Incidental prostatic carcinoma: four-year follow-up after treatment with cyproterone acetate

This report is a retrospective clinical randomized study carried out on 114 cases of incidental prostatic carcinoma aged 55-87 years, 58 untreated and 56 treated with cyproterone acetate (CPA 200 mg/day) for 6 months, immediately after surgery. 78 cases were staged A1 and the remaining 36 A2. In stage A1, 75 cases were histologically graded G1, and 3 G2, whereas in stage A2, 7 cases were G1, 19 G2 and 10 G3. Moreover, flow cytometric DNA analysis showed in A1 20 G1 carcinomas with nuclear diploidy and 3 G2 with nuclear aneuploidy, in stage A2, 4 G3 tumors with nuclear aneuploidy. During the 4-year follow-up, 25/28 patients of the untreated group and 15/56 of the CPA-treated group were found in progression. In A1, progression was found in 6/37 untreated patients and 5/41 CPA-treated, whilst in A2 progression was observed in 19/21 untreated patients and in 10/15 treated with CPA. The critical period for progression was between the 2nd and 3rd year of follow-up. In A1, therefore, 6 months of therapy with CPA does not modify the progression rate, which is significantly improved in A2 (66% in the treated and 90% in the untreated group) during the first 30 months of follow-up. The prognosis may probably be further improved by continuing endocrine therapy.     

Carcinoma of the male breast. Our experience

A case series of 5 male patients afflicted with breast carcinoma is reported. The Authors describe symptomatology, diagnostic iter, principles of surgical treatment and results. Underlined is the wider surgical demolition in male breast cancer in comparison with females, even if natural history and biological conduct are comparable. This is because in male breast carcinoma the local and remote infiltration is more rapid than female for the less development of breast gland. Finally, indications for radiochemotherapy are comparable to female breast cancer.     

大鼠肝细胞Ⅰ，Ⅲ型前胶原基因表达及PDGF的影响

目的观察大鼠肝细胞Ⅰ，Ⅲ型前胶原基因的表达及ＰＤＧＦ对其表达的影响．方法应用原位杂交技术检测分离培养的ＳＤ大鼠肝细胞（ｎ＝３０）内Ⅰ，Ⅲ型前胶原基因的表达．同时观察１０μｇ／Ｌ（ｎ＝３０）和３０μｇ／Ｌ（ｎ＝３０）ＰＤＧＦ促进前胶原基因表达的作用．测定基因表达颗粒总面积占细胞总面积的百分比，并作比较分析．结果无论正常肝细胞或是在两种浓度的ＰＤＧＦ存在时，肝细胞内均可见到Ⅰ，Ⅲ型前胶原基因的表达．正常肝细胞Ⅰ，Ⅲ型前胶原基因表达面积的百分比（％）为７７±１９和７５±２１；加１０μｇ／ＬＰＤＧＦ后为１１５±１９和１１２±１０，而加３０μｇ／Ｌ后为１５２±３４及１８１±２８，且在后者中表达明显增强（Ｐ＜００５及Ｐ＜００１）．结论ＰＤＧＦ在转录水平上促进肝细胞胶原的合成．     

膜荚黄芪毛状根中异黄酮成分的反相高效液相色谱分析

对膜荚黄芪毛状根中6种异黄酮成分进行了反相高效液相色谱法测定。色谱柱为NucleosilC₁₈柱,流动相为甲醇—水(3∶2和3∶1,v/v),检测波长为254nm和280nm。6种异黄酮成分为:10-羟基-3,9-二甲氧基紫檀烷,(3R)8,2’-二羟基-7,4’-二甲氧基异黄烷,芒柄花素(7-羟基-4’-甲氧基异黄酮),8,3’-二羟基-7,4’-二甲氧基异黄酮,2’-羟基-3’,4’-二甲氧基异黄烷-7-O-葡萄吡喃糖甙,毛蕊异黄酮(7,3’-二羟基-4’-甲氧基异黄酮)。异黄酮浓度在2.5～12.5μg范围内与峰面积有良好的线性关系;加样回收率为96.47%～103.33%;精密度试验相对标准偏差为2.57%～6.52%;测得黄芪毛状根中6种异黄酮成分的含量在0.0005%～0.0065%之间。     

Positive and negative interactions in the behavioural expression of D1 and D2 receptor stimulation in a model of Parkinsonism: role of priming.

Previous exposure to a dopaminergic agonist (priming) strongly potentiates contralateral turning behaviour in response to D1 and D2 agonists in unilaterally 6-hydroxydopamine-lesioned rats. In order to study the influence of priming on the behavioural interaction of D1 and D2 receptors, we examined the effect of selective D1 and D2 receptor blockade on the contralateral turning induced by the mixed D2/D2 agonist apomorphine in drug-naive and primed 6-hydroxydopamine-lesioned rats. In drug-naive rats, apomorphine induced a dose-related, apparently monophasic rotation curve. Administration of selective D1 (SCH 23390) or D2 (raclopride) antagonists abolished the contralateral turning induced by 0.1 mg/kg of apomorphine and partially inhibited that induced by 0.5 mg/kg. In primed rats low doses of apomorphine (0.05 mg/kg) induced an apparently monophasic contralateral turning which was reduced by D1 receptor blockade and completely abolished by D2 receptor blockade; a higher dose of apomorphine (0.1 mg/kg) instead elicited a biphasic (two-peak) pattern of rotation. After this dose of the agonist, blockade of D1 or D2 receptors abolished the second peak of rotation but, while D1 blockade reduced the total number of turns, D2 blockade failed to do so. Quantitative analysis of the interaction between D1 and D2 receptors in the overall turning effect, as well as in the time-course of turning behaviour, indicates that D1 and D2 receptors interact not only positively but also negatively. After higher doses of apomorphine, both negative and positive interactions take place sequentially during the time-course of apomorphine action and provide a clue for explaining the two-peak pattern of rotation observed after apomorphine in rats previously exposed to the drug.     

Cytoskeletal alterations might account for the phylogenetic vulnerability of the human brain to Alzheimer's disease

A theory is presented here in the attempt to explain why Alzheimer's disease (AD) primarily affects areas of the human brain that have been acquired recently in phylogenesis. Disturbances in cytoskeletal function are proposed to play a fundamental role in triggering the sequence of pathologic events leading to the occurrence of AD-related histopathological markers and to the degeneration and death of neurons. These deficits are supposed to occur more likely in neuronal populations that possess a high degree of plasticity, the substrate of memory functions, and that constitute, in fact, the phylogenetically new telencephalic regions of the human brain.     

甘肃省1995年急性弛缓性麻痹病例病毒学监测

甘肃省１９９５年共报告１５岁以下儿童急性弛缓性麻痹（ＡＦＰ）病例９０例，发病率为１．３２／１０万。省脊髓灰质炎（脊灰）实验室收到ＡＦＰ病例的粪便标本共７９例，占８８％；双份合格粪便标本采集率为６８％（６１／９０）；粪便标本７天内送省脊灰实验室的占６５％（５２／７９）收到粪便标本后７天内分离培养的占８９％（７０／７９）；分离培养结果及时报告率为８７％（６９／７９）。病毒分离阳性率１３．９２％（１１／７９），其中脊灰病毒（ＰＶ）Ⅱ型５株，Ⅲ型１株，非脊灰肠道病毒（ＮＰＥＶ）５株。收到ＡＦＰ病例密切接触者粪便标本３ｌ８份，病毒分离阳性率５．６６％（１８／３１８），其中ＰＶⅡ型８株，ＮＰＥＶ１０株。全部送检粪便标本ＮＰＥＶ分离率３．７８％（１５／３９７）。所分离的ＰＶ均为疫苗株，且Ⅱ型居多。     

Daily nutrient intake represents a modifiable determinant of nutritional status in chronic haemodialysis patients.

BACKGROUND: In maintenance haemodialysis patients, daily food intake is changeable; however, its relationship with nutritional status is unexplored. This study aimed to evaluate the isolated, long-term effect of daily nutrient intake on nutritional status in haemodialysis patients. METHODS: We performed a prospective 1-year controlled study in 27 chronic haemodialysis patients, without recognized risk factors for malnutrition. Each day for 1 week, four times in the year, we measured protein nitrogen appearance, and assessed dietary protein (DPI) and energy (DEI) intake from dietary diaries. We compared the nutritional outcome of patients spontaneously reducing nutrient intake below the threshold of 0.8 g/kg body weight/day for DPI and 25 kcal/kg body weight/day for DEI during the week (LOW, n = 8), with controls at adequate nutrient intake (CON, n = 19). An interventional 6-month study was then carried out in LOW to verify the cause-effect relationship. RESULTS: All patients showed a day-by-day reduction of whole nutrient intake during interdialytic period, which was mostly relevant in the third interdialytic day (L3). During the 1-year study, even in the presence of adequate dialysis dose and normal inflammatory indexes, body weight (68.0 +/- 5.5 to 65.8 +/- 5.9 kg), serum albumin (3.96 +/- 0.07 to 3.66 +/- 0.06 g/dl) and creatinine (9.2 +/- 1.1 to 8.1 +/- 0.7 mg/dl) significantly decreased in LOW but not in CON. Diaries evidenced in LOW a reduced number of meals at L3 that was explained by the fear of excessive interdialytic weight gain. During the interventional study, daily DPI and DEI increased at L3; this was associated with a significant increment of body weight, and serum albumin and creatinine levels. CONCLUSIONS: In maintenance haemodialysis patients the persistent, marked reduction of daily nutrient intake, even if limited to a single day of the week, is an independent determinant of reversible impairment of nutritional status.