不同微生物诱导家蝇幼虫表达抗菌肽的特性

研究不同微生物诱导家蝇幼虫表达的抗菌肽特性.用3种不同的病源菌通过针刺感染的方法诱导家蝇幼虫表达抗菌肽,通过Sephadex G25分离,用Hult mark改进法和抑菌圈测定法作抑菌试验,用毛细管电泳（CE）分析不同微生物诱导得到的抗菌肽样品差异,检测抗菌肽的热稳定性和酸碱耐受性.发现不同微生物诱导产生的家蝇抗菌肽具有广谱抑菌性,但不同样品对不同病源菌抑菌活性有差异,不同测定抑菌效果的方法对抑菌结果有影响,各种抗菌肽样品CE蛋白谱具有明显不同.抗菌肽样品都具有热稳定性和酸碱耐受性.说明不同微生物诱导产生的家蝇抗菌肽类型以及抗菌肽含量与诱导源有关,抗菌肽为家蝇幼虫体内固有成分,诱导增加了抗菌肽的表达量同时刺激新抗菌肽的产生.用志贺氏菌、金黄色葡萄球菌、鼠伤寒沙门氏菌诱导家蝇幼虫可产生较多含量高活性好的抗菌肽.     

Sleep polygraphy in Angelman syndrome.

OBJECTIVE: Sleep disturbances are frequent in Angelman syndrome (AS); however, beside the few studies which have investigated sleep disorders in AS by means of questionnaires, to our knowledge, no systematic polysomnographic recordings have been carried out in AS patients. The present study represents the first attempt to study sleep patterns of AS by polysomnography, to evaluate the influences of sleep on the paroxysmal electroencephalogram (EEG) patterns of AS and to assess the eventual age-related changes of sleep architecture and of sleep EEG abnormalities in children and adolescents with AS. METHODS: Fifteen children with AS (7 males and 8 females, mean age 7.2 years, range 3-16 years), attending the Sleep Center of the Department of Child Neurology and Psychiatry of the University of Rome 'La Sapienza' and the Sleep Research Centre of the Oasi Institute (IRCCS) of Troina were included and subdivided into two subgroups by age: subgroup 1, aged 3-5 years, and subgroup 2, aged 9-17 years. Two control groups of age-matched normal subjects were also included: one aged less than 8 years and another aged more than 8 years; additionally, two other groups of age-matched children with epilepsy and mental retardation of different origin, one aged less and one aged more than 9 years were taken into consideration. The statistical comparison between the sleep parameters obtained from the patients and those from the other groups was carried out by means of the non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA and the Mann-Whitney U test. RESULTS: The most frequent EEG abnormality found in AS patients appeared to be the 2-3 c/s poorly defined spike/waves complexes. This pattern was influenced by sleep stages; the duration of the runs showed an increasing length with sleep deepening from sleep stage 1 to slow-wave sleep (SWS). Moreover, the 2-3 c/s bursts activity present in sleep stage 2 showed a slowing to 1-2 c/s during SWS. Regarding sleep architecture, in subjects with AS aged <8 year there was a significant reduction in sleep efficiency as compared to normal controls, while the percentage and duration of REM sleep was significantly lower and the percentage of SWS was significantly higher. REM sleep time was reduced in AS subjects aged >8 years than in normal controls. The comparison between AS groups and mental retardation with epilepsy groups did not show significant differences. CONCLUSIONS: Similarly to other types of genetically determined mental retardation syndromes, also subjects with AS seems to show important abnormalities of their sleep polysomnographic patterns. SIGNIFICANCE: This is the first study which reports, in detail, these abnormalities and opens a new path for further insight into the knowledge of additional sleep-related disturbances which are reported in sleep questionnaires by the caregivers of AS subjects.     

Sources of cortical rhythms change as a function of cognitive impairment in pathological aging: a multicenter study.

OBJECTIVE: The present study tested the hypothesis that cortical electroencephalographic (EEG) rhythms. change across normal elderly (Nold), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and Alzheimer's disease (AD) subjects as a function of the global cognitive level. METHODS: Resting eyes-closed EEG data were recorded in 155 MCI, 193 mild AD, and 126 age-matched Nold subjects. EEG rhythms of interest were delta (2-4 Hz), theta (4-8 Hz), alpha 1 (8-10.5 Hz), alpha 2 (10.5-13 Hz), beta 1 (13-20 Hz), and beta 2 (20-30 Hz). EEG cortical sources were estimated by LORETA. RESULTS: Occipital delta and alpha 1 sources in parietal, occipital, temporal, and 'limbic' areas had an intermediate magnitude in MCI subjects compared to mild AD and Nold subjects. These five EEG sources presented both linear and nonlinear (linear, exponential, logarithmic, and power) correlations with the global cognitive level (as revealed by mini mental state examination score) across all subjects. CONCLUSIONS: Cortical EEG rhythms change in pathological aging as a function of the global cognitive level. SIGNIFICANCE: The present functional data on large populations support the 'transitional hypothesis' of a shadow zone across normality, pre-clinical stage of dementia (MCI), and AD.     

Brain glucose utilisation in acquired childhood aphasia associated with a sylvian arachnoid cyst: recovery after shunting as demonstrated by PET.

Regional brain glucose utilisation was investigated with PET and fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) in a case of epileptic aphasia (Landau-Kleffner syndrome) associated with a left sylvian arachnoid cyst. CT and MRI had failed to disclose any mass effect of the cyst on surrounding brain structures. Sequential metabolic measurements showed a comparable pronounced hypometabolism in cortical regions around the cyst, involving speech areas, and suggested mild but chronic compression of the developing brain. After placement of a cyst-peritoneal shunt system, significant metabolic improvement occurred in all cortical regions, especially the inferior frontal gyrus and the perisylvian area, with predominant residual deficit in the left superior temporal gyrus. These findings were correlated with a pronounced increase in word fluency and slower progress in verbal auditory comprehension. This report suggests that PET is able to evaluate the functional disturbances associated with expanding arachnoid cysts, and to follow the neurological improvement after drainage.     

胃癌组织中核基质蛋白的变化

目的：研究胃癌组织核基质蛋白的改变。方法：应用SDS－PAGE技术及Geneools定量分析软件，对22例胃癌组织及正常组织的核心基质蛋白进行了研究，结果：胃癌组织与正常组织比较，Mr为30000，28000的核基质蛋白表达量明显减少（P＜0．05），不同分化类型及不同临床分期胃癌组织间比较，此种核基质蛋白表达量差异无统计学意义（P＞0．05），结论：胃癌组织中核基质蛋白的改变可能在肿瘤的早期已经发生，是胃癌发生的早期分子事件。     

Reduction of GH response to the GABA-B agonist baclofen in patients with major depression

In order to establish whether alterations in the GABAergic control of GH secretion occur in male patients with major depression, the GH response to the GABAergic-B agonist baclofen (10 mg at 0830h) or to placebo was tested in 9 depressed men and in 10 age- and weight-matched male normal controls.

The basal concentrations of GH were significantly lower in the depressed patients (0.87± 0.69 ng/ml) than in the normal controls (1.57±0.33 ng/ml) (p=0.011) and were not modified by the administration of placebo. The administration of baclofen induced a striking, significant increase in GH concentrations in the normal controls (mean peak at 90 MIN=6.4±1.5 ng/ml). In contrast, a slight, nonsignificant GH increase occurred in the depressed patients after baclofen (mean peak at 90 MIN=1.57±1.45 ng/ml). The GH response was significantly lower in the depressed than in the control subjects (p<0.001). These data indicate the presence of reduced GABAergic control of GH secretion in male depressed patients.     

Sarcomatoid carcinoma of the kidney

Among 315 cases of parenchymal renal carcinoma resected between 1975 and 1985, 19 cases (6 per cent) of sarcomatoid carcinoma were identified. All patients were symptomatic or had a palpable mass in the flank at hospitalization. Tumor stage generally was advanced at operation and metastases were detected in 8 patients (Robson stage IV), all of whom died after an average postoperative survival of 8 months. In 3 patients there was tumor invasion of the renal vein (Robson stage IIIA), and they died after an average postoperative period of 11 months. Of 4 patients with perinephric fat invasion (Robson stage II) 2 died of cancer after an average survival of 15 months and 2 are alive with no evidence of disease for an average of 73 months postoperatively. In these later 2 cases the sarcomatoid areas constituted less than 5 per cent of the entire tumor and the remaining tumor was low grade carcinoma. In 3 patients adequate followup is not available and 1 was lost to followup. This histological variant of parenchymal cell carcinoma is a high grade malignancy with a poor prognosis. Operative treatment appears to be ineffective in modifying the behavior of the tumor.     

Common carotid agenesis and internal carotid stenting.

Agenesis of common carotid artery is rare and no report of stenting procedures (carotid artery stenting) for associated stenosis of the internal carotid have been published. We report a case of internal carotid stenosis associated with this anomaly. A 73-year-old male with left internal carotid artery originating from the arch, with significant stenosis, was referred to us. Wallstent was deployed with success. Carotid artery stenting should be reserved to uncomplicated arch anatomy and plaques with low fragmentation risk.     

Gait patterns of a patient with myoclonus of a lower limb,when OFF and ON treatment with antiepileptic drugs

Abstract We describe kinematics, kinetics and electromyographic patterns of a patient with spinal myoclonus of the left lower limb, during walking. Gait analysis was performed when the patient was OFF and ON his treatment with antiepileptic drugs. When OFF, we mainly observed clonic bursts and out-of-phase activations of m. tibialis anterior and m. rectus femoris, with increased hip flexion, reduction of knee flexion during swing and excessive ankle dorsal flexion. Furthermore, large oscillations of knee moment of force and power during stance phase were also observed. These abnormal patterns markedly recovered when ON drugs.