小檗碱对兔颈动脉粥样硬化中内膜增生和巨噬细胞趋化作用的影响

目的观察小檗碱对家兔颈动脉粥样硬化的内膜中膜比和巨噬细胞变化的影响。方法24只雄性日本大耳白兔随机分为3个试验组,正常组每天肌肉注射生理盐水,普通饲料喂养,对照组高脂喂养,1周后行颈动脉内膜空气干燥术并每日肌肉注射生理盐水,小檗碱干预组高脂喂养,1周后行颈动脉内膜空气干燥术并肌肉注射小檗碱,5周时取手术侧的颈动脉做弹力纤维染色,计算内膜中膜比;巨噬细胞免疫组化检测巨噬细胞在颈动脉粥样硬化病变中的变化,计算巨噬细胞的阳性率。结果对照组内膜厚度明显增加,中膜萎缩变薄,经计算I/M为1.20±0.007,小檗碱组的I/M为0.65±0.008。两组间有显著差异(P<0.01);巨噬细胞免疫组化染色对照组内膜下和中膜有大量巨噬细胞,小檗碱干预组内膜和中膜下也可以见有巨噬细胞沉积,通过计算巨噬细胞阳性率,小檗碱干预组的巨噬细胞阳性率明显小于对照组(P<0.01)。结论小檗碱可以降低家兔颈动脉粥样硬化中的血管内膜厚度、减少粥样斑块中的巨噬细胞数目,从而干预颈动脉粥样硬化的形成。     

颈椎骨折类型与脊髓损伤关系之临床观察

通过对９２例颈椎骨折病例的分析，发现屈曲型损伤最多见（５３％），其次为过伸型（２６％），压缩型（２１％）。屈曲型和压缩型多见于年轻人，而屈曲损伤导致的脱位及过伸型则多见于年龄较大者。爆裂骨折引起的神经损害最重，其次为屈曲型、过伸型及压缩（非爆裂）骨折。神经功能改善率以爆裂型骨折最差，死亡率亦最高，以压缩（非爆裂型）骨折最好，其次为过伸型及屈曲型。文内对各型的特点进行了详细讨论。     

Allergen microarray: comparison of microarray using recombinant allergens with conventional diagnostic methods to detect allergen-specific serum immunoglobulin E

BACKGROUND: The availability of recombinant allergens and recent advances in biochip technology led to the development of a novel test system for the detection of allergen-specific IgE. OBJECTIVE: To test the performance of this allergen microarray in a serological analytical study. METHODS: Standard allergens contained in grass pollen (Phl p 1, Phl p 2, Phl p 5 and Phl p 6) and tree pollen (Bet v 1 and Bet v 2) were used as a model system. The detection of allergen-specific serum IgE using microarrays was compared with standard test systems: CAP/RAST and an in-house ELISA. In order to test the analytical sensitivity of the assays, geometric dilutions of a serum pool containing high levels of pollen-specific IgE from allergic individuals were tested in each system. To assess the analytical specificity, the sera of 51 patients with presumptive allergic symptoms were collected before diagnosis. Thereafter, the results for grass/tree-pollen-specific IgE were compared. RESULTS: The microarray has a good dynamic range similar to the CAP/RAST system. Microarray and ELISA showed comparable analytical sensitivity exceeding the CAP/RAST system. With respect to the analytical specificity, no significant cross-reactivity of the allergens was observed. For two of the allergens tested, weak positive signals were detected in the microarray test system, whereas they were not detectable by CAP/RAST. CONCLUSION: A good correlation of presently used methods to detect serum IgE and the novel microarray test system was observed. As a next step, a careful validation of this method for a multitude of allergens and a thorough clinical evaluation has to be provided. Microarray testing of allergen-specific IgE can be presumed to be the method of choice for a prospective component-resolved diagnosis of Type I allergy, and the basis for the design and monitoring of a patient-tailored specific immunotherapy in the future.     

Drug-protein binding kinetics in patients with Type I diabetes

Summary Sera from 17 patients with Type I diabetes and 19 healthy volunteers have been examined to evaluate whether the kinetics of the binding of drugs to Site II of serum albumin is altered in diabetes. Stopped-flow measurements showed that the association velocity and the affinity constants of the fluorescent marker dansylsarcosine were significantly lower in diabetics (160 s^–1 and 2.0 × 10⁵ l·mol^–1) than in non-diabetics (196s^–1 and 4.0 × 10⁵ l·mol^–1). The dissociation velocity was not different [20.3 s^–1 vs. 19.4 s^–1]. Although patients with a reduced albumin concentration were excluded the diabetics had significantly lower concentrations than the healthy volunteers. There was a significant correlation between decreased glycosylation of albumin and increased association velocity. The dissociation velocity constants were correlated with the molar concentration ratio of free fatty acids/human serum albumin. Thus, the extent of glycosylation and the amount of fatty acids bound per mole albumin can both affect the kinetics of drug binding to Site II. The lower affinity in patients with Type I diabetes is due to the increased in the glycoalbumin concentration.     

Possible role of IL-2 deficiency for hypogammaglobulinaemia in patients with common variable immunodeficiency.

Common variable immunodeficiency (CVID) patients are unable to produce specific immunoglobulins after antigen contact in vivo. The aim of this study was to investigate whether in some cases of CVID a decreased de novo synthesis of IL-2 might be the cause of immunodeficiency and whether this deficiency can be corrected by IL-2 supplementation in vitro. Mononuclear cells from 17 CVID patients and from 10 healthy controls were cultured with monoclonal anti-CD3 antibody OKT3, pokeweed mitogen (PWM) or tetanus toxoid (TT) to stimulate IL-2 synthesis. In parallel, in vitro IgG and IgM synthesis was stimulated with Staphylococcus aureus Cowan I (SAC), PWM or TT in the presence or absence of IL-2. While lymphocytes of 11 out of 17 patients produced low to normal amounts of IL-2 upon stimulation with anti-CD3, only three patients showed low IL-2 production in response to PWM and five in response to TT. Regarding immunoglobulin synthesis in vitro, five patients completely failed to produce IgM or IgG upon stimulation with PWM, SAC or TT irrespective of the addition of IL-2. By contrast, four patients did not show any defect in vitro and synthesized normal amounts of IgM and IgG with any of the three stimuli. Finally, eight patients could be reconstituted for PWM-, SAC- and TT-induced IgM and/or IgG synthesis in vitro, by adding IL-2 to the culture system. This enhancing effect of IL-2 could be blocked by adding anti-IL-2 receptor antibodies to the cultures. Our findings indicate that a defective IL-2 synthesis after antigen stimulation may be one reason for the impaired immunoglobulin production in some cases of CVID.     

冠心病行为模式与心理状态的相关性探讨

目的为探讨Ａ型行为在冠心病（ＣｏｒｏｎａｒｙＨｅａｒｔＤｉｓｅａｓｅ，ＣＨＤ）中的作用及与心理状态的相关性。方法对１１４例ＣＨＤ及３７例非ＣＨＤ应用心理测验方法对照调查。结果发现Ａ型行为的人易患ＣＨＤ。ＣＨＤＡ型行为者在焦虑、抑郁、人际关系、认识、敌对性症状因子分较ＣＨＤ非Ａ型行为者有明显增高。ＣＨＤ非Ａ型行为者也具有一些特有的心理症状。结论ＣＨＤ病人的行为模式与病后的某些心理表现呈正相关。     

汉族、哈萨克族Graves病患者血清CoL IV、LN和HA测定分析

用放免法(单克隆抗体)测定汉、哈萨克族Graves病未经治疗患者66例及正常对照组55例血清中Ⅳ型胶原(CoLⅣ)、板层素(IN)和透明质酸(HA),结果Graves病患者血清CoLⅣ、LN浓度明显升高,HA浓度明显降低,与正常对照组相比均有显著性差异(分别P<0.001、P<0.05、P<0.05),汉族与哈萨克族患者之间、对照组之间相比均无显著性差异(P>0.05),它反映了Graves病患者体内基底膜合成和分解代谢紊乱。     

A randomized, blinded trial of uncooked cornstarch to diminish nocturnal hypoglycemia at Diabetes Camp

Objective: To determine if uncooked cornstarch, as part of the evening snack, can avert nocturnal hypoglycemia in type 1 diabetes. Research Design and Methods: Fifty-one campers and counselors at the American Diabetes Association Camp in San Bernardino, CA were randomly assigned to receive 5 g of uncooked cornstarch as part of the 21:00 evening snack vs. a standard snack of equivalent carbohydrate content. Each snack was given for five nights and the participants and medical personnel were blinded as to assignment. Midnight and 07:00 finger stick blood glucose levels were compared with values <60 mg/dl defined as hypoglycemia and values >250 mg/dl defined as hyperglycemia. Results: There were 218 midnight and 222 07:00 values for comparison. There were six episodes of hypoglycemia at midnight and nine episodes of hypoglycemia at 07:00 for the cornstarch snack nights vs. 30 hypoglycemia episodes at midnight and 21 at 07:00 for the standard snack nights (P < 0.001 and < 0.05, respectively). There was no difference in the number of hyperglycemic events at midnight or 07:00 for the cornstarch vs. standard snack nights. At midnight, 12% of campers had hypoglycemia after the cornstarch snack vs. 46% after the standard snack (P < 0.001), and at 07:00, 16% had hypoglycemia after cornstarch vs. 26% after the standard snack (P = 0.327). Conclusions: These data suggest that uncooked cornstarch, as part of the evening snack, can diminish the nighttime and morning hypoglycemia associated with type 1 diabetes, without causing hyperglycemia.     

Cell surface phenotype of in vitro proliferating lymphocytes in HTLV-I-associated myelopathy (HAM/TSP)

The in vitro proliferation of peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) without any mitogenic stimulation is one of the hallmarks of human T lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) infection. Recent evidence suggests a difference in the degree of the phenomenon between HTLV-I-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP) and asymptomatic HTLV-I carriers (AC). In this article, we demonstrated several alterations in the features of the in vitro transformed lymphocytes between patients with HAM/TSP (n = 16) and AC (n = 8). The percentages of total CD8+ and CD8+CD28+ cells were significantly increased in the in vitro proliferating T lymphocytes derived from the patients with HAM/TSP when compared to those from AC. HAM/TSP was segregated from AC by the high degree of the proliferation of CD8+CD28+ cells. The expression of HTLV-I-specific antigens on the cultured PBLs was detected only in the subjects which showed low CD8+CD28+/CD4+ ratio of the in vitro proliferating lymphocytes. These findings suggest that this phenomenon distinguishes HAM/TSP from AC, not only in quantity but also in quality.