The unpredictable mutations in the proteins from influenza A virus lead to the great difficulty in prevention of possible outbreak of bird flu and pandemic/epidemic of influenza. This unpredictability is due to the fact that we know little about the causes that lead to the mutations. In three of our recent studies on the hemagglutinins from influenza A virus, we unintentionally noticed the peri...

Serum antibody reactivity to squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) was evaluated in 41 autologous serum-tumor cell line combinations using the protein A hemadsorption assay. Autologous an tibody reactivity (median titer of 1:4) was detected in sera from 24 of the patients tested. In 10 cases autologous antibody reactivity could be detected only in undiluted serum precluding furth...

It has been suggested that the chronic inflammation characteristic of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) represents an immunopathological response to an exo-genous or endogenous constituent present in the joint (see review by Glynn, 1968). Dumonde and Glynn (1962) have speculated that sensitization to a product of inflammation could initiate a self-perpetuating process, and in support of this hypothesis...

H ere we describe a woman with relapsing neuromyelitis optica (NMO) who was seropositive for NMO-IgG and who experienced a relapse of myelitis 4 months after autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (AHSCT) for a lymphoma that developed while receiving azathioprine therapy. Analysis of serum samples obtained at key points in her disease course using 3 different serological techniques ...

The 1918 influenza pandemic caused more than 40 million deaths and likely resulted from the introduction and adaptation of a novel avian-like virus. Influenza A virus hemagglutinins are important in host switching and virulence. Avian-adapted influenza virus hemagglutinins bind sialic acid receptors linked via alpha2-3 glycosidic bonds, while human-adapted hemagglutinins bind alpha2-6 receptors...

The Technicon autoanalyzer system used for the detection of homologous human hemagglutinins has been modified for the detection of hemagglutinins to sheep red blood cells. Antibody quantitation was obtained by plotting the optical density (OD) readings of peak heights of a serially diluted reference serum versus the serum dilutions. When the OD of the peak height of an unknown sample fell withi...

The extracts from 30 species of the green algae were examined for hemagglutination activity with a variety different animal and human erythrocytes which untreated treated enzymes. Almost all showed at least toward one type tested. Strong was detected in 5 Chlorophyta (Anadyomene plicata, Avrainvillea erecta, Boodlea struveoides, Halimeda velasquezii discoidea) enzyme-treated rabbit sheep erythr...

OBJECTIVE There are some controversial studies on effects of anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs) on serum IgG subclasses; however, the role of these medications is still unclear. The aim of this study was evaluation the effects of anti-epileptic drugs on serum concentration of IgG and its subclasses METHODS Serum IgG and IgG subclasses of 61 newly diagnosed epileptic patients were measured at the beg...

The viruses that caused the three influenza pandemics of the twentieth century in 1918, 1957, and 1968 had distinct hemagglutinin receptor binding glycoproteins that had evolved the capacity to recognize human cell receptors. We have determined the structure of the H2 hemagglutinin from the second pandemic, the "Asian Influenza" of 1957. We compare it with the 1918 "Spanish Influenza" hemagglut...