Expression of ɛBP, a β-galactoside-binding soluble lectin, in normal and neoplastic epidermis

Abstract The study of animal lectins and glycoconjugates has become an important area of research in biomedical sciences, as these molecules are believed to play important roles in a variety of biological processes. This report describes a study of the expression of an animal lectin, IgE-binding protein (?BP), also known as Mac-2 and CBP35, in human skin. We have analyzed cultured human keratinocytes as well as normal human skin and a number of epidermal neoplasms, by immunoblotting. immuno-fluorescence and immunohistochemistry. We showed that ?BP is expressed in human keratinocytes, hair follicles, sebaceous and sweat glands. We found that cBP expression retains in various epidermal neoplasms, including basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and keratoacan-thoma, although the level of expression appears to be reduced as compared to normal epidermis. The immunohistochemical analysis also suggests that the level of ?BP expression appears to be dependent on the degree of cellular differentiation of keratinocytes.     

Identification of widespread Helicobacter hepaticus infection in feces in commercial mouse colonies by culture and PCR assay.

The identification of a new murine pathogen, Helicobacter hepaticus, and its association with chronic active hepatitis and liver tumors prompted an evaluation of the prevalence of H. hepaticus in commercially available mice. Of the 28 different strains or stocks, totaling 160 mice from four major commercial vendors, cultured for H. hepaticus, 100% of mice from two outbred strains from one vendor were infected with H. hepaticus, whereas 9 of 13 inbred mouse strains from another vendor were infected. This high prevalence of H. hepaticus established a need for a rapid and reproducible, noninvasive assay for the screening of colony-maintained mice being used for biomedical research. The culturing of fecal material by using 0.45-microns-pore- size filtration for H. hepaticus consistently yielded reproducible results but required extended periods of time. (1 to 3 weeks) to obtain a definitive answer. Although it is rapid, the use of a direct PCR-based detection assay with fecal specimens is restricted by inhibitory agents. to circumvent these inhibitory agents and to augment our H. hepaticus culture technique, we have developed a novel PCR system in which the bacteria are isolated from fecal material in the presence of polyvinylpyropyrollidone and lysed by treatment with Chelex 100. The PCR is performed with Tth polymerase supplemented with a polymerase enhancer. By this PCR method, 24 H. hepaticus culture-positive and 30 H. hepaticus culture-negative fecal samples were correctly identified. Moreover, two samples which were PCR positive and culture negative initially were positive by both methods upon retesting of fresh material. Southern blot hybridizations and sequencing of PCR products showed them to be H. hepaticus specific. A comparison of results obtained under identical conditions indicated a 100-fold increase in sensitivity with Tth polymerase over Taq polymerase. This PCR method can be used as a noninvasive means of rapidly screening large numbers of colony mice for H. hepaticus.     

腹部外科常见感染性疾病的病原菌及药敏试验研究

为了了解本地区本医院腹部外科感染性疾病病原菌的构成比和药物敏感率的变化,指导临床用药,我们采用美国BD公司生产的6B和7D两种增菌瓶采集标本和培养细菌,并用该公司生产的生化板和药敏板,对1994～1996年269例常见的普外科感染性疾病患者的手术标本进行前瞻性的细菌培养和药敏试验研究.     

Quantification of tissue plasma volume in the rat by contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging

Magnetic resonance imaging enhanced with a macromolecular contrast medium (MMCM), albumin-Gd-DTPA, was used to estimate the plasma volume in vivo in the myocardium, lung, liver, and skeletal muscle of 10 normal rats. The plasma volumes of the same tissues in a parallel group of six rats were estimated in vitro by a conventional radioisotopic technique (¹¹¹In-transferrin). Plasma volumes of myocardium, lung, liver, and skeletal muscle estimated by the MR technique (μl plas. ia cc-¹ of tissue) were 101,109,163, and 11.0, respectively, while plasma volumes measured by the In-transferrin radioisotope technique (mg plasma g-¹ of tissue) were 78.6, 215,143, and 11-2, respectively. Assuming a ratio of densities of aerated lung to blood of 0.45 and of other tissues to blood of 1.0, correlation between the methods was excellent (R² = 0.99) indicating that MR imaging enhanced with MMCM permits reliable in vivo estimation of tissue plasma volume in the rat.     

LPS-Induced NF-kappaB activation and TNF-alpha release in human monocytes are protein tyrosine kinase dependent and protein kinase C independent

BACKGROUND: Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) is an important mediator of septic shock. Endotoxin (LPS) signal transduction in human monocytes leads to activation of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kappaB) and TNF-alpha release. Previous studies have implicated activation of both protein kinase C (PKC) and protein tyrosine kinases (PTK) in LPS-induced NF-kappaB activation and TNF-alpha production. We hypothesized that inhibition of either PKC or PTK would decrease LPS-induced NF-kappaB DNA binding and TNF-alpha release in human monocytes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Human monocytes were stimulated with PMA (50 ng/ml) alone or LPS (100 ng/ml) with and without a nonspecific serine/threonine protein kinase inhibitor staurosporine (Stauro), a specific pan-PKC inhibitor bisindolylmaleimide (Bis), or an inhibitor of PTK genistein (Gen). TNF-alpha release in culture supernatants was measured by an ELISA. NF-kappaB DNA binding was evaluated by electrophoretic mobility shift assay. RESULTS: LPS increased NF-kappaB DNA binding and TNF-alpha release in human monocytes. Nonspecific protein kinase inhibition inhibited NF-kappaB activation and TNF-alpha release, while specific PKC inhibition with Bis had no effect on LPS-induced NF-kappaB DNA binding or TNF-alpha release. PTK inhibition with Gen attenuated both LPS-induced NF-kappaB DNA binding and TNF-alpha production in human monocytes. Direct activation of PKC with PMA induced both NF-kappaB activation and TNF-alpha production by human monocytes. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that LPS-induced NF-kappaB activation and TNF-alpha release in human monocytes are independent of PKC activity. Furthermore, our results provide evidence that PTK plays a role in LPS-induced NF-kappaB activation and TNF-alpha release in human monocytes and thus could be a potential therapeutic target in inflammatory states.     

The specificity of pyrophosphate myocardial scintigrams in patients with prior myocardial infarction: concise communication.

Fifty-five patients with old (9 days to 10 yr) transmural infarcts but with no evidence of recent infarction, were imaged with Tc-99m pyrophosphate. Discrete uptake was rare in the setting of an old infarct. Diffuse uptake was neither sensitive to, nor specific for, acute infarction. Prior infarction will rarely cause diagnostic error if the discrete pattern is required for a positive diagnosis.     

Computed tomography diagnosis of tracheobronchopathia osteochondroplastica

Tracheobronchopathia osteochondroplastica (TO) is a rare benign disease characterized by the presence of osseous and cartilaginous submucosal nodules projecting into the tracheobronchial tree. Most cases are asymptomatic and discovered incidentally at post‐mortem. We identified a case of TO on thoracic spiral CT and confirmed the diagnosis on bronchoscopy. This article reviews the imaging characteristics of TO, and shows the 3‐D virtual bronchoscopic and multiplanar reconstruction appearances of TO.     

Diagnosis of pulmonary embolism: Ventilation perfusion scintigraphy versus helical computed tomography pulmonary angiography

The present study compared the accuracy of ventilation perfusion scintigraphy (VQS) and CT pulmonary angiography (CTPA) for the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism. This was a prospective observational study of 112 patients with suspected pulmonary embolism (PE) who could be studied with both investigations within 24 h. Results were compared to final diagnosis at completion of 6-month follow up, using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. Pulmonary embolism was diagnosed in 27 referred patients (24%). The sensitivity and specificity of VQS and CTPA were similar to that reported from the literature. A normal VQ scan had the highest negative predictive value (100%), while a high-probability VQ scan had the highest positive predictive value (92%). There was no overall difference (area under the ROC curve (AUC)) between VQS (AUC (95% CI) = 0.82 (0.75,0.89)) and CTPA (AUC = 0.88 (0.81,0.94)) for the diagnosis of PE. Among patients with abnormal chest X-rays, CTPA (AUC 0.90 (0.83,0.97)) appeared somewhat better than VQS (AUC 0.78 (0.68,0.88)) but this difference did not reach statistical significance. In this instance, CTPA is at least as accurate as VQS and may provide an opportunity to make alternative diagnoses.