Idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome with polymyositis

We have reported a case of idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome (HES) with polymyositis, in which there was marked eosinophilic leukocytic infiltration of the myocardium and striated skeletal muscles, particularly of the diaphragm, with foci of necrosis and areas of fibrosis. We believe this to be the first detailed report of the involvement of the diaphragm in HES.     

Flow Cytometric Analysis of Cellular Changes in Mice after Intradermal Inoculation with a Liposome–Iscom Adjuvanted Vaccine

As it is not known what changes to leucocyte homeostasis are mandatory for effective adjuvant action, the biological relevance of systemic changes elicited by different vaccine formulations can only be interpreted in the context of the immunological outcomes. We used flow cytometry to quantify the changes in leucocyte subsets induced in mice intradermally immunized with SAMA4 (adjuvant group), outer membrane proteins (OMP) purified from Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae (OMP antigen group), SAMA4 adjuvanted OMP (OMP vaccine group), or phosphate-buffered saline (PBS: control group). This approach allowed direct comparisons to be made between the effects of antigen, adjuvant or antigen–adjuvant complexes on immune effector cell populations. Antigens complexed with the liposome–iscom hybrid adjuvant, SAMA4, generated strong antibody responses and cytotoxic T-cell activity in animals immunized intradermally, reflecting remobilization and recruitment of specific cell populations. Splenomegaly, due to granulocytosis, monocytosis and megakaryocytosis, was most prominent in the OMP vaccine group. Histological examination of spleen sections confirmed that these changes were due primarily to splenic haematopoiesis. Circulating numbers of granulocytes and monocytes increased significantly (P < 0.05) in the blood of the OMP vaccine group, as did granulocyte numbers in the lungs (P < 0.05). No changes in T- and B-cell numbers were detected by flow cytometry in the spleens, lungs or blood over the 28-day period in any treatment group. Thymocyte numbers (predominantly CD4⁺CD8⁺ cells) in the OMP vaccine group fell by 95% within 3 days of immunization. Identical cellular responses were obtained when an innocuous antigen, ovalbumin, was complexed with SAMA4 instead of OMP, thus demonstrating that the adjuvant effects of SAMA4 were due to synergistic interaction between antigen and adjuvant and not due to the presence of toxic components. The association of strong adaptive immune responses with such complex changes in leucocyte homeostasis induced by complexing adjuvant and antigen suggested that the changes were important for effective vaccination and were not purely circumstantial.     

以酶解法从中药及药渣制备β—葡萄糖的研究

本实验首次将工业纤维素酶应用于中药及药渣中，探讨利用工业纤维素酶使中药及药渣的纤维素酶解为β－葡萄糖；实验结果表明：在５０℃，ｐＨ４．５，底物浓度为１５％的条件下，４８小时可酶解得５％以上的β－葡萄糖。     

Increases in plasma beta-endorphin concentrations during exercise do not contribute to increases in heart rate following autonomic blockade in man.

1. Intrinsic heart rate (IHR: heart rate following autonomic blockade with atropine and propranolol) increases with exercise. The opioid antagonist naloxone has been shown to decrease IHR at rest, raising the possibility that increases in IHR with exercise are beta-endorphin related, since beta-endorphin concentrations have also been shown to rise during exercise. 2. We examined the effects of naloxone (10 mg) on IHR and plasma beta-endorphin levels during aerobic exercise in eight healthy, male subjects in a single blind, crossover study. 3. IHR increased with 25 min bicycling from 97.1 +/- 1.4 to 129.7 +/- 1.2 beats min-1 (mean +/- s.e. mean). This rise was not affected by administration of naloxone. 4. Plasma beta-endorphin concentration rose from 31.1 +/- 3.8 to 94.9 +/- 23.9 pg ml-1 after 25 min exercise. This exercise-induced rise in beta-endorphin concentration was further increased (P less than 0.05) in the presence of naloxone. 5. Our results confirm a rise in IHR and beta-endorphin concentrations with acute exercise but indicate that the changes in IHR are not endorphin-related.     

早期自体角膜缘移植术治疗碱烧伤

目的探讨角膜缘移植术在眼碱烧伤中的治疗意义。方法新西兰兔１４只，１．０ｍｏｌ／ＬＮａＯＨ溶液眼前节烧伤１分钟。其中７只兔于烧伤后即实施自体角膜缘移植术，另７只兔为对照。术后观察１个月，取其角膜进行光镜及扫描电镜观察。结果手术组角膜上皮愈合快，角膜新生血管及角膜炎细胞浸润均较对照组轻。结论早期自体角膜缘移植术治疗碱烧伤可加速角膜上皮愈合、抑制角膜新生血管形成、减轻角膜炎症反应及预防角膜溃疡的发生。     

A prospective, randomized, cross-over comparison of two methods of artificial insemination by donor on the incidence of conception: intracervical insemination by straw versus cervical cap

In a prospective, randomized study of insemination with donor semen, intracervical insemination by straw was compared with insemination using a cervical cap with an intracervical reservoir. A total of 91 patients completed 486 treatment cycles. There were no significant differences in age, parity, indication for insemination by donor, or method of cycle monitoring between women who became pregnant and those who did not conceive with either insemination method. In 236 standard intracervical insemination cycles, 14 patients became pregnant (5.9% per cycle), whereas 38 patients conceived in 250 cervical cap cycles (15.2% per cycle). Both the crude pregnancy rates and the cumulative pregnancy rates calculated by the Kaplan-Meier life-table method were significantly different (chi(2)-test, P < 0.001, and log-rank test, P < 0.005 respectively). Pregnancy rates in artificial insemination with cryopreserved donor semen may be improved by the use of a cervical cap when compared to cervical insemination by straw. The use of the cervical cap may prolong the exposure of the spermatozoa to the cervical mucus and prevent the backflow of semen into the vagina.      

Oral immunization of mice with attenuated Salmonella typhimurium aroA expressing a recombinant Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae antigen (NrdF).

Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae is the etiological agent of porcine enzootic pneumonia, a commercially expensive respiratory disease of swine. Salmonella typhimurium SL3261 was used as a live carrier of plasmid pKF1, which encodes a 15-kDa recombinant M. hyopneumoniae protein. This expressed recombinant protein consists of the carboxy-terminal 11 kDa of a 42-kDa M. hyopneumoniae NrdF ribonucleotide reductase R2 subunit protein. Rabbit anti-15-kDa serum was able to inhibit the growth of viable M. hyopneumoniae J in vitro. When used as a live oral vaccine, S. typhimurium SL3261(pKF1) induced a significant secretory immunoglobulin A immune response in the lungs of mice orally immunized against the M. hyopneumoniae antigen. Utilization of live oral vaccines expressing potentially protective M. hyopneumoniae proteins, such as the NrdF antigen, which can stimulate a lung mucosal response against surface-accessible proteins may provide a cost-effective alternative to the present control strategies used for porcine enzootic pneumonia.