Annemette Oxholm

Immunohistological detection of interleukin 1‐like molecules and tumour necrosis factor in human epidermis before and after UVB‐irradiation in vivo

Skin biopsies from five healthy subjects, taken before and after UVB irradiation, were examined using immunohistological techniques for the cytokines interleukin‐1 (IL‐1) and tumour necrosis factor (TNF). Using polyclonat specific antibodies against IL‐1 and TNF, the two cytokines appeared identically located on the epidermal cell membranes of the stratum granulosum and stratum spinosum in unexposed skin. After UVB‐exposure, the staining intensity for both IL‐1/epidermal cell derived thymocyte‐activating factor (ETAF) and TNF was markedly increased, and the epidermal staining included the basal cell layer.

Epidermal tumour necrosis factor α and interleukin 6-like activities in AIDS-related Kaposi's sarcoma

Biopsies from 6 patients with AIDS and Kaposis sarcoma (KS) in the tumour stage, and 6 healthy controls, were immunohistologically examined for the presence of tissue‐bound tumour necrosis factorα (TNFα) and interleukin 6 (IL‐6) in the skin. TNFα was demonstrated using specific polyclonal antiserum to human recombinant TNFα. IL‐6 was visualized indirectly using a polyclonal antiserum to partially purified human crude supernatants of activated human blood monocytes, followed by absorption with recombinant human IL‐6. The cytokines were found identically located in epidermal cell membranes in stratum granulosum and spinosum of the epidermis from unaffected skin in both AIDS patients and in controls. Biopsies from KS elements showed markedly increased epidermal staining for both TNF δ and IL‐6. It was not possible to detect TNFα or IL6 in the endothelial cells of the tumour. The observation of increased amounts of epidermal‐bound TNFα and IL‐6 in AIDS‐related KS elements suplements previous studies indicating that the skin plays an active immunoinflammatory role in patients with AIDS.

Immunoglobulin deposits in labial mucosal epithelium of patients suspected of Sjögren's syndrome

Abstract. Lower lip biopsies from twenty‐three consecutive patients under evaluation for Sjögrens syndrome, and from six normal controls, were investigated for deposits of immunoglobulins, fibrinogen and C3, using a direct immunofluorescence technique. Deposits of both IgG and IgA were demonstrated in the mucosal epithelium in three of six patients with primary Sjögrens syndrome. Similar IgG deposits were found in two of three patients with xerostomia and in one of three patients with Sjögrens syndrome secondary to rheumatoid arthritis. Immunoglobulins were located in close relation to cell surfaces in the basal and suprabasal layers of the epithelium. Double labelling experiments indicated a partial topographic concordance between the immunoglobulin deposits and OKT6 positive Langerhans cells in the epithelium. No deposits of immunoglobulins, fibrinogen or C3 were found in the remaining eleven patients and six normal controls. We conclude that deposits of IgG and IgA in the labial mucosal epithelium seem to be a characteristic finding in patients with primary Sjögrens syndrome as well as in patients with xerostomia. The diagnostic value of this new observation needs to be clarified in future studies.

Epirubicin-induced primary Sjögren's syndrome.

SIR,-Dr Femer suggests that an oral glucose-tolerance test (OGTT) should have been used. The fasting plasma glucose alone is sufficient to establish that none of the subjects analysed had diabetes. The OGTT is poorly reproducible as a test of glucose intolerance, and interpretation of the insulin levels in relation to both varying glucose concentration and diverse gut and cephalic factors is difficult, hence our interest in the continuous infusion of