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Biomedical subjects

K Granfors

Publications and source records attributed to K Granfors.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1991

Bacterial antigens in synovial biopsy specimens in yersinia triggered reactive arthritis.

Non-viable structures of Yersinia enterocolitica O:3 were shown at the site of inflammation within mononuclear cells in the synovial membrane of eight out of 10 patients with yersinia triggered reactive arthritis. An avidin-biotin-peroxidase complex method, with a rabbit antiserum specific for Y enterocolitica O:3, was used to visualise yersinia structures. All 13 control samples were negative except for one with non-specific mast cell staining. The findings emphasise the significance of foreign material in the initiation of synovitis in reactive arthritis.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Intestinal permeability in patients with yersinia triggered reactive arthritis.

The passive intestinal permeability of patients with yersinia triggered reactive arthritis was studied using different sized polyethylene glycols (PEGs) contained in a mixture of PEG 400 and PEG 1000. The investigation was carried out at least one year after the onset of yersinia infection, and patients had neither acute gastrointestinal nor joint symptoms. The control groups included patients with uncomplicated yersiniosis as well as healthy subjects who were either HLA-B27 positive or negative. An altered intestinal barrier function to PEG molecules was detected in patients with a history of yersinia infection compared with healthy controls. No significant differences in the permeability were found between patients with or without reactive arthritis, nor was there any association of increased permeability with HLA-B27. The passive permeability of the intestinal mucosa to the larger molecules was increased for an unexpectedly long time after the acute yersinia infection, probably contributing to the perpetuation of joint symptoms in subjects susceptible to a chronic joint disease.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Intracellular pathogens and professional phagocytes in reactive arthritis.

Reactive arthritis is a postinfectious complication which develops after certain infections, mostly gastrointestinal or urogenital. Antigenic structures of the causative microbes, but no live organisms, have been demonstrated in inflamed joints. The host factors as well as the microbial antigens responsible for the initiation of the arthritic process are unknown. The pathogenesis of reactive arthritis is discussed here with special reference to the intracellular life of the causative microbes and to monocytes/macrophages, which may be involved in early events of the arthritic process as well as in maintenance of the autoimmune type of responses.

Antigens, Bacterial↗
PubMed1991

Risk of Yersinia infection among butchers.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the risk of yersinia infection among butchers. Serum samples were collected from 146 abattoir workers, stratified into 3 groups according to exposure to swine throats and intestines. 100 healthy blood donors were used as controls. Antibodies against Yersinia enterocolitica O:3 and O:9 and Y. pseudotuberculosis I and III were measured using ELISA. Symptoms associated with yersiniosis were recorded in a questionnaire. Antibodies against Y. enterocolitica O:3 were observed more often in the sera of abattoir workers (19%), especially in butchers handling swine throats and intestines (27%), than in the sera of healthy blood donors (10%). During the 6 months preceding this study, 30-40% of the workers reported symptoms of abdominal pains and diarrhoea. However, the symptoms did not correlate with the occurrence of antibodies. One butcher had developed a yersinia-triggered prolonged reactive arthritis. Tonsil samples were collected from 120 pigs to determine the extent of yersinia contamination. Positive isolates were obtained from 54 pigs (45%). Y. enterocolitica O:3 was isolated from 31 pigs and Y. pseudotuberculosis III from 11 pigs. All of these strains shared characteristics typical for virulent strains. We conclude that yersinia infections are an occupational health risk to workers slaughtering swine in the abattoirs.

Abattoirs↗
PubMed1991

[The results of the dynamic observation of patients with reactive Yersinia arthritis].

As many as 50 patients with reactive Yersinia arthritis were followed up. There were 4 men and 46 women. The mean age of the patients was 31.1 yr. The mean follow-up period was 30.8 months. In 72% of the cases, the disease was preceded by diarrhea. During the first examination, mono-oligoarthritis was detected in 78% of the patients. Extra-articular alterations (damage of muscles, ligaments, heart, skin changes, etc) were also recorded. The results of bacteriological analyses were positive in 22 out of the 50 patients. In 16 persons, Yersinia might be cultivated from the different biological media: blood, feces, urine, fauces, and synovial fluid. In 47 persons, arthritis took a chronic course. Persistence of antibodies of the types 03 and 09 seen for many years merits attention. Monoclonal anti-Yersinia antibodies were also detectable repeatedly. In 8 patients, in whom Yersinia were cultivated from a lot of the biological media, the disease ran an especially grave course. The role of circulating specific antibodies in patients with Yersinia arthritis and the trigger role they may play in the development of RA and ankylosing spondylarthritis requires further discussion.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Bacterial antibodies in ankylosing spondylitis.

Antibodies to Salmonellae, Yersiniae, Campylobacter jejuni, Borrelia burgdorferi, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Escherichia coli, Proteus mirabilis and Chlamydia trachomatis were measured by ELISA in the sera of 99 patients with ankylosing spondylitis. Increased prevalence of IgA and IgG class antibodies against K. pneumoniae and of IgA class against E. coli was observed in ankylosing spondylitis. No clear correlation between the disease activity and occurrence of antibodies was revealed. The results are in line with the previously published findings suggesting that K. pneumoniae may have a role in the aetiopathogenesis of ankylosing spondylitis.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Bursectomy of chicken embryos at 60 hours of incubation leads to an oligoclonal B cell compartment and restricted Ig diversity.

Chickens that have been surgically bursectomized at 60 h of embryonic development usually generate Ig producing B cells; however, the bursectomized chickens are incapable of specific antibody responses, even after repeated immunization. In the present work, we analyzed the molecular basis of this immunodeficiency. In the bursectomized chickens, DNA sequencing revealed a repertoire of Ig L and H chains with a low number of different V-J and V-D-J joints, indicating an oligoclonal B cell compartment. In addition, the L and H chains belonging to each B cell clone had similar gene conversion events in the V region. In situ hybridization to Harderian gland tissue sections showed, that B cells of the bursectomized chickens were, however, capable of terminal plasma cell maturation. Thus, in chickens that were lacking the bursal microenvironment, 1) only a few B cell precursors differentiated into mature Ig-producing B cells, 2) low rate of gene conversion resulted in restricted Ig diversity. Regarding the chicken B cell differentiation, the present data support a model that the induction of B cell differentiation is a bursa-independent event, whereas the bursa of Fabricius has a crucial role in the amplification and diversification of the embryonic B cell repertoire.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1990

Salmonella lipopolysaccharide in synovial cells from patients with reactive arthritis.

Synovial cells from nine patients with reactive arthritis following Salmonella enteritidis or Salmonella typhimurium infection were examined for salmonella antigens. Extensive bacterial cultures of the synovial fluid were negative. Eight synovial-fluid cell samples stained positively on immunofluorescence with rabbit antisera against heat-killed S enteritidis or S typhimurium or with monoclonal antibodies specific for the causative salmonella lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Synovial tissue from the ninth patient stained positively in the avidin-biotin-peroxidase complex method with the monoclonal antibody. Control samples (synovial-fluid cells from thirteen patients with other rheumatic diseases and synovial tissue from two) were negative. Synovial cells from eight patients and five controls were studied by western blotting with the same monoclonal antibodies. Four of the eight patients but no controls had blots indicating salmonella LPS in the synovial cells. The presence of bacterial LPS in the joint is a common and pathogenetically important feature of reactive arthritis.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1990

Serologic evidence of Yersinia infection in patients with anterior uveitis.

Anterior uveitis is a common inflammatory eye disease associated with the HLA-B27 phenotype. Bacteriologic cofactors have been implicated in the pathogenesis of several diseases associated with HLA-B27. Using a sensitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, we examined the incidence of previous Yersinia infection in a group of 28 consecutive patients with anterior uveitis. Twelve patients had a significantly increased antibody response to Yersinia, 8 of whom were HLA-B27 positive. Eight patients had IgM antibodies, possibly indicative of recent infection. There were no positive Yersinia serologic findings in our control group of 28 subjects, 13 of whom were HLA-B27 positive. A strong association was found between previous Yersinia infection and the development of anterior uveitis in HLA-B27-positive and HLA-B27-negative patients.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Serological diagnosis of salmonella infections by enzyme immunoassay.

An enzyme immunoassay (EIA) for the detection and measurement of serum IgM, IgG, and IgA antibodies to salmonella was developed with commercially available lipopolysaccharides (LPSs) of Salmonella typhimurium and S enteritidis combined as antigen. Of 130 sera from patients with culture-confirmed salmonella infections, 115 (88.5%) were positive in this assay. The classic Widal agglutination test was positive in only 50 (38.5%) cases. This EIA method offers a substantial advance in the serological diagnosis of acute salmonella infections; it detects antibodies to the salmonellae of groups B and D, which constitute about 70% of culture-positive cases of human salmonellosis. Antibodies to other salmonellae are also detected. This EIA is particularly valuable for the detection of salmonella antibodies during post-infectious complications when isolation of the organism is often no longer possible.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1989

B cell maturation in the chicken Harderian gland.

We have characterized maturation of B lymphocytes in the chicken Harderian gland. Expression of Ig genes was studied by using lambda L and mu H chain-specific DNA probes. In unstimulated chickens, the concentration of mu H chain and lambda L chain mRNA in the Harderian gland was observed to be greater than 8 times higher than in the bursa of Fabricius or spleen. By using in situ hybridization, the plasma cells expressing mu mRNA were located in central area of the gland packed around the tubules. Antibodies produced by the Harderian plasma cells were measured from the tears before and after antigenic stimulation. In unstimulated chickens high levels of total IgM, IgA, and IgG were observed. After ocular stimulation with tetanus toxoid, specific antitetanus IgG and IgA antibodies appeared in the tears but IgM antibodies were barely detectable. These results indicate that after antigenic stimulation the Harderian B cells rapidly mature through IgM secretion to the production of IgG or IgA. Southern blot analysis of the Harderian total genomic DNA showed strong rearrangement in the lambda L chain locus. In contrast, the band indicating major rearrangement in the mu H chain locus gave a very poor hybridization signal, indicating deletion of C mu genes in the Harderian gland DNA. As a conclusion, our present data indicate for the Harderian gland a role in terminal B cell differentiation and Ig class switch.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Yersinia antigens in synovial-fluid cells from patients with reactive arthritis.

We examined synovial-fluid cells from 15 patients with reactive arthritis after yersinia infection for the presence of yersinia antigens. Extensive bacterial cultures of the synovial fluid were negative. All the samples were studied by immunofluorescence with use of a rabbit antiserum to Yersinia enterocolitica O:3 and a monoclonal antibody to Y. enterocolitica O:3 lipopolysaccharide. Synovial-fluid cells from 41 patients with other rheumatic diseases served as controls. Synovial-fluid cells from 10 patients with reactive arthritis after yersinia infection stained positively on immunofluorescence; rabbit antiserum and the monoclonal antibody yielded similar results. In most patients the percentage of positive cells ranged from 1 to 10 percent, but in one patient nearly all the cells in the sample stained strongly. Most of the positively stained cells were polymorphonuclear leukocytes, but yersinia antigens were also found in mononuclear phagocytes. All the control samples were negative. Synovial-fluid cell deposits from nine patients were also studied by Western blotting with use of the same antibodies. The results were positive in six of the nine cell deposits from patients with reactive arthritis and in none of the 10 cell deposits from control patients with rheumatoid arthritis. We conclude that in patients with reactive arthritis after yersinia infection, microbial antigens can be found in synovial-fluid cells from the affected joints.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Immunological and bacteriological aspects of reactive arthritis.

It is apparent that in the development of reactive arthritis the patient fails in his first line of defence against the invading microorganism. This results in persistence of the microorganism probably in or close to the intestinal epithelium. Microbial antigens may appear also in the circulation, perhaps as part of the immune complexes, or within cellular elements. Through these transportation mechanisms they enter the synovium, triggering an inflammatory process that leads to reactive arthritis.

Antibodies, Bacterial↗
PubMed1989

Clinical manifestations of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis infection in children.

The clinical manifestations of infection were analysed during an outbreak of 34 cases of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis serotype Ia infection. The diagnosis was based on the results of enzyme immunoassay and verified by stool culture in five cases. The first four patients were pupils from the same school, and information on any signs and symptoms of infection was obtained by questionnaire from pupils of the school. A blood sample was obtained from 101 children. Strong IgM and IgG antibody responses to Yersinia pseudotuberculosis Ia were found in 13 (25%) of the 52 pupils who reported signs and symptoms of infection and in 9 (18%) of the 49 with no manifestations of infection. The vigorous immune response also resulted in effective opsonization of the causative microorganism. The most common symptoms were fever and abdominal pain. Three children operated on because of suspected appendicitis were found to have mesenteric lymphadenitis. Only one patient developed reactive arthritis. Analysis showed that a remarkable proportion of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis infections may be subclinical, and that individual Yersinia pseudotuberculosis strains may have different capacities to cause postinfection complications.

Adolescent↗