The rheumatic poison: a survey of some published investigations of the immunopathogenesis of Henoch-Schönlein purpura

Laboratory studies of the pathophysiology of Henoch-Schönlein purpura (HSP) have become more numerous in recent years with the recognition of the disease's links with the mucosal immune system in general and IgA nephropathy in particular. There are weak genetic associations with C4 null phenotypes and with HLA B35 and DR4. Studies of plasma proteins in HSP patients show an increased IgA concentration, activation of the alternative pathway of complement and consumption of factor XIII. High molecular weight (polymeric) IgA has been detected in affected individuals, which some investigators have called immune complexes. Many patients synthesise an IgA rheumatoid factor in the acute phase, but other autoantibodies are largely absent. In vitro studies of lymphocytes from HSP patients have demonstrated an increased number of IgA-bearing and secreting B-cells, with altered T-cell regulation of antibody synthesis. While these observations point to immune dysregulation — primarily of IgA production — as a consistent feature of acute HSP, there is as yet insufficient information available to allow a consistent theory of pathogenesis to be formulated.     

医学遗传资料的统计方法及程序设计研究

目的：将常用的科研统计方法和遗传数理统计方法编制成统计软件包。方法：将常用的数量遗传统计和基因统计方法归纳整理,结合医学科研常用的统计方法,归纳为几个结构模块,采用ＢＡＳＩＣ语言和Ｃ语言编程。结果：研制成医学遗传统计软件包,包括七个功能菜单,一百多种统计方法。结论：本研究成果值得在医学研究,尤其在医学遗传学领域中广泛广和应用。     

Charcot—Marie—Tooth病的遗传,临床和电生理观察（附20例临床分析）

本文报道 ２０例 Ｃｈａｒｃｏｔ－Ｍａｒｉｅ－Ｔｏｏｔｈ病的遗传、临床和电生理资料。其中男 １６例,女 ４例,平均发病年龄为２６．７５岁。发现４例显性遗传,３例隐性遗传,１０例散发,３例遗传情况不详。主要症状有高弓足、垂足、鹤腿和腱反射消失;上肢前臂有肌萎缩者占１／４。所有病人电生理检查均有失神经现象,特别是ＭＣＶ有明显减慢。且发现ＭＣＶ的减慢和临床严重程度无相关联系。     

A genetic study of idiopathic focal dystonias

The inheritance of focal dystonias was investigated in 43 families containing 43 index cases with torticollis (n = 21), blepharospasm (n = 18) and writer's cramp (n = 4). They generated a potential population of 235 first-degree relatives, and 168 out of 179 living first-degree relatives were examined. Ten relatives with dystonia were identified in ten families. Another two parents from two of the same group of ten families were affected according to the family history. The majority of the secondary cases (six patients, five siblings, and one child) were not aware of any dystonia. The tendency for affected relatives to have the same type of dystonia as index patients was observed only for torticollis. Overall, 23% of index patients had relatives with dystonia. Segregation analysis suggested the presence of an autosomal dominant gene or genes with reduced penetrante underlying focal dystonia.     

谷子种子经高空气球搭载后的遗传变异研究

目的 选育出高产、蛋白质和用脂肪含量高的谷子品（系）种。方法 利用高空气球搭载谷子的干种子,在高空飘游８ｈ后回收种植,对其植物学特性及进行分析研究。结果 种子发芽率比对照低５．２％,发芽热比对照高２１．１％。ＳＰ１代植株高度比对照低６．８ｃｍ,旗叶面积比对照高２５％,穗重比对照高１５．９％;ＳＰ３代大穗型株系性状相对稳定,其中ＳＰ３－２的种子蛋白质和脂肪含量均高于对照经高空气球搭载后的ＳＰＥ－３５     

Avoidance behavior in rats selectively bred for differential alcohol sensitivity

Most affected (MA) and least affected (LA) rats, bred for extremes in motor impairment following an alcohol challenge, differed in their performance on two active avoidance tasks. In two-way shuttle avoidance, the MA line performed significantly better than the LA group, both in terms of response latencies and percent avoidances. The inferior performance of the LA line persisted across the 15 days of testing, and appeared to reflect an difference in asymptotic performance levels. In one-way avoidance, the MA line showed significantly better acquisition than the LA group; however, this difference dissipated across the 3 days of training. When tested following alcohol administration in either the one-or two-way avoidance paradigm, the MA rats showed a greater performance deficit than LA animals. These data were interpreted as indicating the generality of alcoholrelated line differences to a situation motivated by aversive consequences. Moreover, the line difference in avoidance acquisition represents one of the few non-drug-related phenotypic differences that have been found in these lines. In previous generations, disparate base rates of wheel running have been reported, and the data presented here confirm and extend this finding.     

Factors involved in the differential response to ethanol,barbital and pentobarbital in rats selectively bred for ethanol sensitivity

Two lines of rats, least affected (LA) and most affected (MA), had been selectively bred for their differential sensitivity to ethanol. Both males and females of the LA strain were observed to be less sensitive than their MA counterparts to the acute hypnotic and motor-impairing effects of ethanol. However, a lower ethanol metabolic rate of the MA males suggests that both CNS and metabolic factors contribute to their enhanced sensitivity to ethanol. By contrast, no differences were observed between the LA and MA males with respect to the hypnotic and subhypnotic effects of pentobarbital or to the clearance of this drug. MA females were more sensitive only to the hypnotic effects of pentobarbital, probably because of a smaller apparent volume of distribution. No strain difference was observed in the hypnotic effect or clearance of barbital. These observations suggest that, in spite of a differential sensitivity to ethanol, the LA and MA lines do not differ in their response to the barbiturates tested.     

Central nervous system hemangioblastomas, endolymphatic sac tumors, and von Hippel-Lindau disease

Von Hippel-Lindau disease (VHL) is a hereditary cancer syndrome caused by germline mutations of the VHL tumor suppressor gene. Major progress has been made in the last decade in both clinical and fundamental aspects of VHL. The VHL gene product, pVHL, has major and multiple functions: pVHL regulates not only first angiogenesis but also extracellular matrix formation and the cell cycle. A molecular diagnosis of VHL is now available, leading to a transformation in clinical management of patients and their families. Diagnosis of VHL has to be suspected in patients with a VHL-related tumor without familial history and especially in case of hemangioblastoma or endolymphatic sac tumors. Such patients should be systematically investigated for clinical and molecular evidence of VHL disease. Treatment of symptomatic hemangioblastomas remains mainly neurosurgical, often in emergency, but stereotactic radiosurgery is emerging as an alternative therapeutic procedure. In the future, antiangiogenic drugs could represent a potential medical treatment of CNS hemangioblastomas in view of their highly vascular structure. Lastly, visceral manifestations of VHL disease are also of critical importance and require early detection for effective treatment. Received: 22 January 2000 / Accepted: 21 February 2000     

Gene mapping of SEZ group genes and determination of pentylenetetrazol susceptible quantitative trait loci in the mouse chromosome

Gene mapping of the newly discovered SEZ genes (seizure-related genes) in the mouse was performed by linkage analysis. SEZ6 was on chromosome 11, SEZ12 on chromosome 16, SEZ15 on chromosome 3 and SEZ17 (PTZ17) on chromosome 18. The mouse chromosomal locus related to high susceptibility to pentylenetetrazol (PTZ) was also determined by linkage analysis using the recombinant inbred mouse, BXD (C57BLxDBA). A significant level of PTZ susceptibility was found on chromosome 2. Chromosomal loci of the newly discovered SEZ genes were not coincident with the significant chromosomal loci to PTZ susceptibility. Since epilepsy is assumed to be a disease syndrome which is probably manifested by abnormal expression of multifocal genes, determination of the role of each chromosomal locus in the provocation of seizure activity is important.