Detection of chromosomal translocation t(14;18) within the minor cluster region of bcl-2 by polymerase chain reaction and direct genomic sequencing of the enzymatically amplified DNA in follicular lymphomas

A majority of t(14;18) translocations have been shown to cluster at one of two sites on chromosome 18, called the major breakpoint region (mbr) or the minor cluster region, (mcr), which map within or flanking the bcl-2 proto-oncogene, respectively. We have determined the nucleotide sequence for a portion of the mcr, and constructed oligonucleotides that were used to perform the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in conjunction with universal immunoglobulin primers to specifically amplify t(14;18) breakpoints in DNA obtained from follicular lymphomas. Eight of ten breakpoints that were detectable on Southern blots using DNA probes for the mcr could be detected due to specific amplification by the PCR technique using an mcr-specific primer. Direct nucleotide sequencing of the enzymatically amplified DNAs showed that the breakpoints clustered within a 500 nucleotide region, and five occurred within three nucleotides of each other. These data show a remarkable clustering of some t(14;18) breakpoints at a site on chromosome 18, at least a 30-kb distance from the bcl-2 gene. Our findings also indicate that mcr-specific primers may be used in conjunction with previously described mbr-specific primers in a highly sensitive DNA amplification technique to detect a large fraction of t(14;18) breakpoints.     

全膝关节置换术后早期股四头肌肌力降低——肌肉主动激活障碍和肌萎缩

背景：尽管全膝关节置换能够缓解疼痛和恢复膝关节的功能活动度，但术后1年仍然存在股四头肌乏力和功能下降。本研究的目的是确定肌肉主动激活障碍和肌萎缩在术后早期股四头肌肌力降低中的作用。 方法：以20例单侧膝关节骨性关节炎患者分别在术前（平均10天）和术后（平均27天）进行测量。股四头肌肌力和主动激活通过脉冲叠加刺激技术测量，即在股四头肌最大主动等长收缩时给予一超阈值电流脉冲刺激。使用核磁共振成像技术测量股四头肌的最大横截面积。 结果：和术前相比，术后股四头肌肌力下降了62％，主动激活能力下降了17％，最大横截面积下降了10％，差异具有统计学意义（p〈0．01）。总的来说，股四头肌主动激活障碍和肌萎缩占股四头肌肌力下降原因的85％（p〈0．001）。多元线性回归分析发现股四头肌主动激活障碍导致的肌力丢失几乎是由于肌萎缩导致的肌力丢失的两倍。和术前水平相比，肌肉收缩时膝关节的疼痛程度在术后并没有显著变化（p=0．31）。在肌力测试中，膝关节疼痛的变化对于股四头肌主动激活没有显著的影响（p=0．14）。 结论：全膝关节置换术后1个月股四头肌肌力障碍仍然严重。这种肌力障碍主要由股四头肌的主动激活障碍引起，另外，肌萎缩也起到一定的作用。肌肉收缩时膝关节疼痛对肌肉主动激活的影响不大。可信水平：预测性研究，Ⅰ级。进一步可信度参见作者介绍。     

World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry (WFSBP) guidelines for biological treatment of schizophrenia, part 2: long-term treatment of schizophrenia.

These guidelines for the biological treatment of schizophrenia were developed by an international Task Force of the World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry (WFSBP). The goal during the development of these guidelines was to review systematically all available evidence pertaining to the treatment of schizophrenia, and to reach a consensus on a series of practice recommendations that are clinically and scientifically meaningful based on the available evidence. These guidelines are intended for use by all physicians seeing and treating people with schizophrenia. The data used for developing these guidelines have been extracted primarily from various national treatment guidelines and panels for schizophrenia, as well as from meta-analyses, reviews and randomised clinical trials on the efficacy of pharmacological and other biological treatment interventions identified by a search of the MEDLINE database and Cochrane Library. The identified literature was evaluated with respect to the strength of evidence for its efficacy and then categorised into four levels of evidence (A-D). This second part of the guidelines covers the long-term treatment as well as the management of relevant side effects. These guidelines are primarily concerned with the biological treatment (including antipsychotic medication, other pharmacological treatment options, electroconvulsive therapy, adjunctive and novel therapeutic strategies) of adults suffering from schizophrenia.     

Association among interleukin-6 gene polymorphism, diabetes and periodontitis in a Chinese population

Objectives:  Diabetics significantly increase risk for periodontitis. Interleukin-6 (IL-6) gene polymorphism may play certain roles in the progression of periodontitis with diabetes. The purpose of this study was to assess the association among IL-6 gene polymorphisms, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and chronic periodontitis (CP) in a Chinese population.
Material and methods:  DNA was obtained from 159 patients with CP, 88 patients with T2DM, 110 patients with CP&T2DM and 135 control subjects. The -174/-572/-597 polymorphisms of IL-6 gene were investigated by restriction fragment length polymorphism of polymerase chain reaction products. The results were further confirmed by sequencing. Significance was set at P  < 0.008 after Bonferroni correction.
Results:  Among four groups, CP&T2DM group showed the lowest IL-6-572 CC genotype and C-allele frequencies (54.5% and 74.1%). In this regard, there were significant differences between CP&T2DM group and the control group [ P  = 0.006, odds ratio (OR)  =  0.475, 95% CI: 0.279–0.808 and P  = 0.002, OR = 0.502, 95% CI: 0.319–0.788 respectively]. Logistic regression with adjustment for age, gender, body mass index, smoking and stress showed no significant difference in terms of IL-6-572 genotypes ( P  = 0.058, OR= 0.523, 95% CI: 0.268–1.022).
Conclusions:  The IL-6-572 genotype and allele distributions are unique to subjects with CP&T2DM in a Chinese population.     

The effects of imipramine on P50 suppression, prepulse inhibition and habituation of the startle response in humans

Schizophrenic patients exhibit impairments in filtering of sensory information, as can be assessed by use of prepulse inhibition (PPI) of the acoustic startle response and P50 suppression paradigms. In the treatment of negative symptoms or depressive syndromes during the course of schizophrenia antidepressants are often combined with antipsychotic medication. However, antidepressants increase monoaminergic activity, which has been suggested to decrease sensory gating, although these presumptions are mostly based on results from animal studies. Currently, little is known about monoaminergic modulation of sensory filtering in humans, and the few reports that can be found in literature show discrepancies with animal studies. The current study was designed to study the effects of increased monoaminergic activity on sensory filtering and habituation of healthy volunteers. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled cross-over design, 20 healthy male volunteers received either placebo or a dose of 50 mg imipramine (a dual-acting antidepressant), after which they were tested in a P50 suppression paradigm, a PPI paradigm, and an habituation of the startle reflex paradigm. Imipramine significantly decreased PPI as well as P50 suppression. No significant differences between the two treatments were observed on habituation of the acoustic startle reflex. Since sensory filtering is usually already reduced in patients with schizophrenia, the current results call for caution in the widespread use of dual-acting antidepressants in the treatment of depressed or negative symptoms in these patients.     

N,N′-亚烷基双(取代苯酚)氨基乙酸的合成及对放射性核素钍-234的促排效果

本文报道合成的16个N,N′-亚烷基双(取代苯酚)氨基乙酸除化合物3,4外对放射性钍-234的加速排出均有较好的效果。其中有二个化合物促排效果达到70％以上,根据动物实验结果初步探讨了构效关系。     

World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry (WFSBP) guidelines for biological treatment of schizophrenia, Part 1: acute treatment of schizophrenia.

These guide lines for the biological treatment of schizophrenia were developed by an international Task Force of the World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry (WFSBO). The goal during the development of these guidelines was to review systematically all available evidence pertaining to the treatment of schizophrenia, and to reach a consensus on a series of practice recommendations that are clinically and scientifically meaningful based on the available evidence. These guidelines are intended for use by all physicians seeing and treating people with schizophrenia. The data used for developing these guidelines have been extracted primarily from various national treatment guidelines and panels for schizophrenia, as well as from meta-analyses, reviews and randomised clinical trials on the efficacy of pharmacological and other biological treatment interventions identified by a search of the MEDLINE database and Cochrane Library. The identified literature was evaluated with respect to the strength of evidence for its efficacy and then categorised into four levels of evidence (A-D). This first part of the guidelines covers disease definition, classification, epidemiology and course of schizophrenia, as well as the management of the acute phase treatment. These guidelines are primarily concerned with the biological treatment (including antipsychotic medication, other pharmacological treatment options, electroconvulsive therapy, adjunctive and novel therapeutic strategies) of adults suffering from schizophrenia.