Loss of insulin receptor immunoreactivity from the substantia nigra pars compacta neurons in Parkinson's disease

Immunohistochemistry using both a newly developed polyclonal, and a commercially available monoclonal, anti-insulin receptor antibody was done on the midbrain from cases of idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD), Alzheimer's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, vascular parkinsonism and non-neurological controls. Both antibodies gave indentical patterns of neuronal staining. The neurons of the oculomotor nucleus were immunopositive in all the brains. However, the neurons in the pars compacta of the substantia nigra, paranigral nucleus, parabrachial pigmental nucleus, tegmental pedunculopontine nucleus, supratrocheal nucleus, cuneiform nucleus, subcuneiform nucleus and lemniscus medialis, which were positive in other diseases and in non-neurological controls, were not stained by these antibodies in PD brains. These results suggest that, in PD, a dysfunction of the insulin/insulin receptor system may precede death of the dopaminergic neurons.The work in the Kinsmen Laboratory was supported by the MRC of Canada and the Parkinson Society of Canada     

Peroneal muscular atrophy with Poland syndrome

A 22-year-old male college student had a syndactyly between the second and third fingers of his left hand, which was congenitally small in size. His left pectoralis muscles were absent. He first walked at the age of 12 months, but soon developed difficulties in walking due to weakness of the legs. Atrophy and weakness of the legs aggravated gradually. He was diagnosed as having peroneal muscular atrophy and Poland syndrome, an association of which has not been reported before. A small number of similar cases of peroneal muscular atrophy with various skeletal abnormalities in the literature suggest that the association is not incidental, but of clinical significance.     

Photoleukomelanodermatitis (Kobori) Induced by Afloqualone

We reported a case of photoleukomelanodermatitis (Kobori) type drug eruption due to afloqualone (Arofuto®). The patient was given afloqualone and imipramine hydrochloride (Chrytemin®) for cervical spondylosis from November of 1990. Edematous erythema with slight itching appeared on the sun-exposed areas in December of 1990. As drug eruption was suspected, drugs were ceased, and the cutaneous lesions almost disappeared but pigmentations and depigmentations developed in spots in sun-exposed areas in March of 1991. Photopatch and oral challenge tests were positive.     

Histochemical study of mitochondrial enzymes in cerebellar cortex of macular mutant mouse,a model of Menkes kinky hair disease

The cerebellar Purkinje cells in the hemizygote of the macular mutant mouse contain numerous abnormal mitochondria which show a marked decrease in cytochrome c oxidase activity. Using histochemical methods we studied the activity of other mitochondrial enzymes, such as NADH diaphorase and succinic dehydrogenase, in the cerebellar cortex of this mutant mouse. Such activities were markedly increased in the Purkinje cells, especially in the soma and stem dendrite, from 10 days after birth in the hemizygote as compared with findings in normal littermates. These results were considered to be due to an increased number of abnormal mitochondria.Supported by the Research Grants nos. 2A-5-03 and 3B-1-04 for Nervous and Mental Disorders from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and by Grant no. 04670492 of the Ministry of Education of Japanese Government     

羊踯躅根治疗慢性肾小球肾炎的实验及临床研究

本文用反复静脉注射小剂量牛血清白蛋白复制家兔慢性肾炎,用羊踯躅根治疗。同时,用该药对慢性肾炎病人进行疗效观察。阳性组兔肾小球呈现中至重度颗粒形免疫荧光,肾组织呈明显慢性硬化性肾小球肾炎改变。尿蛋白±～++。治疗组兔及病人治疗后病变及症状均明显减轻或消失。结果提示循环免疫复合物反复沉着可引起兔类似人类的慢性硬化性肾小球肾炎,羊踯躅根对病变有一定的控制和治疗作用,这可能与其抑制免疫发病机制有关。     

Reduction of Mortality in the Stockholm Ischaemic Heart Disease Secondary Prevention Study by Combined Treatment with Clofibrate and Nicotinic Acid

Consecutive survivors of a myocardial infarction from the Southern Hospital, below 70 years of age, were randomized into a Control group (n=276) and a Treatment group (n=279). The latter was openly prescribed the combination of clofibrate and nicotinic acid for serum lipid lowering. Each patient should remain in the study for 5 years and be seen regularly every 4 months at a special IHD outpatient clinic within the hospital. The concentration of serum cholesterol and triglyceride was lowered by 13% and 19%, respectively, in the Treatment group compared to the Control group. Total mortality was 82 cases in the Control group and 61 in the Treatment group, a 26% reduction (p<0.05). For patients above 60 years of age in the Treatment group the reduction in mortality was 28% (p<0.05). IHD mortality was reduced by 36% (p<0.01)in the Treatment group compared to the Control group. The beneficial effect of the serum lipid lowering treatment was related to the serum triglyceride concentration in two ways. First, it only occurred in patients with a triglyceride level >1.5 mmol/l (n=216). Secondly, it was most pronounced in the 44% of the treated patients who had a lowering of the serum triglyceride concentration by 30% or more, and in this subgroup the reduction of IHD mortality was 60% (p<0.01). For serum cholesterol there were no such relations. The difference between serum triglycerides and cholesterol concerning these relations to the treatment outcome may be due to the fact that hypertriglyceridaemia was the most common hyperlipidaemia among our patients, occurring in 50%, while hypercholesterolaemia only occurred in 13 %. Caution should be exercised in the interpretation of the results as the trial was not blind. However, the fact that the decrease in IHD deaths was directly related to the degree of serum triglyceride lowering indicates that it was the drug effect on serum lipids that was reponsible for the beneficial effect of the treatment.     

新疆奎屯地区口腔粘膜疾病调查

本文介绍新疆奎屯地区常见口腔粘膜疾病患病情况,其罹患率与上海地区同类调查相比,除白斑外其他病种罹患率均偏高,可能与生活水平偏低或某些全身疾病有关。     

热休克反应对大鼠油酸肺保护作用的机制研究

未研究发现，经热休克处理的大鼠注油酸后，肺组织损伤明显减轻，Ｗｅｓｔｅｒｎ印迹分析显示热休克使大鼠肺组织中ＨＳＰ７０含量明显增多；Ｎｏｒｔｈｅｒｎ印迹分析证实此乃由于ＨＳＰ７０ｍＲＮＡ转录增加所致。说明热休克处理使肺组织ＨＳＰ７０基因表达增强；提示热休克反应对大鼠油酸肺的保护作用与肺组织细胞中ＨＳＰ７０基因表达增强及与ＨＳＰ７０增多有关。