排毒合剂对慢性肾衰竭纤维化指标和肾功能影响的临床研究

目的:观察排毒合剂对慢性肾衰竭(CRF)患者血清纤维化指标、肾功能的作用。方法:将50例惠者随机分为2组,同时给予基础治疗,治疗组30例配合排毒合剂(组成:生地黄、山茱萸、熟大黄、黄芪、山药、牡丹皮、茯苓皮、桃仁、白术、丹参、当归、鱼腥草、车前子)治疗;对照组20例配合药用炭片治疗。观察肾功能指标血清肌酐(Cr)、尿素氮(BUN)和纤维化指标血清人层粘连蛋白(LN)、血清Ⅳ型胶原(CL-Ⅳ)的影响。结果:显效率及总有效率2组比较,差异均有显著性意义(P<0.05)。2组治疗后肾功能指标变化比较,差异有非常显著性意义(P<0.01)。2组治疗后纤维化指标比较,差异有非常显著性意义(P<0.01)。治疗组均明显优于对照组。结论:排毒合剂可明显改善CRF的临床症状及实验指标,其作用可能与该药能抑制肾纤维化有关。     

层粘连蛋白LN及其受体LN-R在髓母细胞瘤中的表达

目的测定Laminin(LN)／Laminin Receptor(LN-R)在髓母细胞瘤中的表达情况，进一步探讨其与该肿瘤浸润、转移的关系。方法通过免疫组化方法测定LN和LN-R在70例髓母细胞瘤和10例正常小脑组织中的表达情况。结果LN-R在10例正常小脑组织及70例髓母细胞瘤中表达均为阴性，LN在髓母细胞瘤中低表达。结论LN及其受体在髓母细胞瘤中低表达，其中LN-R不表达可能为原发性中枢神经系统肿瘤不易发生颅外转移的原因之一。     

层粘连蛋白在食管鳞癌的表达及其与临床特征的关系

目的:探讨细胞外基质中层粘连蛋白(Laminin,LN)在食管鳞癌的表达情况与临床病理关系。方法:采用免疫组织化学SABC法对70例食管鳞癌原发灶进行了检测。结果:LN在食管鳞癌中的表达率为64.3%。中高分化组及淋巴结无转移组中LN表达明显强于低分化组及有转移组(P<0.05)。结论:基底膜中LN的分布和含量与肿瘤浸润转移有关,可作为评价食管鳞癌侵袭性及恶性程度的指标之一。     

狼疮性肾炎患者微炎症状态与血脂代谢的关系及其在动脉粥样硬化中的作用

目的:探讨微炎症状态与血脂代谢间的关系,及其在狼疮性肾炎(LN)患者动脉粥样硬化形成中的作用。方法:测32例LN患者和28例健康对照者血清c-反应蛋白(CRP)、总胆固醇(CHO)、甘油三酯(TG)、高密度脂蛋白胆固醇(HDL-C)、低密度脂蛋白胆固醇(LDL-C)、载脂蛋白A(apoA-Ⅰ)、载脂蛋白B(apoB-100),高分辨超声技术测颈总动脉内膜-中层厚度(IMT)及粥样硬化斑块。结果:LN患者血清CRP和TG、LDL-C高于对照组(P<0.01),apoA-Ⅰ低于对照组(P<0.05);患者血清CRP水平≥4mg/L比<4 mg/L,其颈总动脉平均IMT、粥样斑块发生率明显升高(P<0.01),CRP与颈总动脉平均IMT、粥样斑块发生率、TG、LDL-C正相关(P<0.05),与apoA-Ⅰ负相关(P<0.05)。结论:LN患者存在微炎症状态,这种微炎症状态可能通过某种途径导致脂质代谢异常从而参与了动脉粥样硬化的发生与发展。     

Overexpression of laminin-5 gamma2 chain and its prognostic significance in urothelial carcinoma of urinary bladder: association with expression of cyclooxygenase 2, epidermal growth factor receptor [corrected] and human epidermal growth factor receptor [corrected] 2

Laminin-5 (LN-5) and cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) play important roles in many kinds of cancers. Recently, it has been reported that epidermal growth factor receptor [corrected] (EGFR) and/or human epidermal growth factor receptor [corrected] 2 (HER2) expressions are associated with LN-5 and/or COX-2 expressions in a few carcinoma cell lines and human tumor tissue. LN-5, COX-2, EGFR, and HER2 expressions were examined immunohistochemically in 67 patients with urothelial carcinomas (UCs), and associations among these 4 biomarkers and clinicopathologic characteristics were investigated. Patients were classified into transurethral resection group and cystectomy group based on clinical end points, and prognostic significances of increased expressions were evaluated. Overexpression of LN-5, COX-2, EGFR, and HER2 was observed in 16 (23.9%), 34 (50.7%), 42 (62.7%), and 15 (22.4%) of 67 patients, respectively. LN-5 overexpression was associated high-grade (P = .002), invasive (pTa+1 versus pT2-4, P = .011), and nonpapillary (P = .027) UCs. Concerning EGFR and HER2, high-grade (EGFR, P = .0009; HER2, P = .003) and nonpapillary (EGFR, P = .016; HER2, P = .0002) UCs had a significantly higher overexpression rate. UCs penetrating basal membrane (pT1-4) showed significantly higher overexpression rates than pTa UCs on all biomarkers. In transurethral resection group, LN-5 overexpression could be proved as an independent prognostic parameter for intravesical recurrence (P = .007), whereas in cystectomy group, nodal involvement was an independent prognostic parameter for cause-specific survival (P = .025). The current study showed that the 4 biomarkers were associated with aggressive behaviors of UCs. Above all, LN-5 overexpression was considered to play an important role in intravesical recurrence of superficial UCs.     

Immunomodulatory activity of resveratrol: discrepant in vitro and in vivo immunological effects

trans-Resveratrol is a dietary polyphenolic compound present in grapes, which has been shown to exhibit strong anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and chemopreventive activities. In this study we have compared the in vitro and in vivo effects of resveratrol on the development of various cell-mediated immune responses, including mitogen/antigen-induced T cell proliferation, induction of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs), interleukin-2 (IL-2) induced lymphokine activated killer cells, and cytokine production. We found significant suppression (>90%) of the mitogen/antigen-induced T cell proliferation and development of allo-antigen specific CTLs in vitro with resveratrol at a concentration of 25 microM. Intragastric administration of resveratrol (2 mg daily) to mice for 4 weeks showed no effect on age-related gain in body weight, peripheral blood cell counts (WBC, RBC, or platelets), or the cellularity of bone marrow or spleen. The CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells in spleen or colony-forming units-total in the marrow also remained unaffected by treatment with resveratrol. Spleen cells, which were stimulated in vitro after being removed from mice which had been administered resveratrol for 2 or 4 weeks, showed no significant change in IL-2 or concanavalin A induced proliferation of T cells or production of IL-2 induced lymphokine activated killer cells. Further, the production of in interferon-gamma and IL-12 was not affected by administration of resveratrol, but production of tumor necrosis factor-alpha was reduced. Even when conducted entirely in vivo, treatment with resveratrol was found to only marginally reduce allo-antigen induced T cell proliferation and the generation of CTLs in the draining lymph nodes. Thus, even though resveratrol strongly inhibits T cell proliferation and production of cytolytic cells in vitro, oral administration of resveratrol for 4 weeks does not induce hematologic or hematopoietic toxicity, and only marginally reduces the T cell-mediated immune responses.     

New insight into the autoimmunogenicity of the complement protein C1q

C1q along with its physiological role in maintenance of homeostasis and normal function of the immune system is involved in pathological conditions associated with repetitive generation of anti-C1q autoantibodies. The time and events that cause their first appearance are still unknown. We addressed this issue by analyzing the immunogenicity of C1q in two target groups—one of non-diseased humans and the other of lupus nephritis (LN) patients whose autoimmune disorder is associated with high titers of anti-C1q autoantibodies. The non-diseased humans were represented by pregnant women because the sex hormones are thought to be involved in triggering autoimmune pathologies by their ability to tip the balance of female adaptive immune response to production of antibodies.We screened, using ELISA, 31 sera from healthy pregnant women for the presence of IgM and IgG classes of autoantibodies, recognizing epitopes within the native C1q molecule, its collagen-like region (CLR) and globular head fragment (gC1q). The latter was represented by recombinant analogs of the three globular fragments of A, B and C chains, comprising C1q-ghA, ghB and ghC. We did not find IgM antibodies for all test-antigens which suggest that the natural IgM antibodies are not involved in triggering autoimmunity to C1q. Still more, we did not detect anti-CLR antibodies which have been proved pathogenic in already manifested LN. We completed the analysis with comparative epitope mapping of gC1q and we found similar immunogenic behavior in both target groups—ghA and ghC contained the immunodominant epitopes. This implies that the initial immune response to C1q might occur when the molecule has interacted with its ligands via ghB as part of gC1q. The presence of anti-gC1q in both healthy and diseased humans also implies that these antibodies, unlike anti-CLR, may have a contribution to an onset of autoimmunity.