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Evidence for the clonal abortion theory of B-lymphocyte tolerance.

This paper deals with the behavior of adult mouse bone marrow cells placed in tissue culture with or without antigen, and subsequently assessed for immune competence after adoptive transfer into lethally X-irradiated, syngeneic hosts. Attention was focussed on B lymphocytes through using hapten human gamma globulin (HGG) preparations as putative tolerogens in tissue culture, the T-cell-independent antigens DNP-POL and NIP-POL as challenge injections in adoptive hosts, and numbers of hapten-specific PFC in host spleens for the quantitation of immune competence. It was found that the capacity of bone marrow cells to mount an adoptive immune response rose by a factor of about fivefold over 3 days in tissue culture. This rise was completely abolished by the presence in the culture of hapten-HGG conjugates with about one mole of hapten per carrier molecule. The prevention of the emergence of immune competence amongst maturing B cells was termed clonal abortion tolerogenesis. Dose-response studies showed the lowest effective antigen concentration to be between 2.5 times 10- minus 10 and 2.5 times 10- minus 9 M, and a standard concentration of 2.5 times 10- minus 8 M was chosen as producing near maximal effects. The tolerance was antigen-specific and time-dependent, being maximal only when antigen was present continuously as the cultured cells was maturing. It did not depend on the presence of T lymphocytes in marrow, and was not of an "infectious" type. In contrast to tolerogenesis of mature B lymphocytes by high antigen concentrations, it could not be abolished by lipopolysaccharide. We speculate that clonal abortion may be a tolerance mechanism of great physiological significance for self-recognition, and discuss the results in the framework of other recent tolerance models, including those involving receptor blockade and suppressor T cells.

Animals↗

Fetal tissue banking for transplantation: characteristics of the donor population and considerations for donor and tissue screening.

We initiated this study to evaluate the suitability for therapeutic use in transplantation of tissues obtained from human abortuses. We have developed protocols for the collection, handling and preservation of hepatic stem cells from electively aborted embryos and have developed methods for assessment of the cells so derived and processed. In this paper we present our findings regarding screening of potential donors, acquisition of fetal tissues, and assessment of the tissues for potentially infectious contaminants. We assess the suitability of the tissue donors according to current standards used for donors of commonly transplanted tissues (e.g., bone grafts, skin grafts and heart valves) and present data regarding the real availability of tissues from elective abortion procedures that would meet those standard tissue banking criteria.We specifically evaluated the donor's willingness to provide a blood sample for testing, conducted a detailed interview similar to those used for typical organ and tissue donors, and assessed the type and incidence of contamination in collected tissues. We find that although many women are willing to consent to use of the tissues for transplantation, attrition from the study for various reasons results in few fetal organs ultimately realistically available for transplantation. Typical reasons for attrition include: unwillingness to have a blood sample drawn or tested, positive serology results, social/medical high risk factors for acquisition of transmissible disease, no identifiable organs available, and unacceptable microbial contamination. Thus, although it might seem that due to the numbers of abortions performed annually, that there would be substantial numbers of suitable tissues available, only a small proportion are truly suitable for transplantation.

Journal Article↗

Tuberculosis in pregnancy.

Tuberculosis has re-emerged as a serious health problem throughout the world. In the United States, the human immunodeficiency virus epidemic, increased numbers of foreigners from areas where tuberculosis is endemic, and lack of an adequate infrastructure to deal with the large increase of new cases have led to tuberculosis being a serious problem. Because of the long treatment time required, there is a significant risk of developing drug resistance in partially treated patients. Directly observed therapy is a cornerstone of treatment in both pregnant and nonpregnant patients. We need to think about those at risk for tuberculosis in pregnancy and screen the high-risk population. With the advent of satisfactory drugs to treat tuberculosis, the effects on pregnancy are not as serious as before. However, particularly in low socioeconomic populations, tuberculosis probably increases the prematurity and abortion rate.

Drug Resistance, Microbial↗

Abortive infection of human diploid cells by murine cytomegalovirus.

Inoculation of human diploid cells (WI-38) with murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) did not result in the synthesis of any infectious virions. However, morphological changes typical of the cytopathic effects (CPE) of MCMV were detectable within 12 hr of infection. The CPE included rounding, swelling, and detachment of cells. The nuclei of infected cells were enlarged, and intranuclear inclusions were visible by May Grunwald-Giemsa staining and by the indirect fluorescent-antibody test. All cells infected at a multiplicity of infection of 3 showed CPE, and these cells could not be passaged successfully. Cell lysates and exhausted media from infected WI-38 cultures did not produce any CPE in WI-38 cells. The virus absorbed to WI-38 cells with the same efficiency as to mouse embryo fibroblast cells (MEF). Samples of MCMV in which virus infectivity for MEF cells had been inactivated by ultraviolet irradiation or by exposure to 56 C failed to produce any of the above signs. MCMV-specific CPE did not occur in the presence of actinomycin D (1 mug/ml) or puromycin (20 mug/ml), but 5'-fluoro-2'-deoxyuridine at 1 x 10(-4)m did not prevent CPE or the development of intranuclear inclusions.

Animals↗

[Chlamydia infections in sheep and goats. With a reference to its significance as a zoonosis].

Infections by Chlamydia psittaci are found worldwide in many species of mammal, including man, and birds. Small ruminants are affected mainly with abortion in the later phase of gestation. Additionally pneumonia and lesions in other organs can be observed. Pathological and clinico-epidemiological aspects of the infection with C. psittaci in small ruminants are described and discussed. The description of a case of conjunctivitis acquired by one of the authors through contact with infectious material alerts to the significance of C. psittaci as an agent able to cause zoonotic infections.

Abortion, Veterinary↗

The accessibility of abortion services in the United States.

Abortion services are provided in hospitals, doctors' offices and various types of clinics, but about two-thirds of procedures are performed in specialized abortion clinics. While this system appears to work well for most women, some women seeking abortion face obstacles related to distance, cost, harassment and special medical conditions. Nine percent of nonhospital abortion patients must travel more than 100 miles and 18 percent travel 50 to 100 miles for services. The average woman having a first-trimester nonhospital abortion paid $251 in 1989. Fees were higher in facilities with small abortion caseloads. An abortion at 10 weeks' gestation in a hospital cost an average of $1,757. Charges for abortions at 16 weeks averaged $509 in abortion clinics, compared with $1,539 in hospitals for curettage and $2,246 for instillation procedures. Some women face other barriers: Only 43 percent of all abortion facilities offer services past 12 weeks, and 27-37 percent of nonhospital facilities say they do not treat patients who test positive for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the virus that causes AIDS. Women who need special services such as an administration of Rh immunoglobulin, general anesthesia or HIV testing usually pay extra for these services. In addition, 85 percent of nonhospital facilities that serve 400 or more abortion patients a year reported some form of antiabortion harassment in 1988, most commonly picketing; there was virtually no change in this proportion between 1985 and 1988.

Abortion, Legal↗

Yersinia enterocolitica associated with third trimester abortion in buffaloes.

A group of buffaloes aborted at the third trimester of their gestational period. Yersinia enterocolitica was isolated from all cases. All aborted animal sera had high antibody titres against Y. enterocolitica antigen which crossreacted significantly with Brucella abortus antigen. All animals were culturally negative after intrauterine infusion of gentamycin sulphate (160 mg/day) for three consecutive days.

Abortion, Veterinary↗

Fungal and bacterial infections in the immunocompromised host.

As the number of immunocompromised patients increases due to the spread of the AIDS epidemic and the successes being achieved with transplantation, cancer chemotherapy and immunosuppressive therapy, increased attention is being turned to the prevention and treatment of the infections that afflict these individuals. The risk of infection in these patients is determined by the interaction between the epidemiologic exposures that the patient experiences and the net state of immunosuppression (the greater the exposure, the greater the chances of infection even in an immunologically competent individual; the greater the net state of immunosuppression, the greater the chances of infection even with minimal exposures). The bacterial and fungal infections that affect these patients are reviewed and strategies of antimicrobial management defined, recognizing that there are three modes of use of antimicrobial agents in these patients: therapeutic administration to treat clinical infection, and prophylactic and pre-emptive administration to prevent or abort clinical infection. These last two are of particular importance in this patient population because the prime aim of the infectious disease clinician in dealing with these problems is the prevention of clinical disease.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗

Congenital toxoplasmosis in the Balb/c mouse: prevention of vertical disease transmission and fetal death by vaccination.

Vertical disease transmission only occurs in Balb/c mice infected with Toxoplasma gondii for the first time during pregnancy. This is similar to the situation in humans, where a previous infection with T. gondii tends to give life-long immunity against reinfection and fetal disease transmission. The Balb/c mouse therefore provides a suitable model to study the effectiveness of T. gondii vaccine candidates. A soluble tachyzoite antigen (STAg) preparation was used to vaccinate female Balb/c mice. STAg was inoculated subcutaneously into Balb/c mice in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), emulsified in Freund's complete adjuvant (FCA), or entrapped within non-ionic surfactant vesicles (NISV). While all inocula induced cellular immunity as measured by parasite-specific spleen cell proliferation in vitro, the highest mean proliferative values were observed in spleens from mice where NISV had been used as the adjuvant and the lowest values were observed where FCA had been used. More importantly, cultures from the NISV/STAg vaccinated mice produced significantly more gamma-interferon than the other experimental groups. This vaccine formulation was therefore identified as that most likely to induce protective immunity against toxoplasmosis. Mice were inoculated subcutaneously with either NISV/STAg or STAg in PBS 4 and 2 weeks before mating and infected orally with 20 tissue cysts of T. gondii on day 12 of pregnancy. The incidence of fetal infection and death in these mice and non-vaccinated infected dams was compared. Of 84 pups born to 14 non-vaccinated dams 45 were viable, of which 18 were found to be infected on reaching maturity.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Abortion, Veterinary↗

Characterization of caprine herpesvirus 1 glycoprotein D gene and its translation product.

Caprine herpesvirus 1 (CpHV-1) is responsible of systemic infection in neonatal kids as well as abortion and fertility disorders in adult goats. This virus is closely related to bovine herpesvirus 1 (BoHV-1) which causes infectious bovine rhinotracheitis. Glycoprotein D (gD) mediates important functions in alphaherpesviruses and is also a main immunogen. The sequence of CpHV-1 gD gene and the biochemical properties of its translation product were analyzed and compared to those of BoHV-1 and other alphaherpesviruses. A relatively high homology was found between CpHV-1 and BoHV-1 glycoproteins D amino acid sequences (similarity of 68.8%). Moreover, six cysteine residues are conserved by CpHV-1 gD and the other studied alphaherpesviruses. CpHV-1 gD has a molecular mass similar to BoHV-1 gD and contains complex N-linked oligosaccharides. In contrast to the BoHV-1 gD, CpHV-1 gD is expressed as a late protein. In spite of the observed differences which could influence its biological functions, CpHV-1 gD shares most characteristics with other alphaherpesviruses and especially BoHV-1.

Alphaherpesvirinae↗

Fetal syphilis in the first trimester.

Evidenc of first-trimester fetal syphilis was sought in the products of conception in a therapeutic abortion clinic. During two collection periods of one week, five patients with serologic and clinical data consistent with recent syphilitic infection were identified. Their conceptuses were carefully examined by silver and immunofluorescent stains for the presence of Treponema pallidum. Two of these five conceptuses (9 and 10 weeks' gestation) were found to contain T. pallidum by these methods. The literature supporting the Langhans layer/five months' placental barrier theory is reviewed and discussed in view of these two first-trimester cases.

Abortion, Therapeutic↗

Mini-necropsy.

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Abortion, Therapeutic↗