Inflammatory and non-inflammatory inclusion body myositis

Summary In ten patients with inclusion body myositis (IBM) five muscular biopsies showed profuse inflammatory exudates and three showed a few scattered inflammatory cells with partial invasion in some muscle fibers. No inflammatory cells were seen in two cases. In all patients, histopathological, histomorphometric and immunocytochemical studies were performed. Immunocytochemistry for the class I and class II major histocompatibility complex gene product (MHC) was performed in all cases and in ten control muscles including: normal muscles [3], dermatomyositis [3], polymyositis [3], scleroderma [1]. In the five cases of IBM with inflammatory exudates, subsets of lymphocytes were analyzed with a panel of monoclonal antibodies against B cells, T4 cells, T8 cells, K and natural killer cells and macrophages. Some muscle fibers expressed class I MHC antigens in the inflammatory cases of IBM. These fibers were near the inflammatory exudates and occasionally showed a partial invasion. No expression of class I MHC was found in normal muscles and in non-inflammatory cases of IBM. The antigen which triggers the mononuclear cells in the inflammatory forms of IBM is probably not the filamentous inclusions in rimmed vacuoles. In other inflammatory myopathies, expression of class I MHC was present on all fibers in polymyositis, only in the perifascicular area in dermatomyositis and in scleroderma. It could be suggested that the term inclusion body muscle disease be applied to cases with rimmed vacuoles and IBM-like filaments without inflammatory cells.     

武警某部战士,学员体脂成分的研究

目的：评价武警阅队成员体脂成分现状,为科学选兵,合理制定训练计划和正确指导膳食营养提供资料,方法：以皮褶厚度测量法推算体脂指标。结果：武警甘部战士,学员在多项体脂指标方面都优于同龄地方大学生和通讯兵某部战士,对体脂百分率评价,男性均值尚属正常,肥胖占２．２％;女性均值超标了２．６６％,肥胖占１２．４％,结论：武警某部战士、学员体脂成分现尚好,但应注意严格选兵标准,科学调整膳食,加大耐力性训练力度。     

Characterization of a shared epitope in cortical Lewy body fibrils and Alzheimer paired helical filaments

The straight fibrils of the Lewy body contain an epitope related to phosphorylation of the KSPV motif common to the C termini of the 200- and 170-kDa neurofilament subunits and . To further characterize this phosphorylated neurofilament/ epitope in Lewy bodies and to analyze the constituents of isolated Lewy bodies we used a combined biochemical and immunochemical approach. In formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue cortical Lewy bodies were labelled by monoclonal antibodies directed to phosphorylation-dependent KSPV epitopes in the sequences of neurofilament and phosphorylation-independent epitopes. Immunoblotting of solubilized Lewy body fibrils with the same antibodies which stained Lewy bodies in tissue sections revealed that the immunoreactive Lewy body proteins were phosphorylated neurofilament subunits. An antibody to the 68-kDa neurofilament subunit labelled Lewy bodies and Lewy body protein at 50–68 kDa. We conclude that the shared phosphorylated epitope in Lewy body fibrils and paired helical filaments is related to the common KSPV sequence in neurofilament and , and that all three neurofilament subunits are present in the Lewy body. This result indicates that although Lewy bodies and neurofibrillary tangles share epitopes they are comprised of distinct structural subunits.Supported by grants from the Parkinson Foundation of Canada and the Alzheimer Society of Canada to C.B. M.S.P. is a recipient of a Medical Research Council of Canada Studentship     

Association of apolipoprotein ɛ4 allele and neuropathologic findings in patients with dementia

Apolipoprotein E (APOE) is a lipoprotein expressed in liver and brain as one of three isoforms (APOE 2, APOE 3 and APOE 4). Recent findings suggest that the presence of APOE 4 is associated with an increased risk for both familial Alzheimer's disease and late-onset Alzheimer's disease. We extended these observations by determining the frequency of APOE alleles in patients with pathologically confirmed Alzheimer's Disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), diffuse Lewy Body disease (DLBD), AD with concomitant PD pathology, demented PD patients without or with concomitant AD pathology and in schizophrenics with a progressive dementia (SCHIZ+DEM). The APOE genotype was determined by restriction digestion of polymerase chain reaction-amplified DNA isolated from frozen brain samples. The frequency of the APOE 4 allele was highest among sporadic AD and DLBD patients (0.30 and 0.38, respectively) and lowest in the SCHIZ+DEM and non-demented PD patients (0.06 and 0.1, respectively). Thus, the APOE 4 allele is over-represented selectively in patients with dementias associated with plaques and tangles and/or cortical Lewy bodies, but not in demented schizophrenics or non-demented PD patients.     

胰高血糖素对胆道梗阻大鼠肝脏葡萄糖和酮体合成的作用

目的观察胰高血糖素对胆道梗阻大鼠肝脏葡萄糖和酮体合成作用的影响。方法大鼠胆道结扎４８小时后,用胶原酶灌流后分离肝细胞,加入胰高血糖素温育,用分光光度计按标准酶学方法检测葡萄糖、乙酰乙酸和三羟基丁酸。结果在基础或最大刺激条件下,加胰高血糖素结扎组、假手术组葡萄糖异生均明显大于未加胰高血糖素组（Ｐ＜０．０５）,加胰高血糖素对结扎组和假手术组的酮体异生无促进作用。结论胰高血糖素对胆道梗阻４８小时大鼠肝细胞的糖异生存在有意义的刺激作用,对酮体异生则无刺激作用     

c-Fos expression in the auditory pathways related to the significance of acoustic signals in rats performing a sensory-motor task

Neuronal activity was established in the auditory pathways in relation to behavioural response and cognitive information processing during a sensory-motor acoustic learning. Rats were trained in three consecutive phases. The first phase was an association between an auditory stimulus and a food reward; the second phase a simple discrimination between two sounds of different frequency components, and the third phase a more complex discrimination involving both spectral and spatial sound dimensions. Auditory stimuli were bursts of complex sounds lasting 500 ms. Neuronal activity related to the behaviourally relevant stimuli was established in 20 "learning" rats undergoing this protocol, which were progressively sacrificed at the beginning, middle and end of each phase. For comparison, activity was also established in four "control" rats exposed to the same stimuli delivered pseudo-randomly, thus carrying no behavioural meaning. Neuronal activity was assessed immunocytochemically using the functional marker Fos. To establish a baseline, two rats were unexposed to controlled acoustic stimulation ("unstimulated" rats). In the superior olivary complex (SOC), inferior colliculus (IC) and medial geniculate body (MGB), the number of Fos-like immunopositive cells was comparable in "learning" and "control" animals, but higher than in the "unstimulated" rats. In the auditory cortex (AC), most prominently in the secondary area Te2, the number of Fos-like positive cells differed between "learning" and "control" rats, suggesting that the auditory cortical areas may be involved in the encoding of the behavioural significance of the acoustic stimuli.     

A comparison of skinfold anthropometry and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry for the evaluation of body fat in cirrhotic patients

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Skinfold anthropometry has been used to evaluate the nutritional status in cirrhosis. Such estimates are based on the calculations which derive from healthy subjects and may not apply to cirrhotic patients. We aimed to calculate the limits of agreement between Skinfold anthropometry (SA) and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) in estimating body fat in cirrhotics. METHODS: Forty cirrhotic patients were studied by both methods. The limits of agreement were estimated by the Bland and Altman method. RESULTS: Percentage body fat was similar when measured by DXA and SA (29.6 +/- 9.2 vs 28.9 +/- 7.5 %). Body fat mass was also similar (20.3 +/- 8.4 vs 20.3 +/- 7.7 kg). The limits of agreement between DXA and SA measurements were -7.04 (95%CI: -9.55 to -5.2) +8.56 (95%CI: +10.7 to +6.4.) in the assessment of percentage body fat and -5.32 (95%CI: -6.77 to -3.87) +5.24 (95%CI: +3.79 to +6.69) in the assessment of fat mass. CONCLUSION: Percentage body fat can be evaluated by SA or DXA with a difference of less then 5% in the majority of cirrhotic patients without overt fluid retention. This result is important when considering the large applicability of SA.     

Bioelectrical impedance methods in clinical research: a follow-up to the NIH Technology Assessment Conference

In 1994, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) convened a Technology Assessment Conference "to provide physicians with a responsible assessment of bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) technology for body composition measurement." In 1997, Serono Symposia USA, Inc., organized an invited panel of scientists and clinicians, with extensive research and clinical experience with BIA, to provide an update. Panel members presented reviews based on their own work and published studies for the intervening years. Updates were provided on the single and multifrequency BIA methods and models; continued clinical research experiences; efforts toward establishing population reference norms; and the feasibility of establishing guidelines for potential diagnostic use of BIA in a clinical setting. This report provides a summary of the panel's findings including a consensus on several technical and clinical issues related to the research use of BIA, and those areas that are still in need of additional study.     

角膜异物分区分级和记录方法

目的探讨角膜异物分区、分级及记录方法。方法对５６０例角膜异物分区、分级研究,在此基础上提出一种较为适用的记录方法,并用此指导临床实践。结果角膜异物有其分布特点,区、级不同,治疗及愈后不同。用此记录方法指导临床实践准确方便,不会出现误治漏治。结论角膜异物分区、分级及记录方法在临床上科学实用,在法医学上亦有使用价值     

Neurofibrillary tangles and Lewy bodies in the locus ceruleus neurons of the aged brain

Summary The presence of Lewy body and neurofibrillary tangle in the locus ceruleus neurons of aged brain is described. Ultrastructural study revealed that in some Lewy bodies the presence of twisted tubules or paired helical filaments amongst the filaments of the Lewy body. A quantitative analysis of serial sections of locus ceruleus from aged brain, incidences of the Lewy body and neurofibrillary change were 0.07% (9/11,515) and 6.6% (15/11,515), respectively. The incidence of neurons containing both structures was 0.008% (1/11,515).