VS38: a new monoclonal antibody for detecting plasma cell differentiation in routine sections.

AIMS--To characterise a new mouse monoclonal antibody, VS38, which recognises an intracytoplasmic antigen of 64 kilodaltons present in normal and neoplastic plasma cells; and to establish its value as a diagnostic reagent for routine pathological practice. METHODS--A range of normal and neoplastic tissue sections, both frozen and routinely fixed, were immunostained, using the microwave method of antigen retrieval for routinely fixed specimens. The antibody was also tested on blood and bone marrow specimens and a range of human cell lines. The molecular weight of the antigen recognised by the antibody was obtained by western blot analysis. FACS analysis was used to demonstrate the cellular location of the antigen and its presence on tonsil cell suspensions and myeloma cases. RESULTS--VS38 recognised normal and neoplastic plasma cells in all of the tissues, including all routinely fixed plasma cell neoplasms tested. The antibody also weakly stained epithelial elements within the tissue but was absent from haemopoietic cells of other lineages. CONCLUSION--Antibody VS38 is of potential value in identifying myeloma or plasmacytoma in bone marrow or other tissues. It differentiates lymphoplasmacytoid lymphoma from lymphocytic and follicular lymphoma. It also subdivides large cell lymphomas into two groups which may be a more reliable method of separating these tumours than morphology alone.     

青蒿琥酯皮肤擦剂在小鼠和兔体内的药代动力学研究

将青蒿琥酯溶于苯二甲酸二甲酯,加适量氨酮制成皮肤擦剂。给兔脱毛后,皮肤涂抹此擦剂25mg/kg后,血药浓度达峰时间平均为2 h,峰浓度平均为1.80μg/ml。药物在兔体内平均驻留时间为3.54 h,清除半衰期约为2.46 h。给小鼠脱毛皮肤涂抹擦剂6.7,31.3和71.4 mg/kg,血药浓度在给药后0.5～4 h达高峰,峰浓度分别为0.82,2.05和7.11μg/ml,体内药物平均驻留时间为3.39,2.79及3.54 h,清除半衰期为2.35,1.93及2.45 h。可见,给兔及小鼠皮肤擦剂后,青蒿琥酯吸收良好,血药浓度维持时间较长。     

Biochemical evidence that cytokeratins are present in smooth muscle

Recent immunocytochemical studies have revealed that cytokeratin intermediate filaments, previously thought to be restricted to epithelial tissues, are present in muscle. In view of the implications of these reports for diagnostic pathology it is important to investigate by biochemical means whether these findings represent the presence of true cytokeratin proteins or an unexpected antigenic cross-reaction. In the present study intermediate filament proteins have been extracted from samples of human myometrium and identified by immunoblotting techniques using well characterized monoclonal antibodies, two against cytokeratins and two against desmin. The results show that the proteins of the appropriate molecular weight for cytokeratin were labelled by anti-cytokeratin antibodies and were quite distinct from those recognized by anti-desmin antibodies. This study therefore confirms previous immunocytochemical findings and emphasizes the need for caution when using anti-intermediate filament antibodies for diagnostic purposes.