Poxvirus-based vaccine therapy for patients with advanced pancreatic cancer

Purpose  

An open-label Phase 1 study of recombinant prime-boost poxviruses targeting CEA and MUC-1 in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer was conducted to determine safety, tolerability and obtain preliminary data on immune response and survival.     

脑脓肿的诊断及治疗

目的：进一步探讨脑脓肿发病情况，影像学表现，选择最佳治疗方法，提高治疗效果。方法：回顾分析１４７裂离脓肿的发病，病因，影像学表现，治疗方法及死亡率下降因素，结果：脑脓肿发病年龄较年青，血源性及隐源性脑脓肿发病率升高，ＣＴ结合ＭＲＩ可明确诊断，选择最佳手术方法。ＣＴ应用后死亡率由２３．８％下降到７．５％，结论：ＣＴ为脑脓肿最主要的诊断方法，ＣＴ定位下穿刺排脓可治愈大部分脑脓肿。     

荆芥连翘汤对促进皮肤溃疡愈合的影响

目的 观察荆芥连翘汤对小鼠皮肤溃疡的治疗作用。方法 建立小鼠皮肤创伤和烫伤两种皮肤溃疡模型．比较荆芥连翘汤以及rhEGF的用药组和自身对照组小鼠皮肤溃疡面积，用昆微镜观察溃疡面炎症细胞浸润情况。结果 和自身对照组相比，荆芥连翘汤可明显缩小小鼠皮肤溃疡面积（P〈0．001），同时炎症细胞浸润显著减少（P〈0．001）；荆芥连翘汤用药组疗效显著优于rhEGF用药组。结论 荆芥连翘汤可明显促进小鼠皮肤溃疡的愈合。     

The effects of plantago-mucilage A from the seeds ofPlantago asiatica on the immune responses in ICR mice

Effects of plantago-mucilage A (P-MA) on the immune responses were studied in ICR mice. Mice were divided into 4 groups (10 mice/group), and P-MA at doses of 7, 21 and 63 mg/kg were orally administered to mice once a day for 21 consecutive days. Mice were immunized and challenged with sheep red blood cells (SRBC). P-MA at 63 mg/kg/day significantly increased the body weight gain and the relative weights of spleen and thymus, as compared with those in controls. However, there were no significant effects on liver weight due to P-MA treatment. Plaque forming cells (PFC) and hemagglutination (HA) titers to SRBC were significantly enhanced in mice dosed at 21 and 63 mg/kg/day P-MA, as compared with those in controls. Delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) reaction to SRBC, phagocyte activity and circulating leukocyte were also significantly increased in mice dosed at 63 mg/kg/day P-MA. These results demonstrate that P-MA markedly enhances both humoral immune and allergic reaction to SRBC at concentrations which don’t act on the relative weight of liver.     

Blocking effects of polyunsaturated fatty acids on Na+ channels of neonatal rat ventricular myocytes.

Recent evidence indicates that polyunsaturated long-chain fatty acids (PUFAs) prevent lethal ischemia-induced cardiac arrhythmias in animals and probably in humans. To increase understanding of the mechanism(s) of this phenomenon, the effects of PUFAs on Na+ currents were assessed by the whole-cell patch-clamp technique in cultured neonatal rat ventricular myocytes. Extracellular application of the free 5,8,11,14,17-eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) produced a concentration-dependent suppression of ventricular, voltage-activated Na+ currents (INa). After cardiac myocytes were treated with 5 or 10 microM EPA, the peak INa (elicited by a single-step voltage change with pulses from -80 to -30 mV) was decreased by 51% +/- 8% (P < 0.01; n = 10) and 64% +/- 5% (P < 0.001; n = 21), respectively, within 2 min. Likewise, the same concentrations of 4,7,10,16,19-docosahexaenoic acid produced the same inhibition of INa. By contrast, 5 and 10 microM arachidonic acid (AA) caused less inhibition of INa, but both n - 6 and n - 3 PUFAs inhibited INa significantly. A monounsaturated fatty acid and a saturated fatty acid did not. After washing out EPA, INa returned to the control level. Raising the concentration of EPA to 40 microM completely blocked INa. The IC50 of EPA was 4.8 microM. The inhibition of this Na+ channel was found to be dose and time, but not use dependent. Also, the EPA-induced inhibition of INa was voltage dependent, since 10 microM EPA produced 83% +/- 7% and 29% +/- 5% inhibition of INa elicited by pulses from -80 to -30 mV and from -150 to -30 mV, respectively, in single-step voltage changes. A concentration of 10 microM EPA shifted the steady-state inactivation curve of INa by -19 +/- 3 mV (n = 7; P < 0.01). These effects of PUFAs on INa may be important for their antiarrhythmic effect in vivo.     

舰船员慢性荨麻疹与马拉色菌相关性研究

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association of Malassezia furfur with chronic urticaria in the crew members of ships. METHODS: A comparative mycological study of 126 crew members of ships with chronic urticaria and 45 normal control subjects was carried out. The 82 urticaria patients identified as positive for Malassezia furfur were divided into groups A and B to receive treatment with antihistaminics (group A) and antihistaminics combined with 2% ketoconazole shampoo(group A). RESULTS: The carrier rates of Malassezia furfur were significantly higher in urticaria patients than in the normal control subjects (P<0.01), but in view of the case ratios of the final cure or improvement, no significant difference was observed between the two groups by the end of the treatment courses (P>0.05). But 6 to 8 weeks from the end of the treatment course, better therapeutic effect was noted in group B (P<0.01), with higher rate of negative Malassezia furfur findings (P<0.01). CONCLUSION: Malassezia furfur may play an important role in the prevalence of chronic urticaria among the crew members, and anti-fungal treatment may produce better long-term therapeutic effect.     

New Latex Bead Agglutination Assay for Differential Diagnosis of Cattle Infected with Mycobacterium bovis and Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis

Extensive studies have shown that the current assays used to identify cattle infected with Mycobacterium bovis or Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis are not sufficiently sensitive and specific to detect all infected animals, especially animals recently infected with the pathogens. In the present report we show that these limitations might be overcome with a latex bead agglutination assay (LBAA). With the specific immunodominant epitope (ESAT6-p) of M. bovis, we developed an LBAA and enzyme immunoassay (EIA) for that purpose and compared them with the “gold standard” culture method and skin test for their efficacy in detecting bovine tuberculosis. When sera from control healthy cows (n = 10), M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis-positive cattle (naturally infected, n = 16; experimentally infected, n = 8), and M. bovis-positive cattle (naturally infected, n = 49;experimentally infected, n = 20) were applied to an EIA and an LBAA developed with ESAT6-p, the two tests showed similar sensitivity (97.1% by EIA, 95.7% by LBAA), high specificity (94.2% by EIA, 100% by LBAA), and a positive correlation (kappa value, 0.85; correlation rate, 93.2%; correlation coefficient, 0.64). Receiver operating characteristic analysis of EIA results and comparison with the culture method determined a suitable cutoff value at 0.469, with an area under the curve of 0.991 (95% confidence interval, 0.977 to 1.0). As LBAA didn't show any positive reactions with sera from uninfected control cows or M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis-infected cattle, which were confirmed to be free of M. bovis by culture or PCR, LBAA using the ESAT6-p can be a rapid and useful M. bovis diagnostic assay. The data suggest that rapid, sensitive, and specific assays can be developed with peptides containing immunodominant epitopes present in proteins uniquely expressed in M. bovis or M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis for differential diagnosis of cattle infected with M. bovis or M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis.     

Simple measurement of spinal cord evoked potential: a valuable data source in the rat spinal cord injury model.

Measurement of spinal cord evoked potentials (SCEPs) is proposed as a means of predicting locomotion outcome in the rat spinal cord injury (SCI) model. Using 55 rats, three reproducible peak waves (waves I, II and III) were observed during stimulation at the C7 level with recording at the L1 epidural space. Hemisection at the T13 level showed three wave loss patterns: wave III loss only, loss of both wave II and III, and loss of all three waves. Defining an ideal SCI model as establishment of stable monoparesis or paraparesis, all animals in the wave II-III loss group showed favorable results. Histological data and electrophysiological properties allowed reasonable assumptions of wave origin: wave I from extrapyramidal tracts, wave II from the ventral corticospinal tract, and wave III from the dorsal corticospinal tract. Complete destruction of pyramidal tracts in both dorsal and ventral fibers was essential for long-term impairment of locomotion.     

塞来昔布对大鼠化学性乳腺癌的抑制作用及机制

目的 观察环氧化酶-2(cyclooxygenase-2,COX-2)选择性抑制剂塞来昔布对化学致癌剂7,12-二甲基苯蒽(7,12-dimethybenz[a]anthracene,DMBA)化学诱发的大鼠乳腺癌的抑制作用并探讨其机制.方法 将DMBA油剂灌胃复制大鼠乳腺癌模型,大鼠分为对照组(24只)和实验组(25只),观察塞来昔布对大鼠乳腺癌的抑制作用,并采用基因芯片技术了解治疗后2组肿瘤的基因表达谱差异.结果 实验组塞来昔布处理后乳腺肿瘤的数目、直径、体积分别为(2.56±1.26)个、(1.162±0.355)cm、(1.967±1.725)cm.;明显小于实验前的(3.40±1.22)个、(1.948±0.481)cm、(8.794±6.389)cm3;明显小于对照组(3.88±1.73)个、(2.231±0.736)cm、(10.268±5.447)cm3,差异有显著性意义(均P＜0.01).对照组COX一2蛋白表达为62.5%(15/24),实验组COX-2蛋白表达为36.0%(9/25),差异有显著性意义(P＜O.05).基因表达谱显示两组之间表达丰度差异2倍及以上的基因共有243条,其中表达上调2倍或以上的基因片段124条,表达下调2倍或以上的基因片段119条,发现功能不明的新基因6条,其中表达上调的4条.结论 塞来昔布能抑制DMBA诱发的大鼠乳腺癌进展,其机制和多种基因改变有关.     

A phenytoin-sensitive cationic current participates in generating the afterdepolarization and burst afterdischarge in rat neocortical pyramidal cells

We report here on the ionic mechanisms underlying the depolarizing afterpotential (DAP) in neocortical pyramidal cells, with special interest in those underlying the burst afterdischarge. Injections of short depolarizing current pulses under whole-cell current clamp with a CsCl-based internal medium generated, in most pyramidal cells, a single action potential with a plateau phase (plateau-AP), followed by a slowly decaying DAP both in the absence and presence of TTX. Under voltage-clamp, the same cells displayed a slow tail current (tail-I) at the offset of depolarization. When intracellular free Ca²⁺ was chelated with 10 mm BAPTA or when extracellular Ca²⁺ was replaced with equimolar Ba²⁺, neither the slow DAP nor the slow tail-I was observed. Extracellular application of Co²⁺ or Cd²⁺ reduced Ca²⁺ currents and the slow tail-I. Cation substitution experiments revealed that the channel generating the slow tail-I was permeable to K⁺ and Cs⁺ more than to Na⁺ (P_K≈P_Cs > P_Na > P_NMDG≈P_TEA). The cationic slow tail-I was not reduced by applying antagonists of the metabotropic glutamate receptor (MCPG, 1 mm ) and the muscarinic receptor (atropine, 1–10 μm ). Thus, the slow DAP was produced by activation of the cationic channel whose gating is solely dependent on [Ca²⁺]_i. An increase in [K⁺]_o from 3 to 6 or 9 mm enhanced the slow DAP, and resulted in a generation of burst afterdischarges. An anticonvulsant, phenytoin (PT; 1–10 μm ) suppressed the slow DAP while enhancing the plateau-AP in the presence of TTX, most likely by blocking the cationic channel.