The Van der Woude syndrome: a case report and review of the literature

The Van der Woude syndrome is a rare autosomal dominant developmental malformation usually associated with bilateral lower lip pits. These congenital lip pits appear clinically as a malformation in the vermilion border of the lip, with or without excretion. As a genetic defect has been identified as a microdeletion of chromosome bands 1q32-q41, genetic counselling of patients may be considered. A nonsense mutation in the interferon regulatory factor-6 (IRF-6) is discussed as a pathogenic relevant factor. Therapeutic intervention is generally not necessary, although surgical excision is especially indicated in patients with recurrent inflammation. Physicians should be aware of the Van der Woude syndrome because it has been reported to be associated with a variety of malformations or other congenital disorders.     

1,6-二磷酸果糖改善兔脑血肿周围组织能量代谢的研究

目的:观察1,6二磷酸果糖(FDP)对血肿周围组织能量代谢的影响。方法:健康大耳白兔随机分成正常组,假手术组,脑出血组和治疗组,其中后3组又按各时间点分成1、6、12、24、48和72h组。两次注血法制作脑出血模型,测定各时点血肿周围组织乳酸含量、三磷酸腺苷(ATP)含量和磷酸果糖激酶(PFK)活性。结果:脑出血组24h后ATP含量有明显下降,治疗组ATP含量明显增高。1、6、12h治疗组乳酸含量降低,且治疗组乳酸峰值延迟至24h。治疗组PFK活性均高于脑出血组。结论:FDP可改善血肿周围组织的能量代谢。     

Inflammatory biomarkers in blood of patients with acute brain ischemia

Although many failed surrogate markers are provided in the literature, inflammation may contribute to the outcome of ischemic stroke. In 50 consecutive patients with acute ischemic stroke, in the absence of symptoms and signs of concomitant infection, we evaluated a panel of biomarkers reported to be variably associated with brain ischemia, and correlate their serum level with the brain lesion volume and clinical outcome. Infarct size was calculated on computed tomography (CT) scans by means of the Cavalieri's method. Neurological impairment was scored by using the Glasgow Coma Scale, Glasgow Outcome Scale and National Institutes of Health (NIH) scales at stroke onset and 3-month follow-up. Some markers showed a direct significant correlation with both initial and final NIH scale and with infarct size, particularly tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) (P=0.002), intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (P<0.01) and matrix metalloproteinase-2/9 (P=0.001). In contrast to previous reports, interleukin-6 (IL-6) serum level showed a significant inverse correlation with both final neurological impairment and infarct size (P<0.001). This novel finding allows us suggesting that IL-6, in the context of a complex pro-inflammatory network occurring during stroke, is associated with neuroprotection rather than neurotoxicity in patients with ischemic brain injury.     

IL-6对人精子顶体反应影响机制的初步探讨

目的:探讨IL-6对人精子顶体反应(AR)的影响机制。方法:采用BAEE/ADH法测定精子顶体酶的活性,以及通过FITC-PSA法检测精子顶体反应。结果:IL-6可诱导精子顶体酶及超氧化物歧化酶(SOD)的活性,促进精子顶体反应;胞外Ca2+单独不能诱导精子顶体反应,且没有胞外Ca2+的参与,IL-6也不能诱导精子顶体反应;蛋白激酶C(PKC)抑制剂calphC能逆转IL-6诱导的精子顶体反应。结论:IL-6对精子顶体反应有一定的促进作用,可能通过诱导精子的顶体酶和SOD活性等途径来实现,在此作用中,也涉及了PKC的激活,且还需要外源性Ca2+的参与。     

尿中83—1除草剂代谢产物的鉴定

本文采用高效液相色谱、质增、紫外和红外光谱对经83—1除草剂(2,4—二氯—6—硝基酚铵)染毒后大鼠尿液中出现的5种组分的化学结构进行了鉴定,并用纯品对照进行确证,发现组分Ⅴ为未代谢的农药母体,其余4种为代谢产物,依次为:二氯氨基酚、二氯氨基酚丙酮酸结合物、二氯羟氨基酚缩合物和二氯氨基酚葡萄糖醛酸结合物。     

Fever and feeding in the rat: Actions of intrahypothalamic interleukin-6 compared to macrophage inflammatory protein-1β (MIP-1β)

The chemokines, macrophage inflammatory protein-1 (MIP-1) and its subunit MIP-1β, induce an intense fever in the rat when they are injected directly into the anterior hypothalamic, pre-optic area (AH/POA), a region containing thermosensitive neurons. The purpose of this study was to compare the central action on body temperature (T_b) of MIP-1β with that of interleukin-6 (IL-6), which also has been implicated in the cerebral mechanism underlying the pathogenesis of fever. Following the stereotaxic implantation in the AH/POA of guide cannulae for repeated micro-injections, radio transmitters which monitor T_b continuously were inserted intraperitoneally in each of 15 male Sprague-Dawley rats. Each micro-injection was made in a site in the AH/POA in a volume of 1.0 μl of pyrogen-free artificial CSF, recombinant murine MIP-1β, or recombinant human IL-6. MIP-1β in a dose of 25 pg evoked an intense fever characterized by a short latency, a mean maximum rise in T_b of 2.4 ± 0.21°C reached by 3.7 ± 0.42 hr, and a duration exceeding 6.5 hr. Injected into homologous sites in the AH/POA, IL-6 induced a dose dependent fever of similar latency and a mean maximal increase in T_b of 1.2 ± 0.25°C, 1.8 ± 0.15°C, and 2.1 ± 0.22°C and duration of 6.2 ± 1.28 hr, 6.7 ± 0.49 hr, and 6.8 ± 0.65 hr when given in doses of 25, 50, and 100 ng, respectively. These results show that MIP-1β and the highest dose of IL-6 induce a fever of comparable intensity, but MIP-1β exerts its action in a much lower concentration. Thus, the de novo synthesis and subsequent action of the MIP-1 family of cytokines on neurons of the AH/POA in response to a pyrogen challenge apparently play a functional role in the pathogenesis of fever. Further, the endogenous activity of IL-6 in the hypothalamus which is enhanced in response to a lipopolysaccharide also may reflect its essential part in the acute phase response to a bacterial challenge. Copyright © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Unilateral lesion of the nigrostriatal pathway decreases the firing rate and alters the firing pattern of globus pallidus neurons in the rat

Activities of spontaneously firing neurons in the globus pallidus of intact rats and rats that survived unilateral lesions of the nigrostriatal pathway for 3 days, 1 week, or 6-11 weeks were compared. No significant differences in neuronal firing rate, firing pattern, and number of cells per pass were observed between chloral hydrate-anesthetized control and lesioned animals. However, in locally anesthetized animals, pallidal cells fired significantly faster than in chloral hydrate-anesthetized animals, and the lesion caused a decrease in the firing rates of pallidal cells 1 week and 6-9 weeks postlesion. In addition, significant differences in the firing pattern of pallidal cells, as determined by the ratio of the mean to median interspike intervals, were seen between locally anesthetized controls and animals surviving 3 days, 1 week, and 6-9 weeks postlesion. This altered firing pattern tended to return to normal with time. The number of cells per pass was not significantly altered by the lesion. Data from this study suggest that, in locally anesthetized animals, the removal of the tonic dopaminergic input to the basal ganglia causes pallidal cells to decrease their firing rates in a time-dependent fashion and causes reversable firing pattern changes. This suggests that tonically active dopamine neurons, probably acting through the striatopallidal pathway, regulate the firing rate and mechanisms controlling the temporal ordering of spontaneous discharges of globus pallidus neurons.     

Serum levels of interleukin-6 and tumour-necrosis-factor-alpha are not correlated to disease activity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis after treatment with low-dose methotrexate

Abstract. Cytokines are major mediators of inflammatory responses in rheumatoid arthritis. Some of them have been shown to correlate with the disease activity and thus are proposed to be used for monitoring patients. Therefore the effects of a low-dose therapy with methotrexate on serum concentrations of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumour-necrosis-factor-alpha (TNF-α) were examined in eight patients with seropositive rheumatoid arthritis. Serum levels of IL-6 and TNF-α were significantly elevated in patients compared to healthy controls. Before the onset of MTX treatment IL-6 concentrations were correlated to the c-reactive protein ( P < 0·05) but the correlation was abolished after treatment. For TNF-α no correlations neither before nor after treatment were observed. Both cytokines remained substantially elevated after MTX treatment despite a clear reduction in disease activity. Thus we suggest that one of the effects of MTX might be the inhibition of some of the actions of IL-6 and TNF-α.