[HLA class I antibody screening and typing in the sera of dialyzed patients with CDC and ELISA techniques: association with graft survival]. / HLA I. osztályú antitestek szûrése és azonosítása dializált vesebetegek szérumában CDC és ELISA technikával. Kapcsolat a graft túléléssel.

AIM: As generally accepted, HLA antibody screening and typing in dialyzed kidney patients are important for the successful outcome of transplantation. METHOD: Authors investigated the serum samples of 133 patients from the north-eastern region of Hungary for HLA class I antibodies with complement dependent cytotoxicity(CDC) and solid phase enzyme linked immunosorbent (ELISA) techniques (Biotest Abscreen and Abident class I), respectively. RESULTS: The comparison of the results revealed a strong correlation (c2=7,23, p < 0,01) for antibody screening. However, the two methods detect two slightly different antibody populations. The deviation is mainly to be attributed to the higher sensitivity of ELISA, which resulted in antibody positivity of some CDC negative sera (25/106-23,6%), despite the fact that ELISA detects IgG alone. The authors investigated 56 patients, who had already undergone transplantation but got back on the waiting list later and found that average graft survival was shorter in the group of patients with antibody, regardless to the method applied. However, the difference in graft survival proved to be more significant if the patients were assorted to groups by ELISA rather than CDC positivity (ELISA: 58,4 vs 111,2 months - p < 0,001, CDC:50,5 vs 75,6 months - p > 0,05, n.s.). CONCLUSION: This observation suggests that the clinical relevance of antibodies detected by ELISA alone -- due to its higher sensitivity -- are not to be ignored. In this context authors emphasize the HLA class I antibody screening and typing in the post-transplantation period.

Characterization of microarray gene expression profiles of early stage thyroid tumours.

BACKGROUND: Microarray analysis offers the opportunity of screening transcriptional expression profile of neoplastic cells on a genomic level. Defining consistent changes in gene expression pattern of tumours enables the detection of genes essential for tumorigenesis and might provide biomarkers to early recognition of malignant behaviour and new therapeutical targets. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A high-density oligonucleotide array with 20,000 human gene-specific oligonucleotide was used to analyze benign and early-stage malignant thyroid tumours of epithelial origin: follicular adenoma, follicular carcinoma and papillary carcinoma, compared to normal thyroid tissue. RESULTS: Significant expression differences of 279 genes -- underexpression of 252 and overexpression of 27 genes -- were found. The overlapping genes of the different histological types were examined extensively. Among these genes a limited set acting on the same transcriptional pathway, through NF-kappaB, were found. CONCLUSION: The role of overlapping genes in histologically different tumours has not been clarified, but might represent early or pivotal steps of carcinogenesis. All investigated histiotypes of tumours contained significantly modulated genes acting on the NF-kappaB regulatory pathway. Our findings suggest that modulation of NF-kappaB signalling plays a crucial role in early thyroid carcinogenesis.

Well differentiated thyroid carcinoma is associated with human lymphocyte antigen D-related 11 in Eastern Hungarians: a case of changing circumstances.

BACKGROUND: Using serologic human lymphocyte antigen (HLA) typing, the authors previously described a strong association between well differentiated thyroid carcinoma and HLA D-related 1 (HLA-DR1) in a population of unselected patients from Eastern Hungary. METHODS: In the current study, the authors used polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformational polymorphism to determine the HLA-DR type in 75 patients with well differentiated thyroid carcinoma from the same area as their previous population, and they compared the current results with the results from a group of 170 healthy controls. RESULTS: A significant increase in HLA-DR11, rather than HLA-DR1, was observed in patients with well differentiated thyroid carcinoma among a population of patients from the same area that was studied previously. After excluding technical reasons to account for differences in disease association, they postulated that interim environmental factors, possibly radiation fall-out, may have resulted in differences in genetic susceptibility to thyroid carcinoma. Consideration of the potential antigenic peptides that may be restricted by the two HLA-DR alleles may have allowed for the binding of similar peptides to initiate an immune response, likely leading to progressive immunomodulation of the tumor. Discriminat function analysis indicated a significant relation between tumor size and metastases and less lymphocytic infiltration of the tumor, but this was not related to HLA-DR phenotypes. CONCLUSIONS: The authors found that the study of major histocompatability complex alleles holds promise for understanding the events that initiate and maintain tumor immunomodulation.

Oncogene amplification and overexpression of oncoproteins in thyroid papillary cancer.

BACKGROUND: Several oncogene aberrations have been found in papillary thyroid cancer, the incidence of which has increased after the accident in Chernoby. The occurrence and prognostic significance of these aberrations may have importance in therapeutic strategies. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Tumour tissues from 24 patients were investigated by Dot-blot DNA hybridisation for c-myc, Ha-ras amplification and p53 deletion, and by immunohistochemical method for cyclin D1, p53 and p21 overexpression. RESULTS: Overexpression of p53 protein was detected in 66.6%, with p21 expression (25%) without any influence on tumour phenotype. Cyclin D1 overexpression was found in 50% to be associated with p21, in inverse relation to Iymphocytic infiltration. Overexpression of estrogen receptor was shown in 4 cyclin D1-positive samples (17%). CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that cyclin D1 overexpression is associated with poor prognosis. The co-expression of cyclin D1 and p21 causes a CDK-independent, estrogen receptor-mediated effect of the cyclin D1 also described in breast cancer.

Car drivers with epilepsy (Pilot Hungarian EPIMED Database Evaluation).

We investigated aspects of driving among Hungarian patients with epilepsy. Nineteen percent (148/753) of our population had a driving license (DL), including 26% (38/148) who used it. Among persons without a DL, 29% (178/605) desired one. Among those who drove (n=38), 24 worked and 8 had experienced seizures in the last 3 months. Each of these seizures occurred during sleep (5/8), were preceded by known auras and warning signs (2/8) or were provoked by extreme external factors (1/8).

Accumulation of Hg(II) Ions in Mouse Adrenal Gland.

Female BALBc mice were administered HgCl2 at a single dose of 4 mg/kg i.p. The acute intoxication with Hg(II) salts (2 hr) caused accumulation of Hg(II) ions in the adrenal gland in general, and in the medulla, in particular. Based on data obtained with atomic absorption spectroscopy and quantitative cytochemistry, we determined the amount of mercury (II) in the adrenal glands and found it to be 14.2 ng Hg(II) (3.5 mg/kg wet weight of the adrenals). An uneven distribution of Hg(II) was found within the adrenal gland, not only between the medulla and cortex, but also within the cortex. The applied autometallographic method revealed that the cortex was negative except the zona glomerulosa, whereas the medulla showed a strong reaction localised to the chromaffin granules of the secretory cells. Both adrenaline and noradrenaline producing cells reacted. The comparison of the density of silver grains by scanning densitometry in the medulla and cortex revealed a significantly higher Hg(II) concentration in the medulla compared to the cortex (10 mg/kg vs 2 mg/kg, respectively). The results presented here suggest that there may be a connection between the symptoms of acute Hg(II) intoxication and its adrenal accumulation.