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Biomedical subjects

S Inai

Publications and source records attributed to S Inai.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

IgA nephropathy in patients with congenital C9 deficiency.

The clinical, histologic, and immunopathological findings of three young Japanese males with congenital C9 deficiency and primary IgA nephropathy are reported. The C9 deficiency was discovered either through mass complement screening, or when low hemolytic activity for CH50 and normal C3 levels were detected in plasma. Hematuria and proteinuria were detected at the age of 8 or 9 years as a result of annual urinary screening tests for school children. Renal biopsy showed focal and segmental mesangial proliferation with small epithelial crescents in one patient, and mild, diffuse mesangial proliferation in two. IgA and C3 were deposited predominantly in the mesangial area, and staining for C9 was negative in these patients. Electron microscopy revealed electron dense deposits predominantly in mesangial and paramesangial zones. Immunohistochemical staining in renal biopsy tissues from two patients showed mesangial staining for C5, C8, and S-protein, but staining for C5b-9 neoantigen was completely negative. These results show that the formation of C5b-9 complex is not essential for the induction of human IgA nephropathy, and also for the proliferation of mesangial and even parietal epithelial cells.

Child

Inherited deficiency of the ninth component of complement associated with streptococcal infection.

A 7 year old boy, who presented with streptococcal infection, was found to have a low serum complement level (CH50). The C9 component was undetectable. His CH50 rose to the normal value and remained normal for at least three weeks, but decreased to one-third of the normal level three months later. Family studies were consistent with a familial C9 deficiency, with autosomal co-dominant inheritance.

Child

[A case of C5 deficiency with polyarthritis].

A 27-year-old female with polyarthritis was found to lack serum complement activity. Her serum CH50 was less than 1.9 U/ml. C5 protein in her serum was less than 2 mg/dl and its activity was not detected. The serum level of the other proteins of complement system examined were within the normal range. At 17 years old, she was diagnosed as rheumatic fever and was admitted to our hospital. She was treated with aminobenzylpenicillin and predonisolone for two months, and she was discharged from our hospital without any abnormalities. But she had no other episode of repeated infections. Family studies of this patient revealed that an elder sister of this patient was also homozygous deficiency of C5 and her parents were considered to be heterozygous deficiency of C5. From these results, the patient was considered to be inherited deficiency of C5.

Adult

Gene responsible for deficient activity of the beta subunit of C8, the eighth component of complement, is located on mouse chromosome 4.

Sera from 73 strains of mice were tested for hemolytic activity through the classical and the alternative pathways (CP and AP) in a single radial hemolysis assay. Sera from 16 out of 45 laboratory inbred strains had no lytic activity, and Ouchterlony analysis with anti-C5 serum showed them to be C5-deficient. Sera from 2 out of 28 strains derived from wild mice also had no lytic activity, but the C5 molecule was detectable in both. The hemolytic activity of sera from these strains can be restored by the addition of partially purified human C8 or human serum deficient in C8 alpha-gamma, leading us to conclude that strains M.MOL-MSM (MSM) and Mae are deficient in the beta subunit of C8. Typing of (DBA/2J X MSM)F1 hybrids and of progeny of a backcross to MSM showed that this C8 deficiency is controlled by a single recessive gene, designated C8b; the allele with hemolytic activity is C8b1; and the allele with no activity C8b0. Because of synteny homologies in mouse and human, we looked for and found close linkage between C8b and Pgm-2. Typing of recombinant mice for Mup-1 mapped the C8b locus 2.3 centimorgans (cM) telomeric to Pgm-2 on mouse chromosome 4.

Animals

Paroxysmal nocturnal haemoglobinuria with coexisting deficiency of the ninth component of complement: lack of massive haemolytic attack.

A 47-year-old woman with paroxysmal nocturnal haemoglobinuria (PNH) was found to have an inherited deficiency in the ninth complement component (C9). In complement-sensitivity lysis tests, 80% of her erythrocytes were markedly complement-sensitive (PNH-III). Laser cytofluorimetry with a monoclonal antibody against decay-accelerating factor (DAF) revealed that 95% of her erythrocytes were DAF-negative. Surprisingly, she has suffered only mild haemolysis and has never experienced massive spontaneous haemolysis. Gross haemoglobinuria and jaundice occurred only after receiving postoperative transfusion of whole blood. In her serum, C9 was not detectable either by immunological or by functional assays. Both the Ham test and the sugar water test using normal human serum or plasma yielded marked haemolysis of the patient's erythrocytes. When the patient's serum or plasma was used, only a trace of lysis was detected. Addition of purified human C9 to her plasma fully restored haemolysis. These observations indicated that C9 may play a critical role in haemolytic attacks in patients with PNH and that characteristic haemolysis in PNH may be tempered by coexisting C9 deficiency.

Complement C9

A biotin-avidin sandwich ELISA for quantification of intact complement component C9. The sera from hereditary C9 deficient individuals completely lack C9.

A two-site sandwich ELISA method was developed for quantitating intact C9 protein using MoAb P40 (anti-C9b antibody). This antibody reacted with monomeric C9 but not with polymerized C9. MoAb P40 was used as a capture antibody and MoAb X195 (anti-C9a antibody) as a detection antibody. This method is highly sensitive and can detect approximately 0.5 ng/ml of native C9. No cross-reactivities of either C6, C7, or C8 were observed even at concentrations of 10 micrograms/ml per component. In addition, this method allows for measurement of only intact C9 molecules, eliminating the interference of polymerized C9 or inactivated C9. Using this assay, no C9 at all was detected in sera from inherited C9 deficient individuals, including both healthy blood donors and patients with meningococcal meningitis; although by hemolytic assay, C9 levels were reported to be less than 0.2% those of NHS. Therefore, this two-site sandwich ELISA method can replace the hemolytic assay, and is especially useful for measuring small amounts of C9 in serum.

Animals

A high incidence of C9 deficiency among healthy blood donors in Osaka, Japan.

By the use of sucrose gelatin veronal buffer (SGVB), a simple screening test was developed by us to detect sera with low complement activity, including C9-deficient sera. Using this screening test, we were able to identify sera with low complement activity including C9-deficient sera among a large number of samples. Further examinations, estimation of the protein concentration of C9, C4, C3, etc., enabled classification of serum with low complement activity into C9-deficient serum, serum deficient in the other components, and serum with low complement activity caused by non-specific activation of complement through the classical pathway by low temperature in vitro. Among 145,640 sera from Osaka donors, 138 sera were found to be deficient in C9 by these methods. The whole complement activity (CH50) of the 138 sera was 13.1 +/- 3.0 U/ml. The C9 protein in these sera was undetectable, not only by the single radial immunodiffusion method, but also by the sensitive ELISA method. C9 activities in these sera were less than 0.1% of the level in pooled normal human serum. These findings and the family studies revealed that 138 blood donors unquestionably had a hereditary C9 deficiency. The incidence of C9 deficiency among Osaka donors was calculated to be 0.095%.

Blood Donors

Inherited deficiencies of the late-acting complement components other than C9 found among healthy blood donors.

Among sera from 145,640 healthy blood donors in Osaka, 16 were found to have abnormalities in late-acting complement components other than C9. It was found that of these 16 sera, 2 were deficient in C5, 4 in C6, 6 in C7 and 4 in C8 alpha-gamma-subunit. The incidence of deficiency of each component among the Osaka blood donors was calculated as follows: C5 deficiency, 0.0014%; C6 deficiency, 0.0027%; C7 deficiency, 0.0041%; C8 alpha-gamma-subunit deficiency, 0.0027%. We confirmed that 13 donors were healthy and 12 had no past history related to a complement component deficiency. From these results, not only C9 deficiency but also deficiencies of the other late-acting complement components were found among the healthy blood donors, but no early-acting component deficiencies were noted.

Blood Donors

The role of the C9b domain in the binding of C9 molecules to EAC1-8 defined by monoclonal antibodies to C9.

Three mAb to human C9, X195, X197, and P40 were used to analyze the roles of the C9a and C9b domains in the reaction of the C9 molecule with sensitized sheep E bearing C1 to C8 (EAC1-8). X195 bound to NH2-terminal (C9a) fragments, and X197 bound to COOH-terminal (C9b) fragments obtained by cleavage of C9 with alpha-thrombin or trypsin. P40 recognized the epitope on the C9b fragment obtained by alpha-thrombin cleavage but did not react with the NH2-terminal or COOH-terminal fragment obtained by trypsin cleavage. In this respect, P40 differed from mAb to C9 reported previously. P40 almost completely inhibited the hemolytic activity of C9. X195 and X197 also inhibited C9 activity, but less effectively than P40. C9 molecules bound to P40 could not bind to EAC1-8 cells. C9 bound to X197 could not bind rapidly to EAC1-8, but prolonged incubation of the C9-X197 complex with EAC1-8 caused considerable lysis of the cells. C9 molecules bound to X195 could bind rapidly to EAC1-8, but their lytic activity was partially inhibited by the bound antibody. From these results, it is concluded that the C9b but not C9a domain contributes to the binding of C9 to EAC1-8 and that the epitope recognized by P40 or a closely adjacent site may be the binding site of C9 molecule to EAC1-8.

Animals

[Evaluation of immunosuppressive acid protein in genitourinary malignant diseases].

Clinical significance of serum immunosuppressive acid protein (IAP) was evaluated on the basis of experience on 55 patients with genitourinary malignant disease and 49 control patients. Although the measurement of serum level of IAP is not good enough to diagnose early stage of cancer, patients with 800 micrograms/ml or more of serum IAP can be suspected to have malignant diseases. With the exception of prostatic cancer, both mean serum level and positive rate of IAP were higher in patients with high stage of disease than in those with low stage. Furthermore, on an individual basis, serum level of IAP was elevated with the progress of malignant tumor and was reduced with effective treatment. Thus, serum IAP is considered as a valuable nonspecific tumor marker in monitoring clinical course of genitourinary malignant diseases except for cancer of the prostate. In patients with advanced prostatic cancer, no definite correlation was seen between serum IAP and stage of disease, histopathological finding or serum prostatic acid phosphatase.

Adult

Activation of the human complement cascade by bacterial cell walls, peptidoglycans, water-soluble peptidoglycan components, and synthetic muramylpeptides--studies on active components and structural requirements.

Cell walls isolated from 29 strains of 24 gram-positive bacterial species, whose peptidoglycans belong to the group A type of Schleifer and Kandler's classification, with one exception (Arthrobacter sp.), were shown to activate the complement cascade in pooled fresh human serum mainly through the alternative pathway and partly through the classical one. The complement-activating effect of cell walls (5 species) possessing group B type peptidoglycan, except those of Corynebacterium insidiosum, was weaker than that of the walls with group A type peptidoglycan. Preparations of peptidoglycan isolated from cell walls of Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, and Lactobacillus plantarum also activated the alternative pathway of the complement cascade, but less effectively than the respective parent cell walls. A water-soluble "polymer" of peptidoglycan subunits (SEPS), which was prepared from Staphylococcus epidermidis peptidoglycans by treatment with a cross-bridge degrading endopeptidase, retained most of the complement-activating ability of the parent cell walls. A peptidoglycan "monomer," SEPS-M, which was obtained by hydrolysis of the glycan chain of SEPS with endo-N-acetylmuramidase to disaccharide units did not activate complement. In conformity with this finding, neither synthetic N-acetylmuramyl-L-alanyl-D-isoglutamine (MDP) nor MDP-L-Lys-D-Ala activated the complement cascade. Among several lipophilic derivatives of MDP, 6-O-(3-hydroxy-3-docosylhexacosanoyl)-MDP-L-Lys-D-Ala (BH48-MDP-L-Lys-D-Ala) and 6-O-(2-tetradecylhexadecanoyl)-MDP (B30-MDP) were shown to activate complement through the alternative as well as the classical pathway and exclusively through the classical pathway, respectively. The finding that a D-isoasparagine analog of B30-MDP caused the same effect as the parent molecule strongly suggests that the activation of complement by B30-MDP is different from that caused by cell wall peptidoglycans and a water-soluble "polymer" of peptidoglycan subunits.

Acetylmuramyl-Alanyl-Isoglutamine

A case of lowered eosinophilic leucocyte peroxidase activity found unexpectedly using an automated haematology analyser (the Technicon H6000 system)

The Technicon H6000 system simultaneously determines blood cell and leucocyte differential counts automatically using cytochemistry and cell size measurements. Part of the information provided by this instrument is a plot of peroxidase staining intensity against leucocyte cell size called 'the leucocyte peroxidase distribution display'. Recently, an abnormal leucocyte peroxidase distribution display was observed, on a sample from a post-operative lung cancer patient, in which eosinophilic leucocytes did not react with peroxidase. Neutrophils reacted in a normal way with this sample. The eosinophils were further examined by electron microscopy and manual peroxidase staining. Some peroxidase positive granules were observed in the eosinophilic leucocytes. The abnormal leucocyte peroxidase distribution display was found to be due to a separate group of eosinophilic leucocytes with lowered peroxidase activity.

Blood Cell Count