Search results for "humoral"
showing 10 items of 78 documents
Humoral immunity and retrobulbar fibroblasts in endocrine ophthalmopathy
1992
The exact role of retrobulbar fibroblasts in the immunopathogenesis of endocrine ophthalmopathy still remains to be elucidated. To evaluate the in vitro influence of humoral immunity on retrobulbar fibroblasts, the effects of immunoglobulin G as well as of the sera of 50 euthyroid patients with endocrine ophthalmopathy and 30 controls on both porcine and human (patients' and controls') retrobulbar fibroblasts were measured by means of several assays: a colorimetric test involving a heterocyclic chemical, a tetrazolium bromide, was applied to quantify the activity of mitochondrial dehydrogenases; the incorporation of 3H-thymidine was determined as a sensitive parameter for cell proliferation…
Induction of antitoxin responses in Clostridium-difficile-infected patients compared to healthy blood donors
2016
According to the literature Clostridium difficile antitoxins are present in up to 66% of humans. In a survey of ∼400 plasma samples from healthy blood donors we found that less than 6% were positive for anti-TcdA or anti-TcdB antitoxins. Using the same standard immunoassay protocol, we looked for IgG and IgA antitoxins in the blood and stool samples from 25 patients with C. difficile infection (CDI). Some patients with CDI had no antitoxin detected at all, while others had high levels of specific IgG- and IgA-antitoxins against both TcdA and TcdB in blood and IgA-anti-TcdA and -anti-TcdB antibodies in stool. Systemic responses to TcdB and mucosal responses to TcdA predominated. Among patien…
Neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern elicited by the comirnaty COVID-19 vaccine in nursing home residents.
2022
Immunosenescence may impact the functionality and breadth of vaccine-elicited humoral immune responses. The ability of sera to neutralize the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein (S) from Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Epsilon variants of concern (VOCs) relative to the ancestral Wuhan-Hu-1 strain was compared in Comirnaty COVID-19-vaccinated elderly nursing home residents, either SARS-CoV-2 naïve (n = 22) or experienced (n = 8), or SARS-CoV-2 naïve younger individuals (n = 18) and non-vaccinated individuals who recovered from severe COVID-19 (n = 19). In all groups, except that including SARS-CoV-2-experienced nursing home residents, some participants lacked NtAb against one or more VOCs, mainly the Beta vari…
IgM and IgG antibodies to hepatitis C virus in patients with mixed cryoglobulinaemia
1993
SUMMARY To assess the relationship between hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and essential mixed cryoglobulinaemia (EMC), sera from 23 patients with EMC were tested for IgG and IgM antibodies to HCV antigens and for HCV RNA. Quantitative HCV antibody studies were performed on scrum and purified cryoglobulin fractions. HCV antibodies of both IgG and IgM class were found in 22 (96%) patients. Ten of these were also HCV-RNA positives. Higher litres of anti-HCV IgM were present in the 11 patients with evidence of liver damage. Anti-HCV IgG antibodies were shown to be concentrated in the IgG fraction of cryoglobulins in all eight patients studied. These results strongly suggest a role for HCV in…
Antibody Response to Meningococcal Polysaccharides A and C in Patients with Complement Defects
1993
Patients with defects of terminal complement components are particularly exposed to the risk of developing neisserial infections and seem to respond poorly to meningococcal capsular polysaccharide (PS) C via natural immunization. The sole meningococcal PSC is. on the other hand, an excellent immunogen in normal people. Considering the great importance of vaccine prophylaxis for the prevention of meningococcal infections in patients with complement defects, it is crucial to study the antibody response to the sole meningococcal PS in these patients. We therefore analysed the levels of anti-PSA and PSC antibodies in the members of four families including patients with homozygous and heterozygo…
Early neutralizing and glycoprotein B (gB)-specific antibody responses to human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) in immunocompetent individuals with distinct c…
2000
Abstract Background: Antibodies with functional anti-Human Cytomegalovirus (HCMV) activity are likely to be involved in preventing virus dissemination and thus may contribute to minimize the clinical manifestations of infection. Objectives: To investigate the role of humoral immunity in modulating the clinical expression of primary Human Cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection in immunocompetent persons. Study design: Neutralizing (NA) and glycoprotein B (gB)-specific antibodies were quantitated in acute-phase and late-convalescence phase sera from 19 individuals who developed either HCMV mononucleosis (12) or oligosymptomatic hepatitis (seven). Results: The levels of NA in sera drawn early after …
Single dose vaccination with AS03-adjuvanted H5N1 vaccines in a randomized trial induces strong and broad immune responsiveness to booster vaccinatio…
2009
Priming a population with a pre-pandemic vaccine is being considered to maximize the response upon subsequent vaccination with a true pandemic vaccine more closely matched to the causative pandemic strain. The present study explored this prime-boost concept by evaluating different primary schedules with the pre-pandemic A/Vietnam/1194/2004(NIBRG-14) vaccine, containing 3.75 microg of HA, followed by a 6-month booster with a vaccine formulated with 3.75 microg HA of either the same strain or with A/Indonesia/05/2005(IBCDC-RG2), a heterologous strain from a different clade. In this multicentre, open, randomized study (NCT00430521) we measured immune responses in four groups (N = 48-60) of adu…
Retrobulbar adipocytes and humoral immunity in Graves' ophthalmopathy
1993
As CT and MR-imaging revealed an enlargement of retrobulbar fat tissue in patients with Graves' ophthalmopathy, the role of the retrobulbar adipocytes in the pathogenesis of this disorder remains to be elucidated. To evaluate the in vitro influence of humoral immunity on retrobulbar adipose tissue, the effects of IgG and sera from 56 euthyroid ophthalmopathy patients and 53 controls on both porcine and human (patients' and controls') retrobulbar adipocytes were measured by means of several assays: An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was employed to reveal specific binding of antibodies to the adipocytes. Metabolic activity was determined by means of a colorimetric dimethyl thiazolium-diphe…
Humoral immune response to rotavirus NSP4 enterotoxin in Spanish children.
2005
The rotavirus non-structural protein 4 (NSP4) has been shown to play a crucial role in rotavirus-induced diarrhea, acting as a viral enterotoxin. It has also been demonstrated that antibody to NSP4 can reduce the severity of rotavirus-induced diarrhea in newborn mice. Two recombinant baculoviruses, expressing the NSP4 protein from the SA11 and Wa rotavirus strains, genotypes A and B, respectively, were used to produce and purify these glycoproteins, which were applied as antigen in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to test the specific antibody response to NSP4 in human sera. Serum samples from 30 children convalescing from a rotavirus infection, from 54 healthy children under 5-…
Biological responses of Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) to Steinernema carpocapsae (Nematoda: Steinernematidae).
2013
Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier 1790) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) is becoming a serious problem in Mediterranean areas where it is well-adapted, and now is present even in the United States (California). The infestations are primarily in urban areas where chemical control is not advisable and million of Euros are spent to control it. The effects of the entomopathogenic nematode Steinernema carpocapsae (Nematoda: Steinernematidae) on mortality, growth, as well as the immune activity of R. ferrugineus larvae, were investigated. R. ferrugineus mortality exhibited a positive trend with the dosage and duration of exposure to S. carpocapsae. The median lethal dose and median lethal time, impor…