Health-related quality of life in Taiwanese patients with bronchial asthma.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is primarily an assessment of how domains of life are affected by health. This study investigated the factors influencing HRQOL of Taiwanese patients with bronchial asthma. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the factors influencing HRQOL. The sample consisted of 242 outpatients with bronchial asthma. The Chinese language version of the St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire was used to measure HRQOL. Data were analyzed using simple regression and multiple regression. RESULTS: Age, marital status, level of education, asthma severity, peak expiratory flow, and previous hospital admissions were found to be predictors of HRQOL. Gender, duration of disease, and history of emergency visits were not correlated with HRQOL. The variables entered in the HRQOL model accounted for 17.4% of the total variance (adjusted R(2)). The regression coefficients indicated that the mean scores increased 7.68 in patients with moderate to severe disease severity, and increased 7.34 in patients with a history of hospital admissions. The mean scores decreased 7.60 in married patients. CONCLUSION: This study found that marital status, asthma severity, and history of hospital admissions were major predictors of HRQOL in Taiwanese patients with bronchial asthma.     

Distribution of rat facial motoneurons and its reorganization following nerve reinnervation]

OBJECTIVE: To examine the distribution of rat facial motoneurons contributing different branches under normal situation and when nerve reinnervation occurred following facial nerve axotomy. METHODS: The normal distribution of motoneurons innervated both buccal and marginal mandibular branches and its reorganization after facial nerve reinnervation was observed using retrograde labeling with fluorescein. RESULTS: Under normal situation, the motoneurons contributing buccall and marginal mandibular branches were primarily distributed in the intermedial and lateral subnucleus in facial nucleus and almost completely overlapped. The two types labeled neurons organized closely, but there were no double-labeled neurons. Although the motoneurons contributing buccall and marginal mandibular branches were primarily overlapped 4 month post-anastomosis, the number of the labeled neurons obviously decreased and the organization got more scattered. There were 10% of buccall branches, 5% of marginal mandibular motoneurons in the dorsal subnuleus, 1% of buccall and 4% of marginal mandibular in dorsal ventral and medial subnucleus. The distribution pattern of the motoneurons 6 month post-anastomosis was similar to that of 4 month post-anastomosis, but the number of the labeled neurons increased, and there were 1%-2% double-labeled neurons. CONCLUSION: The distribution pattern of motoneurons innervated both buccal and marginal mandibular branches indicates that it should exist wide-spread communicating branches, and its reorganization after facial nerve reinnervation suggests that misdirected regeneration occurs among motoneurons innervating different branches.     

~3H-α-第二丁基对羟基苄醇在家兔体内的药物动力学研究

本文报道给家兔注入不同剂量的~3H-α-第二丁基对羟基苄醇,观察该药在其体内的药物动力学。结果表明,血中分布相快,消除相慢,消除半衰期T_1/1β为12h。经F值检验和理论计算值与实测值的契合程度比较,表明该药在兔体内的运转符合二室开放模型的动力学方程。     

全营养素混合液(TNA)在肠外营养的应用

脂肪乳剂、葡萄糖、氨基酸、电解质、维生素及微量元素按一定程序混合配成10种全营养素混合液。在4℃14天贮存期内,10种混合液的pH和渗透压变化不大,不同混合液在不同时期的脂粒平均直径变化为0.3135±0.1012μm～0.4813±0.1893μm,94.93％脂粒的直径<0.6μm,无直径>6μm的脂粒,细菌培养阴性。74例共输全营养素混合液1,796次,无不良临床反应和异常实验室检查结果;用1周以上者大都显示氮平衡改善,用2周以上者血清转铁蛋白和白蛋白浓度可有不同程度升高。     

Acute Cellular Rejection with CD20-Positive Lymphoid Clusters in Kidney Transplant Patients Following Lymphocyte Depletion

Lymphoid clusters (LC) containing CD20-positive B cells in kidney allografts undergoing acute cellular rejection (ACR) have been identified in small studies as a prognostic factor for glucocorticoid resistance and graft loss. Allograft biopsies obtained during the first episode of ACR in 120 recipients were evaluated for LC, immunostained with CD20 antibody, and correlated with conventional histopathologic criteria, response to treatment and outcome. LC were found in 71 (59%) of the 120 biopsies. All contained CD20 positive B cells that accounted for 5-90% of the LC leukocyte content. The incidence of LC was highest in the patients who had no lymphoid depletion or had been treated with Thymoglobulin preconditioning (79% vs. 75%, respectively) compared to 37% in patients pretreated with Campath (p = 0.0001). Banff 1a/1b ACR were more frequent in the LC-positive than the LC-negative group (96% vs. 80%, respectively; p = 0.0051). With a posttransplant follow-up of 953 +/- 430 days, no significant differences were detected between LC-postitive and LC-negative groups in time to ACR, steroid resistance, serum creatinine and graft loss. CD20+LC did not portend glucocorticoid resistance or worse short to medium term outcomes. CD20+LC may represent a heterogenous collection in which there may be a small still to be fully defined unfavorable subgroup.     

提壶揭盖法治疗前列腺增生症82例

笔者自1995年以来，宗提壶揭盖法，用补中益气汤加减治疗前列腺增生82例疗效满意，报告如下。     

Expression of CD68 CD45RO CD20 and proliferating cell nuclear antigen in nasal polyps]

OBJECTIVE: To study the cellular expression of CD45RO, CD20, CD68 and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) in nasal polyps. METHODS: Nasal polyp tissues from 50 patients were evaluated for cellular expression of CD45RO, CD20, CD68 and PCNA using immunohistochemistry SP by counting the average number in 5 chosen high-power fields, Histopathological observations were combined with HE. Analyses were performed on SPSS10.0. RESULTS: CD68+ cells were expressed more in nasal polyps dominated by eosinophils than by neutrophils(P < 0.05). There was no difference between CD45RO and CD20, but both of them had negative correlation(P = 0.05). Significant correlation was found between CD68+ cells and eosinophils or PCNA positive cells on epithelium. PCNA positive cells on epithelium had significant correlation on fibroblast (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Inflammatory cell infiltration (eosinophilia CD45RO, CD20, CD68) and cell proliferating in epithelium cells, glandular cell and fibroblast are strongly correlated with formation of nasal polyps. The nasal polyps are not only characteristic of eosinophilia but also by lymphocytes dominated by CD45RO and CD68 positive cells. CD68 may be stem cell of nasal polyp.     

Association of the GNAS1 gene variant with hypertension is dependent on alcohol consumption.

The beta-adrenoceptor (beta-AR)-stimulatory guanine nucleotide-binding (Gs) protein system has been shown to play important roles in the cardiovascular system. The gene encoding the alpha-subunit of Gs proteins (GNAS1) is a candidate genetic determinant for hypertension. Because alcohol consumption is known to affect blood pressure partly through the beta-AR-Gs protein system, we examined the possible interaction between GNAS1 T393C polymorphism and drinking status in the association with hypertension in the present study. As a result, a non-significant but reasonable trend supporting the presence of an interaction was shown (p = 0.076). In line with this trend, the T393C polymorphism significantly interacted with drinking status in the association with systolic blood pressure (p = 0.028). Moreover, supporting the presence of an interaction, T allele carriers consistently had a higher probability of hypertension, higher systolic blood pressure, and higher diastolic blood pressure than CC homozygotes in non-drinkers and light drinkers. In contrast, CC homozygotes consistently had a higher probability of hypertension, higher systolic blood pressure, and higher diastolic blood pressure than T allele carriers in moderate to heavy drinkers. The present study also showed a significant interaction between the T393C polymorphism and drinking status in the association with pulse pressure (p = 0.026), reflected by a significant association between the T393C polymorphism and pulse pressure in moderate to heavy drinkers (p = 0.026). These findings may be helpful in conducting further molecular and biological studies on the relationship among the effects of alcohol, the beta-AR-Gs protein system, and hypertension.