Analysis of restriction fragment length polymorphism for the HLA-DR gene in Japanese patients with sarcoidosis.

BACKGROUND--It is commonly assumed that some immunological disorder may play a part in the pathogenesis of sarcoidosis. Previous studies by several groups have shown a significant association with HLA-DR antigens in patients with sarcoidosis. In this study, restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis of the HLA-DR gene was designed to confirm the association at the gene level and to look for a gene rearrangement which may influence susceptibility to sarcoidosis. METHODS--Thirty two unrelated Japanese patients with sarcoidosis were tested for HLA antigens and subjected to RFLP analysis after digestion with Eco RI, Pst I, Bam HI, Pvu II, and Hind III by using an HLA-DR beta cDNA probe. A group of 47 unrelated healthy Japanese subjects served as controls. Frequencies of each restriction fragment were compared between the patients and the control subjects. Correlation between fragment frequencies and clinical features were also analysed. RESULTS--No restriction fragments of HLA-DR beta gene were found specific to the patients with sarcoidosis. The RFLP analysis could detect polymorphism of HLA-DR beta genes that was not distinguishable by conventional serological methods. Several restriction fragments of the DR beta gene were seen only in DRw52 positive individuals, and showed higher frequencies in the patients than in control subjects. The patients with these DNA fragments were likely to have limited stage disease with no ophthalmic involvement. CONCLUSIONS--An association between HLA and sarcoidosis was noted at the DNA level, although no restriction fragments were specific for this disease. RFLP analysis of the HLA gene is a more useful method than the usual HLA typing, and should be the first step in identifying the gene sequence which is connected with susceptibility to sarcoidosis.     

骨科假体相关性感染的末端限制性片段长度多态性分析

背景：随着骨科假体植入的增加,假体相关性感染日益增多。只有深入研究感染中病原菌的分布特点,才能对假体相关性感染的机理和治疗方式有更全面的认识。目的：应用末端限制性片段长度多态性（T-RFLP）技术分析骨科假体相关性感染的细菌学特征。方法：选取骨科假体相关性感染患者的感染灶样本15例和非假体相关性感染患者的感染灶样本10例,提取样本总DNA,对其16S rDNA进行PCR扩增,应用T-RFLP技术分析样本中微生物群落分布情况。结果：假体相关性感染组检测阳性率为46.7%,非假体相关性感染组检测阳性率为20%;聚类分析结果显示相同解剖部位的感染中细菌群落分布均具有很高的相似性。结论：假体相关性感染检测阳性率高于非假体相关性感染;无论有无假体存在,相同解剖部位的感染中细菌群落的分布具有很高的相似性。     

伤寒沙门菌株耐药性与vipR基因RFLP和PFGE分型研究

目的:监洲伤寒沙门菌株对青霉素和其他抗生素的耐药情况.分析多重PCR基因扩增产物图谱与青霉素耐药性的相关性,分析血清型青霉素耐药菌株的脉冲电场凝胶电泳(PFGE)图型,初步了解耐药菌株分子流行病学上的特点.方法:(1)抗生素药物敏感试验;(2)用聚合酶链反应(PCR)和限制性内切酶片段长度多态性分析(RFLP)结果发现23株多重耐药鼠伤寒沙门菌,其中耐4～5种抗生素的9株(40%),耐6～9种抗生素的8株(35.13%),耐10种抗生素的6株(26.10%);可分为16个PFGE型,其中5个PFGE型的菌株敷超过1株.结论:伤寒沙门菌分离株的多重耐药性严重,PFGE分型方法对鼠伤寒沙门菌的分型能力较好.     

A rapid restriction fragment length polymorphism polymerase chain reaction-based diagnostic method for identification of T-cell lymphoproliferative disorders.

BACKGROUND: Identification of a clonal proliferation of lymphocytes is central to the diagnosis of lymphoma compared with a reactive lymphoproliferation. We propose a novel diagnostic technique based on restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) of amplified polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products of the T-cell receptor -gamma (TCR-gamma) gene rearrangement to rapidly identify monoclonality in T-cell lymphomas and improve diagnosis of malignancy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: DNA from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of 10 healthy volunteers and 7 T-cell lymphoma patients were isolated and the TCR-gamma was amplified with consensus primers for the different variable (V) and joining (J) segments. Restriction digests were done using BstN1 and the fragments separated via gel electrophoresis. Verification was by Southern analysis. RESULTS: Restriction digests of the 10 healthy controls show a characteristic nine-band digest pattern whereas the restriction digests of the 7 T-cell lymphomas each show altered banding patterns completely distinct from the normal nine-band pattern (Fisher exact test = 0.00005). Sensitivity assays demonstrate the test can detect clonal populations representing 2% of total. This method also enables identification of particular clonal populations. The entire procedure can be performed in one day, does not require radioactivity, and requires only small quantities of specimens. CONCLUSIONS: This RFLP-PCR-based diagnostic method for T-cell lymphomas is specific, sensitive, efficient, and reproducible, and enables the identification of clonally expanded populations of T lymphocytes. It offers the ability to identify particular clonal populations, as with Southern analysis, combined with the benefits of a PCR method.     

H2 receptor blockade and bronchial hyperreactivity to histamine in asthma.

The role of histamine H1 and H2 receptors in the lung is not clear. H1 receptor blockade results in bronchodilatation and inhibition of histamine induced bronchoconstriction. H2 receptor blockade in vitro prevents the normal negative feedback of histamine on further mediator release in antigen challenge. Bronchospasm in guinea pigs given antigen challenge is enhanced by previous administration of metiamide or burimamide but not of cimetidine. These findings suggest the possible deleterious effect of H2 receptor antagonists in asthmatic subjects. The effects of H2 receptor blockade with cimetidine on bronchial hyperreactivity to histamine were studied in 10 asthmatic volunteers by whole body plethysmography. Cimetidine 800 mg and placebo were administered orally on two separate days, eight hours and two hours before study. No significant difference in baseline levels of airways obstruction was seen with the two agents. Inhalational challenge with increasing concentrations of histamine revealed no significant difference in bronchial hyperreactivity to histamine between cimetidine and placebo treatment days. H2 receptor blockade with cimetidine does not appear to affect ventilatory function or bronchial hyperreactivity to histamine in asthmatic subjects. It has been suggested that cimetidine may have H1 as well as H2 receptor blocking properties which prevent this effect.     

HLA DQ beta restriction fragment length polymorphism and rheumatoid arthritis. Association between DQw7 and rheumatoid arthritis in DR4-positive subjects.

Two variants of the HLA-DR4-linked DQw3 allele, namely DQw7 and DQw8, were analysed in patients of mixed ancestry (Cape Coloureds) with rheumatoid arthritis and in healthy individuals from the same population group using a DQ beta-specific cDNA probe. The DQw7 allele, identified by 3,4 kb Hind III or 3,7 kb and 6,9 kb Bam HI DQ beta-specific restriction fragments, was expressed in 93% of DR4-positive patients (N = 15), compared with 12.5% DR4-positive normal individuals (N = 8). This DQ variant showed a highly significant association (relative risk = 98; P less than 0.0001) with rheumatoid arthritis in this population group and may play a role in their susceptibility to this disease.     

Adrenergic receptor and knockout mouse: 1) Beta adrenergic receptor knockout mouse

Functional analysis of beta 1 and beta 2 adrenergic receptor (AR) subtypes has been made possible by establishing knockout mice (KO) with abolished beta 1 and/or beta 2 AR expression. Neither resting heart rate nor resting blood pressure of beta 1 AR KO, beta 2 AR KO, or beta 1/beta 2 KO differed significantly from those of wild-type mice. The chronotropic response to isoproterenol was significantly attenuated in beta 1 AR KO and beta 1/beta 2 KO, whereas there was no detrimental effect on heart rate in beta 2 AR KO. This suggests that chronotropy is mediated by beta 1 AR. In terms of the vasodilatory response to isoproterenol, there appears to be a graded and additive attenuation of the hypotensive response in beta 1 AR KO, beta 2 AR KO, and beta 1/beta 2 KO. Vascular relaxation is thought to be controlled by both beta 1 AR and beta 2 AR. Tachycardia induced by exercise was significantly attenuated in beta 1 AR KO, and beta 1/beta 2 KO. beta 2 AR KO subjected to treadmill exercise showed significant hypertension, increased oxygen consumption, and ability of long distance running.     

Beta2‐adrenergic receptor in kidney biology: A current prospective

Beta2‐adrenergic receptor (β₂‐AR) is a G‐protein‐coupled adrenergic receptor family member, whose clinical significance has been extensively investigated in lung, cardiovascular and muscular diseases, but its role in kidney biology remains understudied. In this review, we discuss some of the recent studies, where the effect of agonist/antagonist‐mediated activation/inhibition of β₂‐AR on disease pathogenesis process was studied, and highlighted the role of β₂‐AR in kidney biology. The expression of β₂‐AR has been noted in many kidney subunits including proximal tubules, glomeruli and podocytes. In vivo studies have shown that in cultured proximal tubules β₂‐AR is involved in Na‐ATPase activity and transcellular Na‐transport through protein kinase‐C activation; whereas in cultured podocytes, it was associated with depolarization of the membrane. The animal studies further revealed that β₂‐AR activation by short‐acting β₂ agonists attenuated monocyte activation, pro‐inflammatory and pro‐fibrotic responses through β‐arrestin2 dependent NF‐kB inactivation in diabetic kidney disease; in contrast, activation by long‐acting β₂ agonists restored mitochondrial and renal function in the acute kidney injury mice models through PGC‐1α dependent mitochondrial biogenesis. In conclusion, the activation of β₂‐AR may present a rapidly developing therapeutic target for renal diseases.     

Oncogene amplification and inactivation of tumor suppressor genes in urological malignant tumors--the application of restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis]

We applied restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis to 24 cases of renal cell carcinomas (RCC), 18 cases of prostate adenocarcinomas (PC), and 11 cases of transitional cell carcinomas (TCC) in the renal pelvis to study the oncogene amplification and inactivation of tumor suppressor genes. All of the cases showed no amplification nor gross rearrangements of the Harvey ras, c-myc, c-fos, c-myb, EGFR and PDGFR. In contrast, RFLP analyses demonstrated allelic losses interpreted as inactivational events of TSGs among the tumor forms studied. RCC had allelic losses on the short arm of chromosome 3 (3p) (68%), the long arm of chromosome 18 (18q) (33%), Y chromosome (29%), and 17p (27%) at high frequencies. PC showed frequent allelic losses on 16q (67%), 8p (50%), 18q (43%), 10p (40%), and 10q (38%). TCC had allelic losses on 17p (73%), 11p (64%), and 9p (40%). It was likely that the cases with the more malignant grade tumor had the more allelic losses.     

Beta adrenergic receptor alterations in diabetic rat prostate: effects of insulin and dietary myoinositol.

As sexual dysfunction is a well-recognized manifestation of diabetes mellitus and as the function of the prostate, a major accessory organ in the male reproductive system, is regulated by the autonomic nervous system, we studied beta adrenergic receptors in the prostate of streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats, using radioligand receptor binding techniques. Four groups of rats were maintained for 8 weeks: controls, diabetics, insulin-treated diabetics, and myoinisitol-treated diabetics. The diabetic and myoinisitol-treated diabetic animals were smaller, had higher blood glucose levels, higher water intake and urine output, smaller prostates, and lower serum insulin levels than the other groups. Saturation experiments with [3H]dihydroalprenolol showed that the induction of diabetes decreased the density of beta adrenergic receptors in prostatic membrane particulates. Inhibition studies with selective beta adrenergic antagonists demonstrated that these receptors were of the beta 2 subtype. Furthermore, insulin but not myoinositol treatment normalized blood glucose and insulin levels, maintained normal prostate and body weight-gain, and prevented the decrease in the density, i.e., down-regulation, of the prostatic beta adrenergic receptors.     

肾上腺素能受体单核苷酸多态性与镇痛相关性的研究进展

个体间的疼痛反应和对镇痛药物的敏感性存在明显差异,遗传因素是产生这种差异的主要原因。随着受体单核苷酸多态性检测技术进入高通量测序时代,肾上腺素能受体单核苷酸多态性与疼痛和镇痛敏感性相关性研究逐渐深入。肾上腺素能受体是介导儿茶酚胺作用的组织受体,有9种不同的亚型,其中参与疼痛和镇痛敏感性的主要是α_2A、β₁和β₂受体。ADRα_2A基因rs1800544位点存在单核苷酸多样性,并且与右美托咪定镇静镇痛相关,ADRβ₁基因的rs1801252和rs1801253多态性与痛觉过敏和镇痛效果相关,ADRβ₂基因的第16位(Arg16Gly)和第27位(Gln27Glu)多态性可能与药物耐受和个体间分娩疼痛差异性有关。本文将从以上三种受体单核苷酸多态性对疼痛敏感性和镇痛的影响进行综述。     

Intra-abdominal sepsis and adrenergic receptor response.

This study measured the adrenergic receptor response of 13 patients with severe intra-abdominal sepsis, who required laparotomy and an open abdominal closure with Marlex mesh. The source of the sepsis was gram-negative organisms of intestinal origin. There were seven survivors and six nonsurvivors. When the patients were stratified into survivors and nonsurvivors, the Septic Severity Score, the APACHE II score, the Acute Physiological Score, and the Glasgow Coma Scale score results were not significantly different between groups. The alpha-2 and beta-1 adrenergic receptor responses were measured in the adipose tissue of the abdominal wall and the small bowel mesentery on day 1 of admission to the intensive care unit. The results demonstrated that the alpha-2 and beta-1 receptors of the nonsurvivors had a significantly decreased receptor response with desensitization and down regulation. The alpha-2 and beta-1 receptors of the survivors had an increased response with hypersensitization and up regulation. This study indicates that the adrenergic receptor pattern is distinctly different between survivors and nonsurvivors with severe abdominal gram-negative sepsis. The pattern differences occurred early (within 24 hours) when the patients had similar physiologic profiles. It is concluded that adrenergic receptor response may be a biologic indicator of the magnitude of the septic injury and a predictor of outcome.     

Intravenous prednisolone in chronic bronchial asthma.

A single injection of 40 mg prednisolone phosphate was given to 10 patients with chronic bronchial asthma. Changes in pulmonary function were followed over a 30-hour period. Statistically significant changes occurred in the tests employed one hour after the injection of prednisolone. The maximum change for the group as a whole was seen to occur after eight hours. This time course of response is very similar to that obtained in previous studies on similar groups of patients with oral prednisolone where the peak effect occurred nine hours after the drug had been given. Intravenous hydrocortisone produces a much earlier peak effect, at five hours, when it is administered to chronic asthmatic patients.