顺铂聚乳酸微球的药物释放特性及肝动脉栓塞研究

对顺铂聚乳酸微球进行了体外药物释放和家犬肝动脉栓塞研究。该微球粒径范围为50～200μm,平均粒径为115.76±35.94μm,顺铂含量为37.16%(W/W);体外药物释放机制符合Higuchi方程;肝动脉栓塞后8h,肝组织顺铂浓度高达21.55±12.18μg/g,明显高于肝动脉灌注顺铂组:3.16±0.09μg/g(P<0.05);肝动脉栓塞组的顺铂血浓峰值、各取血点浓度及曲线下面积AUC皆低于肝动脉灌注顺铂组。可望达到提高栓塞部位的药物疗效,降低全身毒副反应的作用。     

Primary tuberculous nasal polypi—A case report

Primary tuberculous pathology in nasolpolypi is a rare condition. A case of bilateral ethmoidal polypi with tubercular lesion diagnosed on histopathologlcal examination is being reported and the available relevant literature has been reviewed.     

Cationic Lipid-Based Gene Delivery Systems: Pharmaceutical Perspectives

Gene delivery systems are designed to control the location of administered therapeutic genes within a patient's body. Successful in vivo gene transfer may require (i) the condensation of plasmid and its protection from nuclease degradation, (ii) cellular interaction and internalization of condensed plasmid, (iii) escape of plasmid from endosomes (if endocytosis is involved), and (iv) plasmid entry into cell nuclei. Expression plasmids encoding a therapeutic protein can be, for instance, complexed with cationic liposomes or micelles in order to achieve effective in vivo gene transfer. A thorough knowledge of pharmaceutics and drug delivery, bio-engineering, as well as cell and molecular biology is required to design optimal systems for gene therapy. This mini-review provides a critical discussion on cationic lipid-based gene delivery systems and their possible uses as pharmaceuticals.     

Effects of instruction by practice assistants on inhaler technique and respiratory symptoms of patients. A controlled randomized videotaped intervention study

BACKGROUND: Many patients with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary diseaseuse their medication inhalers incorrectly. General practitioners,pharmacists and other health care providers do not always havethe opportunity to instruct patients in correct inhaler technique. OBJECTIVE: To find out whether the inhaler technique and respiratory symptomsof patients can be improved after instruction by practice assistants. METHODS: Single blind, randomized intervention study in which 48 patientswho had been using a dry powder inhaler for at least one monthtook part. Their inhaler technique was videotaped on two visitswith a two-week interval between visits. The inhaler techniqueon the videos was subsequently scored by two experts on ninecriteria. At both visits the patients completed a questionnaireabout their respiratory symptoms. After the first video, 25patients were randomly chosen to receive instruction from oneof six practice assistants who had followed a one evening courseabout inhaler instruction, and who had been issued an instruction-set. RESULTS: The patients who received instruction had a significantly greaterreduction in number of mistakes at the second visit than thepatients who did not (P = 0.01). The instructed patients alsoreported less dyspnoea at the second visit (P = 0.03). No effectof instruction was found on wheezing, cough and sputum production. CONCLUSION: The inhaler technique of patients can be improved significantlyby the instruction of patients by trained practice assistants,possibly resulting in less dyspnoea. Keywords. Administration-inhalation, obstructive lung diseases, airways symptoms, patient-education, general practice.     

Astomia-agnathia-holoprosencephaly association. Prenatal diagnosis of a new case

A case of agnathia-astomia-holoprosencephaly with prenatal ultrasound diagnosis at 23 weeks is reported and discussed. This lethal neurocristopathy, well known in mammalians, is rarely observed in humans. Prenatal diagnosis features are intrauterine growth retardation, mandibular absence or major hypoplasia, holoprosencephaly, cyclopia or hypotelorism, and in some instances frontal proboscis. This malformation is usually sporadic, but may be genetically determined as an autosomal recessive trait, since two cases in the same sibship have been reported.     

In situ saphenous vein bypass grafts: angiographic evaluation and interventional repair of complications

In situ saphenous vein grafts are being used with increasing frequency for bypass procedures involving the femoral and popliteal arteries. Complications of these procedures include anastomotic stenoses and persistent arteriovenous fistulae that may result in failure of the graft. Balloon angioplasty and embolotherapy with detachable balloons were employed successfully in three or four recent cases of patients with complications from in situ grafts. Tailored angiography is essential for evaluating in situ grafts, and interventional techniques are extremely useful for managing complications.     

Digital radiography of subtle pulmonary abnormalities: an ROC study of the effect of pixel size on observer performance

Forty conventional radiographs with examples of mild interstitial infiltrates and subtle pneumothoraces and 40 normal studies of the chest were selected and digitized, with pixel sizes of 1.0, 0.5, 0.2, and 0.1 mm. Observer performance tests were carried out using receiver operating characteristic analysis. Conventional radiographs and digitized images were compared. The results indicate that, in such cases, diagnostic accuracy increases significantly as the pixel size is reduced, at least to the 0.1-mm level. We conclude that, for digital systems using screen-film or similar image receptors, use of a pixel size substantially larger than 0.1 mm may result in some loss of diagnostic accuracy.     

The hevein domain of the major latex-glove allergen Hev b 6.01 contains dominant T cell reactive sites

BACKGROUND: Sensitization to natural rubber latex (Hevea brasiliensis) is a major cause of occupational asthma and rhinitis affecting frequent latex-glove users. Hev b 6.01, a known major latex allergen, is cleaved naturally into hevein (4.7 kDa) and a C-terminal fragment (14 kDa). Hevein is an abundant protein in latex-glove extracts. As the immune response to allergens is initiated by activation of allergen-specific CD4(+) T cells, identification of dominant T cell epitopes is crucial for the development of specific immunotherapy. OBJECTIVE: To identify dominant T cell epitopes of Hev b 6.01 in latex-allergic glove users. METHODS: Ten latex-allergic frequent glove users and six non-latex-allergic atopic control subjects were selected, based on clinical symptoms and positive latex-specific serum IgE. Serum IgE reactivity to glove extract and recombinant Hev b 6.01 (rHev b 6.01) were analysed by ELISA. Latex-specific short-term oligoclonal T cell lines were generated from peripheral blood of latex-allergic subjects. These lines were tested for proliferative responses to overlapping 20-mer peptides of the Hev b 6.01 molecule. CD4(+) T cell intracellular cytokines, IL-4 and IFN-gamma were assessed following stimulation with immobilized anti-CD3 in the presence of IL-2. RESULTS: All ten of the latex-allergic patients showed serum IgE binding to glove extract while eight of these also showed IgE binding to rHev b 6.01 by ELISA. Western blotting confirmed reactivity with rHev b 6.01 at around 20 kDa. T cell proliferation assays showed that latex-specific T cell lines from all subjects responded to one or more peptides, with greatest frequency of reactivity to peptides Hev b 6.01 p(10-29) and Hev b 6.01 p(19-38) in the hevein domain. An allergic-type cytokine profile with considerable IL-4 in addition to IFN-gamma was evident from intracellular cytokine staining. CONCLUSION: Hevein is an important T cell as well as B cell immunogen and contains dominant T cell reactive sites.