Separation of human basophils into two fractions with different density and histamine content

We designed experiments in this study to test the hypothesis suggested by recent purification data that blood basophils comprise two populations of different density, which circulate in numbers characteristic for each human subject. Basophils were separated into two density bands by single step centrifugation on a discontinuous Percoll gradient. Band 1 cells were at the interface between plasma and Percoll of density 1.070 gm/ml. Band 2 cells were at the Percoll 1.070 to 1.080 interface. When the number of band 1 basophils was expressed as a percentage of the total in bands 1 and 2, this relative amount generally remained in a narrow range for blood obtained from the same donor on 3 successive days but differed markedly in different individuals. In a series of leukapheresis experiments, we demonstrated that the percentage of band 1 basophils in postleukapheresis venous blood was strikingly similar to the preleukapheresis value. If basophils that repopulated the leukapheresis-depleted circulation came from the bone marrow, we can conclude that blood levels of basophils in bands 1 and 2 are under physiologic control and that the two types of basophils are released in amounts characteristic for each human subject. Additional evidence for two distinct blood basophil populations was provided by histamine measurements. The histamine content per basophil was consistently higher in cells from band 1 than from band 2, the mean difference between pairs of values for 30 subjects being 0.3 +/- 0.04 pg or about 27% of the band 1 basophil histamine content of 1.1 pg.     

利用脉搏波特征参数连续测量血压的方法研究

通过研究血压与脉搏波特征参数的关系，提出了一个选择多个与血压相关的脉搏波特征参数,通过回归分析建立适合不同人的特征方程，进行血压的连续测量的新方法，为了验证测量结果的准确性；研制了张力计。实验结果表明：该方法具有较高的测量精度，可以应用于临床危重病人的血压监护和一般医学研究中，经过进一步地改进和完善后可应用于载人航天和日常动态环境。     

超短波治疗慢性肺源性心脏病患者的初步探讨

目的:探讨超短波对慢性肺心病CCP患者的临床应用价值。方法:急性发作期CCP患者87例分为超短波治疗组45例和对照组42例,治疗组在常规治疗的基础上给予超短波治疗,对照组行常规治疗。治疗前后分别测定两组患者血浆中血管内皮生长因子VEGF、内皮素(ET-1)含量,动脉血氧分压(PaO2)和平均肺动脉压(mPAP)水平。结果:与对照组比较治疗组治疗后PaO2显著升高(P<0.01),VEGF、ET-1、mPAP明显降低(P<0.01)。VEGF、ET-1与PaO2呈负相关(P<0.01)、与mPAP呈正相关(P<0.01)。结论:超短波可以通过降低肺动脉高压对CCP患者起治疗作用。     

Inhaled lodoxamide tromethamine in the treatment of perennial asthma: a double-blind placebo-controlled study

The efficacy of lodoxamide tromethamine in the treatment of asthma was studied in a 16-week double-blind, placebo-controlled study of 68 perennial allergic subjects with asthma. Patients received either lodoxamide tromethamine, 0.25 mg four times daily, or placebo, administered by metered-dose inhaler. Response to treatment was assessed by analyzing changes in asthma symptoms, inhaled bronchodilator requirements, and pulmonary function when compared to a 2-week baseline period. Patients treated with lodoxamide tromethamine demonstrated an improvement in daytime breathing difficulty, cough, sputum production, and sleep (p less than 0.01 to 0.05), but improvement was not significantly different from that demonstrated by placebo-treated patients. Patients from both treatment groups were able to reduce their inhaled bronchodilators (p less than 0.01), but again no significant difference was apparent between lodoxamide tromethamine and placebo treatment, nor were there any differences in peak expiratory flow rate or FEV1 between the two groups. Seven patients who received lodoxamide tromethamine withdrew because of a sensation of heat and gastrointestinal symptoms. Thus, although lodoxamide tromethamine possesses potent mast cell-stabilizing activity in vitro, we have failed to demonstrate any useful long-term effect in the treatment of mild allergic asthma.     

Circulating immune complexes during immunotherapy.

Chronic immunization may lead to the production of circulating immune complexes (CICs). This study was undertaken to determine the presence of circulating IgG immune complexes in 95 subjects with allergic rhinitis/asthma receiving immunotherapy, 46 individuals with similar diagnosis but not on immunotherapy, and 64 healthy controls. Modified Raji cell and murine leukemia cell (L-1210) assays, selected for a high density of Fc receptors and devoid of Epstein-Barr virus membrane antigen, were used. Other immunological parameters such as immunologlobulins G, A, M, E, and rheumatoid factor activity were also studied. The CIC concentrations in the treated group did not differ significantly from the untreated group, although both groups did have a significantly higher concentration than the healthy controls. The presence of CICs has no relationship with age or sex of patients, dosage of allergen administered, number and nature of allergens received, period between the time of last injection and the blood sampling, and the duration of immunotherapy. Serum IgG, IgA, IgM, and rheumatoid factor activity did not differ between the treated and untreated groups. IgE was significantly higher in the treated group when compared with the untreated, and IgE levels in treated patients with elevated CICs were significantly increased compared with CIC-negative treated patients. These data suggest that CICs are present in serum of atopic diseases such as allergic rhinitis/asthma. Significantly, an association of elevation of CICs with immunotherapy could not be demonstrated.     

ESWL实际焦点位置的理论和数值分析

从理论和数值模拟两个方面分析了ESWL中的非线性的动力学焦点和实际焦点的位置 ,给出三种典型的动力学焦点的数值结果 ,说明非线性动力学焦点和实际焦点一般不是几何焦点 ,指出正确确定实际焦点在ESWL技术中的重要性。     

A Comparative Analysis of the Murine Thymic Microenvironment in Normal,Autoimmune, and Immunodeficiency States

It is widely accepted that the thymic microenvironment regulates normal thymopoiesis through a highly coordinated and complex series of cellular and cytokine interactions. A direct corollary of this is that abnormalities within the microenvironment could be of etiologic significance in T-cell-based diseases. Our laboratory has developed a large panel of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) that react specifically with epithelial or nonepithelial markers in the thymus. We have taken advantage of these reagents to characterize the thymic microenvironment of several genetic strains of mice, including BALB/cJ, C57BL/6J, NZB/BlnJ, SM/J, NOD/Ltz, NOD/Ltz-scid/sz, C57BL/6J-Hcph m^e/Hcph m^e, and ALY/NscJcl-aly/aly mice, and littermate control animals. We report herein that control mice, including strains of several backgrounds, have a very consistent phenotypic profile with this panel of monoclonal antibodies, including reactivity with thymic epithelial cells in the cortex, the medulla and the corticomedullary junction, and the extracellular matrix. In contrast, the disease-prone strains studied have unique, abnormal staining of thymic cortex and medulla at both the structural and cellular levels. These phenotypic data suggest that abnormalities in interactions between developing thymocytes and stromal cells characterize disease-prone mice.     

Differential effects of two types of environmental novelty on activity and sleep in BALB/cJ and C57BL/6J mice

Change in the sleeping environment can produce significant alterations in sleep. To determine how these alterations may vary with the amount of change and the relative reactivity of the sleeper, we examined the influences of environmental novelty on sleep in two mouse strains that differ in behavioral anxiety. Mice [BALB/cJ (n=7) and C57BL/6J (n=8)] were implanted for recording EEG and activity via telemetry. Following baseline data collection, activity and sleep were examined over 46 h after routine cage change, after placing a simple novel object (PVC Tee) in the home cage, and after handling controls. Mice of both strains showed immediate increases in activity and decreases in rapid eye movement sleep (REM) and non-REM (NREM) after cage change and novel object. Within strain, changes in activity and sleep were greater after cage change than after novel object. Changes in activity and sleep time were significantly correlated in each strain. Compared to C57BL/6J mice, BALB/cJ mice exhibited greater and longer duration initial reductions in sleep time, and greater increases in EEG slow wave activity power after cage change and novel object, but these changes were not followed with subsequent increases in sleep time. In contrast, C57BL/6J mice showed significantly greater subsequent increases in sleep time following the initial reductions induced by both manipulations. The results suggest that initial decreases and subsequent increases in sleep time are related to putative differences in the intensity of environmental novelty (cage change>novel object) and to previously described strain differences in anxiety (BALB/cJ>C57BL/6J).     

Matched adaptations of electrophysiological, physiological, and histological properties of skeletal muscles in response to chronic hypoxia

This study tried to differentiate the consequences of chronic hypoxia on the electrophysiological and physiological properties and the histological characteristics of slow and fast muscles in rats. Animals inhaled a 10% O₂ concentration for a 1-month period. Then, slow [soleus (SOL)] and fast [extensor digitorum longus (EDL)] muscles were analyzed in vitro by physiological and electrophysiological measurements and histological analyses. The results were compared to those obtained in corresponding muscles of an age-matched normoxic group. After exposure to hypoxia: (1) in SOL, there was a tendency to elevated F_max, a significant increase in twitch force and tetanic frequency and a shortening of M-wave duration, and a reduced percentage of type I fibres, whereas the proportion of type IIa fibres doubled; (2) in EDL, F_max and tetanic frequency were lowered, the muscle became less resistant to fatigue, and the proportion of type IId/x fibres was halved. Then, after 1 month of hypoxia, in the SOL muscle, both the contractile and histological properties resemble those of a fast muscle. By contrast, the EDL became slower, despite its histology was modestly affected. Reduced muscle use in hypoxia could explain the tendency for deteriorating adaptations in EDL, and the faster properties of SOL could result from hypoxia-induced inhibition of the growth-related fast-to-slow shift in muscle fibre types.     

Effects of aspirin on nasal responses in atopic subjects

Preliminary experiments indicated that solutions of aspirin (ASA) in buffered saline, pH 7.35, did not significantly change nasal airways resistance (NAR) when 0.1 ml of solution containing 22.5 mg (or less) per deciliter was sprayed into each nostril. Subsequently it was shown that this quantity of ASA administered intranasally did not significantly change NAR responses 15 min later to intranasal administration of increasing concentrations of histamine, methacholine, or an irritant (NH₃ gas). However, the same atopic subjects demonstrated significantly decreased responses to intranasal challenge with short ragweed extract (SRW) after intranasal ASA. In addition, prior oral administration of ASA, Na salicylate, and indomethacin significantly inhibited nasal challenge responses to SRW in sensitive subjects under controlled conditions.