In the human immune system, very late antigen 1 (VLA-1), a putative collagen receptor, is expressed on the surface of T lymphocytes that have undergone mitogenic or antigenic stimulation. A new VLA-1-specific monoclonal antibody, 1B3.1, was used to probe the expression and function of VLA-1 on T lymphocytes in patients with arthritis. Synovial mononuclear cells from the joints of patients with rheumatoid arthritis or other joint diseases contained 32.9 +/- 13.8% 1B3.1-positive cells (42.8 +/- 10.4% in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and 28 +/- 12.6% in non rheumatoid patients). In the peripheral blood, patients with active rheumatoid arthritis expressed VLA-1 on 11.7 +/- 6.0% of their mononuclear cells, compared to 1.9 +/- 1.5% in controls (P less than 0.001). Using dual fluorescence analysis, virtually all the 1B3.1-positive synovial cells were CD3+ T lymphocytes and included both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. When 1B3.1-expressing synovial mononuclear cells or in vitro activated T lymphocytes were triggered with anti-CD3 antibodies, marked augmentation of their proliferation occurred if they were simultaneously cross-linked with mab 1B3.1. Collagen type IV, a putative ligand of VLA-1, also augmented T-cell proliferation to anti-CD3. The data suggest that the VLA-1 molecule could play an important role in the pathophysiology of arthritis by modulating T-cell activation in these diseases.

\s=b\The effects of ionizing radiation on smell acuity were assessed in 12 patients in whom the olfactory mucosa was exposed to radiation in the course of treatment for nasopharyngeal carcinoma or pituitary adenoma. Olfactory detection thresholds for two odorants (amyl acetate and eugenol) were determined before the start of radiation therapy, within a week of termination of therapy, and 1, 3, and 6 months later. The results show clearly that smell acuity is profoundly affected by therapeutic irradiation. Thresholds had increased in all 12 patients by the end of treatment and were still high one month later. Varying degrees of recovery were noted in most patients three to six months after treatment. None of the patients showed full recovery even six months after cessation of treatment. The fate of the sense of smell deserves more attention when considering the disability caused by irradiation to certain head and neck tumors.(Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg

Peripheral blood leukocyte alkaline phosphatase scores and plasma carcinoembryonic antigen levels in 26 patients with metastatic colorectal cancer were compared to those in 30 healthy controls. Patients had metastases to the liver and abdomen. The mean leukocyte alkaline phosphatase score in the metastatic colorectal cancer patients was significantly higher than in the control group (246 +/- 65 vs, 52 +/- 26, p less than 0.001); and the mean carcinoembryonic antigen level in the patients was also significantly higher than in the controls (110 +/- 100 vs, 4.9 +/- 3 ng/ml, p less than 0.001). One hundred percent of the metastatic cancer patients had elevated LAP scores and 73% of these patients had elevated CEA levels. There was a difference between the mean CEA levels in the patients with liver metastases and those with abdominal metastases (162 +/- 135 vs, 39 +/- 53 ng/ml, p less than 0.04). The results suggest that although both markers were elevated in metastatic colorectal cancer, the LAP score seems to be more useful in detecting metastatic disease, since we found 11% false negatives with the CEA level and 0% false negatives with the LAP score.