Impairment of neutrophil chemotaxis by serum from patients with chronic lymphoproliferative disease.

The sera of 74 individuals with chronic lymphoproliferative disease were screened for the presence of inhibitory activity against neutrophil chemotaxis. This was present in more than half the patients with IgA myeloma and Hodgkin's disease but was less common in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, lymphocytic lymphoma and non-IgA paraproteinaemia. Heating the sera prior to testing frequently enhanced inhibitory activity particularly in myeloma and lymphoma.

Hairy cell leukaemia occurring with an unrelated paraproteinaemia. A biochemical and immuno-electron microscopic study.

A detailed study is described of a case of hairy cell leukaemia, presenting with a serum paraprotein of an immunoglobulin (Ig) class different from that synthesised by the neoplastic cells. The case was unusual in its association with leukaemic arthropathy but ultrastructurally the hairy cells were typical. By immunofluorenscence and immuno-electron microscopy the neoplastic cells expressed IgA lambda both on the cell surface and intracellularly in the rough endoplasmic reticulum, perinuclear space and Golgi apparatus. No Ig was observed in the ribosomal-lamellae complexes. These cells also synthesised and secreted Ig of class A lambda in culture. However the serum paraprotein was of class IgA chi and could not be attributed to an abnormal population of plasma cells in the bone marrow. There was no other evidence for myeloma and the IgA chi paraproteinaemia appeared to be benign, apparently unrelated to the neoplastic proliferation of hairy cells.

Granulocyte chemotaxis: multiple assay screening using a raft technique.

The assessment of granulocyte chemotaxis is complicated by the difficulty of precisely reproducing results in serial estimations and deciding on the best end point which would reflect most accurately the degree of travel taken by the cells under observation. The methods in use are generally based on the Boyden chamber, following this, we have further developed the principle of the "raft" technique of chamber based migration. In order to overcome the problems associated with reproducibility of results when performing multiple assays of chemotaxis, especially when sera of widely differing activity are encountered in the screening procedure, we have used a "batching" system and a simple method of presenting the results so that they are comparable.

Unusual lymphocyte morphology in a case of chronic lymphatic leukaemia: apparent nuclear extrusion.

The unusual lymphocytes from a case of chronic lymphatic leukaemia are described in terms of surface morphology and ultrastructure. Surface blebs were found to consist of nuclear material surrounded by plasma membrane. On the information available it was not possible to determine whether these were due to cell motility or nuclear extrusion.

Blood lymphocytes surface markers and clinical findings in chronic lympoproliferative disorders.

Surface receptors on peripheral blood lymphocytes have been studied in 43 cases with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL), and five cases with lymphoma and overspill. One quarter of the cases with CLL had lymphocytes with no detectable surface immunoglobulin (SIg) by direct fluorescent antibody staining. The remainder had SIgM, which was associated with SIgD in one third of the cases. 70% of the SIg negative group had extensive extramedullary involvement (EMI) compared with 35% of the SIg positive group at presentation; correspondingly more of the SIg negative group were treated. 46% of the SIg negative group were CLL patients of more than 3 years standing compared with 9% of the SIgM+D group and 32% of the SIgM group. Some explanations for this pattern are discussed.