Immunologic Studies of Heart Tissue

Abstract

PLATES 1 TO 4(Received for publication, July 20, 1960.)The present work gives evidence by use of fluorescent antibody methods of deposits of bound gamma globulin with characteristic histologic distribution in the auricular appendages of certain patients with rheumatic heart disease. These deposits were not associated with Aschoff lesions; they occurred in spotty distribution throughout the myocardium, involving myofibers, and to a lesser extent, connective tissue and vessel walls. Other proteins, i.e., albumin and fibrinogen, were absent from these foci. Furthermore, the tissue sites demonstrating fixation of gamma globulin frequently exhibited evidences of alteration as indicated by affinity for eosin and intense reactivity with the periodic acidSchiff stain. Bound gamma globulin with associated histochemical change was observed in a significant proportion of rheumatic hearts, but not in normal or pathologic control tissues.In previous studies of rheumatic hearts, Vazquez and Dixon (1) described in fixed tissue sections gamma globulin in altered perivascular connective tissue and in Aschoff lesions. According to the authors, "it was not possible to show a difference between the amount of gamma globulin visualized specifically within the fibrinoid necrosis of the Aschoff bodies and in the immediate

Immunofluorescent Studies in Adult Celiac Disease*

“…Tissue-bound immunoglobulins have been demonstrated in the lesions of diseases thought to be immunological in nature, such as experimental nephritis, experimental serum sickness, the arthus phenomenon, lupus erythematosus, glomerulonephritis, amyloidosis, rheumatic fever, rheumatoid arthritis, and polyarteritis (26)(27)(28)(29)(30). In the jejunal mucosa of patients with adult celiac disease, as well as in controls, immunoglobulins were confined to mononuclear cells of the lamina propria.…”

Association of Mannose-Binding Lectin Gene Polymorphism but Not of Mannose-Binding Serine Protease 2 with Chronic Severe Aortic Regurgitation of Rheumatic Etiology

“…The presence of antibodies and complement elements in heart and valvular tissue of patients with RF (22,23,25) as well as the presence of antiheart antibodies and antimyosin antibodies in the sera of patients with RF (5,39) led to the suggestion that rheumatic carditis could be immune mediated. It has also been shown that cross-reactive human and murine monoclonal antibodies recognized N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) of GAS (30,31).…”

Response of the Sensitized Heart to Oxidized and Reduced Streptolysin O

“…These observations are in accord with the experimental findings made by H a i.b e r t et al [11] and our own evidence |1 ] that the in vitro toxi city of streptolysin O results from damage to the conduction system. The presence of circulating antibodies which have the capacity of reacting with constituents of cardiac tissues has also been shown to be present in the sera of patients with rheumatic fever or rheumatic heart disease [12,13,14,15] and studies from K a p l a n 's laboratories have pointed to the extensive deposition of immunoglobulins and complement in the sarcolemma of cardiac myofibers in acute rheu matic fever [16]. The manner in which this deposition is brought about by an antecedent streptococcal infection is not clear but there is provocative evidence that this may occur through the immuno logical relationship existing between the cell wall of the hemolytic streptococcus and mammalian tissues as established [17,18,19,20,21] by the work from K a p l a n 's laboratory.…”