Subject(s)
Antigens/adverse effects , Arteriosclerosis/etiology , Chlamydia Infections/complications , Chlamydophila pneumoniae , Food Hypersensitivity/complications , Food Hypersensitivity/immunology , Helicobacter Infections/complications , Helicobacter pylori , Arteriosclerosis/epidemiology , HumansSubject(s)
Air Pollutants, Occupational/adverse effects , Air Pollutants, Occupational/analysis , Antigens/analysis , Occupational Diseases/etiology , Sick Building Syndrome/etiology , Biomarkers/blood , Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay , Humans , Immunoglobulin G/blood , Occupational Diseases/immunology , Sick Building Syndrome/immunologySubject(s)
Allergens/metabolism , Dermatitis, Atopic/complications , Food Hypersensitivity/complications , Hypersensitivity, Delayed/etiology , Immunoglobulin G/immunology , Allergens/immunology , Antibody Specificity , Child , Food Hypersensitivity/metabolism , Humans , Hypersensitivity, Delayed/immunology , Immunoglobulin E/immunology , Intestinal AbsorptionABSTRACT
We have developed a chemiluminescent immunoenzymometric system. The first commercial application of this chemiluminescent assay (CLA) is the measurement of total IgE and allergen-specific IgE in human serum. The CLA system is a second-generation adaptation of the MAST RIA allergy profiling system. The MAST CLA system assay protocol consists of three steps: overnight incubation of serum, a 4-h incubation with enzyme-labeled antibody, and a 30-min chemiluminescent reaction, which produces a visible image (immunograph) on high-speed Polaroid instant film. The densities of the bands produced on the film are quantified with an inexpensive microprocessor-controlled infrared transmittance densitometer. The novel luminogenic substrates used yield a constant light output for over 2 h with an intensity at least 10-fold greater than that of commercial chemiluminescent reagents. The MAST CLA system exhibits sensitivity, specificity, and precision equal to that of the MAST RIA system (r = 0.96 for 40 serum samples analyzed with 25 allergens). As many as 35 different allergens per sample can be quantified in a single assay. The MAST CLA system requires no standard curve or volume-dependent pipetting steps, incorporates both positive and negative controls for each sample, and quantifies allergen-specific IgE at picomolar concentrations.
Subject(s)
Allergens/immunology , Immunoglobulin E/analysis , Antibody Specificity , Humans , Immunoassay/methods , Luminescent MeasurementsABSTRACT
The MAST Immunodiagnostic Test System was developed to provide a comprehensive, simple means for the in vitro measurement of multiple antigens or antibodies. The first commercial application of the MAST system incorporates several novel features for cost-effective diagnosis of IgE-mediated allergy in a clinical laboratory or a physician's office. The basis of the MAST system is a unique analytical test chamber, which contains cellulose thread as the solid-phase matrix and allows multiple test results from a single assay. This test chamber incorporates both positive and negative controls and requires no volume-dependent pipetting steps. Immunographic exposure onto high-speed Polaroid instant film allows for quantifying results with an automatic recording infrared-transmittance densitometer. Test results are easily interpreted by using a patient test record provided with the system. The MAST system greatly simplifies testing for allergen-specific IgE, while retaining specificity and sensitivity. Currently, with the MAST system one can simultaneously measure picomoles of allergen-specific IgE in up to 35 different allergen classes. In addition to allergy testing, the MAST technology is applicable to other immunodiagnostic profiles.
Subject(s)
Hypersensitivity, Immediate/diagnosis , Immunoglobulin E/analysis , Antibody Specificity , Densitometry , Humans , Immunosorbent Techniques/instrumentation , Photography , Radioallergosorbent Test , Reagent Kits, Diagnostic , Temperature , Time FactorsABSTRACT
The development of a chronic polioencephalitis is reported in a patient with infantile X-linked hypogammaglobulinaemia (IXH Bruton type agammaglobulinaemia). In early childhood, the patient had multiple episodes of purulent inflammation involving the meninges and respiratory tract. He was given continuous administration of gammaglobulin and intermittent treatment with antibiotics, and survived for 21 years. The neuropathological lesion, which revealed severe cerebral atrophy, is described.
Subject(s)
Agammaglobulinemia/genetics , Brain/pathology , Encephalitis/complications , Lymphoid Tissue/pathology , Adult , Agammaglobulinemia/complications , Agammaglobulinemia/pathology , Atrophy , Chronic Disease , Encephalitis/pathology , Female , Humans , Male , X ChromosomeABSTRACT
Dialysed transfer factor, prepared from the leucocytes of a donor whose warts had undergone recent spontaneous regression, was used in the treatment of a child with the Wiskott--Aldrich syndrome. The child then had a spontaneous regression at multiple warty areas. A similar relationship was seen in four otherwise healthy patients in a pilot study. A randomized double-blind study of thirty patients failed to confirm a causal relationship between the transfer factor therapy (equivalent to 2-1 X 10(8) leucocytes) and wart regressions. The need for randomized trials of transfer factor therapy for diseases with a variable natural history is emphasized.
Subject(s)
Transfer Factor/therapeutic use , Warts/therapy , Adolescent , Adult , Child , Clinical Trials as Topic , Female , Humans , Male , Placebos , Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome/therapyABSTRACT
Hypersensitivity alveolitis developed in an 11-year-old girl during heavy exposure to mold spores contaminating the straw filters of an evaporation-type home air cooler. It is likely that the causative organism was Micropolyspora faeni, the mold responsible for farmer's lung.
