OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical value of serum tissue polypeptide specific antigen (TPS) for primary hepatic cancer in comparison with alpha-fetoprotein (AFP). METHODS: TPS and AFP were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in 85 patients with primary hepatic cancer, 19 with metastatic hepatic cancer, 35 with liver cirrhosis, 22 with chronic hepatitis and 50 healthy control subjects. RESULTS: Serum AFP levels were elevated in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma in comparison with that in cholangiocarcinoma patients (P=0.037), but the difference was not significant (P=0.737). Serum TPS levels were significantly correlated with the tumor size (P=0.001), but not with the number of the tumors, portal invasion, extrahepatic metastasis, clinical stage or histological differentiation (P>0.05). A significant correlation was observed between AFP level and tumor size (P=0.028), portal invasion(P=0.005), and histological differentiation (P=0.000). CONCLUSION: TPS alone offers no more clues than AFP for the diagnosis of primary hepatic cancer, though it can be helpful for the diagnosis of cholangiocarcinoma. It has only limited clinical utility as a marker for primary hepatic cancer. 相似文献
Background: Preconditioning the brain with relatively safe drugs seems to be a viable option to reduce ischemic brain injury. The authors and others have shown that the volatile anesthetic isoflurane can precondition the brain against ischemia. Here, the authors determine whether isoflurane preconditioning improves long-term neurologic outcome after brain ischemia.
Methods: Six-day-old rats were exposed to 1.5% isoflurane for 30 min at 24 h before the brain hypoxia-ischemia that was induced by left common carotid arterial ligation and then exposure to 8% oxygen for 2 h. The neuropathology, motor coordination, and learning and memory functions were assayed 1 month after the brain ischemia. Western analysis was performed to quantify the expression of the heat shock protein 70, Bcl-2, and survivin 24 h after isoflurane exposure.
Results: The mortality was 45% after brain hypoxia-ischemia. Isoflurane preconditioning did not affect this mortality. However, isoflurane preconditioning attenuated ischemia-induced loss of neurons and brain tissues, such as cerebral cortex and hippocampus in the survivors. Isoflurane also improved the motor coordination of rats at 1 month after ischemia. The learning and memory functions as measured by performance of Y-maze and social recognition tasks in the survivors were not affected by the brain hypoxia-ischemia or isoflurane preconditioning. The expression of Bcl-2, a well-known antiapoptotic protein, in the hippocampus is increased after isoflurane exposure. This increase was reduced by the inhibitors of inducible nitric oxide synthase. Inducible nitric oxide synthase inhibition also abolished isoflurane preconditioning-induced neuroprotection. 相似文献
BACKGROUND: Personality traits are associated with substance dependence (SD); genetic factors may influence both. Strong associations between ADH4 variation and SD have been reported. We aimed to investigate the relationship between ADH4 variation and personality traits in the present study. METHODS: We assessed dimensions of the five-factor model of personality in 243 subjects with SD (175 European Americans [EAs] and 68 African Americans [AAs]) and 296 healthy control subjects (256 EAs and 40 AAs). We also genotyped 7 ADH4 markers (spanning the locus) and 38 unlinked ancestry-informative markers in these subjects. The relationships between the diplotypes, alleles, and genotypes at ADH4 and personality traits were examined using multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA), controlling for potential confounders. RESULTS: Generally, SD patients, older individuals, and male subjects scored higher on neuroticism and lower on other personality factors. Personality factors were associated with the diplotypes. The allele A or genotype A/A of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)6 (rs1800759 at the gene promoter) was significantly associated with agreeableness scores. There were associations between extraversion and SNP1 (hcv2033010 at the 3' end) and SNP2 (rs1042364 in exon 9) in subjects with higher conscientiousness scores. CONCLUSIONS: The personality traits of agreeableness and extraversion are related to ADH4 polymorphism. Among the ADH4 markers that appear to predispose to certain personality traits, the functional variant rs1800759 (SNP6) in the promoter region is most important. We conclude that personality traits and SD have a partially overlapping genetic basis. 相似文献
BACKGROUND: Dendritic cell is the most major antigen presenting cell of organism. It is proved in recent studies that human umbilical cord blood mononuclear cells induced and cultured in vitro by recombinant human granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (rhG-MCSF) and recombinant human interleukin-4(rhIL-4) can generate a great many dendritic cells and promote the lethal effect of T cells on human neuroblastoma, but it is unclear that whether the lethal effect is associated with the most proper concentration of dendritic cells.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the lethal effect of human umbilical cord blood mononuclear cells induced in vitro by cytokines differentiating into dendritic cells on human neuroblastoma, and its best concentration range.
DESIGN: Open experiment.
SETTING: Department of Pediatrics, the Medical School Hospital of Qingdao University.
MATERIALS: The study was carried out in the Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory (Laboratory for the Department of Pediatrics of the Medical School Hospital of Qingdao University) during September 2005 to May 2006. Human umbilical cord blood samples were taken from the healthy newborn infants of full-term normal delivery during October to November 2005 in the Medical School Hospital of Qingdao University, and were voluntarily donated by the puerperas. Main instruments: type 3111 CO2 incubator (Forma Scientific, USA), type 550 ELISA Reader (Bio-Rad, USA). Main reagents: neuroblastoma cell line SK-N-SH (Shanghai Institute of Life Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences), RPMI-1640 culture fluid and fetal bovine serum (Hyclone), rhIL-4 (Promega, USA), rhG-MCSF (Harbin Pharmaceutic Group Bioengineering Co.Ltd), rat anti-human CD1a monoclonal antibody and FITC-labeled rabbit anti-rat IgG (Xiehe Stem cell Gene Engineering Co.Ltd).
METHODS: ① Human umbilical cord blood mononuclear cells obtained with attachment methods differentiated into human umbilical cord blood dendritic cells, presenting typical morphology of dendritic cells after in vitro induction by rhG-MCSF and rhIL-4. ② Different concentrations of dendritic cells[ dendritic cells: neuroblastoma cells=20∶1,50∶1,100∶1(2×108 L-1,5×108 L-1,1×109 L-1)], 1×109 L-1 T cells and 1×107 L-1 neuroblastoma cells were added in the experimental group. 1×109 L-1 T cells and 1×107 L-1 neuroblastoma cells were added in the control group. ③ Main surface marker CD1a molecules of dendritic cells were detected with indirect immunofluorescence, and the percent rate of dendritic cells was counted with ultraviolet light and expressed as the expression rate of CD1a+ cells. ④ Single effector cells and target cells were respectively set in the experimental group and control group to obtain the lethal effect. The lethal effect of dendritic cells on neuroblastoma cells was indirectly evaluated by detecting cellular survival with MTT assay. The lethal effect(%)=(1-A experimental well-A effector cell well/A target cell well)×100%.⑤The experimental data were presented as Mean ±SD, and paired t test was used.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: ① Morphological characters of dendritic cells in the process of induction and differentiation. ②CD1a+ cellular expression rate. ③Lethal effect of dendritic cells on neuroblastoma cells.
RESULTS: ①Morphological characters of dendritic cells in the process of induction and differentiation: On the 15th day after human umbilical cord blood mononuclear cells were induced by rhG-MCSF and rhIL-4, typical morphology of dendritic cells could be seen under an inverted microscope. ②Expression rate of CD1a+ cells was (43.12±5.83)%. ③Lethal effect of dendritic cells on neuroblastoma cells: Lethal effect of dendritic cells stimulated T cells in each experimental group ( dendritic cells: neuroblastoma cells=100∶1,50∶1,20∶1 respectively) on neuroblastoma cells was significantly higher than that in control group[(31.00 ±4.41)%,(30.92±5.27)%,(33.57±5.35)%,(26.23±5.20)%, t=3.51,2.98,4.24, P < 0.01); But the lethal effect of dendritic cells on neuroblastoma was significantly lower when their ratio was 100∶1 and 50∶1 in comparison with 20:1 (t=2.01,2.36, P < 0.05), and no significant difference in lethal effect existed between the ratio at 100∶1 and 50∶1(t=0.06,P > 0.05).
CONCLUSION: Dendritic cells differentiated from human umbilical cord blood mononuclear cells after in vitro induction of cytokines can promote the lethal effect of T cells on neuroblastoma cells. The lethal effect is associated with the concentration of dendritic cells within some range. 相似文献