Neuropathies associated with monoclonal gammopathy (MG) in humans have been extensively studied in the past few years, but experimental models have proved difficult to create. C57BL mice are prone to develop benign MG and it has been reported that some of these mice with benign IgG MG present an inflammatory demyelinating neuropathy (IDN). In order to verify such findings, the serum and the sciatic nerve of the first group of 28 C57BL/KaLwRij mice were examined: none of 10 mice with normal serum showed ultrastructural abnormalities in the sciatic nerve, while lesions of IDN were present in three out of 10 mice with benign IgG MD, in two out of seven with benign IgM MG, and in a mouse with Waldenström–like lymphoma. The second group of animals was studied in the same way; it was composed of seven C57BL mice with transplanted multiple myeloma, and six C57BL mice with Morbus Waldenstrom–like lymphoma. In none of these animals, which were younger than those of the first group, was any lesion of IDN observed.
Abstract In this study we examined the effects of acute graft-vs-host disease (aGVHD) on the Brown Norway (BN) rat liver. When clinical signs of the disease appeared, rats were inoculated with fluorescent latex beads and 30 min later nonparenchymal cells were isolated from the liver. The cells were then analyzed via flow cytometry, histochemistry, and electron microscopy. Flow cytometry demonstrated that 58% of the cells from the 80 ml/min elutriation fraction (normally rich in Kupffer cells) of the non-GVHD liver had high fluorescence intensity compared to 8% in rats with aGVHD. Determination of the cellular composition of the various fractions with electron microscopy confirmed flow cytometry observations in that only 9% of the 80 ml/min elutriation fraction of GVHD livers had peroxidase-positive rough ER and the morphological appearance of macrophages as compared to 60% in the non-GVHD liver. The low percentage of fluorescent-positive Kupffer cells in the 80 ml/min elutriation fraction of the GVHD liver is attributed to a massive lymphocytic invasion of the liver and not necessarily to a defect in the mononuclear phagocyte system.
