Normal cerebral perfusion measurements using arterial spin labeling: reproducibility, stability, and age and gender effects.

Before meaningful conclusions can be drawn from clinical measures of cerebral blood perfusion, the precision of the measurement must be determined and set in the context of inter- and intrasubject sources of variability. This work establishes the reproducibility of perfusion measurements using the noninvasive MRI technique of continuous arterial spin labeling (CASL). Perfusion was measured in 34 healthy normal subjects. Intersubject variability was assessed, and age and gender contributions were estimated. Intersubject variation was found to be large, with up to 100% perfusion difference for subjects of the same age and gender. Repeated measurements in one subject showed that perfusion remains remarkably stable in the short term when compared with intersubject variation and the large capacity for perfusion change in the brain. A significant decrease in the ratio of gray-matter to white-matter perfusion was found with increasing age (0.79% per year (P < 0.0005)). This appears to be due mainly to a reduction in gray-matter perfusion, which was found to decrease by 0.45% per year (P = 0.04). Regional analysis suggested that the gray-matter age-related changes were predominantly localized in the frontal cortex. Whole-brain perfusion was 13% higher (P = 0.02) in females compared to males.     

Biatrial aspergillosis in a patient with immunocompetency.

A 24-year-old man presented with a 24-hour history of pain and numbness in his left arm. The patient's clinical presentation of peripheral embolism was corroborated by angiography. Echocardiographic study showed masses in both right and left atria. Pathologic specimen from the embolus confirmed the diagnosis of aspergillosis.     

Session XII Male contraception

Session XII Male contraception     

单核细胞增生李斯特菌L型对小鼠脾脏树突状细胞免疫调节作用影响的研究

  目的  研究单核细胞增生李斯特菌(Listeria monocytogenes, LM)感染对树突状细胞(dendritic cell, DC)免疫功能的影响,探讨细菌型(WT)和L型(L-form)LM对DC的免疫活化能力差异。  方法  将C57BL/6小鼠随机分为对照组、WT组、L-form组,3组小鼠分别经尾静脉感染PBS液、细菌型LM和L型LM,电镜观察脾脏DC超微结构特征;流式细胞术检测小鼠脾脏DC的数量、共刺激分子表达、胞内细胞因子分泌、脾脏T细胞亚群及其活化程度。  结果  透射电镜可观察到对照组小鼠脾脏DC表面有大量丝状伪足,胞浆均匀,细胞核大而偏于一侧;吞噬细菌后,表面丝状伪足减少,胞质内空泡增多;小鼠感染后第1天脾脏中DC绝对值无明显升高或降低(P>0.05),但成熟表型特征性分子表达上调(P < 0.05),L-form感染组DC表面CD80和CD86分子均高于WT组(P < 0.05);小鼠感染LM后TNF-α+DC比例明显升高,L-form感染组分泌TNF-α的DC高于WT组(P < 0.05);感染LM后第7天,3组小鼠脾脏CD4+T细胞和CD8+T细胞在淋巴细胞中所占比例差异均无统计学意义(P>0.05),但L-form组CD69+ T细胞比例高于WT组(P < 0.05)。  结论  L型LM可介导相对高水平的TNF-α,促进DC成熟以增强其抗原递呈的能力。