Packed red blood cell transfusion (PRBC) attenuates intestinal blood flow responses to feedings in pre-term neonates with normalization at 24 hours

Objective: To determine whether packed red blood cell (PRBC) transfusion affects post-prandial superior mesenteric artery blood flow velocities (SMA BFVs) in very-low birth weight (VLBW) neonates and if so, at what time point after transfusion restoration of previous SMA BFV patterns occurs.

Design/Methods: VLBW pre-term neonates, older than 14 days and tolerating bolus enteral feedings administered every 3?h were enrolled in this prospective observational study. Pulsed Doppler ultrasound was used to measure pre- and post-prandial (at 45?min) time-averaged mean, peak and end diastolic velocities (TAMV, PSV, EDV) immediately before and after 15?ml/kg of PRBC transfusion was given over 3?h; patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) status was also evaluated. Subsequent pre- and post-prandial SMA BFVs were recorded 24 and 48?h after the transfusion.

Results: Pre- and post-prandial measurements were obtained for 21 out of 25 enrolled infants. Post-prandial SMA BFVs were attenuated during the feedings immediately after transfusion; at 24 and 48?h after transfusion, changes in post-prandial SMA BFVs were similar to those measured prior to transfusion; the presence of the PDA did not affect results.

Conclusions: PRBC transfusion blunted SMA BFV responses to feedings immediately after the transfusion with normalization observed 24?h post-transfusion.     

Botulinum toxin blocks mast cells and prevents rosacea like inflammation

Background

Rosacea is a chronic inflammatory skin condition whose etiology has been linked to mast cells and the antimicrobial peptide cathelicidin LL-37. Individuals with refractory disease have demonstrated clinical benefit with periodic injections of onabotulinum toxin, but the mechanism of action is unknown.

Littoral‐cell angioma as a rare cause of splenomegaly

We report the case of a littoral‐cell angioma of the spleen, a recently described benign vascular tumour, whose imaging and pathological characteristics have been discussed only by a few authors. The diagnosis was made after elective splenectomy. The CT images, scintigraphy and histological specimens are presented, and differential diagnoses discussed.     

Clinical significance of urinary white blood cell count and serum C-reactive protein level for detection of non-palpable prostate cancer

AIM: The clinical significance of the urinary white blood cell (U-WBC) count and serum C-reactive protein (CRP) level was evaluated in an effort to improve the efficiency of prostate biopsies. METHODS: We enrolled 228 consecutive patients with serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) ranging from 3.0 to 20.0 ng/mL, normal digital rectal examination findings, and who underwent prostate biopsies between January 2001 and August 2004. Of these, 157 patients had histologically confirmed benign prostatic disease and the remaining 71 patients had prostate cancer. Patients with a pretreatment U-WBC count < or =3 or >3/high power field were defined as non-pyuria and pyuria, respectively. The patients were also separated into two groups based on the serum CRP level prior to biopsy. Several clinical factors were compared among these subgroups. RESULTS: Inflammation was histologically detected at rates of 58.1% and 34.1% in the pyuria and non-pyuria groups, respectively (P = 0.0014). The rates of cancer detection were significantly lower in the pyuria, than in the non-pyuria group (P = 0.0384). The cancer detection rates did not significantly differ according to serum CRP levels prior to biopsy. CONCLUSION: The U-WBC count appears to be a reliable indicator of minute prostatic inflammation. The serum PSA level was elevated in patients with asymptomatic prostatitis. Counting U-WBC is a simple, convenient and non-invasive method that should be valuable part of routine urological examinations.     

1,25(OH)2Vitamin D3 induces elevated expression of the cell cycle inhibitor p18 in a squamous cell carcinoma cell line of the head and neck

BACKGROUND: 1Alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D(3) [1,25(OH)(2) Vitamin D(3)] induces growth inhibition in squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) cell lines of the head and neck by arresting the cells in the G0/G1 phase of the cell cycle, probably due to an enhanced expression of p21, which could be demonstrated in other cell lines (JPPA, SCC9) before. In SCC25, a SCC cell line isolated from tongue, growth inhibition but no overexpression of p21 was detected. The retinoblastoma gene, as a direct target of G1 cyclin-CDK complexes, showed an obvious shift from the hyperphosphorylated to the hypophosphorylated form under 1,25(OH)(2)Vitamin D(3), which indicates that the growth inhibition takes place in the G0/G1 phase. To explore the possible pathway of growth inhibition in SCC25 we investigated other cell cycle inhibitors (p18, p19, p27). METHODS: Synchronized cells were treated with 1,25(OH)(2)Vitamin D(3) over 96 h. The cell cycle status and expression of cell cycle-regulating proteins was determined by fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) and Western blotting. An overexpression of p18 in 1,25(OH)(2)Vitamin D(3) vs. ethanol-treated cells was determined until 30 h in SCC25. No influence was detectable on the expression of p27 and p19. CONCLUSION: One mechanism by which 1,25(OH)(2)Vitamin D(3) controls cell growth might be the upregulation of p21. As p21 was unsusceptible to 1,25(OH)(2)Vitamin D(3) in SCC25, other inhibiting proteins were necessary to be tested. The proven upregulation of p18 seems to be the responsible step for growth inhibition of 1,25(OH)(2)Vitamin D(3) in SCC25.     

Fetal neural grafts for Huntington's disease: a prospective view.

Intrastriatal transplantation of striatal neuroblasts from human fetuses is a promising approach for treatment of Huntington's disease, on the basis of many experimental animal studies and, most recently, pilot clinical trials. Technically, several issues remain to be resolved (e.g., the precise site of dissection of the fetal tissue; the number and location of the fetal striatal implants; or the use of immunosuppressive therapy), and await larger-scale trials and purposely designed protocols. Further clinical data must also be obtained, and preliminary promising results must be replicated in a patient group large enough to provide conclusive results. It is important to establish (1) the amount of clinical benefit provided to the patient by the grafted cells; (2) the anticipated duration of clinical benefits; and (3) the secondary rate of decline after the benefit of the graft has been overbalanced. Evaluation of these parameters will require very long-term follow-up of the patients involved, over several years after grafting, before the technique can eventually be proposed widely to patients.     

健血升白冲剂对小鼠造血功能的影响

目的：研究健血升白冲剂对小鼠血液系统的影响。方法：以骨髓细胞计数，白细胞计数和血象为指标，观察健血升白冲剂对正常小鼠和化学及放射损伤小鼠的影响。结果：健血升白冲剂明显增加正常小鼠白细胞计数（Ｐ＜００１），显著改善环磷酰胺诱导小鼠白细胞和骨髓细胞的减少作用（分别为Ｐ＜００５，Ｐ＜００１），并能显著增加６０Ｃｏ放射损伤小鼠骨髓细胞（Ｐ＜００１）和白细胞（Ｐ＜００１）。结论：健血升白冲剂对化学及放射损伤小鼠血液系统有明显的保护及改善作用。是一个有开发价值的药物。     

Stimulatory and inhibitory epitopes in the T cell responses of mice to Der p 1

BACKGROUND: The responses of mice to the mite allergen Der p 1 have been used to study the mechanisms of allergic sensitization and the development of new types of immunotherapy. Many of the studies require a knowledge of the T cell epitopes, and because Der p 1 is polymorphic, the effect of natural amino acid substitution in the allergen. The intranasal administration of peptides containing T cell epitopes can induce a mucosal tolerance but it is not known if the major activity is limited to stimulatory peptides and if, as found for autoimmunity, some epitopes are not inhibitory. OBJECTIVE: To determine and compare the sequences of Der p 1 which contain stimulatory epitopes for the high responding H-2(b) and H-2(q) mice and the sequences which induce tolerance by intranasal administration of peptides. METHODS: T cell responses of mice immunized with Der p 1 were measured by in vitro T cell stimulation assays so an extensive study of epitope recognition and intranasal tolerance could be made. Synthetic peptides were used to examine the stimulatory and inhibitory ability of all Der p 1 sequences and to map the major H-2(b) epitope in detail. This included the effect of the common polymorphic amino acid 124 substitution found within this epitope. RESULTS: Three and two regions, respectively, were found to contain stimulatory T cell epitopes for H-2(b) and H-2(q) mice. The peptides in these regions were also the most active at inducing intranasal tolerance for the responding haplotype. The correspondence between inhibitory and stimulatory peptides was maintained for the fine mapping of the major H-2(b) epitope. This was found about a core region of 118-126 which was overlapping but separate to a consensus sequence for the binding of endogeneous peptides. Peptides with alanine at the naturally polymorphic residue 124 stimulated and inhibited responses to Der p 1 more effectively, while peptides with the valine 124 variant were immunogenic but poorly cross-reactive. CONCLUSIONS: The intranasal administration of peptides representing each of five epitopes recognized by two strains of mice were able to induce mucosal tolerance and the major tolerizing activity was limited to these epitopes. The position of the core major epitope for C57 mice, which differs from a previously predicted epitope, and its specificity for the natural alanine 124 variant is described.     

Antibodies to interleukin-1 inhibit cytokine-induced proliferation of neonatal rat Schwann cells in vitro

Unfractionated cytokines have been shown to induce in vitro proliferation of neonatal rat Schwann cells but the nature of the mitogen(s) is not known. A mixture of rabbit antibodies specific for recombinant interleukin-1α (IL-1α) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) inhibited Schwann cell proliferation induced by unfractionated human cytokines whereas antibodies to interleukin-2 (IL-2) and control IgG did not. However, purified human IL-1 and recombinant human IL-1α or β did not induce Schwann cell proliferation on their own.     

The expression of 3-fucosylated-N-acetyl lactosamine carbohydrate determinants in renal tumours

The distribution in renal tumours of 3-fucosyl-N-acetyl lactosamine has been studied by using the monoclonal antibodies AGF 4.36 and AGF 4.48 and immunoperoxidase methods on tissue sections. Seven of 19 nephroblastomas and 12 of 30 renal cell carcinomas contained the epitope. In nephroblastomas the epitope was found on the terminals of type B tubules in six cases and in one case on the type A or neoplastic tubules. In renal carcinoma the antigen was found on the surface of tumour cells. The results suggest that in kidneys bearing nephroblastomas ureteric bud elements may grow into the tumour from the adjacent kidney.