细胞因子激活骨髓免疫细胞的实验研究

目的：通过对骨髓单个核细胞在体外与不同细胞因子培养,了解不同细胞因子对骨髓淋巴细胞的激活能力和对骨髓干祖细胞的损伤情况。方法：将IL-1、IL-2、γ-IFN、CD3单抗进行不同组合后,在体外与骨髓单个核细胞分成对照组、IL-2组、CD3-AK、CIK组进行培养。培养过程中观察细胞形态和数量的变化,并在培养后检测免疫活性细胞的细胞毒性和造血干细胞的保存情况。结果：培养过程中对照组细胞数量减少;IL-2组细胞数量变化不明显;CD3-AK组、CIK组细胞数量显著增多,并出现较多的集聚成簇的淋巴样细胞,培养后其细胞毒性明显强于对照组及IL-2组,但细胞数量增加和细胞毒性无明性差异,培养后各组造血干细胞保存情况约16%～87%。结论：IL-2、CD3单抗在体外与骨髓单个核细胞培养后,即能激活免疫细胞增殖,又能保留足够的造血干细胞。     

What is the Level of Evidence Substantiating Commercial Payers’ Coverage Policies for Total Joint Arthroplasty?

BackgroundThe prevalence of total joint arthroplasty (TJA) in the United States has drawn the attention of health care stakeholders. The payers have also used a variety of strategies to regulate the medical necessity of these procedures. The purpose of this study was to examine the level of evidence of the coverage policies being used by commercial payers in the United States.MethodsThe references of the coverage policies of four commercial insurance companies were reviewed for type of document, level of evidence, applicability to a TJA population, and success of nonoperative treatment in patients with severe degenerative joint disease.Results282 documents were reviewed. 45.8% were primary journal articles, 14.2% were level I or II, 41.2% were applicable to patients who were candidates for TJA, and 9.9% discussed the success of nonoperative treatment in patients who would be candidates for TJA.ConclusionMost of the references cited by commercial payers are of a lower level of scientific evidence and not applicable to patients considered to be candidates for TJA. This is relatively uniform across the reviewed payers. The dearth of high-quality literature cited by commercial payers reflects the lack of evidence and difficulty in conducting high level studies on the outcomes of nonoperative versus operative treatment for patients with severe, symptomatic osteoarthritis. Patients, surgeons, and payers would all benefit from such studies and we encourage professional societies to strive toward that end through multicenter collaboration.     

胰弹力蛋白酶I和核糖核酸酶检测的临床价值

目的　探讨人胰弹力蛋白酶Ⅰ (Humanpancreaticelastase 1 ,HPE1 )放射免疫测定 (Radioimmunoassay ,RIA)和核糖核酸酶(Ribonuclease ,RNase)活性检测的临床价值。方法　参照Satake等建立的改良HPE1RIA和Thomas等的改良酸溶性产物法检测 82例正常成年人和 2 2 2例各类患者血清并分析结果。结果　 82例健康成人HPE1值为 2 3.8( 3.4ng L) ,RNase活性为 5 7.0 3( 1 2 .1 6 μ ml) ;急性胰腺炎和胰腺癌HPE1 值明显高于其他疾病 (P <0 .0 1 )。联合检测HPE1 、RNase活性可提高胰腺癌的检出率 ( 92 .47% )。结论　HPE1 RIA对急性胰腺炎有诊断价值 ,联合检测HPE1 、RNase活性检测对胰腺癌诊断有一定的临床价值     

Demand for health care information prompts media-institution alliances

The growing demand for health care information has prompted at least one health care system to form a partnership with its local television station and a health care news provider. Allina Health System, Minneapolis, KSTP-TV and 20-year-old Medatar team up to create a local version of Health Matters for Allina's market area. Medstar serves clients in more than 130 American cities.     

Antigen presenting cell function in HIV-1 infected patients

Antigen presenting cell (APC) function is central to the activation of anti-viral cytotoxic T-cells and antibody production. In previous studies we have evaluated APC function in HIV-1 infected patients as the capacity to present peptide to a well defined panel of CD4 T-cell clones. We found that APC from HIV-1 infected patients were defective in the capacity to present peptide to CD4 T-cell clones. The APC defect uncovered by this method was present early in infection and worsened with increasing viral load, suggesting that it was an important determinant of progression and anti-viral efficacy. The CD4 T-cell clones were, however, found to vary in their susceptibility to the APC defect. CD4 T-cell clones that failed to respond to peptide presented by HIV + APC were 1000-fold more readily inhibited by anti-CD4 antibody than T-cell clones which consistently responded to APC from patients infected with HIV-1 (HIV + APC). An intermediate group of T-cell clones were also identified that only responded to peptide and HIV + APC from asymptomatic patients. These results suggested that the underlying mechanism for the APC defect was binding of T-cell CD4 by APC-associated gp120. In this paper we discuss the evidence to support this hypothesis.     

Mammographic Screening Downstages Breast Carcinomas at Time of Diagnosis: A Community-Based Experience

Abstract: To determine the effectiveness of screening mammography in a community medical setting, data from a population-based, retrospective study was analyzed. Medical records of 827 patients with newly diagnosed breast cancer in California between October 1994 and March 1996 were reviewed. The primary care physician's record was abstracted for clinical history, including recommendation of screening mammography. The facility records where final diagnosis was made were abstracted for stage and treatment data. Among the patients who did not have previous screening mammography, 65.7% were diagnosed with "advanced" breast cancer (stages II, III, IV), while only 39.9% who had previous screening mammography were diagnosed with advanced breast cancer (p < 0.001). This study has reaffirmed that screening mammography of adult females generates downstaging at the time of diagnosis of breast cancer. Despite possession of a health insurance program and receiving educational materials, only 65% of patients over 50 years of age had screening mammography. As opposed to the once-a-year mailing of general reminders to all women 40 years old and older, developing a longitudinal electronic medical record in the managed care setting will support a more coordinated and individualized intervention based on age, date of last mammogram, and relative risk, among other factors. Continuing education efforts must also be directed to referring physicians, who may not yet recognize the value of screening mammography.