MR imaging of facial nerve enhancement in Bell palsy or after temporal bone surgery

The authors evaluated magnetic resonance (MR) images obtained with intravenously administered gadolinium in ten patients who had facial paralysis and no facial nerve tumor. In patients with either Bell palsy (four patients) or facial paralysis after temporal bone surgery (six patients), intratemporal facial nerve enhancement was seen. Facial nerve enhancement on MR images proved to be a nonspecific finding.     

Allergic rhinitis induced by intranasal sensitization and challenge with trimellitic anhydride but not with dinitrochlorobenzene or oxazolone in A/J mice.

Allergic airway diseases induced by low molecular weight (LMW) chemicals, including trimellitic anhydride (TMA), are characterized by airway mucus hypersecretion and an infiltration of eosinophils and lymphocytes. Many experimental models have linked LMW chemical-induced allergic airway disease to Th2 cytokines. Most murine models, however, use dermal exposure to sensitize mice. The present study was designed to test the hypothesis that intranasal sensitization and challenge with the known chemical respiratory allergen TMA, but not the nonrespiratory sensitizers dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB) and oxazolone (OXA), will induce characteristic features of LMW chemical-induced allergic airway disease in the nasal and pulmonary airways. A/J mice were intranasally sensitized and challenged with TMA, DNCB, or OXA. Only mice that were intranasally sensitized and challenged with TMA had a marked allergic rhinitis with an influx of eosinophils, lymphocytes, and plasma cells, increased intraepithelial mucusubstances, and a regenerative hyperplasia. Cytokine mRNA levels in the nasal airway of TMA treated mice also revealed an increase in the mRNA levels of the Th2 cytokines IL-4, IL-5, and IL-13, but no change in the level of the Th1 cytokine IFN-gamma. No lesions were found in the nasal airways of mice exposed to DNCB or OXA. TMA increased lung-derived IL-5 mRNA while DNCB and OXA caused no change in lung-derived cytokine mRNA levels. Both TMA and DNCB caused increases in total serum IgE, unlike OXA-exposed mice. However, no adverse alterations were found microscopically in the lungs of mice treated with TMA, DNCB, or OXA. This study is the first to demonstrate that intranasal administration of a known chemical respiratory allergen is an effective method of sensitization resulting in the hallmark features of allergic rhinitis after challenge with a concomitant increase in nasal airway-derived Th2 cytokine mRNA, lung-derived IL-5 mRNA, and total serum IgE. In contrast, DNCB and OXA failed to elicit the pathologic changes in the nasal airways and cytokine changes in the lung. This model may be useful for identifying other chemical respiratory allergens.     

不同生长调节物质对益母草的生长调控及其表现效应

目的：通过对童子益母草开展不同生长调节物质的田间处理。考评其株高、单株鲜重、地上部分鲜重、分蘖数和叶绿素含量等生物学性状。方法：测定益母草株高、单株鲜重、地上部分鲜重、分蘖数和叶绿素含量。结果：（１）赤霉素对益母草的生长,尤其株高,促进作用较其它处理显著;多效唑抵制了益母草地上部分生长。（２）除多效唑处理外,其它处理对提高益母草地上部分的产量都有一定的促进作用。（４）赤霉素能促进莲座状矮化类型益母     

多索茶碱及其片剂的高效液相色谱分析

多索茶碱及其片剂的高效液相色谱分析刘春胜，何秀峰，王云萍，谷士杰，周同惠（中国医学科学院、中国协和医科大学药物研究所，北京１０００５０）多索茶碱（ｄｏｘｏｆｙｌｌｉｎｅ）是用于治疗支气管哮喘合并支气管痉挛的慢性阻塞性肺部疾病的新一代黄嘌吟衍生物，其药...     

Palmar Type of Median Artery as a Source of Superficial Palmar Arch: A Cadaveric Study with Its Clinical Significance

The superficial palmar arch (SPA) and its contributing arteries are highly variable. The palmar type of median artery (PMA) can be involved in the formation of the SPA by replacing the superficial palmar branch of the radial artery (RA) or the ulnar artery (UA). The present study was undertaken to investigate the presence of the PMA and its contribution in the formation of SPA in 42 cadavers (84 upper limbs) of Indian origin. When there was a PMA, its outer diameter was measured in the carpal tunnel. The PMA was found in 13 upper limbs (15.4%), and of these ten incidences (11.9%), the PMA took part in the formation of SPA, and in three instances (3.5%), the PMA did not make up part of the SPA. Out of the ten cases in which the PMA contributed to the formation of SPA, in six cases (7.1%), the PMA anastomosed with the UA; in three cases (3.5%), the PMA anastomosed with both the UA and the RA, and in one incidence (1.1%), the PMA joined the arteria radialis indicis (deep branch of the RA) to complete the SPA. The outer diameters of the median arteries varied between 0.8 and 2.6 mm with the mean value of 1.7 mm. The present study concludes that the median–ulnar type of SPA was the most common type of SPA when the PMA was encountered as a source of superficial arterial arcade of the hand, followed by the radial–median–ulnar type. The vascular patterns found in this study are important to hand surgeons. The present study of PMA origin, course, and its contribution to the SPA will add to the existing knowledge of the vascular anatomy of forearm and hand.     

Deoxynivalenol exacerbates viral bronchopneumonia induced by respiratory reovirus infection.

The trichothecene mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON), a frequent contaminant of cereal grains, is known to dysregulate mucosal and systemic immunity. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that DON interferes with the murine immune response to viral respiratory infection. Female Balb/c mice (5 weeks old) were orally gavaged with DON (10 mg/kg body weight [bw]) or saline vehicle and then intranasally instilled with 10(7) plaque-forming units of reovirus serotype 1, strain Lang (T1/L). At 10-day postinstillation (PI), both viral titers and reovirus L(2) gene expression were 10-fold higher in lungs of DON-treated mice than in saline controls. The lowest observed effective DON dose that impaired viral clearance was 2 mg/kg bw. Although DON amplified reovirus-induced interferon (IFN)-beta and IFN-gamma mRNA responses in lung, the toxin suppressed mRNA expression for IFN-alpha, IFN-alphabeta receptor (IFNAR), and IFN-gamma receptor (IFNGR). DON also impaired induction of two type 1 IFN-dependent antiviral genes, double-stranded RNA activated protein kinase R (PKR) and oligoadenylate synthase 2 (OAS2). Respiratory reovirus infection caused a mild bronchopneumonia in mice which was markedly exacerbated by DON as evidenced by severe inflammatory cell infiltration, marked alveolar damage, and a higher volume density of intraepithelial mucosubstances in pulmonary airways. At 3- and 7-day PI, elevations in total protein, MCP-1, TNF-alpha, total cells, macrophages, neutrophils, and lymphocytes were observed in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) of control mice infected with reovirus. DON markedly enhanced viral-induced elevations of protein, MCP-1, TNF-alpha, and inflammatory cells in the BALF at 3-day PI. DON exposure also upregulated induction of reovirus-specific immunoglobulin A (IgA) in BALF, fecal pellets, and serum. DON's effect on BALF IgA was preceded by elevated IL-6 expression and secretion in the lung. Taken together, the results suggest that DON compromised resistance to respiratory viral infection. Reduced expression of IFNAR and type 1 IFN-mediated genes in the lung might contribute to DON impairment of pulmonary reovirus clearance, whereas exacerbation of bronchopneumonia and IgA responses corresponded to increased MCP-1, TNF-alpha, and IL-6 expression.     

Carriage of Haemophilus influenzae and Streptococcus pneumoniae in healthy Chinese and Vietnamese children in Hong Kong

Nasopharyngeal carriage of Haemophilus influenzae and Streptococcus pneumoniae was studied in 621 healthy Chinese children and 300 healthy Vietnamese children aged from 2 months to 5 years in Hong Kong. The carriage rate of H, influenzae type b in Vietnamese children was 1.3% (CI 0.04-2.63%); it was zero in Chinese. The carriage rate of non-typable H. influenzae was 5.8% (CI 1.4-7.6%) in Chinese and 65.4% (CI 58.9-69.8%) in Vietnamese. The carriage rates of S. pneumoniae were 10.8% (CI 8.3-13.2%) and 55.7% (CI 50.1-61.3%) in Chinese and Vietnamese children, respectively. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to search for factors associated with differences in carriage rates of both H. influenzae and S. pneumoniae between Chinese and Vietnamese children. Although older age, smaller living area and parental smoking were associated with higher carriage rates, these could not explain the remarkably low carriage rates of both bacteria in Chinese children.     

Genetic Engineering and Medical Ethics

In the introduction I express the need of introducing the point of view of Ethics when we are dealing with problems of science, technology, and especially medicine. In the first part of my presentation I deal with the problem of the value of human life, coming to the conclusion that human life might not be completely absolute, but is extremely important and “ceteris paribus” should be respected, and the problem of when it starts. Some of the main arguments are discussed. In this connection the question of abortion is briefly discussed. In the second part I deal with some problems related to human reproduction. Most people will be willing to support programmes for treating individuals with genetic disease; but at the same time the dangers of increasing depersonalization of the reproductive process are pointed out. In the third part I take up the problem of In Vitro Fertilisation. IVF has certainly brought benefits to some couples suffering from infertility, but at the same time it has raised quite a few human and moral problems. Is it permissible to fertilise an egg with a donor sperm, replacing the embryo in the womb? What about fertilising a donor egg with the husband's sperm? Is it acceptable to store or freeze embryos for future use? Is it moral to implant such an embryo in a woman who has no genetic relationship with the embryo? Is it moral to use surrogate mothers? Is it moral for ‘spare’ embryos to be killed or used as tissue for research? At the end I stress the need of dialogue between life sciences and ethics.     

Recruitment of spinal motor pools during voluntary movements versus stepping after human spinal cord injury

We investigated the activation of lower limb motor pools by supraspinal and spinal networks after human spinal cord injury (SCI). We compared electromyographic (EMG) activity from six muscles during voluntarily attempted non-weight-bearing single-joint movements, multijoint movements approximating stepping in a supine position, and weight-bearing stepping on a treadmill with body weight support (BWST) in seven clinically incomplete and three clinically complete SCI subjects. Seven SCI subjects had previously completed Laufband therapy (a specific step training using variable levels of body weight support and manual assistance). Significant coactivation of agonists and antagonists and multijoint flexion or extension movements of the entire limb occurred during attempts at isolated knee or ankle single-joint movements in clinically incomplete SCI subjects. Further, some muscles that were not recruited during voluntary attempts at single-joint movements were activated during voluntary step-like multijoint movements (5/16 comparisons). This suggests that the residual voluntary motor control in incomplete SCI subjects evokes more generalized motor patterns (limb flexion or extension) rather than selective activation of individual muscles. Clinically incomplete and clinically complete SCI subjects could achieve greater activation of motor pools and more reciprocal patterns of activity between agonists and antagonists during weight bearing stepping than during non-weight-bearing voluntary movements. The EMG mean amplitudes were higher during stepping than during voluntary movements in 50/60 muscles studied (p < 0.05). These results suggest that stepping with knee and hip extension and flexion and alternating lower limb loading and unloading provides proprioceptive inputs to the spinal cord that increases motor recruitment and improves reciprocity between agonists and antagonists compared to voluntary efforts.