Relationship of luteal blood flow and corpus luteum function in pseudopregnant rats

An experiment was conducted to examine whether blood flow to corpora lutea may regulate luteal function as judged from plasma levels of progesterone (P) in mature pseudopregnant rats. 141Ce-labeled microspheres (14.1 +/- 0.8 micrometer diam) were used to measure cardiac output and organ and tissue blood flow in rats on days 6, 8, 10, and 12 of pseudopregnancy and in proestrus following luteal regression. The mean arterial blood pressure and cardiac output were similar among all groups of rats. Although a significant (P less than 0.05) decrease in plasma P was observed in rats on day 12 of pseudopregnancy, no change in luteal blood flow or distribution of ovarian blood flow to the corpora lutea was seen at this stage of pseudopregnancy when compared to day 8 or 10 of pseudopregnancy. However, a significant decrease (P less than 0.05) in luteal blood flow was seen in proestrous rats. Because a decrease in plasma progesterone preceded the decrease in luteal blood flow, it was concluded that physiological luteal regression may not be initiated by a reduction of blood flow to the corpus luteum.     

The high incidence of meiotic errors increases with decreased sperm count in severe male factor infertilities

BACKGROUND:The high frequency of aneuploidy sperm raises concerns that there may be an increased incidence of aneuploid offspring in ICSI programmes. In order to assess the role that chromosome complement plays in normal and abnormal fertility, detailed molecular cytogenetic studies must be done on sperm samples from men with normal and abnormal fertility. METHODS: To understand more clearly the cytogenetic make-up of sperm from oligoasthenoteratozoospermic (OAT) patients, multi-colour fluorescence in situ hybridization was used to determine numerical chromosome abnormalities. RESULTS: Increased aneuploidy frequencies for chromosomes 13, 18, 21, X and Y were detected in sperm from OAT patients. The frequencies of diploidy also increased. There were no differences in non-disjunction at meiosis I compared to meiosis II. Sperm count inversely correlated with the frequencies of diploidy, aneuploidies for chromosomes 13 and 21 in OAT patients. Twenty-two cycles of ICSI and 18 embryo transfers were performed in 20 couples. Only three cases achieved successful pregnancies. CONCLUSIONS: A higher incidence of meiotic errors and lower sperm counts was found in sperm from OAT patients.     

Face processing in adolescents with and without epilepsy.

Children with temporal lobe epilepsy frequently suffer memory deficits, often marked in face processing. To determine the neural correlates of this dysfunction, we investigated face processing in adolescents with intractable epilepsy compared to typically developing controls. The M170 and M220 MEG event-related fields (ERFs) were recorded while the adolescents completed an n-back task on blocks of upright and inverted faces. Source analyses of the ERF data were performed using an event-related beamforming technique that allowed the detection of multiple sources. The control adolescents showed the expected waveforms and inversion effects, although there were differences in source localization, compared to the adult literature. The participants with epilepsy had poor performance on the tasks. The adolescents with extra-temporal lobe epilepsy showed both the M170 and M220 but the source localizations were highly atypical. The patients with right temporal lobe epilepsy had an absent or highly atypical M220, a component related to face recognition processes. We hypothesize that the children with extra-temporal lobe epilepsy have difficulty with face encoding processes while the patients with right temporal lobe epilepsy have specific difficulty with face recognition.     

Functional supertype of HLA-A2 in the presentation of Flu matrix p58-66 to induce CD8+ T-cell response in a Northern Chinese population

The functional supertype of HLA-A2 was investigated in the presentation of the A*0201-restricted Flu matrix p58-66 peptide to activate recall CD8+ T-cell response. In healthy Northern Chinese, the HLA-A2 supertype was mainly composed of the six alleles, A*0201 (26.4%), A*0206 (12.7%), A*0203 (8.2%), A*0207 (7.3%), A*0210 (1.8%) and A*0205 (0.9%), as analyzed by PCR using sequence specific primer (PCR-SSP) and sequence based typing (SBT). The IFN-gamma release Elispot assay was employed to assess effector CD8+ T cells. In A*0201-bearing individuals, the CD8+ T-cell response was potent when stimulated with autologous CD8- PBMCs. The frequency of the effector CD8+ T cells was 96.6% with the magnitude of effector CD8+ T cells of 225 SFC/5 x 104 CD8+ T cells and the RI of 25.7. In non-A*0201 individuals, the effector CD8+ T cells were minimally detectable while the peptide was presented by the autologous CD8- PBMCs. However, the induction of the response of CD8+ T cells obtained from non-A*0201 individuals was remarkably improved when the peptide was presented by autologous dendritic cells instead of CD8- PBMCs. The HLA-A2 alleles possessing cross-reactivity in the peptide presentation were mainly of A*0206 and non-A*0201 heterozygotes of A*0206 and A*0210. Moreover, A*0206 as the HLA-A2 functional supertype was further confirmed by tetramer assay. In two A*0206+ donors with CD8+ T-cell response to the peptide, the CD8+ T-cell frequency assessed by specific binding of peptide HLA-A*0201 tetramer was 4.62% and 1.66%, respectively. Thus, our results have substantiated the immunological relevance of the HLA-A2 supertype, which may benefit the design of peptide vaccines with the potential to be applicable in broader populations.     

病人知情同意权的几个辩证法问题

以知情同意为核心的病人自主权是医疗服务和现代医患关系新的支撑点。在人体实验、放弃治疗等领域,充分尊重病人的知情同意权具有极大的现实意义。然而,医生的解释说明、医疗干预和亲属代理同意则构成了对知情同意的限制。因此,必须辩证理解和知情同意的内涵,以最大限度地保障病人利益。     

中国北方汉族、维吾尔族、哈萨克族DYS19基因座的遗传多态性

目的;研究DYS19基因座在中国北方汉族、维吾尔族、哈萨克族群体中的遗传多态性及其法医学应用。方法：应用聚合酶链反应后变性聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳分离扩增产物结合银染显带的方法,对101例北方汉族、56例维吾尔族、30例哈萨克族无关男性个体的DYS19基因座进行检测。结果：DYS19基因座在3个群体中共检出5种等位基因,基因频率分布范围分别为0．069－0．594,0．071－0．500,0．100－0．667;个人识别机率分别为0．600,0．675,0．491。χ^2检验表明等位基因分布具有明显的人群差异。家系调查符合单体父系遗传方式。结论：DYS19基因座个人识别机率高,属较高鉴别能力的遗传标记系统,且具有明显的人群分布差异,在法医学及人类遗传学研究中具有重要的应用价值。     

人胚胎肾上腺皮质褪黑素受体亚型蛋白的分布

目的：研究褪黑素（Mel)受体亚型在人胚胎肾上腺皮质的分布。方法：应用免疫组化染色检测Ｍel受体亚型的人胚胎肾上腺皮质的分布。结果：在人胚胎肾上腺皮质的球状速、束状带和网状带均存在Ｍel受体mt1(Mella)和ＭＴ２（Ｍellb)亚型蛋白的表达,且主要分布于细胞质。结论：人胚胎肾上腺皮质存在Ｍel受体mt1和ＭＴ２亚型。