Owl monkeys were inoculated intracerebrally, subcutaneously, and intravenously with JC, BK, or SV40 virus. Two of four adult owl monkeys inoculated with JC virus, a human polyomavirus, developed brain tumors at 16 and 25 months after inoculation, respectively. A grade 3 to grade 4 astrocytoma (resembling a human glioblastoma multiforme) was found in the left cerebral hemisphere and brainstem of one monkey. The second monkey developed a malignant tumor in the left cerebral hemisphere containing both glial and neuronal cell types. Impression smears prepared from unfixed tissue of this tumor showed cells that contained polyomavirus T antigen. Virion antigens were not detected. Tumor cells cultured in vitro also contained T antigen but were negative for virion antigen. Infectious virus was not isolated from extracts of this tumor.
Summary A rapid (5 min) latex method for determining serum IgM levels was developed and set to detect levels of approximately ≥20 mg%. The method was accurate with sera from adults, serially diluted adult specimens, and sera from children with congenital infections. When used in a study of 500 cord serum specimens in a random sample of patients, the latex and gel methods were in good agreement. There were, however, 25 instances in which conflicting results were obtained. The variability inherent in both methods was sufficient to account for these differences. The full latex method clearly distinguished levels of 10 mg% and 30 mg% IgM and became positive between 15 and 30 mg%. The same degree of variation was found with the gel method. The variability of both methods must be considered in clinical applications.
Genital infection with herpesvirus hominis type 2 was established in ten female cebus monkeys. Clinical and laboratory findings in the cebus mimic closely those observed in humans, thus providing an experimental model which may be used in the study of the possible role of genital herpetic infection in cervical cancer and in perinatal and chronic neurological diseases.
A microindirect hemagglutination test (IHA) for the determination of type-specific antibody to Herpesvirus homin-is (Types I and II) was developed and evaluated in comparison to the quantitative microneutralization procedure. Paired human sera from 14 patients with complement-fixing antibody rises to herpesvirus were tested with all three methods. The IHA test, as described, appears to be rapid, simple and valuable technique for a detection of Type I and Type II herpesvirus infections and may be useful for classifying herpesvirus isolates.
Electron microscopic examination of lymph nodes from “normal” subjects and diseased patients revealed the presence of Birbeck granules in histiocytes in 8 of 12 patients with subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE), 1 of 6 patients with other diseases, and 1 of 4 “normal” subjects. The one apparently “normal” subject who had Birbeck granules was the sibling twin of a patient with subacute sclerosing panencephalitis. The significance of Birbeck granules is not fully known, and the possible relationship to SSPE is speculative at this time. The data are interpreted as supporting the concept of Prunieras28 that Birbeck granules may play an important role in the primary response to antigenic substances.
Abstract Healthy homosexual men between the ages of 21 and 65 years, from the Washington, DC (n = 162), and New York City (n = 89) areas, were studied for antibodies in the serum against cytomegalovirus (CMV), herpes simplex virus (HSV) types 1 and 2, and Epstein Barr virus (EBV) viral capsid antigen (VCA). CMV‐specific antibodies were assayed by enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), anti‐HSV‐1 and ‐2 antibodies were measured by indirect hemagglutination (IHA), and antibodies to EBV VCA were measured by the immunofluorescence assay. Antibodies to human T lymphotrophic virus III (HTLV‐III) were detected by ELISA and Western blot procedures. T lymphocytes were enumerated using OKT4 monoclonal antibody. Healthy male volunteer blood donors (n = 90) matched for age range and race proportions were used as controls. The percentage of seropositive individuals in the homosexual group was higher (90–98 %) for all the viruses tested than in the control group (47–87%). Comparisons of the geometric mean titers, expressed as reciprocal serum dilutions, of seropositive individuals in homosexual (H) vs control (C) group were as follows: CMV‐IgG (ELISA) H = 1:794, C = 1:68; HSV‐1 (IHA) H = 1: 248, C = 1:14; HSV‐2 (IHA) H = 1:56, C = 1:17; EBV‐VCA (IFA) H = 1:385, C = 1:131. The homosexual group also showed a higher frequency of individuals with elevated titers than the control group. The CMV IgM antibody was prevalent in 17.7% of the homosexual group and 5% of the control group; arithmetic means for ELISA values for CMV IgM were 0.207 for the homosexual group and 0.05 for the control group. In the homosexual group, the anti‐CMV antibody titers increased with age (P = 0.01) and with numbers of sex partners (P = 0.06). Both anti‐HSV‐1 and anti‐HSV‐2 antibodies correlated with the number of sex partners (P = 0.04 and P = 0.05, respectively). Neither age nor partner number correlated with response to EBV, and no particular sex act was related to the EBV VCA titer level. HTLV‐III seropositivity was associated with higher herpes virus group antibody titers, probably because of life style cofactors. Among the HTLV‐111‐seropositive subjects, those with ≤ 400 T‐helper lymphocytes/mm 3 had lower antibody titers than those with ≥ 400 T‐helper lymphocytes/mm 3 counts, suggesting an impaired immune response secondary to immunosuppression.
