The relationship between Chlamydophila pneumoniae (Cp) infection and peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAD) was studied by analyzing clinical samples from 95 patients with PAD and 100 controls. The following investigations were conducted: IgG and IgA against lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and against purified Cp-specific antigens from elementary bodies (EB) with ELISA; anti-EB IgG, with MIF; Cp ...

Dilated cardiomyopathies (DCM) are a major cause of mortality in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Immune responses induced by human parvovirus B19 (B19) are considered an important pathogenic mechanism in myocarditis or DCM. However, little is known about Th17-related cytokines in SLE patients with DCM about the linkage with B19 infection. IgM and IgG against B19 viral protein,...

Previous experiments showed that the physiologic IgG anti-F(ab')2 antibody suppresses the response of human autoreactive B cells. In the present study, we analyzed the IgG anti-F(ab')2 antibody in 293 patients with cold agglutination (CA). Their average IgG anti-F(ab')2 titer was not much different (211 +/- 8.3) from that of 279 healthy persons (195 +/- 6.7). However, CA patients with high anti...

We assessed SARS-CoV-2 anti-spike immunoglobulin G (anti-S-IgG) levels among healthcare workers (HCWs) after BNT162b2 vaccination. The anti-S-IgG titers of study participants were measured every three months, a week before, and weeks each This compared the short-term immune response to second vaccination in four HCWs who received first two doses six months apart (due acute allergic-like adverse...

The non-donor-specific anti-HLA-Ia antibodies correlate significantly with lower graft survival in organ transplant patients. Based on our earlier findings that anti-HLA-E murine monoclonal antibodies (MEM-E/02 and 3D12) reacted with different HLA-Ia alleles and the peptides shared by HLA-E and HLA class, Ia alleles inhibited the HLA-Ia reactivity of the anti-HLA-E antibodies in normal non-allo...

OBJECTIVE Anti-agalactosyl IgG antibodies [anti-Gal(0) IgG] have been regarded as a useful serological marker for rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Our aim was to evaluate the clinical usefulness of anti-Gal(0) IgG in the differential diagnosis of rheumatic disorders that mimic RA compared to rheumatoid factors (RF) and anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies (anti-CCP). METHODS Sera were colle...

Advanced glycation end-product (AGE)-damaged IgG occurs as a result of hyperglycemia and/or oxidative stress. Autoantibodies to IgG-AGE were previously demonstrated in patients with severe, longstanding rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We investigated whether IgG-AGE and anti-IgG-AGE antibodies were present early in the course of RA and other inflammatory arthropathies. We prospectively followed a co...

Alkali-extracted erythrocyte ghost membranes from Rho(D)-positive and Rho(D)-negative donors were incubated with human immune anti-Rho(D) IgG and nonimmune IgG. After sensitization with IgG, the integral membrane proteins were solubilized in Brij 36T nonionic detergent and chromatographed by gel filtration. There was a distinct resolution of IgG into free and membrane-complexed forms. The IgG-c...

BACKGROUND Fungal β-(1,3)-glucans are pro-inflammatory agents, and exposures to β-(1,3)-glucans are associated with respiratory tract symptoms. IgG anti-(1,3)-glucan titers are measured in diagnosis of fungal infections. Although other β-glucan structures exist, like β-(1,6)-glucans, little is known about their antigenic or pro-inflammatory properties. We aimed to investigate IgG titers and spe...

BACKGROUND Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a demyelinating condition affecting the central nervous system. Although the cause of this condition is unknown, patients with MS seem to have genetic vulnerability to certain environmental factors such as infection that could trigger this condition. OBJECTIVES We conducted this study to determine whether MS risk increases following primary infection with...