Cell-mediated autoimmunity has been strongly implicated in the pathogenesis of vascular cell injury in Takayasu's arteritis. To clarify the immunological mechanisms involved, we examined the expression of a cytolytic factor, perforin in infiltrating cells of aortic tissue samples from seven patients with Takayasu's arteritis. We also examined the expression of a 65-kD heat-shock protein (HSP-65...

INTRODUCTION Recently, Henoch-Schönlein purpura (HSP) has been observed in elderly people, although it was believed to be uncommon in these subjects. The increased risks of developing end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in adults in comparison with children were highlighted by different studies; however, limited data are available on the treatment of HSP nephritis in adults. METHODS Between 2002 a...

Mycobacterial antigens not only stimulate Th cells that produce macrophage-activating factors, but also CD4+ and CD8+ CTL that lyse human macrophages. The mycobacterial recombinant 65-kD hsp was previously found to be an important target antigen for polyclonal CD4+ CTL. Because of the major role of 65-kD hsp in the immune response to mycobacterial as well as autoantigens, we have studied CTL ac...

An evaluation of eye movements is very useful in neurological disorders but is complicated by issues such as maturation and lack of normative data in children. In order to address these issues we studied smooth pursuit eye movements of 65 normal children aged 7-11 years old. The gain of horizontal smooth pursuit (HSP) was higher than the gain of the vertical smooth pursuit (SP) and this differe...

Heat shock proteins (HSPs) are evolutionarily highly conserved polypeptides that appear to be produced by many cells to preserve cellular functions under a variety of conditions of stress, including infections. We report that a 65-kDa HSP is present in mouse peritoneal cells that have been infected with a low-virulence (Beverley) strain of Toxoplasma gondii, as determined by electroblot assay u...

BACKGROUND Hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP) is a genetically heterogeneous neurodegenerative disease. The most frequent cause of autosomal dominant HSP is mutation of SPAST (SPG4 locus), but additional pedigrees remain mutation negative by conventional screening despite linkage to SPG4. OBJECTIVE To determine the frequency of genomic copy number aberrations of SPAST in autosomal dominant H...

BACKGROUND Increasing evidence supports the involvement of inflammation and immunity in atherogenesis as well as the role of autoimmunity to heat shock proteins (HSPs) in the progression of atherosclerosis. Mucosal administration of autoantigens decreases organ-specific inflammation and disease in several models of autoimmunity (diabetes, arthritis, and encephalomyelitis) and is also being test...

BACKGROUND Kawasaki disease (KD) is an acute systemic vasculitis of infancy and early childhood that is characterized by endothelial cell damage associated with T-cell activation. Lymphocytes infiltrating damaged tissues might be responsible for the disease through secretion of cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, that could cause fever, as well as endothelial tissue damage. De...

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) reduces cardiovascular risks, although the initiation of therapy may be associated with transient adverse ischemic and thrombotic events. Antibodies against heat shock protein (Hsp) and oxidized low density lipoprotein (LDL) have been found in atherosclerotic lesions and plasma of patients with coronary artery disease and may play an important role in the patho...