High risk pregnancies in hypopituitary women

BACKGROUND: Various short papers have suggested that pregnancies in women with hypopituitarism are high risk but no formal assessment of pregnancy outcome has yet been reported. METHODS: An audit was carried out concerning the outcome of 18 pregnancies in nine women who underwent ovulation induction in a single centre over 20 years. RESULTS: The live birth rate was 61%, miscarriage rate 28% and mid-trimester uterine death rate 11% with no survivors from four sets of twins. The Caesarian section rate was 100% and half of the live births were on or below the 10th centile for weight. One woman successfully breast-fed. CONCLUSIONS: Women with hypopituitarism have high-risk pregnancies, perhaps because of a uterine defect secondary to endocrine deficiency. Fertility treatment must strive for singleton pregnancies with application of particularly strict criteria to avoid twin pregnancies. Early elective Caesarian section is probably warranted in this group.     

Heterogeneity of clara cell glutathione. A possible basis for differences in cellular responses to pulmonary cytotoxicants

Clara-cell populations show a high degree of variation in susceptibility to injury by bioactivated cytotoxicants. Because glutathione (GSH) is critical for detoxification of electrophilic metabolites, heterogeneity in Clara cell GSH levels may lead to a wide range of cytotoxic responses. This study was designed to define the distinct GSH pools within Clara cells, characterize heterogeneity within the population, and examine whether heterogeneity contributes to susceptibility. Using fluorescent imaging combined with high-performance liquid chromatography analysis, semiquantitative measurements were obtained by evaluation of GSH using monochlorobimane and monobromobimane. In steady-state conditions, the GSH measured in isolated cells was in the femtomole range, but varied 4-fold between individual cells. Clara cells analyzed in situ and in vitro confirmed this heterogeneity. The response of these cells to compounds that modulate GSH was also variable. Diethylmaleate depleted GSH, whereas GSH monoethylester augmented it. However, both acted nonuniformly in isolated Clara cells. The depletion of intracellular GSH caused a striking decrease in cell viability upon incubation with naphthalene (NA). The sulfhydryl-binding fluorochrome BODIPY, which colocalized with tetramethylrosamine, a mitochondrial dye, demonstrated by confocal microscopy that cellular sulfhydryls are highest in the mitochondria, next-highest in cytoplasm, and lowest in the nucleus. These pools responded differently to modulators of GSH. We concluded that the steady-state intracellular GSH of Clara cells exists in distinct pools and is highly heterogeneous within the population, and that the heterogeneity of GSH levels corresponds closely to the response of Clara cells to injury by NA.     

抗核糖体抗体阳性判断标准的探讨

目的 :分析针对分子量为 38kD和 或 15 16 5kD多肽抗原的抗核糖体抗体 (anti ribosomalantibodies)与SLE的关系 ,探讨抗核糖体抗体的阳性判断标准及其在SLE中的检出情况。方法 :收集病人血清 2 6 2例 ,包括SLE115例、RA5 7例、硬皮病 2 0例、MCTD39例及其他免疫性疾病 31例 ,用免疫印迹法 (Western blot)检测其抗ENA抗体谱。结果 :分别以同时出现 38kD和 16 5 15kD蛋白条带以及出现 38kD蛋白条带为判断抗核糖体抗体阳性的标准 ,则该抗体对诊断SLE的敏感性和特异性结果分别为 2 8 7% (33 115 )、96 6 % (14 2 14 7)及 17 4 % (2 0 115 )、97 3% (14 3 14 7) ,两者比较敏感性有显著性差异 (P <0 0 5 ) ,特异性无显著性差异 (P >0 0 5 ) ;仅 38kD分子阳性的 14例样本中 ,SLE占大多数 ,显著多于其它疾病 (71 4 %比 2 8 6 % ,P <0 0 5 ) ;38kD分子阳性同时伴抗Sm抗体阳性者多于抗Sm抗体阴性者 ,但无显著性差异 (6 4 3%比 35 7% ,P >0 0 5 )。结论 :抗核糖体抗体 38kD分子与SLE密切相关 ,而与抗Sm抗体相关性不强。以 38kD为主要抗原多肽判断抗核糖体抗体 ,不仅可以提高该抗体的阳性检出率 ,同时也不会降低其对SLE诊断的特异性 ,该判断方法值得推广应用。     

益尔力口服液对饥饿运动小鼠肝糖原含量的影响

益尔力口服液主治强力疲劳、气血虚损引起的肢体疲倦、精神不振、举动乏力。用葸酮法研究表明,其对肝糖原合成有明显促进作用,可作为扶正固本指标之一。     

Noxious stimulus-induced increase in spinal prostaglandin E2 is noradrenergic terminal-dependent

Prostaglandins (PGs) were measured in perfusate from the lumbar intrathecal (IT) space of pentobarbital anaesthetized rats. The level of PGE2, but not of PGF2 alpha or 6-keto PGF1 alpha, was increased by immersion of a hindpaw in water at a noxious temperature (50 degrees C). No increase in PGE2 was produced by non-noxious thermal stimulation (35 degrees C water). The noxious stimulus-evoked increase in PGE2, and increases in PGE2 during norepinephrine infusion (10 micrograms/ml), were significantly decreased in rats pretreated with intrathecal 6-hydroxydopamine. These data suggest that noxious stimuli induce an increase in the production of spinal PGE2 and that this production derives from, or requires the presence of noradrenergic terminals in the spinal cord.