Regional specific changes of cerebral metabolism in systemic lupus erythematosus identified by positron emission tomography.

In order to test the hypothesis whether the pathogenesis of cerebral systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) may include an immune-mediated deficit in specific vulnerable brain regions, the regional cerebral metabolism in 9 patients with diffuse as well as focal cerebral symptoms was compared with that of 10 age-matched control subjects. The cerebral distribution of 2-[18F]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG) uptake was measured by means of positron emission tomography. Subsequently performed statistical parametric mapping showed (i) a relative increase in metabolism in the striatum and (ii) regional decreases in the premotor cortex as a common feature in the patient group. Region of interest measurements of absolute FDG uptake confirmed these findings. The increased striatal activity may support the presence of a direct immune response against neuronal tissue in SLE, similar to the cross-reaction against inhibitory components in striatal tissue provoked by streptococcal antigens.     

高效液相色谱法测定消痰咳片的含量

目的：采用反相色谱法同时测定消痰咳片中两种主要成分甲氧苄啶和磺胺体的含量。方法：以乙腈：0.1%H3PO4(15:85)为流动相，检测波长254nm，HPLC法测定含量。结果：试验表明，甲氧苄啶和磺胺林在0.8-8ug范围内呈良好的线性关系，回归方程分别为Y＝－1127.1＋110.2x(r=0.9994),Y=-1852.3 256.2x(r=0.9996),相对标准偏差分别为2.1%和0.8%。结论：该方法简便、准确、可靠。     

Markers of oxidative stress and antioxidant activity in plasma and erythrocytes in neonatal respiratory distress syndrome

Markers of oxidative stress and antioxidant activity in plasma and erythrocytes were studied for 14 d after birth in infants with neonatal respiratory distress syndrome ( n = 9) and controls ( n = 36). In plasma, the total radical trapping antioxidant capacity and the chain-breaking antioxidants vitamin C, sulfhydryl groups and bilirubin were similar. The differences in uric acid levels were not consistent, but vitamin E levels and vitamin E/total-lipid ratio were lower in the neonatal respiratory distress group ( p < 0.01). In erythrocytes, the antioxidant enzymes glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase and superoxide dismutase did not differ postnatally. Indicators of oxidative damage in plasma (sulfhydryl/protein ratio and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances) showed the same postnatal course in both groups and were not influenced by oxygen therapy. In erythrocytes the reduced/oxidized glutathione ratio showed no consistent differences. In conclusion, this study, using erythrocytes and plasma, does not provide convincing evidence of oxidative damage and diminished antioxidant defenses in preterm infants with neonatal respiratory distress syndrome.     

Phosphoinositide 3-kinase is involved in the induction of the human sperm acrosome reaction downstream of tyrosine phosphorylation

In somatic cells phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI 3-kinase) is activated upon interaction with both receptor tyrosine kinases (RTK) and G- proteins resulting in the production of moieties involved in the inositol phospholipid signalling pathway. As G proteins, RTK and the inositol phospholipids have all been implicated in the human sperm acrosome reaction, experiments were carried out to determine whether PI 3-kinase was also involved in this phenomenon. Wortmannin is a selective inhibitor of PI 3-kinase and was shown to significantly inhibit the acrosome reaction induced by both mannose-bovine serum albumin (mannose-BSA) (10, 50 and 100 nM) and a polyclonal antibody raised against an extracellular region of the sperm zona receptor kinase (ZRK, at 100 nM only). Wortmannin did not inhibit the A23187- or progesterone-induced acrosome reaction. These results suggest that PI 3- kinase is involved in the human sperm acrosome reaction. The levels of tyrosine phosphorylation of sperm proteins as detected by Western blotting using antiphosphotyrosine antibodies was not affected by wortmannin in agonist (A23187 and mannose-BSA)-stimulated spermatozoa. This indicated that PI 3-kinase operates downstream of tyrosine phosphorylation in the signal transduction cascade which leads to the human sperm acrosome reaction.      

Influence of age and comorbidity on treatment choice and survival in elderly patients with breast cancer

Summary To determine the effect of age and comorbid diseases on treatment choice and survival, the medical records of 300 breast cancer patients of 55 years and older were reviewed. All patients were admitted to the Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI) for first treatment between 1980 and 1987. Patients were classified according to severity level of comorbid diseases. Physicians were found to treat women of 75 years and older less often with adjuvant radiotherapy after a mastectomy, and more often to employ only primary endocrine treatment for local stage disease, as compared with younger patients. According to the treatment guidelines of the institute, the study sample was divided into patients who received standard vs. non-standard treatment. The treatment of 38 women (13.1%) did not correspond with the guidelines. Of these, 84% were 75 years and older and 50% had a severe comorbidity status. Logistic regression analysis indicated that advanced age, per se, was a better indicator of the risk of not being treated according to protocol than the comorbidity status. Cox multivariate analyses demonstrated that neither the severity of the comorbidity status nor the differences in treatment between younger and older patients had a significant effect on the risk of dying from breast cancer or on the risk of developing recurrences. In this analysis, age 75 years or more proved to be a significant and independent predictor of a worse overall and disease-specific survival as compared to age between 65–74 years.     

毛细管气相色谱法测定人血清中二十二碳六烯酸的浓度

毛细管气相色谱法测定人血清中二十二碳六烯酸的浓度李青翠张驰彭会明夏桂珠（北京医科大学药学院，北京１０００８３；山西省药品检验所，太原０３０００１）二十二碳六烯酸（ｃｉｓ４，７，１０，１３，１６，１９ｄｏｃｏｓａｈｅｘｅｎｏｉｃａｃｉｄ，Ｄ...