ABSTRACT
Las dermopatías constituyen un grupo de enfermedades que pueden complicar una gestación. Desde el punto de vista obstétrico es fundamental conocer a fondo este tipo de enfermedades. El herpes gestationis, también conocido como penfigoide gestacional, es una enfermedad rara, pero muy grave, que puede afectar al curso de la gestación y alterar su resultado perinatal. Se trata de una enfermedad de posible etiología inmunológica, con una serie de características clínicas y anatomopatológicas específicas que el obstreta debe conocer, y que en este artículo describimos a propósito de un caso de herpes gestationis acontecido en nuestro centro (AU)
Subject(s)
Adult , Pregnancy , Female , Humans , Pregnancy Complications, Infectious/diagnosis , Pemphigoid Gestationis/diagnosis , Obstetric Labor, Premature/etiology , Complement C3c/isolation & purification , Pemphigoid Gestationis/drug therapyABSTRACT
The third component of complement (C3) of a newt, Cynops pyrrhogaster, was purified using a fast protein liquid chromatography technique. The purified newt C3 consists of two polypeptide chains (the molecular masses of the alpha and beta-chains of C3 were 120,000 and 70,000, respectively) linked by disulfide bonds. The alpha-chain retained an internal thiolester bond that was cleaved with methylamine, and the N-terminal amino acid sequence of the alpha-chain was XVQLIDAKAGKAAKF. Digestion of newt C3 with trypsin yielded fragments that induced significant histamine release from newt peritoneal cells. These results indicate that newt C3 retains structural and functional properties shared with mammalian C3.
Subject(s)
Anaphylatoxins/immunology , Complement C3c/immunology , Salamandridae/immunology , Amino Acid Sequence , Anaphylatoxins/isolation & purification , Animals , Complement C3c/isolation & purification , Electrophoresis, Gel, Two-Dimensional , Esters , Female , Histamine Release , Humans , Immunoblotting/methods , Male , Molecular Sequence Data , Sulfhydryl CompoundsABSTRACT
The hemolytic test to date has been the sole analytic technique applied to study the complement reaction in the swine. To improve the analytical possibilities for this species we have developed polyclonal antibody reagents with specificities for the C3c and C3d activation fragments of swine C3. Access to these reagents, by which activation products can be analysed in tissues and biological fluids, will offer new possibilities for a more precise analysis of the complement reaction.
Subject(s)
Antibodies/immunology , Complement C3c/isolation & purification , Complement C3d/isolation & purification , Swine/immunology , Animals , Chromatography, Gel , Complement Activation , Complement C3c/immunology , Complement C3d/immunology , Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel , Immunoblotting , Immunodiffusion , Immunoelectrophoresis , Immunoenzyme Techniques , RabbitsABSTRACT
Recently, we have demonstrated the presence of C3dg deposits, a cleavage fragment of the third component of complement, on the basement membrane zone (MB) of normal human skin. These C3dg deposits are specific, isolated and not restricted to stratified squamous epithelia. Their origin is not thought to be due to passive incorporation of circulating C3dg within selected MB. Conversely, human keratinocytes are able to synthesize and secrete C3 and could represent a local source for these C3dg deposits. In situ production of C3 by epidermal cells could play a role in local inflammatory reactions. Similarly, a C3dg binding site(s) in selected basement membrane may account for the accumulation of C3-containing immune complexes in such tissues in pathological conditions.
Subject(s)
Basement Membrane/immunology , Complement C3c/isolation & purification , Skin/immunology , Complement Activation , Complement C3c/physiology , Epidermis/immunology , Fluorescent Antibody Technique , Humans , Keratinocytes/physiology , Skin Diseases/immunologyABSTRACT
Six months before consulting, a 71-year old man developed buccal and genital erosions which gradually became worse. Physical examination showed signs of superficial desquamative gingivitis, wide erosions on the bony palate, erythemato-erosive balanoposthitis and 7 bullae or skin erosions on the upper part of the back. At histopathological examination of a cutaneous bulla there was dermoepidermal cleavage and an inflammatory infiltrate without eosinophils. At direct immunofluorescence, linear deposits of IgG and C3 were present along the basement membrane. A search for anti-skin autoantibodies was negative at indirect immunofluorescence but positive at immunoblotting (240 Kd band). The cicatricial pemphigoid was treated with dapsone alone in doses of 100 mg/day. Treatment was continued for 6 months, resulting in complete cure of the mucosal and cutaneous lesions. An immunoelectromicroscopic study, performed according to the technique described by Prost et al., on a fragment of skin from around the bullae, showed deposits of granular IgG in the lamina lucida and the lamina densa and deposits of C3 in the lamina densa. This case of cicatricial pemphigoid exhibited 3 features which are not usually found in bullous pemphigoid. Clinically, the buccal lesions were located on the gums and on the hard palate, i.e. where the mucosa adheres to the underlying bone through the periosteum. This location is habitual in cicatricial pemphigoid and differs from that of the bullous pemphigoid lesions which affect the free mucosa lining the cheeks and the soft palate. Treatment with dapsone was dramatically successful in our patient whose lesions disappeared in 6 months.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
