Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) gene expression in the human brain: A post mortem in situ hybridization study with special reference to Parkinson's disease

Summary Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) is a potent neurotrophic factor for dopaminergic neurons. Since dopaminergic neurons degenerate in Parkinson's disease, this factor is a potential therapeutical tool that may save dopaminergic neurons during the pathological process. Moreover, a reduced GDNF expression may be involved in the pathophysiology of the disease. In this study, we tested whether altered GDNF production may participate in the mechanism of cell death in this disease. GDNF gene expression was analyzed by in situ hybridization using riboprobes corresponding to a sequence of the exon 2 human GDNF gene. Experiments were performed on tissue sections of the mesencephalon and the striatum from 8 patients with Parkinson's disease and 6 control subjects matched for age at death and for post mortem delay. No labelling was observed in either group of patients. This absence of detectable expression could not be attributed to methodological problems as a positive staining was observed using the same probes for sections of astroglioma biopsies from human adults and for sections of a newborn infant brain obtained at post-mortem. These data suggest that GDNF is probably expressed at a very low level in the adult human brain and its involvement in the pathophysiology of Parkinson's disease remains to be demonstrated. GDNF may represent a powerful new therapeutic agent for Parkinson's disease, however.     

我国医疗保障制度改革中医院配套改革措施探讨

论述了医疗保障制度改革给医院带来的机遇与挑战,认为医院应采取调整结构,转换运行机制;完善补偿机制;加大宏观调控力度,制订和实施区域卫生规划等配套措施,来适应医疗保障制度的改革。     

多索茶碱及其片剂的高效液相色谱分析

多索茶碱及其片剂的高效液相色谱分析刘春胜，何秀峰，王云萍，谷士杰，周同惠（中国医学科学院、中国协和医科大学药物研究所，北京１０００５０）多索茶碱（ｄｏｘｏｆｙｌｌｉｎｅ）是用于治疗支气管哮喘合并支气管痉挛的慢性阻塞性肺部疾病的新一代黄嘌吟衍生物，其药...     

Hepatic angiomyolipoma developing during the follow-up of ulcerative colitis: Report of a case and review of the literature

Hepatic angiomyolipoma is a rare tumor composed of spindle-shaped and epithelioid smooth muscle cells, adipose tissue, and proliferating blood vessels. We report the first documented case of this tumor developing in a patient with ulcerative colitis. A solitary tumor (7.5×7.5×7cm) was detected in the left lateral segment of the liver and a left hepatic lobectomy was performed. The diagnosis of angiomyolipoma was confirmed by a pathological examination. We also review the literature on previously reported cases of hepatic angiomyolipoma.     

一项新的水质检验——可同化有机碳测定

可同化有机碳(AOC)是一项新的水质检测指标,通过它可以评估供水系统的水中是否有足够的营养物质可使微生物再生长。由于目前尚无可行的化学方法检测 AOC,因此主要是用各种生物方法加以检测。本文介绍用荧光假单胞菌 P—17菌株和螺菌属 NOX 菌株作为测试菌,通过定量观察其在水样中的生长,如从接种到生长至最大数量,以考察其利用水中营养物质的情况,进而推算出水中 AOC 的浓度。     

糖皮质激素联合抗凝在急性/亚急性重症颅内静脉血栓治疗中的探索

目的 本研究初步探讨糖皮质激素联合抗凝治疗在急性/亚急性重症颅内静脉血栓(cerebral venous thrombosis, CVT)中的作用。方法 纳入10例经过糖皮质激素联合抗凝治疗的急性/亚急性重症CVT患者,对治疗前后及出院3个月时的神经功能缺损、颅内压增高情况和血清、脑脊液炎症指标及不良事件进行回顾性分析。结果 10例患者经过糖皮质激素冲击治疗后2周,与入院时基线值相比,血清中性粒细胞与淋巴细胞比值(neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, NLR)(P<0.05),超敏C反应蛋白(hypersensitive C-reactive protein, hs-CRP)(P<0.01),白细胞介素-6(interleukin 6,IL-6)(P<0.01)和脑脊液IL-6浓度(P<0.01)均明显下降;与入院时基线值相比,出院时改良Rankin量表(modified Rankin Scale, mRS)评分(P<0.01)、美国国立卫生研究院卒中评分(National Institutes of Health Stroke ...     

Primary tumors of the spine. Initial oncologic aspects: epidemiology, anatomo-prognostic and therapeutic classification

Primary tumors of the vertebral column are rare: 20 per cent of all primary tumors of the spinal column. The distribution by type of tumor shows that the three most frequent primary tumors considered to be "radio and/or chemo resistant lesions" are the chordoma (15.5 to 24.5%), the chondrosarcoma (20%) and the giant cell tumor (10%). A second group with "chemo and/or radiosensitive lesions" include the Ewing sarcoma, primary lymphoma and plasmocytoma (5%). We consider a third group with the benign tumor: osteochondroma, chondroma, osteoid osteoma, osteoblastoma, aneurysmal bone cyst, hemangioma and eosinophilic granuloma (2 to 3%). The last tumoral group agrees with sarcomatous tumors: osteogenic sarcoma, fibrosarcoma, malignant fibro-histiocytoma, angiosarcoma and hemangio-pericytoma (1 to 3% of primary tumors of the vertebral column); they are most frequently secondary to Paget's disease, giant cell tumor or to radiation therapy and their prognosis is poor.     

Overexpression of S100A4 is closely related to the aggressiveness of gastric cancer

Elevated levels of the calcium-binding protein S100A4 cause metastasis of benign rat mammary tumor cells. To investigate whether S100A4 plays an important role in the invasion and metastasis of gastric cancers, we examined the gene mutations in the coding regions and expression patterns of the S100A4 in gastric adenocarcinoma in Korea. Moderate to strong expression of S100A4 was found in 53 (68.8%) of the 77 gastric adenocarcinomas, whilst normal gastric epithelium either failed to stain or showed weak staining. Interestingly, S100A4 expression was more frequently observed in gastric cancer patients with advanced gastric cancer (p=0.039), positive lymph node metastasis (p=0.001), and peritoneal dissemination (p=0.022). No gene mutations were found in the analyzed genomic area in 77 gastric adenocarcinomas and 15 gastric cancer cell lines. We found one single nucleotide polymorphism without an amino acid change, A99G, in two cases. These data suggest that the overexpression of S100A4 may be closely related to the aggressiveness of gastric cancer in Korea.     

Molecular evolution of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 subtype A in Senegal: 1988-1997

OBJECTIVE: Few studies have been able to track the genetic diversity of HIV-1 viruses in human populations over time. We analyzed the molecular evolution of subtype A over a 10-year period, in a cohort of female sex workers with a known time of infection. STUDY DESIGN/METHODS: We amplified and sequenced the C2-V3 region of the surface envelope glycoprotein from 73 HIV-1-infected women, infected between 1987-1997. RESULTS: Fifty-one patients were infected by subtype A viruses. The viruses demonstrated significant diversification (p < 0.001) with mean genetic distance increasing from 8.6% in 1989 to 15.9% in 1997. The slope of the fitted curve suggested a rate of diversification of 0.7% per year. The majority of subtype A viruses clustered with HIV-1 subtype A/G recombinant form (IbNG). CONCLUSION: The genetic diversity of HIV-1 subtype A infections doubled over the first 10 years of this high risk population's epidemic, suggesting that implementation of vaccines early in the epidemic may have a higher likelihood of success based on levels of genetic diversity. The A/G recombinant form (IbNG) has taken epidemic proportions in West Africa. This is of particular importance in understanding the epidemiology of HIV-1 subtypes in Africa and to further dissect the potential phenotypic and biological characteristics of these viruses.     

逆转录病毒介导的人促红细胞生成素基因在淋巴细胞中的表达

本实验设计和构建了人促红细胞生成素（Epo）重组逆转录病毒载体（LXSN-Epo）,载体中小鼠白血病病毒长末端调控序列翻译调控人Epo基因的表达。通过重组逆转录病毒,将Epo基因转导到大鼠T和B淋巴细胞中,DNA-PCR分析证明带有人Epo基因的逆转录病毒已整合到T和B淋巴细胞基因中,RT-PCR分析显示了在两种细胞中均表达了 Epo mRNA。体外生物学活性测定显示,在转导的T淋巴细胞培养上清中Epo表达水平高达243mU/ml,在感染的B淋巴细胞培养上清中Epo活性达43mU/ml。在感染的B细胞中,Epo表达在mRNA和蛋白水平均证明了逆转录病毒能有效地和迅速地转导Epo基因到新培养的B细胞中,而不需要药物选择。这些研究开始了逆转录病毒介导的基因转移走向体内Epo基因治疗研究的过程。