Lymphocytotoxic and Rna Antibodies in Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Comparative Study in Patients and Their Families

The electrophoretic analysis of low molecular weight nucleic acids from Crohn's disease tissues in the search for an unconventional small infections agent

“…Evidence for an infectious agent in CD has been based on independent animal transmission experiments performed between 1970--1980, in which injected filtrates of CD gut and lymph node homogenates variably induced slowly evolving granulomatous responses or other histological lesions not seen with disease control homogenates (6). Further evidence is provided by findings in CD of elevated inter-feron levels (3), increased incidence of lymphocytotoxic and anti-l~NA antibodies in patients and their household contacts (19) and passageable cytopathic effects of CD filtrates on tissue cultures (14), although the cytopathic effects have been questioned (23). I~eeently, DAs reported the induction of lymphomas and hyperplastic lymph nodes in nude mice injected with CD lymph node filtrates, which after 2--6 months were immunoreaetive against CD but not control sera, suggestive of a self-replicating, transmissible agent (9).…”

The immunology of inflammatory bowel disease

“…These include antibodies to leukocytes which have been recognised in a wide range of other situations including normal individuals, and autoimmune diseases [52]. Antibodies to more esoteric antigens have been described in-cluding RNA and pancreatic secretions [52,96].…”