Aspergillus Iris Granuloma: A Case Report with Review of Literature

We report the case of a 25-year-old male patient who presented with complaints of redness, photophobia, and decreased vision in the right eye of a week's duration. Slit-lamp biomicroscopic examination revealed a cream-colored, irregular elevated inferior iris mass, extending on to the anterior lens surface. Differential diagnoses of a fungal granuloma, a medulloepithelioma, and an amelanotic melanoma were considered. An excisional biopsy of the mass was performed through a superior clear corneal incision. Polymerase chain reaction analysis of the aqueous humor showed a positive pan fungal genome. Histopathology of the biopsied mass showed a giant cell granuloma with surrounding numerous branching, septate hyphae. Culture growth revealed Aspergillus fumigatus We report this case because of the rarity of Aspergillus iris granuloma as a primary presentation of endogenous Aspergillosis and review the relevant literature. Absence of a significant systemic history compounded the diagnostic dilemma in our patient. Definitive differentiation of this rare entity from a foreign body, amelanotic melanoma, and other inflammatory conditions such as sarcoidosis and tuberculosis, may be possible only on microbiological and histo-pathological evaluation.     

Up-regulation of urinary UPIII mRNA levels in vesicoureteral reflux patients: Potential application as a screening test for vesicoureteral reflux

OBJECTIVES: Vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) is the most common congenital urinary tract anomaly. This disease can pose a major threat to the kidneys as twenty percent of patients with endstage renal disease are reported to have VUR. Although genetic studies for uroplakin III (UPIII) have been reported recently, no study has focused on UPIII gene expression in VUR patients. We describe here the up-regulation of UPIII mRNA in exfoliated urinary cells from primary VUR patients. METHODS: A real-time RT-PCR for UPIII mRNA was performed on exfoliated urothelial cells from 18 primary VUR and 38 control samples. UPIII mRNA copies were calculated for each sample. The statistical differences were assessed by the Mann-Whitney U test. Receiver operator characteristic curves were constructed for analysis of the diagnostic values. RESULTS: UPIII mRNA was found to be up-regulated to a greater extent in VUR than in control exfoliated urinary cells (mean +/- SE: 497.0 +/- 178.5 copies vs. 69.0 +/- 10.0 copies, respectively, P < 0.001). In evaluating the measurement of urinary UPIII mRNA as a screening test for VUR, the sensitivity was 77.8% and the specificity was 76.3% by the best diagnostic cutoff point. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first report demonstrating up-regulation of UPIII in mRNA levels in VUR patients. We submit that the quantitative measurement of urinary UPIII mRNA has a potential of developing into the first non-invasive screening test for VUR.     

巢式PCR检测先天性心脏病心脏石蜡标本中B19病毒的感染

目的：探讨微小病毒Ｂ１９与先天性心脏病（ＣＨＤ）的相关性及可能致畸机理。方法：采用病例对照研究，病例组为２９例ＣＨＤ尸解心脏组织，对照组为３０例同期非先天性畸形尸解心脏组织，应用巢式ＰＣＲ扩增Ｂ１９－ＤＮＡ，单纯疱疹病毒（ＨＳＶ），兔弓形虫（ＴＯＸ），巨细胞病毒（ＣＭＶ），结果：２９例ＣＨＤＢ１９－ＤＮＡ５例阳性，全瓿对照组为均阴性（Ｐ＝０．０２３７），ＨＳＶ，ＴＯＸ两组中均阴性，ＣＭＶ在两组中均     

Identification of cultured male epidermal allografts by detecting Y chromosome DNA fragments in female burn victims

ltiswellknownthattheskinofextensivelyburnedcasesthemselvesisinsufficienttoprovidecoverageforwounds.Thoughallogeneicskincancoverthewoundstemporari1y,itwillberejectedwithin2-3weeks.Thiscanthreatenthepatient'slifeifthereisnoenoughautogenousskintoreplacetherejectedoneontime.GreenetalL1]reportedthattheburnwoundsofpatientswithextensiveburnscouldbetreatedbytransplantingepidermalautograftsafterautologousepidermalcellsmulti-plyforthousandsoftimesinvltrowithinashortperiodoftime-Butittakesatleast2-3weeks…     

HBV-M定量检测与HBV-DNA含量水平关系的初步探讨

目的 研究乙型肝炎病毒标志物定量检测结果与其HBV-DNA含量的临床关系。方法 采用时间分辨免疫定量和荧光定量-PCR技术，对HBV-DNA和HBV-DNA含量进行检测。结果 在HBsAg/HBeAg/HBcAb,HBsAg/HBcAb/HBcAb,HBeAg/IC及单纯HBcAb阳性的四个组别中，HBV-DNA阳性率分别是97.17%、30.56%、100%和25%；在HBsAg,HBeAg,HBeAb,HBcAb定量检测高，低值两组HBV-DNA含量对比中，HBV-DNA阳性率分别为76.92%、58.14%；100%、97.26%；20.00%、11.42%；64.62%、27.63%。结论 HBV-DNV比HBV-M更能及时准确反映乙型肝炎病毒感染者的病程情况。     

Dipeptidyl peptidase IV is down-regulated in rat hepatoma cells at the mRNA level

Dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP-IV) is a cell surface ectopeptidase that has been implicated in cell-extracellular matrix interactions, lymphocyte growth and the regulation of biological peptides. Previous studies have shown that immunostaining for DPP-IV and DPP-IV enzyme levels is decreased in hepatoma cells and levels have been correlated with the ability of such cells to adhere in vitro. The aim of this paper was to measure DPP-IV enzyme levels in rat hepatoma cells and to examine whether changes were associated with alterations at the mRNA level. The results indicate a greater than 90% reduction in DPP-IV enzyme levels in two rat hepatoma cell lines, HTC and H35, compared with rat hepatocytes. Enzyme levels of the control enzyme leucine aminopeptidase (LAP) were not decreased. mRNA studies indicated that these changes were associated with similar reductions in rat DPP-IV mRNA. It is concluded that DPP-IV is markedly reduced at the protein, enzyme and mRNA levels in rat hepatoma cells. The significance of these changes is unclear but may lead to decreased extracellular matrix interactions by such cells.     

大鼠肝细胞Ⅰ，Ⅲ型前胶原基因表达及PDGF的影响

目的观察大鼠肝细胞Ⅰ，Ⅲ型前胶原基因的表达及ＰＤＧＦ对其表达的影响．方法应用原位杂交技术检测分离培养的ＳＤ大鼠肝细胞（ｎ＝３０）内Ⅰ，Ⅲ型前胶原基因的表达．同时观察１０μｇ／Ｌ（ｎ＝３０）和３０μｇ／Ｌ（ｎ＝３０）ＰＤＧＦ促进前胶原基因表达的作用．测定基因表达颗粒总面积占细胞总面积的百分比，并作比较分析．结果无论正常肝细胞或是在两种浓度的ＰＤＧＦ存在时，肝细胞内均可见到Ⅰ，Ⅲ型前胶原基因的表达．正常肝细胞Ⅰ，Ⅲ型前胶原基因表达面积的百分比（％）为７７±１９和７５±２１；加１０μｇ／ＬＰＤＧＦ后为１１５±１９和１１２±１０，而加３０μｇ／Ｌ后为１５２±３４及１８１±２８，且在后者中表达明显增强（Ｐ＜００５及Ｐ＜００１）．结论ＰＤＧＦ在转录水平上促进肝细胞胶原的合成．