华蟾蜍毒素对离体豚鼠输精管的作用

华蟾蜍毒素(华蟾素)使离体豚鼠输精管产生剂量依赖性收缩反应,利血平化豚鼠输精管及冷藏输精管对华蟾素反应减弱。给酚妥拉明、维拉帕米后,输精管对华蟾素反应均受抑制,溴苄胺可使反应潜伏期缩短。结果提示华蟾素收缩输精管反应可能与其促进肾上腺素能神经末稍NA释放有关。     

Ultrastructural myocardial preservation during coronary artery surgery: a controlled, prospective, randomized study in humans

Potassium cardioplegia was compared with normothermic, intermittent ischemic arrest in 30 patients undergoing multiple coronary artery bypass grafts. Group 1 comprised 15 patients in whom cold potassium cardioplegia with St. Thomas' Hospital solution was used. In Group 2 were 15 patients who underwent intermittent ischemic arrest during the construction of the distal anastomoses. Two myocardial transmural left ventricular biopsies were done in each patient. There was no operative mortality. Electron microscopical examination showed normal myocardial ultrastructure in both groups. In particular, mitochondria were well preserved in all samples. The postoperative electrocardiogram demonstrated a new Q wave in 1 patient in Group 2 whose level of the myocardial isoenzyme of creatine phosphokinase (CPK-MB) was within the normal range. The peak CPK-MB release in Group 1 was 23.2 +/- 20.1 IU and in Group 2, 19.9 +/- 15.1 IU. This difference was not statistically significant. The mean period of anoxic arrest in Group 1 was 49.5 +/- 15 minutes and in Group 2, 25.5 +/- 8 minutes (p less than 0.001). Total cardiopulmonary bypass time in Group 1 was 114.5 +/- 20 minutes and in Group 2, 90.2 +/- 16 minutes (p less than 0.01). It is concluded that both techniques can preserve myocardial subcellular architecture during multiple coronary artery bypass grafting in patients with normal left ventricular function.     

Perfluorochemicals as US contrast agents for tumor imaging and hepatosplenography: preliminary clinical results

In animals, perfluorochemicals (PFCs) are effective ultrasound (US) contrast agents that produce hepatic, splenic, and tumor enhancement. The use of Fluosol-DA 20%, an emulsion of perfluorodecalin and perfluorotripropylamine, was studied in nine non-critically ill patients with cancer who had liver lesions. US studies without Fluosol were compared with studies obtained 24, 48, and 72 hours after Fluosol infusion. Vital signs and extensive laboratory analyses are performed before and after Fluosol infusion. Liver metastases from colonic, pancreatic, and gastric carcinoma exhibited rim or diffuse enhancement after a Fluosol dose of 1.6 g/kg or greater. Fluosol produced echogenic enhancement of the liver and spleen relative to kidney at a dose of 2.4 g/kg, allowing the detection of nonenhancing lesions. In addition, Fluosol at a dose of 1.6 g/kg or greater allowed detection of lesions not seen before contrast medium was administered in three of the seven patients studied. There was a mild increase in the level of serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase in two patients, one given 2.4 and the other 3.2 g/kg of Fluosol. Mild and transient allergic reactions without change in vital signs were experienced by two patients.     

Expression microdissection: operator-independent retrieval of cells for molecular profiling.

Tissue microdissection is an important method for the study of disease states. However, it is difficult to perform high-throughput molecular analysis with current techniques. We describe here a prototype version of a novel technique (expression microdissection) that allows for the procurement of desired cells via molecular targeting. Expression microdissection (xMD) offers significant advantages over available methods, including an increase in dissection speed of several orders of magnitude. xMD may become a valuable tool for investigators studying cancer or other disease states in patient specimens and animal models.     

Analysis of loss of heterozygosity on chromosome 11q13 in atypical ductal hyperplasia and in situ carcinoma of the breast.

Identical allelic loss in invasive and adjacent in situ ductal breast carcinoma (DCIS) on chromosome 11q13 has been previously reported, providing molecular evidence for the progression of DCIS to invasive tumor. In this study we analyzed loss of heterozygosity (LOH) on 11q13 (PYGM, INT-2) in atypical ductal hyperplasia (ADH) and various histological types of in situ carcinomas of the breast in patients without invasive cancer. Twenty-four cases of in situ carcinoma and twelve cases of ADH were studied. Tissue microdissection of normal, hyperplastic, and tumor cells from fixed, paraffin-embedded sections was performed, and DNA was extracted for polymerase chain reaction. In situ tumors included both high- and low-grade DCIS. LOH was identified in six of twenty-two (27.3%) in situ tumors and in one of eleven (9%) ADH cases. Within in situ carcinomas, LOH was identified in six of seventeen (35%) high-grade DCIS but in none of six low-grade DCIS. The present results show that LOH at 11q13 occurs in an appreciable proportion of high-grade DCIS, although the rate is substantially less than in patients with concomitant DCIS and invasive tumor. LOH was identified less frequently in low-grade in situ tumors and ADH, suggesting that a putative tumor suppressor gene(s) located on chromosome 11q13 may be involved in the transition from early preneoplastic lesions to invasive breast cancer.     

Surgical sperm retrieval and intracytoplasmic sperm injection as treatment of obstructive azoospermia

Male genital tract obstructions may result from infections, previous inguinal and scrotal surgery (vasectomy) and congenital bilateral absence of the vas deferens (CBAVD). Microsurgery can sometimes be successful in treating the obstruction. In other cases and in cases of failed surgical intervention, the patient can be treated by microsurgical or percutaneous epididymal sperm aspiration (MESA, PESA) or testicular sperm extraction (TESE) and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). We present the results of 39 ICSI procedures for obstructive azoospermia in 24 couples. The aetiology of the obstruction was failed microsurgery in 11 patients, CBAVD in nine and genital infections in four. Sperm retrieval was accomplished via MESA in four cases, PESA in 18 cases and via TESE in 11 cases. TESE was only applied when PESA failed to produce enough spermatozoa for simultaneous ICSI. In six patients, the ICSI procedure was performed with cryopreserved spermatozoa after an initial PESA procedure. Fertilization occurred in 47% of the metaphase II oocytes; embryo transfer was performed in 92% of procedures and resulted in a clinical pregnancy in 13/39 procedures. Ongoing pregnancy was achieved in 10/39 procedures. One pregnancy was terminated early after prenatal investigation showed a cytogenetic abnormality (47,XX+18, Edwards syndrome). The other nine pregnancies resulted in the live birth of 10 children, without any congenital abnormalities. Epididymal and testicular retrieved spermatozoa were successfully used for ICSI to treat obstructive azoospermia, and resulted in an ongoing pregnancy in 10 of 24 couples (41.6%) after 39 ICSI procedures, a success rate of 25.6% per treatment cycle and of 27.7% per embryo transfer.