Klinische Erfahrungen mit der Knorpel-Knochen-Transplantation

The treatment of deep cartilage defects in load-bearing joints is a problem that still has no satisfactory solution. Full-thickness defects of the articular cartilage rarely heal spontaneously, usually leaving damage that can lead to early arthrosis. Techniques currently available for the treatment of chondral defects include abrasion, drilling, micro-fracturing, transplantation of tissue autografts and allografts, and cell transplantation. Osteochondral autograft transplantation is currently the only surgical cartilage repair technique known to lead to the formation of genuine hyaline articular cartilage and its retention at least in the medium term. The Draenert method, in which a water-cooled diamond bone-cutting system is used, is an effective procedure for resurfacing the joints affected by localised cartilaginous defects, even when there is also severe bone loss. Donor-side morbidity can be kept to a minimum by filling the defect caused by harvesting with a press-fit cylinder of cancellous bone covered with periosteum for protection.     

De-novo expression of vascular ecto-5′-nucleotidase and down-regulation of glomerular ecto-ATPase in experimental chronic renal transplant failure

Ischemic injury plays an important role in chronic renal transplant failure (CRTF). Down-regulation of ecto-adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) in combination with up-regulation of ecto-5'-nucleotidase is a hallmark of ischemic injury. We studied the expression of renal ecto-5'-nucleotidase and ecto-ATPase in experimental renal transplantation. Fisher 344-to-Lewis allografted rats were either treated with an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEi) or left untreated. Lewis-to-Lewis syngrafted rats served as controls. Untreated allografted rats developed proteinuria, glomerulosclerosis, and mild intimal hyperplasia. ACEi completely prevented focal and segmental glomerulosclerosis (FGS) and proteinuria, but significantly enhanced intimal hyperplasia. Untreated allografted rats revealed marked vascular ecto-5'-nucleotidase activity, which increased with ACEi. Vascular ecto-5'-nucleotidase activity was absent in syngrafted animals. Ecto-5'-nucleotidase activity correlated well with intimal hyperplasia. Glomerular ecto-ATPase expression was significantly reduced in untreated allografted rats compared to syngrafted rats and correlated well with the extent of FGS. ACEi prevented reduction in glomerular ecto-ATPase. We found de-novo expression of ecto-5'-nucleotidase at sites of renal intimal hyperplasia. Glomerular ecto-ATPase expression was markedly reduced in allografted rats and was prevented by ACEi. These enzyme expression patterns suggest local ischemic damage in experimental CRTF.     

The concept of culture: A core issue in health disparities

Contemporary discourse contains numerous examples of use of the concept of culture by social and behavioral scientists. Simple reification, where the speaker makes culture into a thing capable of action exemplifies one usage in public discourse. Some quantitative social scientists attempt to characterize people’s cultural identities by means of a single categorical variable, which often “lumps” people into categories such as “Hispanic” or “Black” that in fact have numerous culturally bounded subcategories. Approaches that emphasize cultural process are preferable to those who attempt to categorize; more complex measures of acculturation help investigators to make convincing analyses of circumstances in which health disparities occur. Examples in which investigators make appropriate use of cultural characterizations demonstrate their utility in investigating health disparities in Haitian American women, injecting and noninjecting drug users, Hispanic youth, and adult Hispanics at risk of HIV infection. Focus on culture in the study of health disparities can identify entanglements between structural factors such as poverty and lack of education and cultural factors such as beliefs about health. Qualitative methods coupled with quantitative methods have great potential to improve investigators’ grasp of cultural nuance while capturing the distribution of qualitatively derived behaviors.     

Discussing options between patients and health care professionals in genetic diagnosis: ethical and legal criteria

The specific characteristics of genetic data lead to ethical-legal conflicts in the framework of genetic diagnosis. Several international organisations, including UNESCO and the Council of Europe, have enacted rules referring to the use of genetic information. This paper discusses possible legal and ethical criteria that could be used in genetic testing.     

RNA干扰基因敲除MAGE-1在恶性胶质瘤U87细胞中的初步研究

目的：通过构建抑制MAGE-1的短片段双链核糖核酸（siRNA）表达载体，鉴定其在人恶性胶质瘤细胞系U87细胞中对MAGE．1基因表达的干涉作用。方法：化学合成2对编码短发夹RNA序列的靶向MAGE—1基因寡核苷酸链，克隆至经BglⅡ、HindⅢ双酶切的pSUPER载体上，重组构建核糖核酸干扰（RNAi）质粒载体。利用RT-PCR、流式细胞术和荧光显微镜，检测经稳定转染后胶质瘤U87细胞中MAGE-1的表达，以了解siRNA的干涉效果。结果：重组构建的pSUPER—MAGE—1载体经双酶切、电泳及插入基因片段序列分析，表明寡核苷酸链成功地插入至预计位点，且序列与预期完全一致。稳定转染后G418筛选出的U87多克隆细胞MAGE-1的表达经RT—PCR、流式细胞术和荧光显微镜检测，2对siRNA均有较明显的干扰作用。结论：载体的成功构建并能对U87细胞中的MAGE—1分子进行RNAi，为进一步研究MAGE—1在肿瘤中的作用，分析基因功能，展开肿瘤基因治疗奠定了基础。