Lack of detection of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 DNA by polymerase chain reaction in the plasma and lymphocytes of seronegative exposed hemophiliacs

Direct detection of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) DNA in serum or plasma samples has been reported in seronegative as well as seropositive individuals. An alkaline lysis procedure was adapted for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis of plasma specimens. Eighty- five seronegative hemophiliacs, 52 of whom had been exposed to HIV- contaminated blood components, and 19 seronegative at-risk individuals were studied. Each sample was extracted and amplified with SK38/39 gag primers at least three times. Seventy-six samples (72%) were consistently negative for HIV-1 DNA, 24 (22%) were positive only once, and 4 (3%) were positive twice. Genomic DNA from peripheral mononuclear cells was prepared from 12 of 76 negative samples, 18 of 24 samples that were positive once, and 2 of 4 samples that were positive twice and analyzed with both gag and long terminal repeat primers. None (0/32) of these cellular DNAs were positive for HIV-1, which suggests that these seronegative exposed hemophiliacs were not latently infected with HIV-1. In contrast, all (10/10) control cells from seropositive patients were positive with both primer pairs. The detection of HIV-1 DNA in serum or plasma may be prone to a high level of false-positive PCR signals and should be interpreted with caution.     

Genome-wide association with select biomarker traits in the Framingham Heart Study

Background

Systemic biomarkers provide insights into disease pathogenesis, diagnosis, and risk stratification. Many systemic biomarker concentrations are heritable phenotypes. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) provide mechanisms to investigate the genetic contributions to biomarker variability unconstrained by current knowledge of physiological relations.

Methods

We examined the association of Affymetrix 100K GeneChip single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) to 22 systemic biomarker concentrations in 4 biological domains: inflammation/oxidative stress; natriuretic peptides; liver function; and vitamins. Related members of the Framingham Offspring cohort (n = 1012; mean age 59 ± 10 years, 51% women) had both phenotype and genotype data (minimum-maximum per phenotype n = 507–1008). We used Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE), Family Based Association Tests (FBAT) and variance components linkage to relate SNPs to multivariable-adjusted biomarker residuals. Autosomal SNPs (n = 70,987) meeting the following criteria were studied: minor allele frequency ≥ 10%, call rate ≥ 80% and Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium p ≥ 0.001.

Results

With GEE, 58 SNPs had p < 10^-6: the top SNPs were rs2494250 (p = 1.00*10^-14) and rs4128725 (p = 3.68*10^-12) for monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP1), and rs2794520 (p = 2.83*10^-8) and rs2808629 (p = 3.19*10^-8) for C-reactive protein (CRP) averaged from 3 examinations (over about 20 years). With FBAT, 11 SNPs had p < 10^-6: the top SNPs were the same for MCP1 (rs4128725, p = 3.28*10^-8, and rs2494250, p = 3.55*10^-8), and also included B-type natriuretic peptide (rs437021, p = 1.01*10^-6) and Vitamin K percent undercarboxylated osteocalcin (rs2052028, p = 1.07*10^-6). The peak LOD (logarithm of the odds) scores were for MCP1 (4.38, chromosome 1) and CRP (3.28, chromosome 1; previously described) concentrations; of note the 1.5 support interval included the MCP1 and CRP SNPs reported above (GEE model). Previous candidate SNP associations with circulating CRP concentrations were replicated at p < 0.05; the SNPs rs2794520 and rs2808629 are in linkage disequilibrium with previously reported SNPs. GEE, FBAT and linkage results are posted at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/projects/gap/cgi-bin/study.cgi?id=phs000007.

Conclusion

The Framingham GWAS represents a resource to describe potentially novel genetic influences on systemic biomarker variability. The newly described associations will need to be replicated in other studies.

     

嗅鞘细胞修复脊髓损伤的实验室研究现状

目的:在成年哺乳动物中损伤的脊髓缺乏轴突再生能力,损伤平面以下运动、感觉、反射功能全部或部分永久丧失。在许多脊髓损伤的动物模型中,移植的嗅鞘细胞显示了促进轴突再生的能力。为此就嗅鞘细胞对脊髓损伤修复的实验室相关研究现状进行综述。资料来源:应用计算机检索Pubmed和Elsevier数据库和中国期刊网数据库1979-01/2006-05期间的相关文章,检索词为“olfactory ensheathing cell”,并限定文章语言种类为English和中文。资料选择:对资料进行初审,并查看每篇文献后的引文。纳入标准:文章所述内容应与嗅鞘细胞修复脊髓损伤的动物实验或临床研究相关。排除标准:重复研究或Meta分析类文章。资料提炼:共收集到50篇相关文献,30篇文献符合纳入标准,排除的20篇文献为内容陈旧或重复。符合纳入标准的30篇文献中,分别涉及嗅鞘细胞的生物学特点、嗅鞘细胞修复脊髓损伤的动物实验研究、嗅鞘细胞修复脊髓损伤的临床实验研究。资料综合:现代社会脊髓损伤的发生率逐渐升高,造成脊髓损伤平面以下机体功能永久性丧失,给患者、家庭和社会带来沉重的负担。嗅鞘细胞以其独特的生物学特性与在脊髓损伤动物模型中明确地促进轴突再生的作用为治疗脊髓损伤燃起新的希望。嗅鞘细胞属于神经胶质细胞,存在于鼻腔的嗅上皮、嗅神经和中枢神经系统的嗅球,兼有许旺细胞和星状胶质细胞的特性,研究发现有辅助轴突再生和改善神经功能的作用。嗅鞘细胞治疗脊髓损伤的临床试验也已展开,初步证实了移植的安全性、可行性和潜在的修复作用。结论:嗅鞘细胞移植能够促进损伤脊髓的轴突再生,但因其促进轴突再生的确切机制仍不甚明确,部分应用于临床的病例尚缺乏长期随访结果,故需要对嗅鞘细胞移植治疗脊髓损伤这一课题进行更深入的研究。     

A Quest For the Relief of Atherosclerosis: Potential Role of Intrapulmonary Heparin--A Hypothesis

Recent progress in the treatment of coronary artery diseaseis reviewed from the standpoint of changes in lifestyle, surgicaltechniques to revascularize the myocardium and a variety ofmedical interventions. Among the medical modalities, heparinappears to have a greater potential than any other agent testedto neutralize the atherogenic process at most of its stages.This potential is supported by success in clinical trials ofheparin administered by intravenous, subcutaneous, pulmonary,sublingual and topical routes. The suggested self-administrationof low-dose heparin by inhalation appears to be well justifiedand easily adaptable to home therapy. The summarized evidencesuggests the need for further clinical trials to test the useof heparin in the prophylaxis of atherosclerotic disease.     

Multiple bilateral spinal nerve root calcifications in Charcot‐Marie‐Tooth disease

We present a patient with Charcot‐Marie‐Tooth disease with multiple bilateral symmetrical cervical nerve root calcifications. To our knowledge, such a finding has not been described in the literature in association with this disease. We propose that multiple bilateral symmetrical spinal nerve root calcifications may be an additional imaging feature, possibly diagnostic, in this hereditary motor and spinal neuropathy.     

复方鱼腥草口服液质控项目的研究

目的：建立复方鱼腥草口服液质量控制项目。方法：用聚酰胺薄层色谱法对口服液中的主要成分之一绿原酸进行定性鉴别。用ＲＰ－ＨＰＬＣ法对黄芩苷进行含量测定。采用ＯＤＳ柱,流动相为甲醇－０．２％磷酸水溶液（５２：４８）。结果：线性范围０．１６２４～１．６２４ｕｇ。平均回收率为１０１．６％,ＲＳＤ＝１．２％。结论：上述方法简便、重复性好。可用于本品的质量控制。     

Primary musculoskeletal tumors: examination with MR imaging compared with conventional modalities

In 176 cases of primary musculo-skeletal tumors, the informative value of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging was compared with that of plain radiographic examination, angiography, scintigraphy, and computed tomography (CT). In all patients the surgical and histopathologic results were known. For bone tumors confined to the bone, MR imaging was excellent for evaluation of intraosseous extent, but it could not be proved significantly better than CT or scintigraphy. MR imaging was inferior to plain radiography and CT for evaluation of calcification, ossification, cortical destruction, and endosteal/periosteal reaction. For soft-tissue tumors and bone tumors with soft-tissue extension, MR imaging was significantly better than the other modalities in all variables examined: delineation between tumor and muscle, tumor and vessel, tumor and fat, tumor and joint, and tumor and bone, as well as depicting intralesional necrosis and bleeding.