Hiroshi Nagaya

Allograft Survival: Effect of Antiserums to Thymus Glands and Lymphocytes

Although antiserums to lymphocytes and thymus cells have similar effects on lymphocytes and thymocytes in vitro, the antiserum to thymus has more persistent lymphopenic effect in vivo and prolongs allograft survival time more markedly. Since only thymus glands of animals treated with antiserum to thymus showed depletion of small lymphocytes, antibody to thymic humoral factor may be operational.

Positive antinuclear factor in patients with unexplained pulmonary fibrosis.

Abstract Twenty patients with unexplained pulmonary fibrosis and circulating antinuclear factor were identified. Diseases commonly associated with antinuclear factor, such as systemic lupus erythem...

Lymphopenic Effect of Anti-Lymphocyte Serum.

Summary Anti-rat-lymphocyte serum suppressed significantly delayed skin reaction to bovine serum albumin in sensitized rats. Peripheral lymphocyte count remained lower than normal as long as 30 days in some animals receiving daily injection of anti-lymphocyte serum, but it characteristically showed a similar fluctuation pattern with a rise on the 5th and 10th days in each animal.

Immunosuppressive effect of antilymphocyte serum on the canine lung allograft as a single immunosuppressive agent.

The immunosuppressive effect of antilymphocyte serum (ALS) and antithymus serum (ATS) on canine lung allografts was investigated. ALS and ATS were produced in horses by injecting either lymph nodes or thymus cells, respectively, from puppies. A total of 38 dogs received an allograft of the left lung. In 6 dogs receiving no ALS, none of the grafts survived more than 1 week. In 6 dogs receiving ALS or ATS daily beginning on the day of grafting, no prolongation of survival of the graft was observed. Of 13 dogs receiving ALS or ATS beginning 1 week before grafting, the graft survival was prolonged to more than 4 weeks in 2 and more than 12 weeks in 1. In another group of 13 dogs, not only the recipients of the graft but also the graft donors were treated with ALS or ATS beginning 1 week before grafting. Two of the grafts survived more than 4 weeks and the remaining 2, more than 12 weeks. In some of the long-term survivors, the gas exchange capacity of the grafted lungs was maintained reasonably well as determined by differential oxygen consumption and arterial blood gas values while the recipients own lung was breathing pure nitrogen. These results suggest that treatment of canine lung allograft recipients with ALS or ATS should be started before grafting.

Effects of antithymus serum and antilymphocyte serum on the incidence of lymphoid leukemia.

Summary Effects of antithymus serum and antilymphocyte serum on the spontaneous incidence of lymphoid leukemia in AKR mice were studied. Treatment of AKR mice with normal rabbit serum or antirat-lymphocyte serum which has no lymphopenic or immuno-suppressive effects in the mice seems to delay death of the mice due to spontaneous lymphoid leukemia. Despite or, perhaps, because of their lymphopenic and immunosuppressive effects in the mice antirat-thymus serum, antimouse-thymus serum and antimouselymphocyte serum failed to alter the incidence of lymphoid leukmeia. Prolonged mean survival ages in the mice treated with either normal rabbit serum or antirat-lymphocyte serum might be attributed to their nonspecific stimulatory effects on immune responses.

Differential suppressive effects of antiserum to thymus ribosomal fraction on mitogen responsiveness of thymus cells

Abstract The effect of antiserum to thymus ribosomal fraction (ATRS) on the responsiveness of thymus cells to mitogens concanavalin A (Con A) and phytohemagglutinin (PHA) was investigated. ATRS preferentially suppressed the responsiveness of thymus cells to Con A whereas their PHA responsiveness remained unchanged. In contrast, thymus cells from mice treated with a single injection of cortisone acetate showed significant increases in thymidine uptake when stimulated by both PHA and Con A.

Feedback mechanisms of thymic lymphocyte production.

Summary Thymidine-H3 uptake of thymocytes from rats injected with antilymphocyte serum was increased when the blood lymphocyte count was low whereas it was decreased when the count returned to normal. Thymocytes from rats injected with antithymus serum showed increased RNA metabolism despite lowered thymidine-H3 uptake and sustained lymphopenia. The increased RNA metabolism may indicate a compensatory increase in the production of a thymic humoral factor which was inactivated by antithymus serum in the blood resulting in sustained lymphopenia.

Relative sensitivity of nonimmunocompetent thymus cells to the action of antiserum to thymus ribosomal fraction.

SUMMARY Graft-versus-host (GVH) reactivity of thymus, spleen, and bone marrow cells of mice treated with antiserum to thymus ribosomal fraction (ATRS) was studied. The initial action of ATRS was to suppress preferentially the proliferation of nonimmunocompetent thymus cells, whereas immunocompetent thymus cells were relatively resistant to ATRS. After prolonged administration of ATRS, however, immunocompetent thymus cells also became suppressed. In addition to the selective depletion of thymus-derived, recirculating immunocompetent cells by its direct action, ATRS appears to suppress the proliferation of nonimmunocompetent thymus cells which may secondarily affect the population of immunocompetent thymus cells.

Immunosuppressive effects of antisera prepared with subcellular fractions of thymus, spleen, and lymph nodes.

SUMMARY Among antisera prepared with subcellular fractions of thymus, spleen, and lymph node cells, antiserum to thymus ribosomal fraction was most effective in prolonging the survival time of skin allografts in mice. Antiserum to spleen ribosomal fraction showed only minimal immunosuppressive effects.

Positive Antinuclear Factor in Patients with Chronic Lung Disease.

Excerpt A high prevalence of rheumatoid factor (RF) has been reported in the serum of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Patients with typical rheumatoid arthritis and high titers of RF o...