Chemical contamination and the annual summer die-off of striped bass (Morone saxatilis) in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

In 1987, striped bass (Morone saxatilis) that were nearly dead (moribund) were captured by hand net, and apparently healthy striped bass were caught by hook and line from adjacent waters in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta or, alternatively, caught by hook and line from the Pacific Ocean. The livers of these three groups of striped bass were examined for chemical contamination by gas chromatography, by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, and by immunoassay. Moribund striped bass livers were greatly contaminated by chemicals compared to healthy fish caught in the Delta and the Pacific Ocean. The types of contaminant encountered suggested that industrial, agricultural, and urban pollutants were present in the livers of moribund fish. Although the variability in the amount of hepatic contaminants observed among the groups of fish does not provide direct proof of causation, the large amount of pollutants suggests that chemical contamination (possibly acting as multiple stressors) contributes to the hepatotoxic condition of the moribund striped bass and may lead to an explanation of the die-off in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta region.     

Infusional carboplatin. Phase I studies of 5-day and 14-day infusions

Twenty-two courses of carboplatin (Paraplatin; Bristol-Meyers, Evansville, IN) (CBDCA) were administered to 15 patients with advanced cancer on a continuous 24-hour per day infusion schedule for either 5 days or 14 days. The objective of the trial was to establish the optimal dose rate and cumulative dose for this treatment schedule. The dose-limiting toxicity was myelosuppression, with leukopenia and thrombocytopenia observed. The optimal dose rate for the 5-day infusion was 75 mg/m2/d or a total cumulative dose of 375 mg/m2/d. The optimal dose rate for the 14-day infusion was 25 mg/m2/d or a total cumulative dose of 350 mg/m2/d. The times to nadir levels of leukocyte and platelet counts were 34 days and 25 days, respectively, with a median time to recovery of 14 days and 7 days, respectively, in patients with Grade 3 or greater marrow suppression. The pattern of hematologic toxicity with infusional CBDCA is comparable to that seen with bolus schedules. There is, therefore, no clinical advantage of the infusional schedule for CBDCA in terms of toxicity and the dose delivered per cycle, and the dose intensity is slightly less than with a bolus schedule. If there is a therapeutic advantage for the infusional schedule, a prospective comparative trial against the standard bolus schedule will be required to establish it. Bolus and infusional schedules for CBDCA are associated with a delayed pattern of thrombocytopenia and prolonged leukopenia, necessitating 5 or more weeks between treatment cycles.     

Restoration of normal morphology and estrogen responsiveness in cultured vaginal and uterine epithelia transplanted with stroma.

We have investigated the capacity of vaginal and uterine epithelia (VE and UE) to reexpress normal morphology and hormone responsiveness following cell culture. VE and UE from adult ovariectomized mice were grown in a collagen gel matrix with serum-free medium for 7-10 days. Proliferation of these cells occurs in the absence of 17 beta-estradiol and is not stimulated by 17 beta-estradiol; the VE usually does not keratinize or stratify in vitro. Cultured VE and UE were recombined with homologous vaginal or uterine stroma (VS and US, respectively) and these recombinants were grown under the renal capsule of female hosts for 4 weeks. The epithelium of the VS + VE recombinants cycled, proliferated and stratified in response to estrogen and mucified normally in response to progesterone. The UE that was grown in vivo with cultured US also showed normal morphology and estrogen responsiveness. These changes in the UE and VE were not simply a result of return to the in vivo environment, as epithelia alone in collagen gels transplanted under the renal capsule did not survive. These results indicate that both VE and UE, which are not estrogen-dependent in vitro, reexpress their estrogen dependency and normal morphology when recombined with homologous stroma and grown in vivo. Thus, the changes these cells show when grown in culture are the result of altered conditions in vitro rather than an irreversible alteration in the cells themselves or the selection of specific subpopulations that are not mitogenically or morphologically responsive to estrogen under any condition.     

白细胞介素和免疫调节不良综合征

本文通过讨论白细胞介素(Interleukins包括IL—1,IL—2及IL3)在活化T细胞,调节T及B细胞、肥大细胞与嗜碱细胞的分化、增殖,产生多种淋巴因子及IgE等方面的活性;以变态反应疾病为模型;论证了白细胞介素在免疫调节不良综合征(Immunological Dysregulation Syndr mes)的发病机理中起着重要作用。