Influence of lecithin on mitochondrial DNA and age-related hearing loss.

OBJECTIVES: Lecithin is a polyunsaturated phosphatidylcholine (PPC), which are high energy functional and structural elements of all biologic membranes. PPC play a rate-limiting role in the activation of numerous membrane-located enzymes, including superoxide dismutase and glutathione, which are important antioxidants protecting cell membranes from damage by reactive oxygen species (ROS). ROS-induced damage to mitochondrial DNA may lead to reduced mitochondrial function in the cochlea and resultant hearing loss. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: The effects of lecithin on aging and age-associated hearing loss were studied in rats by measuring hearing sensitivities using auditory brainstem responses (ABR). In addition, mitochondrial function as a measure of aging was assessed by determining mitochondrial membrane potentials using flow cytometry and by amplifying mitochondrial DNA deletions associated with aging. Harlan-Fischer rats aged 18 to 20 months (n = 14) were divided into 2 groups. The experimental group was supplemented orally for 6 months with lecithin, a purified extract of soybean phospholipid (Nutritional Therapeutics, Allendale, NJ). RESULTS: The data obtained were compared with the control group. ABRs were recorded at 2-month intervals and showed significant preservation of hearing sensitivities in the treated subjects. Flow cytometry revealed significantly higher mitochondrial membrane potentials in the treated subjects, suggesting preserved mitochondrial function. Finally, the common aging mitochondrial DNA deletion (mtDNA(4834)) were amplified from brain and cochlear tissue including stria vascularis and auditory nerve. This specific deletion was found significantly less frequent in all tissues in the treated group compared with the controls. CONCLUSION: These experiments support our hypothesis and provide evidence that lecithin may preserve cochlear mitochondrial function and protect hearing loss associated with aging.     

Polyclonal and allergen-induced cytokine responses in children with elevated immunoglobulin E but no atopic disease

BACKGROUND: Reduced Th1 and elevated Th2 cytokine responses are considered to be a principal mechanism in the generation of the inflammation leading to the manifestations of atopic disease in the skin of atopic dermatitis and in the airways of asthma. If reduced Th1 and elevated Th2 responses are principal determinants of the manifestation of atopic disease it might be expected that subjects with established disease would exhibit differences in their cytokine profiles as compared with atopic patients without clinical disease. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether asymptomatic atopic children exhibit a cytokine imbalance similar to that seen in patients with established atopic disease or if they behave like non-atopic controls. Cytokine responses in a group of children with elevated IgE but no clinical manifestations of disease, atopic children with established disease and non-atopic controls were compared. METHODS: We examined allergen-induced (house dust mite, HDM, rye grass pollen and RYE) cytokine responses in parallel with polyclonal (staphylococcal enterotoxin B, SEB) cytokine responses in a group of children with elevated serum IgE levels without current or past evidence of atopic disease (median age 6.6 years) and compared these with a non-atopic control group (median age 6.5 years) and a group of children with atopic disease (median age 6.7 years). RESULTS: Symptomatic atopic children had reduced SEB-induced IFN-gamma and increased SEB-induced IL-4 and IL-5 as compared with non-atopic controls. In contrast, SEB-induced IFN-gamma, IL-4 and IL-5 production in asymptomatic atopics was not significantly different from the non-atopic control subjects. Allergen-induced Th1 (IFN-gamma) and Th2 (IL-5 and IL-13) cytokine production was increased in both symptomatic atopics and asymptomatic atopics when compared with non-atopic controls. CONCLUSION: The defect in polyclonally induced IFN-gamma production was associated with the clinical manifestation of atopic disease but not the atopic stateper se. This suggests that the global reduction in IFN-gamma is the key determinant of the development of overt atopic disease. In contrast, elevated allergen-induced Th2 cytokine responses in children related to the atopic state per se irrespective of the presence of clinical atopic disease.     

Pharmacological action of Adenophora polysaccharides

Adenophora polysaccharides (AP), is an active principle extracted from the root of Adenophorae Potaninii Korsh originated in Gansu Province and isolated with boiling water(1). AP is isolated and purified from the crude drug by DEAE-cellulose and Sephadex G-200 column, with a white powder and mean molecular weight of 8.3 × 104 , and [α]D20of AP is 68(1). AP is only composed of glucose judging from the analysis of it with patina chromatography (PC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometer (GC-MS) methods.The methylation analysis showed that AP is composed of (1→6) linked glucose residues. The measure of nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (NMR) 1H NMR and 14C NMR techniques further proved that AP is α(l→6) linked by Dglucose. The structure of AP is as follows: -[→6]α-D-Glu(1-)n→ (2).     

Cancellation test performance in African American, Hispanic, and White elderly.

Shape and letter cancellation test performance was investigated among large samples of African American, Hispanic, and White non-demented elders. Ethnic minority elders took significantly longer to complete both tasks compared to Whites. An index of task efficiency, which simultaneously measures time and accuracy, suggested that slower time by minority elders was not related to a measurable effort to achieve greater accuracy. The frequency of commission errors was greater in our sample than in previous reports, especially among ethnic minority elders. Although significant differences were observed between the ethnic groups when matched for years of education, equating for literacy level eliminated all performance differences between African Americans and Whites on both cancellation tasks.     

口腔黏膜下纤维性变S100蛋白表达

OBJECTIVE: To study the expression of S100 in oral submucose fibrosis(OSF). METHODS: Immunohistochemistry assay was performed on 10 cases of OSF, 10 cases of oral epithelial dysplasia (OED) and 8 cases of normal oral epithelium using monoclonal antibody against S100 protein. RESULTS: S100 did not express in the normal oral muscosal epithelium. The S100 positive nuclear staining was found in 50% of the OSF and OED cases, which was significantly higher than that in the normal oral epithelium (P < 0.05). But the positive staining in the OSF and OED cases had no difference (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: S100 expression is closely related to the development of OSF and OED. The positive staining expression in the OSF and OED cases is the same.     

Effects of amoxapine and imipramine on evoked potentials in the Continuous Performance Test in patients with affective disorder

Twenty patients with major depressive disorder were studied with evoked potential (EP) topographic mapping after receiving placebo, imipramine, or amoxapine for 2 days in a random-assignment, double-blind design. Patients performed the Continuous Performance Test (CPT), a visual vigilance test. The stimuli were the digits 0-9, with 0 a target to be responded to with a button press. EPs were recorded from 32 channels and were averaged separately for detected and undetected targets and for false positives and correctly identified nontargets (no button press). Twenty-one normal controls were also tested. Amoxapine enhanced N120 amplitude in midline parietal and right parietal cortex where selective attention effects have been found to be greatest in studies of normal controls. Both amoxapine and imipramine enhanced differences in P200 between target and nontarget stimuli in comparison to placebo, with amoxapine differences again being greatest over midline parietal locations. CPT performance was significantly better on amoxapine than placebo.     

Investigation of infection with human papillomavirus in areas of high and low incidences of cervical carcinoma in Sichuan Province]

From Jan. to Oct. 1989, we investigated the role of various life style and dietary factors in areas of high and low incidences of cervical carcinoma, as well as infection with types 16 and 33 of human papillomavirus (HPV) in populations. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique was used to detect the infection with HPV 16/33. The result showed that the infection rate of HPV was about 17.9% (Guangyuan, area of high incidence of cervical cancer), and the infection rate about 3.4% (Mian Zhu, area of low incidence of cervical cancer). It was clear that Guangyuan was 5-fold as the infection rate of HPV 16/33 as Mian Zhu. Strong and statistically significant associations were found to between infection rate of Guangyuan and Mian Zhu (P < 0.001). Other risk factors of cervical carcinoma, such as cigarette smoker, Vegetable intake, genital hygiene, personal hygiene etc, were also discussed and analysed in the article.     

抗凝血酶Ⅲ测定在评价肝脏功能中的应用

测定110例肝病的抗凝血酶Ⅲ(AT-Ⅲ)活性,62例低于正常(56.4％),均值为60.1±38.2％。50例正常对照为100.0±26.7％。重症肝炎、慢性活动性肝炎及失代偿期肝硬化活性显著下降,均值分别为12.9±13.0％、51.0±34.6％、43.3±29.6％.AT-Ⅲ活性在评价肝脏功能方面较凝血酶原时间敏感,具有一定的实用意义。     

Accuracy of allometrically predicted pharmacokinetic parameters in humans: role of species selection.

A general equation was derived, which directly describes the mathematical relationship between the allometrically predicted pharmacokinetic (PK) parameters in humans and the body weights of animal species (along with their corresponding measured PK parameters). It was shown, with use of the derived equation, that the predicted values in humans, based on combinations of animal species commonly used in allometry, are heavily dependent on certain species, for example, the dog. In contrast, parameter values from the rat made no contribution to the predicted human values, as long as the rat was not the smallest species used. Monte Carlo simulations were further performed to examine the species or weight dependence. The cost-effective combinations of animal species, in terms of number and species type, were theoretically examined through simulations. Finally, literature data demonstrated the species or weight dependence predicted from the equation and as illustrated through the Monte Carlo simulations. Appreciation of this species or weight dependence should guide researchers in selecting animal species and designing optimal experiments in the application of allometric scaling.