Apmis

Pasternack, A.; Linder, E.

doi: 10.1111/j.1699-0463.1971.tb00026.xpmid: 4930130

Biopsies from thirteen human renal allografts undergoing chronic rejection were studied by immunofluorescence microscopy. Deposits of complement were demonstrated in the basement membranes of glomeruli and tubules. The deposits at the tubular basement membranes formed irregular distinct lumps in the majority of cortical tubules and were a characteristic finding throughout the material. Similar deposits were found in arteries of different size and in arterioles. Linear deposits of IgG and IgM were found in the glomerules of seven grafts. Granular deposits of fibrinogen were found in four grafts in glomeruli and vessels. The findings could not be qualitatively distinguished from those of four renal biopsies of patients with chronic glomerulonephritis.

Hofstad, Tor; Kristoffersen, Tore

doi: 10.1111/j.1699-0463.1971.tb00027.xpmid: 5280416

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) has been isolated from the supernatant fluid after ultracentrifugation of the water phase following phenol‐water extraction of Bacteroides melaninogenicus, strain B10. The purification procedure included digestion of the supernatant fluid with ribonuclease and deoxyribonuclease, gel filtration on Bio‐Gel A‐1.5 m and ion exchange chromatography on DEAE‐cellulose. The prepared LPS did not contain heptose or 2‐keto‐3‐deoxyoctulosonic acid. The sugar components identified were galactose, glucose, mannose, rhamnose, traces of fucose, galactosamine and glucosamine. Neutral sugar and lipid constituted the main parts of the LPS. The isolated LPS sensitized sheep erythrocytes to agglutination in homologous antiserum. Two agar precipitation lines were observed, one of which may correspond to an “acid hapten”.

Steensgaard, J.; Funding, L.

doi: 10.1111/j.1699-0463.1971.tb00028.xpmid: 5280417

An improved technique for separation and analysis of soluble immune complexes by ratezonal ultracentrifugation is described. The separation is achieved with a B‐XIV titanium zonal rotor and a 3 to 23 per cent (w/w) optimized isokinetic sucrose gradient. This method allows an accurate calculation of sedimentation coefficients for separated complexes.

Röpke, Carsten

doi: 10.1111/j.1699-0463.1971.tb00029.xpmid: 4102474

The present experiment was undertaken in order to obtain additional information on the increased cell decay in lymphatic tissues after ATS‐treatment. After injection of rabbit‐anti‐mouse‐globulin G (ALG) in Balb/c mice an increased cell decay was found in spleens and mesenteric nodes by the use of the Nigrosin Dye Exclusion Test on unfixed cell suspensions. After one injection of ALG the decay increased to the same high level as seen after ATS‐injection, no further increase being found after 7 days of injections. One week after treatment was stopped, increased decay was still evident. In suspensions from the thymus the decay remained on normal level. Mice injected with normal rabbit globulin G showed no increased decay in the thymolymphatic system. The most prominent histological findings were depletion of the thymus dependent areas in lymphatic tissue and increased numbers of blast‐cells in the blood and efferent lymphatics after ALG‐injections. The possible ways in which treatment with anti‐lymphocytic antibodies may lead to increased decay in lymphatic tissue are discussed in connection with the other findings, and it is concluded that the most likely explanation is a shift in population from long‐lived thymus derived cells to shortlived cells in lymphatic tissue, and it is emphasized that the Nigrosin Dye Exclusion Test is a useful test in studies on lymphoid cell kinetics.

Pettersen, Eiliv K.

doi: 10.1111/j.1699-0463.1971.tb00030.xpmid: 5280418

The present investigation has failed to show any correlation between the lethal activity of Toxotoxin and the viscosity of its solutions. In vitro experiments in the presence of mouse plasma revealed a dual character of Toxotoxin, this being partly thromboplastin and partly coprecipitant to fibrin. In vivo, the thromboplastic activity, though in itself checked by fibrinolysis, was thought to initiate the coprecipitation of Toxotoxin, thus causing the formation of a massive clot which fibrinolysis would be unable to resolve.

Hougen, Kari Hovind; Birch‐Andersen, Aksel

doi: 10.1111/j.1699-0463.1971.tb00031.xpmid: 4102475

Treponema Reiter was studied by negative staining and ultrathin sectioning techniques after treatment with the detergents, Teepol and sodium deoxycholate, and with the proteolytic enzyme AL‐1. Special attention was paid to the insertion ends of the endoflagella, and the structures revealed have been compared with those published by other workers on the attachment ends of bacterial flagella of various species. All the treatments freed the flagella from the treponeme though the basal discs were often obscured by membrane fragments adhering to them. The endoflagella were found to consist of the following structural parts: 1) a sheathed shaft, 2) a hook that differs from the shaft both in width and in substructure, 3) a narrow, smooth collar that connects the hook to the basal disc, and 4) a single basal disc of about 270 Å in diameter. In cells treated with sodium deoxycholate and with AL‐1 enzyme, a bundle of 6–8 microtubules was observed to commence or to terminate close to the flagellar basal discs at each end of the cells. The two bundles of microtubules overlap in the middle of the organism. In sectioned cells these microtubules were seen in the cytoplasm close to the inner layer of the cytoplasmic membrane and always directly under the place where the endoflagella were found in the interspace between this membrane and the cell wall. Each individual microtubule showed a diameter of about 75 Å both in negatively stained and in sectioned material.

Reyn, A.; Birch‐Andersen, A.; Murray, R. G. E.

doi: 10.1111/j.1699-0463.1971.tb00032.xpmid: 4102476

Three strains of Cardiobacterium hominis (31) were studied with the electron microscope. Thin sections showed slender rods with a cell wall of the coherent Gram‐negative type and with a cytoplasm containing numerous intrusive membranes disposed around the periphery of the cells, especially at the poles. The cell wall consisted of a unit membrane sandwiched between dense outer and inner layers, the outer dense layer showing a 4–5 nm thick regular structure. Polar caps of a dense tufty material were noted on the ends of cells. The substructure of the surface layer was studied in negatively stained cell wall preparations obtained after ultrasonic treatment. It consisted of a close packing of nearly spherical units (averaging 3.5 nm in diameter and with a repeat frequency of 5.5 nm) in a rectangular array; it was also demonstrated after freeze‐etching. This layer represents an unusual type of surface structure on a Gram‐negative bacterium.

Lehmann, Vidar

doi: 10.1111/j.1699-0463.1971.tb00033.xpmid: 5280419

The haemolytic activity of broth culture filtrate of Acinetobacter calcoaceticus grown at 22°C has been investigated. The haemolytic activity was enhanced by Mg++ and Mn++ and inhibited by Zn++ and Hg++. Red cells from different species exhibited different haemolytic patterns. The temperature coefficient (Q10°C) was estimated at 1.8, the reaction being rectilinear for 1 hr at 37°C. The haemolytic material was non‐dialysable, sensitive to heat and proteolytic enzymes and antigenic on injections of filtrate into rabbits. The nature of the haemolytic material is briefly discussed.

Ruutu, Tapani; Kosunen, Timo U.

doi: 10.1111/j.1699-0463.1971.tb00034.xpmid: 5280420

The ability of blood neutrophils of 18 serologically confirmed influenza patients to ingest killed Staphylococcus epidermidis was tested in vitro, and compared with 15 controls, to determine whether defective phagocytosis might contribute to superimposed bacterial infections in influenza. Phagocytosis was normal at the acute phase of disease, but two weeks later the activity was significantly increased; this was not due to serum factors, and probably the cells themselves were unusually active. Normal ingestion of bacteria by blood neutrophils at the acute phase does not suggest defective phagocytosis as a cause of bacterial complications in influenza, but a local impairment in respiratory organs cannot be excluded.

Holm, S. E.; MoUller, Å.

doi: 10.1111/j.1699-0463.1971.tb00035.xpmid: 4995775

An immunodiffusion micromethod for determination and characterization of hemolytic activity based on streptolysin O experiments is described. The hemolytic activity of Sl O and its inhibition by its corresponding antibody is illustrated. The technique offers an alternative way to identify hemolytically active antigens among other precipitating factors in a crude antigen preparation.