CONTROL OBSERVATION OF THERAPEUTIC EFFECTS ON SYNDROME OF THE 3~(rd) LUMBAR TRANSVERSE PROCESS WITH THICK SILVER WARMING NEEDLING AND ELECTRIC ACUPUNCTURE

Objective: To compare the clinical therapeutic effects on the syndrome of L3 transverse process between thick silver warming needling and electric acupuncture. Methods: One hundred and twenty cases of the syndrome of L3 transverse process were randomized into observation group and the control, 60 cases for each one. Thick silver warming needling was applied in observation group and electric acupuncture in the control. Results: The curative rate was 81.7% In observation group and 58.3% in the control, indicating significant difference (P＜0.01). The significant difference in the therapeutic effects between two groups had not been discovered yet for the cases within 3 months of sickness ( P＞0.05), but, the therapeutic effect in observation group was superior to that in the control for the cases over 3 months of sickness ( P＜0.01).Conclusion: The therapeutic effects of thick silver warming needling and electric acupuncture were quite advantageous on the syndrome of L3 transverse process, but that of thick silver warming needling was superior to electric acupuncture.     

溴化银T颗粒乳剂微观电性能的研究

根据Wanger直流极化法原理，采用可逆电极与阻塞电极并用的方法，对溴化银T颗粒乳剂微晶体在直流电场中进行极化，当离子电流为零时测得其电子电导率和空穴电导率。当乳剂中掺入浅电子陷阱掺杂剂[Fe(CN)6]^4-时，其电子电导率增大，空穴电导率下降。电子电导率的变化可以反映出溴化银乳剂灰雾产生的内在原因，空穴电导率的变化则反映出I^-对空穴捕获的作用。     

用Timm组织化学方法显示锌在人、兔及大鼠海马结构中的分布

组织内含有多种微量元素,其中微量元素锌在神经功能方面的重要作用已文为熟知。本文目的是应用Timm硫化银技术显示人、兔及大鼠海马结构中的锌。结果表明海马的层次结构显示非常清晰,证实苔藓纤维含锌最丰富,并观察到整个海马含有“背景锌”,与Howell提示锌具有两个传递系统,即高亲合及低亲合系统相符。此外用图像处理后表明其光密度值及相应所含锌量与光镜所判断的层次一致。总之,Timm氏硫化银方法不仅非常敏感同时也是检测和定量分析组织内锌的一咱精确技术。     

Comparison of the effect of amphotericin B desoxycholate and amphotericin B colloidal dispersion on renal functions and renal morphology in rats

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Amphotericin B (AmB) desoxycholate remains as one of the most efficacious agents currently available for the treatment of systemic fungal infections; however, amphotericin B colloidal dispersion (ABCD) has been developed because of AmB desoxycholate nephrotoxicity. The goal of our study was to compare the effect of administration of AmB desoxycholate and ABCD on renal functions and renal morphology in rats. RESULTS: Amophotericin B desoxycholate as well as ABCD causes damage to renal tubuli and polyuria. Amophotericin desoxycholate causes considerably more severe damage to tubuli than ABCD, but the morphological damage to renal glomeruli is minimal in both formulas. In tubular cells, AmB desoxycholate causes severe damage to mitochondria, vacuolation of cytoplasm, and increased values of volume density of peroxisomes. CONCLUSION: None of these formulas causes a decrease in glomerular filtration in rats when animals are properly hydrated.     

Evaluation of the neurotoxic effects of p-chloroamphetamine: a histological and biochemical study.

An attempt has been made to obtain direct histological evidence for a neurotoxic effect of p-chloroamphetamine (PCA) on serotonergic (5-HT) neurones using the silver-staining method of Fink and Heimer. In order to validate this procedure, 5-HT axon pathways were traced at various survival times after electrolytic lesions of the dorsal and medial raphe nuclei. The high affinity uptake of monoamines in small nuclear areas was also studied to provide a guide to the selectivity of the lesions and to the time course of degeneration of 5-HT cells. Degenerating 5-HT axons were traced from the lesion through the median forebrain bundle in a pattern similar to that found with histofluorescence. Serotonergic axon terminals were not demonstrable, however, in the suprachiasmatic or ventrolateral geniculate nuclei, areas known to have a dense 5-HT terminal input. After the injection of 10 mg/kg of PCA. no degeneration of 5-HT axons or axon terminals was seen. This suggested that PCA was not toxic to 5-HT axons, but it did not rule out the possibility that 5-HT axon terminals might be selectively damaged. This hypothesis was tested by measuring levels of 5-HT in axons vs axon terminals of the spinal cord. p-Chloroamphetamine caused a decrease in terminal-5-HT while simultaneously increasing axonal 5-HT levels, suggesting that PCA is primarily toxic to 5-HT nerve terminals in the CNS.     

Physicochemical Investigations on Solid Lipid Nanoparticles and on Oil-Loaded Solid Lipid Nanoparticles: A Nuclear Magnetic Resonance and Electron Spin Resonance Study

Purpose. Recently, colloidal dispersions made of mixtures from solid and liquid lipids have been described to combine controlled-release characteristics with higher drug-loading capacities than solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs). It has been proposed that these nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) are composed of oily droplets that are embedded in a solid lipid matrix. The present work investigates the structure and performance of NLCs. Methods. Colloidal lipid dispersions were produced by high-pressure homogenization and characterized by laser diffraction, photon correlation spectroscopy, wide-angle x-ray scattering, and differential scanning calorimetry. Proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and electron spin resonance experiments were performed to investigate the mobility of the components and the molecular environment of model drugs. Furthermore, a nitroxide reduction assay with ascorbic acid was conducted to explore the accessibility of the lipid model drug from the outer aqueous phase. Results. Proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectra clearly demonstrate that NLC nanoparticles differ from nanoemulsions and from SLNs by forming a liquid compartment that is in strong interaction to the solid lipid. The electron spin resonance model drug was found to be accommodated either on the particle surface with close water contact (SLN) or additionally in the oil (NLC). The oil compartment must be localized on the particle surface, because it can be easily reached by ascorbic acid. Conclusion. Neither SLN nor NLC lipid nanoparticles showed any advantage with respect to incorporation rate or retarded accessibility to the drug compared with conventional nanoemulsions. The experimental data let us conclude that NLCs are not spherical solid lipid particles with embedded liquid droplets, but they are rather solid platelets with oil present between the solid platelet and the surfactant layer.     

Reduced Phagocytosis of Colloidal Carriers Using Soluble CD47

Purpose. This study was designed to illustrate the feasibility of using soluble CD47 protein to antagonize phagocytosis of colloidal drug carriers by macrophages. Methods. Expression of CD47-streptavidin (CD47-SA) fusion protein was achieved in B21CodonPlus host cells following IPTG induction. Murine macrophage cell line J774A.1, expressing high levels of SIRP, was selected as the biologic model system for phagocytosis. FITC-labeled perfluorocarbon (PFC) emulsions were used as the colloidal carriers to trigger phagocytosis. Microscopy (inverted light and UV-fluorescence) and flow cytometry were used to qualitatively and quantitatively determine the degree of phagocytosis, respectively. Results. The bacterially expressed, purified CD47-SA had neither cytotoxic nor cytostatic effects when incubated with J774A.1 cells up to a concentration of 400 nM for 24 h. Phagocytosis of FITC-labeled PFC emulsions was significantly diminished when macrophages were pretreated with 100 nM CD47-SA for 1 h. Conclusions. We demonstrated that soluble CD47-SA antagonized phagocytosis of colloidal carriers to a significant degree by interaction with macrophage SIRP.     

Argyrophilic nuclear organizer regions in nasopharyngeal carcinoma and paraneoplastic epithelia

BACKGROUND: Nucleolar organizer regions (NORs), which are loops of DNA containing ribosomal RNA genes, have been shown to correlate with cell proliferation and malignant transformation. The diagnostic value of silver staining NORs (AgNORs) in preneoplastic epithelia and nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) by the quantitative assessment of AgNORs proteins is evaluated. METHODS: Silver-staining of NORs was applied to 70 paraffin sections of NPC biopsy specimens, including 29 samples of the adjacent normal glandular epithelia (GE), 19 hyperplastic/dysplastic columnar epithelia (CE) in the adjacent mucosa, 10 hyperplastic/dysplastic squamous epithelia (SE) in the adjacent mucosa, 54 differentiated nonkeratinizing carcinoma (DC), and 16 undifferentiated carcinoma (UC). The morphometric features of AgNORs in preneoplastic epithelia and cancer cells were analyzed by image cytometric analysis and then compared. RESULTS: The AgNOR count, mean AgNOR area, and AgNOR area-count ratio increased significantly from GE to CE to DC or UC. The mean nuclear area, AgNOR area, and AgNOR area-count ratio increased significantly from GE to SE to UC, whereas overlapping AgNOR values were observed between SE and DC. UC had significantly higher values than DC in mean nuclear area, AgNOR area, and AgNOR area-count ratio. CONCLUSIONS: The morphometric analysis of AgNORs reflected cell proliferative activity and histologic differentiation of tumor rather than malignant transformation in different nasopharyngeal epithelia and NPC. AgNOR area and AgNOR area-count ratio are the most valuable features for differential diagnosis of normal, preneoplastic, and cancer cells.