Follow-up study of acute hepatitis C

Summary An extended follow-up study of hepatitis C virus (HVC) infection was conducted in Guangzhou and its nearby regions on patients hospitalized with acute hepatitis. Routine screening of blood donors for HCV was not yet instituted at the time of this study. HCV was found to be a common cause of the disease, and the infection had a close association with recent histories of blood transfusion. Sequential sera obtained from patients during hospitalization and after discharge were tested for the presence of HCV antibodies by the first and the second generation of commercial test kits, for levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and for the presence of HCV-RNA. The development of HCV antibodies in some of the patients may be delayed for protracted period following clinical onset. HCV-RNA was only intermittently detectable both before and after seroconversion. Six of 33 patients studied showed seroreversion and 5 of them were accompanied by loss of HCV-RNA and serum ALT returned to normal levels. The disease persisted in 24 of 27 patients without seroreversion, accompanied by intermittent detection of HCV-RNA throughout the protracted course of the infection. Our results indicate that both EIA for detection of HCV antibodies and PCR for serum HCV-RNA should be used in combination for reliable diagnosis of HCV infection and screening of blood for transfusion.     

茶黄烷醇对离体缺血再灌注鼠心心律失常的作用

本研究旨在探讨茶黄烷醇(TF)对离体缺血再灌注鼠心心律失常的作用。结果表明,对照组缺血后再灌注初期心律失常发生率高达91.67%(11/12),显著高于TF组(P<0.005),TF组心律失常发生率仅为23.08%(3/13);对照组心律失常持续时间平均为27.91±6.94min,TF组平均为9.83±6.21min,两组比较差异显著(P<0.001)。上述结果表明TF具有显著的抗缺血再灌性心律失常作用。     

聚醚型聚氨酯材料表面纤维蛋白原的吸附性研究

本文采用放射性同位素标记的方法研究了嵌段聚醚型聚氨酯在纯纤维蛋白原溶液中和稀释血浆中的表面纤维蛋白原吸附性规律，考察了聚醚型聚氨酯的特性粘数及溶液体系中的ＮａＣｌ浓度对材料表面纤维蛋白原吸附性的影响，结果表明，随着聚合物特性粘数的增大，材料表面的纤维蛋白原吸附量呈降低的趋势；溶液体系中盐浓度的降低导致纤维蛋白原凝固性增强，在纯纤维蛋白原溶液中，材料表面纤维蛋白原的吸附量相应增多，而在稀释血浆中，纤维蛋白原的吸附量相应减少，在达到最低值后又有上升的趋向，表明纤维蛋白原在材料表面的吸附还受血浆中其它大分子的影响。     

Neonatal sepsis in the neonatal intensive care unit: characteristics of early versus late onset.

Neonatal sepsis is a major cause of death in newborns despite sophisticated neonatal intensive care. This retrospective study reviewed the clinical characteristics of cases of culture-proven sepsis in a neonatal intensive care unit from January 1992 to December 2001. Patients were divided into those with onset of sepsis in the first 7 days of life (early-onset group) and those with onset after the seventh day of life (late-onset group). A total of 270 cases with 325 episodes of sepsis and 353 isolated pathogens were identified and included in the study. The male-to-female ratio was 1.4. The majority of cases of sepsis occurred in low birth weight (75.9%) and premature babies (76.7%). Late onset occurred in 71.9% of cases. Patients with late onset had a lower mortality rate than those with early onset (11.3% vs 28.9%). Coagulase-negative staphylococci (20.1%) was the most common organism isolated, but infection with Pseudomonas aeruginosa was associated with the highest morality rate (55.0%). Late-onset sepsis was significantly more common in very low birth weight and premature infants. The most frequently encountered pathogens in the early-onset group were group B streptococci (GBS) and Escherichia coli, while in the late-onset group, the organisms were coagulase-negative staphylococci and Enterobacteriaceae, including E. coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Acinetobacter baumannii. GBS infection resulted in the highest mortality when the onset of sepsis was within the first 24 hours of life.     

豚鼠脊髓运动神经元分支至股神经和腰背肌的研究——逆行荧光双标记法

应用碘化丙院-双苯甲亚胺配伍逆行荧光双标记技术对豚鼠脊髓运动神经元分支至股神经和腰背肌作了研究.结果发现股神经的运动纤维来源于同侧L1～5脊髓前角内侧核运动神经元和L4～5脊髓前角外侧核运动神经元;腰背肌的运动纤维来源于同侧相应节段脊髓前角内侧核运动神经元.在L3～5脊髓前角内侧核运动神经元中,有碘化丙啶-双苯甲亚胺荧光双标记运动神经元,占内侧核全部标记运动神经元的18.8‰.结果提示脊髓前角运动神经元具有分支分布至腰背肌和股神经的现象.     

Atypical Glomus Tumor in the Mediastinum: A Case Report with Immunohistochemical and Ultrastructural Studies

A case is reported of atypical glomus tumor occurring in the posterior inferior mediastinum of a 26-year-old woman complaining of severe back pain. The tumor was composed of atypical small, round tumor cells with scattered mitotic figures. In addition to sheet-like, diffuse proliferation of the tumor cells, some areas of the tumor contained small “glo-moid” cells arranged in organoid and hemangiopericytoma-like patterns. Immunohistochemically, many tumor cells were positive for muscle-type actins and a few cells were focally positive for desmin. Ultrastructural studies revealed smooth muscle features of tumor cells, that is, pinocytotic vesicles, external laminas, dense plaques, and occasional thin filaments with dense bodies. The patient remained well for 5 years and 4 months after the operation without additional radiation and chemotherapy. The tumor was diagnosed as an atypical, or low-grade malignant, glomus tumor morphologically. It seems important to recognize the presence of this type of tumor in sites other than extremities and to differentiate it from other malignant small, round cell tumors.     

Induction of genotoxic damage is not correlated with the ability to methylate arsenite in vitro in the leukocytes of four mammalian species

Arsenic is a natural drinking water contaminant that impacts the health of large populations of people throughout the world; however, the mode or mechanism by which arsenic induces cancer is unclear. In a series of in vitro studies, we exposed leukocytes from humans, mice, rats, and guinea pigs to a range of sodium arsenite concentrations to determine whether the lymphocytes from these species showed differential sensitivity to the induction of micronuclei (MN) assessed in cytochalasin B-induced binucleate cells. We also determined the capacity of the leukocytes to methylate arsenic by measuring the production of MMA [monomethylarsinic acid (MMA(V)) and monomethylarsonous acid (MMA(III))] and DMA [dimethylarsinic acid (DMA(V)) and dimethylarsonous acid (DMA(III))]. The results indicate that cells treated for 2 hr at the G(0) stage of the cell cycle with sodium arsenite showed only very small to negligible increases in MN after mitogenic stimulation. Treatment of actively cycling cells produced induction of MN with increasing arsenite concentration, with the human, rat, and mouse lymphocytes being much more sensitive to MN induction than those of the guinea pig. These data gave an excellent fit to a linear model. The leukocytes of all four species, including the guinea pig (a species previously thought not to methylate arsenic), were able to methylate arsenic, but there was no clear correlation between the ability to methylate arsenic and the induction of MN.