the b cell is a vital contributor to humoral immunity. the b cell-specific antigen cd20 is expressed during b cell development, starting at the pre-b cell level and persists through b cell differentiation, but is lost during terminal differentiation to plasma cells. rituximab is a monoclonal antibody that destroys both normal and malignant b cells that have cd20 on their surfaces and is therefo...

Epidermal nuclear staining occurs as a result of anti-nuclear antibody (ANA) deposition in the nucleus of keratinocyte (‘In vivo ANA’). The frequency with which it occurs in various CTD’s varies between 2.6-9.8%.[2] The high prevalence in our study could be due to the smaller study sample. Four different patterns of ENS (viz. speckled, homogenous, nucleolar and rim) have been reported in the li...

Duchenne muscular dystrophy is characterized by myofiber necrosis, muscle replacement by connective tissue, and crippling weakness. Although the mdx mouse also lacks dystrophin, most muscles show little myofiber loss or functional impairment. An exception is the mdx diaphragm, which is phenotypically similar to the human disease. Here we tested the hypothesis that the mdx diaphragm has a defect...

A patient with the Marfan syndrome died suddenly from aortic rupture and dissection in the early puerperium of her second pregnancy. Although the association of the Marfan syndrome and pregnancy is extremely rare, the case reported here being only the fifth on record, the concurrence of dissecting aneurysm or aortic dissection with pregnancy is more frequent. Furthermore it is accepted that aor...

In order to study the influence of dentures on the supporting mucosa, histological and immunohistochemical observations were done on the hard palates of monkeys after being subjected to mechanical stimuli using experimental dentures. The following results were obtained: 1. Light microscopic observations revealed that changes for the most part occurred superficial to the connective tissue papill...