冠心病患者颈动脉粥样硬化检测及意义

目的　探讨冠心病患者与颈动脉粥样硬化之间的发生关系。方法　主要应用彩色多普勒超声技术检测 10 2例冠心病患者的颈动脉 ,对其中 34例进行冠状动脉造影检查。结果　为各组冠心病患者颈动脉管壁内 -中膜厚度 ,斑块指数均显著增高 ,其中心肌梗死患者伴有明显的血流参数异常 ,34例患者冠状动脉造影与颈动脉超声检查符合率为 75 % ,而且冠状动脉病变越重 ,颈动脉硬化发生率越高。结论　颈动脉粥样硬化程度可间接反映冠状动脉病变程度。     

根管细菌渗漏体外模型的建立

目的：建立检测微细菌培养模型，以用于评价根管充填封闭情况。方法：牙根的冠根两端各连接一细菌培养储室，冠方储室置1mL无菌培养基并接种0．1mL菌液，根方储室起始为无菌培养基。每隔3d将冠方储室中菌液吸出1mL，并注入1mL新鲜BHI培养基，共90d。当根尖储室中培养基发生浑浊即为细菌渗漏发生，记录细菌渗漏发生时的天数。选择18个直根管前牙，其中牙胶充填组6个，用冷牙胶侧方加压充填技术充填；空管组6个，根管只预备不充填；根管密封组6个，根管充填并严密封闭根管口和根尖孔。用设计的模型检测密封状况。结果：全部空管组6个样本在1d内根方储室中出现浑浊；根管密封组6个样本的根方储室在90d内均未发生浑浊。牙胶充填组有2个样本分别在44d和46d发生浑浊。结论：此模型方法简单易行且实用有效，具有一定的临床相关性和可行性。     

Food allergy and non-allergic food hypersensitivity in children and adolescents

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have shown a 10-fold discrepancy of self-reported food-induced symptoms and physician-diagnosed food hypersensitivity. Little information is available on the prevalence of food hypersensitivity in unselected paediatric populations. No data were available for German children. OBJECTIVE: To study the perception of food-induced symptoms in the paediatric population, to investigate the allergens accused, to objectify patients' reports, and to identify subgroups at risk of having food-induced allergy (FA) or non-allergic food hypersensitivity (NAFH) reactions. METHODS: This paper presents the data of the paediatric group (0-17 years) of a representative, randomly sampled, cross-sectional population-based survey studying 13 300 inhabitants of the German capital city Berlin regarding food-related symptoms. Instruments included mailed questionnaires, structured telephone interviews, physical examination, skin-prick tests, specific serum IgE and standardized, controlled and blinded oral food challenges. RESULTS: Two thousand three hundred and fifty-four individuals were contacted by mailed questionnaire, 739 (31.4%) responses could be fully evaluated. Four hundred and fifty-five (61.5%) participants reported symptoms related to food ingestion, 284 (38.4%) affirmed reproducible symptoms in the standardized telephone interview. One hundred and eighty-four (24.8%) individuals were fully examined. Reproducible symptoms to food were found in 31 (4.2%) children and adolescents: 26 (3.5%) showed symptoms of FA and five (0.7%) of NAFH. The oral allergy syndrome was most often observed. Foods most commonly identified by oral challenges were apple, hazelnut, soy, kiwi, carrot and wheat. CONCLUSION: The perception of food-related symptoms is common among children and adolescents from the general population. Self-reports could be confirmed in around one out of 10 individuals, still resulting in 4.2% of proven clinical symptoms. However, most reactions were mild and mainly because of pollen-associated FA, while NAFH reactions were less common. Severe IgE-mediated FA was observed in individuals with pre-existing atopic disease, who should be fully investigated for clinically relevant FA.     

医院感染常见细菌分布与耐药性分析

目的了解细菌分布及常见细菌的耐药性。方法回顾性分析某院2000—2004年临床标本分离的细菌及其耐药性监测结果。结果1439株细菌中，革兰阳性菌456株（31．69％），以凝固酶阴性表皮葡萄球菌为多，达206株（45．18％），其次为金黄色葡萄球菌92株（20．18％）；两种葡萄球菌的耐药率相似，对万古霉素耐药率均为0。革兰阴性菌983株，前5位依次为肠杆菌属346株（35．20％），克雷伯菌属164株（16，68％），铜绿假单胞菌155株（15．77％），埃希菌属101株（10．27％），变形杆菌属94株（9．56％）；前5位革兰阴性菌对常用抗菌药物的耐药性以半合成青霉索较明显，铜绿假单胞菌的耐药性较突出。结论应高度重视细菌变迁和耐药性监测，提高抗菌药物合理应用水平。     

Respiratory atopic disease, Ascaris-immunoglobulin E and tuberculin testing in urban South African children

BACKGROUND: Epidemiological relation of intestinal helminth infection and atopic disease, both associated with a T-helper (Th) 2 immune response, is controversial, as it has been reported that helminth infection may either suppress or pre-dispose to atopic disease. This relation has not been tested in an area with a high burden of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) infection, a known Th1-stimulating infection. OBJECTIVE: To study the association of intestinal helminth infection and atopic disease in a community where helminth infection is endemic and MTB infection is high. METHODS: Three-hundred and fifty-nine randomly selected children aged 6-14 years from a poor urban suburb were tested with allergy questionnaire, skin prick test (SPT) to common aeroallergens, Ascaris-specific IgE (Ascaris-sIgE), fecal examination for pathogenic intestinal helminths and tuberculin skin testing (TST). Histamine bronchoprovocation was tested in the group of children aged 10 years and older. RESULTS: were corrected for demographic variables, socioeconomic status, parental allergy, environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure in the household, recent anthelminthic treatment and for clustering in the sampling unit. Results Ascaris-sIgE was elevated in 48% of children, Ascaris eggs were found in 15% and TST was positive in 53%. Children with elevated Ascaris-sIgE had significantly increased risk of positive SPT to aeroallergens, particularly house dust mite, atopic asthma (ever and recent), atopic rhinitis (ever and recent) and increased atopy-related bronchial hyper-responsiveness. In children with negative TST (<10 mm), elevated Ascaris-sIgE was associated with significantly increased risk of atopic symptoms (adjusted odds ratio (OR(adj)) 6.5; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.9-22.4), whereas in those with positive TST (>/=10 mm) this association disappeared (OR(adj) 0.96; 95% CI 0.4-2.8). CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that immune response to Ascaris (Ascaris-sIgE) may be a risk factor of atopic disease in populations exposed to mild Ascaris infection and that MTB infection may be protective against this risk, probably by stimulation of anti-inflammatory networks.     

Evaluation of hypothesis testing for comparing two populations using NONMEM analysis

In a simulation study of inference on population pharmacokinetic parameters, two methods of performing tests of hypotheses comparing two populations using NONMEM were evaluated. These two methods are the test based upon 95% confidence intervals and the likelihood ratio test. Data were simulated according to a monoexponential model and, in that context, power curves for each test were generated for (i)the ratio of mean clearance and (ii)the ratio of the population standard deviations of clearance. To generate the power curves, a range of these parameters was employed; other pharmacokinetic parameters were selected to reflect the variability typically present in a Phase II clinical trial. For tests comparing the means, the confidence interval tests had approximately the same power as the likelihood ratio tests and were consistently more faithful to the nominal level of significance. For comparison of the standard deviations, and when the volume of information available was relatively small, however, the likelihood ratio test was more able to detect differences between the two groups. These results were then compared to results on parameter estimation in order to gain insight into the question of power. As an example, the nonnormality of estimates of the ratio of standard deviations plays an important role in explaining the low power for the confidence interval tests. We conclude that, except for the situation of modeling standard deviations with only sparse information, NONMEM produces tests of significance that are effective at detecting clinically significant differences between two populations.Partial support from the Upjohn Company, NIH-BRSG SO RR 07066, and the Burroughs Wellcome Foundation.     

Patch testing with a mixture of 2 phenol-formaldehyde resins

1310 patients were routinely patch tested with a paratertiary-butylphenol-formaldehyde resin (PTBP-F-R), a resol resin based on phenol and formaldehyde (P-F-R-2), and a mixture of these 2 resins. Approximately 2.5 times more patients with contact allergy to phenol-formaldehyde resins were diagnosed when routinely patch tested with P-F-R-2 in addition to PTBP-F-R. Although patch testing with a mixture of both resins was not as good as patch testing with the 2 resins separately, it was better than testing only with PTBP-F-R, since 1.6 times more patients with contact allergy to phenol-formaldehyde resins were still diagnosed. P-F-R-2 is therefore recommended for routine patch testing, preferably as a separate patch test but otherwise as a mixture with PTBP-F-R.     

Analgesia produced by intrathecal administration of the kappa opioid agonist, U-50,488H, on formalin-evoked cutaneous pain in the rat

The antinociceptive activity of the selective k opioid agonist U-50,488H, given intrathecally (i.t.) against chemically induced cutaneous pain in rats, was assessed from cumulative dose-response experiments and the formalin test. Three successive i.t. doses of 5, 10 and 35 nmol of U-50,488H produced a gradual reduction of pain scores which was statistically significant at all observation periods. This effect was antagonized significantly by 3 mg/kg i.p. of the opiate antagonists, naloxone and WIN 44,441-3. The analgesia profile showed a clear dose-response relationship. A dose producing 50% ‘maximum posible analgesia’ of 6.20 nmol (95% confidence interval: 3.05–12.59 nmol) was calculated. The results indicated that cutaneous pain of a chemical/inflammatory nature is highly sensitive to activation of k receptors of the spinal cord dorsal horn.     

EVALUATION OF INDOCYANINE GREEN RETENTION AND AMINOPYRINE BREATH TESTS IN PATIENTS WITH MALIGNANT BILIARY OBSTRUCTION

Impaired hepatic function is a major contributory factor to the high incidence of postoperative morbidity and mortality in patients with malignant biliary obstruction. Dynamic hepatic function tests such as indocyanine green (ICG) retention and aminopyrine breath tests were evaluated in such patients to define whether they were clinically useful for prediction of postoperative morbidity and mortality. Forty-four patients with malignant biliary obstruction undergoing surgery for relief of obstructive jaundice were recruited into the study. Indocyanine green retention and aminopyrine breath tests were carried out in all patients pre-operatively and repeated in 36 patients postoperatively. The ICG retention was abnormal in all patients before surgery and there was significant improvement 2 weeks after surgery (32.8 ± 2.5%vs 18.3 ± 2.8%, P= 0.001). The change in ICG retention levels correlated with the serum bilirubin levels but the pre-operative ICG retention value could not predict postoperative morbidity and mortality. The aminopyrine breath test was abnormal in all but one patient. It correlated with pre-operative prothrombin time of the patients before surgery but it did not improve significantly after surgery and was not predictive of postoperative outcome. It is concluded that both ICG retention and aminopyrine breath tests have limited clinical value in the pre-operative evaluation of patients with malignant biliary obstruction.