Should patients with a pre-operative prostatespecific antigen greater than 15ng/ml be offered radical prostatectomy?

Background Patients with prostate cancer with a pre-operative prostate-specific antigen (PSA) τ;15ng/ml who undergo radical retropubic prostatectomy (RRP) generally do not have a good outcome, yet may have organ-confined cancer and should be offered the option of surgery. Aim To assess the outcome of patients who underwent RRP with a pre-operative PSA ≥ 15ng/ml. Methods Thirty-four patients, mean pre-operative PSA: 25.46ng/ml (15.03–76.6) and mean Gleason score: 6.4 (5–9) were assessed. Results Two groups were identified. Group I: 41% (14/34) have no biochemical recurrence to mean follow up of 58 months (30–106). Mean PSA: 18.8ng/ml (15.03–25.84). Mean Gleason score: 6.1 (5–7). Clinical stage: T1c in 80%. No patient had seminal vesicle or lymph node involvement. Group II: 59% (20/34) have biochemical recurrence or died (3) from their disease to mean follow up of 66 months (36–98). Mean PSA: 28.9ng/ml (15.28–76.6). Mean Gleason score: 6.7 (5–9). Clinical stage: T1c in 25%. Eleven patients had seminal vesicle (8) involvement or positive lymph nodes (3) or both (2). Conclusion RRP seems feasible in patients whose pre-operative PSA is between 15 and 25ng/ml with stage T1c, Gleason score ≤ 7 and negative lymph node frozen section.     

Effects of inhaled corticosteroids on growth in asthmatic children

This article presents a brief review of the effects of inhaled corticosteroids on growth in children with asthma. All currently available inhaled corticosteroids, where there is adequate data, have been shown to cause significant growth suppression in children in a dose-dependent manner. It is now apparent that there are differences in the growthsuppressive effects of different corticosteroids. Recent evidence confirms that the growth-suppressive effects are short lived and that, at conventional doses, inhaled corticosteroids do not affect final attained adult height.     

食品中明矾含量的快速测定方法

目的建立一种能简单快速检测食品中明矾含量的方法。方法采用特征离子鉴别方法定性,用Na2EDTA络合滴定方法定量。结果该方法回收率在99.0%~102.8%之间,RSD在0.91%~1.38%之间。结论方法操作简单,准确性好,适合于大批量样本检测。     

Congenital right coronary artery aneurysm with fistula to right ventricle associated with isolated pulmonary valvular stenosis

Congenital aneurysmal dilatation of coronary artery with coronary cameral fistula is rare in childhood. We report an even rarer association of congenital right coronary artery aneurysm and right coronary artery to right ventricle fistula with bicuspid pulmonary valve stenosis and an intact ventricular septum in a 3-year-old child.     

The response of gastric secretion and serum gastrin to an insulin infusion test in patients with duodenal ulcer

The intravenous infusion of insulin 0.04 U/kg-hr for 2-1/2 hours was performed in 26 patients with chronic duodenal ulcer. In 15 patients this infusion test was compared with the standard test of a single intravenous injection of insulin 0.2 U/kg. The mean lowest blood glucose level in the infusion group (25.1 mg/100 ml) was significantly higher than in the standard test (17.4 mg/100 ml), and the interval from injection to acid stimulation about twice as long (75versus 45 minutes). The peak acid output and mean rise in acidity were comparable in the two procedures. Serum gastrin responded reciprocally to insulin-induced hypoglycemia with a significant inverse correlation between blood glucose and gastrin. In 13 patients tested after vagotomy, there was no significant difference in the rise in acidities in the two groups, and the Hollander status was the same in all but one patient. The mean basal, peak, and absolute rise of serum gastrin in unoperated patients and patients with incomplete vagotomy were almost identical. In patients with complete vagotomy there was no significant rise in serum gastrin after insulin infusion. Unpleasant side effects as assessed by an independent observer were fewer and less severe in patients undergoing infusion tests than in the standard test. The insulin infusion test is recommended as a safer and more acceptable test than the standard insulin test since it avoids severe hypoglycemia and has milder side effects yet achieves comparable acidity and acid outputs. Measurements of serum gastrin after either insulin test provide no additional information helpful in the assessment of the completeness of vagotomy.     

Monoclonal antibody F1 binds to the kringle domain of factor XII and induces enhanced susceptibility for cleavage by kallikrein

In a previous study we have shown that monoclonal antibody F1 (MoAb F1), directed against an epitope on the heavy chain of factor XII distinct from the binding site for anionic surfaces, is able to activate factor XII in plasma (Nuijens JH, et al: J Biol Chem 264; 12941, 1989). Here, we studied in detail the mechanism underlying the activation of factor XII by MoAb F1 using purified proteins. Formation of factor XIIa was assessed by measuring its amidolytic activity towards the chromogenic substrate H-D-Pro-Phe-Arg-pNA (S-2302) in the presence of soybean trypsin inhibitor and by assessing cleavage on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Upon incubation with MoAb F1 alone, factor XII was auto-activated in a time-dependent fashion, activation being maximal after 30 hours. Factor XII incubated in the absence of MoAb F1 was hardly activated by kallikrein, whereas in the presence of MoAb F1, but not in that of a control MoAb, the rate of factor XII activation by kallikrein was promoted at least 60-fold. Maximal activation of factor XII with kallikrein in the presence of MoAb F1 was reached within 1 hour. This effect of kallikrein on the cleavage of factor XII bound to MoAb F1 was specific because the fibrinolytic enzymes plasmin, urokinase, and tissue-type plasminogen activator could not substitute for kallikrein. Also, trypsin could easily activate factor XII, but in contrast to kallikrein, this activation was independent of MoAb F1. SDS-PAGE analysis showed that the appearance of amidolytic activity correlated well with cleavage of factor XII. MoAb F1-induced activation of factor XII in this purified system was not dependent on the presence of high- molecular-weight kininogen (HK), in contrast to the activation of the contact system in plasma by MoAb F1. Experiments with deletion mutants revealed that the epitopic region for MoAb F1 on factor XII is located on the kringle domain. Thus, this study shows that binding of ligands to the kringle domain, which does not contribute to the proposed binding site for negatively charged surfaces, may induce activation of factor XII. Therefore, these findings point to the existence of multiple mechanisms of activation of factor XII.     

Genetic polymorphisms of the endocannabinoid system in obesity and diabetes

The endocannabinoid system (ECS) is involved in many physiological processes including fertility, pain and energy regulation. The aim of this systematic review was to examine the contribution of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the ECS to adiposity and glucose metabolism. Database searches identified 734 articles, of which 65 were included; these covered 70 SNPs in genes coding for cannabinoid receptors 1 and 2 (CB₁, CB₂), fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) and N-acyl phosphatidylethanolamine phospholipase D (NAPE-PLD). No studies included SNPs relating to monoacylglycerol lipase or diacylglycerol lipase. The CB₁ receptor SNP rs1049353 showed 17 associations with lower body mass index (BMI) and fat mass (five studies). It also showed three associations with lower insulin levels (one study). Conversely, the CB₁ receptor SNP rs806368 was associated with increased BMI and waist circumference (two studies). The FAAH SNP rs324420 was associated with increased obesity (three studies). A haplotype of NAPE-PLD was associated with decreased BMI (one study). A total of 60 SNPs showed no association with any measured outcome. This review suggests a complex but important role of ECS SNPs in energy and glucose metabolism.     

Isolation and characterization of human and rabbit sperm tail fibrous sheath

Using mechanical and chemical dissection methods, fibrous sheath was isolated both from normal ejaculated human spermatozoa and from rabbit cauda epididymal spermatozoa. The same techniques did not produce a pure preparation of fibrous sheath from ejaculated rabbit spermatozoa, suggesting that further cross-linking and stabilization of sperm structures occurs in response to components of the seminal plasma. The isolation procedures were monitored by phase contrast microscopy and the purity of the fibrous sheath was verified by electron microscopy. Sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) of isolated human fibrous sheath revealed at least 14 protein bands of which the most intensely stained were of molecular weight 84, 72, 66.2, 57, 32 and 28.5 kDa. The rabbit fibrous sheath revealed at least 10 protein bands, of which the most intensely stained were 35.2, 32.7 and 28.5 kDa. The amino acid composition of the purified fibrous sheath from human and rabbit spermatozoa was similar, being high in aspartic acid and/or asparagine and glutamic acid and/or glutamine, serine, alanine, leucine, lysine and glycine, but low in histidine, tyrosine and isoleucine. This composition is similar to that reported for the rat and suggests that mammalian sperm tail fibrous sheaths are composed of similar types of proteins, although there are apparent differences in protein components between species.