非程控降温,—80℃冻存自体外周血干细胞的研究

目的：观察非程控降温、－80℃冻存的方法对自体外周血十细胞（APBSC）的保存效果。方法：以6％羟乙基淀粉（HES）、5％二甲基亚砜（DMSO）及4％人血白蛋白（ALB）的混合物为冷冻防护剂，将APBSC直接置于－80℃下保存，冻存前反复苏后测定APBSC的CFU－GM、BFU－E；观察移植后造血功能重建情况。结果：13例患者白细胞在十3～＋7天下降至（0．0～0．1）×10／L，白细胞（0．0～0．2）×109／L持续时间3～6天，于＋9～＋11天恢复至1．0X109／L以上．中性粒细胞绝对值（ANC）于＋9～＋11天达到0．5X109／L。血小板在＋3～＋7天下降至（2．0～21）×109／L，于＋8～＋15天恢复至20×109／L以上。CFU－GM、BFU－E回大率分别为76．5％、78．4％。结论：非程控降温、－80℃冻存是一简便、经济、有效的自体外周血于细胞保存方法。     

Isolation of pathogenic bacteria from hospital staff apparel in Nigeria

A survey of bacteria contamination of hospital staff apparel in use in Anambra State, Nigeria, was carried out to determine the extent of contamination by clinically important bacteria. Of a total of 125 swab samples of hospital staff apparel, 72 (58%) showed bacterial contamination including 32 (70%) of 46 samples from hand gloves, 28 of 45 (62%) samples from protective gowns, and 12 of 34 (35%) samples from face-shields. The potentially pathogenic bacteria isolated were Salmonella spp, Proteus vulgaris, Shigella dysenteriae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus. The isolation of clinically important bacteria from the apparel suggests the need for improved infection control measures.     

Quality of life in patients with seasonal affective disorder: summer vs winter scores.

OBJECTIVE: To compare perceived quality of life (QoL) in patients diagnosed with seasonal affective disorder (SAD) during the winter and summer months. METHODS: Twenty-six patients who were enrolled in an ongoing multicentre study in Canada completed 2 measures of QoL (the 20-item Medical Outcomes Study Short-Form General Health Survey [SF-20] and the Quality of Life Enjoyment and Satisfaction Questionnaire, [Q-LES-Q]) during the winter, when suffering from depression, and again during the summer months. RESULTS: Both general and health-related QoL scores were significantly improved in patients with SAD during the summer months, with scores for the most part falling within normal range. CONCLUSIONS: Perceived QoL in patients with SAD is markedly impaired during the winter months but shows a substantial rebound during the summer months. The findings of this study provide further evidence that SAD is a distinct diagnostic entity.     

Fine specificity of autoantibodies to calreticulin: epitope mapping and characterization

Extracellular calreticulin (CRT) as well as anti‐CRT antibodies have been reported in patients with various autoimmune disorders and CRT has been implicated in ‘epitope spreading’ to other autoantigens such as the Ro/SS‐A complex. In addition, antibodies against parasite forms of the endoplasmic reticulum chaperone, CRT, have been found in patients suffering from onchocerciasis and schistosomiasis. In this study, we screened sera for anti‐CRT antibodies from patients with active and inactive systemic lupus ertythematosus (SLE) and primary or secondary Sjögren’s syndrome. Approximately 40% of all SLE patients were positive for anti‐CRT antibodies. The antigenic regions of CRT were determined using full length CRT and fragments of CRT prepared in yeast and Escherichia coli, respectively. Synthetic 15mer peptides corresponding to the major autoantigenic region of CRT (amino acids 1–289), each one overlapping by 12 amino acids, were used to map the B cell epitopes on the CRT protein recognized by autoimmune sera. Major antigenic epitopes were found to be associated with the N‐terminal half of the protein in 69% of the SLE sera from active disease patients, while the C‐domain was not antigenic. Major epitopes were found to be reactive with antibodies in sera from SLE patients with both active and inactive disease, spanning different regions of the N and P‐domains. Sera from both healthy and disease controls and primary Sjögren’s syndrome patients were non‐reactive to these sequences. Limited proteolysis of CRT with two major leucocyte serine proteases, elastase and cathepsin G, demonstrated that an N‐terminal region of CRT is resistant to digestion. Interestingly, some of the epitopes with the highest reactivity belong to the fragments of the protein which bind to C1q and inhibit complement activation. Whether C1q association with CRT is a pathological or protective interaction between these two proteins is currently under investigation.     

Human papillomavirus 16 DNA immortalizes two types of normal human epithelial cells of the uterine cervix.

Premalignant cervical lesions occur at the squamo-columnar junction and in endocervical epithelium and squamous ectocervical epithelium, in descending order of frequency. However, previously only ectocervical cells have been clearly shown to be immortalized in vitro by the oncogenic human papillomaviruses (HPVs). This report describes the immortalization of normal human ecto- and endocervical epithelial cells by the intact HPV 16 genome. Ectocervical epithelial cells (HEC) became immortalized (HEC-16) without crisis while endocervical cells (HEN) were immortalized (HEN-16) after undergoing crisis. HEN-16 and HEC-16 contained integrated HPV 16 DNA, expressed E6 and E7 mRNA, and were aneuploid and nontumorigenic. They also expressed cytokeratins in a pattern similar to their distinct normal parental cells. These results suggest that both squamous and simple epithelial cells of uterine cervix are targets for immortalization by HPV 16.     

大鼠急性肺栓塞后SMP-30表达下降及其对细胞凋亡的影响

目的：研究大鼠急性肺栓塞模型肺组织中衰老标记蛋白质30(SMP-30)的表达变化及其对Fas诱导的细胞凋亡的影响。方法:建立大鼠急性肺栓塞模型，分别在急性肺栓塞后1、8、24和48 h进行支气管肺泡灌洗，然后开胸取出肺组织。常规提取肺组织的总RNA和总蛋白，以正常组为对照，采取半定量RT-PCR的方法研究SMP-30在mRNA水平表达的变化；采用Western blotting方法进一步验证SMP-30在蛋白水平表达的变化；采用免疫组织化学方法检测大鼠肺组织中SMP-30以及肺泡巨噬细胞中IL-8在肺栓塞前后表达的变化及其组织分布情况；采用TUNEL法研究急性肺栓塞后组织细胞的凋亡情况；最后采用ELISA法检测急性肺栓塞后肺泡灌洗液中sFasL的浓度变化。结果:在大鼠急性肺栓塞后的不同时点，SMP-30的mRNA水平和蛋白水平均逐渐降低，在24和48 h下降最为明显。免疫组化研究表明SMP-30主要分布在支气管黏膜上皮细胞和肺泡上皮细胞，急性肺栓塞后SMP-30在上述细胞内的表达均明显降低。TUNEL染色发现随着SMP-30表达的降低，肺组织内出现明显的细胞凋亡现象，同时肺泡灌洗液中sFasL的浓度升高，肺泡巨噬细胞内IL-8的表达也明显升高。结论:大鼠急性肺栓塞后肺组织内SMP-30的表达明显降低，可能促进Fas－FasL细胞凋亡系统的活化。     

Tuberculosis of the tongue in a patient with disseminated pulmonary tuberculosis

A 51-year-old man, heavy cigarette smoker, a homeless alcoholic, with disseminated lesions in lungs and with ulceration and infiltration of the tongue is presented. Treatment with antibiotics was ineffective. He was admitted to the otolaryngological department because of suspicion of the tongue cancer. The histological examination of the tongue biopsy revealed tuberculous granuloma. In the pulmonological department, on admission the patient was cachectic, with massive oedema and ulceration of the tongue, and enlargement of the cervical lymph nodes. He was fed through the gastric tube. He had severe pain of the tongue demanding treatment with opiates analgesics. Chest x-ray revealed disseminated lesions in lungs. Antituberculous therapy was administered because of suspicion of tuberculosis of the tongue and lungs. During the treatment clinical improvement was observed. Tubercule bacilli were grown in the sputum culture after 6 weeks of observation. After 8 weeks of antituberculous therapy regression of lung lesions and healing of the tongue were observed. The patient continued treatment for 6 months in the Lung Disease Outpatient Clinic.