Genetic, hormonal, and immune studies in a pair of identical twin boys discordant for lupus
✍ Scribed by James L. Schroeder; Bevra H. Hahn; Mary G. Beale; L. Susan Pletscher
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1983
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 483 KB
- Volume
- 26
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0004-3591
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Although the etiology and pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) remain obscure, genetic, infectious, environmental, and hormonal in- fluences have been considered. We have studied a pair of black 12-year-old identical twin boys who were discordant for lupus. This provided the opportunity to examine nongenetic factors cantributing to disease etiology and pathogenesis. We compared their sex hormone and circulating autoantibody status and examined their B and T cell functions in vitro. There were no significant differences in serum levels of sex hormones; both boys were prepubertal. Although they were cliiiically discordant, the qormal twin demonstrated several immune abnormalities characteristic of lupus. The most striking difference between the 2 was the lupus twin's exuberant T cell function seen in a brisk proliferative response in allogeneic and autologous mixed leukocyte reaction (MLR) and in active T suppressor cell function elicited by pokeweed mitogen.
Case report. The lupus twin presented with a I -