We have detected, in sera of normal human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-free subjects, IgM antibodies reactive with the Tat protein of HIV in significant titers and at very high frequency, and, in HIV-positive sera, progressively lower titers as HIV pathogenesis ensues. Epitope analysis indicates that the Tat-reactive antibodies of both HIV-negative and HIV-positive sera are homologous, suggesti...

In a comparative study of antinuclear antibodies (ANA) and immune complexes in the serum of 43 patients with systemic sclerosis (SS) ANA were detected by indirect immunofluorescence on Hep 2 cells and/or double immunodiffusion in 90% of patients, while immune complex assays were positive in 32% of patients. The immune complex assays were positive only in sera containing antibodies to Scl 70, n-...

The majority of paired sera and synovial fluids from 21 patients with rheumatoid arthritis produced a rapid chemiluminescent response when incubated with human neutrophils. Synovial fluid gave considerably higher responses than the paired serum specimen. In contrast little or no response was found with paired sera and joint fluid taken from patients with gout, psoriasis, and osteoarthritis and ...

Immune adherence hemagglutination was compared with the complement fixation test as a means of measuring antibodies to varicella-zoster virus. Analysis of acute- and convalescent-phase sera from patients infected with varicella-zoster or with herpes simplex virus showed the immune adherence hemagglutination test to be more sensitive than the complement fixation test, and greater cross-reactivit...

A B S TRAC T The presence of circulating immune complexes in freshly drawn sera of patients with various forms of malignancies was detected by the 125I-Clq deviation test of Sobel et al. More than 50% of the 459 cancer sera showed a high inhibition of 125I-Clq uptake by sensitized sheep erythrocytes when compared with sera of50 healthy laboratory personnel. The levels were compared with levels ...