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Biomedical subjects

W Henle

Publications and source records attributed to W Henle.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Selected aspects of acute and chronic infectious mononucleosis and mononucleosis-like illnesses for the practicing allergist.

The diagnosis of EBV-IM or a heterophil-negative mononucleosis-like syndrome is best approached by combining morphologic and serologic data. The minimal hematologic criteria should always be searched for before accepting a case as IM or an IM-like illness. If minimal morphologic data are not rigidly adhered to, the number of heterophil-negative cases included under the umbrella of IM or an IM-like illness will swell and include a variety of other illnesses where early diagnosis may be important for treatment purposes. When EBV studies are indicated, the entire profile (VCA-IgM, VCA-IgG, and anti-EBNA) should be performed. Anti-VCA-IgG titers alone, for example, are of very limited usefulness unless they are negative (less than 1:10), in which case the diagnosis of EBV-IM is excluded. The main problems connected with the diagnosis of the CMS center about the nonspecificity of both clinical and EBV serologic data. Thus, a significant effort must be made to rule out underlying disease, especially those chronic illnesses with immunosuppressive effects that are capable of reactivating the EBV latency state and producing EBV serology similar to that seen in CMS. Other dilemmas relate to diagnostic cut-off levels for particular EBV-related tests, including antibodies to EA and the relative unavailability of several tests for detection of subtle immunodeficiency or T-cell dysfunction in individual patients with suspected CMS. Future efforts will be directed to the diagnostic usefulness of antibody responses to well-defined recombinant fragments of the EBV genome (ie, anti-EBNA1 vs. -EBNA2 titers).

Acute Disease↗

The Epstein-Barr virus determined nuclear antigen is composed of at least three different antigens.

The EBV-determined nuclear antigen, EBNA, is the only known viral product to be regularly detected in all EBV-transformed cells. The anticomplement immunofluorescence (ACIF) staining detects an EBV-specific nuclear reaction that has recently been shown to be due to at least 2 different proteins, EBNA-1 and EBNA-2, encoded by different parts of the viral genome. We now report the existence of a third antigen of the EBNA complex, designated as EBNA-3. Serum from a patient with chronic infectious mononucleosis contained no detectable antibodies to EBNA-I and had only a low EBNA-2 antibody level. Nevertheless, it gave an EBV-specific nuclear reaction of normal intensity and stained EBNA-2-positive and EBNA-2-negative EBV-carrying lines equally well. Immunoblotting with the same serum identified a new EBV-specific nuclear protein of 143-157 kDa.

Animals↗

Chronic active Epstein-Barr virus infection in patients with Chediak-Higashi syndrome.

The results of clinical and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) serological studies on nine Chediak-Higashi syndrome (CHS) patients are reported. Persistently elevated antibodies to the viral capsid antigen (VCA) and the restricted component of the early antigen complex (EA-R) developed in six patients who experienced primary EBV infection which either remained silent or were accompanied by clinical signs of infectious mononucleosis (IM). Hepatosplenomegaly and moderate lymphadenopathy, both clinical signs of the accelerated phase, remained detectable in the six patients for a long period of time after seroconversion. The clinical, serological, and histopathological observations are suggestive of a nonmalignant lymphoproliferative disease and consistent with an immunodeficiency to EBV. The abnormal serological responses to EBV in CHS are therefore considered manifestations of a chronic active EBV infection which may result in lethal lymphoproliferation. The three as yet seronegative CHS patients revealed no signs of the accelerated lymphoproliferative phase of the syndrome.

Adolescent↗

Chediak-Higashi syndrome: immunological responses to Epstein-Barr virus studies in gene heterozygotes.

Immunologic studies were performed in five fathers and nine mothers of patients with Chediak-Higashi Syndrome (CHS). Antibody response to Epstein-Barr virus capsid antigen was higher than in normal controls. Antibodies to diffuse component of the early antigen were not detected and serum antibodies to the restricted component of the early antigen were observed in 64% of the subjects studied. Low natural killer activity and increased proportions of OKT8 positive cells were increased. These data indicate that immunologic alterations similar to those seen in CHS patients can be observed in their asymptomatic parents.

Antibodies, Viral↗

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) antigen-specific leukocyte migration inhibition (LMI) in infectious mononucleosis (IM). I. Kinetics and response to a membrane protein on EBV-transformed cells.

Cell-mediated immune response of mononucleosis (IM) patients to Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-determined antigens was measured by the leukocyte migration inhibition (LMI) assay. Patients in the acute phase of the disease failed to respond to partially purified nuclear antigen, EBNA, or to cell extracts that contained EBNA as the predominant EBV antigen. They showed a strong specific response to cell extracts enriched in early antigen (EA) and virus capsid antigen (VCA). The LMI response to EBNA appeared in convalescence in parallel with EBNA-specific antibodies, slightly later in children than in adults. Membrane fractions of EBV-carrying, virus nonproducer Raji cells induced an EBV-specific LMI at approximately the same time. A bacterial fusion protein containing the hydrophilic part of the virus-coded membrane antigen of latently EBV-infected cells also induced an EBV-specific response that parallelled the LMI reaction elicited by the Raji membrane fraction. This is in line with our previous finding (D. Sulitzeanu et al., J. Virol. 58, 230, 1986) that this fusion protein shares an epitope with Raji cell membranes.

Adolescent↗

Absence of antibodies to the human immunodeficiency virus in sera from Africa prior to 1975.

Three different assays for detection of antibodies to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) were conducted on 677 sera obtained from 1964 to 1975 from male and female children and adults in Uganda and other countries in Africa. Several sera were collected from individuals with Kaposi sarcoma. No evidence of antibodies to the virus was noted up to 1975. These results strongly suggest that the emergence of HIV in Africa occurred relatively recently. Further studies are required to determine the geographic origin of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome virus.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗

Four virally determined nuclear antigens are expressed in Epstein-Barr virus-transformed cells.

The expression of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-determined antigens associated with growth-transformation of B cells was studied by immunoblotting with human sera from healthy donors. Four antigens were detected in EBV-carrying cell lines and in B lymphocytes early after infection with the transforming B95-8 substrain of virus. They were not found in uninfected cells, nor could they be demonstrated with sera lacking antibodies to EBV antigens. All four antigens were nuclear. Each of them varied in size in the different cell lines. The two antigens with the lowest molecular weight were identified as EBV-determined nuclear antigens (EBNAs) 1 and 2. The two high molecular weight antigens (140-160 kDa and 150-180 kDa, respectively) were detected with 6 of 16 EBV antibody-positive sera. These proteins appeared to be antigenically unrelated to each other and to EBNAs 1 and 2 and were designated EBNAs 3 and 4. Like EBNAs 1 and 2, they bound to double- and single-stranded DNA in vitro.

Antigens, Viral↗

Effect of acyclovir on infectious mononucleosis: a double-blind, placebo-controlled study.

Thirty-one patients with clinical and laboratory diagnoses of infectious mononucleosis who had had symptoms for seven or fewer days were randomized for intravenous treatment with acyclovir (10 mg/kg) or placebo at 8-hr intervals for seven days in a double-blind trial. Clinical signs and symptoms were registered, and excretion of virus in the saliva as well as antibody responses in sera and saliva were assessed before, during, and at regular intervals in the six months after treatment. Acyclovir significantly (P less than .001), but reversibly, inhibited oropharyngeal shedding of Epstein-Barr virus. The humoral and cellular immune responses, however, did not differ between the two groups; nor did the development of viral latency. There were no significant (P greater than .05) differences in individual clinical symptoms or in laboratory parameters between the two groups; however, when data concerning duration of fever, weight loss, tonsillar swelling, pharyngitis, and self-assessment by the patient were combined, a significant (P less than or equal to .01) effect of treatment with acyclovir was evident.

Acyclovir↗

Clinical and laboratory evaluation of cytomegalovirus-induced mononucleosis in previously healthy individuals. Report of 82 cases.

The present report describes the clinical and laboratory profile of 82 previously healthy individuals who developed cytomegalovirus (CMV)-induced mononucleosis. Many of these patients posed initial diagnostic problems and were hospitalized with diagnoses such as fever of undetermined origin, active viral hepatitis, acute leukemia, probable systemic lupus erythematosus, autoimmune hemolytic anemia, and severe pancytopenia. These patients underwent a variety of diagnostic biopsies, including liver biopsies (6) and bone marrow aspirations (9). Four patients had exploratory laparotomies, 1 for a ruptured spleen, and another had a splenectomy following an erroneous initial diagnosis of agnogenic myeloid metaplasia. There was no apparent clinical response to a short course of steroid therapy in 3 of 5 cases and acyclovir in another. The vast majority of these patients demonstrated infectious mononucleosis-type reactive blood smears, negative heterophil antibody studies, mildly or moderately elevated aspartate aminotransferase activity, and evidence for subclinical hemolysis on serial specimens. The peak serum bilirubin levels were above 2.0 mg/dl in only 2 of 71 cases tested, both of the latter patients having significant hemolysis (hemoglobin values 8.6-9.3 g/dl). The CMV-IgM test had a high sensitivity for detection of CMV macroglobulins (positive in 81 of 82 cases). In contrast, complement-fixing antibodies to CMV showed diagnostic four-fold titer changes in only 39/82 cases (47.6%). Despite its great sensitivity, the CMV-IgM test is limited by a one-way crossreaction of acute Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-IM sera and spurious positive reactions in some sera due to the presence of rheumatoid factors. Based on EBV-specific serologic studies, the 82 patients with CMV-IM could be divided into 4 groups: 3 patients without antibodies to EBV; 2) 69 patients with uncomplicated serologic data indicative of long-past EBV infections; (3) 6 patients with unusual antibody profiles, e.g., anti-D responses; and (4) 5 patients, including 1 originally susceptible to EBV, with apparent dual CMV/EBV infections. At the conclusion of our study, final diagnoses and initial hematologic data were correlated in 750 cases in which CMV macroglobulins were searched for. The vast majority of patients with active CMV infections initially demonstrated either markedly or moderately reactive peripheral blood smears. These data support our impression that diagnostic tests for CMV, as well as for EBV, are seldom indicated in symptomatic previously healthy patients whose blood smears during the acute phase (first several weeks) of their illnesses are either nonreactive or minimally reactive.

Adolescent↗

Serum antibodies to Epstein-Barr virus in patients with major depressive disorder.

To determine whether major depressive disorder might be associated with serologic evidence for a chronic active Epstein-Barr virus infection, viral-specific antibodies were measured in two separate groups of depressed patients (N=43) and in 46 appropriately matched healthy volunteers. No evidence that depression affects cellular immunity to the point that a persistent Epstein-Barr virus carrier state becomes activated was found. There was also no evidence that depression results from an unrecognized chronic active Epstein-Barr virus infection. The authors conclude that the routine clinical determination of expensive commercial Epstein-Barr virus antibody profiles is not indicated in most patients with major depressive disorder in the absence of other signs of chronic active Epstein-Barr viral infection.

Adult↗

An EBV genome carrying pre-B cell leukemia in a homosexual man with characteristic karyotype and impaired EBV-specific immunity.

A Burkitt-like lymphoma/leukemia confined to bone marrow was detected in a human T cell leukemia virus (HTLV)-III/LAV- and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-seropositive homosexual man. The tumor cells were EBNA-positive and contained at least 22 EBV genomes per cell. They were totally immunoglobin negative, but showed other markers for B cells detected with monoclonal antibodies. The patient had an impaired cellular immunity to EBV antigens and EBV-infected cells at diagnosis, but these reactions normalized during treatment. Cell clones derived from the bone marrow tumor in vitro also carried EBV and had six different marker chromosomes, including the typical 14q+ chromosome and a t(8 - ;8), which resulted in trisomy for the largest part of 8q. Partial trisomy for 12q was also observed. The patient completed six courses of combination chemotherapy and remains in excellent health after 34 months of follow-up.

Adult↗

Differences in EBV-specific antibody patterns at onset of infectious mononucleosis.

The EBV-specific antibody patterns of infectious mononucleosis (IM) patients were analyzed in relation to the onset of symptoms and clinical parameters during the acute phase of the disease. The antibody patterns varied considerably on admission. Three groups of patients were identified: one had not yet attained peak antibody titers, the second was at the peak and the third had passed the peak pattern. Patients with a "peak" current pattern had significantly higher lymphocyte counts, ASAT, ALAT, serum IgG and serum IgA concentrations than patients of the third group. Unexpectedly, there was no difference between the groups with regard to duration of sore throat and general malaise before admission. It thus seems that the lymphocyte proliferation during IM closely parallels the course of the EBV-specific antibody responses, whereas the onset of IM does not closely correlate to a specific stage of the antibody pattern.

Adolescent↗

IgA antibodies to Epstein-Barr virus in infectious mononucleosis.

The IgA anti-EBV (Epstein-Barr virus) response during the course of IM (infectious mononucleosis) was investigated. The IgA anti-VCA (viral capsid antigen) response was found not to be restricted to the early acute phase of the EBV infection as is the IgM anti-VCA response. Some patients with normal total serum IgA levels did not respond with measurable EBV specific IgA. These patients and those with low titers of IgA anti-VCA had shorter duration of sore throat than responders with high titers indicative of a strong correlation between the IgA anti-VCA titers and the duration of sore throat. In this way the EBV specific IgA response is unique since recent observations show that local oropharyngeal symptoms during IM appear poorly synchronized with the IgM and the IgG antibody responses. As EB virus is excreted into the oropharynx during IM, antigens are available for local EBV immunization. The results of the present study imply a possible local immunization process as a positive correlation was found between serum IgA anti-VCA and total salivary IgA.

Adolescent↗

Chronic Epstein-Barr virus infection associated with fever and interstitial pneumonitis. Clinical and serologic features and response to antiviral chemotherapy.

Two patients developed fever, interstitial pneumonitis, and pancytopenia associated with extremely high titers of antibody to replicative antigens of the Epstein-Barr virus. In contrast to most patients seropositive for Epstein-Barr virus, neither patient had an antibody response to the Epstein-Barr nuclear antigen K polypeptide. In addition, virus isolated from one patient had a deletion of the B95-8 type in the EcoRI C region of the genome. An etiologic relation between Epstein-Barr virus replication and the clinical manifestations of this syndrome is further shown by the response of each patient to acyclovir therapy. These patients have a new Epstein-Barr-virus-associated syndrome and provide additional evidence that acyclovir may play a role in therapy for selected patients with Epstein-Barr virus infection.

Acyclovir↗

Attachment of antinuclear antibodies to nasopharyngeal carcinoma or other cells during preparation of biopsy imprints.

The presence of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) genomes in nasopharyngeal and other carcinomas or Burkitt's and other B-cell lymphomas can be established by the demonstration of viral nucleic acid sequences in DNA extracts from biopsy specimens, the detection of EBV-associated nuclear antigen (EBNA) in biopsy imprints, and the inhibition of leukocyte migration by tumor extracts. Of these techniques, the detection of EBNA-positive tumor cells can be performed most readily in the laboratory. This report shows that a patient's antibodies to nuclear antigens can gain access to cell nuclei during the preparation of imprints. If the antibodies are directed against EBNA, nuclear immunofluorescence is elicited solely in the tumor cells when only complement (C') and fluorescein-labeled antibodies to C' are applied to the imprints without prior exposure to anti-EBNA-positive sera. If nonspecific antinuclear antibodies (ANA) are involved, the nuclear immunofluorescence seen in the EBNA-specific and control assays is not limited to the tumor cells but extends to any normal cells that may be present in the imprints. Furthermore, nuclear fluorescence is elicited when solely an anti-human IgG conjugate is applied because ANA is measurable by indirect immunofluorescence, whereas detection of EBNA requires augmentation of the antigen-antibody complexes by C', which differentiates further between EBNA-specific and nonspecific staining. Attachment of antibodies to nuclei can be avoided by minimizing the deposit of blood during imprint preparation and by rapid drying of the imprints. Similar results are obtained experimentally when smears of lymphoblasts are made in the presence of anti-EBNA or ANA.

Antibodies, Antinuclear↗

Antibody responses to two Epstein-Barr virus nuclear antigens defined by gene transfer.

By transfecting small fragments of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNA into cells, we defined two nuclear antigens, termed M and K, and examined serum from 258 subjects for antibodies against these antigens. We hoped to learn whether such single-antigen systems would clarify the association of EBV with various diseases. Although reactivity to M antigen was found in only 14 per cent of healthy EBV-seropositive subjects, 90 per cent of Chinese and North African patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma had antibody to M. Nearly all persons (96 per cent) who were EBV seropositive, as judged by their serologic reaction to a nuclear antigen encoded by the complete virus (EBNA), had a reaction to K antigen. However, serum samples from three patients with chronic active EBV infection did not react to K, even though the serum contained anti-M titers above 1:1000. Lymphoid cells from one such patient carried a normal gene for K and made K protein of correct size. Therefore, in this patient the absence of antibody to K had not resulted from a viral mutation that destroyed the K protein. These serologic studies show that some patients with chronic active EBV infection have an abnormal immune response to a specific viral gene product.

Adult↗

High prevalence of antibodies to acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS)-associated retrovirus (ARV) in AIDS and related conditions but not in other disease states.

A rapid, sensitive indirect immunofluorescence assay has been developed for detection of antibodies to the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS)-associated retrovirus (ARV). The human T-cell line HUT-78 was chronically infected with ARV-2 and used to detect antibodies to virus-specific cytoplasmic antigens. Because the helper T-cell marker Leu-3 is substantially reduced in this cell line after ARV infection, it appears to be an important receptor for virus infection. Nearly all patients with AIDS and most cases with related conditions showed antibodies against ARV. Some healthy individuals in risk groups for developing AIDS also had antibodies to the agent. In contrast, no antibodies to the virus were found in any individuals outside the risk groups for developing AIDS or with diseases other than those associated with AIDS. The titers of antibodies to ARV and to Epstein-Barr virus varied independently from each other. The level of anti-ARV antibodies in a patient's serum was found to reflect the severity of the disease; it was lower in individuals with more severe manifestations. Taken together, these data support the role of ARV in AIDS and its related disorders.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗