The Clinical Significance of Anti-LSP Antibodies in the Sera of Patients with Viral Hepatitis:An Evaluation with ELISA and SPA-RIA

Antibodies against LSP in the sera of 163 patients with various typesof viral hepatitis were determined with SPA-RIA.The sera of anothergroup of 118 patients(109 of them were from the first group)withviral hepatitis were studied with ELISA for the same antibodies,whichwere further divided into three categories,that is,IgG,IgM,and IgAclasses.The results of 109 patients examined with both of the two me-thods indicated that anti-LSP antibodies measured by SPA-RIA mightmainly represent anti-LSP IgG class.It was found that circulating anti-LSP antibodies could easily be detected in most patients with either acuteor chronic hepatitis.After analyzing the results,the authors suggest thatthe humoral immune response against LSP might not be the sole initiatingfactor in the pathogenesis of viral hepatitis,they are more likely theresult of the antigen variation of the injured liver cells.     

Picosecond Laser Shock Micro-Forming of Stainless Steel: Influence of High-Repetition Pulses on Thermal Effects

A study of the peen forming of thin stainless steel metal foils (50 μm thick) using a solid-state ps-pulsed laser, emitting at a wavelength of 1064 nm was conducted. The pitch distance between consecutive laser pulses was kept constant by tuning the laser repetition rate from 0.4 to 10 kHz, and subsequently the scanning speed. The induced bending angle and the radius of curvature were used to measure the effect of the treatment. Their dependence on the pulse energy, the treated area, the distance between lines, and the laser repetition rate was studied. High repetition rates do not allow the sample to cool down, affecting the bending to the point of being negligible. An FEM simulation and experiments were carried out to prove that the increase in temperature due to high repetition rate can relax the stresses induced by laser peen treatment, thus preventing bending in the sample.     

Frozen platelets

The technical limitations on platelet shelf life and storage have driven research for alternatives, including cryopreservation of platelets. Over the past 60 years, product development has adopted freezing platelets in 6% dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and storage in mechanical freezers at ?80?°C for up to 2 years. Frozen platelets show a primed, hypercoagulable in vitro phenotype post-thaw when assayed using morphology, flow cytometry for marker expression, and thrombin capacity. In vivo studies show a role for frozen platelets in the maintenance of hemostasis and data from limited clinical trials show frozen platelets are safe and appear beneficial. As research continues to address the functional role of in vitro assays for clinical outcomes, frozen platelet product development represents a good alternative to room temperature platelets for many applications.     

Correlation between LSP1 polymorphisms and the susceptibility to breast cancer

Objective: The present study aimed at assessing the relationship between Leukocyte-specific protein 1 gene (LSP1) polymorphisms (rs569550 and rs592373) and the pathogenesis of breast cancer (BC). Methods: 70 BC patients and 72 healthy subjects were enrolled in the study. Rs569550 and rs592373 polymorphisms were genotyped by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). Odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated by the chi-squared test to assess the relationship between LSP1 polymorphisms and BC risk. Linkage disequilibrium (LD) and haplotypes were also analyzed by HaploView software. Results: Genotype distribution of the control was in accordance with Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE). The homozygous genotype TT and T allele of rs569550 could significantly increase the risk of BC (TT vs. GG: OR=3.17, 95% CI=1.23-8.91; T vs. G: OR=1.63, 95% CI=1.01-2.64). For rs592373, mutation homozygous genotype CC and C allele were significantly associated with BC susceptibility (CC vs. TT: OR=4.45, 95% CI=1.38-14.8; C vs. T: OR=1.70, 95% CI=1.03-2.81). LD and haplotypes analysis of rs569550 and rs592373 polymorphisms showed that T-C haplotype was a risk factor for BC (T-C vs. G-T: OR=1.74, 95% CI=1.04-2.92). Conclusion: LSP1 rs569550 and rs592373 polymorphisms are both risk factors for BC.     

The plasma membrane origin of liver-specific protein (LSP)

ABSTRACT— Liver-specific lipoprotein (LSP) is a potentially important target antigen for autoimmune liver cell injury, but the complexity of LSP “the preparation” has hindered investigation of anti-LSP immune responses. In the present study, rabbit LSP and isolated liver plasma membranes (LPM) were compared using electron microscopy and marker enzyme analysis to determine the subcellular site of origin of LSP. These results suggest that LSP “the preparation” is highly enriched with plasma membrane.     

Breast cancer susceptibility alleles and ovarian cancer risk in 2 study populations

Recent genome-wide scans identified several novel breast cancer risk alleles, including variants of the FGFR2, MAP3K1 and LSP1 genes, and a study of associations between these alleles and characteristics of breast cancer patients reported a borderline significant correlation between the number of FGFR2 minor alleles and family history of breast/ovarian cancer. Given these results and similarities in the etiology of breast and ovarian cancer, we examined the association between 7 novel breast cancer susceptibility alleles and epithelial ovarian cancer risk in 2 large study populations. Our analysis included 1,173 cases and 1,201 controls from a New England-based Case-Control study and 210 cases and 603 controls from the prospective Nurses' Health Study. We used logistic regression to estimate the odds ratio (OR) for individuals heterozygous or homozygous for the minor allele at each locus, compared to individuals with the wild-type genotype. We examined the associations separately in each population and, after testing for heterogeneity in the results, pooled the estimates using a random effects model. There was no clear association between these polymorphisms and ovarian cancer risk in either population. The pooled per allele OR for FGFR2 was 1.06 (95% confidence interval (CI)=0.95-1.18) for rs1219648 and 1.04 (95% CI=0.93-1.15) for rs2981582. We had more than 80% power to detect a log-additive OR of 1.16-1.18 per allele at the alpha=0.05 level in the pooled analysis. Our results do not provide strong support for an association between these breast cancer susceptibility alleles and epithelial ovarian cancer risk.     

Lymphocyte recruitment to the liver: molecular insights into the pathogenesis of liver injury and hepatitis

Recirculation of blood lymphocytes through the liver occurs under normal conditions as part of the process of immune surveillance. In response to injury or infection recruitment from blood increases and the nature and distribution of the infiltrate will determine the type and outcome of the resulting hepatitis. Recruitment from blood occurs via the hepatic sinusoids and is controlled by interactions between circulating lymphocytes and the highly specialised sinusoidal endothelial cells. This is a low flow vascular bed and the molecular basis of recruitment differs from other tissues. In this review we outline the molecular basis of lymphocyte recruitment to the liver and the effect on it of the local tissue microenvironment and how dysregulation of these processes can lead to uncontrolled inflammation and liver damage.     

Off-line virtual microscopy in teaching histology to the undergraduate medical students: do the benefits correlate with the learning style preferences?

Introduction

Advances in technology have metamorphosed the methods and tools used in medical education. Teaching microscopic anatomy has shifted in the last few decades from conventional microscopy using light microscope and glass slides to virtual microscopy using computers and virtual slides.Students differ in their learning style preferences. Their performance is optimized when the teaching method or a strategy is adopted to their learning style preference.The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of using the off-line virtual slides in teaching histology on the performance of the first-year medical students and to ascertain its suitability to students with different learning style preferences.