A sensitive and specific radioimmunoassay for ethinylestradiol (EE2) and levonorgestrel (LN) has been developed. Antisera were raised in rabbits after injection of EE2-6-carboxymethyloxime-aminocaproic acid and LN-3-carboxy-methyloxime linked to bovine serum albumin. The sensitivity of immunoassay was 15 pg/ml for EE2 and 10 pg/ml for LN. The cross-reactions showed a high specificity of the assay, and the accuracy and precision of this method satisfied the requirements for the investigation of pharmacokinetics.
With this assay, although the recovery of the assay was not very high (the coefficient of variation 14.02 % for EE2 and 10.27 % for LN) when used to analyse diethylether extracts of biological fluids, a microquanlitative metabolite of norethisterone (NET) and norethisterone-3-oxime (NETO), EE2 analogue in incubation solution with rat hepatocytes, was satisfactorily detected. The result showed that in vitro the amount of NETO transferred to EE2 analogue was three times as much as that of NET. It is necessary to further establish the identity and activity of the analogue, but these data will be found advantageous to the research of steroid-oxime.
Lectins are now widely used as histochemical markers and probes for carbohydrate structures in glycoproteins. In the present study, a method is described for the light and electron microscopic detection of Ulex europaeus agglutinin I binding sites in the normal and neoplastic tissues. The results showed that the gastric mucus-producing cells and some vascular endothelial cells could be strongly stained with labelled lectin in normal mucous membrane. The positive staining reactivity was reduced greatly in neoplastic tissue either in paraffin sections or in thin sections. This suggested that the secretions of gastric carcinoma are different from those of normal gastric mucosa and represent differentiation of neoplastic cells to some degree.
In this study, the authors investigated the effect of cadmium, mercury and lead in vitro on hepatic microsomal mixed function oxidase and lipid peroxidation. The results showed that these metals could inhibit the activity of hepatic microsomal aniline hydroxylase, decrease the concentration of hepatic microsomal cytochrome P-450 and increase the concentration of the inactive form of hemoprotein, P-420. Besides, they could enhance hepatic microsomal lipid peroxidation. There were marked concentration-dependent responsesin these microsomal reactions. Thus, it may be suggested that cadmium, mercury and lead are capable of impaizing hepatic microsomal mixed function oxidase in vitro by stimulating membrane lipid peroxidation.
The contractile responses of rat anococcygeus muscle to phenylephrine, acetylcholine and 5-hydroxytryptamine in relation to berberine and to their specific antagonists were studied separately.
The effects of phenylephrine and acetylcholine were blocked by berberine as well as by atropine. But the α-blocking action of atropine was exhibited only at high concentration.
The anococcygeus muscle response to phenylephrine was competitively inhibited by berberine with a PA2 value of 6.4. The contraction induced by acetylcholine was competitively inhibited by atropine (PA2=8.7), whereas berberine, which differs basically from atropine, shifted the dose-response curve for acetylcholine non-parallelly to the right with its maximal response reduced concomitantly. Its pD2 value was 4.6. This suggests that the antagonistic action of berberine may be exerted non-specifically through a site beyond the M-cholinergic receptor.
Berberine also relaxed the contraction of anococcygeus muscle induced by 5-hydroxytryptamine.
The contractile responses to histamine and isoprenaline were seen only at high concentration. In addition, the response to isoprenaline was little affected by propranolol in our experiment.
The activity of IL-2 produced by mononuclear cells in draining lymph-onde and peripheral blood from patients with cancer was investigated. It was found that, though the activity of IL-2 produced by peripheral blood mononuclear cells from these patients became much lower, the activity of IL-2 produced by draining lymph node mononclear cells from the same donors showed no decline, in contrast to non-malignant patients and healthy controls. What is more, the NK cells of tumor draining lymph-nodes responded as strong to xenogenous IL-2 as those of draining lymphnodes from patients with non-malignant disease. The results suggested that some of the immune functions of tumor draining lymph-node mononuclear cells might be more stable than those of peripheral blood mononuclear cells in patients suffering from cancer, and that local injection of xenogenous IL-2 might enhance the anti-cancer activity of tumor draining lymph-node.
We studied 20 patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension secondary to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) to investigate the acute effect of Ligustrazini on hemodynamics and right cardiac function. The results suggested that Ligustrazini had the effects of dilating pulmonary vessel, decreasing mean pulmonary arterial pressure and pulmonary vascular resistance, increasing cardiac output, and improving right cardiac function. The maximum effects of Ligustrazini occurred at 30 min after starting administration, of the drug, but its effects disappeared 1 h after its withdrawal. From the above we are led to conclude that Ligustrazini as a vasodilator works rapidly, but its effects do not persist long.
In our experiments, a “tendon bridge” or a “tendon tunnel” was used as a conduit to repair the defect of a peripheral nerve in rabbits. A gap of about 1 cm was made on the deep peroneal nerve in each animal. In group 1, the tendon of anterior tibial muscle was isolated near the severed nerve, and a segment of half cross section of tendon was removed in ladder-shaped reversed fashion. The proximal and distal nerve stump were sutured respectively to the tendon by 11/0 atraumatic sutures under surgical microscope. In group 2, the nerve stumps were sutured to the tendon of anterior tibial muscle without cutting the tendon, but the tendon was dissected free and turned to form a tunnel wrapping the gap in between the nerve stumps.
The results showed that a gap of 1 cm of the deep peroneal nerve might be repaired by both methods, but the results of using “tendon tunnel” in group 2 were much better than those of using “tendon bridge” in group 1.
The present paper reported 15 cases, in which skin and fascia forearm island flap with posterior interosseous artery pedicle was applied. It was found that this flap has the advantages of stable vessels, abundance in blood supply and good circulation, without sacrificing the main arteries of the forearm. As a result, it is an ideal method for repair and reconstruction of the hand and forearm.
400 urinary calculi have been analyzed by chemical and physical methods, namely chemical qualitative analysis, metallic elements spectrometry, X-ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopy, thermographimetric analysis, polarizing microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, etc. Further understanding of the correlation between the structure and the composition of calculi was achieved, which may be helpful in inquiring the formation of urinary calculi.
A model was produced for formation of coronary artery thrombosis and development of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in experimental dogs (n= 8) by injuring endothelium of coronary artery with a steel wire, inserting a copper wire into the lumen, and producing local stenosis with a constrictor. The results showed that ST segment of epicardial ECG began to elevate 15–30 min after handling the coronary artery, platelets aggregation rate and plasma TXB2 increased rapidly, plasma 6-k-PGF1α did not change, platelets cGMP rose continuously, while platelets cAMP rose only at 60 min after handling the coronary artery. Histological findings confirmed the occurrence of artery thrombus and myocardial necrosis. The model may be helpful in investigating the whole process of activation of platelet, thrombogenesis and development of AMI, with the changes in biochemstry, structure, pathophsiology and ECG monitored during the period.
The method of M-mode and 2-dimensional echocardiography was employed in 81 healthy persons to compare the difference in left ventricular structure and function between the elderly group (n = 41, aged 60–76 years) and the control group (n = 40, 22–58 aged years). The results revealed: 1) Aging of cardiovascular system was structurally as well as functionally reflected by echocardiogram, with echocardiographic findings appearing earlier than clinical manifestations. 2) Myocardial contractility and pump function of the elderly were often maintained in good status at rest. 3) Latent depression of left ventricular diastolic function was frequently seen in the elderly. LAD, AE, MVV and EPSS were found to be sensitive compared with the control group, (P< 0.05, < 0.001, < 0.001, < 0.001, respectively) and useful indices, which can be readily determined. Therefore, in order to evaluate the status of cardiac structure and function of the elderly accurately, it is important to refer to the normal values of relevant age group and draw conclusions from multi-parameters.
Triglyceride was accumulated saturably in cultivated human fibroblasts exposed to increasing concentration of normal very low density lipoprotein (N-VLDL). Characterization of binding and degradation of125I-N-VLDL by the cells indicated a direct uptake of intact N-VLDL particles via the cell surface receptor. Competition of unlabelled N-VLDL and LDL with125I-N-VLDL in fibroblasts suggested that LDL receptor may be involved in this process. An unsaturable triglyceride accumulation in fibroblast induced by macrophage-conditioned medium containing N-VLDL was also observed. Intracellular triglyceride content, in this case, is linearly correlated with the concentration of N-VLDL in the medium and results mainly from re-esterification of fatty acid produced by hydrolysis of VLDL-triglyceride by lipoprotein lipase of macrophage.