Should patients with a pre-operative prostatespecific antigen greater than 15ng/ml be offered radical prostatectomy?

Background Patients with prostate cancer with a pre-operative prostate-specific antigen (PSA) τ;15ng/ml who undergo radical retropubic prostatectomy (RRP) generally do not have a good outcome, yet may have organ-confined cancer and should be offered the option of surgery. Aim To assess the outcome of patients who underwent RRP with a pre-operative PSA ≥ 15ng/ml. Methods Thirty-four patients, mean pre-operative PSA: 25.46ng/ml (15.03–76.6) and mean Gleason score: 6.4 (5–9) were assessed. Results Two groups were identified. Group I: 41% (14/34) have no biochemical recurrence to mean follow up of 58 months (30–106). Mean PSA: 18.8ng/ml (15.03–25.84). Mean Gleason score: 6.1 (5–7). Clinical stage: T1c in 80%. No patient had seminal vesicle or lymph node involvement. Group II: 59% (20/34) have biochemical recurrence or died (3) from their disease to mean follow up of 66 months (36–98). Mean PSA: 28.9ng/ml (15.28–76.6). Mean Gleason score: 6.7 (5–9). Clinical stage: T1c in 25%. Eleven patients had seminal vesicle (8) involvement or positive lymph nodes (3) or both (2). Conclusion RRP seems feasible in patients whose pre-operative PSA is between 15 and 25ng/ml with stage T1c, Gleason score ≤ 7 and negative lymph node frozen section.     

Increased incidence of cytoplasmic ANCA (cANCA) and other autoantibodies in leprosy patients from western India

The prevalence of various autoantibodies was studied in 75 leprosy patients comprising eight patients with lepromatous leprosy (LL), 36 patients with borderline lepromatous leprosy (BL) and 31 patients with borderline tuberculoid leprosy (BT), along with 100 normal controls. Certain autoantibodies such as anti-nuclear antibodies (ANA), anti-single stranded DNA (anti-ssDNA) and anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA) were raised among leprosy patients. When ANCA specificities to anti-myeloperoxidase (anti-MPO), anti-proteinase3 (anti-PR3) and anti-lactoferrin (anti-LF) were studied, it was found that the patterns of immunofluorescence such as perinuclear (p-ANCA), cytoplasmic (c-ANCA) and atypical (X-ANCA) and specificity by ELISA to anti-MPO, anti-PR3 and anti-LF varied in the LL, BL and BT groups. However, a higher amount of c-ANCA was observed in 62.5% of leprosy cases, while the incidences of p-ANCA and X-ANCA were lower. The LL group showed a higher incidence of autoantibodies as compared with the BL and BT groups, along with a male preponderance for autoantibody development. Some unusual antibody profiles such as 'X'-ANCA were also observed. The study suggests that autoantibody formation could be quite prevalent and also variable in the spectrum of leprosy cases, and there seems to be a serological overlap among leprosy and autoimmune disease, which could have pathogenetic importance in the leprosy patients developing complications.     

Appendicitis During Pregnancy

Acute appendicitis is the most common extra-uterine surgical emergency requiring immediate surgical intervention during pregnancy [1]. Six young female patients presented with appendicitis during May 1996 to May 2001 in different service hospitals. Five patients underwent emergency appendectomy successfully. Gestational age at presentation included first trimester in 4 patients, second trimester in 2 patients and none in third trimester. 84% had pathologically proven acute appendicitis. One patient presented with appendicular lump in first trimester, proved on ultra sonography examination, which was treated by Oshner Sherren regime and subsequently interval appendectomy was done in second trimester. No long term adverse maternal morbidity or mortality was reported. One patient had premature onset of labour and delivered. Natural history of acute appendicitis is not changed during pregnancy while gestational physiological changes obscure the accurate diagnosis of acute appendicitis.Key Words: Acute appendicitis, Appendectomy, Pregnancy     

Solitary bronchioloalveolar carcinoma: CT criteria

The computed tomographic (CT) scans of 30 patients with solitary bronchioloalveolar carcinoma were reviewed. Common features at CT included the peripheral or subpleural location of a pulmonary mass (25 cases), pseudocavitation (18 cases), heterogeneous attenuation (17 cases), irregular margins forming a star pattern (22 cases), and pleural tags (21 cases). Using these CT criteria, four independent observers attempted to identify cases of bronchioloalveolar carcinoma from a larger sample of lung cancers and benign lesions by categorizing a series of test cases into four probability categories. Although the bronchioloalveolar carcinomas were correctly ranked in the two highest probability categories 75% of the time (in 45 of 60 cases), there was considerable overlap with other lung lesions, particularly with adenocarcinoma and large cell undifferentiated carcinoma. However, even though the typical features of bronchioloalveolar carcinoma are not invariable or highly specific, they are characteristic enough to suggest the diagnosis.     

Obstetric and nonmalignant gynecologic bleeding: treatment with angiographic embolization

Eight patients (seven post partum, one post abortion) with massive pelvic hemorrhage related to pregnancy and one patient with uncontrollable bleeding following a cervical biopsy underwent angiography to facilitate the identification and treatment of bleeding sites. In all nine patients pelvic hemorrhage was successfully controlled with embolization under angiographic guidance. Angiographic embolization allowed preservation of the uterus in six patients referred prior to hysterectomy, and one patient subsequently became pregnant. When conservative measures and minor surgical repairs have failed, embolization should be the next step in the treatment of postpartum hemorrhage to avoid major surgery in an unstable patient and to maintain reproductive function.     

Molecular basis of altered red blood cell membrane properties in Southeast Asian ovalocytosis: role of the mutant band 3 protein in band 3 oligomerization and retention by the membrane skeleton

Southeast Asian ovalocytosis (SAO) is an asymptomatic trait characterized by rigid, poorly deformable red cells that resist invasion by several strains of malaria parasites. The underlying molecular genetic defect involves simple heterozygous state for a mutant band 3 protein, which contains a deletion of amino acids 400 through 408, linked with a Lys 56-to-Glu substitution (band 3-Memphis polymorphism). To elucidate the contribution of the mutant SAO band 3 protein to increased SAO red blood cell (RBC) rigidity, we examined the participation of the mutant SAO band 3 protein in increased band 3 attachment to the skeleton and band 3 oligomerization. We found first that SAO RBC skeletons retained more band 3 than normal cells and that this increased retention preferentially involved the mutant SAO band 3 protein. Second, SAO RBCs contained a higher percentage of band 3 oligomer-ankyrin complexes than normal cells, and these oligomers were preferentially enriched by the mutant SAO protein. At the ultrastructural level, the increased oligomer formation of SAO RBCs was reflected by stacking of band 3-containing intramembrane particles (IMP) into longitudinal strands. The IMP stacking was not reversed by treating SAO RBCs in alkaline pH (pH 11), which is known to weaken ankyrin-band 3 interactions, or by removing the cytoplasmic domain of band 3 from SAO membranes with trypsin. Finally, we found that band 3 protein in intact SAO RBCs exhibited a markedly decreased rotational mobility, presumably reflecting the increased oligomerization and the membrane skeletal association of the SAO band 3 protein. We propose that the mutant SAO band 3 has an increased propensity to form oligomers, which appear as longitudinal strands of IMP and exhibit increased association with membrane skeleton. This band 3 oligomerization underlies the increase in membrane rigidity by precluding membrane skeletal extension, which is necessary for membrane deformation.     

带有蛋白转导结构域的bcr/abl癌蛋白片段表达及其跨膜转运

0　引言　人类免疫缺陷病毒 (human immunodeficiencyvirus,HIV) - 1编码的反式激活蛋白 TAT具有独特的跨膜运转方式 ,而且有转导速度快 ,效率高的特点 ,被称为蛋白转导结构域 (protein transduction domain,PTD) [1 ,2 ] .本研究用PCR扩增了慢性粒细胞白血病慢粒 bcr/ abl融合蛋白的基因片段 ,在其 5′端融合 PTD结构域的编码区后在大肠杆菌中进行了表达 .表达产物经纯化后 ,加入培养的 HL 6 0细胞 ,表达的蛋白可直接进入细胞内 .这一结果为用外源蛋白负载(L oading)免疫细胞提供了新的途径 .1　材料和方法1.1　 DNA重组　人工合…     

失眠的评价

失眠的定义失眠分为急性和慢性失眠.急性失眠通常持续时间不超过2 w,与应激状态有关,例如上班、搬家、婚姻或亲人朋友的去世等.而慢性失眠则是失眠持续超过3 w以上,或者不充足睡眠伴随着日间睡意和抑郁,且持续时间不少于1个月.     

安宫牛黄丸中小檗碱的HPLC法测定

本文报道用HPLC法测定黄连及含黄连中成药安宫牛黄丸中小檗碱型生物碱。实验结果表明选用硅胶柱为固定相,以醋酸乙酯—甲酸—乙醇(15:3:2)为流动相,能使样品中四种小檗碱型的生物碱获得最佳分离。用此法测得不同厂家生产的安宫牛黄丸中盐酸小檗碱的含量为0.331～0.456%,平均回收率为97.23%,变异系数为1.2%。