Interaction of a plasminogen activator proteinase, LV-PA with human alpha2-macroglobulin.

Lachesis venom plasminogen activator (LV-PA) is a 33-kDa serine proteinase isolated from bushmaster (Lachesis muta muta) snake venom, which activates the fibrinolytic system in vitro. This study has examined the effect of the plasma proteinase inhibitor alpha2-macroglobulin (alpha2-M) towards LV-PA and compares it with the effect on tissue type plasminogen activator (t-PA). The proteolytic activity of LV-PA alone or previously incubated with human plasminogen (Plg) on the large molecular mass protein substrates, dimethylcasein (DMC) and fibrinogen (Fg) was completely inhibited by human alpha2-M. However, the synthetic peptides Tos-Gly-Pro-Lys-pNA and H-D-Pro-Phe-Arg-pNA (S-2302) were hydrolyzed with almost no reduction in rate. At pH 7.4 and 37 degrees C the proteinase (0.15 microM over 15 min) interacted with alpha2-M, and each mole of alpha2-M bound 2 mol of enzyme. Sodium dodecyl sulfate gel electrophoresis of reduced samples showed that the interaction of alpha2-M with either LV-PA or t-PA preincubated with Plg resulted in the formation of approximately 90 kDa fragments and high molecular mass complexes (Mr 180 kDa), generated by the incubation mixture (LV-PA or t-PA) and Plg. The data suggest that LV-PA is a direct-type PA and its fibrinolytic effect can be reduced by alpha2-M in vivo.     

应用荧光多重聚合酶链反应法检测结直肠癌微卫星不稳定

目的建立一种敏感、稳定、高通量的结直肠癌微卫星不稳定(MSI)检测技术。方法105例散发性结直肠癌患者取其新鲜癌组织及正常肠黏膜,DNA提取,荧光多重聚合酶链反应(PCR)扩增5个微卫星位点,应用GeneScan方法分析PCR产物。结果105例结直肠癌患者26例(24.7%)存在微卫星不稳定,其中MSI-H 14例(13.3%),MSI-L 12例(11.4%),MSS 79例(75.3%)。D5S346、BAT26、BAT25、D17S250、D2S123突变率分别为5.6%、8.6%、10.5%、8.6%、10.5%。结论应用荧光多重PCR可以高通量检测结直肠癌微卫星不稳定,敏感性高,结果可靠,适合临床应用。     

Bayesian estimation of a random effects heteroscedastic probit model

Summary Bayesian analysis is given of a random effects binary probit model that allows for heteroscedasticity. Real and simulated examples illustrate the approach and show that ignoring heteroscedasticity when it exists may lead to biased estimates and poor prediction. The computation is carried out by an efficient Markov chain Monte Carlo sampling scheme that generates the parameters in blocks. We use the Bayes factor, cross‐validation of the predictive density, the deviance information criterion and Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves for model comparison.     

Evaluation of left ventricular mechanical dyssynchrony as determined by phase analysis of ECG-gated SPECT myocardial perfusion imaging in patients with left ventricular dysfunction and conduction disturbances

Background  Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) is approved for the treatment of patients with advanced systolic heart failure and evidence of dyssynchrony on electrocardiograms. However, a significant percentage of patients do not demonstrate improvement with CRT. Echocardiographic techniques have been used for more accurate determination of dyssynchrony. Single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) myocardial perfusion imaging has not previously been used to evaluate cardiac dyssynchrony. The objective of this study is to evaluate mechanical dyssynchrony as described by phase analysis of gated SPECT images in patients with left ventricular dysfunction, conduction delays, and ventricular paced rhythms. Methods and Results  A novel count-based method is used to extract regional systolic wall thickening amplitude and phase from gated SPECT images. Five indices describing the phase dispersion of the onset of mechanical contraction are determined: peak phase, phase SD, bandwidth, skewness, and kurtosis. These indices were determined in consecutive patients with left ventricular dysfunction (n=120), left bundle branch block (n=33), right bundle branch block (n=19), and ventricular paced rhythms (n=23) and were compared with normal control subjects (n=157). Phase SD, bandwidth, skewness, and kurtosis were significantly different between patients with left ventricular dysfunction, left bundle branch block, right bundle branch block, and ventricular paced rhythms and normal control subjects (all P<.001) Peak phase was significantly different between patients with right ventricular paced rhythms and normal control subjects (P=.001). Conclusions  A novel SPECT technique for describing left ventricular mechanical dyssyn-chrony has been developed and may prove useful in the evaluation of patients for CRT. This study was funded in part by a research grant from the Medtronic-Duke Strategic Alliance, of which Dr Borges-Neto is the primary investigator.     

多发性骨髓瘤患者血浆尿激酶型纤溶酶原激活物及其可溶性受体的检测与临床意义

目的 :研究多发性骨髓瘤 ( MM)患者血浆尿激酶型纤溶酶原激活物 ( u- PA )及其可溶性受体 ( su PAR )的水平变化 ,并探讨其临床意义。方法 :用 ELISA法检测 34例 MM患者血浆 u- PA及 su PA R的浓度 ,同时观察其中6例 MM患者化疗前后血浆 u- PA及 su PAR的浓度变化。结果 :MM患者血浆 u- PA及 su PA R水平均明显高于正常对照组 ,其中进展期 MM患者血浆 u- PA及 su PAR水平明显高于正常对照组和稳定期 MM患者 ( P <0 .0 1) ,而稳定期 MM患者血浆 u- PA及 su PA R水平与正常对照组无显著性差异 ( P>0 .0 5)。 6例 MM患者化疗后血浆 u- PA及 su PA R水平 ,明显低于化疗前血浆 u- PA及 su PAR水平 ( P<0 .0 5)。骨髓涂片瘤细胞比例 >2 0 %的 MM患者血浆 u- PA及 su PA R水平 ,明显高于瘤细胞比例≤ 2 0 % M M患者 ( P<0 .0 5;P<0 .0 1)。M M患者血浆 u- PA及su PA R水平均与骨髓瘤细胞百分比及血清球蛋白呈正相关 ,而与血清白蛋白呈负相关。结论 :血浆 u- PA及 su PA R水平升高可能与多发性骨髓瘤的发生、发展有密切关系 ;其水平可作为临床分期、判断疗效、了解疾病进展情况及预后的一个重要指标。     

内蒙古地区食管癌组织中人乳头瘤病毒的检测

目的:了解内蒙古地区HPV感染与食管癌的关系,探讨HPV在食管癌病因学中的作用.方法:应用通用引物PCR法检测食管癌标本中HPV DNA.结果:在来自内蒙古地区41例食管癌标本中,HPV DNA检出率为零.结论:内蒙古地区食管癌发生可能与HPV感染无关.     

Myocardial perfusion SPECT reconstruction: Receiver operating characteristic comparison of CAD detection accuracy of filtered backprojection reconstruction with all of the clinical imaging information available to readers and solely stress slices iteratively reconstructed with combined compensation

BACKGROUND: Past receiver operating characteristic (ROC) studies have demonstrated that single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) perfusion imaging by use of iterative reconstruction with combined compensation for attenuation, scatter, and detector response leads to higher area under the ROC curve (A(z)) values for detection of coronary artery disease (CAD) in comparison to the use of filtered backprojection (FBP) with no compensations. A new ROC study was conducted to investigate whether this improvement still holds for iterative reconstruction when observers have available all of the imaging information normally presented to clinical interpreters when reading FBP SPECT perfusion slices. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 87 patient studies including 50 patients referred for angiography and 37 patients with a lower than 5% likelihood for CAD were included in the ROC study. The images from the two methods were read by 4 cardiology fellows and 3 attending nuclear cardiologists. Presented for the FBP readings were the short-axis, horizontal long-axis, and vertical long-axis slices for both the stress and rest images; cine images of both the stress and rest projection data; cine images of selected cardiac-gated slices; the CEQUAL-generated stress and rest polar maps; and an indication of patient gender. This was compared with reading solely the iterative reconstructed stress slices with combined compensation for attenuation, scatter, and resolution. With A(z) as the criterion, a 2-way analysis of variance showed a significant improvement in detection accuracy for CAD for the 7 observers (P = .018) for iterative reconstruction with combined compensation (A(z) of 0.895 +/- 0.016) over FBP even with the additional imaging information provided to the observers when scoring the FBP slices (A(z) of 0.869 +/- 0.030). When the groups of 3 attending physicians or 4 cardiology fellows were compared separately, the iterative technique was not statistically significantly better; however, the A(z) for each of the 7 observers individually was larger for iterative reconstruction than for FBP. Compared with results from our previous studies, the additional imaging information did increase the diagnostic accuracy of FBP for CAD but not enough to undo the statistically significantly higher diagnostic accuracy of iterative reconstruction with combined compensation. CONCLUSIONS: We have determined through an ROC investigation that included two classes of observers (experienced attending physicians and cardiology fellows in training) that iterative reconstruction with combined compensation provides statistically significantly better detection accuracy (larger A(z)) for CAD than FBP reconstructions even when the FBP studies were read with all of the extra clinical nuclear imaging information normally available.     

湖北地区汉族变应性哮喘患儿Tim-3启动子区基因多态性研究

目的 探讨湖北地区汉族儿童T细胞免疫球蛋白黏蛋白域蛋白．3（Tim-3）启动子区1541位C〉T和574位G〉T单核苷酸变异及其与变应性哮喘易感性之间的关系。方法 分别采用聚合酶链反应．限制性片段长度多态性（PCR-RFLP）和引物特异PCR-核酸序列测定技术检测湖北143例哮喘患儿和72名健康儿童Tim-3启动子区1541位C〉T和574位G〉T单核苷酸变异，讣算基因型和等位基因频率。结果 湖北地区健康儿童Tim-3启动子区1541位C／C、C／T和T／T基因型频率分别是0．961、0．039和0，而哮喘患儿频率分别为0．935、0．065、0，其基因型频率与对照组差异无统计学意义（r=0．3825，P=0．5362）；湖北健康儿童中Tim-3启动子区574位G／G、G／T和T／T基因型频率分别为0．992、0．008和0，而哮喘患儿频率分别为0．941、0．059、0，两组基因型频率差异有统计学意义（χ^2=4．134，P=0．042）。结论 湖北汉族儿童Tim-3启动子区存在多态性变异，其中574位G〉T多态性可能与湖北汉族儿童变应性哮喘易感性有关。     

结核分枝杆菌稳定L型变异的聚合酶链反应研究

目的：探讨结核分枝杆菌稳定L型变异的分子机制。方法：采用结核分枝杆菌聚合酶链反应(PCR)诊断试剂扩增结核分枝杆菌稳定L型纯培养物的染色体DNA，琼脂糖凝胶电泳、聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳(polyscrylamid gel electrophoresis，PAGE)薄层凝胶扫描分析。结果：结核分枝杆菌稳定L型比细菌型多一DNA条带。结论：结核分枝杆菌稳定L型的形成可能与基因突变有关，在特异性PCR反应中可形成与其亲代细菌型有差异的产物。     

Kidney Transplantation in Patients with Antibodies against Donor HLA Class II

The immunologic risk associated with donor-specific antibodies (DSA) against Class II human leukocyte antigens (HLA) in kidney transplant (KTx) recipients is unclear. The aim of this study was to determine the outcome of KTx when DSA was detected only against HLA Class II. To isolate the impact of anti-Class II DSA, we retrospectively analyzed 12 KTx recipients who at baseline had a positive B-cell flow cytometric crossmatch (FXM) and a negative T-cell FXM. Using alloantibody specification analysis, 58.3% (7/12) had DSA against donor Class II and 41.7% had no demonstrable DSA. Biopsy-proven AMR occurred in 57% (4/7) in the Class II(+) group and 0% in the Class II(-) group (p > 0.05). Peritubular capillaries stained positive for C4d in 86% (6/7) of the Class II(+) patients and in 40% (2/5) of the Class II(-) patients (p > 0.05). One patient in the Class II(+) group lost their graft at 3 months to accelerated transplant glomerulopathy, while all other grafts were functioning 3-37 months posttransplant despite the persistence of anti-Class II DSA. We conclude that KTx recipients with clearly defined anti-Class II DSA are at risk for humoral rejection suggesting that desensitization and/or close posttransplant monitoring may be needed to prevent AMR.