0000000000005947
AUTHOR
T. Poralla
Viral Hepatitis — An Update
In 1973, Feinstone and co-workers [52] were the first to report the visualization of virus-like particles by immune electron microscopy in acute phase stool specimens of human volunteers who developed hepatitis following inoculation with MS-1 strain of hepatitis A virus [18]. Soon thereafter morphologically identical particles were recovered from the stool of individuals acquiring hepatitis during natural outbreaks of the disease [39, 64].
Thymoma and pure red cell aplasia in a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus.
We present the case of a female patient with a diagnosis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) at the age of 54 years. At the age of 63 years, she suffered from malignant thymoma and 3 years after removal of the thymoma a diagnosis of pure red cell aplasia (PRCA) was established. This is, to our knowledge, the first report of the occurrence of SLE, thymoma and PRCA in the same patient. The case is discussed with regard to the already known associations between these diseases.
Cellular cytotoxicity against autologous hepatocytes in children with different forms of chronic hepatitis B.
Cell-mediated immune reactions play the most important role in the pathogenesis of chronic viral and auto-immune hepatitis. Cellular cytotoxicity (CC) of peripheral blood lymphocytes against autologous hepatocytes isolated from liver biopsies was studied in 29 children with different types of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)-positive hepatitis. Children with chronic hepatitis B showed higher cytotoxicity than control patients. However, a correlation of cytotoxicity to serum amino-transferases, HBeAg-/Anti-HBe-status, and hepatitis B virus DNA in serum could not be found. Children with a higher percentage of hepatitis B core antigen (HBcAg) expression in their liver tissue presented lower…