Prevention of autoimmunity in nonobese diabetic (NOD) mice by neonatal transfer of allogeneic thymic macrophages

Nonobese diabetic (NOD) mice spontaneously develop insulin dependent diabetes mellitus. The disease results from an autoimmune process which involves mononuclear cells surrounding and eventually infiltrating the pancreatic islets of Langerhans. Macrophages are thought to be the first cells to infiltrate the islets and are actively involved in the disease process because diabetes is prevented if host macrophages are depleted or inactivated. Several lines of evidence also suggest that NOD macrophages are phenotypically and functionally abnormal. In this study, allogeneic (CBA) macrophages derived from the thymus were inoculated into newborn NOD mice and these were followed for more than 250 days. Spontaneous diabetes was significantly reduced in female NOD mice (6% diabetic versus 45% of controls). Insulitis was also significantly reduced in both male and female mice compared to their control counterparts, and in most cases there were virtually no inflammatory cells in the pancreas. Allogeneic skin grafting and mixed leukocyte cultures indicated that the recipients were not tolerant of donor antigens, and donor-derived cells were not detected in the lymphoid tissues by either flow cytometry or immunohistochemistry. The results show that macrophages from diabetes-resistant donors will prevent insulitis and diabetes in most recipients, however, the mechanism for the protection is unclear, but does not appear to be due to long-term tolerance induction.     

Political correctness and academic principles: a reply to Simpson

The author discusses Christopher Simpson's (1996) article, 'Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann's 'Spiral of Silence' and the Historical Context of Communication Theory.' He questions the relevance of biographical data for the evaluation of scientific theories and methods, and analyzes the rhetorical structure of Simpson's arguments. He concludes that Simpson's claims about the influence of Noelle's biography on her scholarly work are not grounded in evidence.     

Outcome of rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis following autologous stem cell transplantation for hematologic malignancy

Based on successful results in animal models, it has been proposed that high-dose myeloablative therapy followed by autologous bone marrow or stem cell transplantation (ABMT/ASCT) may cure autoimmune disease. The coexistence of autoimmune disease and hematologic malignancy provides an opportunity to examine the response of autoimmune disease to ABMT or ASCT. We describe 4 patients with autoimmune disease (3 with psoriasis and 1 with rheumatoid arthritis) and hematologic malignancy. In each patient, the autoimmune disease remitted posttransplantation, but, in 4 patients with long-term followup, it recurred at 8-24 months. The earliest relapse occurred in a patient treated with interferon-alpha. Our experience suggests that a single autograft with unpurged stem cells is unlikely to cure autoimmune disease, but that other strategies building on this approach are worthy of investigation.     

Kinetics of modification of the mitochondrial succinate-ubiquinone reductase by 5,5''-dithiobis-(2-nitro-benzoic acid)

In the present study, we examined the effect of the thromboxane/prostaglandin endoperoxide analogue U46619 on proliferation and hypertrophy in cultured rat vascular smooth muscle cells and the roles of protein kinase C and transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) in the mediation of the hypertrophic response to U46619. Since an increase in basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) was previously shown to mediate the hypertrophic response to U46619, we also assessed the relationship between bFGF and TGF-beta in the expression of U46619 actions. U46619 increased [35S]methionine incorporation into protein and protein content of vascular smooth muscle cells but had no effect on cell number. A role for TGF-beta was supported by the following observations: (1) exogenous human TGF-beta 1 increased protein synthesis; (2) antibody to TGF-beta blocked both TGF-beta- and U46619-induced increases in protein content; (3) U46619 increased active and total TGF-beta bioactivities; and (4) the actions of U46619 on protein content and TGF-beta bioactivity were blocked by the thromboxane/prostaglandin endoperoxide receptor antagonist SQ 29,548. Previous observations had demonstrated a role for bFGF in the expression of U46619 actions on protein synthesis. Results of the present study suggest that TGF-beta and bFGF interact in mediating the protein synthetic response to U46619. First, the concentration of exogenous TGF-beta (10 pmol/L) alone required to produce a protein synthetic response equivalent to that induced by U46619 was much higher than the concentration of endogenous active TGF-beta that accumulated in the media in response to U46619 (0.7 pmol/L). Second, bFGF (20 ng/mL) increased total TGF-beta bioactivity and stimulated protein synthesis. The hyper-trophic response to bFGF was blocked by anti-TGF-beta. The ability of U46619 and bFGF to increase protein synthesis and protein content in vascular smooth muscle cells was associated with TGF-beta-induced suppression of proliferation, as evidenced by the ability of antibody to TGF-beta to enhance U46619- and bFGF-induced increases in [3H]thymidine incorporation into DNA. Results of the present study also supported a role for protein kinase C in the expression of U46619 and bFGF actions. U46619 increased protein kinase C activity in the particulate fraction of vascular smooth muscle cells. Moreover, the protein kinase C inhibitors GF109203X and staurosporine blocked U46619- and bFGF-induced increases in protein synthesis as well as active and total TGF-beta bioactivities. By contrast, the protein kinase C inhibitors did not prevent the increases in protein synthesis induced by exogenous TGF-beta. The results demonstrate that thromboxane/prostaglandin endoperoxide signals increased TGF-beta bioactivity via protein kinase C. Increases in both bFGF and TGF-beta are required for an optimal hypertrophic response to U46619. The hypertrophic response to TGF-beta occurs through a protein kinase C-independent pathway.     

Effects of gemfibrozil and ciprofibrate on plasma levels of tissue-type plasminogen activator, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 and fibrinogen in hyperlipidaemic patients

Evaluation of fibrate treatment in humans has focused primarily on its anti-lipidaemic effects. A potentially favourable haemostasis-modulating activity of fibrates has also been recognized but the data are not consistent. We sought to learn more about this variability by examining the effects of gemfibrozil and ciprofibrate on plasma levels of tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA), plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) and fibrinogen in primary hyperlipidaemic patients after six and twelve weeks of treatment using different assay systems for PAI-1 and fibrinogen. Although both fibrates effectively lowered triglyceride and cholesterol levels, no effect on the elevated baseline antigen levels of t-PA and PAI-1 was observed after fibrate treatment. However, both fibrates influenced plasma fibrinogen levels, albeit in a different way. Fibrinogen antigen levels were elevated by 17.6% (p <0.05) and 24.3% (p <0.001) with gemfibrozil after six and twelve weeks, respectively, whereas with ciprofibrate there was no effect. Using a Clauss functional assay with either a mechanical end point or a turbidity-based end point, no significant change in fibrinogen levels was seen after six weeks of gemfibrozil treatment. However, after twelve weeks, gemfibrozil enhanced functional fibrinogen levels by 7.2% (p <0.05) as assessed by the Clauss mechanical assay, but decreased functional fibrinogen levels by 12.5% (p <0.0001) when a Clauss assay based on turbidity was used. After six or twelve weeks of ciprofibrate treatment, functional fibrinogen levels were decreased by 10.1% (p <0.001) and 10.5% (p <0.0001), respectively on the basis of Clauss mechanical and by 14.2% (p <0.001) and 28.2% (p <0.0001), respectively with the Clauss turbidimetric assay. A remarkable and consistent finding with both fibrates was the decrease in functionality of fibrinogen as assessed by the ratio of functional fibrinogen (determined by either of the two Clauss assays) to fibrinogen antigen. Taken together, our results indicate that at least part of the variability in the effects of fibrates on haemostatic parameters can be explained by intrinsic differences between various fibrates, by differences in treatment period and/or by the different outcomes of various assay systems. Interestingly, the two fibrates tested both reduced the functionality of fibrinogen.