[Preventive treatment of infection caused by gram-negative bacteria using anti-lipopolysaccharide antibodies. Evaluation in patients with aplasia]. / Traitement préventif des infections à bacille à Gram négatif par des anticorps anti-lipopolysaccharides. Evaluation chez l'aplasique.

The prophylaxis of severe Gram-negative infections with human antiserum to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was evaluated in a randomised study of 60 patients with therapeutic aplasia for leukaemia. The antiserum was found to be ineffective in preventing Gram-negative infections. The levels of anti-LPS antibodies showed that passive immunization was obtained in only one half of the patients. These disappointing results warrant further investigations to evaluate the effectiveness of this prophylactic treatment.

[Genetic study of a family of subjects with ankylosing spondylitis]. / Etude génétique d'une famille de sujets atteints de spondylarthrite ankylosante.

In a family of four patients with ankylosing spondylarthritis, the study of HLA typing has permitted to establish the dissociated transmission of the B27 antigen and the spondylarthritis: as a matter of fact, if the father and his two sons have the disease, and carry the B27, one of the daughters is also definitely affected with spondylarthritis according to New York criteria, and does not carry the B27. This young woman, also, does not present in her haplotype the genes of susceptibility to psoriasis, B13, B17, CW6, DR7, nor the antigens giving cross reactions with B27, type CREG, B7, B22, B40. So, this young woman seems to have inherited from her father a genetic predisposition toward the disease without transmission of antigen B27 and it is supposed that if this gene is linked to the HLA system by an unbalanced binding, it was transmitted after recombination in her father.

[Polysyndactyly with complex cardiopathy. Apropos of 3 cases in the same family]. / Polysyndactylie avec cardiopathie complexe. A propos de trois cas dans une même fratrie.

This study deals with a family where three successive children presenting with a complicated polymalformative syndrome, died. The first child, a boy, had atrial and ventricular septal defect. The second and third children, both females, had cardiac abnormalities with a single ventricle with common auriculo-ventricular valve. Each case was associated with low ear insertion and first toe bilateral polysyndactyly. Familial inquiry showed neither consanguinity nor similar cases in relatives and ancestors within three generations. This polymalformative syndrome could be genetically determined.

[Study of a population carrying HLA B27 antigen compared with a population without B27, in the detection of ankylosing spondylitis]. / Etude d'une population porteuse de l'antigéne HLA B27 comparée a celle d'une population témoin non B27 á la recherche de la spondylarthrite ankylosante.

Comparative study of 2 groups matched for age and sex, 39 subjects with B 27 and 40 subjects without B 27, chosen at random from blood donors, leads to the conclusion that the former complain of chronic low back pain and joint manifestations, and show a reduction in the range of movement of the lumbar spine, significantly more frequently than the latter. While radiological abnormalities of the sacro-iliac joints considered individually do not permit separation of those bearing the antigen from the controle, grouping them together shows that there are more cases of stage III sacro-ilitis among those with B 27. In all, 5 cases of spondylitis defined according to the New York criteria were found in this way in the group with B 27, 12.8 per cent as against 3 per cent in the controls. From these results, the incidence of rheumatic spondylitis can be estimated as between 0.8 and 1.7 per cent.

Common and uncommon immunoglobulin haplotypes among Lebanese communities.

Allotypes of IgG1, IgG2, IgG3, and IgA2 subclasses were investigated in seven Lebanese communities (three Moslem and four Christian). The Gm-Am haplotypes found were mainly those prevalent in Caucasians with a low frequency of haplotypes usually observed in Africans and Orientals. The difference between highlanders and lowlanders as expressed by G2m(23) was highly significant and suggested a possible adaptation to selective pressure related to the gamma2 genes, possibly due to endemic malaria in the past. Exceptional Gm-Am haplotypes were unambiguously determined by family studies. Some were characterized either by a deletion or a repression or, in contrast, by a partial or total duplication of gamma genes. Two others had uncommon combinations of allotypes: Gm17;23;5,10,11,13,14 A2m1, where G1m (17) was present without G1m (1); and Gm3;23;5,14 A2m1, where the CH3 allotypes G3m (10,11,13) were lacking.

[A genetic study of familial epilepsy (author's transl)]. / Etude génétique d'une épilepsie familiale.

The authors studied 3 generations of a family in which 4 members presented with classical grand mal epilepsy. The propositus and all his descendents were examined clinically and electroencephalographically. 19 markers were tested. The EEG criteria used are discussed. A relation between the different markers and the clinical and EEG presentation was studied using Morton's scores.

Recombination, mutation, or constitutive expression at a Gm locus and familial hypergammaglobulinemia.

In a hypercholesterolemic Lebanese family, an uncommon Gm haplotype carrying an unexpected C gamma 1 gene was inherited by only one of 10 siblings. A new recombination during the maternal or paternal meiosis could explain its formation. According to this hypothesis, our data would be informative for the linkage relationship between the gamma-cistrons and the alpha 2-cistron. The latter might be located near the N-terminal side of the gamma-cistron linkage group, and the sequence of genes would be alpha 2, gamma 4, gamma 3, and gamma 1. A mutation could also effect the change from G1m(17) (codons AAA and AAG) TO G1m(3) (codons AGA and AGG). Another alternative is to postulate a constitutive expression of a C gamma 1 structural gene which, normally, would not be expressed. The uncommon derepression could be the consequence of uncommon cellular response to environmental, pathological or metabolic perturbation of a regulatory mechanism.

[IgG levels in the sera of melanoma patients (author's transl)]. / Etude des IgG dans les sérums de sujets porteurs de mélanomes.

397 sera from 185 melanoma patients have been tested. We classified our subjects into three groups, according to the stage of disease. An alteration of the level of IgG4 subclass was found and related to the extension of the disease. The percentage of abnormalities was more frequent in stage II and III (55 p. 100 and 53 p. 100) than in stage I (19 p. 100). High titers of IgG 4 subclass were essentially detected in advanced disease. The biological significance is discussed.

[IgG levels in the sera of melanoma patients (author's transl)]. / Etude des IgG dans les sérums des sujets porteurs de mélanomes.

397 sera from 185 melanoma patients have been tested. We classified our subjects into three groups, according to the stage of disease. An alteration of the level of IgG 4 sub-class was found and related to the extension of the disease. The percentage of abnormalities was more frequent in stage II and III (55 p. 100 and 53 p. 100) than in stage I (19 p. 100). High titers of IgG 4 subclass were essentially detected in advanced disease. The biological significance is discussed.

IgG4 subclass in malignant melanoma.

Three hundred and ninety-seven sera from 185 melanoma patients were studied. These sera were classified into three groups according to stage of disease. An alteration in the level of the IgG4 subclass was found. It was related to the dissemination of disease. The percentage of abnormalities (either increased or decreased levels of IgG4) was more frequent in patients with stage II and III diseases (55 and 53%, respectively) than in patients with stage I(19%). The higher frequencies of high titers of IgG4 were essentially detected in advanced disease. The biologic significance of the increase of IgG4 in melanoma remains obscure. The increase may be related to the development of facilitating antibodies of the IgG4 subclass.

[IgG subclasses in malignant melanoma]. / Etude des allotypes Gm et des sous-classes d'IgG chez des sujets porteurs de mélanomes malins

The 397 sera from 185 melanoma patients have been studied and classified in three groups according to the stage of disease. Our findings revealed an alteration of the level of IgG4 subclass which is related to the dissemination of disease. The percentage of abnormalities (either increased or decreased levels of IgG4) was more frequent in stage II and III (55% and 53% respectively) than in stage I (19%), The higher frequencies of high titers of IgG4 were essentially detected in advanced disease. The biological significance of the increase of IgG4 in melanoma remains obscure. It may be related to the development of facilitating antibodies of IgG4 subclass.

[Two new peptic fragments of human IgA: F(abc)'2Alpha and [F(abc)'2]2alpha (author's transl)]. / Obtention de nouveaux fragments pepsiques des IgA humaines: F(abc)'2alpha et [F(abc)'2]2alpha

These experiments were undertaken to study the nature of the fragments produced by pepsin digestion of seric IgA. We describe a new fragment with a MW of 140,000 daltons. This fragment, the first produced during pepsin hydrolysis of monomeric IgA, corresponds to an IgA molecule which has lost its CH3 domain. We propose to call this fragment F(abc)'2alpha. It is gradually digested and transformed into an F(ab)'2alpha fragment. When polymeric IgA are digested, an extra fragment with a MW of 290,000 daltons is produced, which has kept its polymeric structure. It corresponds to a covalent [F(abc)'2]2alpha fragment. These findings suggest that there is an intersubunit disulfide bridge in the Calpha2 domain. These results also indicate that polymeric IgA proteins are more resistant to pepsin digestion than monomeric IgA proteins.