Proliferation and maturation of human leukemic cells in liquid culture: activity of human placenta conditioned medium and retinoic acid

Marrow or peripheral blood cells from 28 patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) or chronic myeloid leukemia in blastic crisis (CML-BC) were studied in both liquid and agar cultures. The proliferation and maturation of these cells were followed for 15-20 days in liquid culture with or without the addition of human placenta conditioned medium (HPCM) and/or retinoic acid (RA). In nine patients (group 1), cells underwent both proliferation and maturation, i.e., the percentage of peroxidase-positive cells (PO), phagocytic cells, and mature forms increased. For the remaining 19 patients (group 2), no proliferation was observed. However, 11 of these leukemic cell samples showed maturation (group 2A), while the eight others remained immature (group 2B). In agar culture, cell samples from group 1 showed cluster growth, group 2 no growth. Maturation without proliferation was observed for group-1 liquid cultures not containing HPCM and those containing HPCM and RA. The viability rapidly decreased in liquid cultures with only addition of RA. HPCM and RA showed no effect on group-2 cell cultures.     

成人肛门失禁的患病率及其对生活质量的影响

目的：为调查一般人群及接受胃肠病学和妇科专家诊治的住院患中肛门失禁的患病率，研究选取了罗纳河-阿尔卑斯地区的人群。方法：首项研究从2800例对象中随机抽取样本并发放问卷。该项研究是在接受妇科和胃肠病学专家治疗的对象中随机选取样本。用Jorge＆Wexner评分≥5分作为肛门失禁的标准。结果：首项研究，选取706份问卷：肛门失禁患病率为（5．1％，95％CI3．6％～7．0％），SF一12健康调查每个尺度的评分失禁与无失禁相比显降低。女性患病率（7．5％，95％CI5．0％～10．7％）明显比男性（2．4％，95％CI1．1％～4．7％）高。84位医师共返回有效问卷835份。经胃肠病学专家诊疗的患病率为13．1％（95％CI10．1％～16．6％），经妇科医师诊疗的患病率为5．0％（95％CI3．1％～7．6％）。医师对84．8％失禁患漏诊。     

Frequency and genome load of Epstein-Barr virus in 509 breast cancers from different geographical areas

Since the few data exploring a possible association between Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and breast cancer are conflicting, we investigated this association together with the influences of geographical areas. 509 breast cancers were sampled from areas with varying risks of nasopharynx carcinoma (NPC) such as North Africa (Algeria and Tunisia, high-risk area); southern France (Marseille, intermediate-risk area); and northern Europe (northern France, the Netherlands and Denmark; low-risk areas). Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of a subregion of EBV BamHIC encoding the EBERs demonstrated that 31.8% of the tumours contained the viral genome. No significant differences were observed among the geographical areas. However, positive samples showed higher loads of the EBV genome in the NPC high- and intermediate-risk areas than in the low-risk areas. EBV type 1 was the dominant strain. In situ hybridization studies using a(35)S-labelled riboprobe for EBER1 and a laser capture microdissection, combined with quantitative PCR, showed that EBV localization was restricted to some tumour epithelial cell clusters. EBV could not be detected in the stroma. Considering the whole population covered, the presence of the EBV genome was not correlated with age, menopausal status, tumour, size, nodal status or histological grade.     

Dag-1 carcinoma cell in studying the mechanisms of progression and therapeutic resistance in bladder cancer

OBJECTIVE: We describe a new human bladder carcinoma cell line (DAG-1) established from a resected bladder cancer fragment and maintained in culture for more than 5 years and over 300 passages. METHODS AND RESULTS: Immunological, biochemical and molecular analysis showed that the DAG-1 cells (62 chromosomes) express the cytokeratines 8, 13, 18 and 20 that confirm their epithelial origin as well as numerous cytokine and cytokine receptor mRNAs. They secrete tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA), urokinase-type plasminogen activator (u-PA), plasminogen activator inhibitors (PAI-1 and PAI-2), and express u-PA receptors (u-PAR/CD87) at their surface. DAG-1 cells are resistant to TNFalpha- and IFNgamma-induced apoptosis, two cytokines secreted in the urine of Calmette-Guérin bacillus-treated patients and involved in the tumor regression. CONCLUSION: The DAG-1 cell line is a useful tool, both in vitro and in vivo, to study the progression of bladder tumors and their mechanisms of resistance to immunotherapy in relation with PAI-2 and antioxidant enzymes.     

Hepatitis B virus Dane particles bind to human plasma apolipoprotein H

Human apolipoprotein H (apo H) was found to bind specifically to hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) from hepatitis B virus (HBV)-infected individuals. We used recombinant HBsAg proteins to analyze HBV domains recognized by apo H. We showed that the myristylated pre-S1 domain of HBsAg strongly interacted with apo H. This binding involved phospholipid components of the HBV envelope because their removal by detergent prevented apo H-HBsAg interaction. The opposite effects of iron and zinc metal ions on binding suggest that the oxidation of phospholipids also affects apo H-HBsAg interaction. After fractionation of viral particles on a sucrose gradient, and their addition to microtiter plates coated with apo H or anti-HBsAg, we observed that the maximal anti-HBsAg capture activity corresponded to a sucrose concentration of 36%, whereas the maximal apo H capture activity corresponded to a concentration of 39%. Electron microscopy and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) Southern blot studies of these fractions showed that the fraction with maximal apo H binding predominantly contained full Dane particles. Finally, we studied apo H-HBsAg binding relative to the presence of hepatitis B virus markers and observed that apo H binding activity for HBsAg was higher in sera from patients in the active virus replication phase.