Comparison of intra‐arterial digital subtraction angiography using carbon dioxide by ‘home made’ delivery system and conventional iodinated contrast media in the evaluation of peripheral arterial occlusive disease of the lower limbs

To prospectively compare the feasibility, safety and diagnostic role of carbon dioxide (CO₂) digital subtraction angiography (DSA) using a ‘home made’ delivery system with iodinated contrast medium (ICM) DSA in the evaluation of peripheral arterial occlusive diseases (PAOD) of lower limbs. Twenty‐one patients (27 limbs; all men; mean age, 47.6 years) who presented with PAOD of lower limbs underwent DSA using both intra‐arterial CO₂ and ICM. Conventional ICM DSA was performed first and used as gold standard. Carbon dioxide was then injected by hand using a locally improvised home made plastic bag delivery system. Patient tolerance was assessed subjectively. Arteries from aortic bifurcation to the ankle were independently evaluated by two radiologists and graded for stenosis using a five‐point scale. For each patient, the quality of CO₂ DSA images were compared with the corresponding images of ICM DSA and an overall grade of ‘good’, ‘acceptable’ or ‘poor’ was assigned. Cohen’s kappa coefficient was used to determine inter‐observer agreement. Carbon dioxide opacified 86.2% (188/195) of major arteries and depicted stenosis adequately in 84.5% (191/226) of arterial segments. A good or acceptable image quality of CO₂ DSA was obtained in over 95% of patients. Infrapopliteal arteries were inadequately visualized. Mild pain was seen in six (28.6%) patients with both contrast agents; one patient developed severe pain during CO₂ DSA. Inter‐observer agreement was good (k > 0.75) at 70% of the segments. Administration of CO₂ into lower limb arteries is well tolerated. Carbon dioxide DSA using the locally improvised home made delivery system is a feasible and safe alternative to ICM DSA in the evaluation of PAOD. It provides adequate imaging of arteries of lower extremities except infrapopliteal segments.     

辅料对X线造影剂碘海醇注射液稳定性的影响

目的：考察不同辅料的国产碘海醇（Ｉｏｈｅｘｏｌ）注射液稳定性的影响。方法：测定高温灭菌前后６组不同辅料的碘海醇注射液ＰＨ、碘离子浓度、含量变化。结果与结论：同时含三羟甲基氨基甲烷（Ｔｒｉｓ,１．２ｍｇ／ｍｌ）、乙二胺四乙酸二钠钙（ＥＤＴＡ－Ｎａ２Ｃａ,０．１ｍｇ／ｍｌ）２种辅料时,碘海醇注射液最稳定。     

Crohn disease of the small intestine: diffuse mucosal granularity

A diffuse granular mucosal pattern, produced by a reticular network of radiolucent foci 0.5 to 1 mm in diameter, was identified in 39 out of 46 consecutive patients with Crohn disease of the small intestine. Resected specimens demonstrated that this pattern represented wide, blunted villi with lymphocytic infiltration. Such a pattern was the only evidence of small bowel involvement in 17 cases. In 3 patients with the commonly recognized lesions, separate regions of diffuse granularity were seen. No such pattern was detected in normal patients. Demonstration of diffuse granularity may contribute to the diagnosis and management of Crohn disease.     

5-乙基-5-对氟苯甲酰丙基巴比妥酸在兔体内的代谢产物研究

用高效液相色谱法对5-乙基-5-对氟苯甲酰丙基巴比妥酸在家兔体内的代谢物进行了分离,用二极管阵列检测器测定了原药及代谢物紫外图谱,得出代谢物的紫外吸收性质;同时测试了原药及代谢物的质谱,推测出代谢物的可能结构,并用化学方法合成了代谢物对照品,通过核磁和质谱的测定进一步确证了结构。     

抗痫灵在大鼠肝脏中代谢的研究

用离体大鼠肝脏灌流法,研究了抗痫灵在肝脏灌流过程中的代谢规律。用高效液相色谱法由灌流液中分离、制备得到了两种代谢物,经紫外吸收光谱与质谱鉴定,确定代谢物的结构为3,4-次甲基二氧桂皮酰羟基哌啶及阿魏酰哌啶,后者经化学合成得到了进一步的确证。本文还研究了肝循环过程中抗痫灵的代谢动力学,揭示了大部份抗痫灵以原形结合贮存于肝脏中。     

Dendritic Cell-Derived Exosomes Stimulate Stronger CD8~+ CTL Responses and Antitumor Immunity than TVimor Cell-Derived Exosomes

Exosomes (EXO) derived from dendritic cells (DC) and tumor cells have been used to stimulate antitumor immune responses in animal models and in clinical trials. However, there has been no side-by-side comparison of the stimulatory efficiency of the antitumor immune responses induced by these two commonly used EXO vaccines. In this study, we selected to study the phenotype characteristics of EXO derived from a transfected EG7 tumor cells expressing ovalbumin (OVA) and OVA-pulsed DC by flow cytometry. We compared the stimulatory effect in induction of OVA-specific immune responses between these two types of EXO. We found that OVA protein-pulsed DCovA-derived EXO (EXODC) can more efficiently stimulate naive OVA-specific CD8+ T cell proliferation and differentiation into cytotoxic T lymphocytes in vivo, and induce more efficient antitumor immunity than EG7 tumor cell-derived EXO (EXOEG7). In addition, we elucidated the important role of the host DC in EXO vaccines that the stimulatory effect of EXO is delivered to T cell responses by the host DC. Therefore, DC-derived EXO may represent a more effective EXO-based vaccine in induction of antitumor immunity.     

Assessment of a radioisotopic assay for vitamin B12 using an intrinsic factor preparation with R proteins blocked by vitamin B12 analogues

A competitive protein binding radioassay kit for serum vitamin B₁₂ has been assessed. Precision, linearity, sensitivity, and specificity have been found to be satisfactory. Falsely-normal assay results in patients with vitamin B₁₂ deficiency have not been observed.     

Human follicle fluid vascular endothelial growth factor concentrations are correlated with luteinization in spontaneously developing follicles

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a cytokine that induces angiogenesis. Angiogenesis is a prominent histologic component of the luteinization process. Luteinization is also characterized by granulosa cell progesterone secretion in response to the luteinizing hormone (LH) surge. Local VEGF production in human pre-ovulatory follicles, induced by LH, was postulated to be a luteinization mediator in women. To investigate this hypothesis, serum and fluid from the dominant follicle of 31 healthy regularly cycling multiparous women undergoing laparoscopic sterilization were obtained. VEGF was measured by enzyme- linked immunosorbent assay, and LH and progesterone were measured by radioimmunoassay. Follicle aspiration was performed at a median of 13 days from the last menstrual period (range 11-17 days). The median pre- ovulatory follicle diameter was 16 mm (range 11-23 mm). Follicle fluid VEGF concentrations (mean 6900 pg/ml, range 1200-17 100 pg/ml) were correlated positively with follicle fluid progesterone concentrations (mean 10 176 nmol/l, range 636-66780 nmol/l, r=0.62, P=0.002). This correlation was even tighter (r=0.87, P < 0.0001) when only samples from the 22 women in the earliest stages of follicle luteinization were considered. In these women serum LH concentrations were also correlated with follicle fluid VEGF concentrations (r=0.51, P=0.02). Our findings demonstrate the close dynamic relationship between VEGF production and early luteinization in human follicles during normal non-stimulated cycles.