Mechanisms of protective action of radix Salviae miltiorrhizae (RSM) against experimental hepatic injury in rats]

The results indicated that RSM could significantly inhibit the lipid peroxidation of normal livers and cultured hepatocytes of rats, induce liver microsomal cytochrome P450 in normal rats, increase nucleic acids, proteins, urea and cerolloplasmin of damaged cultured hepatocytes of rats, relieve ultrastructural damage of cultured hepatocytes induced by CCl4. The pharmacological actions mentioned above should be considered as important mechanisms of RSM against liver injury.     

Point mutation in the parkin gene on patients with Parkinson’s disease

Summary To investigate the distribution of possible novel mutations from parkin gene in variant subset of patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) in China and explore whether parkin gene plays an important role in the pathogenesis of PD, 70 patients were divided into early-onset group and late-onset group; 70 healthy subjects were included as controls. Genomic DNA from 70 normal controls and from those of PD patients were extracted from peripheral blood leukocytes by using standard procedures. Mutations of parkin gene (exon 1–12) in all the subjects were screened by PCR-single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP), and further sequencing was performed in the samples with abnormal SSCP results, in order to confirm the mutation and its location. A new missense mutation Gly284Arg in a patient and 3 abnormal bands in SSCP electrophoresis from samples of another 3 patients were found. All the DNA variants were sourced from the samples of the patients with early-onset PD. It was concluded that Parkin point mutation also partially contributes to the development of early-onset Parkinson’s disease in Chinese. WANG Tao, male, born in 1961, Associate Professor This work was supported by grants from the key program of the special scientific project of Scientific & Technologic Agency of Hubei Province (Serial No. 2001AA308B01) and the Hygienic Research Project of Hygienic Agency of Hubei province (Serial No. WJ 01529).     

In-plane myocardial wall stress is not the primary determinant of coronary systolic flow impediment. A study in the isolated, perfused dog septum.

The hypothesis that ventricular in-plane tensile wall stresses are the major determinant of systolic coronary flow was investigated in this study. We measured coronary artery inflow in the maximally vasodilated bed of the isolated beating septum (n = 10) during two modes of contraction characterized by markedly different levels of developed in-plane stress. An increase in contractility was induced by changing from the control steady-state pacing state to a postextrasystolic potentiated state induced by a modified rapid pacing protocol. Over a range of increments of passive stretch, the systolic flow impediment versus the diastolic wall strain was described by an inverse linear relation. Despite the differences in developed in-plane wall stresses between the two modes of contraction (p less than 0.001), the slope and intercept of these relations in both the control and potentiated states were not different for the low versus high developed stress modes. The systolic flow impediment versus diastolic wall strain relation for the potentiated beats, compared with the control beats, was characterized by an increase in the intercept in both the low developed stress beats (p less than 0.05) and the high developed stress beats (p less than 0.05). These data indicate that the impediment to coronary flow during systole is not primarily determined by systolic myocardial in-plane tensile wall stresses but rather by the contractile state of the muscle.     

腹部CTA检查的质量保证

目的:探讨螺旋CT血管造影(Spiral CT angiography,SCTA)技术,以期提高SCTA造影的质量。材料与方法:采用Somatom Plus 4螺旋CT扫描系统对10例病人行腹部SCTA检查。扫描技术和造影剂参数按病变范围和性质而定,三维重建采用最大强度投影法(MIP)或表面阴影显示法(SSD)或弯曲平面重建法(CPR)。结果:SCTA检查技术能可靠地显示血管形态和病变,评价腹部肿瘤与邻近血管关系。结论:SCTA是无创伤性的血管成像术,在很大范围可替代创伤性的血管造影。     

大鼠翼腭神经节SIF细胞的年龄变化

用醛诱发荧光法观察了不同年龄组大鼠翼腭神经节小强荧光（ＳＩＦ）细胞的数量，发现出生１天时ＳＩＦ细胞数量最少，１周内急剧增加，１－２周数量无明显，至４周数量继续增加，成年时数量最多，老年时比成年时无明显的数量变化，表明大鼠翼腭神经节ＳＩＦ细胞的数量随年龄增长而增加。     

A study on various symptoms of chronic hepatitis treated with radix astragali and its regulative effect to levels of serum hormone

Sixty-seven cases of chronic hepatitis were treated with Radix Astragali. After treatment (2-month course), the clinical improvement rate in 38 cases of the Stagnation of the Liver-Qi and Deficiency of the Spleen type was 92.1%, and in 26 cases of the Deficiency of Liver Yin and Kidney Yin type was 88.5%, more effective than in the control group (P<0.05). The regulative effect to the levels of serum hormone was observed in the patients of the Stagnation of the Liver-Qi and Deficiency of the Spleen type treated with this medicine. The results showed that the levels of serum triiodothyronine, estradiol (female) and testosterone (male) were increased after treatment (1.40±1.38 ng/dl, 129.30±1.23 pg/ml and 496.24±1.47 ng/dl). Pre-treatment levels were 1.22±1.49 ng/dl, 104.60±1.45 pg/ml and 398. 17±1.55 ng/dl respectively (P<0.05); however, the level of serum prolactin (2.75±4.46 ng/ml) was lower after treatment than before treatment (3.20±3.82 ng/ml,P<0.05). No obvious changes were observed in the levels of serum follicle stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone, thyroid stimulating hormone, thyroxine, triiodothyronine uptake ratio and cortisol after treatment.     

Sexual abuse of children: an area with room for professional reforms

The cases of 46 children who had been abused sexually an average of 2.6 years previously, were reviewed and the non-offending parents were interviewed with emphasis on how they viewed the professional persons who had seen their children, and their opinions of the legal processes that were instituted. The parents found most professional groups helpful, with officers from the Department of Youth and Community Services being seen as the least helpful. Twenty-one of the cases went to court; in 12 cases this resulted in a conviction, and prison sentences were imposed on six of the offenders. Children found the court experience distressing and most parents expressed dissatisfaction with the outcome of the court hearing. Children were more likely to be required to give evidence in court if the offender had legal representation. Persisting behavioural problems and poor school performance were more likely to occur in those cases in which there had been court hearings. A review of Police Department records of children who had attended the hospital for the management of sexual assault, showed that 10 of the 107 children who are now aged over 14 years, have themselves been convicted of violent crimes since their episode of sexual assault. Long-term intervention is required to help many of these children, some legal reforms are necessary to reduce the stress that they experience when there is a court hearing, and all the professional groups that are likely to become involved with the problem of the sexual abuse of children need to be better informed about its seriousness and consequences.     

Correlation between the intensity of cytomegalovirus infection and the amount of perivasculitis in aortic allografts

Abstract  We previously demonstrated that cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection enhanced perivascular inflammation in rat aortic allografts. In this study, we investigated the relationship between the CMV infection load and the magnitude of perivasculitis (chronic rejection) in aortic transplants. Rats received or-thotopic abdominal aortic grafts, different degrees of total body irradiation (TBI) for immunosuppres-sion and CMV inoculation. The spleens of the rats receiving 5 Gy of TBI contained more infectious virus and viral antigens than those of rats receiving 3 Gy of TBI or no TBI. Although the number of inflammatory cells infiltrating the perivascular area was decreased after TBI, CMV infection resulted in increased perivasculitis in rats that received 5 Gy of TBI as compared to non-infected animals. This virus-induced effect was characterized predominantly by an increased T-cell infiltration, including CD4 and CD8 T-cells. It is concluded that an enhanced systemic CMV infection during severe immunosuppressive therapy can accelerate the development of chronic rejection, which seems to be mediated mainly by T-cells.     

二丙酸倍氯米松联合酮替芬防治毛细支气管炎后婴幼儿哮喘的研究

目的　观察低剂量二丙酸倍氯米松和酮替芬联合应用能否降低毛细支气管炎后支气管哮喘患病率。方法　 5 6例毛细支气管炎患儿为治疗组 ,采用低剂量二丙酸倍氯米松局部吸入 ,口服酮替芬 ,疗程 6～ 9个月 ;32例毛细支气管炎患儿不用药作为对照组。临床随访≥ 1年 ,观察两组患儿哮喘发生率。同时检测治疗前、后患儿肺功能及骨密度。结果　完成随访 1年以上者 ,治疗组 5 2例中仅 3例 (5 77% )发生哮喘 ,而对照组 30例中有 14例 (4 6 6 7% )发生哮喘 ,两组比较有显著性差异 (P <0 0 1)。治疗组患儿肺功能与治疗前比较亦有显著性差异。两组骨密度检测治疗前、后比较无显著差异。结论　低剂量二丙酸倍氯米松局部吸入与酮替芬联合应用可降低毛细支气管炎后婴幼儿哮喘患病率