Heterogeneity of B cell involvement in acute nonlymphocytic leukemia

In order to study the pattern of B cell involvement in acute nonlymphocytic leukemia (ANLL), multiple B lymphoid cell lines were established by Epstein-Barr virus transformation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells from two patients with the disease who were heterozygous for the X chromosome-linked glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD). In one patient, the progenitor cells involved by the leukemia exhibited multipotent differentiative expression, whereas in the other patient the cells showed differentiative expression restricted to the granulocytic pathway. In the patient whose abnormal clone showed multipotent expression, the ratio of B-A G6PD in B lymphoid cell lines was skewed in the direction of type B (the enzyme characteristic of the leukemia clone) and significantly different from the 1:1 ratio expected. It is, therefore, likely that the neoplastic event occurred in a stem cell common to the lymphoid series as well as to the myeloid series. In contrast, evidence for B cell involvement was not detected in the patient whose ANLL progenitor cells exhibited restricted differentiative expression. These findings underscore the heterogeneity of ANLL. Clinically and morphologically similar malignancies in these two patients originated in progenitors with different patterns of stem cell differentiative expression. This difference may reflect differences in cause and pathogenesis.     

Structure of canine pulmonary surfactant apoprotein: cDNA and complete amino acid sequence.

The apoproteins of pulmonary surfactant (PSAP) are thought to be critical for normal surfactant function. They bind to surfactant phospholipids and enhance their ability to form surface films in vitro. These acidic glycoproteins have monomeric molecular weights of 36,000, 32,000, and 28,000 (PSAP-36, -32, and -28). Each member of this family of proteins has a similar amino acid composition and their differences in electrophoretic mobility are due in part to glycosylation. We have derived the full amino acid sequence of PSAP-32 from the nucleotide sequence of PSAP cDNA. A cDNA library was prepared from canine lung poly(A)+ RNA and screened with oligonucleotide probes that were based on the NH2-terminal amino acids of PSAP-32 determined by Edman degradation. This protein has the striking feature of collagen-like and non-collagen-like sequences in the same polypeptide chain. There are 24 Gly-Xaa-Yaa triplets, where Yaa is often hydroxyproline. These repeats comprise one-third of PSAP near the NH2 terminus. The remaining two-thirds of PSAP is resistant to bacterial collagenase digestion and contains a possible N-glycosylation site near the carboxyl terminus. The NH2-terminal one-third of PSAP-32 probably contains the cysteine involved in interchain disulfide bonds.     

推广规范化的胃癌淋巴结清扫术

胃癌外科治疗的历史始自Ｂｉｌｌｒｏｔｈ１８８１年在维也纳为胃癌患者成功施行世界上第１例胃切除,距今已近１２０ａ．本世纪初,胃癌是癌肿的头号杀手（ｔｈｅｌｅａｄｉｎｇｃａｎｃｅｒｋｉｌｌｅｒ）．最近几十年,全球的胃癌病死率有所下降,但我国农村幅员广阔,农村人口比例高,目前胃癌的病死率仍居各种肿瘤的首位．最近２０ａ～３０ａ,以日本为代表的胃癌的外科治疗已经获得长足的进步．我国胃癌的外科诊治水平也有明显的提高［１］,根治性切除率、早期胃癌比率以及５年生存率均有明显提高,手术死亡率及并发症发生率明显下降…     

不同载荷作用下C（4～5）椎间孔孔径的变化

目的:分析不同载荷对C4～5椎间孔孔径变化的影响。方法:实验于2006-01/2006-05在湘南学院附属医院进行。成人新鲜尸体颈椎标本10具(自愿捐献或家属同意),节段包括C3～T1,剔除肌肉组织,保留椎间盘、韧带和关节囊结构的完整。分别测量椎间盘完整、椎间盘髓核摘除、颈人工椎间盘置换和前路钢板植骨内固定4种状态下,加压速度为5mm/min时,25,50,75,100,125和150N的分级轴向载荷加载于标本时C4～5上下径、上前后径、下前后径以及椎间孔面积的变化。结果:①轴向加载25N时,C4～5椎间孔面积椎间盘髓核摘除标本小于完整椎间盘、颈人工椎间盘置换和前路钢板植骨内固定标本[(57.26±17.65),(65.81±16.83),(75.37±17.75),(66.21±16.50)mm2,P<0.05];颈人工椎间盘置换标本大于颈椎植骨融合钢板内固定标本(P<0.05)。②轴向加载50N时,C4～5椎间孔面积椎间盘髓核摘除标本小于其他3组[(57.13±17.64),(65.72±16.85),(75.35±17.75),(66.11±16.46)mm2,P<0.05];颈人工椎间盘置换标本大于颈椎植骨融合钢板内固定标本(P<0.05)。③轴向加载75N时,上下径:C4～5椎间孔面积椎间盘髓核摘除标本小于其他3组[(55.26±17.66),(64.80±16.85),(73.32±17.74),(65.21±16.48)mm2,P<0.05];颈人工椎间盘置换标本大于颈椎植骨融合钢板内固定标本(P<0.05)。④轴向加载100N时,上下径:C4～5椎间孔面积椎间盘髓核摘除标本小于其他3组[(53.22±17.66),(63.81±16.83),(71.35±17.76),(65.27±16.46)mm2,P<0.05]。⑤轴向加载125N时,C4～5椎间孔面积椎间盘髓核摘除标本小于其他3组[(51.25±17.64),(62.82±16.83),(69.25±17.74),(65.25±16.43)mm2,P<0.05]。⑥椎间孔面积:轴向加载150N时,C4～5椎间孔面积椎间盘髓核摘除标本小于其他3组[(49.16±17.65),(61.84±16.86),(67.15±17.73),(65.24±16.42)mm2,P<0.05]结论:颈椎间盘髓核摘除后C4～5椎间孔有效空间明显减少。     

人羊膜间充质细胞具有分化成软骨及成骨细胞的潜能

目的:人羊膜间充质细胞具有比骨髓间充质干细胞更强的扩增能力和免疫原性低等优势。建立体外适宜的诱导培养条件,观察人羊膜间充质细胞定向分化为软骨细胞和成骨细胞的能力。方法:实验于2005-09/2006-12在贵州省细胞工程重点实验室完成。①材料来源:经产妇知情同意,无菌采集健康足月分娩新生儿胎盘6份,实验经医院医学伦理委员会批准。②实验方法:采用机械法剥离羊膜组织,二步酶消化法分离收获人羊膜间充质细胞,按2.2×10~8L~(-1)密度接种,传至第1～2代用于诱导分化实验。向软骨细胞诱导分化时,人羊膜间充质细胞按3×10~8L~(-1)密度接种,诱导培养液为含体积分数0.01的胎牛血清、10 mg/L转化生长因β1、100 nmol/L地塞米松、50 mg/L抗坏血酸、1%培养基添加物。向成骨细胞诱导分化时,人羊膜间充质细胞按6×10~7L~(-1)密度接种,诱导培养液为含体积分数0.1的胎牛血清、100 nmol/L地塞米松、50 mg/L抗坏血酸、5 mmol/Lβ-甘油磷酸。③实验评估:原代细胞用流式细胞仪分析表型,免疫细胞化学染色进行波形蛋白表达鉴定。分别于体外诱导第7,14,21,28天采用免疫细胞化学法检测软骨特异性Ⅱ型胶原的表达,细胞化学法检测蛋白聚糖的表达,钙-钴法检测成骨细胞特异性碱性磷酸酶的表达,茜素红S检测钙盐沉积情况。结果:①免疫组化与表型特征:人羊膜间充质细胞高表达间充质干细胞表面标志CD29、CD44和间充质细胞标志波形蛋白。②向软骨细胞诱导分化:诱导14 d后,人羊膜间充质细胞由长梭型逐渐变为多角形,可检测到Ⅱ型胶原蛋白表达及软骨细胞特异性细胞外基质蛋白聚糖。③向成骨细胞诱导分化:诱导21 d后,可观察到人羊膜间充质细胞的胞浆内有碱性磷酸酶表达,且可见钙盐沉积。结论:人羊膜间充质细胞具有分化成软骨细胞和成骨细胞的特性,可作为骨及软骨组织工程种子细胞的新来源。     

Feasibility of using interpolated contours of targets and organs at risk in intensity‐modulated radiation therapy treatment planning for advanced‐stage nasopharyngeal carcinoma

To assess the dosimetric effect of using interpolated contours in planning intensity‐modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) for advanced T‐stage nasopharyngeal carcinoma. The present study focused on T3–T4 tumours where the proximity of targets to neurological organs poses a stringent test on the feasibility of such an approach. Contours of targets and organs were delineated on CT images of 2.5‐mm interval and a reference IMRT plan was generated. An investigative (INV) IMRT plan was then generated with the same planning protocol, but based on interpolated contours that replaced deleted contours on alternate slices. The reference and INV plans were compared. Regarding target coverage, all targets in the INV plans met the acceptance criteria except for the PTV in one case. Regarding organs, the mean dose to 1% volume of the brainstem and spinal cord in the INV plans were kept below their dose limits. No significant differences in the mean doses to others organs were found. Satisfactory target coverage and protection of critical organs to a degree similar to full‐scale contouring could be achieved with use of interpolated contours. The saving in manpower time for contouring is expected to significantly improve the throughput of the IMRT planning process.     

Alpha2 macroglobulin and the risk of Alzheimer's disease

BACKGROUND: alpha2 Macroglobulin is a panproteinase inhibitor that is found immunohistochemically in neuritic plaques, a requisite neuropathologic feature of AD. Recently, a pentanucleotide deletion near the 5' end of the "bait region" of the alpha2 macroglobulin (A2M) gene was reported to be associated with AD in a large cohort of sibpairs, in which the mutation conferred a similar odds ratio with AD as the APOE-epsilon4 allele for carriers of at least one copy of the A2M gene (Mantel-Haenszel odds ratio, 3.56). METHODS: We studied three independent association samples of AD patients (n = 309) with an age range of 50 to 94 years and representative controls (n = 281) to characterize the allele frequency of the pentanucleotide deletion in this cohort. We detected the mutation near the 5' splice site of exon 18 using standard PCR and restriction fragment length polymorphism methods. The results were adjusted for age, gender, education, and APOE polymorphism. RESULTS: We found that the A2M gene polymorphism conferred an increased risk for AD, with an estimated Mantel-Haenszel ratio of 1.5 (95% CI 1.1 to 2.2; p = 0.025). There was no age- or gender-dependent increase in A2M gene allele frequencies in AD patients compared with controls. The combined sample showed the expected association between AD and APOE-epsilon 4. In one of our three samples there was an interaction between the A2M and APOE-epsilon4 genes, but the other two samples showed no interaction between the two risk factors. CONCLUSIONS: Our data support an association between the A2M gene and AD. This association is less pronounced, however, in our cohort than in the previously reported sample of sibpairs.     

The potential effect of the UK 1990 height centile charts on community growth surveillance

The UK 1990 height charts are derived from an up to date dataset and introduce a change in the centile lines, particularly the addition of the 0.4th centile. This study examined the likely impact of these changes. Height data from London school children (1990-1993) were examined using Tanner and Whitehouse (TW) and UK 1990 charts. Numbers of children with height below TW 3rd centile were compared with numbers below the UK 1990 3rd and 0.4th centiles. The TW charts identified only 1% of children below the TW 3rd centile, while the UK 1990 charts identified 3% below the 3rd and 0.4% below the 0.4th centiles. If the 3rd centile remains as the referral 'cut off' for short stature, the introduction of the UK 1990 charts would increase current workload two- to three-fold, while a change to the 0.4th centile would reduce it by 50%. A significant number of children with abnormalities may be excluded from further assessment as a result of this latter change. In this small scale community study it is not possible to assess the consequences of this change. The heights at diagnosis of children with growth hormone (GH) deficiency (peak GH < 20 mU/l during a standard provocation test) were therefore compared to the 0.4th centile (UK 1990 charts). Sixty eight children with heights < 2nd centile (UK 1990 charts) currently receiving GH replacement (17 female, 51 male, aged 9.7, SD 3.5, years) were assessed, and of these, 28 (41%) had heights at diagnosis between 0.4th and 2nd centile, with a mean height standard deviation score of -2.32 (SD 0.21). This suggests that if the 0.4th centile were to be used as the sole criterion for referral for slow growth, a significant proportion of children with abnormality would not be referred for further assessment. The UK 1990 2nd centile should replace the TW 3rd centile. Children below this should undergo an intermediary medical assessment to confirm height measurement, to exclude from referral children with mild familial short stature and to identify concerns regarding the child.     

Aetiology of chronic suppurative lung disease

Forty one (1%) of 4000 children referred for respiratory disease had chronic suppurative lung disease not due to cystic fibrosis. Further investigations showed congenital malformations in six (15%), primary ciliary dyskinesia syndrome in seven (17%), 11 had immunological abnormalities (27%), and two bronchiectasis due to aspiration (5%). Therefore the underlying cause for the disease was found in 63%. Identification of predisposing causes may facilitate prevention of further bronchial damage.