Background: Toxoplasmosis is a zoonotic disease with high seroprevalence worldwide. Several immunological methods have been described for diagnosis of toxoplasmosis. Objective: To determine the parasitemia period in patients infected with toxoplasma using PCR and comparing serological data with molecular results. Methods: 154 serum samples from patients with toxoplasmosis were examined. Presenc...

The diagnosis of congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is often accomplished by the detection of circulating antibody directed against CMV. We devised a method for measuring CMV-specific immunoglobulin M (IgM) based on the isolation of IgM antibody by reaction with a solid phase coated with antihuman IgM. The determination of IgM antibody specific for CMV was accomplished by the subsequent...

Two functional polymeric forms of IgM can be produced by antibody-secreting B cells. Hexameric IgM lacks detectable J (joining) chain and activates complement 17-fold better than pentameric IgM, which usually contains one J chain per pentamer. Using the inducible B-cell lymphoma CH12, we determined if the synthesis of a particular polymeric form of IgM is a fixed property of B cells or can be a...

INTRODUCTION The aim of this study was to investigate the kinetics of immunoglobulin M (IgM) during the different stages of sepsis. METHODS In this prospective multicenter study, blood sampling for IgM measurement was done within the first 24 hours from diagnosis in 332 critically ill patients; in 83 patients this was repeated upon progression to more severe stages. Among these 83 patients, 3...

We covalently linked to regenerated cellulose filters a high-affinity monoclonal IgM produced against epitopes that reside on hepatitis B viral surface antigen (HBsAg). Conditions were established whereby as much as 250 micrograms of anti-HBsAg IgM could be linked to 2-4 mg of regenerated cellulose acetate by using cyanogen bromide and trichloro-s-triazine coupling agents. The immunoreactivity ...

The recent finding of somatically mutated mu heavy chain transcripts in human peripheral blood (PB) B lymphocytes suggests that T-dependent B-cell memory might not be restricted to class-switched cells. We provide here evidence that IgM-only PB B cells are likely to be the IgM-expressing counterpart of classical (IgM- IgD-) memory B cells in humans. As shown by molecular single cell analysis, m...

Natural IgM is constitutively present in the serum, where it aids in the early control of viral and bacterial expansions. Natural IgM also plays a significant role in the prevention of autoimmune disease by promoting the clearance of cellular debris. Nevertheless, the origins of natural IgM have not been precisely defined. Previous studies focused on the role of CD5(+) B1 cells in the productio...

Natural polyreactive IgM autoantibodies, encoded by unmutated germline Ig V genes, represent a major fraction of the normal circulating IgM repertoire. We have previously shown that therapeutic preparation of pooled IgM exerts immunomodulatory effects as assessed by in vitro and in vivo studies. Here, we show that the IgM preparation induces cell death in lymphoblastoid cell lines and in human ...

PURPOSE To verify the reliability of the new criteria for the diagnosis of IgM gammopathies recently proposed by an international panel of experts (Athens, 2002). EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN A retrospective series of 698 patients with IgM gammopathy was reviewed paying attention to symptoms, serum IgM concentration, bone marrow infiltration, blood cell count and clinical course. Four clinical entitie...

Anti-ganglioside complexes (GSCs) IgG antibodies have been reported in patients with Guillain-Barré (GBS) or Fisher syndrome but little is known on their presence in multifocal motor neuropathy (MMN) or other chronic immune-mediated neuropathies. We examined 24 patients with MMN, 34 with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP), 23 with neuropathy associated with IgM mon...