心肌梗死后骨髓干细胞动员对心肌组织再生潜能的影响

目的 观察心肌梗死后应用粒细胞-巨噬细胞集落刺激因子(GM-CSF)动员骨髓干细胞能否促进心肌细胞的再生、血管的新生.方法 结扎大鼠的冠状动脉前降支制成心肌梗死模型,实验组在心肌梗死后皮下注射GM-CSFS0 μg·kg-1·d-1,连续7 d.用流式细胞仪检测骨髓和外周血中CD+34干细胞的含量,通过Ⅷ因子抗体、Ki67抗体免疫组化染色结合磷钨酸-苏木精(PTAH)染色,判定血管新生、心肌再生,测定心肌梗死的面积.结果 心肌梗死后第3天,实验组的CD+34干细胞在外周血和骨髓中开始上升;第7天(外周血0.350%±0.026%,骨髓2.250%±0.140%)和第14天(外周血0.260%±0.022%,骨髓2.060%±0.110%)时均明显高于对照组(外周血0.170%±0.015%,骨髓1.240%±0.064%)(P＜0.01),第28天时回落,与对照组比较差异无统计学意义(P＞0.05).实验组瘢痕区内毛细血管数(313±10)、Ki67阳性细胞数(275±5)明显多于对照组(264±10,207±10)(均P＜0.05),并且与外周血和骨髓中的干细胞数呈正相关关系(r=0.961,P=0.019,r=0.975,P=0.005).但这些Ki67阳性细胞核仅与部分淋巴、间质细胞、血管内皮细胞重叠,未见Ki67阳性的细胞核与心肌细胞重叠,实验组心肌梗死面积也无明显减少(P＞0.05).结论 GM-CSF能有效地动员骨髓CD+34干细胞,促进梗死心肌的血管新生,但并不能促进心肌细胞的再生.     

Two cases of ANCA-associated vasculitis in post-transplant kidney: relapse and de novo

Abstract:  Two cases of anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA) associated vasculitis (ANCA-V) occurred in the transplanted kidney were reported. Case 1 was a 57 yr-old female whose original disease was MPO-ANCA-V. A relapse of necrotizing crescentic glomerulonephritis occurred one year after transplantation with positive serum reaction for MPO-ANCA. In spite of several immunosuppressive treatments, the disease progressed and she returned to hemodialysis treatment three yr and seven months after transplantation. Case 2 was a 34 yr-old female whose original disease was IgA nephropathy. She had a stable clinical condition during 13 yr after transplantation; however, de novo onset of necrotizing crescentic glomerulonephritis occurred at 14 yr 10 months after transplantation with positive serum reaction for MPO-ANCA. She returned to hemodialysis treatment five yr after the onset of ANCA-V. Urinary abnormities such as microhematuria and proteinuria were useful diagnostic findings but the titers of serum MPO-ANCA were relatively low in both patients. Concerning the treatment, steroid pulse therapy was effective in some extents but the disease progressed to graft failure in both cases. ANCA-V is a severe glomerulonephritis which can occur in kidney allograft in the manner of relapse and de novo . Detection of urinary abnormalities and positive serum ANCA combined with histological confirmation of necrotizing crescentic glomerulonephritis and/or vasculitis is required for early diagnosis and effective treatment of ANCA-V in renal transplant patients.     

Silent brain infarction and platelet activation in obstructive sleep apnea

RATIONALE: Silent brain infarction (SBI) and increased levels of soluble CD40 ligand (sCD40L) and soluble P-selectin (sP-selectin) are associated with an increased risk of cerebrovascular disease. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate whether SBI and serum levels of sCD40L and sP-selectin are increased in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). METHODS: SBI was studied by brain magnetic resonance images in 50 male patients with OSA and 15 obese male control subjects who were free of comorbidities. In addition, the effects of 3 months of treatment with nasal continuous positive airway pressure (nCPAP) on serum parameters were studied in 24 patients with moderate to severe OSA. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The percentage of SBI in patients with moderate to severe OSA (25.0%) was higher than that of obese control subjects (6.7%) or patients with mild OSA (7.7%). Serum levels of sCD40L and sP-selectin were significantly higher in patients with moderate to severe OSA than in obese control subjects (p < 0.05) or patients with mild OSA (p < 0.05). In addition, nCPAP significantly decreased serum levels of sCD40L (p < 0.03) and sP-selectin (p < 0.01) in patients with moderate to severe OSA. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that serum levels of sCD40L and sP-selectin are elevated and SBI is more common in patients with moderate to severe OSA, leading to elevated cerebrovascular morbidity. Moreover, nCPAP may be useful for decreasing risk in patients with moderate to severe OSA.     

Sleep-related minor motor events in nocturnal frontal lobe epilepsy

PURPOSE: Nocturnal frontal lobe epilepsy (NFLE) is characterized by a wide spectrum of sleep-related motor manifestations of increasing complexity, ranging from major episodes to brief motor events (minor motor events, MMEs). NFLE patients may exhibit a large quantity of MMEs in the form of short-lasting stereotyped movements. Whereas major episodes are considered epileptiform manifestations, it remains unclear whether the MMEs are related to epileptiform discharges (EDs). METHODS: To study the relation between EDs and the occurrence of MMEs, we report a detailed neurophysiolgical evaluation in NFLE subjects explored by using implanted electrodes. RESULTS: The median value of ED-related movements was 71.8%. Motor expression in relation to epileptiform discharge was surprisingly variable; no peculiar expression of MMEs could be attributed to the presence of EDs. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that ED-associated MMEs are extremely polymorphous, and no univocal relation to EDs can be identified. We hypothesize that MMEs are not a direct effect of epileptiform discharge (i.e., not epileptic in origin), but the result of aspecific disinhibition of innate motor patterns. We warn clinicians that the epileptic nature of minimal motor phenomena in NFLE cannot be established on the clinical phenomenology of the event.     

Cerebral calpain in fatal falciparum malaria

Disruption of axonal transport may represent a final common pathway leading to neurological dysfunction in cerebral malaria (CM). Calpains are calcium (Ca2+)-activated cysteine proteases which have been implicated in axonal injury in neurological diseases of various aetiologies. In this study we examined the association between mu- and m-calpain, the specific inhibitor calpastatin, and axonal injury in post mortem brain tissue from patients who died from severe malaria. Calpains were associated with axons labelled for the beta-amyloid precursor protein that detects impaired axonal transport. Elevated levels of calpastatin were rarely observed in injured axons. There were increased numbers of neurones with mu-calpain in the nuclear compartment in severe malaria cases compared with non-neurological controls, and increased numbers of glia with nuclear mu-calpain in CM patients compared with non-CM malaria cases and non-neurological controls. There was marked redistribution of calpastatin in the sequestered Plasmodium falciparum-infected erythrocytes. Responses specific to malaria infection were ascertained following analysis of brain samples from fatal cases with acute axonal injury, HIV encephalitis, and progressive multifocal leucoencephalopathy. Our findings implicate a role for calpains in the modulation of disease progression in CM.     

Determination of the mechanism of uptake of organic vapors by chitoasn

It was of interest to investigate the possible interactions that might occur between chitosan and various compounds of different polarities using solvent vapor sorption and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). The sorption system was composed of a gas inlet, a 2 meter gas cell and a gas outlet. The experimental set up allowed quantification of the free vapor and therefore the amount of the sorbed vapor by chitosan powder. The BET equation was applied to the experimental data to obtain the apparent monolayer sorption capacity (Sm) and the parameter C, which is related to the heat of interaction. Results demonstrated that the surface areas obtained for chitosan from the BET analyses for heptane, 1,4-dioxane and methanol were 421, 379 and 58 m(2)/g, respectively. These values were extremely higher than the value obtained from nitrogen vapor adsorption isotherm (4.56 m(2)/g). The difference is attributed to the partitioning of these compounds into the chitosan particles. The large difference in the Sm values between the nonpolar (heptane and 1,4-dioxane) and the semipolar compounds (methanol) also suggested that the polarity of the solvent might have a significant effect on the partitioning of the these compounds into the chitosan particles. The results obtained from this study also confirmed what was previously described regarding the ability of chitosan to act as a 'fat magnet' or a 'fat sponge'.