Simultaneous quantitation of diphtheria and tetanus antibodies by double antigen, time-resolved fluorescence immunoassay

A dual, double antigen, time-resolved fluorescence immunoassay (DELFIA) for the simultaneous detection and quantitation of diphtheria (D) and tetanus (T) antibodies in sera has been developed. In the double antigen format one arm of the antibody binds to antigen coated microtitre wells and the other arm binds to labelled antigen to provide a fluorescent signal. This assay was found to be functionally specific for IgG antibodies and showed a good correlation with established toxin neutralization assays. Furthermore, the double antigen set-up was species independent, permitting the direct use of existing international references of animal origin to measure protective antibody levels in humans in international units (IU/ml). The detection limit corresponded to 0.0003 IU/ml with Eu³⁺-labelled toxoids and to 0.0035 IU/ml using Sm³⁺-labelled toxoids. The assay was fast with a high capacity making it a suitable method for serological surveillance studies.     

乙型肝炎表面抗原对BALB/c小鼠细胞免疫应答的影响

目的研究不同来源乙肝表面抗原(HBsAg)对BALB/c小鼠的某些细胞免疫应答的影响.方法采用血源、CHO和酵母HBsAg分别免疫BALB/c小鼠,于免疫后不同时间制备脾脏单个核细胞(MNC),测定MNC对刀豆蛋白(ConA)和细菌脂多糖(LPS)的增殖反应性;采用绵羊红细胞(SRBC)作为致敏原,测定不同HBsAg免疫小鼠后迟发性超敏反应(DTH)的发生程度.结果不同来源HBsAg对ConA或LPS刺激的反应指数(SI)表现出不同的时间曲线,一般于免疫20?d和25?d时显著升高,其中血源HBsAg较高,酵母较低.H.M.-HBsAg在免疫5?d时即显出较高的SI值.CHO-HBsAg对SRBC诱导的DTH反应具有显著的抑制作用(P＜0.05).结论不同来源HBsAg诱导细胞免疫反应的类型和程度存在差异,CHO细胞来源的HBsAg对TH1细胞介导的DTH反应有抑制作用.     

Changes in the withdrawal bleeding pattern and endometrial histology during 17β-estradiol —dydrogesterone therapy in postmenopausal women: a 2 year prospective study

Objective: To describe changes in the withdrawal bleeding pattern and endometrial histology during a sequential 17β-estradiol —dydrogesterone regimen in postmenopausal women. Design: Open-label, non-comparative, prospective study. Setting: Gynecological outpatient department of a university hospital. Patients: Twenty-seven healthy nonhysterectomized postmenopausal women. Interventions: Continuous micronized 17β-estradiol supplementation, 2 mg daily, and cyclic administration of dydrogesterone, 10 mg daily for the first half of each 28 day treatment cycle. Main Outcome Measures: Changes in the characteristics of the withdrawal bleeding pattern and the endometrial biopsy histology during 2 years of treatment. Results: The initial withdrawal bleeding was comparable to normal menstruation with respect to amount and duration. During the 2 years of treatment the bleeding showed a significant tendency to become shorter with less blood loss. This was mainly the result of the decrease (P < 0.001) in the number of days per cycle with bleeding grade II (normal menstruation). None of the women developed endometrial hyperplasia, and in almost all women the given hormone replacement therapy regimen induced secretory or atrophic changes of the endometrium. Conclusions: This sequential 17β-estradiol —dydrogesterone regimen can be regarded as safe with respect to the prevention of endometrial disease and appeared to foster patient compliance.     

产妇抑郁对泌乳与产后流血的影响

目的：探讨产妇抑郁对泌乳与产后流血的影响。方法：对309例产妇采用自评抑郁量表评分，分成产后抑郁组和对照组，测评泌乳指标、产后流血的差异。结果：抑郁组产妇泌乳始动时间迟，产后24小时泌乳者仅13例；泌乳量少，产后72小时泌乳量多者仅13例；抑郁组产妇产后流血量多，与对照组相比差异有显著性。结论：产妇抑郁对泌乳与产后流血有不利影响，应加强对产妇进行心理健康指导。     

Cat red nucleus activity preceding movement depends on initiation conditions

Summary The activity of 98 Red Nucleus neurons was recorded in 3 cats operantly conditioned to perform a ballistic forelimb flexion movement triggered after a brief sound in a simple Reaction Time condition, or Delayed after the same sound in the presence of a tone cue. Fifty-eight task related neurons presented changes of activity in either one or both conditions. Forty-four of them were studied quantitatively and classified in 3 categories: 1) only 16% of the units presented similar changes of firing preceding the triggered or delayed movement; 2) most units (55%) presented different changes of activity in the two conditions: in the Delayed condition, the activation occurred earlier before the movement, and/or the change in magnitude was reduced or the pattern of activity was modified; 3) moreover, for 29% of the units, the change of activity observed before movement in the Reaction Time condition was severely reduced or even absent in the Delayed condition. For some of these neurons a building-up of activity was observed very early in the Reaction Time condition, during the preparatory period, well before the occurrence of the conditioned stimulus. These results show that the Red Nucleus activity preceding a movement is clearly dependent on its initiation conditions. The distinct patterns of unit firing observed in the Reaction Time condition and in the Delayed condition are tentatively related to the different preparation and initiation constraints determined by the behavioral conditions.     

TNFalpha expression in hyperplastic endometrium

PROBLEM: Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFalpha) is produced by the endometrium, and it has been shown that this cytokine has cyclic variations through the menstrual cycle. METHOD OF STUDY: In this study we assessed TNFalpha, estradiol and progesterone levels in the endometrium and serum of 21 patients with recent abnormal uterine bleeding (AUB). Eleven women showed histological diagnosis of endometrial hyperplasia, and ten women showed normal endometrium. RESULTS: The TNFalpha value in the serum of patients with hyperplasia and in normal endometrium did not show significant differences (64.8 +/- 21.4 vs 77.6 +/- 14.8 pg). The amounts of TNFalpha released by hyperplastic endometrial tissue were significantly higher than in control patients (258.8 +/- 78.0 vs 140.6 +/- 79.8 pg/g; P < 0.001). Immunohistochemistry of hyperplastic endometria showed a stronger staining than normal ones. Serum E2 levels in patients with hyperplastic endometrium were 49.5 +/- 31.6 ng/mL, and in controls were 107.3 +/- 66.0 ng/mL. The levels of estradiol released by hyperplastic endometria were significantly lower than in normal endometria (152.7 +/- 60.0 vs 279.9 +/- 178.7 ng/g; P < 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: Hyperplastic endometria produce higher amounts of TNFalpha with respect to controls. These findings may explain the frequent bleeding observed in the patients with endometrial hyperplasia, since TNFalpha promotes apoptosis and endometrial shedding.     

Superior cycle control with a contraceptive vaginal ring compared with an oral contraceptive containing 30 microg ethinylestradiol and 150 microg levonorgestrel: a randomized trial

BACKGROUND: This trial was conducted to compare cycle control with vaginal ring a combined contraceptive vaginal ring, and a combined oral contraceptive (COC) delivering 30 mug ethinylestradiol (EE) and 150 mug levonorgestrel. METHODS: This open-label, randomized, multi-centre, Phase III study involved adult women from 11 countries. Subjects were treated with either vaginal ring or a COC for 13 cycles (12 months). RESULTS: A total of 1030 subjects (vaginal ring, n=512; COC, n=518) comprised the intention-to-treat (ITT) population. The percentage of women in the ITT population who completed the trial was 70.9% for vaginal ring and 71.2% for the COC group. The incidence of breakthrough bleeding and spotting over cycles 2-13, the primary efficacy parameter, was lower with vaginal ring (range 2.0-6.4%) than the COC (range 3.5-12.6%), and for cycles 2 and 9 the lower incidence with vaginal ring was confirmed as statistically significant (P=0.003 and P=0.002 respectively). The incidence of intended bleeding was significantly higher over all cycles with vaginal ring (58.8-72.8%) than with the COC (43.4-57.9%). CONCLUSIONS: Cycle control with vaginal ring was excellent and superior to that of a COC containing 30 mug EE.     

脑皮质微血管梗塞模型中的迟发性神经元死亡

目的 :探讨脑皮质微血管梗塞后迟发性神经元死亡的发生机制。方法 :应用光化学反应原理 ,静脉注射光敏染科孟加拉红 ,绿色激光透过颅骨对大鼠脑皮质感觉运动区作定向照射 ,形成脑皮质微血管梗塞模型 ,进行神经功能评分、TTC和HE染色光镜观察、透射电镜观察和原位末端标记。结果 :脑皮质微血管梗塞后 48h ,神经功能缺损发展至高峰 ,神经元和内皮细胞损伤最为严重 ,梗塞灶中心神经元以坏死为主 ,半暗带区凋亡细胞数目显著增加。结论 :光化学法诱导大鼠脑皮质微血管梗塞模型中皮质神经元迟发性死亡呈一定的时间和空间分布特征 ,缺血半暗带神经元凋亡与这种延迟损伤有关     

Characteristics of the delayed rectifier K current compared in myocytes isolated from the atrioventricular node and ventricle of the rabbit heart

The delayed rectifier potassium current (I _K) is known to be important in action potential repolarisation and may contribute to the diastolic pacemaker depolarisation in pacemaker cells from the heart. In this study, using whole-cell patch clamp, we investigated the characteristics of I _K in morphologically normal cells from the atrioventricular node (AVN) and ventricle of the rabbit heart. Cells were held at −40 mV and 5 μM external nifedipine was used to block L-type calcium current (I _Ca,L). Significant I _K was observed with pulses to potentials more positive than −30 mV. The steady-state activation curve in both cell types showed maximal activation at between + 10 and + 20 mV. Half-maximal activation of I _K occurred at −4.9 and −4.1 mV with slope factors of 8.3 and 12.4 mV in ventricular and AVN cells, respectively. Using pulses of increasing duration, significant I _K tails after repolarisation from + 40 mV were observed with pulses of 20 ms and increased with pulses up to 100–120 ms in both cell types. Pulses of longer duration did not activate further I _K and this suggested that only the rapid component of I _K, called I _Kr, was present in either cell type. Moreover, I _K tails after pulses to all potentials were blocked completely by E-4031, a selective blocker of I _Kr. The reversal potential of I _K varied with the concentration of external K. Superfusion of AVN cells with medium containing 4, 15 and 40 mM [K⁺]_o resulted in reversal potentials of −81, −56 and −32 mV, respectively, which are close to values predicted if the I _K channel were highly selective for K. The time constants for deactivation of I _K in ventricle and AVN on return to −40 mV after a 500-ms activating pulse to + 60 mV were 480 ms and 230 ms, respectively. The faster deactivation of I _K in AVN cells was a distinguishing feature and suggests that there may be differences in the I _Kr channel protein between ventricular and AVN cells. Received: 24 July 1995 /Received after revision: 20 October 1995 /Accepted: 23 October 1995     

Maxillofacial Fractures and Dental Trauma in a High School Soccer Goalkeeper: A Case Report

Objective: To present the case of a 17-year-old male soccer goalkeeper who sustained maxillofacial fractures and dental trauma after being struck in the face by an opponent's knee.Background: Because of the nature of the sport and a lack of protective headgear, soccer players are at risk for sustaining maxillofacial trauma. Facial injuries can complicate the routine management of on-field medical emergencies often encountered by certified athletic trainers. The appropriate management of maxillofacial trauma on the playing field may help to reduce both the immediate and long-term morbidity and mortality associated with these injuries.Differential Diagnosis: Lacerated superior labial artery, lacerated upper lip, dental fractures, maxillofacial fractures, orbital blowout fracture, closed head injury, cervical spine injury, cerebrovascular accident.Treatment: The athlete received immediate on-field medical care and was subsequently transported to the hospital, where diagnostic testing was performed and further treatment was provided. Hospital inpatient management included dental and plastic surgery. After discharge from the hospital, the athlete underwent several additional dental procedures, including gingival surgery and nonsurgical endodontic treatments. The fractures were followed closely to assure that adequate healing had occurred. The athlete did not return to soccer.Uniqueness: Certified athletic trainers need to be prepared for on-field medical emergencies. Bleeding associated with maxillofacial trauma can complicate basic medical interventions such as airway maintenance. Inappropriate on-field management may result in unnecessary morbidity and mortality for the injured athlete. Therefore, immediate recognition of the severity of the injury is needed in order to institute appropriate airway-management strategies.Conclusions: It is sometimes necessary to consider nonstandard methods of airway management in order to first address heavy bleeding that may be associated with facial trauma. Achieving hemostasis is essential in order to prevent potentially life-threatening complications related to hemorrhage, such as airway obstruction and hypovolemic shock.