The role of Ureaplasma parvum serovar-3 or serovar-14 infection in female patients with chronic micturition urethral pain and recurrent microscopic hematuria

BackgroundUreaplasma parvum (UP) is commonly isolated in the genitor-urinary tract and may cause various clinical features, including microscopic hematuria (MH). Some UP serovars are more commonly related with specific urogenital disease, but the evidences have been conflicting. This study primarily aimed to research the possible associations between specific UP serotypes and genito-urinary pathogenicity in female patients showing MH with/without chronic micturition urethral pain (CMP).MethodsThis study retrospectively reviewed 276 female patients having MH with/without CMP, who visited health screening center or female infertility clinic. All patients underwent multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests with vaginal and urine samples to evaluate the infection rate and serotypes of UP. The antimicrobial susceptibility of UP and the predictors of CMP among UP infected patients were also analyzed. All patients were followed up at least for 6-months.ResultsForty-nine patients (17.8%) showed urinary UP infection. Urinary UP serotyping showed the prevalence of seorvar-1, -3, -6 and -14 were 24.5%, 30.6%, 18.4% and 26.5%, respectively. 79.6% of the urinary UP positive patients accompanied vaginal UP infection. 22 patients of the cohort (8.0%) had CMP whereas serovars-3 and -14 accompanied CMP in 54.5% and 41.0% cases, respectively. No serovars-6 infection case had CMP. 26.4% of the cohort were infertile whereas 10.9% of these infertile patients were positive for urinary tract infection with UP serotype-3 or -14. Doxycycline, josamycin and pristinamycin were the most active antibiotics with the lowest rate of resistance (0.0%) for treating UP. At 1-month post-initial treatment with doxycycline, all UP serotypes were eradicated and no patient complained of urethral discomfort. However, simultaneous urinary and vaginal reinfection of serovar-3 (5 cases) and serovar-5 (1 case) were confirmed at 3-months post-initial doxycycline therapy. The logistic regression analyses revealed that serovars-3 [hazard ratio (HR) 1.354, P value 0.018] and -14 (HR 1.103, P value 0.046) were significantly associated with CMP in female patients having MH.ConclusionsUP serovars-3 and -14 infections could be associated with CMP in female patients having MH. Doxycycline, josamycin and pristinamycin were effective for treating UP. Serovar-3 showed higher reinfection rate than other serotypes after antibiotics treatment.     

高压氧中毒小鼠脑微血管图像分析定量研究

本文采用计算机图像定量测量方法，对高压氧中毒后小鼠软脑膜微血管和大脑皮质毛细胞血管内皮细胞碱性磷酶活性进行了定量检测。结果表明，ＨＢＯＩ后小鼠软脑膜毛细血管开放数目减少，毛细血管密度降低。     

The impact of human herpesvirus 6B reactivation on early complications following allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Although human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) has been considered an important opportunistic and potentially fatal pathogen for allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), the clinical significance of HHV-6 reactivation remains controversial. In this study, we monitored HHV-6 DNAemia in 72 consecutive allogeneic HSCT recipients by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. A total of 680 peripheral blood specimens were collected from the recipients before HSCT or at weekly intervals after HSCT. As the predominant variant, HHV-6B was detectable at least once in 47.2% (34/72) of HSCT recipients on the median day 21 (range, 7-84 days); HHV-6A reactivation occurred in only 1 recipient (1.4%). Detectable HHV-6B reactivation was associated with increased probability of skin rash by day 30 after HSCT (hazard ratio [HR], 3.68; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.24-10.92; P = .019), cytomegalovirus (CMV) antigenemia (HR, 2.35; 95%CI, 1.32-4.19; P = .004), and hemorrhagic cystitis (HC) (HR, 2.59; 95%CI, 0.96-6.98; P = .061) by day 100 after HSCT. Neutrophil and platelet engraftment, mortality for 100 days after HSCT were not affected by HHV-6B reactivation. In conclusion, HHV-6 reactivation is a common event, and this study demonstrates a correlation between HHV-6B infection and CMV reactivation, early rash, and possibly increased incidence of HC after transplantation.     

Design and Simulation of Active Biochip System

To solve the problems existing in passive biochip systems, we designed a novel active biochip system. This system introduces negative pressure and controlling devices to adjust the antigen-antibody reaction on the nitrocellulose membrane. Computational simulation demonstrated that this system is a rapid, stable, robust and practical system that may enhance the efficiency of antigen-antibody reactions and improve the repeatability and accuracy of biochip analysis.     

An economic analysis of pancreas transplantation: costs, insurance coverage, and reimbursement

Since 1988 the demand for the pancreas transplantation has continued to increase. This has been accompanied by a growth in the number of centers offering the procedure, and an increase in the number of transplants performed. The National Cooperative Transplantation Study was undertaken to document the costs of all transplants, including pancreas transplantation. Data on transplantation procedure charges, from date of transplant to discharge, were obtained from 66.7% of all pancreas transplantation programs active in 1988. These programs accounted for 72% of all transplants performed that year. Valid sample survey data (no more than 25 transplants per center) were obtained for 133 randomly selected patients. This constituted 54% of all procedures done in the United States in 1988. Detailed data were also collected on sources of payment and amount reimbursed. Due to outlier data, we report statistical medians, rather than means, as our measure of central tendency. The median charge for a pancreas transplant with or without a kidney was $66917, with a hospital length of stay of 21 days, compared with a kidney transplant alone at $39625 and a hospital length of stay of 14 days. Total pancreas transplant charges fell between $45260 and $105375 for 50% of the cases studied. Half of the patients had a hospital length of stay between 16 and 33. Due to the small number of cases available for analysis, it was not meaningful to cross-classify the data according to various prognostic variables.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

海水淹溺肺水肿兔血浆MDA和SOD的变化

目的 :观察海水淹溺肺水肿 (PE SWD)兔血浆中丙二醛 (MDA)和超氧化物歧化酶 (SOD)变化规律 ,探讨上述两项指标发生变化的原因和机制。方法 :用核黄素光照法和硫代巴比妥酸法 ,对PE SWD兔动脉血浆MDA和SOD进行定量检测和动态观察。结果 :灌海水后 30min ,MDA和SOD较灌海水前均显著升高 ,尔后两者均逐渐下降 ,但仍远远高于灌海水前。结论 :PE SWD发生发展过程中 ,MDA的损害性作用使肺泡表面活性物质表面特性发生改变 ,影响了正常的呼吸功能 ,并掩盖了SOD的保护性作用。     

The role of mtDNA deletion in the sensitivity to aminoglycoside antibiotic induced deafness]

OBJECTIVE: To establish an animal model of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) deletion and investigate the possible role of mtDNA deletion in aminoglycoside antibiotic induced deafness. METHODS: Thirty wistar rats (4 months) were randomly divided into group A and B. Doxorubicin (DOX) was subcutaneously injected at doses of 2 mg/kg twice per week for 3 months in group A and then kanamycin (KM) was intraperitoneally injected 500 mg/kg per day for 10 consecutive days. The treatments of group B were identical to group A, except normal saline was substituted for DOX. The thresholds of auditory brainstem response (ABR) were measured before and after the drug administrations. The inner ear membranous labyrinthine tissue was harvested and mtDNA was amplified to identify 4,834 bp deletion by PCR technique. RESULTS: The elevation of the mean ABR thresholds in group A(67.08 +/- 8.59) dB peSPL was significantly higher than that in group B (12.71 +/- 4.42) dB peSPL after KM administration (P < 0.001). In group A, 9 of the 15 rats demonstrated 4,834 bp mtDNA deletion. However, mtDNA 4,834 bp deletion was negative in group B animals. CONCLUSION: DOX can induce mtDNA deletion in the inner ear tissue of the rat. mtDNA deletion in the inner ear may play an important role in the hypersensitivity to aminoglycoside antibiotic ototoxicity.     

EFFECT OF VL AND VH CONSENSUS SEQUENCE-SPECIFIC PRIMERS ON THE BINDING AND EXPRESSION OF A MINI- MOLECULE ANTIBODY DIRECTED TOWARDS HUMAN GASTRIC CANCER

Objective. To construct ScFv and Fab from murine anti-gastric cancer monoclonal antibody(mAb) 3H11.Methods. At first,3H11 ScFv and Fab were constructed with Ⅴ genes PCR amplified by degenerate primers for FR1 .The bacterial expressed 3H11 Ab fragments showed no antigen binding activity.Then,phage antibody library and random mutated library were constructed from 3H11 hybfidoma cells and panning selection was performed. Again the i-dentification of positive clone was failed. Finally the N-terminal sequences of Ⅴ regions were resumed to 3H11 original sequences by site-directed mutagenesis via PCR.Restdts. Binding activity to gastric cancer cells was detected only from N-terminal sequence corrected 3H11 ScFv and Fab, though the expression of the Ab fragments was not affected. Correction of either VL or VH N-terminal se-quences could partially resume the antigen binding activity. Conclusion. Sequence changes of Ⅴ region N terminal introduced by PCR may seriously affect antigen binding without affecting the expression of antibody.     

Disease type-associated increases of the plasma levels and ligand expression for natural alpha- or beta-galactoside-binding immunoglobulin G subfractions in patients with lung cancer

The presence of natural carbohydrate-binding antibodies may play a role in host defence against malignant cells in addition to elicitation of an immune response by artificial carbohydrate antigens. Human serum contains immunoglobulin G(2) (IgG) fractions with selectivity to alpha- and to beta-galactosides, respectively, irrespective of the type of blood group of the donor. To determine whether these naturally occurring subfractions may have any relevance for tumor disease control, their binding to malignant cells was ascertained by cytofluorimetric assays in vitro with a number of human tumor cell lines of different histogenetic origin. The affinity of cell binding was comparable to that of binding to lactosylated or melibiosylated neoglycoconjugates as model ligands in solid-phase assays and K-D values were found to be in the range of 5-300 nM. Cross-reactivity of the anomer-selective subfractions to the other type of ligand was observed to be rather low. When the IgG contents of plasma samples of patients with diverse types of lung cancer were assessed, the concentrations of both galactoside-binding immunoglobulin G subfractions were significantly increased in association with presence of small cell lung carcinoma and of metastatic lesions to the lung without any marked change in the overall IgG plasma level. Such an apparently general enhancement was seen for patients with adenocarcinoma and included both subfractions with no impact on their percentage in the total IEC content. When detergent extracts of tumor and tumor-free specimens of the same patient were analyzed with the affinity purified antibody subfractions to comparatively determine ligand presentation, increases in sugar-inhibitable binding were especially noted for the tumor tissue of small cell lung carcinomas and apparently tumor-free samples of cases with lung metastasis. Material from other types of lung cancer revealed no significant indication for disease-related alterations with the exception of carcinoids. These data demonstrate that plasma levels and ligand expression for two types of natural galactoside-binding immunoglobulin G fractions can show nonuniform responses in patients within the class of lung cancer. They encourage to deliberately monitor these parameters of the natural carbohydrate-directed antibody fractions in cancer patients with various types of disease to clarify the clinical significance of respective malignancy-associated changes.