Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0038002 (splenomegaly)
 9,873 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

A consistent modification in B lymphocyte activation has been observed 1 month after infection of C3H/HeJ mice with scrapie. The mitogenic response to lipopolysaccharide of splenocyte cultures from experimental mice was reduced 30 to 60% as compared to controls. This reduction in mitogen responsiveness was transient but coincided with the onset of detectable splenomegaly and with the reported recovery of maximum yield of infectious scrapie agent in the spleen. The DNA synthetic response to lipopolysaccharide stimulation of splenocytes from scrapie-infected C3H/HeJ mice was depressed relative to controls only between 20 and 40 days after intracerebral inoculation. At all other times, experimental and control responses were identical. Scrapie-associated decreases in mitogenesis were found whether the spleen cell cultures contained splenocytes from individual mice, splenocytes pooled from several mice, or gradient-purified mononuclear cells. The responses of C3H/HeJ splenocyte cultures to phytohemagglutinin or concanavalin A stimulation were unaffected by scrapie infection.
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PMID:Suppression of polyclonal B cell activation in scrapie-infected C3H/HeJ mice. 30 27

Spleen weights and mitogen responsiveness of splenocyte cultures from scrapie agent-infected and control-inoculated mice were compared over two-month periods following inoculation. Splenocytes from Swiss, C57B1, and BALB/c mice were stimulated with the T (thymus-derived) cell mitogens phytohemagglutinin or concanavalin A, the B (bone marrow-derived) cell mitogen bacterial lipopolysaccharide, or pokeweed mitogen, a stimulator of both T and B cells. Although significant splenomegaly was associated with scrapie infection, we failed to observe any significant differences in the activation of experimental and control cells. Studies with BALB/c mice suggested the possibility, however, that with both phytohemagglutinin and lipopolysaccharide, specific decreases in lymphocyte activation might occur with more optimal culture conditions. The data are consistent with the idea that the scrapie agent stimulates only subtle immunological changes within the host as it destroys the cells of the central nervous system.
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PMID:Mitogen stimulation of splenocytes from mice infected with scrapie agent. 56 56