Primary respiratory syncytial virus infection in mice

A mouse model of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection is described. A high-titered, large-volume inoculum results in replication of RSV to a high titer in lungs of BALB/c mice. Mice older than 15 weeks of age are more susceptible to RSV infection. Titers up to 10(6.9) plaque-forming units (pfu)/gram lung can be attained in 32-week-old mice. Older mice experience a clinical illness manifested by ruffled fur, reduced activity, and weight loss. Lung histology of older mice infected with RSV shows bronchiolitis and increased number of lymphocytes and macrophages in alveolar spaces compared with that of mice less than 8 weeks old. This model will serve as the basis for investigating immunodeterminants of recovery and protection from RSV infection.     

猪升主动脉几何形态与显微结构的增龄性变化

目的:探讨猪升主动脉几何形态与显微结构成分在增龄过程中的变化规律,为猪→人异种心脏移植吻合血管提供必要的形态学基础。方法:应用组织学和计算机图像分析方法,对42例1～7月龄猪升主动脉进行计量形态学研究。结果:猪升主动脉的管径、壁厚、管腔面积、管壁面积与月龄间呈高度直线正相关关系(r分别为0.98、0.98、0.99、0.99,各P值均<0.001),它们分别以1.54mm月、0.15mm/月、28.26mm~2/月和12.28mm~2/月的速率增加。管壁中胶原纤维含量随之增加(P<0.05);弹性纤维含量以2、3月龄最高,而后维持在相对恒定水平,平滑肌的含量在增龄过程中未见明显变化(P>0.05)。结论:与人类相似,猪升主动脉几何形态、显微结构成分含量与年龄密切相关。     

大鼠小脑皮质内突触素P38免疫反应产物的分布及年龄变化

用免疫组织化学方法结合图像分析研究突触素Ｐ３８免疫反应产物在Ｗｉｓｔａｒ大鼠小脑皮质的分布及年龄变化，结果显示：小脑皮质内的突触素Ｐ３８免疫反应产物呈板层分布，各层之间的 产物密度差异很大；在三个年龄组，小脑Ｖ，Ⅶ叶分子层突触素Ｐ３８免疫反应产物校正光密度值以青年组最大，成年组次之，老年组最小，各组间差异显著。     

老化态度问卷的编制及其初步试用

目的：编制老化态度问卷。方法：通过调查和参考国外量表,组成问卷。在老年人中使用后,对问卷进行各项量表属性分析。结果：根据项目分析结果。对条目筛选后的老化态度问卷,因此分析显示具有两个主成分。内部一致性信度和复测信度达到0.9以上。分半信度0.77。结论：自编老化态度问卷具有良好信度,效度。     

The Heritability of Depression Symptoms in Elderly Danish Twins: Occasion-Specific Versus General Effects

Depression symptomatology was assessed up to four times at 2-year intervals on a sample of 2100 Danish twins initially aged 70 years and older. Data were analyzed using the biometric growth model approach proposed by Neale and McArdle (2000). Results show that occasion-specific depression is moderately and equally heritable in men and women (occasion-specific estimates of heritability ranged from 22% to 37%). Estimates of phenotypic variance, genetic variance, and heritability did not vary systematically across waves. In the best-fitting growth model, depression symptomatology was accounted for by two factors: (1) a level (i.e., average) effect that was highly heritable (estimate of 69% in women and 64% in men) and reflected overall vulnerability, and (2) a residual effect that was nonheritable and reflected occasion-specific circumstances that could either exacerbate or moderate inherited vulnerability. Attempts to identify specific genetic contributions to depression might profitably focus on average levels across multiple assessments, while attempts to identify specific environmental effects might profitably focus on deviations about this average.     

吡咯喹啉醌对D-半乳糖致衰老大鼠海马神经元的影响

目的观察吡咯喹啉醌(PQQ)对D-半乳糖(D-gal)致大鼠海马神经细胞衰老的影响。方法用大剂量D-gal致大鼠脑老化模型,侧脑室注射PQQ,50 d后行脑组织切片H-E染色和尼氏染色,观察海马神经元的形态学变化,流式细胞仪检测细胞的凋亡率;用TBA法和Fenton反应测海马组织自由基含量;W estern b lot观察C-FOS蛋白的表达。结果D-gal处理组鼠海马神经元胞体变小,尼氏小体的吸光度值(A)降低,细胞凋亡率和自由基含量增加,C-FOS蛋白的表达降低;而同时PQQ处理后,与对照组相比海马神经元的胞体变大,尼氏小体的A值增加,自由基含量和神经元的凋亡率无明显增加,PQQ剌激了C-FOS蛋白的表达。结论PQQ能延缓D-gal引起的大鼠海马神经细胞衰老。     

Glutathione metabolism in red cell aging

Normal human red cells were centrifugally separated according to age by discontinuous density gradient of Percoll. Reduced glutathione (GSH), GSH stability and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) activity in fractionated red cells decreased with age, while oxidized glutathione (GSSG) and methemoglobin (MetHb) increased with age.     

Aged-related loss of temporal processing: Altered responses to amplitude modulated tones in rat dorsal cochlear nucleus

Loss of temporal processing is characteristic of age-related loss of speech understanding observed in the elderly. Inhibitory glycinergic circuits provide input onto dorsal cochlear nucleus (DCN) projection neurons which likely serve to modulate excitatory responses to time-varying complex acoustic signals. The present study sought to test the hypothesis that age-related loss of inhibition would compromise the ability of output neurons to encode sinusoidally amplitude modulated (SAM) tones. Extracellular recordings were obtained from young and aged FBN rat DCN putative fusiform cells. Stimuli were SAM tones at three modulation depths (100, 50, and 20%) at 30 dB hearing level with the carrier frequency set to the unit's characteristic frequency. Discharge rate and synchrony were calculated to describe SAM responses. There were significant age-related changes in the shape and peak vector strength [best modulation frequency (BMF)] of temporal modulation transfer functions (tMTFs), with no significant age-related changes in rate modulation transfer functions (rMTFs) at BMF. Young neurons exhibited band-pass tMTFs for most SAM conditions while aged fusiform cells exhibited significantly more low-pass or double-peaked tMTFs. There were significant differences in tMTFs between buildup, pauser-buildup, and wide-chopper temporal response types. Young and aged wide-choppers displayed significantly lower vector strength values than the other two temporal DCN response types. Age-related decreases in the number of pauser-buildup response types and increases in wide-chopper types reported previously, could account, in part, for the observed loss of temporal coding of the aged fusiform cell. Age-related changes in SAM coding were similar to changes observed with receptor blockade of glycinergic inhibition onto fusiform cells and consistent with previously observed age-related loss of endogenous glycine levels and changes in normal adult glycine receptor function. DCN changes in SAM coding could, in part, underpin temporal processing deficits observed in the elderly.