[The incidence of influenzal, para-influenzal and adenoviral antigens in keratoconjunctivitis patients during immunization with NIVGRIP vaccine]. / Incidence des antigènes grippal, paragrippal et adénoviral chez des sujets à kérato-conjonctivite durant l'immunisation avec du vaccin NIVGRIP.

Repeated intranasal administrations of NIVGRIP, influenza inactivated vaccine, to patients with chronic recurrent keratoconjunctivitis, led to a significant reduction of respiratory virus incidence, as revealed by the immunofluorescence test in the conjunctive epithelial cells. The effect is probably due to endogenous interferon stimulation by the vaccine, at the nasopharyngeal level.

Associated respiratory and herpes virus infections in patients with acute keratitis.

Viral antigens were detected by immunofluorescence in exfoliated conjunctival cells from 100 out of 110 keratitis patients investigated. The overall prevalence of respiratory virus antigens (parainfluenza, influenza, adenovirus) was twice as high as that of herpes antigens. The ratio between respiratory and herpes virus antigens was of 4:1 in the patients with acute respiratory syndromes in the past history, as against 2:1 in those who had had no respiratory illness.

Rapid detection by immunofluorescence of multiple viral infections in patients with keratitis.

The presence of 12 viral (herpes 1 and 2, influenza A(H1N1), A(H3N2) and B, parainfluenza 1, 2, 3, adenovirus 5) and inframicrobial (Chlamydia, mycoplasma, Rickettsia burneti) antigens was investigated by direct or indirect immunofluorescence (IF) reactions in exfoliated conjunctival cells from 110 patients with nonbacterial keratitis and keratoconjunctivitis. A rapid etiological diagnosis could be obtained in 101 (92%) of the cases, parainfluenza and herpes antigens being the most frequently detected. In most of the cases the simultaneous presence of several antigens was made evident. Encouraging results were obtained by the application of a specific treatment based on the diagnosis provided by the IF reaction.

Multiple viral and inframicrobial infections detected by immunofluorescence reaction in exfoliated cells from patients with eye or respiratory diseases.

The presence of viral (herpes 1 and 2, influenza A and B, parainfluenza 1, 2, and 3, adenovirus) and inframicrobial (Chlamydia, R. burneti and mycoplasma) antigens was investigated by indirect immunofluorescence reaction in exfoliated cells from 107 patients with chronic eye diseases and 77 patients with chronic respiratory diseases. Single or associated viral or inframicrobial antigens were detected in 80% of the former and in 60% of the latter patients. The proportion of multiple infections was of about 60% in both patient groups.

Results of an etiological therapy applied to patients with different localizations of herpes infection detected by immunofluorescence reaction.

An indirect immunofluorescence reaction was used for cytovirological diagnosis in 110 patients with different herpes-like clinical manifestations. The presence of herpes antigens type 1 and 2 was made evident in the exfoliated cells from 77% of the cases with recurrent herpes, in 68% of those with cutaneous and/or oral herpes, in 64% of the cases with keratoconjunctivitis and in 37.5% of the women with different genital diseases. Administration of specific antiherpes immunoglobulins and of the chemotherapeutic drug Flumidin to cases with positive immunofluorescence reactions led to improvement of the symptoms and even to clinical recovery.

Investigations on the presence of viral and chlamydial antigens in cells exfoliated in the vagina of women with common and malignant gynecopathies.

A high proportion of parainfluenza, herpes, adenovirus and chlamydial antigens (10.7-36%) was detected by indirect immunofluorescence in cells exfoliated in the vagina of women with genital neoplasia and with uterine cervix ectopia and dysplasia. Much lower proportions of the same antigens were found in patients with common gynecopathies or recurrent genital herpes and in pregnant women. The possible relationships between chronic virus infections and genital neoplasia in women are discussed.

Experimental investigations in hamsters and rabbits with DNA extracted from human uterine tumors.

Experimental inoculation of a DNA preparation extracted from a fragment of non-irradiated human uterine cervix carcinoma was followed by the appearance of neoplasia in four hamsters and of lymphosarcoma in one rabbit. Similar DNA preparations obtained from three cases of irradiated human uterine cervix carcinoma and from a human uterine fibroma proved to have no biological activity.

Prevalence of mycoplasma in the genital tract of pregnant women. Preliminary data.

The prevalence of Myoplasma hominis and "T" strains was investigated in 175 pregnant women in the 12th--40th week of pregnancy. It was possible to isolate the "T" strain from 30.3%, M. hominis from 11.4% and both strains from 9.7% of the women.

Serum antibodies to some oncogenic viruses in the child.

The presence of complement fixing antibodies to four viruses with oncogenic potential for animals was studied in children (including neonates and infants). Antibodies to herpes, adenovirus and avian "gs" sarcoma-leukosis antigens were detected, but there were no antibodies to SV-40. Positivity percentages varied with age and with the antigen used. Possible explanations of the appearance of these antibodies in the child are provided.

Immunofluorescence study of the presence of herpes type 1 and type 2 antigens in patients with cancer of the uterine cervix.

The presence of herpes simplex virus (HSV) antigens was tested by direct immunofluorescence in 24 cases of cervical carcinoma and in 1 case of uterine leiomyosarcoma, in comparison with 34 uterine fibroma preparations that served as controls. HSV antigens type 1 and type 2 were detected in 8 cervical carcinoma cases and in the patient with uterine leiomyosarcoma.

Incidence of viral antibodies in patients with various forms of cancer.

The results of over 13,500 serological reactions performed in about 3,400 human sera collected from patients with various forms of cancer and from apparently healthy subjects have shown that the humoral immune reactivity of cancer patients as regards their viral antibody response is similar to that of apparently healthy subjects (blood donors or workers exposed to the risk of occupational contact with animal tumor viruses). The authors also remark the presence in the population of antibodies to some viruses with oncogenic potential proved so far only for mammals (adenovirus, SV-40, RSV) or to ubiquitous viruses (e.g. herpes virus) whose transforming activity has been demonstrated for several cell types in vitro and is suspected for some human tumors in vivo.

The presence of complement fixing antibodies to the avian group-specific ("gs") sarcoma-leukosis antigen in the human population and in cancer patients.

Antibodies to the avian group-specific "gs" sarcoma-leukosis antigen were made evident by complement fixation reaction in human sera collected from apparently healthy subjects and from patients with different forms of cancer and non-neoplastic diseases. The number of sera investigated was of 2,123. The possible mechanisms that might account for this paraimmune response of the human organism and the prospects of developing prophylactic steps against cancer are discussed.

Investigations on the incidence of complement fixing antibodies to the avian group-specific ("gs") sarcoma-leukosis antigen in fowl farm workers.

The presence of complement fixing antibodies to the avian "gs" sarcoma-leukosis antigen is reported in the personnel of five different fowl farms. Seroconversion was observed in the workers from one of the farms, where the initial antibody incidence was very low.

Data concerning the action of specific antiherpes immunoglobulins on the evolution of some nasopharyngeal and larynegeal neoplasms.

The administration of specific antiherpes immunoglobulins (Ig) to 9 patients with nasopharyngeal and laryngeal neoplasms resulted in the regression of metastatic lymph nodes, the absence of other metastatic localizations and the survival--in a good general state--of all the patients treated, for 23-29 months. Most of the patients received no other treatment during this time interval. In a control group consisting of 11 patients with the same forms of cancer, but who received no Ig, 4 fatal outcomes were recorded and all patients required re-hospitalization and application of other treatments. The method suggested may represent an efficient adjuvant therapy in some nasopharyngeal and laryngeal neoplasms.

Study of chromosomal alterations in bovine leukosis.

The results of a cytogenetic study of the "CT 384" cell line obtained from bovine leukemic lymph nodes are presented. Multiple chromosomal alterations were found in the 265 metaphases examined: numeric anomalies (aneuploidy and polyploidy), morphologic aberrations (dicentric, annular, giant, filamentous chromosomes) and chromosomal lesions (arm breaks).

Studies on the presence of viral antibodies in patients with various forms of malignant neoplasia.

The study of viral antibodies in 6714 sera demonstrated that the level of antibodies to infectious viruses was the same in cancer patients as in controls. However, the patients with various forms of neoplasia showed a considerable percentage and high antibody levels to viruses with oncogenic potential for animals (adenovirus, SV40, Rous virus) or involved in human carcinogenesis (herpes virus).