Application of a pigment measuring device – Mexameter®– for the differential diagnosis of vitiligo and nevus depigmentosus

Background/purpose: Vitiligo and nevus depigmentosus (ND) present similar hypopigmented macules with significantly different prognoses. Although the distinction between the two diseases is important, differential diagnosis relies on medical history and physical examination, which is far from decisive in some cases. The Mexameter^® is an objective skin color-measuring device, and has been reported to provide a reproducible and sensitive means of quantifying small skin color differences. In this study, we investigated the usefulness of a Mexameter^® for discriminating these diseases.
Methods: A selection of 202 hypopigmented skin lesions (182 from vitiligo and 20 from ND) were the objects of this study. Using a Mexameter, MIs were obtained from lesions and symmetrically located control skin. RMIs, ratios of the MIs of lesional skins to control skins, were calculated.
Results: The mean MIs and RMIs were significantly different for vitiligo and ND. The mean RMI of ND lesions was 74±13, which was significantly higher than that of vitiligo lesions (50±24). No ND lesion had an RMI of <50%.
Conclusion: This study shows that the Mexameter^®, an objective pigment-measuring device, can be used to achieve a more accurate diagnosis of hypopigmentary disorders, and that the relative melanin index (RMI), which represents the relative pigment levels, might be a more effective parameter than the melanin index (MI) itself for comparing pigmentation differences.     

A magnetic resonance imaging study of putamen nuclei in major depression.

The basal ganglia are recognized as putative mediators of certain cognitive and behavioral symptoms of major depression. Moreover, patients with basal ganglia lesions have repeatedly exhibited significant affective symptomatology, including apathy, depressive mood, and psychosis. Using high resolution, axial T2 intermediate magnetic resonance images, and a systematic sampling stereologic method, we assessed putamen nuclei volumes in 41 patients with major depression (DSM-III) and 44 healthy volunteer controls of similar age. Depressed patients had significantly smaller putamen nuclei compared with controls. Age was negatively correlated with putamen size in both groups. These results are the first demonstration of diminished putamen volumes in depression and further support a role for basal ganglia structures in the etiopathogenesis of depression.     

11β-羟类固醇脱氢酶与2型糖尿病

11β-羟类固醇脱氢酶(11β-HSDs)催化氢化可的松(皮质酮)和可的松(脱氢皮质酮)的相互转化，对调节局部糖皮质激素的活性起着重要作用，而糖皮质激素可诱导胰岛素抵抗。肝、脂肪等组织内11β-HSD活性的改变与肥胖、2型糖尿病等疾病密切相关。     

Studies on monoclonal anti-isotypic and anti-idiotypic antibodies against leukemia and myeloma: IV modulation of membrane fluidity of leukemic cell lines and tonsillar cell stimulated with McAbs

Summary In this study the technique of labelling the cell membrane with DPH fluorescence polarization was used to observe the membrane fluidity of B lymphocytic cell lines and tonsillar cells from healthy persons; the modulation effect on membrane-fluidity induced by McAbs against isotypic and idiotypic determinants of IgM from patients with leukemia was studied as well. The expression of the corresponding isotypic and idiotypic determinants of IgM on the cell membrane was determined. The results show that the membrane fluidity of leukemic cell lines is remarkably higher than that of tonsillar cells from healthy persons, and McAbs against isotypic determinants of leukemic IgM can enhance the membrane fluidity of all kinds of cells mentioned above. However, the anti-idiotypic monoclonal antibody increased only the membrane fluidity of leukemic cell lines. These results indicated that there was a close relationship between the effect of McAbs on cell membrane fluidity and the expression of corresponding isotypic and idiotypic determinants of IgM on the cell membrane.     

Muscarinic receptor-mediated hydrolysis of phosphatidylinositols in human neuroblastoma (SH-SY5Y) cells is sensitive to pertussis toxin

Effects of pertussis toxin or cholera toxin on carbachol-stimulated inositol-1-phosphate ([3H]IP1) accumulation were studied using the human neuroblastoma cell line (SH-SY5Y). The maximal carbachol-stimulated [3H]IP1 accumulation in the SH-SY5Y cells was decreased from 51.4 fmol/10(6) cells to 42.4 fmol/10(6) cells (P less than 0.05) and 22.1 fmol/10(6) cells (P less than 0.01) in the absence and presence of 1 microgram/ml and 10 micrograms/ml pertussis toxin, respectively while the EC50 values did not change. Cholera toxin (1 mg/ml) did not alter carbachol-stimulated [3H]IP1 accumulation in these cells. These results suggest that a pertussis toxin sensitive G-protein may be involved in muscarinic receptor-phosphatidylinositol hydrolysis coupling in SH-SY5Y cells.     

穿透性角膜移植术后角膜内皮细胞之命运

地２组猴行５。５→５．０ｍｍ穿透性角膜移植术，异种组４只，同种组４只，术前用冷冻创伤＾３Ｈ－ＴｄＲ标记法标记受生角膜内皮细胞，术后１４周摘除眼球，用放射自显影法显示银颗粒的分布。     

^125I放射微粒微创植入治疗前列腺癌

目的观察^125I放射微粒植入对前列腺癌的治疗效果。方法对26例临床确诊为前列腺癌患者经皮穿刺在癌组织植入^125I放射微粒，每例平均36粒，术后复查肛诊、B超、影像学及血生化指标。结果患者植入治疗经过顺利，2例少量出血，留置导尿后愈合，3个月后经肛诊、直肠B超示结节缩小，前列腺特异性抗原（PSA）降低，多普勒超声显示结节内动脉收缩期最大血流速度（VS）、阻力指数（RI）及动脉搏动指数（PI）均明显下降。结论^125I放射微粒植入对前列腺癌的治疗安全性好、效果可靠。     

Neuropathology in non-human immunodeficiency virus-infected drug addicts: hypoxic brain damage after chronic intravenous drug abuse

Neuropathological studies were carried out on 180 human immunodeficiency virus-seronegative intravenous drug addicts. The findings in victims of acute heroin intoxication (n = 116) were congestion (99.1%), capillary engorgement (68.1%), and/or perivascular bleeding (68.1%) – hemodynamic processes attributable to toxic primary respiratory failure. In a high percentage of these cases (88%), cerebral edema was also present. In 18 cases of acute heroin intoxication who survived for periods of hours or days, the sole postmortem finding was ischemic nerve cell damage, resembling that typically seen in systemic hypoxia. Semiquantitative analysis revealed nerve cell loss in the hippocampal formation and/ or Purkinje cell layer in 26% of the 162 chronic drug abusers. By contrast, in nearly 80% of these cases, the hippocampus showed enhanced expression of glial fibrillary acid protein by astrocytes and/or a proliferation of microglia, demonstrated by CD68 expression. Since such reactive processes are produced by primary neuronal damage, it can be assumed that chronic intravenous drug abuse results in obviously ischemic nerve cell loss. This could be demonstrated in the hippocampus, but it must also occur throughout the whole brain. The demonstration of ischemic nerve cell damage and neuronal loss or secondary reactive alterations has not been described previously. Received: 31 March 1995 / Revised, accepted: 27 November 1995     

乙醇对人绒毛孕酮分泌的影响

本工作利用灌流技术观察了四种不同浓度的乙醇(0.5％、1％、2.5％、5％)对妊娠早期人工流产新鲜胎盘绒毛分泌孕酮的影响。结果表明,乙醇具有促进孕酮分泌的作用,并存在剂量依赖的关系。提示乙醇可能破坏胎盘激素内分泌的平衡,从而影响胎儿的正常生长与发育。