Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0019158 (hepatitis)
 30,205 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Cytoskeletal proteins are demonstrated in the interstitial cells of the lungs. These proteins appear in the cytoplasm as bundles of microfilaments, the individual filaments measuring 40--80 A in diameter. The presence of actin and myosin in these cells is demonstrated by immunofluorescence. Antiactin antibodies (AAA) obtained from patients with chronic aggressive hepatitis, as well as AAA and antimyosin antibodies prepared in the rabbit, are used. The major difference between the cytoskeletal proteins of interstitial cells and other cells of the alveolar tissue (type II epithelium, pericytes, and near the junctional complexes of endothelial cells) is that the microfilaments within the interstitial cells are organized into bundles forming tiny intracytoplasmic 'muscles'. Furthermore, they appear to be much more abundant and seem to anchor the cell on the alveolar basement membrane by hemidesmosome-like structures. These peculiar cytological features provide these cells with an important functional capacity. Being located in the 'pillars' which cross the capillary space, the contraction of interstitial cells may modify the alveolocapillary configuration in some circumstances. The physiological importance of such an 'active' alveolar motility is to provide the lung with a mechanism of autoregulation of the ventilation/perfusion (V/Q) ratio at alveolar level.
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PMID:Distribution and function of cytoskeletal proteins in lung cells with particular reference to 'contractile interstitial cells'. 36 16

Using immobilized anti-C3 antibody and an enzyme immunoassay, sera from 26 patients (eight with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), four with Hashimoto's thyroiditis, eight haemophiliacs and six with post-hepatitis cirrhosis) containing high levels of circulating immune complexes (IC) were selected. The IC were precipitated with 2.5% polyethylene glycol, washed, treated with acid buffer, neutralized and tested using an enzyme immunoassay in parallel with the original sera for antibody activity against a panel of antigens: human myosin and thyroglobulin, mouse actin and tubulin, calf thymus DNA and trinitrophenyl coupled to bovine serum albumin (TNP/BSA). It was found that all the isolated IC may contain IgG, IgA and IgM antibodies reacting with actin tubulin and TNP/BSA and also, depending upon the disease, antibodies reacting with some of the other antigens of the panel. By comparison to the antibodies present in the original sera, higher titers of antibodies were found in the isolated IC while some antibody specificities not detected in a given serum were occasionally noted in the isolated IC. The antibodies present in the IC seem to possess characteristics similar to those of polyreactive human natural autoantibodies. It is concluded that natural autoantibodies participate actively in the formation of IC found in pathological sera.
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PMID:Enzyme immunoassay analysis of antibody specificities present in the circulating immune complexes of selected pathological sera. 305 7

A 22-year-old man with Marfan's syndrome and a history of antinuclear antibody-positive hepatitis died 25 days after undergoing cardiac valve replacement surgery for mitral valve prolapse. Giant cell myocarditis was found at autopsy. The multinucleated giant cells were shown by immunoperoxidase techniques to contain lysozyme, but not myosin or creatine phosphokinase, suggesting that they were derived from macrophage, rather than myocyte, precursors.
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PMID:Giant cell myocarditis after mitral valve replacement: case report and studies of the nature of giant cells. 672 75

Acute quadriplegic myopathy is a rare condition associated with the use of nondepolarizing muscle-blocking agents and corticosteroids in the course of severe systemic illness. A 17-month-old boy underwent liver transplantation for fulminant hepatitis. He was intubated for 24 days and treated with vecuronium bromide and high-dose methylprednisolone. The child was weaned from the ventilator and presented extreme weakness in the upper limbs and total paralysis of the lower limbs. Serum creatine kinase level was normal and electromyography showed myopathic abnormalities. Muscle biopsy showed severe type-1 fiber atrophy and selective loss of myosin thick filaments was seen on electron microscopy. Scattered regenerating fetal myosin-positive fibers were present, mu calpain was absent, while m calpain was diffusely expressed. Physical therapy was immediately started and the child recovered even though corticosteroids were not discontinued. The pathogenesis of acute quadriplegic myopathy is still unknown. We suggest that it could be due to abnormal protein turnover in the muscle. Several independent factors, such as corticosteroid treatment, immobilization, or cytokines, could take part in a cascade of events that leads to an excessive yet selective degradation of proteins involving myosin thick filaments and possibly components of sarcolemma, causing muscle inexcitability.
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PMID:Acute quadriplegic myopathy in a 17-month-old boy. 1064 15

In the diagnosis of autoimmune hepatitis type I (AIH-I), the routine assay of indirect immunofluorescence (IFL), used for the detection of anti-smooth muscle antibodies (ASMAs), has a low predictive value. On the other hand, the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), which detects anti-cytoskeleton antibodies (ACTAs), presents contradictory results concerning their specific antigenic target. In this study, we first looked for the immunological properties (isotypes and antigenic targets) of autoantibodies in AIH-I and two other control liver diseases: primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) and viral hepatitis (VH), using ELISA based on cytoskeleton proteins: F-actin, G-actin, myosin, tropomyosin, troponin, desmin, vimentin, keratin, and an extract of HEp-2 carcinoma cells. We also compared the diagnostic value of IFL and ELISA. In contrast to previous studies, we found that actin was not specific for AIH-I. No autoantigen and no antibody class or subclass discriminated AIH-I from the control diseases. IFL is more suitable for AIH-I diagnosis, as 97% of AIH-I sera but only 22% of PBC sera were ASMA-positive. Additionally, 96% of ASMA-positive, and all ASMA-negative sera from all three liver diseases were ACTA-positive. ASMA were mainly IgG, while >50% of ACTA also contained IgA and IgM. These data suggest that ACTAs recognize additional epitopes as compared to ASMAs, and they frequently occur in all liver diseases.
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PMID:Anti-smooth muscle antibodies (ASMAs) and anti-cytoskeleton antibodies (ACTAs) in liver diseases: a comparison of classical indirect immunofluorescence with ELISA. 1211 92