No abstract available.
Arthritis, Rheumatoid/*epidemiology/*immunology ; Autoantibodies/*blood ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Peptides, Cyclic/*immunology

The elastin metabolism in systemic sclerosis (SSc) has been known to be abnormal. The authors investigated relationship between the clinical manifestations of systemic sclerosis (SSc) and serum levels of soluble elastin-derived peptide (S-EDP) and anti-elastin antibodies. Serum samples were obtained from 79 patients with SSc and 79 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Concentrations of serum S-EDP and anti-elastin antibodies were measured by ELISA. The serum concentrations of S-EDP in SSc patients were significantly higher than in healthy controls (median, 144.44 ng/mL vs 79.59 ng/mL, P < 0.001). Serum EDP concentrations were found to be correlated with disease duration in SSc (P = 0.002) and particularly in diffuse cutaneous SSc (P = 0.005). Levels of anti-elastin antibodies were found to be more elevated in SSc patients than in healthy controls (median, 0.222 U vs 0.191 U, P = 0.049), more increased in diffuse cutaneous SSc than limited cutaneous SSc (median, 0.368 U vs 0.204 U, P = 0.031). In addition, levels of anti-elastin antibodies were also found to be negatively associated with presence of anti-centromere antibody (P = 0.023). The S-EDP levels were not found to be correlated with levels of anti-elastin antibodies. The increased S-EDP and anti-elastin antibody levels and association with clinical and laboratory characteristics may reflect the abnormal metabolism in SSc.
Adult ; Antibodies, Anti-Idiotypic/*blood/immunology ; Centromere/immunology ; Elastin/*blood/immunology ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Peptides/*blood/immunology ; Scleroderma, Systemic/*metabolism/pathology

OBJECTIVETo study the objective diagnostic mechanisms on Chinese medical (CM) syndrome patterns of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and to research different titers of rheumatoid factor (RF)/citrullinated protein antibody (CCP) in CM syndrome patterns of RA.

METHODSTotally 230 early RA patients were assigned to five CM syndrome pattern groups, i.e., the dampness-heat blockage group (50 cases), the cold-dampness blockage group (50 cases), the Shen-qi deficiency-cold group (50 cases), the Gan-Shen yin deficiency group (40 cases), and the blood stasis blockage group (40 cases). Another 100 healthy subjects were recruited as the healthy control group. RF-IGM, RF-IGA, RF-IGG, and anti-CCP antibody were detected and compared.

RESULTSThe titers of RF-IGM, RF-IGA, RF-IGG, and anti-CCP antibody were higher in all groups than in the healthy control groups (P < 0.01). As for the 5 groups, RF-IGM, RF-IGA,RF-IGG, and anti-CCP antibody were higher in the RA active stage than in the nonactive stage. They were higher in the dampness-heat blockage group in the RA active stage than in the Shen-qi deficiency-cold group, the Gan-shen yin deficiency group, and the blood stasis blockage group.

CONCLUSIONTiters of RF-IGM, RF-IGA, RF-IGG, and anti-CCP antibody could be taken as judging indicators for differentiating objective lab indices of CM syndromes and assessing the active stage of RA.

Adult ; Aged ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid ; blood ; diagnosis ; immunology ; Autoantibodies ; blood ; Case-Control Studies ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Middle Aged ; Peptides, Cyclic ; immunology ; Rheumatoid Factor ; immunology

OBJECTIVE: To observe the change of serum homocysteine (Hcy) and anti-citrullinated peptide (CCP) antibody concentration in depression rat model induced by chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS), and to explore the immunologic mechanism of depression and the relation between depression and its autoimmunity. METHODS: Sixty adult male SD rats were randomly divided into 2 groups, 30 rats in each group, which were divided into 3 subgroups: a normal control group, a model group and a fluoxetinetreated group. The depression rat model was established under CUMS and seperated feeding, after which, open field, sugar consumption and forced swimming test were applied in the first group. After the blood was taken in the second group of rats through heart puncture, the level of serum Hcy was detected by enzymatic cycling assay and serum anti-CCP antibody by ELISA. RESULTS: Compared with the control group and the fluoxetine treatment group, spontaneous activity and sucrose consumption and preference percentage of the rats in the model group significantly reduced, while the immobility time in forced swimming test and the level of Hcy and anti-CCP antibody in the rat serum significantly increased. CONCLUSION Immunity inflammation and autoimmune reaction exist in CUMS depression model rats, and fluoxetine treatment can improve these immune response.
Animals ; Autoantibodies ; blood ; Depression ; drug therapy ; etiology ; immunology ; Disease Models, Animal ; Fluoxetine ; therapeutic use ; Homocysteine ; blood ; Male ; Peptides, Cyclic ; immunology ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Stress, Physiological ; immunology

It is well accepted that umbilical cord blood has been a source for mesenchymal stem cells. However, there was less success in culturing these cells by using traditional method. Lots of studies showed that CD271 (low affinity nerve growth factor receptor LNGFR) and CD133 could be used to positive sort of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) in recent years. The present study was designed to explore whether the method of positive sorting of umbilical cord blood-derived MSC (UCB-MSC) was effective by using CD271 and CD133 immunomagnetic beads. The ability of forming CFU-F and differentiation capacity of the four kinds of cells, namely CD271+, CD271-, CD133+ and CD133- were analysed. The results indicated that the purities of immunomagnetically selected CD271+ and CD133+ cells were (87.58±0.48)% and (89.89±8.10)% respectively. More than 99% of CD271+ and CD133+ cells expressed CD34 and CD45, the markers of hematopoietic stem cells. CFU-F assay showed that CD271+ and CD133+ cells could not form any CFU-F and only few single fibroblast-like cells could be found in the dishes. However, part of the negative samples (27%) could form CFU-F. Phenotype of cells (passage 3) isolated by the two methods was the same, that was CD34-, CD45-, CD14-, CD29+, CD44+, CD73+, CD105+ and CD90+. They both had osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation potential. It is concluded that nearly all the CD271 and CD133 positive cells are hematopoietic cells, MSC can be effectively collected by negative selection with immunomagnetic beads against CD271 and CD133.
AC133 Antigen ; Antigens, CD ; immunology ; Bone Marrow Cells ; cytology ; immunology ; Cell Differentiation ; Cell Proliferation ; Cell Separation ; methods ; Cells, Cultured ; Fetal Blood ; cytology ; immunology ; Glycoproteins ; immunology ; Humans ; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells ; cytology ; immunology ; Peptides ; immunology ; Receptor, Nerve Growth Factor ; immunology

PURPOSE: We aimed to determine the prevalence of anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP) antibodies in a large group of Korean patients with Behcet's disease (BD), with and without joint involvement, and to compare these findings with the prevalences of anti-CCP antibodies in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We tested 189 patients with BD, 105 with RA, and 36 with SLE for anti-CCP antibodies and IgM rheumatoid factor in serum. We reviewed the medical records of patients with BD to investigate their personal and clinical characteristics as well as their laboratory test results. RESULTS: Anti-CCP antibodies were detected in seven of the 189 BD patients (3.7%), at a mean titer of 30.6+/-44.4 U/mL, in 86 of the 105 RA patients (81.9%) with a mean titer of 198.8+/-205.7 U/mL, and in nine of the 36 SLE patients (25%) with a mean titer of 180.4+/-113.9 U/mL. One of the seven anti-CCP-positive BD patients fulfilled the diagnostic criteria for both BD and RA. Five of the seven anti-CCP-positive BD patients (71.4%) had polyarticular joint involvement, and the other two patients (28.6%) had oligoarticular involvement. CONCLUSION: We determined the prevalence of anti-CCP antibodies in a large group of Korean BD patients with and without joint involvement. Negative anti-CCP test in patients with BD may help to differentiate BD from RA and SLE, all of which present with similar clinical features.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Antibodies/*blood ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid/blood/immunology ; Behcet Syndrome/*blood/immunology ; Child ; Female ; Humans ; Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic/blood/immunology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Peptides, Cyclic/*immunology ; Young Adult

To develop polyclonal antibodies against predicted B cell epitopes in HIV-1 accessory protein Vpr, the prepared consensus Vpr amino acid sequence was used to predict potential B cell epitopes by online softwares (ABCpred and Bcepred), the synthesized polypeptides of B-cell epitopes were subsequently conjugated with keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH) and then used to immunize rabbits. The antibody titers were determined by ELISA, and antibody specifity was analyzed by Western-Blotting and immunoprecipitation, respectively. Amino acid residues 3-19 (N) and 82-95 (C) of Vpr were predicted as the potential B cell epitopes. After inoculation of the conjugation of synthesized peptide to KLH, the antibody titers in rabbit sera against N and C peptides reached more than 1:100000 by ELISA. Western-Blotting analysis showed that the polyclonal antibodies reacted with both wild Vpr and fusion protein of GFP with Vpr, no matter Vpr was derived from HIV-1 B subtype or CRF07_BC recombinant form; Immunoprecipitation analysis showed similar reactions to Western-Blotting results. Two B cell epitopes of Vpr were successfully predicted by Bio-informatics methods and polyclonal antibodies against those peptides could be successfully prepared.
Animals ; Antibodies, Viral ; blood ; immunology ; Cell Line ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; HIV Infections ; blood ; immunology ; virology ; HIV-1 ; genetics ; immunology ; Humans ; Peptides ; genetics ; immunology ; Rabbits ; vpr Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus ; genetics ; immunology

Alzheimer Disease ; immunology ; therapy ; Amyloid beta-Peptides ; antagonists & inhibitors ; immunology ; metabolism ; Animals ; Antibodies, Monoclonal ; therapeutic use ; Blood-Brain Barrier ; Brain ; drug effects ; immunology ; Enzyme Inhibitors ; therapeutic use ; Humans

OBJECTIVETo screen the specific antibody binding peptides of tuberculosis from phage-displayed random phage display (Ph.D.)-7 peptide libraries with purified IgG from tuberculosis serum, and to provide the basis for the development of serological detection reagent of tuberculosis.

METHODSPurified IgG of tuberculosis serum was used as solid ligand to screen the binding peptide from the Ph.D.-7 peptide library, according to the biopanning process of absorption, elution and amplification. Purified IgG of health people serum was used as the molecule of counter selection during the second and third selection. Phages were enriched after 3 rounds of screening, then 20 single phages separately eluted by IgG of tuberculosis and health people were randomly selected on each direction of the determination plates and amplified. The single chains DNA were extracted as template for sequencing. The combination abilities of selected clones to IgG of tuberculosis and health people were tested by indirect enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and the positive clone was identified. Serum samples, from 47 patients with tuberculosis and 37 healthy people vaccinated with BCG, were verified by positive phage clones using phage-ELISA. The verifying results of 24 serum samples used for panning were separately analyzed statistically.

RESULTSAfter 3 rounds of panning, remarkable enrichment of phages that could specifically bind with target molecules were observed. Single phages were randomly selected for sequencing analysis and 12 sequences were obtained. 12 phage clones with different sequences were amplified and detected with indirect ELISA and single phage H12 showed higher affinity with IgG of tuberculosis (S/N ≥ 2.1) and was identified as the positive clone. It was found that, in indirect ELISA with single Phage H12, the A(450) value of tuberculosis patients (0.105 ± 0.010) was significantly higher than that of healthy individuals (0.070 ± 0.005), and the t value was 2.912 (P < 0.0001). The A(450) value of 12 serum samples of tuberculosis patients and 12 samples of health individuals used for panning were 0.144 ± 0.016 and 0.052 ± 0.004, and the t value was 5.69 (P < 0.0001).

CONCLUSIONBy using phage-displayed random peptide libraries, we obtained the specific antibody binding peptides of tuberculosis, which showed specific binding activity with IgG of tuberculosis. It can provide a basis for the establishment of a new serological detection method of tuberculosis with peptide.

Adult ; Case-Control Studies ; Female ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin G ; blood ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Mycobacterium tuberculosis ; immunology ; Peptide Library ; Peptides ; immunology ; Tuberculosis ; diagnosis ; immunology ; microbiology ; Young Adult

BACKGROUNDAlzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by overproduction of beta-amyloid (Abeta), with the subsequent pathologic deposition of Abeta which is important for memory and cognition. Recent studies showed murine models of AD and AD patients inoculated with Abeta(1-42) peptide vaccine had a halted or delayed pathological progression of AD. Unfortunately, the clinical phase IIa trial of Abeta(1-42) peptide vaccine (AN1792) was halted prematurely because of episodes of menigoencephalitis in 18 of the vaccinated patients. The vaccination of BALB/c or Tg2576 transgenic mouse with Abeta(1-15) peptide vaccine is safe and the immune effects are satisfactory. This study further characterizes the specific humoral immune responses in adult rhesus monkeys induced by Abeta(1-15) peptide vaccine.

METHODSFive male adult rhesus monkeys were injected intramuscularly with Abeta(1-15) peptide vaccine at baseline and at weeks 2, 6, 10, 14, 18 and 22. The titers and IgG isotypes of the antibody against Abeta(1-42) in serum was measured by Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). The specificity of the antibody against Abeta(1-42) was determined by Western blot. The Abeta plaques in Tg2576 transgenic mouse brain were stained with the antiserum using immunohistochemistry method.

RESULTSAt the eighth week after the vaccination, antibody against Abeta(1-42) began to develop significantly in serum. The titers of the antibody increased following vaccine boosted and reached 1:3840 at the twenty-fourth week, then decreased after the termination of inoculation. The IgG1 was accounted for the highest level in the antiserum pool. The antibody against Abeta(1-42) showed high specificity. The Abeta plaques in Tg2576 transgenic mouse brain were labeled with the antiserum.

CONCLUSIONAbeta(1-15) vaccine can induce vigorously specific humoral immune responses in adult rhesus monkey.

Amyloid beta-Peptides ; immunology ; Animals ; Antibody Formation ; Antibody Specificity ; Immunoglobulin G ; blood ; Immunoglobulin Isotypes ; blood ; Macaca mulatta ; Male ; Peptide Fragments ; immunology ; Vaccination