Chronic anemia as a complication of parvovirus B19 infection in a pediatric kidney transplant patient

. This is a report of unexplained anemia that persisted for 4 months in an adolescent renal transplant patient receiving immunosuppression that included prednisone, tacrolimus, and mycophenolate mofetil. This patient required monthly blood transfusions for fatigue, palpitations, and hematocrit levels between 15% and 17%. In addition, his posttransplant course was notable for the development of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. While receiving low-dose prednisone, he was switched from tacrolimus to cyclosporin and tapered off insulin injections over the next 2 months. At 4.5 months post-transplantation, further diagnostic evaluation was suggestive of parvovirus B19 infection as the cause for our patient’s chronic anemia. After testing negative for serum-specific parvovirus B19 IgM and IgG antibodies, parvovirus B19 infection was detected in blood by the polymerase chain reaction. Treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin (1 g/kg per day × 2 days) resulted in normalization of both his reticulocyte count and hematocrit within 6 weeks. At 4 months after receiving the immunoglobulin infusion, he has maintained a normal hematocrit level and stable renal function without requiring further blood transfusions. Received August 23, 1996; received in revised form and accepted November 20, 1996     

浆细胞病患者IL-4产生细胞数减少的意义及机制探讨

本文运用APAAP法检测了16名浆细胞患者外周血细胞在PHA刺激下产生IL-4的能力。发现浆细胞病组阳性细胞比率明显低于正常对照组(P<0.001),且阳性细胞比率与患者血清中多克隆IgM、IgA水平呈正相关(r=0.806和r=0.703)。在正常人外周血中加入CRP50mg/L,经PHA刺激后IL-4产生细胞也明显减少。作者假设,由于IL-6增高引起CRP等急性期相蛋白大量分泌,使IL-4产生受到明显抑制,从而使B细胞激活发生障碍是浆细胞病中多克隆免疫球蛋白合成抑制的主要原因。     

昆明山海棠碱对Jurkat淋巴瘤细胞株的细胞周期和凋亡时相的影响

目的 探讨昆明山海棠(THH)碱对Jurkat T淋巴瘤细胞的细胞毒性、细胞周期和凋亡时相特异性的影响，以了解THH碱诱导细胞凋亡的机制。方法 台盼蓝染色法检测细胞生长和细胞活力；DNA染色法、TUNEL标记结合流式细胞术检测细胞周期和凋亡时相特异性。结果 THH碱能有效抑制Jurkat细胞增殖、细胞活力下降，细胞在增殖周期中被阻滞于G1期。THH碱首先能诱导S、C2／M期细胞凋亡，同时能诱导G1期细胞凋亡。结论 提示THH碱能抑制Jurkat细胞的DNA合成，抑制细胞增增殖，并可显著诱导各期相细胞发生凋亡。     

休克期切痂对烫伤大鼠全身和肠道局部免疫功能的影响

目的　观察休克期切痂对烫伤大鼠全身和肠道局部免疫功能的影响 ,探讨其可能的机制。　方法　选用 96只Wistar大鼠。取其中 2 4只大鼠的躯干部皮肤冻存于液氮中 ,另取 8只作正常对照组。余下 6 4只造成 30 %TBSAⅢ度烫伤后 ,随机分为A组 2 4只 ,伤后不作任何处理 ;B组 2 4只 ,伤后 2 4h腹腔注射等渗盐水 5 0ml/kg,一次性切痂后用上述冻存异体皮覆盖 ;C组 1 6只 ,伤后 72h进行处理 ,方法同B组。检测A、B组大鼠伤后 2、4、8d和C组伤后 4、8d及正常对照组大鼠的脾淋巴细胞增殖功能、血浆和肠组织白细胞介素 (IL)2水平、肠黏液分泌型免疫球蛋白A(sIgA)及肠组织中二胺氧化酶 (DAO)含量的变化。　结果　各时相点下A、B、C组大鼠脾淋巴细胞增殖功能、血浆IL 2水平、肠组织IL 2及肠黏液sIgA含量均较正常对照组减少。B组伤后 4、8d和C组伤后 8d的脾淋巴细胞增殖功能接近正常对照组 ,血浆和肠组织IL 2水平明显高于A组 (P <0.0 1)。伤后 4、8d,B组肠黏液sIgA含量分别为 (3.5 1± 2 .1 4 )、(3.0 3± 0 .95 )mg/g,C组分别为 (1 .4 0± 0 .6 4 )、(1 .5 2± 1 .2 6 )mg/g,B组较C组增加近 1倍 (P 0.0 1 )。A组伤后 4、8d肠组织DAO活性低于正常对照组和B组 (P 0.0 5)。结论　休克期切痂有助于烫伤大鼠全身和肠道     

Accentuated antagonism by angiotensin II on guinea-pig cardiac L-type Ca-currents enhanced by β-adrenergic stimulation

 To examine mechanism(s) underlying the accentuated antagonism by angiotensin II (A-II) on twitch tension, we recorded L-type Ca²⁺ currents (I _Ca,L) using conventional patch-clamp techniques in single, guinea-pig, ventricular myocytes. I _Ca,L was recorded by a step-pulse protocol after eliminating K⁺ conductances (internal Cs⁺ plus tetraethylammonium chloride and K⁺-free extracellular solution). A-II (100 nM) did not affect basal I _Ca,L, but inhibited I _Ca,L that had been enhanced (approximately 200% of control) by (ISO, isoproterenol 100 nM). The inhibitory action of A-II was concentration dependent (concentration eliciting 50% inhibition 88±9 pM, n=41) and the ISO-enhanced component of I _Ca,L was completely blocked by A-II at concentrations above 10 nM. CV-11974 (500 nM), an A-II type-1 receptor (AT₁) antagonist, prevented the inhibitory action of A-II. Pre-incubation with pertussis toxin (PTX) abolished the inhibitory effect of A-II. A-II also inhibited the I _Ca,L enhanced by histamine (500 nM) and forskolin (1 μM), but failed to affect I _Ca,L enhanced by intracellular cyclic adenosine monophosphate (1 mM). The inhibitory action of A-II may therefore involve AT₁ receptors/PTX-sensitive, guanine nucleotide-binding (G) proteins (Gi)/adenylate cyclase and partially explains the A-II-dependent accentuated antagonism of inotropy.     

Interactions between membrane IgM and the cytoskeleton involve the cytoplasmic domain of the immunoglobulin receptor

Cross-linking induced interactions between the membrane form of immunoglobulin (mIg) and the cytoskeletal matrix have been described by several groups. To date, the function of mIgM association with the cytoskeleton is not yet understood. Delineation of the molecular basis of these interactions will be instrumental in elucidating their function. We have previously shown that the Igα/β heterodimer is not required for ligand-induced mIgM binding to the cytoskeleton. In this study, we have investigated the role of other B cell-specific proteins in mediating these interactions. For this, we expressed mIgM in the non-hematopoietic human cervical carcinoma cell line HeLa S3 and verified the capacity of the surface-expressed IgM to interact with the cytoskeletal matrix upon cross-linking with anti-μ chain antibodies. We show here that only the mIgM molecule itself and no other B cell-specific protein(s) is required in mediating mIgM interactions with actin filaments. In an attempt to determine the cytoskeleton-binding site of mIgM we investigated the role of the cytoplasmic tail of mIgM (KVK) in binding the receptor to actin-based microfilaments. Using mutated forms of mIgM expressed in J558L cells, we show here that KVK plays a role in mediating these interactions. The absence of KVK did not, however, completely abrogate mIgM-cytoskeletal interactions, suggesting that there are additional molecular requirements for the ligand-induced mIgM binding to the cytoskeletal matrix.     

中国汉族人VKORC1 G3673A基因多态性研究

目的检测汉族人VKORC1 G3673A基因的分布情况。方法应用PCR技术对正常人外周血VKO-RC1 G3673A基因进行扩增,以Msp I进行限制性酶切图谱分析。结果219名（男112人,女107人）中国汉族人VKORC1 G3673A基因中,表现型A/A的频率是81.3%（男90人,女88人）,表现型G/A是18.7%（男22人,女19人）,表现型G/G是0。VKORC1 G3673A基因A的频率是90.6%,基因G的频率是9.4%。结论中国汉族人VKORC1 G3673A基因的分布有自己的特点,为研究VKORC1 G3673A基因在华法林个体化给药方案的制定提供了可靠的理论资料。     

The Effects of Serum from Patients with Acute Liver Failure on the Growth and Metabolism of Hep G2 Cells

In many bioartificial liver systems currently being designed and evaluated for use in fulminant hepatic failure, direct contact is required between the patient's blood and the liver cells in the device. The efficacy of such devices will be influenced by the interaction of fulminant hepatic failure (FHF) patient serum with the cells. We have found that FHF serum inhibits the growth rate and the synthesis of DNA, RNA, and protein; disturbs glutathione homeostasis; and induces morphological changes in cultured human Hep G2 cells. These interactions should influence the design of bioartificial liver devices based on proliferating cell lines and indicate the requirement to pretreat FHF patient plasma to reduce the toxin load.     

Various V-J rearrangement efficiencies shape the mouse λ B cell repertoire

The diversity of the B cell repertoire of C_x knockout mice is limited by the expression of four λ light chain types. Among the spleen B cells, λ1 is expressed by the majority (58%) of cells, and λ3 by the minority (8%), while λ2(V2) and λ2(Vx) are expressed in intermediate quantities (18% and 16%, respectively). To assess the influence of mechanistic pressures on the λ subtype distribution, the proportions of the different λ rearrangements were determined in various B cell subpopulations divided on the basis of the λ subtype expressed, and the VλJλ junction sequences were studied at different steps of B cell differentiation (pre-B, immature and mature B cells). The data show that (1) the ratio of productive/non-productive VJ junctions is determined by the nature of the λ segments that are rearranged as can be observed in the pre-B cells, (2) V1-J1 non-productive rearrangements are often found in the λ1-negative B cells in the periphery, and (3) V1J3 junctions are often non-productive regardless of the nature of the cells analyzed. Our results, therefore, suggest that a strong probability of initiating a V1-J1 rearrangement and a weak probability of giving a productive V1J3 junction are responsible for the λ1 dominance and the λ3 under-expression, respectively. The intermediate proportion of λ2(V2) subtype is most likely due to a probability of obtaining a productive joint that is better than that for V1J3 and a probability of initiating a rearrangement that is lower than that for V1J1. However, the λ2(Vx) cell proportion cannot be determined only by these parameters.     

Inhibition of ligand binding to g protein-coupled receptors by arachidonic acid

Arachidonic acid (AA), released in response to muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (mAChR) stimulation, previously has been reported to function as a reversible feedback inhibitor of the mAChR. To determine if the effects of AA on binding to the mAChR are subtype specific and whether AA inhibits ligand binding to other G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), the effects of AA on ligand binding to the mAChR subtypes (M₁, M₂, M₃, M₄, and M₅) and to the μ-opioid receptor, β₂-adrenergic receptor (β₂-AR), 5-hydroxytryptamine receptor (5-HTR), and nicotinic receptors were examined. AA was found to inhibit ligand binding to all mAChR subtypes, to the β₂-AR, the 5-HTR, and to the μ-opioid receptor. However, AA does not inhibit ligand binding to the nicotinic receptor, even at high concentrations of AA. Thus, AA inhibits several types of GPCRs, with 50% inhibition occurring at 3–25 μM, whereas the nicotinic receptor, a non-GPCR, remains unaffected. Further research is needed to determine the mechanism by which AA inhibits GPCR function.