Cell surface autoantibodies in pernicious anaemia

The studies described in this thesis were directed towards the investigation of the immunopathic role of surface reactive autoantibodies to gastric parietal cells in pernicious anaemia. For this purpose, viable suspensions of parietal cells were isolated and reacted with serum and IgG fractions from patients with pernicious anaemia. The serum reactions were detected by immunofluorescence, flow microfluorimetry, cytotoxicity and competitive binding with radiolabelled gastrin. A procedure was developed for the demonstration of a circulating anti-gastrin receptor autoantibody'. The results suggest that pernicious anaemia may be a member of the anti-receptor autoantibody diseases. The methods developed in this study may be extended towards the demonstration of cell surface immune reactions in other organ-specific autoimmune diseases. This thesis was scanned from the print manuscript for digital preservation and is copyright the author. Author requested conversion to open access 26 Oct 2022