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Immunoglobulin A (IgA) antibodies reacting with Streptococcus mutans were analyzed in mouth rinses from 38 adults. Antibody activity was determined by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The IgA antibody activity varied considerably in samples from different individuals. Of the 38 subjects, 12 volunteered in an implantation experiment and were challenged with streptomycin-resistant S. mutans. The results indicated that individuals with relatively high IgA antibody activity in mouth rinses more rapidly eliminated the challenge strain than subjects with low IgA antibody activity.

Serially collected epithelial samples from lesions in the mouth and on the feet of calves experimentally infected with foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) type O1 BFS 1860 were assayed for the presence of FMD viral antigen using a double antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and a complement fixation (CF) test. The amount of infectious virus in each sample was also determined. FMD viral antigen was detected by ELISA in 70 per cent of the mouth samples and 92 per cent of samples from the feet. The CF test was less sensitive; it detected antigen in 44 per cent of mouth and 85 per cent of foot samples. In mouth samples the amount of antigen decreased rapidly becoming undetectable by the fourth day of sampling whereas in foot samples the quantity of antigen declined more slowly, and could be detected until the seventh day of sampling. Therefore it was concluded that the age of lesion and the site from which epithelial samples are collected are both important determinants in the laboratory diagnosis of FMD. In cattle, foot lesions are more likely than mouth lesions to yield antigen and to remain positive for a longer period.

Multiple oral immunization with pertussis corpuscular vaccine was shown to lead to the considerable stimulation of local and systemic humoral immunity. The data on the titers of specific and normal secretory antibodies, on the levels of IgA in washings from the oral cavity, the small intestine and the lungs, on the titers of agglutinins and hemagglutinins in the blood serum, as well as on the morpho-functional transformation of the mucous membrane and the associated lymphoid tissue in the digestive tract, are presented in their dynamics. Specific pertussis antibodies in high titers were detected in both intestinal and pulmonary washings. The multiple administration of the vaccine did not produce pathological changes in internal organs.

One hundred adult patients with a history of oral allergy syndrome (OAS) after ingestion of fruits and vegetables, 77 patients with hay fever and 13 with skin prick tests and RAST positive to pollens but without seasonal symptoms, and 32 normal nonallergic control subjects, had Phadebas RAST and skin prick tests with commercial extracts (CSPT) and with fresh foods (FFSPT) to assess the reliability of these three tests. Sensitivity was better with FFSPT for carrot, celery, cherry, apple, tomato, orange, and peach; better with CSPT for peanut, pea, and walnut; and better with RAST for hazelnut. Specificity, negative predictive value, and positive predictive value of the three tests were determined for apple, carrot, hazelnut, orange, pea, peanut, and tomato. Specificity in the patient groups ranged between 40% (pea) and 100% (apple) for CSPT, between 61% (peanut) and 87% (carrot) for RAST, and between 42% (carrot) and 93% (peanut) for FFSPT. However, all tests were negative in the control group. Thus, false positive results may result from cross-reactivity with pollen allergens. The diagnostic accuracy of these tests in the population with OAS proved comparable for peanut, carrot, hazelnut, and pea. FFSPT proved more sensitive than CSPT or RAST in confirming a history of OAS to certain alimentary allergens, such as apple, orange, tomato, carrot, cherry, celery, and peach.

The immunocompetent cells (B and T lymphocytes, mononuclear phagocytes, MPS cells) known to be responsible for the rejection of the HPV- (Human Papillomavirus) induced tumors in the skin (warts) were analyzed in the infiltrates of 63 oral squamous cell lesions of suspected HPV origin (Condyloma, CA; Focal Epithelial Hyperplasia, FEH; Squamous Cell Papilloma, SQP) as well as in tumors thought to be unrelated to HPV (Fibrous Hyperplasia, FH; Papillary Hyperplasia, PH; True Fibroma, TF; Keratoacanthoma, KA), using the ANAE (acid alpha-naphthyl acetate esterase) technique. All tumors were also stained by the indirect immunoperoxidase-PAP method for the demonstration of HPV antigens. Of the SQP's, 60% were HPV-positive, as were 80% of CA's and one third of FEH's. In addition, 1/18 FH's and 2/14 PH's stained HPV-positive. On electron microscopy, viral particles could be disclosed within the nuclei of HPV-lesions. The highest proportions of the T and MPS cells (the elements of cell-mediated immunity) were found in CA's and SQP's (15-17%), as compared with the values of less than 10% in all others. The infiltrates in FEH's also showed low values of MPS and T cells, interpreted to suggest an etiology of the HPV type (determining the type of immune reaction) different from that of CA and SQP. HPV-positivity in the lesions did not influence the distribution of the immunocompetent cells. The results indicate that immunological mechanisms are involved in HPV lesions of the oral cavity as they are at other sites. The role of HPV in the etiology of these (and possibly of the oral squamous cell carcinoma) was discussed. Further analyses of the lymphocyte subsets are needed to establish the role of host reactions in the development and eradication of HPV lesions in oral cavity.

Physical clearance is an important oral defense mechanism against gram-negative rods. We describe a simple technique that uses commercially available technetium-99m sulfur colloid to measure oral clearance. Technetium-99m sulfur colloid was sprayed into the mouth, and clearance was measured as the percent decrease in radiolabel counts over 2 hours using a radioisotope camera. Results using this technique compared favorably with clearance data using Tc-99m radiolabeled Escherichia coli. Atropine significantly decreased oral clearance rates of the colloid. Decreased clearance may be an important risk factor in the development of gram-negative rod colonization in hospitalized patients.

The immunological examination of 350 top level sportsmen has been made at different stages of training and competitions. This examination has revealed that the reaction of the immune system to superextreme loading can be divided into 4 phases: activation, compensation, decompensation and restoration. In the process of adaptation to increasing muscular loading, characteristic of modern competitive sport, the reserves of the immune system are mobilized, and the immunological characteristics are thus maintained at the initial level. In some of healthy adults the action of superextreme physical and psychoemotional loading produces the exhaustion of immunity reserves, which is manifested by the disappearance of certain classes of immunoglobulin from the blood and biological secretions 1-2 hours after the cessation of this action.

Provocation tests with egg or milk antigens were performed on symptomatic patients or those who were skin prick test positive to these antigens. Skin test positive patients responded immediately in 12/13 to nasal, in 7/15 to buccal and in 5/15 to gastric provocation tests. An immediate gastric response was within 1 h. The threshold dose for a positive result showed that tissue sensitivity from greatest to least was in the order: skin, nasal, buccal and gastric. None of the skin test negative group responded to any of the provocation tests. The results, particularly the nasal provocation, validate the skin prick test as a sensitive measure of type I allergy to defined foods. The relative insensitivity of buccal and gastric mucosae may explain positive skin test responses in asymptomatic subjects.

The bacteriological and immunological principles for the development of a vaccine against dental caries are presented in a short survey. The potential cariogenic Streptococcus mutans is the center of interest of this special area of research in caries prophylaxis because of its peculiar characteristics. In animal experiments, the protective effects of attempts to immunize with this cario-etiologically relevant species of streptococcus or its metabolic products differed and were sometimes contradictory. Also conditions in the human show no distinct connection between the dental status and the appearance of specific antibodies against Strept. mutans antigens. The pertinent literature cannot answer the question whether and when an effective vaccine against dental caries can be produced at the present time.

Human parotid agglutinins from three individuals were isolated by adsorption to and desorption from strains of Streptococcus mutans belonging to serotypes a, b, c, d, and e and strains of Lactobacillus casei, Actinomyces viscosus, and Streptococcus sanguis. The desorption was achieved by suspending centrifuged saliva-coated microorganisms in 10 mM phosphate buffer (pH 6.8) containing 0.154 M sodium chloride. After another centrifugation, agglutinin activity was recovered in the supernatants. The L. casei strain was not agglutinated by any of the agglutinin extracts or by saliva, but all the other strains were agglutinated to a variable extent. However, all strains, including the nonagglutinating L. casei strain, adsorbed and desorbed agglutinins active for other strains. The agglutinin extracts from S. mutans serotype c, S. sanguis, and A. viscosus were purified and characterized by electrophoretic and immunological techniques. The purified preparations were positively stained for protein and carbohydrate, and the molecular weights were estimated to be 440,000. All agglutinin extracts needed calcium in the range of 0.1 to 0.5 mM to be active, and for a single strain, all agglutinins gave the same degree of agglutination, indicating that the isolated agglutinins may be of the same molecular species, a hypothesis that was also confirmed by the preliminary characterization of the purified agglutinins. This type of agglutinin, which seems to exert its activity among various bacterial species, could be important in mediating bacterial coaggregation and thus may add to the effect of specific agglutinins in the clearance of bacteria from the human mouth.