Two CD14 promoter polymorphisms and atopic phenotypes in Czech patients with IgE-mediated allergy

BACKGROUND: Immunoglobulin E (IgE)-mediated allergy belongs to common chronic disorders resulting from an interaction between both genetic and environmental factors. The gene encoding CD14 is a positional candidate gene for allergic diseases as it is localized on chromosome 5q31.1, a region that is linked to asthma and bronchial hyperresponsiveness. Recently, several polymorphisms in the promoter region of this gene have been associated with atopic phenotypes in various populations. METHODS: We investigated relationship among atopic phenotypes and two polymorphisms [C(-159)T and G(-1359)T] in the promoter of the CD14 gene in the Czech population. Polymerase chain reaction with restriction fragment length polymorphism analyses was used to determine the CD14 genotypes in subjects with IgE-mediated allergic diseases (n = 562) and random controls (n = 320). RESULTS: The CD14 allele or genotype distributions were similar in patients and control group. However, the frequency of the C allele of the C(-159)T polymorphism was higher in patients with positive skin prick tests for moulds than in patients without reactivity to this antigen (P < 0.002, Pcorr<0.01). In addition, we found that patients with homozygous genotype (GG) of the G(-1359)T polymorphism had marginally lower percentage of positive skin prick tests compared with the other genotypes (P < 0.029, Pcorr > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our study supports the idea that CD14 gene variants may act as disease modifiers of IgE-mediated allergic diseases.     

Characterisation by restriction mapping of three subtypes of molluscum contagiosum virus.

DNA from Molluscum contagiosum virus (MCV) isolates was analysed by restriction endonuclease digestion, identifying three virus subtypes. The structural features of MCV DNA are typical of poxviral DNA. Physical maps of cleavage sites for BamHI, CIaI, and HindIII were constructed for single isolates of each subtype. These differ extensively, indicating the independence of the three subtypes. However, they are closely related, as determined by molecular hybridisation and nucleotide sequence analysis, and their genomes are essentially colinear. There is marked geographical variation in the relative incidence of MCV I and II, whilst MCV III is uniformly rare.     

In normal development pulmonary veins are connected to the sinus venosus segment in the left atrium

Background: Classic theories descibe that the common pulmonary vein develops as an outgrowth from either the sinus venosus or atrial segment. Recent studies show that the pulmonary veins are connected to the sinu-atrial region before its differentiation into a sinus venosus and atrial segment. Methods: The development of the sinu-atrial region with regard to the developing common pulmonary vein and the growth of the atrial septum was investigated in avian embryos, using both scanning electron microscopy and immunohistochemistry. Embryos ranging between stage HH12 and HH28 were incubated with QH-1 that recognizes quail endothelial cells and precursors, HNK-1, that appears in this study to detect the myocardium of the sinus venosus, or with HHF-35, being specific for muscle actins. Also vascular casts of the heart were produced by injecting prepolymerized Mercox into the vascular system. Results: In preseptation stages the common pulmonary vein drains into the left part of the sinus venosus, that is clearly demarcated by the sinuatrial fold and HNK-1 expression. During atrial septation the left part of the sinus venosus, in contrast to the right part, loses its HNK-1 antigen from stage HH23 onwards, while at the same time the sinu-atrial fold in the left atrial dorsal wall flattens and disappears. From stage HH25 onwards HNK-1 expression is restricted to the right part of the sinus venosus, which contributes to the right atrium. The myocardial atrial septum never expresses the HNK-1 antigen, suggesting that the septum is of atrial origin. Discussion: It appeared that the sinus venosus does not only contribute to the sinus venarum of the right atrium, but also to the left atrium. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Mechanism of action of baclofen on myocardial and vascular contractility

Department of Anatomy and Physiology of Man and Animals, A. I. Gertsen Leningrad Pedagogic Institute. Department of Pharmacology, Academician I. P. Pavlov First Leningrad Medical Institute. (Presented by Academician of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR A. V. Val'dman.) Translated from Byulleten' Éksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 106, No. 10, pp. 436–438, October, 1988.     

Restriction fragment differences between the genomes of the Oka varicella vaccine virus and American wild-type varicella-zoster virus

The Oka vaccine strains of varicella-zoster virus (VZV) have a significantly different BgII DNA restriction pattern from that of American wild-type isolates of VZV. This difference consists primarily of an additional BgII site, which lies within the BamHI "D" fragment. In conjunction with a study of the efficacy of an experimental Merck/Oka VZV vaccine, the area of the genome from which the most marked restriction pattern alteration arises was studied more closely to determine if there are other significant differences between the Oka strains and American wild-type strains. BamHI "D" fragments from the DNA of the Oka parent strain (the progenitor of the vaccine strain), the RIT/Oka vaccine strain (a derivative of the Oka parent strain), the Merck/Oka vaccine strain, and the EF strain (an American wild type), were submitted to extensive endonuclease digestion studies to ascertain if additional unique restriction sites are present in the Oka parent or vaccine strains. The extra BgII restriction site characteristic of the Merck/Oka vaccine strain is also present in the DNA of the parent virus as well as its derivatives and was therefore not produced by the "attenuation" process. No other novel sites were found in the Oka parent or Oka-derived strains in this section of the genome. The Merck/Oka vaccine strain of VZV, despite its Japanese origin, is therefore quite similar to circulating American varicella-zoster virus strains. Varicella-zoster virus DNA, at least in the area of the BamHI D fragment, also appears to be remarkably stable from strain to strain.     

肝硬化门脉高压症患者胃左静脉组织ET-1和NO的变化与静脉压的关系

目的探讨肝硬化门脉高压症患者胃左静脉组织中内皮素-1(ET-1)和一氧化氮(NO)比值的变化及其与胃左静脉压力的相关性。方法放射免疫法和硝酸酶还原法检测肝硬化门脉高压症患者及对照组患者胃左静脉组织中ET-1和NO含量,术中测定胃左静脉压力,比较两组ET-1/NO比值的变化,并对ET-1/NO比值与胃左静脉压力进行相关性分析。结果门脉高压症患者胃左静脉组织中ET-1/N0比值较对照组明显升高(P<0.05)。ET-1/N0比值与胃左静脉压力呈显著正相关关系(P<0.05)。结论肝硬化门脉高压症患者存在ET-1和NO失衡,ET-1产生相对过多,可能是门脉高压症形成和发展的重要原因之一。ET-1/N0比值与胃左静脉压力相关,可以用来间接反映门静脉压的高低,从而对预测曲张静脉破裂出血有一定的意义。     

小陷胸汤加味含药血清对人脐静脉内皮细胞分泌NO/ET-1的调节作用

目的:探讨小陷胸汤加味中药方对血管内皮细胞的保护作用。方港:建立ox-LDL损伤人脐静脉内皮细胞株(ECV-304)模型,用小陷胸汤加味含药血清处理模型,并用放免和硝酸酶还原法在药物干预6h和24h后检测细胞上清液中ET-1和NO含量。结果:100 μg/ml的ox-LDL可损伤血管内皮细胞并导致其分泌NO和ET-1功能失调,小陷胸汤加味含药血清通过影响NO/ET-1的分泌而明显改善此失调状态。结论:小陷胸汤加味中药通过调节NO/ET-1水平显著拮抗ox-LDL对血管内皮细胞损害,具有防治AS的作用。     

DNA polymorphism among isolates from multiple sites of a patient with chronic herpes simplex virus, type 1 infection

DNA polymorphisms among independent isolates of herpes simplex virus (HSV) type 1 were studied from a 7-year-old male patient with recurrent infections of the skin and internal organs. In the patient's serum, HSV antibodies could not be detected by complement fixation, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), or neutralization tests. ELISA tests for the presence of antibodies to human immunodeficiency virus were also negative. One HSV isolate was obtained from mesenteric nodes biopsied in 1983; one from skin in 1984; and three (postmortem) from brain, lungs, and liver in 1985. Restriction enzymes Eco RI, Bgl II, Hind III, Kpn I, and Bam H1 digestion patterns of the five isolates were similar. However, Sal I digests of isolates from skin, mesenteric nodes, lungs, and liver showed variations that were distinct from that of the brain isolate. Although Sal I digests of skin, mesenteric nodes, lungs, and liver isolates share a common variation in lacking F and G, the liver isolate can be further differentiated because of the gain of a restriction site on the H fragment. Thus, the three distinct variants observed were the isolates from brain (variant 1); from skin, mesenteric nodes, and lungs (variant 2); and from liver (variant 3). The fragments involved in variations among these isolates (presence or absence of Sal, G and H) are from the unique short and long regions (invariable regions) of the genome and therefore do not show heterogeneity in size. The extent of variation among these isolates is less than that seen among epidemiologically unrelated strains, suggesting that they originated from a single infecting strain, probably the brain isolate.     

Insulin-like growth factor binding protein-1 (IGFBP-1): a multifunctional role in the human female reproductive tract

Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGFBP-1) is particularly important in human female reproductive physiology, where it is involved with other factors in a complex system which regulates menstrual cycles, puberty, ovulation, decidualization, implantation and fetal growth. This has implications for clinical obstetrics and gynaecology, where there is evidence for a pathophysiological role for IGFBP-1 in pre-eclampsia, intrauterine growth restriction, polycystic ovarian syndrome and trophoblast and endometrial neoplasms.