Homogenates of bovine iris were fractionated by gel filtration chromatography, and the column-eluted proteins were probed with pooled sera obtained from patients with pauciarticular juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA). The serum pool prepared from patients with pauciarticular JRA and a history of anterior uveitis, but not from those without the eye disease, contained IgG antibodies which bound a low molecular weight iris antigen (LMW-IA) as measured by a modified ELISA. LMW-IA was protease-sensitive and contained at least four proteins of approximate molecular weights of 16, 13, 9 and 6.5 kD with no uronic acid or carbohydrate. Analysis of individual patient sera for IgG anti-LMW-IA antibody demonstrated that 1/20 (5%) pediatric non-rheumatic disease controls (NRDC), 1/19 (5.3%) non-uveitic pauciarticular JRA patients and 6/21 (28.6%) uveitic pauciarticular JRA patients were positive by ELISA. Levels of anti-LMW-IA antibody did not correlate with serum IgG concentration, the presence of IgG antibody to soluble retinal S antigen (S antigen) or reactivity to the low molecular weight fraction of bovine choroid (LMW-C). Ten of 21 (47.6%) children with pauciarticular JRA and uveitis had serum antibody that reacted with LMW-IA and/or retinal S antigen as compared to 1/20 (5%) NRDC patients and 3/19 (15.8%) patients with pauciarticular JRA uncomplicated by uveitis. Analysis of patient immunoreactivity to proteins of the anterior uveal tract may provide a greater understanding of pathogenic features related to arthritis-associated eye disease.
Late last year the Family and Parenting Institute, a charity which I chair, commissioned a poll to examine what impact the current focus in the print and broadcast media on parenting was having on parents. It was a subject staff and trustees of the charity had been discussing for some time -the inevitable consequence of an explosion of reality TV programmes such as Supernanny, The House of Tiny Tearaways, Brat Camp and Honey We're Killing the Kids, and the print coverage that followed in their wake.The results of the survey were fairly clear cut. Television programmes about parenting have a huge reach. Most parents of children under 16 have watched at least one such programme, and more than three-quarters said they discovered a "parenting" technique that was helpful to them as a result. The poll also showed a noticeable decline in the number of parents who felt that smacking was the best way to teach their children right from wrong. The consequent media coverage of the survey was anything but straightforward, however. Was the Institute ticking off the broadcasters? Were we taking parents to task for not being good enough or daring to ask for help? Were we daring to criticise the "naughty step", a vital accessory in Supernanny Jo Frost's armoury, which is now on sale to parents for less than £20 online? Worst of all, were we suggesting that parents shouldn't be allowed to smack their children?For me personally, the saga ended with an almost surreal exchange on the Today programme, during which it transpired that presenter Jim Naughtie had never heard of the naughty step (so much for the dumbed-down BBC), while a fellow contributor, an experienced practitioner in the parenting field, attempted to explain to the nation over breakfast that there was no such ©Fiona Millar;
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