Decreased prefrontal 5-HT2A receptor binding in subjects at enhanced risk for schizophrenia

The brain serotonin-2A receptor (5-HT_2AR) has been implicated in both the pathology of schizophrenia and the therapeutic action of atypical antipsychotics. However, little is known about the 5-HT_2AR status before the onset of schizophrenia and before the exposure to antipsychotics. We used [¹⁸F] altanserin and positron emission tomography (PET) in a pilot study of 6 individuals suspected to be at elevated risk for schizophrenia and seven age-matched controls to test the hypothesis that regional 5-HT_2AR binding is altered in the prodromal stages of schizophrenia. Distribution volume ratios (DVRs) as a proxy for 5-HT_2AR availability were significantly reduced in prefrontal cortex regions of at-risk subjects, implicating early abnormalities of serotonergic neurotransmission that antecede the onset of schizophrenia.     

IL-18 Receptor Expression on Epithelial Cells is Upregulated by TNF Alpha

IL-18 is a multifunctional cytokine that augments both innate and acquired immunity and potentiates Th1 and Th2 reactions. We studied the expression of IL-18 receptor (IL-18R) on renal and respiratory epithelial cell lines. Both cell lines upregulated IL-18R mRNA and IL-18R membrane expression in response to TNF alpha and other proinflammatory cytokines. The function of IL-18R was confirmed by induction of IL-8 release from epithelial cells in response to recombinant IL-18. Epithelial cells may represent an important target for IL-18, mainly under inflammatory conditions associated with TNF alpha release.     

PET/CT在肿瘤疾病中的初步应用

目的回顾性探讨PET／CT对肿瘤的诊断价值。方法肿瘤病人200例，其中未治疗病人71例，已治疗病人129例。经静脉注射^18F-FDG 45min后，进行PET／CT扫描。结果未治疗病人71例中，PET／CT准确诊断有68例（95．7％），阴性3例，发现肿瘤转移54例，其中广泛转移30例。已治疗组129例中，提示肿瘤复发或／伴转移96例，其余33例在手术／放疗／化疗等治疗后未见肿瘤复发。结论PET／CT具有对病变部位进行精确定位和定性的优势，大大提高了诊断的准确率。对于肿瘤的早期诊断和分期、指导制定治疗方案、判断肿瘤有无复发与坏死及预后的估计均有重要的临床意义。     

牛IL-18基因的克隆及遗传进化分析

目的：克隆牛白细胞介素18（IL-18）全基因，并对其进行序列分析。方法：从ConA刺激培养的牛外周血淋巴细胞提取总RNA，利用巢式RT-PCR方法扩增出牛IL-18全长cDNA，将其克隆到pMDl8-T载体上，测序后进行序列分析。结果：成功地克隆到了牛IL-18全基因，序列分析表明，实验中所克隆到的牛IL-18序列与GeneBank所登录的牛IL-18核苷酸序列及其推导氨酸序列同源性分别是99．5％和99％。与人、猕猴、野猪、山羊属、马等核苷酸序列及其推导氨基酸序列同源性分别在84．9％-99．5％和74．9％～99％之间，研究结果在国内还未见报道。结论：成功地从牛外周血中克隆到了牛IL-18的基因，其全长为598bp。     

Clinical application of rapid assay of interleukin-6 in influenza-associated encephalopathy

The characteristics of influenza-associated encephalopathy is the high mortality and nimble progress with coma which appears in general cases within 48 hours. Most of patients show no abnormalities in the standard blood checks on admission or in early stage. In this study we investigated if a rapid assay of interleukin (IL)-6 is useful in influenza-associated encephalopathy in early stages. The levels of IL-6 in patients with influenza-associated encephalopathy did not show any significant difference compared with those in patients with febrile convulsion and rotavirus-associated convulsion. However the levels of IL-6 in severe cases were significantly higher than those of mild cases with influenza-associated encephalopathy. Consequently the rapid assay of serum IL-6 is useful to evaluate and decide the therapies.     

Biological response modifier enhances the activity of natural killer cell against human cytomegalovirus-infected cells

Peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) from two human cytomegalovirus (CMV)-seronegative donors and eight CMV-seropositive donors were cultured for 3 days with or without the biological response modifier OK-432 and examined for lysis of K562 cells and CMV-infected MRC-5 cells. OK-432-stimulated PBL exhibited significantly greater natural killer (NK) activity than did unstimulated PBL. There was no difference in activity of NK cells in PBL prepared from CMV-seronegative and -seropositive donors. Antibody-complement depletion studies suggested that OK-432-stimulated NK activity was associated with Leu-7-positive cells. The ability of OK-432 to sustain the NK activity in PBL was decreased when the CD4-positive population of lymphocytes was eliminated by antibody-complement depletion prior to OK-432 stimulation. The ability of OK-432 to sustain the NK activity of PBL was also significantly decreased in the presence of monoclonal antibody against recombinant human interleukin-2. The results suggest that the activity of human NK cells against K562 and CMV-infected MRC-5 target cells can be sustained in vitro by OK-432-stimulated T-helper cells and that the effect of the T-helper cells is mediated, at least in part, by interleukin-2.     

Serum immunomodulatory factors in gastrointestinal diseases. A 30-50-kD serum fraction in Crohn''s disease capable of modulating lymphocyte activation.

We tested the hypothesis that serum factors present in Crohn's disease interfere with the process of lymphocyte activation. The mitogen-induced proliferation and the expression of early activation antigens by normal lymphocytes cultured in the presence of either Crohn's disease sera or sera from different controls were evaluated. The mitogen-induced proliferation was significantly impaired in the presence of Crohn's disease sera. These sera markedly inhibited the mitogen-induced interleukin-2 receptor (IL-2R) expression (48% inhibition), while the effect of sera on the expression of the transferrin receptor and the 4F2 antigen was much less pronounced. Diafiltration experiments showed that the inhibitory effect was confined to a 30-50-kD serum fraction. Such a serum property was not related to the patients' disease activity and disappeared after surgical removal of the affected bowel. The capability of inhibiting the mitogen-induced IL-2R expression was not restricted to Crohn's disease and was observed with sera from other inflammatory and neoplastic gastrointestinal disorders. This study indicates that a marked inhibition of the IL-2R is a mechanism underlying the immunosuppressive property of the serum in Crohn's disease and in other gastrointestinal conditions.