上海市0～6岁小儿佝偻病的现状调查

目的:了解上海市小儿佝偻病的现状及影响因素。方法:2005年春季以整群和分层随机抽样法抽取上海市部分城区0～6岁小儿821名,采取问卷调查方法了解小儿的生活环境、饮食习惯、户外活动、营养状况、既往疾病史及母亲的妊娠情况等。佝偻病的诊断以1996年国家卫生部颁布的"婴幼儿佝偻病防治方案"为诊断标准。结果:取得完整有效资料769名,其中男童396名,女童373名;集居儿童456名,散居儿童313名。①小儿佝偻病患病率为17.3%(133/769),其中男童患病率为17.4%、女童为17.2%。②佝偻病与喂养方式(母乳喂养的患病率为13.0%、混合喂养的患病率为17.5%、人工喂养的患病率为25.2%)、鱼肝油添加(按时添加维生素D的患病率为13.5%、偶加或未加维生素D的患病率为32.5%)、居住环境(居住在市区的患病率为23.6%、居住在郊区的患病率为10.6%;集居儿童患病率为13.8%、散居儿童患病率为22.4%)、户外活动时间(经常户外活动的患病率为12.9%、偶尔户外活动的患病率为31.8%)、反复呼吸道感染(小儿有反复呼吸道感染的患病率为26.9%、无反复呼吸道感染的患病率为12.9%)、母孕期缺钙(母孕期有缺钙的患病率为33.2%、无缺钙的患病率为12.0%)等因素有关(P<0.01)。结论:上海市小儿佝偻病患病率有上升趋势。影响因素与城市环境污染、母乳喂养减少、年轻父母科学育儿知识缺乏等有关。     

激光治疗瘢痕的特征

目的:介绍国内近20年来激光治疗瘢痕的临床研究概况,以期进一步了解激光治疗瘢痕的新进展。资料来源:应用计算机检索Pubmed和中国生物医学文献数据库1983/2006的相关文章,限定文章语言种类为英文和中文,检索词为“cicatrices(瘢痕),laser(激光)”。资料选择:对资料进行初审,选择临床试验研究文献查找全文。纳入标准:①有明确诊断标准。②随机对照实验或对照试验。有无随访,是否采用盲法不限制。③治疗组干预措施为激光或激光联合药物;对照组干预措施为曲安奈德、冷冻联合曲安奈德或不采用药物措施。排除标准:①非对照研究。②治疗组或对照组的干预措施不符合纳入标准。③机制研究。④重复研究。资料提炼:共收集到相关文献120篇,按上述标准纳入31篇,其余文献均被排除。资料综合:31篇文章中11篇为随机对照研究,10篇为对照研究,各研究的研究期为1～6个月。各研究所纳入的病例数量为10～50例。其中6个研究对比了激光与传统药物治疗瘢痕的疗效及安全性,2个研究进行了激光治疗瘢痕基础研究机制比较,10个研究观察了激光结合与单纯药物或单纯激光对瘢痕的疗效,4个研究比较了激光联合西药治疗瘢痕的疗效,2个研究观察了激光治疗瘢痕的副作用。7篇介绍国内或国外瘢痕治疗的研究情况。结论:激光治疗瘢痕的疗效可靠,具有副作用少,方法简单,安全性高,易被患者接受等优势。但由于激光治疗瘢痕还存在着一定的局限性,今后还需要在激光的穿透深度方面研究。     

Biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease therapeutic trials

The development of disease-modifying treatments for Alzheimer's disease requires innovative trials with large numbers of subjects and long observation periods. The use of blood, cerebrospinal fluid or neuroimaging biomarkers is critical for the demonstration of disease-modifying therapy effects on the brain. Suitable biomarkers are those which reflect the progression of AD related molecular mechanisms and neuropathology, including amyloidogenic processing and aggregation, hyperphosphorylation, accumulation of tau and neurofibrillary tangles, progressive functional, metabolic and structural decline, leading to neurodegeneration, loss of brain tissue and cognitive symptoms. Biomarkers should be used throughout clinical trial phases I-III of AD drug development. They can be used to enhance inclusion and exclusion criteria, or as baseline predictors to increase the statistical power of trials. Validated and qualified biomarkers may be used as outcome measures to detect treatment effects in pivotal clinical trials. Finally, biomarkers can be used to identify adverse effects. Questions regarding which biomarkers should be used in clinical trials, and how, are currently far from resolved. The Oxford Task Force continues and expands the work of our previous international expert task forces on disease-modifying trials and on endpoints for Alzheimer's disease clinical trials. The aim of this initiative was to bring together a selected number of key international opinion leaders and experts from academia, regulatory agencies and industry to condense the current knowledge and state of the art regarding the best use of biological markers in Alzheimer's disease therapy trials and to propose practical recommendations for the planning of future AD trials.     

Prolonged platelet activation in individuals with elevated blood pressure in response to a moderate exercise challenge

We examined the magnitude of 20-min moderate exercise-induced platelet activation in 50 volunteers with normal ( n =31) or elevated blood pressure (EBP; n =19). Blood was drawn before, immediately after, and 25 min after exercise. Antibody-staining for platelet activation markers, P-selectin, and fibrinogen receptors was done with and without adenosine diphosphate (ADP) stimulation in whole blood for flow cytometric analyses. Exercise led to increases in percent aggregated platelets and percent platelets expressing P-selectin or PAC-1 binding ( p s≤.001). This increase in percent platelets expressing P-selectin continued even after a 25-min rest only in the EBP group ( p ≤.01) accompanied by an increase in percent of aggregated platelets ( p ≤.05). Although ADP stimulation led to increased platelet activation at rest, it was attenuated following exercise, even among EBP individuals. A moderate exercise challenge induced prolonged platelet activation in individuals with EBP but attenuation in activation to further stimulation by an agonist. Findings suggest that a recovery period after physical stress appears critical in individuals with high BP regarding platelet activation and aggregation, which can lead to an acute coronary syndrome in vulnerable individuals.     

Changes in brain 11C–nicotine binding sites in patients with mild Alzheimer’s disease following rivastigmine treatment as assessed by PET

Rationale Marked reduction in the cortical nicotinic acetylcholine receptors is observed in the brain of patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Although cholinesterase inhibitors are used for symptomatic treatment of mild to moderate AD patients, numerous long-term treatment studies indicate that they might stabilize or halt the progression of the disease by restoring the central cholinergic neurotransmission. Thus, we used positron emission tomography (PET) technique as a sensitive approach to assess longitudinal changes in the nicotine binding sites in the brains of patients with AD. Objective To evaluate changes in brain nicotinic binding sites in relation to inhibition level of cholinesterases in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and plasma and changes in cognitive performance of the patients in different neuropsychological tests after rivastigmine treatment. Materials and methods Ten mild AD patients received rivastigmine for 12 months. A dual-tracer PET model with administration of ¹⁵O–water and (S)(–)¹¹C–nicotine was used to assess ¹¹C–nicotine binding sites in the brain at baseline and after 3 and 12 months of the treatment. Cholinesterase activities in CSF and plasma were assessed colorimetrically. Results The ¹¹C–nicotine binding sites were significantly increased 12–19% in several cortical brain regions after 3 months compared with baseline, while the increase was not significant after 12 months of the treatment. After 3 months treatment, low enzyme inhibition in CSF and plasma was correlated with higher cortical ¹¹C–nicotine binding. The ¹¹C–nicotine binding positively correlated with attentional task at the 12-month follow-up. Conclusion Changes in the ¹¹C–nicotine binding during rivastigmine treatment might represent remodeling of the cholinergic and related neuronal network.     

Characterization of the expression and function of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor in keratinocytes

The N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor is expressed on neural tissue where it gates calcium ion entry upon stimulation. Using immunohistochemistry, it has been demonstrated in this study that the NMDAR1 receptor is also expressed on keratinocytes (KCs) in normal human skin and inflamed psoriatic skin in vivo. Furthermore, the NMDA receptor was functional as demonstrated by the ability of this receptor to trigger Ca++ influx in KCs. Incubation of cultured, human KCs with MK-801 decreases the cell growth and induces an increase in apoptosis. These findings demonstrate that the KC expression of NMDA receptor is a mechanism through which the influx of Ca++ into the cell can be regulated and suggest that the expression of this receptor may play a role in the regulation of KC growth and differentiation.     

Smoking and alcohol use during pregnancy affects preterm infants'' docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) status

This study investigated the effect of alcohol consumption and smoking during pregnancy on the fatty acid composition of the infants. A total of 40 very-low-birth-weight (VLBW) infants, weighing between 750 and 1500 g, were enrolled in the study after being hospitalized and ventilated for respiratory distress syndrome (RDS). Maternal and infant demographic information was recorded. Questions regarding maternal smoking (none, < 10 and > or = 10 cigarettes/d) and alcohol consumption (none, occasionally, moderate and severe) were recorded. Erythrocyte membrane (EMB; n = 40) total fatty acid analyses were performed at birth (baseline) and on days 14 and 28 postnatally. During pregnancy, 42% of mothers consumed alcohol and 50% smoked. At birth, infants of mothers who smoked and consumed alcohol during pregnancy, had significantly higher blood docosahexaenoic acid (DHA; p < 0.05) than infants of mothers who abstained from both alcohol and smoking. The consequences of this finding remain unknown.     

Nerve growth factor affects11C-nicotine binding, blood flow, EEG, and verbal episodic memory in an Alzheimer patient (Case Report)

Summary Based on animal research suggesting that nerve growth factor (NGF) can stimulate central cholinergic neurons, the known losses of cholinergic innervation of the cortices in Alzheimer's disease (AD), and our experience of infusing NGF to support adrenal grafts in parkinsonian patients, we have initiated clinical trials of NGF infusions into the brain of patients with AD. Here we report a follow-up of our first case, a 69-year-old woman, with symptoms of dementia since 8 years. Intraventricular infusion of 6.6 mg NGF during three months resulted in a marked transient increase in uptake and binding of¹¹C-nicotine in frontal and temporal cortex and a persistent increase in cortical blood flow as measured by PET as well as progressive decreases of slow wave EEG activity. After one month of NGF, tests of verbal episodic memory were improved whereas other cognitive tests were not. No adverse effects could be ascribed to the NGF infusion. Taken together, the results of this case study indicate that NGF may counteract cholinergic deficits in AD, and suggest that further clinical trials of NGF infusion in AD are warranted.