Elevation of plasma thioredoxin levels in HIV-infected individuals

Thioredoxin (Trx), a ubiquitous protein intimately involvedin redox and protein disulfide reductions, has been shown tobe released from cells and to have cytokine-like activities.In addition, Trx has been implicated in the redox regulationof immunological responses and shown to be deficient in tissuesfrom AIDS patients. In studies presented here, plasma Trx levelswere measured by ELISA in plasma samples from HIV-infected individuals(n = 136) and HIV-negative controls (n = 47). To account forthe release of Trx into plasma due to hemolysis, the Trx measurementswere corrected according to the level of hemoglobin in the plasmasample. Data presented show that, in contrast to tissue Trxlevels, corrected plasma Trx levels are significantly higherin HIV-infected individuals than in controls (P < 0.0001).Furthermore, {small tilde}25% of the HIV-infected individualsstudied have plasma Trx levels greater than the highest levelfound in controls (37 ng/ml). Detailed multiparameter FACS analysisof peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from the infectedindividuals demonstrates that those with higher plasma Trx levels(37 ng/ml or greater) tend to have lower overall CD4 counts.In addition, increases in plasma Trx levels correlate with decreasesin monochlorobimane staining (indicative of lower intracellularglutathione levels in PBMC) and with changes in surface antigenexpression (CD62L, CD38 and CD20) that occur in the later stagesof HIV infection. These correlations suggest that elevationof plasma Trx levels may be an important component of advancedHIV disease, perhaps related to the oxidative stress that oftenoccurs at this stage.     

Non-genetic surrogacy: no cure but problems for infertility?

Non-genetic surrogacy characterizes a situation where the gestational mother is not the genetic mother. It further widens a circle that started with the introduction of in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and creates problems in defining motherhood and identifying at birth the mother who will have the rights and responsibilities of rearing the child.     

中国东北地区未经抗病毒治疗的HIV/AIDS患者HIV毒株的耐药基因变异研究

目的　研究我国东北地区未接受抗逆转录病毒治疗的HIV AIDS患者HIV毒株的逆转录酶和蛋白酶耐药变异情况 ,为开展大规模临床抗病毒药物治疗提供本底数据。方法　RT PCR和套式PCR扩增HIVpol区基因 ,双脱氧法测定逆转录酶和蛋白酶基因序列 ,与国际耐药数据库比对辨别耐药变异。结果　 (1) 5 3例患者毒株亚型分析结果 :B′亚型 4 7例 ,B′ C亚型 4例 ,A、B亚型各 1例 ;(2 )未发现逆转录酶和蛋白酶原发耐药变异存在 ,但发现存在逆转录酶抑制剂继发变异 :M4 1L(1.9% )、I6 3M (1.9% )、L74I (1.9% )、S6 8G (1.9% )、V75L (3.8% )、V10 6I (1.9% )、I135L T (5 .7% )、V179D (7.5 % )和V189I (1.9% ) ,无症状感染者RT继发耐药变异出现率为 11.8% ,而艾滋病患者为5 2 .6 % (P <0 .0 1)。存在大量蛋白酶耐药继发变异V77I (88.7% )、L6 3P (86 .8% )、E35D (81% )、A71V(2 4 .5 % )、R4 1K (15 .1% )、L10I (9.4 % )、R5 7K (9.4 % )、D6 0E (9.4 % )、N37D (5 .7% )、G16E (3.8% )、I15V (1.9% )、M36I (1.9% )、K5 5R (1.9% )和L89M (1.9% )。未发现明显的亚型特异性耐药变异。结论　在中国东北地区未接受抗逆转录病毒治疗的HIV AIDS患者中未发现毒株逆转录酶和蛋白酶耐药原发变异 ,但大量继发耐药变异的存在提     

Benzodiazepine effects upon Geller-Seifter conflict test in rats: analysis of individual variability

The aim of the present study was to investigate in a large group of "drug sophisticated" animals the effect of several doses of oxazepam upon conflict behavior. To this end 43 rats, trained according to the original Geller-Seifter paradigm, were tested with 5 doses (6.25, 12.5, 20.9, 25, and 50 mg/kg IP) of oxazepam. In addition the influence of prior drug experience on the effects of benzodiazepines on punished and unpunished responding was investigated comparing data from the same animals relative to a single oxazepam treatment before and after "drug sophistication." It was found that: (1) after "drug sophistication" oxazepam effect upon the unpunished schedule is decreased, while the disinhibitory action upon punished behavior is increased, unchanged or even decreased; (2) sedative and anticonflict activities of the drug cannot be explained in terms of rate dependency and are independently assessable since, even when unpunished responding is lowered by high doses, the anxiolytic effect is masked in only 27% of the cases; (3) about 20% of the animals appear to be insensitive to the anticonflict effect of oxazepam; (4) the responsiveness to the anxiolytic effect of the drug is related to the shock intensities given during training and to the animal variability under control conditions.     

Morphology cluster and prediction of growth of human brain pyramidal neurons

Predicting neuron growth is valuable to understand the morphology of neurons, thus it is helpful in the research of neuron classification. This study sought to propose a new method of predicting the growth of human neurons using 1 907 sets of data in human brain pyramidal neurons obtained from the website of NeuroMorpho.Org. First, we analyzed neurons in a morphology field and used an expectation-maximization algorithm to specify the neurons into six clusters. Second, naive Bayes classifier was used to verify the accuracy of the expectation-maximization algorithm. Experiment results proved that the cluster groups here were efficient and feasible. Finally, a new method to rank the six expectation-maximization algorithm clustered classes was used in predicting the growth of human pyramidal neurons.     

Low-Dose Daily Subcutaneous Interleukin-2 in Combination with Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy in HIV + Patients: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

Purpose: Previous studies with intermittent interleukin-2 (IL-2) therapy using intermediate and high levels of IL-2 have demonstrated significant increases in the CD4 + T cell count in HIV-infected patients. Intermittent regimens are amenable to outpatient use, but severe adverse events are frequently experienced with intermediate- and high-dose levels of IL-2. Therefore in this study, the effect of daily, subcutaneous low-dose IL-2 therapy on safety and immunological endpoints was investigated to determine whether immunological benefit could be achieved without toxicity in HIV-infected patients also receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). Method: A total of 115 patients were enrolled in the trial. Fifty-six asymptomatic HIV-infected patients who had CD4 + T cell counts less than 300 cells/μL at screening and a stable HIV viral load received low-dose IL-2 (1.2 million IU [MIU]/m 2 beginning dose) once daily in conjunction with HAART (IL-2 group). Fifty-nine patients received HAART alone (control group). Results: A dramatic effect of IL-2 on the natural killer (NK) cell population was observed with mean increases of 156 cells/μL in the IL-2 group compared to 19.93 cells/μL in the control group (p < .001). Additionally, IL-2-treated patients experienced a statistically significant increase in the mean percentage of CD4 + T cells (3.52% increase) when compared to control patients (1.33% increase) (p < .001). The expanded CD4 + T cell population was primarily of the naive phenotype, with mean increases of 4.53% for the IL-2 group and 0.31% for the control group (p < .001 for between-group difference). In addition, a higher proportion of IL-2-treated patients (67%) compared to control patients (33%) achieved increases of greater than 50% in the CD4+ T cell count (p = .08). Adverse events of grade 3 or grade 4 toxicity were infrequent in the current study and were substantially lower by comparison to those in studies of intermittent dose IL-2 therapy. Also, negligible changes in the HIV viral load from baseline to final measurement were observed in both groups. A trend toward a reduced number of modifications of antiretroviral therapy was apparent in the IL-2 group when compared to control patients. Conclusion: Daily, low-dose subcutaneous IL-2 therapy in conjunction with HAART is safe and well tolerated and is effective in expanding lymphocyte cell types including NK cells and naive T cells in individuals who have <300 CD4+ T cells.     

中医证候及辨证施治复杂性研究的思路与方法

证候是中医认识疾病和临床诊疗的核心,辨证施治是中医治疗疾病的基本方法。由于证候具有整体性、非线性、动态性以及"不确定性"或"人为因素"等复杂性特征,使得基于整体论、系统论及控制论的"专家系统"成为中医证候复杂性研究的首要手段。并进一步运用还原论的思维方法进行"自上而下"的系统整合和集成,实现对中医证候复杂系统的控制。同时,利用动态模型探索复杂系统的关键特征,在整体观的指导下实现还原论、整体论和系统论的有机融合。基于上述思路,建立基于症候/证候分析、证素提取、证候辨识与分类以及标志物发现等中医证候的评价方法就成为中医证候复杂性研究的重要途径。此外,基于方证相应的中医用药特点,建立面向中医证候及中药复方疗效评价的新方法也是中医证候复杂性研究的重要内容。