Preserved granulocyte formation and function, as well as bone marrow innervation, in subjects with complete spinal cord injury

Patients with a spinal cord injury are at risk of infections and is partly attributed to immobilization. Their lymphocyte-mediated immunity is impaired and the growth of blood progenitor cells is reduced. An adequate immune response depends on granulocytes being mobilized rapidly and activated properly, at the inflammatory site. Possibly this requires a coordinated interaction between the autonomous nervous system and cells within the haematopoietic bone marrow. Granulocyte function in the spinal cord injured has not been evaluated. Although there is evidence that the bone marrow in rodents is innervated, it is uncertain whether human bone marrow is similarly affected. Microscopy and immunolabelling followed by flow cytometry, showed that blood and bone marrow counts of leucocyte subsets were similar in paraplegic, tetraplegic and control subjects (P > 0.05). Neutrophilic migration and oxygen consumption, as well as eosinophil activation, assayed as release of eosinophilic cationic protein or CD69 expression, were not altered after spinal cord injury (P > 0.05). Cryostat sections of human bone marrow biopsies stained positive with glyoxylic acid, indicating the presence of catecholamine-containing nerves in both the patients and the controls. We conclude that terminal differentiation and formation of granulocytes, as well as their functional capacity, do not depend appreciably on supraspinal nervous regulation.     

A new assay for leukocyte chemotaxis using cell retrieval,electronic particle counting and flow cytometry

A new micropore membrane assay for leukocyte migration has been devised. It permits the complete retrieval in monodisperse suspension of functionally intact cells that have traversed the membrane, thus allowing the application of precise, automated techniques, including flow cytometry and electronic particle counting. Hemocytometers may also be used. Direct comparison with 2 different conventional membrane methods showed that the new method performed superiorly. It was also much more economical with regard to time and labor. This technique permitted detection of functional differences between leukocytes isolated from blood in different ways. Data on the duration of concentration gradients in chemotaxis chambers are also presented.     

间硝苯地平对血管紧张素Ⅱ促进血管平滑肌细胞增殖和蛋白质合成的影响

以培养血管平滑肌细胞（ｖａｓｃｕｌａｒｓｍｃｏｔｈｍｕｓｃｌｅｃｅｌｌ，ＶＳＭＣ）为模型，观察了间硝苯地平（ｍ－ｎｉｆｅｄｉｐｉｎｅ，ｍ－Ｎｉｆ）对血管紧张素Ⅱ（ａｎｇｉｏｔｅｎｓｉｎⅡ，ＡＮＧⅡ）促进ＶＳＭＣ增殖和蛋白质合成的影响。结果表明，ｍ－Ｎｉｆ抑制ＡＮＧⅡ（１００ｎｍｏｌ·Ｌ￣（－１））引起ＶＳＭＣ［￣３Ｈ］ｔｈｙｍｉｄｉｎｅ和［￣３Ｈ］ｌｅｕｃｉｎｅ参入，并呈剂量依赖性。ｍ－Ｎｉｆ（２×１０￣（－６）ｍｏｌ·Ｌ￣（－１））可抑制ＡＮＧⅡ对ＶＳＭＣ的刺激、ＤＮＡ及蛋白质合成速率，分别降低了４６％，５８％，５３％。提示ｍ－Ｎｉｆ可抑制ＡＮＧⅡ对ＶＳＭＣ增殖和蛋白合成的促进作用     

Dual effect of thiopentone on human granulocyte activation. Non–intervention by ketamine and morphine

The immune system, defending our organism against infections, can also cause disease. Anaesthetics may impair immunological defence by modifying the number and functions of immunocompetent cells, including the polymorphonuclear leucocytes (PMN). We have studied the effects of thiopentone, ketamine and morphine on some stimulated PMN responses that presumably reflect their microbicidal activity, i.e. oxygen consumption, aggregation, and volume increase. Stimulators were N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (FMLP, affecting cells via specific membrane receptors) and phorbol-myristate-acetate (PMA, activating protein kinase C, thereby short-cutting intramembraneous steps in normal signal transmission, and presumably provoking near-maximal cell responses with the dose applied). Preincubation of PMN with low doses of thiopentone enhanced oxygen consumption in unstimulated cells as well as in response to FMLP, but not PMA. FMLP-stimulated volume and aggregation responses were not detectably affected. The highest concentration of thiopentone depressed both oxygen uptake and volume/aggregation responses in FMLP-stimulated PMN. The amount of oxygen consumed after PMA stimulation was not affected, but both the onset of increased consumption and the maximal response were delayed. The two other drugs investigated, ketamine and morphine, did not appreciably affect oxygen consumption or aggregation by PMN: neither the baseline values nor those obtained after FMLP or PMA stimulation.