Cell-mediated Immunity Of Patients Research Articles

Prediction of Conserved Peptides of Paracoccidioides for Interferon-γ Release Assay: The First Step in the Development of a Lab-Based Approach for Immunological Assessment during Antifungal Therapy.

Impaired antigen-specific cell-mediated immunity (CMI) is a primary immunological disturbance observed in individuals that develop paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM) after exposure to Paracoccidioides spp. Restoration of Paracoccidioides-specific CMI is crucial to stop the antifungal treatment and avoid relapses. A convenient and specific laboratory tool to assess antigen specific CMI is required for the appropriate clinical treatment of fungal infections, in order to decrease the time of antifungal therapy. We used an interferon-γ release assay strategy, used in the diagnosis of latent tuberculosis infection, to address our aims in this study. Information on proteins secreted by two well-studied representative strains—Paracoccidioides brasiliensis (Pb18) and P. lutzii (Pb-01)—were explored using PubMed or MEDLINE. From 26 publications, 252 proteins were identified, of which 203 were similar according to the Basic Local Alignment Search Tool. This enabled a selection of conserved peptides using the MEGA software. The SignalP-5.0, TMHMM, IEDB, NetMHC II, and IFNepitope algorithms were used to identify appropriate epitopes. In our study, we predicted antigenic epitopes of Paracoccidioides that could bind to MHC class II and induce IFN-γ secretion. These T cell epitopes can be used in the development of a laboratory tool to monitor the CMI of patients with PCM.

Clinical Study on treatment of mid-late stage gastric carcinoma by compound Xiansu capsule ("Equation missing" ) combined with chemotherapy) combined with chemotherapy

Objective: To assess the effect and mechanism of compound Xiansu capsule ( ), (XSC) combined with chemotherapy in treating gastric carcinoma of mid-late stage.Methods: Sixty-one patients of the test group were treated by XSC combined with chemotherapy and 30 patients of the control group treated with chemotherapy alone. The effect of treatment and cell mediated immunity of patients were observed.Results: The effective rate of the test group and the control group was 32.8% and 13.3% respectively (P < 0.05), the toxic reaction occurrence caused by chemotherapy was less in the former than that in the latter group (P < 0.01). The CD8 level of patients in the test group decreased, and CD4/CD8 level was raised obviously, which suggested that XSC had immuno-regulating effect on T-cell.Conclusion: XSC could enhance the efficacy and reduce the toxic and side-effect of chemotherapy. To regulate the cell mediated immunity of patients is possibly its mechanism.

Cell-mediated immunity of patients who have had basal cell carcinomas.

The cell-mediated immunity of patients who had basal cell carcinomas (BCCs) removed was studied by measuring cuntaneous delayed hypersensitivity reactions to recall antigens (Multitest CMI, Pasteur-Merieux), and by measuring lymphocyte counts and subsets. One group of patients had multiple BCCs (3 or more) removed and were considered to have a high risk of new BCC formation. The other group consisted of patients who had one BCC and had not developed another within 5 years; these were considered to have a low risk of new BCC formation. The low-risk patients had significantly larger cutaneous reactions to recall antigens (p < 0.05) and significantly fewer were anergic (p < 0.01). There was a correlation between smaller cutaneous reactions and increasing numbers of BCCs (p < 0.05). There was no significant difference between the groups in lymphocyte counts or subsets, but the low-risk patients had a significantly higher CD4:CD8 ratio (p < 0.05) than the high-risk group. The Multitest CMI test can be used to determine which patients are at risk of developing many BCCs.

Immunological Disorder against the Epstein-Barr Virus Infection and Prognosis in Patients with Cervical Carcinoma

Epstein-Barr virus antigen-specific killer T cell (EBV-KT) activity and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) shedding at uterine cervix and oropharynx were examined in patients with cervical carcinoma. EBV-KT activity was determined by a modified EBV-induced B cell focus regression assay. EBV shedding was examined by infectivity assay. EBV-KT activity in the patients was decreased significantly compared with that of controls (P < 0.001) and became increasingly lower as the clinical stage of the disease advanced. EBV-KT activity was changed by treatment, and decreased EBV-KT activity after treatment was clearly related to patient survival. EBV shedding at oropharynx and uterine cervix were also higher in the patients than in the controls (P < 0.01 and < 0.05). These results suggest that EBV-KT activity is closely associated with the prognosis in patients with cervical carcinoma and that it may be a useful parameter in monitoring the cell-mediated immunity of patients with cervical carcinoma.

The Postoperative Influence of Splenectomy on Non-specific Cell Mediated Immunity of Patients that Underwent Operation for Gastric Cancer

The Postoperative Influence of Splenectomy on Non-specific Cell Mediated Immunity of Patients that Underwent Operation for Gastric Cancer

Immunotherapy for malignant gliomas (author's transl)

Recently the authors investigated the therapeutic effects of specific and non-specific immunotherapies used as adjuvant therapy to surgical resection of malignant gliomas followed by 60Co radiation therapy, and obtained some results suggesting the effectiveness of these therapies. For the purpose of non-specific activation of cell-mediated immunity, the authors administered an immunopotentiator, OK-432, intramuscularly to 13 patients with intracerebral gliomas over a long period. Cell-mediated immunity of these patients before and during immunotherapy was investigated by means of various tests including delayed cutaneous hypersensitivity reactions against PPD and PHA, and lymphocyte and T-cell counts in the peripheral blood. The following methods of specific immunotherapy were used in nine patients with malignant gliomas. Resection of the tumor was first carried out and a link between the space left after the tumor resection and the lateral ventricle of the lesioned side was produced provided that no malfunction would result from this procedure. An appropriate amount of autologous lymphocytes separated from the peripheral blood of the patient was repeatedly infused through a catheter inserted into the space left after the tumor resection, either before or after 60Co irradiation therapy. When a recurrence of the glioma was found, resection of the recurrent tumor was again performed and a histopathological investigation of the tissue was carried out. The average survival period of the nine patients who received the afore-mentioned specific immunotherapy was statistically compared by the Wilcoxson test with that of twelve control patients with glioblastomas who underwent only tumor resection followed by radiation therapy. Cell-mediated immunity of patients with gliomas tended to be reinforced by non-specific immunotherapy. Successive CT scannings of the head performed on patients who received specific immunotherapy revealed that the space left after the tumor resection appeared to be a low density area poorly demarcated from the surrounding brain tissue. With the lapse of time, the low density area became clearly demarcated and remained as it was, even though a tumor recurred in the surrounding brain. Histological observation revealed that the brain tissue adjacent to a space filled with CSF was covered with a thick fibrous membrane with abundant newly developed capillaries or sinusoid-like vessels. Recurrent tumors tended to be located beneath the membrane. Numerous foci of necrosis were actually observed in association with abundant lymphocyte infiltration, suggesting that there is a possibility of immunologically competent cells wandering into the tumor tissue through the newly developed vessels. The average survival periods of patients with and without specific immunotherapy were 23 months and 10.3 months respectively. There was a statistically significant difference in the survival periods between the two groups (P<0.05).