The role of Epstein-Barr virus in Hodgkin's disease from different geographical areas

Recent studies have suggested that Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) may play a role in the aetiology of Hodgkin's disease. To determine the role of EBV in childhood Hodgkin's disease in different geographical areas, immunohistochemical staining and in situ hybridisation were used to analyse latent membrane protein 1 (LMP 1) and small nuclear non-transcribed RNAs (EBER-1) respectively. Testing for EBV within the Reed-Sternberg and Hodgkin's cells was carried out in childhood Hodgkin's disease from 10 different countries. The proportion of LMP 1 positive cases varied significantly, being 50% of cases from the United Kingdom (38/75), South Africa (9/18), Egypt (7/14), and Jordan (8/16), 60% from the United Arab Emirates (6/10), 70% from Australia (11/16), 81% from Costa Rica (34/42), 88% from Iran (7/8), 90% from Greece (20/22), and 100% of the 56 cases from Kenya. A sensitive polymerase chain reaction based EBV strain typing technique was established using archival tissues. EBV strain type 1 was shown to be predominant in childhood Hodgkin's disease from the United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia, and Greece. Type 2 was predominant in Egypt. EBV strain types 1 and 2 were both detected in some cases of childhood Hodgkin's disease in the United Kingdom, Costa Rica, and Kenya. The high incidence of EBV and the presence especially in developing countries of dual infection with both strain types 1 and 2 may reflect socioeconomic conditions leading to malnutrition induced immunological impairment. The possibility of HIV infection also needs to be explored.     

Total energy expenditure and body composition in early infancy

In adults greater energy expenditure, primarily on physical activity, is associated with greater leanness. Such an association has proved more difficult to demonstrate in infants, partly due to the difficulty of measuring fatness and free living energy expenditure in this age group. Stable isotope techniques now make such investigations more viable. OBJECTIVE: The relationship between body composition and energy expenditure was investigated in 12 week infants. METHODS: Total energy expenditure and fat mass were estimated using the doubly labelled water technique. SUBJECTS: 92 normal healthy infants. RESULTS: Fat mass was correlated with both triceps and subscapular skinfold thicknesses (p < 0.001). After controlling for body size, age was a significant predictor of fat mass (p = 0.003), whereas total energy expenditure was not (p = 0.463). CONCLUSIONS: The cross sectional link between activity level and fatness in young infants, reported previously, does not persist when energy expenditure is considered.     

Failure to replicate an association between the catechol‐O‐methyltransferase polymorphism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in a second,independently recruited Israeli cohort

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a developmental syndrome expressed along three domains: inattention, hyperactive‐impulsive, and combined type. Both environmental and genetic factors contribute to the etiology of this complex disease. We previously reported an association in 48 ADHD triads (both parents and proband) between the catechol‐O‐methyl‐ transferase (COMT) polymorphism (especially the high enzyme activity val allele) and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM IV) combined category (excluding inattention) of ADHD (however, see erratum, Am. J. Med. Genet. [Neuropsychiatr. Genet.] 96:893). In the current report, we attempted to replicate this finding in an independently recruited group of 70 nuclear families using the haplotype relative risk design. In the current investigation, no evidence for association of the COMT polymorphism and ADHD (or any of the DSM IV subtypes) was observed in either the current cohort or the expanded cohort of 118 Israeli triads. Am. J. Med. Genet. (Neuropsychiatr. Genet.) 96:858–860, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

肝泡球蚴病超声声象类型及病理分型与血清sIL-2R的关系

B超对肝占位性病变的诊断具有直观和定位准确的特点,已被用作临床病理分型的主要手段[1,2].随着B超在泡球蚴病诊断和流行病学中应用的普及,泡球蚴病超声象的分型及临床分型日益受到重视.但直到现在对其声象类型仍有分歧[3,4].Hadni[5]参照肝癌的分型标准,将泡球蚴分为3种临床类型,①仅寄生于肝脏的P型;②侵犯肝脏周围组织的Ⅰ型;③有远端转移的M型.Hardni对P型又分为5级;P0:不能用B超测出;P1:病灶仅累及1～2个肝段,且肝内无小囊泡及肝内胆管病变;P2:病变大小同P1,肝内有小囊泡及肝内胆管病变;P3:病灶累及3～5个肝段,且肝内有小囊泡及肝内胆管病变;或具有多个病灶,但无肝内囊泡及肝内胆管病变;P4:病灶扩展6～8个肝段;或具有多个病灶,且伴有肝内囊泡及肝内胆管病变;Ⅰ型也分为3级,Ⅰ 0:尚无法确定病变涉及范围;Ⅰ1:仅一个器官被累及;Ⅰ2:有两个以上器官被累及.血清sIL-2R(可溶性白介素-2受体)常在肝病,某些免疫疾病及肿瘤患者血内增高[6-9].有人把它作为肿瘤分期的检测指标[10].我们在观察泡球蚴患者肝脏声象改变的同时,检测了血清sIL-2R水平,用于探讨超声声象下的泡球蚴病理改变与sIL-2R的关系.     

Measurement of interstitial cetirizine concentrations in human skin: correlation of drug levels with inhibition of histamine‐induced skin responses

BACKGROUND: The purpose of the present study was to measure the concentrations of cetirizine in the extracellular water compartment in intact human skin and assess simultaneously inhibition of histamine-induced wheal and flare reactions. METHODS: Skin cetirizine levels were collected by the microdialysis technique and analyzed by high-pressure liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry detection. Skin levels in 20 subjects were compared to plasma levels for 4 h after a single oral dose of 10 or 20 mg of cetirizine. Skin prick tests were performed with histamine 100 mg/ml. RESULTS: Plasma cetirizine levels increased within 30 min to reach peak values of 315+/-10 and 786+/-45 ng/ml 90-120 min after administration of 10 and 20 mg of cetirizine. This was followed by a slow decline. In the skin, dialysate cetirizine levels (non-protein-bound fraction only) peaked at 1.6+/-0.1 and 2.4+/-0.3 ng/ml at 120-180 min. In vivo recovery of cetirizine was 14.4+/-4.3%. It was estimated that the non-protein-bound concentration of cetirizine in the skin was 50-70% of corresponding plasma values. Both 10- and 20-mg doses of cetirizine inhibited wheal and flare reactions over 240 min. The time vs concentration profile of cetirizine in skin dialysate paralleled the inhibition of skin reactions, but no significant correlations were found between individual cetirizine levels in skin or plasma with wheal and flare reactions. CONCLUSIONS: Cetirizine concentrations in the skin could be monitored by the microdialysis technique. The results indicate no simple linear correlation between cetirizine skin levels and inhibition of skin reactions.     

Induced termination of pregnancy and low birthweight and preterm birth: a systematic review and meta-analyses

Background  History of induced termination of pregnancy (I-TOP) is suggested as a precursor for infant being born low birthweight (LBW), preterm (PT) or small for gestational age (SGA). Infection, mechanical trauma to the cervix leading to cervical incompetence and scarred tissue following curettage are suspected mechanisms.
Objective  To systematically review the risk of an infant being born LBW/PT/SGA among women with history of I-TOP.
Search strategy  Medline, Embase, CINAHL and bibliographies of identified articles were searched for English language studies.
Selection criteria  Studies reporting birth outcomes to mothers with or without history of induced abortion were included.
Data collection and analyses  Two reviewers independently collected data and assessed the quality of the studies for biases in sample selection, exposure assessment, confounder adjustment, analytical, outcome assessments and attrition. Meta-analyses were performed using random effect model and odds ratio (OR), weighted mean difference and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated.
Main results  Thirty-seven studies of low–moderate risk of bias were included. A history of one I-TOP was associated with increased unadjusted odds of LBW (OR 1.35, 95% CI 1.20–1.52) and PT (OR 1.36, 95% CI 1.24–1.50), but not SGA (OR 0.87, 95% CI 0.69–1.09). A history of more than one I-TOP was associated with LBW (OR 1.72, 95% CI 1.45–2.04) and PT (OR 1.93, 95% CI 1.28–2.71). Meta-analyses of adjusted risk estimates confirmed these findings.
Conclusions  A previous I-TOP is associated with a significantly increased risk of LBW and PT but not SGA. The risk increased as the number of I-TOP increased.