A case of congenital supratentorial tumor: Atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumor or primitive neuroectodermal tumor?

Two embryonal CNS tumors, atypical teratoid/rabdoid tumor (AT/RT) and primitive neuroectodermal tumor (PNET), may be confused with each other and misdiagnosed. Here we report an infant with a congenital supratentorial tumor, which was detected by fetal MRI at 37 weeks gestation. On routine histological examination, the tumor was composed mainly of small undifferentiated cells, among which many rhabdoid cells and occasional sickle‐shaped embracing cells were observed. No mesenchymal or epithelial areas were evident. Our impression was that the tumor was an atypical example of AT/RT. Immunohistochemically, almost all the tumor cells were strongly positive for vimentin. However, epithelial membrane antigen was notably negative, and most of the tumor cell nuclei were clearly positive for INI1. In addition, many tumor cells were positive for neurofilament protein. There were also occasional small areas containing many tumor cells positive for glial fibrillary acidic protein. Finally, a diagnosis of PNET, with a rhabdoid phenotype and expression of neuronal and glial markers, was made. In the present case, application of INI1 immunostaining was very helpful for distinguishing PNET from AT/RT.     

Cerebral Cortical Aquaporin-4 Expression in Brain Edema following Cardiac Arrest in Rats

OBJECTIVES: Brain edema occurs following clinical as well as experimental cardiac arrest (CA) and predicts a poor neurologic outcome. The objective of this study was to determine the expression of cerebral cortex aquaporin (AQP)-4, a member of a family of membrane water-channel proteins, in brain edema formation following normothermic or hypothermic CA. METHODS: Twenty-four rats were subjected to time-matched normothermic (N-Sham, 37.5 degrees C +/- 0.5 degrees C, n = 6) or hypothermic (H-Sham, 34 degrees C +/- 0.5 degrees C, n = 6) sham experiments and normothermic (N-CA, n = 6) or hypothermic (H-CA, n = 6) CA induced by asphyxiation for 8 minutes. Hypothermia was induced before CA. The animals were resuscitated with cardiopulmonary resuscitation, ventilation, and epinephrine administration. Brain edema was determined by brain wet-to-dry weight ratio at one hour of resuscitation. AQP4 immunoactivity in the cerebral cortex was determined using immunohistochemical staining and was semiquantified as an intensity of staining with an automated cell imaging system. RESULTS: Mild hypothermia in the sham experiments did not alter cerebral cortex AQP4 immunoactivity (mean +/- SD) (55.0 +/- 3.7 in H-Sham vs. 53.3 +/- 1.7 in N-Sham, p > 0.05). N-CA resulted in a significant increase in AQP4 immunoactivity (61.8 +/- 4.5) compared with N-Sham (p = 0.01) and H-Sham (p = 0.03). H-CA attenuated AQP4 compared with N-CA (53.4 +/- 1.3, p = 0.01). Brain wet-to-dry weight ratios were 4.41 +/- 0.07 in N-Sham, 4.40 +/- 0.08 in H-Sham (p > 0.05 vs. N-Sham), 4.55 +/- 0.04 in N-CA (p = 0.004 vs. N-Sham; p = 0.005 vs. H-Sham), and 4.43 +/- 0.09 in H-CA (p = 0.02 vs. N-CA; p > 0.05 vs. N-Sham and H-Sham). CONCLUSIONS: Cerebral cortical AQP4 expression is up-regulated after normothermic CA, which is attenuated by hypothermia induced before CA.     

双功能域重组FN多肽抑制癌细胞浸润能力的研究

在制备了两个Cell Ⅰ-Hep Ⅱ 双结构域重组FN多肽(CH50和CH56)的基础上,研究其抑制肿瘤细胞浸润能力的作用。两个多肽的结构差异是CH50中删除了Cell I和HepⅡ之间的Ⅲ-11和ED-A结构顺序。CH50(ED_(50)为30.2 nmol/L)结合细胞的能力略高于CH56(ED_(50)为45.4 nmol/L)。两种多肽均可显著抑制黑色素瘤B16/F1细胞结合层粘素的能力,抑制作用相同。在体内肿瘤浸润抑制试验中,两种多肽均可显著抑制癌细胞浸润能力,使肺转移结节数降低80％左右。结果提示:Ⅲ-11和ED-A结构顺序对Cell Ⅰ-Hep Ⅱ 双结构域多肽结合细胞的能力有一定的影响,但删除Ⅲ-11和ED-A不是重组多肽抑制肿瘤转移的决定因素,Cell I和Hep Ⅱ 这两个结构域单独连接在一起是其抑制肿瘤细胞转移的结构基础。     

腹腔镜下治疗输卵管妊娠术28例临床分析

目的 :对腹腔镜下治疗输卵管妊娠手术做出评价 ,并与传统剖腹手术方法比较。方法 :在电视腹腔镜下行保守性手术 8例及根治性手术 2 0例 ;对照组 2 8例采用传统剖腹手术方法。结果 :两组手术时间、尿TT恢复正常时间、切口感染差异均无显著性 (P >0 .0 5 ) ,两组术中出血、术后体温、肛门排气时间、下床活动时间、住院天数差异有显著性 (P <0 .0 1)。结论 :腹腔镜下治疗输卵管妊娠术具有创伤小 ,康复快 ,术中出血少 ,术后感染率低等优点 ,有助于提高患者生活质量 ,是临床上的理想手术方式     

Thymocyte and peripheral blood T lymphocyte subpopulation changes in piglets following in utero infection with porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus

Piglets infected in utero with porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) are born severely immunocompromised. In this article we more closely examine the effects of in utero PRRSV infection on circulating and thymic T cell populations. Numbers of CD4+, CD8+, and dual-positive lymphocytes were quantitated in circulation and in the thymus during the 2 weeks following birth. At birth we found that the number of circulating lymphocytes was suppressed by 60%. Lymphocyte numbers were also suppressed by 42% at day 7, but by day 14 the number of lymphocytes had rebounded and was actually 47% greater than controls. At birth and day 7, a drop in the number of CD4+ cells could partially explain the suppression we observed, while the rebound in total lymphocyte numbers seen at day 14 was due to a nearly fourfold increase in the number of circulating CD8+ cells. As a result, the normal CD4+:CD8+ ratio of between 1.4 and 2.2 for neonatal pigs was reduced to 0.1-0.5. The thymuses of infected piglets were found to be 50% smaller than those of control pigs and were characterized by cortical involution and severe cortical depletion of thymocytes. Analysis of the population of thymocytes revealed that double-positive thymocytes were suppressed to a greater degree than either single positive subpopulation. In addition, we show that the number of thymocytes undergoing apoptosis was increased twofold in piglets infected with PRRSV. Taken together, these results help explain the dramatic immunosuppression observed in neonatal animals infected in utero with PRRSV.