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S Leibowitz

Publications and source records attributed to S Leibowitz.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

An evaluation of the immunoperoxidase technique in renal biopsy diagnosis.

An evaluation of the use of horseradish peroxidase labelled antisera against IgG, IgM, IgA and C3 compared with corresponding antisera labelled with fluorescein isothiocyanate has been carried out on renal biopsy material from 200 patients with renal disease. A disparity between the two methods was observed in 10-19% of the readings according to the antigen being demonstrated. The majority of differences recorded would not have influenced the executive diagnosis. Where the immunological results could have influenced the executive diagnosis, 5 probable false results were obtained using innumofluorescence and 4 with immunoperoxidase. Immunoperoxidase has the advantage over immunofluorescence in that it provides a permanent preparation which can be reviewed months or years later. In addition it provides more accurate localization of the immune deposits since the section can be counterstained with Mayer's hemalum and viewed by conventional light microscopy. In view of these advantages we recommend that serious consideration should be given to using immunoperoxidase in place of immunofluorescence for the examination of renal biopsy material.

Biopsy↗

Systemic lupus with nephritis: a long-term study.

Seventy-one patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and clinical evidence of nephritis were seen during a 15-year period, and followed for a mean of seven years. Survival was calculated to be 76 per cent at five years and 57 per cent at ten years from onset of clinical nephritis; and 80, 65, 55 and 55 per cent five, ten, fifteen and twenty years from onset of clinical lupus. Renal biopsies showed mild or focal lesions in 30 per cent of patients, membranous lesions in 14 per cent and diffuse proliferative lesions in 55 per cent. However, there was no difference in the long-term outcome of the different histological groups. Nineteen patients (27 per cent) died during follow up, eleven from renal failure, six from sepsis and two from cerebral lupus. Death in renal failure is now usually a late event in lupus, even in patients with clinical evidence of severe nephritis. The prognosis of even severe lupus nephritis is now better than formerly reported. Reducing the dose of corticosteroid drugs, by the use of cytotoxic drugs such as azathioprine may have diminished the mortality from cardiovascular complications. Side effects of treatment, however, remain an important cause of death and morbidity.

Adolescent↗

Focal segmental sclerosis or scarred focal proliferative glomerulonephritis?

We have made a blind retrospective analysis of 334 renal biopsies, each containing more than 10 glomeruli, from adults and children with glomerulonephritis, in order to assess the clinicopathological significance of segmental lesions. These were defined as endocapillary proliferation and/or sclerosis involving capillary loops, and a less than half the glomerular tufts. On optical microscopy of paraffin-embedded material, 57 biopsies containing segmental lesions were independently classified by two observes as "focal proliferative glomerulonephritis" or "focal segmental glomerulosclerosis". These results were then reviewed with immunofluorescence, electron microscopic and clinical data and an "executive" diagnosis reached. Scarred focal proliferative glomerulonephritis could not be reliably distinguished from focal segmental glomerulosclerosis by optical microscopy alone. Some cases of focal proliferative glomerulonephritis are not associated with systemic disease and may have negative immunofluorescence findings, and we were unable to distinguish scarring in these patients from the lesion of focal segmental glomerulosclerosis with any of the tools at our disposal. Some patients with scarred focal proliferative glomerulonephritis showed profuse proteinuria, a nephrotic syndrome and progression to renal insufficiency. These cases cannot therefore be differentiated from focal segmental glomerulosclerosis by their clinical features. It would seem that the morphological lesion of focal segmental glomerulosclerosis should be regarded as focal segmental glomerular scarring from a variety of insults, rather than a distinct disease entity.

Adolescent↗

Absence of glomerular renal tubular epithelial antigen in membranous glomerulonephritis.

Renal biopsies from 24 patients with membranous glomerulonephritis were examined by indirect immunofluorescence for the presence of autologous renal tubular epithelial antigen (RTE). Staining of the luminal layer of proximal tubular epithelium was found in all cases, as with normal human kidney, but granular staining along glomerular capillary walls was not observed. The role of RTE in the genesis of human membranous glomerulonephritis has not been confirmed.

Adult↗

IgA and glomerular disease.

Serum IgA levels are raised in a proportion of children with Henoch-Schönlein disease (H. S. P.), patients with Berger's mesangial IgA disease, and in patients with glomerular lesions in association with hepatic cirrhosis. These conditions are all characterized by mesangial staining with anti-IgA antisera on immunofluorescence. It has been suggested that elevated serum IgA levels are of value in the diagnosis of these diseases. We have measured serum IgA levels by radial immunodiffusion in a variety of primary and secondary glomerular diseases. High serum IgA levels were confined to patients with glomerular IgA deposition, but were not restricted to H. S. P. and Berger's disease, nor to patients with deposition of IgA only in a mesangial pattern. Elevated salivary IgA levels were found in 3/4 patients with high serum IgA levels but we found no evidence for involvement of the secretory system in glomerular mesangial IgA deposition.

Adolescent↗

Role of antibodies to galactocerebroside in experimental allergic encephalomyelitis.

The possible role of antibodies to galactocerebroside was investigated in AS rats with experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) induced by guinea-pig spinal cord. Passive immunization with rat or rabbit antiserum to galactocerebroside did not protect rats from EAE. Active immunization with galactocerebroside before the encephalitogenic challenge produced antibody to galactocerebroside but also failed to protect rats from EAE. These experiments did not support previous suggestions that antibodies to galactocerebroside are protective.

Adjuvants, Immunologic↗