Alpha-thalassemia in two Mediterranean populations

We used restriction endonuclease analysis to determine the incidence of alpha-thalassemia in two Mediterranean islands. In a random population sample, the gene frequency of deletion-type alpha-thalassemia-2 (- alpha) was 0.18 in Sardinians and 0.07 in Greek Cypriots. All cases were the rightward crossover type. From these frequencies and the known incidence of hemoglobin-H disease in these populations, we calculated the frequency of the alpha-thalassemia-1 genotype (--) and determined that it was low. We also found that beta-thalassemia homozygotes in sardinia have a higher incidence of alpha-thalassemia than normals and beta thalassemia heterozygotes because a significantly greater number of these homozygotes are also homozygous for the alpha-thalassemia-2 lesion. These findings support the theory that coinheritance of alpha- thalassemia mitigates the severity of beta-thalassemia and suggest that the protection is most pronounced when two alpha-globin genes are deleted.     

Neonatal Thyroxine,Maternal Thyroid Function,and Cognition in Mid-childhood in a US Cohort

Maternal and Child Health Journal - Examine the associations of maternal thyroid hormones, maternal dietary information, and newborn T4 levels with cognitive outcomes in mid-childhood. We studied...     

仓鼠与大鼠脂代谢的比较研究

通过肝灌流方法比较研究了仓鼠与大鼠脂代谢的异同及仓鼠对高胆固醇饲料的反应。结果发现大鼠血浆VLDL中的apoB_(48)具有肝和肠两个来源,而仓鼠血浆VLDL的apoB_(48)则仅来源于肠。两种动物的肝新生VLDL进入血浆后,均发生载脂蛋白和脂质组分的转移或交换。仓鼠肝胆汁中胆固醇、胆汁酸和磷脂的相对浓度(分别为3.4±0.5mol%、78.9±1.8mol%和17.7±1.6mol%)不同于大鼠(P<0.05、P<0.01和P<0.05)而与人类相似。喂饲胆固醇可使仓鼠肝的胆固醇脂产率显著增加(由0.14±0.02增至0.57±0.12μg/g肝/分钟,P<0.001)而并不增加自胆道的排出。与大鼠相比,仓鼠似更适宜用于复制实验性动脉粥样硬化的动物模型。     

Discovery of biphenyl piperazines as novel and long acting muscarinic acetylcholine receptor antagonists

A series of novel biphenyl piperazines was discovered as highly potent muscarinic acetylcholine receptor antagonists via high throughput screening and subsequent optimization. Compound 5c with respective 500- and 20-fold subtype selectivity for M3 over M2 and M1 exhibited excellent inhibitory activity and long duration of action in a bronchoconstriction in vivo model in mice via intranasal administration. The novel inhaled mAChR antagonists are potentially useful therapeutic agents for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.     

Survival of a 30-week baby with congenital myotonic dystrophy initially ventilated for 55 days

In previous reports, duration of initial ventilation exceeding 1 month almost always predicts non-survival of babies with congenital myotonic dystrophy. However, a baby with this condition survived beyond infancy after 55 days' ventilation. We describe this case in detail, explain why the baby survived and highlight the importance of individualized assessment, in addition to applying general prognostic terms described in the literature.     

豚鼠胃平滑肌毒蕈碱受体的多样性

从豚鼠胃平滑肌收缩实验测得,胃底、体部纵、环肌的乙酰胆碱pD₂约为6.5和4.0,阿托品的pA₂约为10和8.5。实验结果提示胃平滑肌上存在高、低两种不同亲和力的毒蕈碱受体,分别与胃底、体部的纵、环肌收缩有关。又用Yamamura法对豚鼠胃平滑肌组织中的毒蕈碱受体进行了检定,测得解离常数KD值约为1.8和18 nm的两种组分。由于作用不同的蛋白质修饰剂,对这两种组分与标记配体结合的影响不同,故认为它们是亲和力不同的两种特异结合部位。     

中药材龟板和鳖甲中DNA的提取与扩增

中药材龟板和鳖甲中ＤＮＡ的提取与扩增王亚明，周开亚，吴平，徐珞珊（南京师范大学生物系，南京２１００９７；中国药科大学生药学研究室，南京２１０００９）龟鳖类药材在我国使用历史悠久，具补阴益气的功效。《中国药典》（１９９０年版）规定龟甲（龟板）的原动物为...     

DNA vaccination using bacillus Calmette-Guerin-DNA as an adjuvant to enhance immune response to three kinds of swine diseases

In order to enhance the immune efficacy of DNA vaccination, experiments were conducted to investigate the regulating effects of Bacillus Calmette-Guerin （BCG）-DNA as an adjuvant on immune responses of mice against foot-and-mouth disease （FMD）, Aujeszky＇s disease （AID） and classical swine fever （CSF）. BCG-DNA was purified from BCG by ion-exchange chromatography. Three DNA vaccines （pVSG, pVgD and pVE2） against the respective infection were constructed, and BCGDNA was coimmunized to mice by muscle injection. The results showed that titres of specific immunoglobulin （Ig）G to the vaccines mounted remarkably in the sera of the adjuvant covaccinated mice （P〈0.01）. Antibody isotype IgG2a and IgG1 also increased, respectively, in mice coimmunized with BCG-DNA compared with those of the control groups （P〈0.01）. Cellular immune cytokine interferon-gamma and cytotoxic T lymphocytes were detected in coimmunized BCG-DNA groups （P〈0. 05）. Whereas interleukin-4, humoral immune cytokine, was not significant （P〉 0. 05）. These results suggest that codelivery of BCG-DNA with DNA vaccines against FMD, AjD and CSF can enhance the induction of antigen-specific, especially, cell-mediated immunity.