The simultaneous determination of cerebrospinal fluid and plasma adenosine deaminase activity as a diagnostic aid in tuberculous meningitis

The simultaneous determination of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and plasma adenosine deaminase (ADA) activity was evaluated as a diagnostic aid in tuberculous meningitis (TBM). CSF and plasma ADA activity were determined in four groups of patients: (i) a 'no meningitis' group of 174 children investigated for possible meningitis, but found to be uninfected; (ii) an aseptic meningitis group of 40 children; (iii) a bacterial meningitis group of 31 children; and (iv) a TBM group of 27 patients (24 children and 3 adults). CSF ADA alone was determined in a further 23 children with aseptic meningitis, 19 with bacterial meningitis and 13 children and 7 adults with TBM. Both the CSF/plasma ADA ratio and the absolute CSF ADA activity were raised in TBM (mean values 0,24 and 12,61 U/I respectively) and bacterial meningitis (mean values 0,59 and 15,43 U/I respectively), but not in the aseptic meningitis group (mean values 0,06 and 2,00 U/I) or the 'no meningitis' group (mean values 0,04 and 1,51 U/I). Both values will distinguish TBM from aseptic meningitis, but do not appear to hold any marked advantages over conventional CSF criteria in the diagnosis of TBM.     

地塞米松对布比卡因诱导小鼠神经元毒性的影响

Objective To investigate the effect of dexamethasone on the toxicity of bupivacaine in murine neurons.Methods Murine neuroblastoma cell line N2a was obtained from ATCC cell bank (USA). The cells were cultured in 10% fetal cow serum/MEM culture medium and divided into 4 groups voup I control (Con); group II bupivacaine ( Bup); group Ⅲ dexamethasone (Dex) and group IV Dex + Bup. The culture medium contained bupivacaine 900 μmol/L in group Bup and dexamethasone 1 μmol/L in group Dex respectively. In group Dex + Bup ( IV ) Bup was added to the culture medium with a final concentration of 900 μmol/L at 12 h after pretreatment with Dex 1 μmol/L. The cells were inoculated in 24 well plates (0.5 ml in each well, 24 wells in each group) and 10 cm culture dishes (7 ml in each dish, 4 dishes in each group). The release rate of LDH was calculated and the morphology of the cells and nucleus condensation (by Hoechst 3334224 fluorescent staining) was detected at 9 h of incubation in 24 well plates. The mitochondrial transmembrane potential (by JC-1 assay) and phosphorylation of Akt and ERKs (by Western blot) were measured at 5 h of incubation in 24 well plates and in culture dishes respectively. ResultsBupivacaine caused severe damage to the N2a cells as evidenced by increase in LDH release and nucleus condensation (apoptosis), dephosphorylation of Akt and ERKs, decrease in mitochondrial transmembrane potential and severe morphological changes. Dexamethasone pretreatment significantly attenuated bupivacaine-induced neurotoxicity. Conclusion Dexamethasone can protect N2a cells from bupivacaine-induced neurotoxicity through stabilization of mitochondrial transmembrane potential and inhibition of dephosphorylation of Akt and ERKs.     

Agilent 2100 Bioanalyzer在基因差异表达研究中的应用

目的观察Agilent 2100 Bioanalyzer 芯片分析系统(以下简称Bioanalyzer)在基因差异表达研究中的应用。方法应用限制性显示技术分别从正常和热休克处理后的酿酒酵母细胞中分离出cDNA片段,然后再用Bioanalyzer和传统的琼脂糖凝胶电泳技术对RD-PCR产物进行检测分析。结果Bioanalyzer能更快速、敏感地分离和显示差异表达的基因片段,并且通过对差异片段进行定量比较,发现了数个表达有明显差异的基因片段。结论Bioanalyzer在基因差异表达研究中具有重要的应用价值。     

Improved adhesion and proliferation of human endothelial cells on polyethylene precoated with monoclonal antibodies directed against cell membrane antigens and extracellular matrix proteins.

Endothelial cell seeding may improve the patency of synthetic vascular grafts provided that platelet reactivity of nonendothelialized sites is not increased. We have investigated if surface-adsorbed monoclonal antibodies directed against endothelial cell membrane proteins and against extracellular matrix proteins promote the adhesion and proliferation of cultured human endothelial cells, without causing platelet deposition at non-endothelialized sites. Adhesion of endothelial cells onto polyethylene coated with monoclonal antibodies directed against endothelial cell-specific membrane antigens, integrin receptors and glycoprotein CD31 was equal to or higher than adhesion onto fibronectin-coated polyethylene. Endothelial cells did not proliferate on these surface-adsorbed antibodies. However, pre-coating of polyethylene with mixtures of endothelial cell-specific monoclonal antibodies and monoclonal antibodies directed against fibronectin or von Willebrand factor, resulted in relatively high adhesion and optimal proliferation. Platelet reactivity of the polyethylene surface was found to significantly increase after adsorption of fibronectin, endothelial cell-specific monoclonal antibody or its Fc fragments. In contrast, adsorption of F(ab')2 fragments of endothelial cell-specific monoclonal antibody did not promote platelet deposition. Therefore, it is concluded that coating of vascular graft materials with mixtures of F(ab')2 fragments of monoclonal antibodies specifically directed against endothelial cells and against extracellular matrix proteins may be an effective way to both promote the growth of seeded endothelial cells and limit platelet-graft interaction.     

Teaching the plantar reflex.

The efficacy of an instructional videotape about the interpretation of the plantar response was evaluated during a two week neurological clerkship. Experimental groups saw the videotape, control groups did not. All students (n = 65) assessed plantar responses of two to four different patients. Their judgment was compared with that of one senior neurologist. Only the students who had seen the videotape showed a significant improvement in performance on a second test (t-test, t = -2.26, p = 0.031). In addition, these students more frequently took account of the flexion synergy (Fisher exact test, p less than 0.001). Video can be an efficient tool in medical education.     

Donor interleukin-4 promoter gene polymorphism influences allograft rejection after heart transplantation.

BACKGROUND: The cytokine interleukin-4 (IL-4) is secreted mainly by activated T lymphocytes and characterizes the T-helper 2 (Th2) sub-type. In transplantation Th2 cells are believed to induce graft tolerance. Previous studies revealed that patients with a relatively high frequency of IL-4 producing helper T lymphocytes (HTL) before heart transplantation (HTX) had no or less rejection episodes compared with patients with a low frequency of IL-4 producing HTL. Three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have been identified in the promoter region of the IL-4 gene, which influence promoter strength. We investigated whether there was a correlation between SNP genotypes in the IL-4 promoter and heart failure, and rejection after HTX. METHODS: Seventy HTX patients, 61 donors, and 36 controls were genotyped for the 3 SNPs by sequencing. RESULTS: Of the SNPs at -285 and -81, only the C and A alleles, respectively, were found in this study. Both alleles were found for the -590 SNP. No relation between patient genotype of the SNP at -590 and heart failure and rejection was found. However, incidence of rejection was significantly lower in patients that received a donor heart with the T-positive genotype compared with patients that received a heart from a T-negative donor. Patients who had the T-negative genotype and received a heart from a T-positive donor, suffered significantly less from rejection than T-negative patients that received a T-negative donor heart. This was not significant in the T-positive patient group. CONCLUSIONS: This indicates that IL-4 production within the donor heart and by cells from the donor is important for reducing incidence of episodes of rejection.     

Detection of optic pathway misrouting in the human albino neonate.

The diagnosis of albinism is indicated by the presence of visual pathway misrouting in which temporal retinal fibers erroneously decussate at the optic chiasm disrupting the normal topographical distribution of retinal geniculate-cortical projections. Detection of misrouted fibers is effected by non-invasive electrophysiological assessment of the topographical representation of the visual evoked potential (VEP) following full field monocular stimulation. By combining appropriate state defined neonatal recording procedures with the albino VEP test paradigm, the presence of aberrant optic pathway projections was detected in a five-day-old full-term infant. The electrophysiological signature pathognomonic to albinism was observed within a long (300 ms) latency window of an otherwise normal neonatal luminance flash response. The results of this study indicate that the VEP misrouting test can be extended to reliable albino diagnosis within the neonatal period.