Rituximab, a monoclonal antibody directed against the CD20 antigen, found on certain B-cell subsets, results in significant B-cell depletion and has been increasingly used in immune-mediated renal disease and transplantation. Although originally applied to what were considered antibody-mediated diseases, it has become clear that auto- and alloreactive B cells contribute in many ways to immune d...

BACKGROUND Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) is presented by a large heterogeneity of clinical phenotypes. Around 50% of patients suffer from typical CIDP and show better therapy response than atypical variants. The goal of our study was to search for cellular immunological differences in typical versus atypical CIDP in comparison to controls. METHODS We evaluated 26 (9...

Men with post orgasmic illness syndrome (POIS) become ill rather immediately after ejaculation, whether spontaneously at night, during sexual intercourse or masturbation. Two subtypes are distinguished: primary and secondary POIS. It also occurs before or after a man has been sterilized. POIS is an invalidating most probably auto-immune disease leading to much distress in males and their partne...

Myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) is an antigen of the myelin sheath, which may trigger immune cell responses and the production of auto-antibodies in multiple sclerosis (MS). In this study, we used MOG(35-55) -induced experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), a model of human MS, to assess the production of catalytically active immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies or abzymes which ...

Two T lymphocyte-specific antisera, i.e. naturally-occurring auto-antibody to T cells of systemic lupus erythematosus patients (natural T cell toxic autoantibody) and heterologous antiserum against human brain tissue (antibrain-associated T-cell antigen), were used to detect cell surface antigens of human peripheral T lymphocytes. Nylon column-purified T cells from normal aged individuals and p...

Professor da Disciplina de Neurologia e Neurocirurgia do Curso de Medicina da Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná UNIOESTE, Paraná, Brasil; Professor da Disciplina de Clínica Cirúrgica do Curso de Medicina da Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná UNIOESTE, Paraná, Brasil; Chefe do Serviço de Coloproctologia do Hospital Universitário Cajuru PUCPR, Paraná, Brasil. Infliximab, eternecept a...

THE SIGNIFICANCE of auto-antibodies in the initiation and progression of certain types of kidney diseases in man and in experimental animals has often been considered to be of little or of no importance. It is often suggested that antibodies, which can be detected by various in vitro techniques, are the consequence of the immuno-pathological processes rather than the cause of the kidney disease...

Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease characterized by chronic inflammation of the joints. It is associated with the activation of autoreactive T-cells and with production of autoantibodies. The main auto-antigen is collagen type II, which is a major constituent of the cartilage in the joint. The inflammation causes cartilage degradation, hyperplasia of synovial membranes, accumulation ...

Spontaneously developed germinal centers (GCs [Spt-GCs]) harbor autoreactive B cells that generate somatically mutated and class-switched pathogenic autoantibodies (auto-Abs) to promote autoimmunity. However, the mechanisms that regulate Spt-GC development are not clear. In this study, we report that B cell-intrinsic IFN-γ receptor (IFN-γR) and STAT1 signaling are required for Spt-GC and follic...

Myelin/oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) is a target antigen for myelin-destructive Abs in autoimmune central nervous system demyelinating disorders. Little is known about the molecular and structural basis of these pathogenic Ab responses. Here, we have characterized anti-MOG Ab specificities in the marmoset model of experimental allergic encephalomyelitis, by means of a combinatorial IgG-Fab...