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Biomedical subjects

G R Flannery

Publications and source records attributed to G R Flannery.

10 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1991

Bovine milk, including pasteurised milk, contains antibodies directed against allergens of clinical importance to man.

Pasteurised and raw bovine milk and bovine colostrum samples were assayed by enzyme-linked immunoassay for the presence of antibodies directed against a selection of allergens of importance in human atopic disease. Samples were tested for the presence of antibodies directed against or cross-reacting with ryegrass pollen, house dust mites, Aspergillus mould and wheat proteins. Antibodies of each specificity were detected in every sample tested, including all samples of commercial pasteurised milk. The results are discussed with reference to a hypothesis that dietary xenogeneic antibodies may play a role in the emergence of some human atopic disease, and the recent demonstration that oral immunisation with xenogeneic antibodies may lead to the production of anti-immunoglobulin antibodies including anti-idiotypic antibodies.

Allergens↗
PubMed1991

Oral immunization with xenogeneic antibodies stimulates the production of systemic and mucosal anti-idiotypic antibodies.

The humoral and mucosal immune responses to oral immunization with xenogeneic antibodies were studied using an animal model in which female rabbits were fed daily doses of the MOPC-315 murine IgA antibody, and were mated during the course of the feeding programme. Serum and colostrum samples were assayed for the presence of anti-idiotypic antibodies by ELISA assay, before and after depletion of anti-IgA antibodies, by affinity chromatography using another murine IgA idiotype. It was shown that all animals responded to exposure to the MOPC-315 idiotype with the production of serum anti-murine immunoglobulin antibodies and that four of six animals produced serum anti-idiotypic antibodies. That the immune response included antibodies directed against the antigen-binding site was confirmed by competition ELISA assay. Mucosal IgG and IgA anti-immunoglobulin antibodies were present in milk from all antibody-fed rabbits tested, and IgA anti-idiotypic antibodies were detectable in the colostrum of one rabbit. The results provide some support for the hypothesis that human exposure to xenogeneic antibodies, most commonly bovine milk immunoglobulins, may provoke the production of anti-idiotypic antibodies, and that such exposure may lead to disturbances of immune regulation.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed1989

Antimitochondrial antibodies in primary biliary cirrhosis recognize both specific peptides and shared epitopes of the M2 family of antigens.

Sera from patients with primary biliary cirrhosis exhibit variable autoantibody reactivity against mitochondria, the commonest antigen (designated M2) including three structures of approximate M.W. 70, 50 and 40 kD. The nature of these antigens has only recently been established; the 70 and 50 kD are the transacetylase E2 and component X, respectively, of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex and are distinct polypeptides. We have demonstrated, by immunoblotting, elution and rebinding of antibodies, unequivocal cross-reactivity between the major bands of the M2 antigen. In addition, cross-reactivity has been shown between antibodies binding to each of the three M2 bands of mitochondria and two major antigenic bands of both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. Conversely, antibodies eluted from these two bands of Escherichia coli were found to bind all three M2 bands of mitochondria. These results suggest that the antibodies of primary biliary cirrhosis contain both peptide-specific and cross-reacting antibodies, the latter recognizing a common "M2 epitope" that might include nonprotein components of the peptides. However, direct and competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays failed to implicate the coenzyme of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex, lipoic acid or its amide, as the common antigenic moiety.

Autoantibodies↗
PubMed1979

Immunoreactivity by intrinsic lymphoid cells in colorectal carcinoma.

Mononuclear leucocytes were separated by Hypaque--Ficoll from 60 unselected primary colorectal carcinomas, and then fractionated by rosetting with sheep erythrocytes, either alone (E) or coated with antibody and complement (EAC). The E-rosetting cells, putative T lymphocytes, were cytotoxic in vitro to autologous tumour cells in 18 of the 60 cases, whilst the EAC-rosetting cells were unreactive. This intrinsic T-lymphocyte anti-tumour immunoreactivity was significantly associated with the presence of "cuffs" of small dark lymphocytes at the mesocolic or pararectal edge of the primary tumours, but there was no correlation with antitumour cytotoxic lymphocytes in the patient's blood at the time of operation.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed1979

Immune response to human keratoacanthoma.

Immune reactivity to human keratoacanthoma was investigated by microcytotoxicity tests and immunofluorescence. IgM and complement were consistently present in lesions; IgG and fibrin were infrequent. No evidence of in vivo bound immunoglobulin was found on the surface of keratoacanthoma cells by membrane immunofluorescence. Neither patients' sera nor peripheral blood leukocytes showed significant cytotoxicity against autochthonous tumour cells in microtitre assays. This study fails to support the view that regression of human keratoacanthoma is mediated by immunological mechanisms.

Aged↗
PubMed1976

Characterization of cytotoxic spleen cells and effects of serum factors in a syngeneic rat tumour system.

Splenocytes from inbred Wistar rats bearing a syngeneic squamous cell carcinoma (Spl) were fractionated by several techniques to characterize the lymphoid cells cytotoxic to the tumour in vitro. The anti-tumour cytotoxicity is presumably mediated primarily by T lymphocytes because it was greatly reduced by removal of T lymphocytes with heterologous anti-T serum plus complement but not by removal of other cell types. Cytotoxicity could be blocked at the tumour cell but not at the effector cell by sera taken late in tumour growth. Sera taken earlier in tumour growth could induce cytolysis of tumour cells by normal splenocytes but only if the tumour cells were treated with serum and washed before addition of the effector cells. Although splenocytes from normal and tumour-bearing rats were equally effective at lysing antibody-coated target cells it is unlikely that this mechanism is important in vivo as sera from early in tumour growth onwards contained factors (immune complexes?) which inhibited antibody-induced lymphocytolysis.

Animals↗
PubMed1975

Lymphoreticular response to a syngeneic rat tumour: gravimetric and histological studies.

Gravimetric and histological studies of lymphoreticular tissues during growth of a syngeneic squamous cell carcinoma in Wistar rats show that the regional lymph node anergy reported previously in this system is associated with replacement of paracortical small lymphocytes by large blastoid cells. The regional node continued to gain weight throughout the period of anergy and showed no atrophy and minimal necrosis. Over the same period the spleen increased in both weight and cytotoxicity.

Animals↗