The influence of intraperitoneal injections of histamine on tumour growth in fibrosarcoma-bearing mice.

Twenty C57BL/6 male and 20 C3H female mice carrying a methyl cholanthrene-induced fibrosarcoma received, daily, intraperitoneal injections of histamine dihydrochloride (1.8 mg or 6 mg histamine base/mouse). In all histamine-treated C57BL/6 mice, tumour growth was significantly slower than in control mice until day 18. Thereafter, the tumour growth rate of treated compared to control mice was accelerated. In 10 out of 20 C3H mice, tumour growth was significantly slower until day 25; in histamine responsive C3H mice, histological studies showed numerous and large loci of acute haemorrhagic necrosis in the tumours.

Cyclophosphamide induction of splenic suppressor cells in hamsters.

Injection of hamsters with a single sublethal dose of cyclophosphamide induced splenic atrophy followed by considerable hypertrophy. During the splenomegaly phase, the in vitro reactivity of spleen cells to concanavalin A (ConA) or protein A (ProtA) was decreased. The spleens of 6-8-month old animals contained cells able to suppress the in vitro reactivity of normal lymphocytes to ConA or ProtA. These cells were absent in 2-month old animals, and some suppressor activity could be shown in 3-month old hamsters. Suppressor activity was abolished by removal of adherent cells and by silica treatment, but antisera against thymocytes or IgG were ineffective.

Antigens of gastric and intestinal mucous cells in human colonic tumours.

Using immunofluorescence methods, 3 antisera respectively stain 3 groups of mucous cells of the human gastrointestinal tract, showing specific antigens for each group of cells. The antigens of the first group, the M1 antigens, were principally associated with columnar cells of the gastric epithelium, the M2 antigens with mucous cells of gastric and Brünner's glands, and the M3 antigen with the goblet cells of the intestinal mucosa. The gastric M antigens normally detectable in stomach and duodenum (but not in colon) were expressed in certain colonic tumours (benign or malignant) and in adjacent mucosa. They are always present with the intestinal M3 antigen. In 100 colonic adenocarcinomas, the intestinal M3 antigen was found in 53 cases, gastric M1 antigens in 29 cases, and gastric M2 antigens in 10 cases, always with the two other M antigens. A good correlation could be established between the association of M antigens and the histological type of tumour.

[Comparative effects of a diet enriched in live or heated yogurt on the immune system of the mouse]. / Effets comparé d'un régime enrichi en yoghourt vivant ou thermisé sur le système immunitaire de la souris.

Growth was fastest in mice fed yogurt. There was no difference in the effects of live or heated yogurt on the ponderal curve or the organ weight of vaccinated or unvaccinated mice. Sera antitoxin levels were slightly elevated in animals fed live yogurt and given an antitetanus vaccination at the particular concentrations used. Significantly high IgG2a immunoglobulin levels were found only in unvaccinated mice fed live yogurt. Histological examination before, and particularly after, antitetanus vaccination confirmed these findings in the thymus and especially in the spleen.

Immunosuppressive activity of Fusarium toxins. Effects on antibody synthesis and skin grafts of crude extracts, T2-toxin and diacetoxyscirpenol.

The inhibitory effect of crude Fusarium poae extracts, T2-toxin and diacetoxyscirpenol on synthesis of antibody to sheep red blood cells was investigated, as well as the effect of T2-toxin on skin graft rejection. Fusarium crude extracts, T2-toxin and diacetoxyscirpenol cause a significant reduction in thymus weight and inhibit responsiveness to sheep red blood cells. The effect on antibody synthesis was critically dependent on the drug doses used. The effect of an immunosuppressive dose of T2-toxin disappeared within 6 days after the end of the treatment. The administration of T2-toxin subsequent to immunization stops antibody synthesis. T2-toxin significantly prolongs the period required for skin graft rejection.

[Demonstration of antigen associated with human breast cancers]. / Mise en évidence d'un antigène associé aux cancers mammaires humains.

The insoluble pellet of human mammary carcinomas was solubilized by an acid buffer. Antiserum prepared with this acidosoluble fraction, after suitable absorption gave one precipitin line with the immunizing extracts: this line is different from those given by the tumor associated antigens actually known. The same antiserum reacted only with sections of human mammary carcinomas by immunofluorescence . It did not stain sections of normal mammary glands or benign mammary diseases. Reactivity with cancers of other organs was absent or doubtful. Hence it is likely that an antigen associated to human mammary carcinomas was characterized.

Renal deposition of soluble immune complexes in hamsters bearing an SV40-induced tumour.

Histologic and immunofluorescence studies of the kidneys of hamster bearing a tumour induced by injection of SV40-transformed cells show a proliferative glomerulonephritis associated with the presence of immune complex deposits along the glomerular basement membrane and in the mesangium. The intensity of the deposit is dependent of the size of the tumour. The presence of SV40-induced antigens was identified in the complexes by a heterologous immune serum. Immunoglobulins eluted from kidneys were shown to react with SV40 antigens by immunoprecipitation with TSV5CL2 cell extracts and by fluorescence on CV1 infected cells.

Isolation of a sulfated glycopeptidic antigen from human gastric tumors: its localization in normal and cancerous gastrointestinal tissues.

A sulfated glycopeptidic antigen (SGA) was purified from papain-digested cancerous human gastric mucosa. The amino acid composition of this antigen was characterized by a high percentage of threonine and proline. Serine was present in small quantities and aromatic amino acids were absent. The amount of sulfate present was evaluated at 7.5%. Fucose, galactose, N-acetyl glucosamine, N-acetyl galactosamine and sialic acid were found to be present in the molar ratio 1:4.6:3.0:6.2:5.0. With immunofluorescence techniques, a rabbit antiserum against the sulfated glycopeptide stained adult gastric mucosa when this tissue had intestinal metaplasia and stained the goblet cells of the intestinal tract (small and large intestines). About 50% of colonic carcinomas and some gastric carcinomas contained SGA. This sulfated antigen was present in well-differentiated tumors and there was a good correlation between tumoral acid mucous secretory activity and the SGA positivity.

Humoral and cellular immune response during the growth of an SV40 induced tumour in hamsters.

Hamster fibroblasts transformed in vivo by the SV40 virus (TSV5Cl2) induce tumours when injected into adult hamsters and antibodies present in sera of tumour-bearing animals are used to demonstrate the presence of the antigens specific for the viral transformation. These tumours are a very useful tool in studying the evolution of the immune response during the tumour growth. A systematic histological examination of the spleen, thymus and lymph nodes was undertaken and the results thus obtained were correlated with a parallel study of the cells of the peritumoral region, the thymus and the spleen by immunofluorescence using antisera of different specificities. We were able to show that the plasma cells which make up the early peritumoral reaction and the lymphoblasts found later in spleen and thymus both synthesize antibodies directed against virus induced antigens. Circulating antibody directed against the same antigens is first detected at/or about the time that the peritumoral plasma cell reaction disappears and increases progressively as tumour weight increases.

Antigens common to human ovarian mucinous cyst fluid and gastric mucosa.

Ovarian mucinous cysts, but not ovarian cysts of other histological types, contain common antigens with normal gastric mucosa. By immunodiffusion, antigens of both extracts give identical reactions. Immunofluorescence experiments localize these antigens in the epithelial coat of ovarian mucinous cysts and in the mucous cells of the surface epithelium of the fundic and pyloric gastric mucosa.

Splenic modifications induced by cyclophosphamide in C3H/He, nude, and "B" mice.

The spleen cell population of adult C3H/He mice injected with a single sublethal dose of cyclophosphamide (CY) has been analyzed. An initial phase of spleen atrophy is followed by a considerable hypertrophy, and a progressive return to normal. During the phase of spleen atrophy, both B and T cell compartments are depleted, as estimated by the percentages of cells killed by anti-Thy 1-2 and anti-Ig antisera plus complement. During the stage of regeneration, the percentage of Ig + cells increases rapidly, and at the peak of splenomegaly, the percentage of Ig + cells is high whereas almost no Thy 1-2 + cells are detectable. Progresively, the spleen cell content returns to the original values. In thymo-deprived mice (nude mice and B mice) the percentage of null cells increases during the stage of regeneration, and B mice develop a large number of Ig +-bearing cells. Histologic examination shows that follicles (B-dependent areas) disappear 1 to 2 days before periarteriolar sheaths (T-dependent areas). At the peak of splenomegaly the architecture of the spleen is destroyed, and the interstitial tissue is composed of a dense and uniform layer of lymphoid cells. Progressively, the architecture returns to normal. In nude mice, the disappearance of follicles, and the appearance of a homogenous layer of lymphocytes has been observed. When analyzed for their pattern of electrophoretic mobilities (E.M.), spleen cells from untreated mice reveal two peaks of E.M. 0.80 and 1.15 micron x s-1 x V-1 x cm-1. After CY treatment, during the step of splenic hypertrophy, these two peaks disappear, and a single peak of intermediate mobility appears. In T-deprived mice, a single peak of the same mobility is detected at this stage. The nature and origin of cells which appear during the phase of regeneration are unclear, but their appearance in T-deprived mice argues against thymo dependence. These spleen cells have the ability to suppress the response of normal spleen lymphocytes to T and B cell mitogens.

[Cellular and humoral response to tumor antigens in the hamster]. / Réponse cellulaire et humorale aux antigènes tumoraux chez le hamster

Studies on the histological of the lympoid organs and the evolution of the immune response were done during the growth of a tumour induced by SV40 transformed cells. The immune response was characterized by a high level of circulating antibodies and presence in the thymus and spleen of lymphoid cells containing IgG with antibody function.

Immunochemical study and cellular localization of human pepsinogens during ontogenesis and in gastric cancers.

Gastric pepsinogens were studied by immunoenzymologic and immunohistochemical methods in non-cancerous adult gastric mucosa, in fetal stomach, and in gastric carcinomas. In noncancerous adult mucosa, immunoenzymologic methods showed that pepsinogen II (previously called Pg I-II) was found mostly in fundic or mediogastric extracts, whereas Pg IV was predominant in antropyloric extracts. Pg II was localized by immunofluorescence techniques in the chief cells of deep glands found near the muscularis. Pg II was localized by immunofluorescence techniques in the chief cells of deep glands found near the muscularis. Pg III was present in the superficial zone of deep glands and Pg IV in the surface epithelium and in the superficial glands of the mucosa. In fetal stomach, only Pg IV (which we called the "fetal pepsinogen") was identified by standard immunoelectrophoresis. It was localized by immunofluorescence in the superficial epithelium. However, bidimensional immunoelectrophoresis and immunofluorescence did reveal low levels of Pg II and Pg III by the 8th or 9th week of ontogenesis. Pg II and Pg III were localized in the rudimentary glands near the superficial epithelium. Important differences were noted when gastric carcinomas were compared with normal mucosa. Pg II or Pg III were often absent in the tumor extracts, but Pg IV was regularly and, at times, exclusively identified regardless of the location of the tumor. By immunofluorescence Pg IV was often the only pepsinogen that was characterized in dedifferentiated cancerous cells; this was also true of the calciform cells of some metaplastic gastric mucosa. Pg III was observed rarely, and Pg II never, in cancerous cells. The biochemical modifications of the cancerous tissue closely resemble those of fetal tissue.