慢性重型肝炎患者血清肝细胞生长因子浓度变化的动态观察

研究慢性病毒性肝炎患者血清中肝细胞生长因子(HGF)的浓度变化与病情的关系,用ELISA法检测19例慢性乙型重型肝炎患者(慢重肝)血清中的HGF浓度的动态变化,并比较生存患者和死亡患者的HGF变化,结果:1.慢重肝患者血清HGF浓度变化与血清TBil的变化相一致,生存患者HGF在达到一个峰值后随血清TBil的降低而降低;死亡患者的HGF则进行性升高,在死亡前达最高值。2.生存患者的HGF峰值浓度为(5.214±1.657)μg/L,TBil为(236±109)μmol/L,PTA为(48.26±10.15)％;而死亡患者分别为(7.521±2.152)μg/L、(412±128).μmol/L、(30.09±14.28)％,均有显著性的差异。HGF在慢重肝患者血清中有较明显的升高,而且与TBil的变化有相关性,动态观察血清HGF的变化可作为判断病情的指标之一。     

Monoclonal and polyclonal immunoglobulin G deposits on tubular basement membranes of native and pretransplant kidneys: A retrospective study

Monoclonal tubular basement membrane immune deposits (TBMID) are associated with progression of interstitial injury in renal allograft. However, the significance of monoclonal and polyclonal TBMID in the native kidney remains unclear. We retrospectively analyzed 1894 native kidney biopsies and 1724 zero-hour biopsies performed between 2008 and 2018 in our institution. The rate of immunoglobulin G (IgG) TBMID was found to be 8.4% among native kidney biopsies and 0.4% among zero-hour biopsies. Polyclonal TBMID is common in IgG4-related tubulointerstitial nephritis (37.5%), diabetic nephropathy (31.3%) and lupus nephritis (25.5%). Monoclonal IgG TBMID was identified in seven cases, including three zero-hour biopsies. The combination of IgG1κ was observed in two cases, IgG1λ in three, and IgG2κ in two. Electron microscopy revealed powdery electron-dense deposits in all cases. Monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance was diagnosed in one case. Although one patient with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis developed renal failure, all others exhibited stable renal function. Monoclonal IgG TBMID in the native kidney is not associated with renal prognosis. However, this may be an interesting immunopathological finding that would help clarify the pathogenesis of TBM immune deposits. Further study for both monoclonal and polyclonal TBMID is required in the future.     

Cell surface engineering of microorganisms towards adsorption of heavy metals

Abstract

Heavy metal contamination has become a worldwide environmental concern due to its toxicity, non-degradability and food-chain bioaccumulation. Conventional physical and chemical treatment methods for heavy metal removal have disadvantages such as cost-intensiveness, incomplete removal, secondary pollution and the lack of metal specificity. Microbial biomass-based biosorption is one of the approaches gaining increasing attention because it is effective, cheap, and environmental friendly and can work well at low concentrations. To enhance the adsorption properties of microbial cells to heavy metal ions, the cell surface display of various metal-binding proteins/peptides have been performed using a cell surface engineering approach. The surface engineering of Gram-negative bacteria, Gram-positive bacteria and yeast towards the adsorption of heavy metals are reviewed in this article. The problems and future perspectives of this technology are discussed.     

甘肃民乐黄芪品质与土壤关系的研究

目的 研究甘肃民乐黄芪品质与土壤的关系。方法 采集黄芪药材和土壤样品,利用高效液相色谱法、紫外分光光度法、原子吸收分光光度法等测定药材质量、土壤因子及重金属元素。结果 民乐黄芪质量符合药典标准规定,受重金属污染风险低。浸出物与速效钾呈显著负相关;黄芪甲苷与速效钾呈显著正相关;毛蕊异黄酮葡萄糖苷与可溶盐呈极显著正相关,与速效钾呈显著正相关,与pH值呈显著负相关。其中,土壤pH值是影响黄芪浸出物、黄芪甲苷、毛蕊异黄酮葡萄糖苷三者含量的关键因素,其次为全磷、有机质和全氮。结论 研究结果揭示了土壤因子是民乐黄芪品质的主要影响因素,可为民乐县规范化种植黄芪药材提供理论依据。     

Impaired participation of potassium channels and Na+/K+‐ATPase in vasodilatation due to reduced nitric oxide bioavailability in rats exposed to mercury

Mercury intoxication is a public health risk factor due to its hazardous effect to several organs, including the cardiovascular system. There is evidence of endothelial dysfunction after exposure to mercury, but the effects on endothelium‐dependent vasodilatation are still unknown. In the present study, we aimed to evaluate the chronic effects of high HgCl₂ doses on the mechanisms of vasodilatation. Wistar rats were injected with HgCl₂ (1st dose 10.86 μg/kg, and daily doses 0.014 μg/kg for 30 days i.m.), and saline was used as control. Mercury exposure reduced the acetylcholine‐induced vasodilatation in aortic rings, which was restored by incubation with antioxidant tiron. Inhibition of the NO synthase, Na⁺/K⁺‐ATPase and K⁺ channels indicates reduced participation of these factors. In the mercury group, there were an increased local anion superoxide and a reduced NO. The vasodilatation to exogenous NO was partially inhibited by co‐incubation with TEA plus tiron, suggesting that reduced NO bioavailability is the responsible to that decreased the participation of K⁺ channels. Moreover, there was an increased participation of the Na⁺/K⁺‐ATPase associated with an up‐regulation of its alpha‐1 subunit. In conclusion, reduced NO bioavailability plays a major role in the impaired participation of K⁺ channels and Na⁺/K⁺‐ATPase in the acetylcholine‐mediated relaxation, although sodium pump is up‐regulated probably as a compensatory mechanism.     

大艾段温针灸治疗肺气虚寒型变应性鼻炎100例

目的 观察大艾段温针灸治疗肺气虚寒型变应性鼻炎(AR)的疗效并探索其作用机制。方法 将入选病例随机分为观察组、对照组各105例。观察组大艾段温针灸,每日1次,每周治疗4次,4周为1个疗程。对照组急性期丙酸氟替卡松鼻喷雾剂喷鼻,枸地氯雷他定片口服。病情稳定后,枸地氯雷他定片停药,丙酸氟替卡松鼻喷雾剂继续喷鼻。4周为1个疗程。观察2组治疗结束时及治疗后30 d的中医证候总积分、西医临床症状总积分、体征总积分、视觉模拟评分法（VAS评分）以及血清免疫球蛋白E（IgE）、白细胞介素-4（IL-4）、γ干扰素（IFN-γ）水平的变化。结果 治疗后2组中医证候总积分、临床症状总积分、体征总积分以及鼻部整体症状的严重程度VAS评分均明显低于同组治疗前(P<0.01),观察组明显低于对照组(P<0.05~0.01);血清3项指标,组内及组间差异均具有统计学意义(P<0.01)。治疗结束后30 d随访,观察组疗效优于对照组(P<0.05);2组中医证候总积分、临床症状总积分、体征总积分以及鼻部整体症状的严重程度VAS评分均明显低于同组治疗前(P<0.01);观察组明显低于对照组(P<0.05~0.01);血清3项指标,IFN-γ含量,对照组治疗结束后30 d与治疗前比,差异无统计学意义(P＞0.05),其余各组内、组间3项指标比较,差异有统计学意义（P<0.01）。结论 大艾段温针灸法治疗肺气虚寒型变应性鼻炎的疗效较好,可显著改善患者的中医证候、临床症状、体征、VAS评分,在调节血清IgE、IL-4、IFN-γ含量方面优于对照组,作用机制可能也与降低血清IgE、IL-4含量,升高IFN-γ含量相关。      

Emergence of superconductivity in heavy-electron materials

Although the pairing glue for the attractive quasiparticle interaction responsible for unconventional superconductivity in heavy-electron materials has been identified as the spin fluctuations that arise from their proximity to a magnetic quantum critical point, there has been no model to describe their superconducting transition at temperature T_c that is comparable to that found by Bardeen, Cooper, and Schrieffer (BCS) for conventional superconductors, where phonons provide the pairing glue. Here we propose such a model: a phenomenological BCS-like expression for T_c in heavy-electron materials that is based on a simple model for the effective range and strength of the spin-fluctuation-induced quasiparticle interaction and reflects the unusual properties of the heavy-electron normal state from which superconductivity emerges. We show that it provides a quantitative understanding of the pressure-induced variation of T_c in the “hydrogen atoms” of unconventional superconductivity, CeCoIn₅ and CeRhIn₅, predicts scaling behavior and a dome-like structure for T_c in all heavy-electron quantum critical superconductors, provides unexpected connections between members of this family, and quantifies their variations in T_c with a single parameter.Because the unconventional superconductivity found in many heavy-electron materials arises at the border of antiferromagnetic long-range order, it is natural to consider the possibility that its physical origin is its proximity to a quantum critical point that marks a transition from localized to itinerant behavior, and that the associated magnetic quantum critical spin fluctuations provide the pairing glue (1–5), in contrast to conventional superconductors, where phonons provide the pairing glue (6). However, developing a simple physical picture for the behavior of such quantum critical superconductors, including a Bardeen, Cooper, and Schrieffer (BCS)-like expression for their superconducting transition temperature (T_c), has proven difficult. In part, this is because of the unusual normal state from which superconductivity emerges (7–12), and in part it stems from the difficulty in finding a simple model for an effective frequency-dependent attractive quasiparticle interaction that closely resembles that proposed earlier for the cuprates (13–17).In finding a way to characterize heavy-electron quantum critical superconductivity it is helpful to begin by recalling the principal features of its remarkably similar emergence in two of the best-studied materials, CeCoIn₅ and CeRhIn₅ (18–23). As may be seen in Fig. 1, there are three distinct regions of emergent heavy-electron superconductivity in their pressure–temperature phase diagrams that are defined by a line marking the delocalization cross-over temperature, T_L, at which the collective hybridization of the local moments becomes complete and the Néel temperature, T_N, that marks the onset of long-range antiferromagnetic order of the hybridized local moments.Open in a separate windowFig. 1.A phase diagram for heavy-electron superconductors. In region I, only itinerant heavy electrons exist below T_L owing to complete hybridization of the f-moments with background conduction electrons; in region II, collective hybridization is not complete so that heavy electrons coexist with partially hybridized local moments; in region III, these residual moments order antiferromagnetically (AF) at T_N and the surviving heavy electrons become superconducting (SC) at a lower temperature, T_c. The coupling of heavy electrons to the magnetic spin fluctuations emanating from the QCP is responsible for the superconductivity in all regions.Region I: T_c ≤ T_L. Superconductivity emerges from a fully formed heavy-electron state. The general increase in T_c seen with decreasing pressure is cut off by a competing state, quasiparticle localization, so T_c reaches its maximum value at the pressure, p_L, at which the superconducting and localization transition lines intersect.Region II: T_c > T_L and T_N. Superconductivity emerges from a partially formed heavy-electron state whose ability to superconduct is reduced by the partially hybridized local moments with which it coexists. The region includes the quantum critical point (QCP) at T = 0 that marks a zero temperature transition from a state with partially localized ordered behavior to one that is fully itinerant; this QCP is the origin of the quantum critical spin fluctuations that provide the pairing glue in all three regions (2).Region III: T_c ≤ T_N. Partially hybridized local moments are present in sufficient number to become antiferromagnetically ordered at the Néel temperature T_N despite the presence of coexisting remnant heavy electrons that become superconducting at lower temperatures.The dominance of superconductivity around the QCP supports the idea that the coupling of quantum critical spin fluctuations to the heavy-electron quasiparticles plays a central role, with the resulting induced attractive quasiparticle interaction being maximally effective near it. Importantly, there is direct experimental evidence that these quantum critical fluctuations provide the superconducting glue: Curro et al. (4) find that the spin-lattice relaxation rate, 1/T₁, to which these give rise, scales with T_c at the pressure at which T_c is maximum, whereas a recent detailed investigation of that scaling (5) explains how this comes about. First, at this “optimal” pressure, T_c scales with the coherence temperature, T*, that marks the initial emergence of heavy-electron behavior and is determined by the nearest-neighbor exchange interaction between the f-electron local moments (8); second, at this optimal pressure, 1/T₁ scales with T*, a scaling behavior that is a unique signature of its origin in quantum critical spin fluctuations.In this paper we use these important scaling results to develop a simple BCS-like phenomenological expression for the superconducting transition temperature, show that it explains the variation of T_c with pressure for both CeCoIn₅ and CeRhIn₅, and offer a detailed prediction for a similar dome-like structure in other quantum critical heavy-electron superconductors.