2346 liver samples from 17 areas in China were investigated for intrahepatic hepatitis D antigen (HDAg) by direct enzyme-labelled technique. HDAg was detected in 167 out of 1764 samples of HBsAg positive individuals with the detection rate of 9.47%. Hepatitis D virus (HDV) infection existed in all the examined areas without any significant difference regarding HDAg detection rate. A relationship of intrahepatic HDAg to the pathologic type of the liver disease was observed. The HDAg detection rate in chronic liver diseases and severe hepatitis was higher than in other liver diseases. It suggested that HDV infection was associated with the progression and chronicity of the liver disease. Studies on the relationship between HDV infection and HBV replication showed that HBV replication might be suppressed by HDV infection. Both HDV and HBV, however, could replicate in the same hepatocyte simultaneously.
Intrahepatocellular HBVDNA was investigated in patients with chronic hepatitis B by in situ hybridization assay, employing biotin-labelled HBVDNA as the specific probe. It was found that HBVDNA was predominantly present in the cytoplasm of hepatocytes. In general the cases with cytoplasmic HBVDNA could be grouped as follows: 1) cytoplasmic HBVDNA coinciding with intrahepatic envelope protein and nucleocapsid component expression, this pattern of the cytoplasmic HBVDNA would be replicative; 2) cytoplasmic HBVDNA accompanied by intrahepatic single HBsAg expression, common to HBVDNA integrated into host genome with only HBsAg being found frequently in liver; 3) with only cytoplasmic HBVDNA, with neither HBsAg nor HBcAg expression, representative for non-replicative status. It is speculated that the reason for the occurrence of the cytoplasmic hybridization signal in cases with non-replicative HBVDNA may be due to DNA-RNA transcript hybrid. The prudent way to evaluate the implication of the cytoplasmic HBVDNA is to consider the combination of HBVDNA location, intrahepatic gene product expression, and HBV markers in the serum.
A panel of monoclonal antibodies (McAb) from the Wu series was used to characterize lymphocyte subsets of peripheral blood (PB) from 9 patients with multiple myeloma (MM) by means of indirect immunofluorescence assay. In 7 of these patients bone marrow (BM) cells were also studied. Abnormal distribution of T lymphocyte subsets was observed in these patients, and the alterations were quite similar in both PB and BM. A significant increase in the proportion of WUT8+ cells (P<0.00l) and a reduced WuT4/WuT8 ratio (P<0.001) were found in patient group. In both PB and BM of patients, WuT10+ cell counts were significantly higher than normal (P<0.00l). There was a good correlation between BM WuT10+ cells and BM myeloma cells (r= 0.76, P<0.05), whereas no correlation was found between PB WuT10+ cells and BM myeloma cells. The significance of abnormal T-cell subset distribution and elevated WuT10+ cells in MM is discussed.
In order to investigate the relation of impedance rheopneumogram with pulmonary hemodynamics and right ventricular function in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), we measured impedance rheopneumogram and performed right heart catheterization on 150 COPD patients simultaneously both at rest and during exercise test. The results showed that impedance rheopneumogram was mainly influenced by right ventricular after-load while the influences of right ventricular pre-load, right ventricular contractivity, right ventricular work index and cardiac output were rather slight. These results also suggest that in COPD patients impedance rheopneumogram is of great value when used to predict pulmonary arterial pressure but of little value when used to measure the right ventricular function.
17 cases of pituitary somatotroph adenoma and 38 cases of prolactinoma were studied with electron microscopy and immunoelectron microscopy using protein A-gold complex. 4 adenomas were shown by immunoelectron microscopy to contain simultaneously growth hormone (GH)-producing and pcolactin (PRL)-producing cells. 6 cases were classified as densely granulated GH adenomas and 11 as sparsely granulated variant, wheceas only 3 adenomas out of 38 prolactinomas were identified as densely granulated adenomas. The present study showed that not all cells with fibrous bodies possessed secretory granules positive for GH, and in some cells with fibrous bodies. PRL-producing granules were also detected. Misplaced exocytosis was found frequently in the sparsely granulated prolactinomas. From these findings it may be suggested that fibrous bodies are not a morphological feature characteristic of pituitary somatotroph adenomas.
A simple and efficient staining method to handle simultaneously thirty (or even more) electron microscope grids with ultrathin sections is described. The device applied is easily constructed from inexpensive and readily available materials but can bring easily high quality staining results, and the amount of stain and washing water required is very small.
Since 1979, the authors have performed five types of microsurgical flap (including myocutaneous flap) graft to treat 40 patients with disorders of leg and foot. In the treatment of inflammatory diseases, good results were obtained owing to the following important points: 1) the operation was performed with inflammation well controlled or localized, particularly in chronic osteomyelitis; 2) indication for each type of microsurgical flap was made carefully; 3) isolation of flap was carried out gently, bleedings were thoroughly stopped by ligation.
To develop the surgical model, composite mandibular tissue was transplanted at the same site. Revascularization was accomplished by end-to-end anastomosis of the facial vessels using standard microvascular techniques. A total of 33 vascularized composite mandibular tissue allografts were similarly performed between two incompatible strains of rabbit. In a control group of 9 animals, no immunosuppression was administered. All of these allografts were rejected acutely within 10 days after surgery. 7 allograft recipients were immunosuppressed with azathioprine and prednisone at 5 mg/kg.d and 2 mg/ kg.d, respectively. Their allografts were also rejected acutely within 10 days. 17 allograft recipients were immunosuppressed with cyclosporine A (CsA). All allografts showed primary wound healing and hair growth and took on normal appearance. 8 of these recipients were given CsA at 5 mg/kg.d i.v. and their allografts were rejected at a mean time of 17.9 days. The remaining 9 recipients given CsA at 10 mg/kg.d i.v. rejected their allografts at a mean time of 36.1 days. In 3 of them, the rejection was reversed with CsA (20 mg/kg.d) injection for five days successfully, and one allograft survived more than 100 days. This pilot study suggests that the surgical model is reliable and that CsA will be useful as an immunosuppressive agent in the study of vascularized composite mandibular tissue allografts.
To investigate the inhibitory effects of Cordyceps Sinensis-I (CS-1) on the immune response responsible for the organ transplant rejection, we studied its effects of prolonging heterotopic heart allograft survival on rat model with heart graft; the effects of CS-1 were compared with those of cyclosporine A and glucocorticoid, and the possible pathological changes caused by CS-1 were observed. Our results showed that CS-1 can prolong the survival of grafted heart without causing infection, and it did not exert detrimental effects on vital organs. As a result, it proves to be a promising immunosuppressant in clinical organ transplantation in the future.
Urine and blood specimens from 32 recipients of allograft organ transplant were investigated for human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) by conventional cell culture, indirect immunofluo.rescent assay subsequent to the rapid cell culture and DNA-DNA hybridization. The results showed that the rapid cell culture technique might be the best method for rapid detection of active HCMV infection after transplantation because it possesses the advantages of simplicity, speediness, sensitiveness, and high reliability of detecting productive HCMV infection. The major symptoms were prolonged or intermittent fever unresponsive to antibiotics, dysfunction or loss of function of the transplanted organ, pulmonary infiltrates and leukopenia. As our results suggested, reactivation of a latent infection appears to be the most probable etiologic factor contributing to HCMV infection after transplantation.
16 triphenylacrylonitriles (TPE) or diphenylacrylonitïiles (DPE) were synthesized by condensation of various. benzophenones or benzaldehydes with various phenylacetonitriles. The pharmacological potency of these compounds was studied by incubation of bovine seminal vesicle microsomes and PG-RIA. The results showed that the potency of inhibition of PG biosynthetase of DPE was stronger than that of TPE. Compounds with electron-releasing functional groups were proved to be more effective than those with electron-attracting groups. Compound DPE-9 was the most active one, the potency of which was 40 times stronger than that of naproxen. The structure of some compounds has been analysed by X-ray diffraction. The relationship between structure and activity was investigated by means of X-ray diffraction, UV and NMR.
Hormone analyses for hirsute women suggested that free testosterone was most revealing in biological effects and sex-hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) was quantitatively persuative. Presented in this paper are the measurements of testosterone, androstendion, dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate (DHAS), SHBG, androstandiol and free androgen index (FAI) in 51 women with hirsutism. 92% of the hirsute women with elevated androgen level showed decrease in SHBG values and increase in FAI. 17 females with hirsutism revealed abnormally high androstandiol values which were highly related to the values of total and free testosterone (r = 0.78,r = 0.80, respectively). It is suggested that in clinical practice SHBG and FAI should also be measured besides testosterone and DHAS.
The damaged inferior alveolar nerve of rabbit was repaired with autogenous ipsilateral greater auricular nerve grafting primarily and secondarily, and electrophysiological, ultrastructural, microvascular and histochemical investigations ] were performed in this study. The results indicated that the experimental effects of group 1 out of 3 groups (group 1 with immediate grafting, group 2 with grafting after 4 weeks, and group 3 with grafting after 8 weeks) were the best and those of group 2 were second only to group 1 with no obvious difference between these two groups (P>0.05). However, the results of group 3 were not good enough, and there was significant difference from the other two groups (P<0.05). Therefore, we were led to conclude that the injury should be repaired at once or within 4 weeks after inferior alveolar ne.rve was damaged, or within 2 or 3 months thereafter, to improve the function of the injured nerve as greatly as possible.