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W A Scherbaum

Publications and source records attributed to W A Scherbaum.

At least 235 records · Page 13Linked to original sources
PubMed1988

Autoantibodies to adrenal medullary and thyroid calcitonin cells in type I diabetes mellitus--a prospective study.

Autoantibodies to adrenal medulla that gave a diffuse immunofluorescent staining pattern were detected in 17 out of 107 (16%) patients with newly diagnosed Type I diabetes mellitus, in 13 out of 178 (7%) patients with long lasting disease but in none of 80 mixed control sera tested. The antibodies were of IgG class and 31 of the 33 positive sera also fixed complement. In 32 out of 34 cases, detection of the antibodies was correlated with the presence in the serum of pancreatic islet cell antibodies (ICA). The specificity of adrenal medullary antibodies is distinct from ICA and from C-cell antibodies since their reactivity was not abolished by preabsorption with extracts from human insulinoma or thyroid C-cell carcinoma. The presence in the serum of antibodies to adrenal medulla is not related to a functional defect of the adrenal medulla, but this new specificity indicates a further autoimmune reaction related to the natural history of Type I diabetes.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

[Infectious complications in immunosuppressed patients after kidney transplantation].

Under an immunosuppressive therapy after renal transplantation there is an increased risk of acquiring infections with a possible lethal outcome. On the basis of 4 cases it is shown that invasive diagnostic procedures are indicated when the primary noninvasive methods and therapeutical trials are unsuccessful. Early and consequent therapy of severe infections must imply the reduction or cessation of immunosuppression. Conservation of the transplant at any price is not justifiable.

Humans↗
PubMed1987

Autoantibodies to pituitary corticotropin-producing cells: possible marker for unfavourable outcome after pituitary microsurgery for Cushing's disease.

Circulating autoantibodies to human fetal pituitary cells were detected in 13 out of 51 patients who underwent transsphenoidal microsurgery for Cushing's disease. The absence of Fc receptors on human fetal pituitary corticotropin-producing cells allowed the detection of antibodies to these cells. In all the 13 patients, the antibodies were present before surgery, and 10 of them showed clinical and/or biochemical signs of incomplete cure of Cushing's disease after surgery. Only 3 out of 27 patients with a favourable outcome were antibody-positive. In all the antibody-positive patients, the antibodies were directed to corticotropin-producing cells and in 8 patients also to luteinising hormone or human growth hormone producing cells. A non-antigen-specific adherence of antibodies to Fc-receptors on corticotropin-cells was excluded by unchanged binding after preincubation of sections with purified rabbit Fc or Fc aggregates. The presence of pituitary corticotropin-cell antibodies in patients with Cushing's disease is associated with an unsuccessful outcome after transsphenoidal selective adenectomy.

Adenoma↗
PubMed1987

Organ-specific autoantibodies in non-organ-specific autoimmune diseases with special reference to rheumatoid arthritis.

Sera from 367 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and from 102 patients with other non-organ-specific (NOS) autoimmune diseases were examined for the presence of organ-specific (OS) autoantibodies. The incidence of these OS autoantibodies was not increased in patients with NOS autoimmune diseases with the exception of thyroglobulin antibodies, which were significantly more frequent in RA (P less than 0.001) and in Sjögren's syndrome (P less than 0.05) patients than in normal controls. Investigation of 169 patients with OS autoimmune diseases did not reveal an increased prevalence of NOS autoantibodies. In RA patients, OS autoantibodies correlated with NOS autoantibodies (P less than 0.04) and with HLA-DR3 antigen (P less than 0.01).

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

On the clinical importance of thyroid microsomal and thyroglobulin antibody determination.

Among the various autoantibody tests applied in research and clinical practice, the determination of thyroid microsomal (TMAb) and thyroglobulin antibodies (TgAb) still retains its strong value in the screening for thyroid autoimmunity. The presence in the serum of TMAb is almost invariably associated with thyroid autoimmune disease or focal thyroiditis. The appearance of TMAb together with elevated serum-TSH in subclinical autoimmune thyroiditis strongly suggests progression to overt hypothyroidism. Pregnant women with positive TMAb and/or TgAb run an increased risk for post-partum painless thyroiditis with transient thyrotoxicosis and subsequent hypothyroidism. After delivery also a relapse of previously unrecognized Graves' thyrotoxicosis may occur. Thyroid antibody determination is not a valuable tool to discriminate autoimmune thyroiditis from thyroid malignancies. TMAb and TgAb determination helps to recognize individuals with thyroid autoimmunity among patients with non-thyroid autoimmune diseases such as Addison's disease and Type I diabetes mellitus.

Autoantibodies↗
PubMed1986

Autoimmune cranial diabetes insipidus: its association with other endocrine diseases and with histiocytosis X.

Thirty-nine patients with idiopathic cranial diabetes insipidus (DI) and 81 secondary to hypothalamic lesions were investigated for the presence both of associated autoimmune diseases and autoantibodies. Eleven (28%) of the idiopathic but none of the secondary DI cases had an overt autoimmune disease. A further two patients with idiopathic DI had associated organ-specific autoantibodies. Autoantibodies to vasopressin (AVP)-secreting hypothalamic cells were detected in 12 patients with idiopathic DI (31%). Seven out of 13 cases of DI secondary to histiocytosis X (HX) were also positive (54%), whereas only two (3%) of the other 68 sera from patients with secondary DI reacted with AVP cels. Of the 13 patients with DI associated with frank organ-specific autoimmune diseases or autoantibodies alone, eight (62%) were positive for AVP-cell antibodies. The finding of associated autoimmune diseases in a patient with idiopathic DI is therefore suggestive of an autoimmune origin of DI, and this can be supported by the detection in the serum of AVP cell antibodies. In cases of HX, the new finding of the presence of AVP-cell antibodies reflects hypothalamic infiltration by HX cells, and suggests that DR + 'Langerhans-like' cells play more than a passive role in the hypothalamic lesion.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

[Autoimmune polyendocrinopathies. Pathogenic hypotheses].

In most of the cases, once a given endocrine gland is involved, the corresponding specific autoantibody may be detected; for example, anti-islet cell antibodies are produced within the first few years, after onset of symptoms in insulin-dependent diabetes (DID). Accompanying autoantibodies are quite frequently found in the patient himself. In Schmidt's syndrome (thyroid and adrenal glands are involved and associated to IDD in 30% of the cases) thyroid microsomal antibodies are found in 38% of the cases, thyroglobulin antibodies in 11% of the cases, islet-cell antibodies in 7% of the cases and steroid cell antibodies in 17% of the cases. Associations are also possible in patient family members. Aberrant expression of HLA-DR molecules at the membrane of follicular thyroid cells (as of any other endocrine gland), following a viral aggression, could well account for the endocrinopathy combinations, but alternative mechanisms should be discussed.

Antibody Specificity↗
PubMed1985

An ELISA method for the detection of autoantibodies to adrenal cortex.

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is described for autoantibodies to adrenal cortex. Microsomes were prepared from fresh human adrenal glands, and microtitre ELISA plates were incubated at 4 degrees C overnight with 25 micrograms antigen/ml, the optimal concentration for the system. Optimal dilution of patient's serum was 1/500. Peroxidase-labelled anti-human IgG and IgM sera were used in separate tests and o-phenylenediamine and H2O2 served as substrate. Intra-assay variance of optical density units was 4.5%, and inter-assay variance was negligible when antigen preparations from 2 different adrenal glands were compared. All sera positive or negative at first test gave the same qualitative result in a second. Non-organ-specific binding of sera containing mitochondrial or ribosomal antibodies was eliminated by a blocking ELISA system where the antigen-coated plates were incubated with test sera, and in a second step, peroxidase-labelled IgG from an adrenal antibody-positive control serum was added. In this test, optimal antigen concentration for coating of plates was 6.25 micrograms/ml and optimal serum dilution 1/50. The ELISA proved more sensitive and reproducible than indirect immunofluorescence. Adrenal antibodies detected by ELISA were usually of IgG class alone and only 1 of the 30 positives also contained IgM specificity. 30 out of 38 sera (79%) from patients with 'idiopathic' Addison's disease were positive whereas immunofluorescence revealed only 23 (61%) at first testing and another 4 positives when sera were tested on different adrenal glands. The ELISA described is useful for both scientific work and clinical diagnosis of autoimmune adrenalitis.

Adrenal Cortex↗