Fate of full‐house immunofluorescence staining in renal allograft: A case report

Here, we report the case of a patient with renal allograft with full‐house immunofluorescence staining in the zero‐hour biopsy. Full‐house immunofluorescence staining is a well‐known characteristic of lupus nephritis. Previous studies have reported patients with full‐house immunofluorescence staining, but without other symptoms or serological findings; this condition is referred to as full‐house nephropathy. We identified only one case out of 2203 zero‐hour biopsies over 13 years. Zero‐hour biopsy presented no glomerular changes but showed full‐house immunofluorescence staining. Electron microscopy revealed a nonorganized electron‐dense deposit mainly in the mesangial lesion. Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)‐associated antibodies were negative, and complement deficiency was not observed in the donor patients. Deposition of immunoglobulin and complement levels markedly decreased within 1–3 years post transplantation. Neither donor nor recipient developed clinical or biological features of SLE; they showed good renal prognosis.     

“馒头事件”呼唤重建信任

馒头事件的曝光,再次触动了人们本就绷紧的神经。从大头娃娃事件到三聚氰胺奶粉,再到瘦肉精滥用……食品安全事件似乎不但没有止息,相反却越演越烈。     

Quantification of BCR-ABL mRNA in Plasma/Serum of Patients with Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia

Quantification of tumor-associated mRNA extracted from blood cells/tissues containing tumor cells is used for evaluation of treatment efficacy or residual tumor cell burden in tumors including leukemia. However, this method using tumor cell-containing blood/tissue is difficult to evaluate the whole tumor cell burden in the body. In order to establish an efficient method to evaluate the whole tumor cell burden in the body, we tried to quantify tumor-associated mRNA existing in plasma/serum instead of leukemia cell-containing blood cells in patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) and compared the levels of BCR-ABL mRNA between plasma/serum and peripheral blood cells. mRNA of BCR-ABL, WT1 or GAPDH (control molecule) was detected by real-time RT-PCR using RNA extracted from plasma/serum of almost all the patients with CML. Copy numbers of BCR-ABL mRNA were significantly correlated between plasma/serum and peripheral blood cells. However, levels of BCR-ABL mRNA extracted from serum were low compared with those extracted with peripheral blood cells. The present findings suggest that although real-time RT-PCR of mRNA existing in plasma/serum could be used for evaluating the whole tumor cell burden in the body, it''s required to establish an efficient method to quantify plasma/serum mRNA by nature without degrading during the procedure.     

人鼻咽癌细胞株中C－Ha－ras基因DNase－I超敏区的序列分析

Ｃ一Ｈａ一ｒａｓ基因的活化与鼻咽癌的发生有关。为了进一步了解ｃ一Ｈａ一ｒａｓ基因在鼻咽癌中的调控模式和活化机制，本文用ＤＮａｓｅ一Ｉ超敏区分析方法对人鼻咽癌细胞株ＨＮＥ２和ＨＯＮＥ１的Ｃ一Ｈｅ一ｒａｓ基因进行研究，发现Ｃ一Ｈａ一ｒａｓ基因启动子部位存在一个重要的ＤＮａｓｅ一Ⅰ超敏区，测序结果表明其ＤＮＡ序列与正常Ｃ一Ｈａ一ｒａｓ基因的相应序列完全等同。提示鼻咽癌细胞中Ｃ一Ｈａ一ｒａｓ基因的调控模式在序列水平与正常细胞中的并无差异。     

Circulating levels of insulin-like growth factor-1 and insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 in patients with severe head injury

There is evidence to suggest that fractures heal more rapidly in patients with a head injury as a result of systemic factors released from the site of this injury. We have measured the circulating level of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and IGF binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) in serum because of their known involvement in the stimulation of the activity of osteoblasts and the healing of fractures. The serum level of IGF-1 was significantly lower in patients with both head injury and fracture and fracture only compared with that in healthy volunteers (p < 0.01 and p < 0.02, respectively). The level of IGFBP-3 was also significantly lower in patients with both head injury and fracture (p < 0.01). Our findings showed, however, that the level of IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 varied from week to week in both the patients and healthy control subjects. These results indicate that the levels of circulating IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 are unlikely to be responsible for the altered healing of fractures seen in conjunction with head injury.     

Storage and use of residual dried blood spots

Newborn screening policy for Australia and New Zealand is developed by a committee of the Human Genetics Society of Australasia and the Royal Australasian College of Physicians Division of Pediatrics. Each program policy varies according to the local laws and customs. The residual dried blood spot policy recommends that each screening program develop its own policy taking into account the ownership of the material and the time of retention. Cards and associated records should be stored securely with regard to privacy issues. All uses of residual materials and access to stored material should be documented. Programs should state what permission and documentation is required for the use of samples in 1) investigation of cases missed by the screening program, 2) screening program development, method development and establishing normal ranges for new and existing tests, 3) requests from families for the return of samples, 4) requests from health professionals to use residual material for other health-related purposes, 5) research studies, and 6) coronial and forensic purposes. Storage of the samples must be appropriate to intended future uses and appropriate quality assurance material stored with the samples. Relevant privacy, legal and ethical issues should be considered when formulating storage and use policies. Use of dried blood spot samples for purposes other than newborn screening should also be covered.     

抓住重点 不断创新 进一步深化卫生人事制度改革

论述了卫生干部制度改革、事业单位人事制度改革和专业人才队伍建设的思路和措施。指出,要以“三个代表”重要思想为指导,突出党政干部制度改革、事业单位人事制度改革和专业人才队伍建设三个重点,着力解决人员出口和工资分配制度两个难点问题。同时主动配合支援西部和农村卫生的重点工作,稳步推进农村和西部人才资源开发,大力推进卫生人才市场建设。     

Diamine-extended glutaraldehyde- and carbodiimide crosslinks act synergistically in mitigating bioprosthetic aortic wall calcification

BACKGROUND AND AIM OF THE STUDY: The extension of glutaraldehyde (GA) crosslinks with diamine bridges was shown previously to reduce bioprosthetic heart valve calcification to a significant degree. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether the additional crosslinking of functional carboxyl groups could augment this anticalcific effect at the low glutaraldehyde concentrations typically used in commercial heart valve production. METHODS: Entire aortic roots of medium-sized pigs were fixed after 48 h of cold storage. Crosslinking of amino-functional groups was achieved either by GA fixation alone (0.2% or 0.7%) or with an interim treatment with the diamine L-lysine (25, 50 or 100 mM; 37 degrees C; 2 days). Carboxyl groups were activated with carbodiimide (N'-{3-dimethylaminopropyl}-N-ethyl carbodiimide hydrochloride (EDC), 240 mM) and crosslinked with an oligomeric diamine (polypropylene glycol-bis-aminopropyl ether (Jeffamine), 60 mM, 230D). By permutation of treatments and combinations thereof, a total of 17 groups was compared. Aortic wall discs (12 mm diameter) were implanted subcutaneously into seven-week-old Long-Evans rats for 60 days. Tissue calcification was determined by histology and atomic absorption spectrophotometry. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in tissue calcification if either GA or carbodiimide fixation was used alone. Equally, the combined crosslinking with GA and EDC/Jeffamine did not achieve a mitigation of tissue calcification below levels seen in at least one of the two treatments alone. When commercial GA fixation was mildly diamine-enhanced with L-lysine (25 mM), additional EDC/Jeffamine crosslinking of carboxyl groups resulted in a distinct additive effect in both 0.2% (-31%; p < 0.0002) and 0.7% (-36%; p = 0.0073) GA-fixed tissue. Relative to conventional GA fixation, this combination mitigated aortic wall calcification by 43% (p < 0.0001) and 34% (p = 0.0014) in 0.2% and 0.7% GA-fixed tissue, respectively. An increase in L-lysine concentration to 100 mM further reduced calcification of 0.7% GA-fixed tissue (18.5%; p = 0.016), but had no additional effect on 0.2% GA-fixed tissue (0.6%; p = 0.463). CONCLUSION: A distinct reduction in bioprosthetic aortic wall calcification can be achieved by combining diamine-extended conventional GA fixation with a diamine-extended carbodiimide based crosslinking step.