protein, mannan-binding protein, and other opsonizing and anti- microbial acute phase reactants, and even antimicrobials that are induced by bacteria in insects or other invertebrates, have obvious adaptive value. As components or products of the non-lymphoid sys- tem, they endow that system with adaptive value. When such non- immunoglobu!in defense molecules are produced in greater quanti,y following antigen encounter (the insccts provide good examples), this constitutes an adaptive re- sponse. So let us cease implying that o~ly the lymphoid system is of adaptive value. Both lymphoid and non-lymphoid ~ystems are adap- tive, and when they resporld with increased synthesis of humoral mediators, or reactivity of cells, these responses are adaptive.

It has also become the norm to refer to the lymphoid and non- lymphoid systems as specific z-ad nonspecific. This convention also encourages erroneous thought. What is nonspecific about the non- lymphoid arm? The recognition molecules of the non-lymphoid sys- tem are probably about as 'specific' as immunoglobulin in regard to the molecular features they recognize. Of course, ligands containing these features (often carbnhydrates) occur more commonly on microorgan- isms than the (often peptide) fea- tures recognized by immuno- globulin. This reliance on fewer recognition molecules (often lectins) to monitor for common determi- nants serves the lower animals very we!l, thank you! As these recog- nition molecules bind !igands with considerable specificity, it is in- appropriate to refer to the non- lymphoid .~ystem as 'nonspecific': in reality, it is 'broadly reactive'.

The value of 'improved' termin- ology, as for example in the work of panel members who strive to make cytokine, enzyme and other terminologies a better reflection of real functions as research reveals them, is unlikely to be questioned, and may even be appreciated as serving to help a field move ahead. I seek no more than this in suggest- ing that immunologists should abandon inappropriate use of terms that fail to reflect real capacities of systems.

kaleidoscope

As a community of scholars, we may find ourselves ready to adopt a more honest and useful termin- ology if we recognize two import- ant points: (1) that the lymphoid system need never engage itself in reacting to an immunogen ir the so-called natural (or innate, i.e. non-lymphoid) system effectively encounters and destroys the agent; and (2) that this (lymphoid) system is an evolutionary add-on to the ancestral, highly effective systems of pre-vertebrates. Thus, immu- nology concerns itself with the essential characters of all the cells and molecules that protect us from many potential pathogenic mi- crobial and parasitic diseases, and that provide surveillance for dam- aged or altered self.

Immune systems comprise (pre- dominantly ancestral) non-lymphoid components, as well as lymphoid

Reply to Rose and Bona I was interested to read the new

criteria for autoimmune disease suggested by Noel Rose and Constantin Bona in a Viewpoint article published in Immunology Today I. The authors stated that they were nnr nware nf any nrrempr~ . . . . j . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

to induce antibody-transferred auto- immunity other than those of Harrington in 1990 (Ref. 2), who used plasma from a patient with idiopathic thrombocytopenia. How- ever, in 1974, Duncan Adams used infusions of plasma containing thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) receptor autoantibodies to stimu- late the human thyroid 3. Infusion of such plasma caused release of radioactive iodine from the thyroid

Nutrient Modulation of the Immune Response

edited by Susanna Cunningham- Rundles, Marcel Dekker, 1993. $165.00 (xiii+556 pages) ISBN 0 8247 8448 0

The Editor is to be congratulated on assembling such a collection of 36

letters components (which are evidently restricted to the vertebrate classes!. Both systems are adaptive, and their recognition molecules are specific. What does distinguish these two sys- tems are the extraordinary diversity of specific receptors made possible by genetic rearrangements in lymph- oid cells, the memory capability ot the latter, and the predominantly peptide nature of the ligands it recognizes. Modern immunological literature is a rich source of er- roneous term usage; I say out with the old, in with the new!

Christopher J. Bayr.e

Dept of Zoolog); Oregon State University,

Curdle), Hall 3029, Corvallis,

Oregon, OR 97331-2914, b SA.

gland, thereby confirming it: vivo the human thyroid stimulation that occurs in classical Graves' disease.

Terry E Davies

DMsion of Endocrinology and Metabolism,

Dept of Medicine. The Mount Sinai Medical Center,

The Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, NY 10029-6574, USA.

References 1 Rose, N.R. and Bona, C. (1993) Immunol. Today 14, 426-430 2 Harrington, W.J., Minnich, V., Hollingsworth, J.W. and Moore, C.V. (i990) J. Lab. Clin. Med. 115, 636-645 3 Adams, D.D. (1974) Br. Med.]. 39, 826-832

book reviews

interesting chapters on nutrition and immunity. The chapters are divided into four parts: (1) the expression of nutrient interaction in immune function; (2) the effects of nu- tritional conditioning on the im- mune response; (3) the nutritional modulation of the immune re- sponse in human development and disease; and (4) the issues and

Immunology Today 599 Vol. 15 No. 12 1994

kaleidoscope

book reviews implications of nutrient-immune interactions. Since isolated human deficiencies of micronutrients are rare Iwith the exception of iron, vitamin A and zinc), most of the work presented on single nutrient deficiencies derives from animal experiments, with additional infor- mation on hum.m deficiencies pro- vided when available.

Previousb; most topics of nutrition and immunity have been disease oriented and have been covered under such topics as arthritis, ageing, pul- monaD" disease, gastrointestinal dis- ease, trauma, cancer or malnutrition. Bv contrast, by avoiding disease categorization, this book gives the reader the opportunity to review narrow topics such as vitamin A, carotenoids, vitamin C, vitamin E, zinc, vitamin D, fatty acids and human milk. Some excellent con- tributions included: S.E. Jordan on vitamin D 3 immunoregulation, P. Guiilou on faro acid modifi- cation of lymphocFte function, S.N. Meydani on vitamin E and the immune response, E. Lorenz on nu- tritional interaction for cancer pre- vention, and vitamin C and phago- cytes. Each chapter concentrates on tlae specialized interest of the particu-

lar author. However, although most authors have provided a broad and balanced view of the subject, a few chapters have only used examples from the author's own work. This leads to an unevenness that dis- tracts from some chapters of this multi-authored text.

Each chapter begins with an intro- duction which, because of the mul- tiple authors, is somewhat redun- dant in several chapters. Instead, an early chapter devoted to the immune system, with figures ~howing where specific nutrients may modulate it, would ha~c been helpful to those who wish to use this as a textbook. However, all chapters end with a summary that will provide an ex- cellent overview to those readers not interested in the detailed exper- iments described before. The book is adequately referenced, although the latest references are from 1991.

Despite some weak chapters, the book is generally easy to read and provides an appropriate mix of nu- tritional and immunological detail ~,,r an overview of these two areas. In particular, this text should pro- vide a valuable source of infor- mation for those who are skeptical of the degree to which the immune

system and nutrients interact. In- deed, the authors do not fail to pre- sent the contradictory results that can be obtained from different ani- mal models, as well as the dose de- pendency of the response. The topics covered are extremely important to the general public although, in extrapolating to the application of these studies to nutrient recommen- dation, the text has been rather guarded. Nonetheless, the book will have served a useful purpose if it is used as a starting point for further research in this field. Hopefully, some of the unanswered questions raised in the text will soon be answered using molecular and genetic methodologies. I would rec- ommend this text as a starting point for those interested in devel- oping strategies, at both the clinical and basic level, to optimize nutri- ent-immune function interactions.

Howard Parsons

Gastrointestinal Research Group, Dept of Pediatrics,

University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Drive N. W..,

Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2N 4N1.

Sul.,C~ ami~;c.s; A Pathogen's View of the

Immune System edited by Brigitte T.. Huber and Ed Pah.le~, Cold Spring Harbor I aborator 3, Press, 1993. $', ~.00 (i:: ~ 182 pages) ISBN 0 87969 398 3

Superantigens (SAgs)provide extra- ordinary models with which to study mechanisms of the host- pathogen relationship during severe infectious pathology, as well as to study the fundamental mechanisms of tolerance induction. The grow- ing interest shown in SAgs has resulted in the publication of thou- sands of articles in recent years. This book, part of the Current Communications in Cell and Mol- ecular Biology series, was compiled following a meeting to discuss SAgs in Autumn i992. Fortunately, this is not a conference proceedings, but represents a good selection of articles

U I i t l l ~ " l l l d i l l I I ~ V V " ~ - - " - - J - " . . . . . . . J - ~

this meeting. The book concentrates mainly

on viral SAgs, including those implicated in human pathology. Although the first chapter is the only one dealing with bacterial SAgs, it enables the reader to understand this topic and to com- pare it with what is known con- cerning the recognition of viral SAgs. The originality of the book lies in its focus oll the role of viral SAgs in pathology, and its emphasis on the extreme complexity of the host-pathogen relationship. In par- ticular, the role of viral SAgs as a protective system to avoid viral reinfection by induction of clonal deletion of the target cells, and their role as a permissive system used to amplify virus infection, are clearly explained.

The list of authors is not too similar to other review books pub- lished on the same subject. Further- more, some new topics have been

- ' - - - I . - A - 3 . . . . L - - ~ k . . . . . . . . . . -' - - - - - I I I I . I U U ~ ' U , ~ U l . . I I i t ~ t l l ~ ' ~ u p ~ [ H l l i l ~ l l "

icity of rabies virus, as well as a revisiting of old topics, such as mouse mammary tumour virus (MMTV)-encoded SAgs in B-cell lymphoma in SJL mice. The last words have been given to the role of viral SAgs in the development of immunodeficiency syndromes such as mouse and hi-:man AIDS, which of course are burning issues. It is tempting to draw a model for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) infection paralleling that of MMTV infection, since both viruses use their SAgs as a tool for repli- cation and expansion within the host. This part of the book may have benefited from being more controversial.

Martine Papiernik

INSERM U345, Institut Necker,

156 rue de Vaugirard, 75730 Paris CMex 15, France.

Immunology Today 6 0 0 rot. 15 No. !2 1994