.5keywords = antigen (Clic here for more details about this article) |
6/33. Chronic beryllium disease: a model interaction between innate and acquired immunity.beryllium (Be) is a lightweight and durable metal useful to a variety of manufacturing processes. With the use of Be in industrial settings, a number of health effects were noted including acute pneumonitis, sensitization to Be, interstitial lung disease and dermatological disease. Interstitial mononuclear cell inflammation and granuloma formation are the primary processes that occur in the lungs of Be-exposed workers, resulting in chronic beryllium disease (CBD). Recent studies have begun to describe the role of Be in the pathogenesis of CBD. These studies reveal that the host's response to Be involves components of the innate immune system or inflammatory responses. Inflammatory responses to Be can establish a state of acquired, Be antigen-specific, cell-mediated immunity. Despite triggering both the innate and acquired immune responses, Be is not eliminated from the host. Rather, it establishes pathways leading to chronic granulomatous inflammation. We will examine recent studies describing the host's cellular and molecular responses to Be, responses that promote granuloma formation.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.5keywords = antigen (Clic here for more details about this article) |
7/33. Highly anaplastic extraventricular ependymoma arising in an adult, mimicking metastatic adenocarcinoma with heavy stromal inflammation and emperiporesis.We report a case of extraventricular ependymoma arising in a 50-year-old woman that took an aggressive clinical course with recurrence three times. The initial tumor was a well-circumscribed nodule in the right temporal white matter measuring 2 cm in diameter. It showed variegated histological findings mimicking metastatic adenocarcinoma: an epithelioid arrangement of highly pleomorphic cells with pseudopapillary structures and perivascular pseudorosettes, and bizarre multinucleated giant cells with occasional emperiporesis surrounded by abundant mononuclear inflammatory cells, as well as a focal small area of conventional ependymoma. Emperiporesis and abundant mononuclear cell infiltration were not previously described in an ependymoma. The recurrent tumors predominantly showed an epithelioid pattern with frequent formation of astroblastoma-like pseudopapillary structures. Neoplastic cells were markedly atypical and had characteristic intracytoplasmic eosinophilic inclusion bodies. Much of the cells in both the initial and recurrent tumors showed a positive immunostaining for glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) with accentuation to the cytoplasmic processes of the pseudorosettes and pseudopapillary structures. Epithelial membrane antigen (EMA) highlighted the epithelial differentiation of the tumor cells, while cytokeratin was completely negative. Although this tumor might be classified to at least WHO grade III from the histology and aggressive behavior, the exact grading is still controversial because of the rarity of such cases.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.5keywords = antigen (Clic here for more details about this article) |
8/33. Inflammatory signs, antibody response and antigen detection in cerebrospinal fluid over the course of neuroborreliosis.CSF and serum specimens were consecutively obtained from three patients with neuroborreliosis (stage I, II and III), CSF protein content, cell counts and differential, IgG index, oligoclonal bands and anti-B. burgdorferi antibodies were measured. cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was tested for Borrelia-DNA being present prior to and after antibiotic treatment. While DNA could be identified before ceftriaxone was administered, there were no more amplification products afterwards. The goal of this study was to compare the usefulness of serodiagnostic methods and the detection of borrelia burgdorferi-DNA in patients with clinically confirmed neuroborreliosis to test the efficiency of antibiotic therapy.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 2keywords = antigen (Clic here for more details about this article) |
9/33. Characterization of the fetal inflammatory response to cytomegalovirus placentitis. An immunohistochemical study.The histopathologic features of cytomegalovirus placentitis, an established cause of chronic villitis, are well documented. However, the immunologic features of the fetal inflammatory response to placental cytomegalovirus infection are largely unknown. The characterization of the fetal-derived inflammatory cell reaction may be important in our understanding of both the intrauterine as well as the antenatal immunological response of the neonate to this important viral infection. We examined formalin-fixed placentas from four cases of confirmed congenital cytomegalovirus infection using an in situ DNA probe to cytomegalovirus, and a variety of antibodies to leukocyte antigens, including anti-CD68, CD45RO, CDw75, CD74, IgG, IgM, and IgA. All four placentas showed marked hyperplasia of fetal-derived placental macrophages, termed Hofbauer cells. A lymphocytic villitis was present in all placentas, which was characterized by positive staining in all cases with T-cell antibodies. There was no evidence of positive staining of lymphocytes using B-cell antibodies in any of the cases. Two placentas showed plasmacellular villitis, which stained positively for both IgG- and IgM-secreting cells, that was present as early as the second trimester of gestation. No IgA positivity of plasma cells was observed. These data are presented in light of current theories of fetal viral immunity.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.5keywords = antigen (Clic here for more details about this article) |
10/33. Inflammatory leukocytes associated with increased immunosuppression by glioblastoma.In order to determine the in vivo immune response in glioblastoma, monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies specific for inflammatory leukocytes and immunoregulatory products were utilized to stain tissue from four surgical specimens. The more activated the inflammatory cells, the more activated the tumors appeared to be. In the tumor with the largest infiltration (Case 3), inflammatory cells were stained for interferon-gamma, interleukin-2, interleukin-1 beta, lymphotoxin, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, and transforming growth factor-beta. The tumor cells also expressed interleukin-1 beta, interleukin-6, transforming growth factor-beta, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, and prostaglandin E. In contrast, in the tumor with the least inflammatory response (Case 1), the tumor cells did not express any cytokines. Expression of cytokines by glioma cells was modest in the two cases with modest inflammatory responses. Cellular inflammation, primarily consisting of T cells and macrophages with few or no B cells or natural killer cells, was two- to 15-fold greater outside the tumor than within. In contrast to leukocytes outside the tumor, which were activated and expressing class II major histocompatibility antigens, leukocytes within the tumor parenchyma or at the tumor's edge were negative for these antigens. In the four specimens studied here, the tumor cells themselves were also negative for class II major histocompatibility antigens. These findings, although preliminary, suggest that inflammatory cells within gliomas are inactivated and that glioma cells may increase the expression of immunosuppressive cytokines in response to an increased lymphocyte infiltrate. This observation, if corroborated by more extensive studies, may help to explain the failure of immune treatments in glioblastoma multiforme.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1.5keywords = antigen (Clic here for more details about this article) |
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