Lectin-induced increase in clonogenic growth of haematopoietic progenitor cells

Abstract: The galactoside-specific plant lectin, Viscum album agglutinin (VAA-I) increases cellular parameters of natural host defence. It also binds to a variety of haematopoietic cells, including progenitors. We investigated whether VAA-I has a stimulatory effect on haematopoietic progenitor cells. Peripheral blood progenitor cells from 7 healthy volunteers were cultured in a colony assay with VAA-I plus erythropoietin (EPO) and stem cell factor (SCF). At 50 pg/ml VAA-I induced a significant increase in the cytokine-dependent clonogenic growth (52% in median, p<0.05). In another set of experiments purified CD34+ cells were isolated from the bone marrow aspirate of 4 patients with non-metastatic breast cancer using fluorescence-activated cell sorting. Binding to CD34+ cells was demonstrated by using directly fluorescence-conjugated VAA-I. Co-incubation with d -galactose significantly abrogated this effect. CD34+ cells were cultured in the presence of EPO, SCF, interleukin-3, granulocyte/monocyte colony-stimulating factor and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor. VAA-I alone had no measurable effect on the clonogenic growth of the isolated cells. However, at concentrations of 100 and 250 pg/ml VAA-I increased the cytokine-dependent proliferation and differentiation of CD34+ cells by a median of 75 and 85%, respectively. The results show that VAA-I binds to haematopoietic progenitor cells and has a co-stimulatory effect on their proliferation.     

Isolation and identification of chondroitin sulfates from the mud snail

Chondroitin sulfates were isolated from the mud snail. For the quantitative analysis of enzymatic digestion products of isolated chondroitin sulfates, strong anion exchange-high performance liquid chromatography (SAX-HPLC) was performed. By the action of chondroitinase ABC, three unsaturated disaccharides 2-acetamide-2-deoxy-3-O-(β-D-gluco-4-enepyranosyluronic acid)-D-galactose (ΔDi-OS), 2-acetamide-2-deoxy-3-O-(β-D-gluco-4-enepyranosyluronic acid)-6-O-sulfo-D-galactose (ΔDi-6S) and 2-acetamide-2-deoxy-3-O-(β-D-gluco-4-enepyranosyluronic acid)-4-O-sulfo-D-galactose (ΔDi-4S) were produced from the mud snail chondroitin sulfates. The analysis showed that relative proportion of ΔDi-OS/ΔDi-6S/ΔDi-4S was 58.7/3.1/38.2. The immunomodulating activity of chondroitin sulfate was examined by cell proliferation assay and these results suggest that it might be a immunosuppressant.     

免疫磁性捕获ELISA法检测甘草中甘草蛋白的研究

目的 制备甘草蛋白免疫磁性微球，并建立快速、精确的免疫磁性捕获ELISA法检测甘草蛋白。方法 采用种子聚合法合成聚苯乙烯磁性微球，并以兔抗甘草蛋白IgG抗体致敏，制备特异性捕获甘草特征蛋白的免疫磁性微球。以生物素标记抗体为示踪抗体，结合辣根过氧化物酶标亲和素建立ELISA检测系统，用于甘草药材和含甘草中成药中甘草蛋白的分析。结果 利用该方法对甘草药材和中成药中甘草蛋白抗原检测，检测灵敏度达到10ng／mL。结论 免疫磁性捕获ELISA检测技术方便、快速、准确，为生药的品种鉴定及中成药的质量控制提供一种新方法。     

Hepatitis B virus genetic diversity and its impact on diagnostic assays

Summary.  Hepatitis B virus (HBV) circulates in blood as closely related, but genetically diverse molecules called quasispecies. During replication, HBV production may approach 10¹¹ molecules/day, although during peak activity this rate may increase 100–1000 times. Generally, DNA polymerases have excellent fidelity in reading DNA templates because they are associated with an exonuclease which removes incorrectly added nucleotides. However, the HBV-DNA polymerase lacks fidelity and proofreading function partly because exonuclease activity is either absent or deficient. Thus, the HBV genome and especially the envelope gene, is mutated with unusually high frequency. These mutations can affect more than one open reading frame because of overlapping genes. The S gene contains an exposed major hydrophilic region (residues 110–155), which encompasses the 'a' determinant that is important for inducing immunity. Nucleotide substitutions in this region are common and result in reduced binding or failure to detect hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) in diagnostic assays. Adaptive immunity also depends on the recognition of HBsAg by specific antibody and variants pose a threat if they interfere with binding to antibody. Finally, genomic hypervariability allows HBV to escape selection pressures imposed by antiviral therapies, vaccines and the host immune system, and is responsible for creating genotypes, subgenotypes and subtypes.     

Progression-free interval in ovarian cancer and predictive value of an ex vivo chemoresponse assay

The study objective was to determine the effectiveness of a phenotypic chemoresponse assay in predicting response to chemotherapy measured by progression-free interval (PFI) in a retrospective series of ovarian cancer patients whose tumor specimens had been tested with the ChemoFx assay. A statistically significant correlation between assay prediction of response and PFI was observed in 256 cases with an exact or partial match between drug(s) assayed and received. In 135 cases with an exact match, the hazard ratio for progression of the resistant group was 2.9 (confidence interval [CI]: 1.4-6.3; P < 0.01) compared to the sensitive group and 1.7 (CI: 1.2-2.5) for the intermediate compared to the sensitive group. The median PFI for patients treated with drugs assayed as resistant was 9 months, 14 months for those with drugs assayed as intermediately sensitive, and PFI had not been achieved for those with drugs assayed as sensitive. These data indicate that the ChemoFx assay is predictive of PFI in ovarian cancer. As the majority of ovarian cancers display different degrees of response to different chemotherapy agents ex vivo, the incorporation of assay information into treatment selection has the potential to improve clinical outcomes in ovarian cancer patients.     

Assay of cytomegalovirus susceptibility to ganciclovir in renal and heart transplant recipients

Ganciclovir (GCV) prophylaxis or pre-emptive therapy significantly reduce the rate of cytomegalovirus (CMV) disease and viremia, but increase the potential for emergence of ganciclovir-resistant CMV strains. The inhibitor concentration at 50% (IC(50)) of GCV from 156 CMV isolates from 59 renal or heart transplant recipients was calculated by means of a rapid phenotypic susceptibility assay. Twenty-seven strains were from 14 patients undergoing GCV therapy. The IC(50) was higher in patients under the prophylaxis regimen. One CMV strain, from a heart transplant recipient, became GCV-resistant after 1 month of therapy (IC(50)=13.7 micromol/l). These data, together with clinical and virological markers, suggested that a switch to foscarnet was necessary, and good evolution was observed. Thus, assay of CMV susceptibility to GCV could be helpful in clinical management.     

管碟法测定Nisin效价

对管碟法测定Nisin效价的条件进行了研究,考察了几个参数的影响,得出了Nisin测定的最佳条件:90mm培养皿中培养基加量为15mL,Na2HPO4·12H2O质量浓度1g/dL,菌悬液浓度109CFU/mL,琼脂质量浓度1g/dL,培养基pH值7.0,牛津杯中样品加液量100μL.在此条件下,Nisin效价在5～100IU/mL,其对数值与抑菌圈直径有较好的线性关系.     

固相板酶免法测定人血清游离三碘甲状腺原氨酸

目的 :探讨游离三碘甲状腺原氨酸 (FT3)的酶免疫测定法对于诊断甲状腺功能亢进和监测甲状腺激素补充治疗效果及预后情况的重要意义。方法 :采用聚苯乙烯96孔板作为固相载体 ,利用亲和纯化的兔抗T3 抗体和T3 - β-半乳糖苷酶标记物 ,建立了固相板竞争法。结果 :可测范围为0.48～45.0ng/L ,灵敏度0.13ng/L ,平均批内变异系数为 (n=20)6.4 % ,平均批间变异系数为 (n=8)12.4% ,正常参考范围4.14±0.97ng/L。正常人与甲亢病人能明显分开。结论 :酶免法测定血清FT3,其灵敏度、精密度均达到放免水平 ,且可避免同位素污染     

Fumonisins as a possible contributory risk factor for primary liver cancer: A 3-year study of corn harvested in Haimen, China, by HPLC and ELISA

Employing HPLC fluorometry, gas-liquid chromatography (GLC) and a novel enzymelinked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) based on a monoclonal antibody, 40 corn samples, each collected in 1993 from agricultural stocks for human consumption in Haimen (Jiangsu County) and Penlai (Shandong Province), high- and low-risk areas for primary liver cancer (PLC) in China, respectively, were analysed for fumonisins (FBs), aflatoxins (AFs) and trichothecenes. Levels and positive rates of FBs and deoxynivalenol (DON) were significantly higher in Haimen than in Penlai. ELISA of the 40 corn samples harvested in the two areas in 1994 revealed that FB contamination levels and rates in these areas were comparable to those observed in 1993 in Haimen. ELISA analysis of 1993 and 1994 products revealed a wide occurrence of AFB₁ but the positive rates as well as levels were not significantly different between these areas. ELISA of the same sample number of corn harvested in 1995 revealed that FB contamination in Haimen was significantly higher than in Penlai. These 3-yearly surveys of corn samples (240 in total) demonstrated that corn harvested in Haimen was highly contaminated with FBs and that the contamination level, as well as positive rate in 1993 and 1995, were 10–50-fold higher than those in Penlai, suggesting FBs as a risk factor for promotion of PLC in endemic areas, along with the trichothecene DON. Co-contamination with AFs, potent hepatocarcinogens, was assumed to play an important role in the initiation of hepatocarcinogenesis.     

造血系统恶性肿瘤患者血清sIL—2R检测的临床意义

使用ＥＬＩＳＡ双抗夹心法对临床４３例造血系统恶性肿瘤患者及２０例健康体检人员的血清ｓＩＬ－２Ｒ进行检测，并对ＡＬＬ和ＡＮＬＬ复发与未复发患者的血清ｓＩＬ－２Ｒ水平进行了比较分析。实验结果表明，血清ｓＩＬ－２Ｒ水平的升高是造血系统恶性肿瘤的重要标志之一；测定血清ｓＩＬ－２Ｒ水平对造血系统恶性肿瘤的辅助诊断、疗效观察及预后估计具有重要意义。