Ways of accelerating recovery of the mucous membrane immune system in lethally irradiated mice following syngeneic bone marrow transplantation were studied over a 35-day period by quantification of jejunal intraepithelial lymphocytes (IELs) and lamina propria plasma cells. Recovery after a low bone marrow dose allowing 100% animal survival (LBM) was compared with a high (five times minimal) dos...

The MHC class I chain-related MICA molecule is a stress-induced, highly polymorphic, epithelia-specific, membrane-bound glycoprotein interacting with the activating NK cell receptor NKG2D and/or gut-enriched Vdelta1-bearing gammadelta T cells. We have previously reported the presence of a MICA transmembrane-encoded short-tandem repeat harboring a peculiar allele, A5.1, characterized by a frame ...

Immunoglobulin Y (IgY) is the predominant antibody found in hen's (Gallus domesticus) egg yolk. This antibody, developed against several microorganisms in hen egg yolk, has been successfully used as an alternative to immunoglobulins from mammals for use in immunodiagnostics and immunotherapy. Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (E.coli) F4 is the main etiological agent associated with swine neona...

BACKGROUND/AIMS Peripheral blood CD8+ lymphocytes that home to mucosal surfaces express the human mucosal lymphocyte antigen (HML-1). At mucosal surfaces, including the ocular surface, only intraepithelial CD8+ lymphocytes express HML-1. These lymphocytes are retained in the intraepithelial compartment by virtue of the interaction between HML-1 and its natural ligand, E-cadherin, which is expre...

T cells bearing the T cell receptor alpha/beta (TCR-alpha/beta) are the predominant lymphocyte population in the human intestinal epithelium. To examine if normal intestinal intraepithelial lymphocytes (IEL) have a TCR repertoire distinct from the TCR-alpha/beta repertoire in peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL), comparative analysis of relative V beta gene usage in IEL and PBL was performed by q...

AIMS To determine if a clinically important polymorphonuclear leucocyte infiltrate and surface gastric epithelial metaplasia occur in the second part of the duodenum in coeliac disease; to evaluate the utility of these morphological criteria in the differential diagnosis of coeliac disease and peptic duodenitis. METHODS 49 mucosal biopsy specimens of the second part of the duodenum reported a...

abstract-cervicovaginal cytology is still a widely used cancer screening method that is well established in most countries. the present study aims at detecting and classifying squamous intraepithelial abnormalities and effects of certain infectious agents, particularly the cytopathic effects of human papillomavirus (hpv) in a series of cervicovaginal smears, according to the bethesda system (tb...

We have demonstrated that intestinal epithelial cells produce interleukin 7 (IL-7), and IL-7 serves as a potent regulatory factor for proliferation of intestinal mucosal lymphocytes expressing functional IL-7 receptor. To clarify the mechanism by which locally produced IL-7 regulates the mucosal lymphocytes, we investigated IL-7 transgenic mice. Here we report that transgenic mice expressing mu...

Using an ELISA technique, concentrations of gamma-interferon and interleukin-2 were assayed in the supernatants of colonic intraepithelial lymphocytes cultured with or without phytohaemagglutinin (PHA). IntraepitheHal lymphocytes produced low concentrations of gamma-interferon and interleukin-2 when stimulated with PHA, but significantly more than when unstimulated (p < 0.05). There was no diff...