Plasma leptin level and its relationship with body composition in hemodialysis patients

Leptin is a newly found hormone secreted by adipocytes that regulates food intake, thermogenesis, and body fat. We measured plasma leptin levels in 103 patients with chronic renal failure treated by hemodialysis and 167 age- and gender-matched healthy control subjects to examine the impact of renal failure on plasma leptin levels and the influence of leptin on body composition measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Hemodialysis patients showed a significant decrease in both body fat mass and lean body mass compared with those of the control subjects. Plasma leptin was significantly elevated in the hemodialysis group over the controls. In both groups, leptin was higher in female than male subjects, and it correlated positively with percent body fat. The subjects were divided into six categories according to percent body fat, and plasma leptin levels were compared between the two groups in the same category. Leptin of hemodialysis patients was significantly higher than that of the control subjects in the percent body fat categories of 30 or greater, whereas there was no statistically significant difference in leptin concentrations in the lower percent body fat categories. This was also true in the comparison in each gender, and leptin levels in female subjects showed a more remarkable difference between the hemodialysis and control groups in obese categories. Multiple regression analysis in all subjects indicated that plasma leptin levels were independently affected by percent body fat, plasma insulin concentration, gender, and renal failure. The positive impact of renal failure on leptin remained significant in the subjects with percent body fat of 30 or greater in the multiple regression model, whereas it was no longer significant in the remaining lean subjects. In multiple regression analysis of factors affecting fat mass index and lean mass index, leptin level was selectively associated with fat mass index, but not with lean mass index, regardless of percent body fat ranges. These results indicate that renal failure is an important factor affecting plasma leptin levels, especially in obese female subjects, and that hyperleptinemia was closely related to fat mass but not to lean body mass in hemodialysis patients.     

便携式多普勒血管探测仪在皮瓣移植中的应用

目的 :研究皮瓣移植前简单、可靠的血管探测的方法。方法 :在皮瓣移植前 ,以 HADECO ES-1 0 0 0 SPM多普勒血管探测仪对皮瓣血管蒂及皮动脉进行探测 ,与术中皮动脉探查结果进行比较 ,考察术前血管探测的准确性和意义。结果 :皮瓣血管蒂及皮动脉术前探测与术中探查结果完全一致。结论 :便携式血管多普勒仪是皮瓣移植前 ,简单、可靠的血管探测的仪器 ,根据探测结果进行皮瓣设计 ,有效地降低了手术失败的风险     

nm23-H1基因转染对人胆管癌细胞系QBC939体外浸润能力的影响

目的：探讨nm23-H1基因转染对人胆管癌细胞系QBC939体外浸润能力的影响。方法：将含有全长nm23-H1 cDNA的真核表达载体通过脂腩体法转染人胆管癌细胞系。结果：转染成功的QBC939细胞，其nm23-Hl基因的mRNA、蛋白表达明显增加，转染nm23-H1基因的胆管癌细胞体外浸润能力下降，穿越matrigel的细胞数明显低于亲本QBC939细胞，代表浸润能力的IV型胶原酶（MMP-9）分泌量下降。结论：nm23-Hl基因可以抑制胆管癌细胞的体外浸润能力。     

Anti-thyroid drugs decrease mucosal damage in a rat model of experimental colitis

Background : Methimazole, an anti-thyroid drug, was recently found to be useful in the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus and other autoimmune diseases. Moreover, decreased thyroid hormone production is associated with a variety of immunological manifestations, such as reduced activation of CD4⁺ cells, increased CD8⁺ cell activity and reduced soluble IL-2 receptors. In the present study we examined the effects of methimazole and propylthiouracil on a rat model of experimental colitis.
Methods : Colitis was induced by intracolonic administration of 30 mg trinitrobenzene sulphonic acid (TNB). Two weeks prior to induction of colitis, rats were treated by either methimaziole (0.04%) or propylthiouracil (0.01%) in drinking water after a week of free access to water. Rats were sacrificed 48 h or 7 days after induction of colitis. The colon was isolated, rinsed with ice-cold water and weighed. Damage was assessed both macroscopically and microscopically and myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity determined.
Results : All treated rats were hypothyroid as manifested by a significant elevation of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), by comparison with the control groups (mean -1.82±0.40 versus 0.11±0.02 mmol/L, respectively). The inflammatory response elicited by TNB resulted in severe mucosal damage 48 h after damage induction, which persisted for 7 days. Pre-treatment with either methimazole 0.04% or propylthiouracil 0.01% significantly decreased mucosal damage macroscopically (lesion area, lesion score and segmental weight) microscopically and also significantly decreased MPO level at both time points ( P <0.01).
Conclusions : Methimazole and propylthiouracil significantly reduce mucosal damage and colonic weight in a rat model of colitis. The mode by which they do so remains to be studied.     

Experience of expandable metallic stents for central airway obstruction

The aim of this study was to investigate retrospectively the efficacy of expandable metallic stents (EMSs) for severe respiratory distress in patients with central airway obstruction. Twenty patients with central airway obstructions were treated with an EMS. An intraluminal stricture was present in 15 and an extraluminal stricture in 5 patients. Of the 15 patients with intraluminal stenosis, 11 exhibited symptomatic improvement. All 11 patients had tumor infiltration occupying less than 50% of the endoluminal diameter. The other four patients with intraluminal stenosis had tumor infiltration occupying > 50% of the endoluminal diameter and demonstrated no improvement. All five patients with extraluminal stenosis were improved. EMS is useful for an extraluminal stricture in the central airway and the effect of EMS for intraluminal stenosis is related to the degree of infiltration and of tumor progression itself.      

降糖饮降糖作用的实验研究

降糖饮以８．１，１５．０，３０。０ｇ．ｋｇ＾－１灌胃予鼠，连续１０天。结果表明降饮对正常小鼠大鼠血糖血脂无明显影响，但对四氧嘧啶或链脲霉素引起的大鼠高血糖及蛋黄引起的小鼠高脂血症，高胆固醇饲料引起的大鼠高脂血症均有显著降低作用。本研究为降糖饮的应用提供了可靠的药理学依据。     

The 2.0-Å resolution crystal structure of a trimeric antibody fragment with noncognate VH–VL domain pairs shows a rearrangement of VH CDR3

The 2.0-Å resolution x-ray crystal structure of a novel trimeric antibody fragment, a “triabody,” has been determined. The trimer is made up of polypeptides constructed in a manner identical to that previously described for some “diabodies”: a V_L domain directly fused to the C terminus of a V_H domain—i.e., without any linker sequence. The trimer has three Fv heads with the polypeptides arranged in a cyclic, head-to-tail fashion. For the particular structure reported here, the polypeptide was constructed with a V_H domain from one antibody fused to the V_L domain from an unrelated antibody giving rise to “combinatorial” Fvs upon formation of the trimer. The structure shows that the exchange of the V_L domain from antibody B1-8, a V_λ domain, with the V_L domain from antibody NQ11, a V_κ domain, leads to a dramatic conformational change in the V_H CDR3 loop of antibody B1-8. The magnitude of this change is similar to the largest of the conformational changes observed in antibody fragments in response to antigen binding. Combinatorial pairing of V_H and V_L domains constitutes a major component of antibody diversity. Conformationally flexible antigen-binding sites capable of adapting to the specific CDR3 loop context created upon V_H–V_L pairing may be employed by the immune system to maximize the structural diversity of the immune response.     

Antigenicity of a synthetic peptide from glucosyltransferases of Streptococcus mutans in humans.

Human salivary immunoglobulin A (IgA) and serum IgG antibodies to the Streptococcus mutans glucosyltransferases (Gtfs) and to a synthetic peptide of 19 amino acids from a conserved region in the Gtfs (residues 435 to 453) were determined in young adults by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Varying levels of antibody to Gtfs were detected in saliva or serum, with significantly higher levels of antibody to GtfD than to GtfB/C or GtfC. Anti-Gtf IgA levels in saliva did not correlate with those of IgG in serum. Caries-free (CF) volunteers exhibited significantly higher salivary IgA antibody levels to the peptide and to GtfB/C or GtfC than did the caries-active (CA) subjects. Preincubation of CF saliva and serum with the peptide inhibited the antibodies to the Gtfs in a dose-dependent manner, whereas preincubation of the samples from the CA group resulted in only partial inhibition. Our results indicated that this 19-amino-acid peptide includes one of the major B-cell epitopes of Gtfs and that CF individuals have higher titers of antibodies than CA subjects.