Interleukin-10 promoter polymorphisms in rheumatoid arthritis and Felty's syndrome

OBJECTIVE: To examine whether promoter polymorphisms associated with variation in interleukin-10 (IL-10) production are relevant to the development of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or Felty's syndrome (FS). METHODS: DNA was obtained from 44 FS patients, 117 RA patients and 295 controls. The promoter region between -533 and - 1120 was amplified by polymerase chain reaction, and polymorphisms detected by restriction enzyme digest or sequence-specific oligonucleotide probing. RESULTS: We found no significant difference in allele or haplotype frequencies between the groups. CONCLUSION: There is no association between FS or RA and these recently identified IL-10 promoter polymorphisms. Other genetic or environmental factors could explain the alterations in IL-10 levels seen in these conditions.      

Quantification of proteins in discrete brain regions of androgen-insensitive testicular feminized Tfm mice

The effect of the testicular feminization mutation (Tfm) on the concentration of specific proteins in the medial preoptic area (MPO), ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH) and parietal cortex (CX) was examined. Adult Tfm and Swiss-Webster male mice were decapitated, the brains were removed and sectioned. Proteins from the three microdissected areas were separated by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Gels were stained with silver and then analyzed by quantitative computerized scanning densitometry. Of the 195 proteins quantified, the Tfm mutation significantly influenced the concentration of 16 proteins measured from gels of MPO tissue, 21 from VMH gels and 11 from CX. Of these, three proteins were affected in all brain regions; and three additional proteins were shown to vary in both MPO and VMH. One protein higher in the MPO and VMH of Tfm mice was identified as the glial fibrillary acidic protein. It is suggested that the proteins influenced by the Tfm mutation are regulated by steroids, most likely androgens. Thus, these proteins may prove to be important in hormone-regulated physiological functions.     

Purging of acute myeloid leukemic cells by ether lipids and hyperthermia

Ether lipids (EL) and hyperthermia have been shown to possess a relatively selective cytotoxicity to leukemic cells. In this study, the combined effects of EL (ET-18-OCH3, ET-16-NHCOCH3, or BM 41.440) and hyperthermia on the growth of hematopoietic progenitors, myeloid leukemic cell lines, and leukemic cells obtained from patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) were examined to determine if this combination resulted in a greater selective killing of leukemic cells than that achieved by either EL or heat alone. When the cells were treated simultaneously with EL (50 micrograms/mL) and hyperthermia (42 degrees C) for one hour, the killing of leukemic cell line cells was enhanced considerably. Among the three EL, however, the combination of ET-18-OCH3 and heat seemed to be the most cytotoxic to leukemic cell line cells with no effect on the growth of hematopoietic progenitors. An increase in the duration of treatment with ET-18-OCH3 to four hours with heat added during the last hour resulted in a further reduction of leukemic cell line cells while sparing 50% of hematopoietic progenitors after cryopreservation. The combined treatment with ET-18-OCH3 and heat also inhibited the growth of leukemic progenitors obtained from AML patients by 97% to 100%. These data indicate that the combined treatment with EL and hyperthermia might offer an efficient means to eliminate myeloid leukemic cells in vitro.     

完全腹腔镜Roux—en—Y吻合术式应用于远端胃癌根治术20例

目的探讨完全腹腔镜Roux．en—Y吻合术式应用于远端胃癌根治术的安全性和可行性。方法回顾性分析福建省肿瘤医院腹部外科2012年8月至2013年3月对腹腔镜胃大部切除术后实施完全腹腔镜Roux．en—Y吻合术的20例胃癌患者的术中和术后临床资料。结果20例患者均成功实施完全腹腔镜远端胃癌根治术,无一例中转开腹或中转腹腔镜辅助手术。手术时间（190．8±53．6）min,术中出血量（122．4±57．7）ml,淋巴结清扫数（31．2±5．7）枚,术后病理切缘均为阴性。术后排气时间为（2．6±1．6）d,住院时间为（8．1±2．0）d。有1例术后出现肺部感染,但无吻合术相关并发症发生。结论完全腹腔镜Roux—en—Y吻合术式应用于远端胃癌根治术安全且可行。     

Proliferation of myeloid progenitor cells in human long-term bone marrow cultures is stimulated by interleukin-1 beta

To study the effect of interleukin-1 (IL-1) beta on the proliferation of hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPC) in long-term bone marrow cultures (LTBMC), stromal cell layers were established from normal human bone marrow. Autologous cryopreserved mononuclear phagocyte- and T-lymphocyte-depleted bone marrow cells were reinoculated on the stromal layers in fresh culture medium, with or without the addition of human IL-1 beta (30 U/mL). Once a week, half of the culture supernatant was replaced with fresh culture medium with or without IL-1, and all nonadherent cells were returned to the flasks. At weekly intervals during a period of 5 weeks, one culture was sacrificed to determine the total number of cells and hematopoietic progenitor cells, present in the adherent and the nonadherent cell fractions. In IL-1-stimulated cultures, the number of cells recovered during a period of 5 weeks exceeded the number of cells in unstimulated control cultures by 1.5 times. This difference was attributed to a twofold increase in the number of adherent cells. The number of HPC recovered from IL-1- stimulated cultures was not different from that recovered from controls. The levels of colony-stimulating activity (CSA) in supernatants from IL-1-stimulated cultures were significantly higher than those in supernatants from control cultures. These results indicate that IL-1 enhances the recovery of cells in LTBMC by stimulating the proliferation of HPC with the concurrent release of CSA from stromal cells, without diminishing the number of HPC.