Significance of the BTA Test in Bladder Cancer: A Multicenter Trial

Background :
The BTA test is a latex agglutination assay for the qualitative detection in the urine of analytes that are associated with bladder tumor. We compared the results of the BTA test with those of voided urine cytology (VUC) in patients with bladder cancer.
Methods :
A multicenter trial was performed at 6 institutions. A total of 132 patients with histologically diagnosed bladder cancer were enrolled. Urine samples were split for BTA and VUC testing.
Results :
The sensitivities of the BTA test and VUC were 57.6% and 37.9%, respectively; this difference was significant ( P < 0.001). The BTA test had much higher sensitivity for small, solitary, superficial tumors than did VUC.
Conclusion :
The BTA test is simple to perform, gives rapid results, and is far more sensitive than VUC for detection of bladder cancer. The BTA test has the potential to become an additional tool for detecting bladder cancer.     

The pancreas in acute graft versus host disease in man

Twenty-six bone marrow transplant recipients, 14 of whom had evidence of acute graft versus host disease at autopsy, were studied. The pancreas in four of these patients exhibited changes thought to be due to acute graft versus host disease. Pathognomonic findings were in exocrine ducts which showed marked epithelial cellular atypia associated with a mild lymphocytic infiltrate. This was accompanied by ulceration and intraluminal haemorrhage in severe cases. In three of these four cases ductal epithelium showed marked hyperexpression of class I and class II major histocompatibility complex molecules. By contrast islets were not inflamed, showed no evidence of endocrine cell damage and no abnormalities of major histocompatibility complex expression were seen.     

Intravenous Gammaglobulin (IVIG): A Novel Approach to Improve Transplant Rates and Outcomes in Highly HLA-Sensitized Patients

Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) products are derived from pooled human plasma and have been used for the treatment of primary immunodeficiency disorders for more than 24 years. Shortly after their introduction, IVIG products were also found to be effective in the treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory disorders. Over the past 2 decades, the list of diseases where IVIG has a demonstrable beneficial effect has grown rapidly. These include Kawasaki disease, Guillain-Barre syndrome, myasthenia gravis, dermatomyositis and demyelinating polyneuropathy. Recently, we have described a beneficial effect on the reduction of anti-HLA antibodies with subsequent improvement in transplantation of highly HLA-sensitized patients as well as a potent anti-inflammatory effect that is beneficial in the treatment of antibody-mediated rejection (AMR). These advancements have enabled transplantation of patients previously considered untransplantable. These studies and relevant mechanism(s) of action will be discussed here.     

脂肪干细胞免疫学性状的初步实验观察

目的初步研究脂肪干细胞(Adiposederivedstemcells,ADSC)表面免疫分子的表达以及体外免疫调节功能,以期为组织工程提供同种异体种子细胞来源。方法体外培养人脂肪抽吸术中获取的脂肪干细胞,体外培养至第二代,流式细胞仪检测免疫分子HLA、HLA、B7-1、B7-2、CD40的表达。1×105个/孔ADSC细胞分别刺激单一异体淋巴细胞或混合双向淋巴细胞反应,观察淋巴细胞增殖情况。同时观察ADSC经IFN-γ作用后,免疫分子表达与淋巴细胞增殖的调节情况。结果ADSC表达HLA类分子,但未检测到HLA类分子阳性表达。B7-1(CD80)、B7-2(CD86)、CD28、CD40未见明显阳性表达。人IFN-γ刺激48h后,HLA类分子表达明显增高,HLAI表达未见明显增高。异体或经IFN-γ作用的ADSC均未能刺激异体淋巴细胞增殖。同样数量的ADSC可明显抑制双相混合淋巴细胞增殖,经IFN-γ作用后抑制作用未见明显减弱。结论ADSC具有一定的体外调节淋巴细胞反应的能力,有可能成为组织工程同种异体细胞来源。     

Extended HLA profile of an inbred isolate: The Schmiedeleut Hutterites of South Dakota

HLA-A, -B, -C, -DR, and -DQ typings of the Schmiedeleut Hutterites of South Dakota were collected as part of an ongoing genetic-epidemiologic study of HLA and fertility. A total of 1,082 individuals, including 852 married adults representative of the reproductive population of this isolate, were characterized for five-locus HLA haplotypes. HLA-A1, A2, A3, and A24 accounted for 75% of observed HLA-A alleles and HLA-B27, B35, B51, and B62 accounted for 55% of observed HLA-B alleles. S-leut Hutterites are derived from 68 or fewer ancestors. However, only 48 ancestral HLA haplotypes were observed and nine of these accounted for over 52% of the observed haplotypes. Measures of two-locus linkage disequilibrium derived from these haplotypes indicated that one-third to half of the observed HLA-A/B, B/DR, and A/DR allele combinations exhibited highly statistically significant linkage disequilibrium. Allele and haplotype frequencies did not differ between males and females. Recombination rates of 0.004% and 0.005% between HLA-A and -C and between HLA-B and -DR, respectively, were observed. This HLA profile points out a paucity of HLA alleles and haplotypes in this population and marked linkage disequilibrium among the HLA alleles that are present. © Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

乳腺囊性增生病癌变过程中部分因素变化的意义

检测乳腺囊性增生病（ＦＣＤ）经不典型增生到癌变部分因素的变化。结果提示：从因明显ＦＣＤ症状活检至癌变为２～１０年；从Ⅱ级以上不典型增生到临床癌变需２～７年；癌变率为３．１％。ＦＣＤ患者存在性激素分泌调控失常，血浆雌激素和催乳素含量增加，导致上皮细胞增生。乳腺一般性增生细胞的ＤＮＡ含量和超微结构与正常乳腺上皮细胞相似；无肿瘤相关抗原及异常基因产物表达。而发生在一般性增生基础上的不典型增生则呈现细胞基因物质ＤＮＡ含量增加，部分为超４Ｃ的多倍体细胞；同时出现细胞膜和细胞核超微结构异常；雌激素受体含量增加，对性激素的依赖性和敏感性增强；部分不典型增生细胞出现胚胎性肿瘤相关抗原和异常基因产物表达。随不典型增生程度加重至乳腺癌，上述诸因素的变化趋势具有明显规律性。提示ＦＣＤ上皮细胞从一般性增生经不典型增生至乳腺癌为细胞生物学连续逐渐变化的过程。部分不典型增生细胞中具有癌倾向的细胞生物学行为异常和表型变化与乳腺癌发生密切相关。细胞核ＤＮＡ含量等异常变化及程度可作为乳腺癌前病变发展程度的客观标志     

Flow microfluorometric analysis of murine spermatozoa fails to detect H-2 antigens

The presence of class 1 and class 2 histocompatibility antigens on murine sperm was investigated by flow microfluorometry. Monoclonal anti-H-2Kk (class 1), anti-Iak (specificity 2, class 2) and allo-anti-Iak (class 2) antisera were used in direct or indirect fluorescence labelling experiments to probe the expression of class 1 and class 2 antigens on epididymal mouse spermatozoa. Sperm-specific antibodies were generated by intraperitoneal immunization of both male and female C3H/HeN mice with syngeneic spermatozoa. Sperm-specific antigens were detected in 68-85% of syngeneic mouse sperm and 65-90% of allogeneic mouse sperm examined. Conversely, these antibodies did not stain syngeneic or allogeneic lymphocytes above the background of the negative control. Mouse sperm samples failed to exhibit specific fluorescence above the background of negative control values with antibodies against either class 1 or class 2 MHC antigens. We have established the sensitive, objective and economical assay of sperm membrane antigens with fluorochrome-labelled antibodies by flow microfluorometry. By use of this sensitive and objective technique we have not detected MHC antigens on murine sperm. We conclude that these MHC antigens are not expressed on sperm at a level to be practically detectable.     

肿瘤-睾丸抗原基因在肾透明细胞癌中的表达

目的 研究6种肿瘤.睾丸抗原(CT)基因在肾透明细胞癌中的表达及其临床意义.方法 采用逆转录-聚合酶链反应(RT-PCR)技术检测42例肾透明细胞癌患者癌组织(新鲜标本,T1期16例,12期12例,T3期10例,T4期4例;G1 10例,G2 18例,G3 14例)及其中14例患者癌旁组织的cTAGE-1、cTAGE-2、MAGE-A1、MAGE-A3、MAGE-A12及NY-ESO-1基因mRNA的表达.结果 42例肾透明细胞癌组织中100%(42/42)至少表达6种CT基因中一种,14例癌旁组织表达均阴性.肾透明细胞癌组织中MAGE-A12表达最高,其次为MAGE-A3,MAGE-A1,cTAGE-1,cTAGE-2及NY-ESO-1,分别为71%(30/42),69%(29/42),67%(28/42),64%(27/42),60%(25/42)及48%(20/42).肿瘤不同分期、不同分级之间6种CT基因表达的差异均无统计学意义(Pearson x2检验法,P＞0.05).结论 CT基因在肾透明细胞癌中有较高表达,可望成为肾透明细胞癌特异性免疫治疗的靶基因.