酒精染毒后大鼠睾丸生精小管超微结构的改变

目的:观察酒精染毒后大鼠睾丸生精小管超微结构的变化。方法:将48只W istar雄性性成熟健康大鼠随机分为对照组(A组)、染毒组(B组),每组24只,B组用50度酒精(6 m l/kg)每天灌胃染毒1次,连续39 d,A组用生理盐水灌胃(6 m l/kg);在第14、27、40 d分别从A、B两组中各处死8只大鼠,取睾丸组织,常规电镜制片,透射电镜观察大鼠睾丸生精小管超微结构。结果:透射电镜发现:对照组各时间段睾丸生精小管超微结构无明显变化,基膜平滑、致密、厚薄均匀,支持细胞胞质丰富、粗面内织网及线粒体较多,核大、核质均匀、核仁清楚,精原细胞与基膜和支持细胞之间连接紧密,紧密连接层次清楚。染毒组第1生精周期末(相当于第14 d)超微结构开始变化;第2、3个生精周期末(分别相当于第27、40 d)超微结构变化最明显,主要表现为:①支持细胞溶酶体增多,线粒体肿胀空泡化,细胞器模糊且数量减少,支持细胞内出现较大空泡,甚至支持细胞出现萎缩;②精原细胞与支持细胞及生精小管的基膜之间出现较多较大空泡;③精原细胞凋亡,凋亡小体边集;④生精小管内的精子有过多的胞质且有大小不一的空泡,尾部断面线粒体排列不整齐、缺失或堆积;⑤紧密连接层次改变、模糊不清;⑥基膜厚薄不均,基膜外胶原组织疏松增厚,成波浪式皱褶,可见基膜断裂。结论:酒精可引起大鼠睾丸生精小管的基膜、紧密连接、支持细胞等超微结构异常,并可引起精原细胞凋亡。     

Male suicides and alcohol consumption in the former USSR

A significant decline (34.5%) in the suicide rate occurred in 1984–1988 throughout the USSR. The decline was observed shortly after the introduction of strict restrictions on the sale of alcohol. We tested the hypothesis that the restrictive alcohol policy in the first years of perestroika (June 1985) caused the fall in suicide rates in the former USSR. Data on alcohol consumption, violent death caused by external injury and poisoning (n= 916,315), death due to accidental alcohol poisoning (n= 77,837), suicide (n= 192,305) and death undetermined whether accidentally or purposely (n= 54,253) were analyzed for all former Soviet republics for 1984, 1986, 1988 and 1990. Men were chosen for the analysis, since men are more prone to abuse alcohol than women. Regression analysis with alcohol consumption as the independent variable and suicide rates and violent death rates as dependent variables shows that suicide and alcohol consumption were positively correlated as were violent death and alcohol consumption. In the republics with high alcohol consumption (Slavic and Baltic), suicide rates were also high. In the Caucasian republics, low alcohol consumption was associated with low suicide rates. For most republics, alcohol seems to explain more than 50% of suicides. Alcohol also has considerable explanatory value for violent death. Thus, a restrictive alcohol policy might be a way to reduce suicide and violent death.     

The pathology of encephalic arteriovenous malformations treated by prior embolotherapy

Summary A pathologic study was undertaken of seven encephalic arteriovenous malformations, including five resected from one to seven days after balloon embolization, one resected 10 days after embolization with polyvinyl alcohol foam (PVA), and a large mesencephalic AVM in a patient who died eight weeks after a series of embolization procedures with PVA and silicone spheres. AVM's resected 6–7 days following balloon embolization showed focal mural and adventitial inflammatory infiltrates and parenchymal (i.e. non-vascular) necrosis of a large portion of one AVM. The AVM examined 7 days post-balloon embolization showed an intraluminal thrombus containing refractile particles surrounded by foreign body giant cells (FBGC's). The AVM removed 10 days after PVA embolotherapy showed mural and perivascular necrosis with infiltration by polymorphonuclear leukocytes. The single autopsy case showed FBGC's surrounding residual PVA, refractile particles deep within vascular walls, and marked mural thickening of AVM channel walls, changes that may represent a response to previous angionecrosis and inflammation at the time of embolization. These findings, the pathogenesis of which is discussed in detail, may help to explain some of the rare complications of iatrogenic embolotherapy with these materials, as well as providing evidence for the basis of their efficacy.Presented in part at the 63rd Annual meeting of the American Association of Neuropathologists, Seattle, Washington, June, 1987     

Disinhibition of somatosensory evoked potential recovery in alcoholics

The pathogenesis of cognitive impairment in alcoholics remains unclear. Previous studies suggested that diffuse white matter atrophy is associated with cognitive impairment in alcoholics. To elucidate this issue, the present study evaluated alcoholics with cognitive impairment using the somatosensory evoked potential (SEP) recovery method, which is suitable for detecting subtle dysfunction at the cortical level. Subjects comprised 12 alcoholics with mild cognitive impairment [Mild group: Mini Mental State Examination Score (MMSE), ≥24; mean, 27.9 ± 1.6], 12 alcoholics with moderate to severe cognitive impairment (Moderate group: MMSE score, < 24; mean, 21.0 ± 2.5) and 12 normal subjects (Control group). SEP was recorded from the hand sensory area contralateral to the median nerve stimulated at the wrist. Single-pulse or paired-pulse stimuli at various interstimulus intervals (10–300 ms) were administered. Recovery functions of N9 (a peripheral nerve component), N20, N20-P25 and P25-N33 (cortical components) were studied. N20 recovery curves of both alcoholic groups were less suppressive than those of Controls, and P25-N33 recovery curves of the Moderate group were more excitatory than those of the Mild or Control groups. A disinhibited recovery pattern of N20 indicates subcortical dysfunction, and a disinhibited pattern of P25-N33 would be induced by cortical dysfunction. Therefore, subcortical dysfunction indicated by an abnormal N20 recovery pattern may contribute to the early cognitive impairment of alcoholics, whilst the cortical dysfunction indicated by an abnormal P25-N33 recovery pattern may contribute to the later cognitive impairment of alcoholics.     

夜来香正丁醇提取物镇痛作用的研究

目的：探讨夜来香正丁醇提取物对小鼠的镇痛作用。方法：采用醋酸扭体法、热板致痛法、电刺激致痛法研究夜来香正丁醇提取物对小鼠镇痛作用的影响。结果：夜来香正丁醇提取物对醋酸诱发小鼠扭体反应，热板致痛、电刺激致痛诱发的疼痛有显著的镇痛作用，且呈剂量依赖性。但纳洛酮不能对抗其镇痛作用。结论：夜来香正丁醇提取物有明显的镇痛作用。     

Engineering angiogenesis following spinal cord injury: a coculture of neural progenitor and endothelial cells in a degradable polymer implant leads to an increase in vessel density and formation of the blood–spinal cord barrier

Angiogenesis precedes recovery following spinal cord injury and its extent correlates with neural regeneration, suggesting that angiogenesis may play a role in repair. An important precondition for studying the role of angiogenesis is the ability to induce it in a controlled manner. Previously, we showed that a coculture of endothelial cells (ECs) and neural progenitor cells (NPCs) promoted the formation of stable tubes in vitro and stable, functional vascular networks in vivo in a subcutaneous model. We sought to test whether a similar coculture would lead to the formation of stable functional vessels in the spinal cord following injury. We created microvascular networks in a biodegradable two-component implant system and tested the ability of the coculture or controls (lesion control, implant alone, implant + ECs or implant + NPCs) to promote angiogenesis in a rat hemisection model of spinal cord injury. The coculture implant led to a fourfold increase in functional vessels compared with the lesion control, implant alone or implant + NPCs groups and a twofold increase in functional vessels over the implant + ECs group. Furthermore, half of the vessels in the coculture implant exhibited positive staining for the endothelial barrier antigen, a marker for the formation of the blood–spinal cord barrier. No other groups have shown positive staining for the blood–spinal cord barrier in the injury epicenter. This work provides a novel method to induce angiogenesis following spinal cord injury and a foundation for studying its role in repair.     

Patients with Alcohol Problems in the Emergency Department,Part 1: Improving Detection*

Abstract. Medical and social problems related to alcohol use are frequently seen in the ED. Often, the tempo of emergency medicine practice seems to preclude assessment beyond that required by the acute complaint. However, detection of ED patients with alcohol problems can occur using brief screening tools. This article was developed by members of the SAEM Substance Abuse Task Force, and describes screening tools that have been used successfully to identify atrisk and dependent drinkers. Their brevity, reproducibility, and accuracy vary somewhat, but screening can be realistically performed in the busy ED setting. The early detection of patients with alcohol problems would provide the opportunity for early intervention, and may reduce subsequent morbidity and mortality in this patient population.     

Alcohol and sauna bathing: effects on cardiac rhythm, blood pressure, and serum electrolyte and cortisol concentrations.

The effect of heavy drinking and sauna bathing on cardiac rhythm, blood pressure, and serum electrolyte and cortisol concentrations was studied in 10 healthy male volunteers. Sauna bathing induced a comparable, significant increase in heart rate with and without alcohol consumption. During sauna bathing without alcohol, systolic blood pressure remained at the baseline level, whereas sauna and alcohol together decreased systolic blood pressure markedly from 136 +/- 4 to 113 +/- 3 mmHg (P less than 0.01). Neither sauna alone, nor sauna combined with alcohol intake, increased the frequency of premature ventricular complexes. Serum potassium, calcium and cortisol concentrations changed slightly during sauna, but alcohol consumption did not contribute further to this. In conclusion, sauna bathing, even in combination with heavy drinking, does not appear to provoke cardiac arrhythmias in healthy young men. However, the risk of hypotension is increased when sauna bathing is combined with alcohol consumption.