ISSN:
1365-3083
Source:
Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005
Topics:
Medicine
Notes:
Changes in the concentration and composition of serum immunoglobulin A (IgA) and deposits of IgA in tissues are well-known characteristics of alcoholic liver disease. We invesitigate whether these changes also accompany IgA synthesis by peripheral bloos mononuclear cells, (MNC), by counting immunoglobuliln-producing cells using a solid-phase enzymatic ‘spot’ test, and by analysis of immunoglobulin content in lysed cells with culture supernatant using conventional enzymatic methods. Patients with alcoholic liver disease exhibited a significantly higher number of spontaneously IgA-producing cells than did normal healthy controls (1.7 × 106 cells/1 blood and 0.5 × 106 cells/1 blood, respectivly, P〈0.01). The IgA content of MNC directly after isolation was also higher (38 and 13 ng/106 MNC, respectively, P〈0.01), as was the IgA production during an unstimulated 6-day culture period (520 and 95 ng/106 MNC put into culture, respectively, P〈0.001).The spontaneously IgA-producing cells assessed directly after isolation of mononuclear cells correlated with the IgA production during an unstimulated culture (P〈0.01). We conclude that in alcoholic liver disease, B Iymphocytes circulate which may have been activated in vivio.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3083.1987.tb01062.x
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