Serum antibody response to filamentous hemagglutinin in patients with clinical pertussis measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay

Titers of antibodies to filamentous hemagglutinin (FHA) were determined by enzymelinked immunosorbent assay in acute and convalescent phase serum samples from 158 patients with clinical symptoms typical of whooping-cough. In 96 of the patients the diagnosis was verified by culture. Significant changes in serum levels of IgG, IgM and/or IgA antibodies against FHA were demonstrated in 126 patients (80%). Thus, demonstration of significant changes in FHA antibody titers in serum can be used for serological diagnosis of pertussis. The results also show that high levels of IgG, IgM and/or IgA antibodies in a single serum sample suggest current pertussis infection, but if the diagnosis is based on determinations of FHA antibody titers in a single serum sample the sensitivity is low. The levels of antibody to FHA were compared with previously determined levels of antibodies to pertussis toxin. A significant antibody response against both FHA and pertussis toxin was seen in 111 patients (70 %) while 147 patients (93 %) developed a significant increase in antibodies against one or both antigens.     

High levels of Lp(a) lipoprotein in a family ith cases of severe pre-eclampsia

We report a family with two cases of severe pre-eclampsia/eclampsia in which very high levels of Lp(a) lipoprotein were found. The serum level of Lp(a) lipoprotein is genetically determined and the Lp(a) apolipoprotein has a close homology to plasminogen. Very high levels of Lp(a) lipoprotein might interfere with the fibrinolytic/thrombolytic process in man. A previous report suggested that a high maternal serum Lp(a) lipoprotein level can cause fetal growth retardation, and it is proposed that very high levels might lead to increased deposition of fibrin in the uterine spiral arteries in pregnancy, which is central in the pathogenesis of pre-eclampsia. If confirmed, a very high Lp(a) lipoprotein level could be one risk factor for pre-eclampsia that is genetically determined.     

53例脂肪肉瘤形态学观察与预后探讨

报道53例脂肪肉瘤(高分化型7例、粘液型34例、圆细胞型3例及多形性型9例)。男性34例,女性19例。高发年龄41～60岁。主要症状是无痛性(51/53)或痛性肿块。肿瘤直径为3～24cm,多数有包膜(37/53)。8例作了超微结构观察,分别对四型脂肪肉瘤的超微结构特征进行了详细描述。随访结果显示圆细胞型预后差,高分化型预后好;肿瘤体积大,核分裂象多者预后差;肿瘤体积小,核分裂象少者预后好。     

Long-term adaptation to prism-induced inversion of the retinal images

For 1 week, healthy human participants ( n=7) were devoid of normal vision by exposure to prism lenses that optically rotated their perceived world around the line of sight by 180 degrees. Adaptation to such prisms involved sustained and vigorous practice of the ability to redirect the unadapted efferent motor command; because prior to all visually guided movements, the to-be-executed efferent command was based on incorrect (prismatically reversed) spatial information. The time course of this sort of adaptation was systematically explored in Cooper-Shepard mental rotation (MR) tests and in naturalistic motor-tasks for the purpose of investigating whether mental rotations of the direction of the intended movement share common aspects with the process of MR. A control group ( n=7) intermittently exposed to the distorted spatial organization of the central visual field was studied in parallel. The main results were as follows: (a) the MR reaction times (RTs) day 1 with prisms appeared to be very similar to the normal RTs (day 1, no-prisms) with the one exception that subjects now responded within a prism (rotated) frame of spatial reference rather than within the environmentally upright. The visuomotor performance became grossly irregular and dysmetric. (b) The majority of the visuomotor adaptation functions began to level off on the 3rd day. (c) The increases in natural motor proficiency were accompanied by a systematic and noticeable decrease in magnitude of the MR Y-intercept obtained from the linear regression line calculated between each subject's RT and the various stimulus angles. MR slopes were stable through days 1-7 for both the experimental and control group. An increased correlation between rotational stimulus angle and RT suggested that the MR function also became progressively more tightly coupled to the stimulus angles. (d) Postadaptation measures of performance indicated the occurrence of selective and minimal adaptation in the natural motor tasks only. It is suggested that these results reflect an improved attentional (strategic) ability to replace incorrect (error producing) control signals with correct (error reducing) control signals. As a result, perceptual-motor start-up processes directly related to spatial coding and to the planning, initiation and correction of the intended direction of motor-or-mental movement improved while the subprocess ("stage") concerned with transformations of such movements remained unchanged. Visuomotor adaptation to inverting prisms engages, and thereby stimulates, a cortical system also invoked in the preparatory process of MR.     

High rate of transfer of Staphylococcus aureus from parental skin to infant gut flora

Many Swedish infants carry Staphylococcus aureus in their intestinal microflora. The source of this colonization was investigated in 50 families. Infantile S. aureus strains were isolated from rectal swabs and stool samples at 3 days and at 1, 2, 4, and 8 weeks of age. The strains were identified by using the random amplified polymorphic DNA method and compared to strains from swab cultures of the mothers' hands, nipples, and nares and from the fathers' hands and nares. Maternal stool samples were also obtained at a later stage to compare infant and adult intestinal S. aureus colonization. Although 60% of 1-month-old children had S. aureus in the stools, this was true of only 24% of the mothers. The median population numbers in colonized individuals also differed: 10(6.8) CFU/g of feces among infants at 2 weeks of age versus 10(3.2) CFU/g of feces in the mothers. Of S. aureus strains in the stools of 3-day-old infants, 90% were identical to a parental skin strain. A total of 96% of infants whose parents were S. aureus skin carriers had S. aureus in their feces and 91% had the same strain as at least one of the parents. In comparison, only 37% of infants to S. aureus-negative parents had S. aureus in the stool samples. Thus, infantile intestinal S. aureus colonization was strongly associated with parental skin S. aureus carriage (P = 0.0001). These results suggest that S. aureus on parental skin establish readily in the infantile gut, perhaps due to poor competition from other gut bacteria.     

Hemopneumothorax in an intravenous drug abuser.

This article reports a case of an intravenous drug abuser who presented with a hemopneumothorax, which is a rare complication of jugular vein self-injection. The patient achieved an inadvertent subclavian arterotomy, causing tingling and numbness in the hand and arm, an unusual "high," and blood filling the pleura, collapsing the lung. With an increase in pulmonary complications among intravenous drug abusers from infections in the immunocompromised state, pulmonary complaints related to trauma sustained from their activity must not be overlooked.     

Changes in the withdrawal bleeding pattern and endometrial histology during 17β-estradiol —dydrogesterone therapy in postmenopausal women: a 2 year prospective study

Objective: To describe changes in the withdrawal bleeding pattern and endometrial histology during a sequential 17β-estradiol —dydrogesterone regimen in postmenopausal women. Design: Open-label, non-comparative, prospective study. Setting: Gynecological outpatient department of a university hospital. Patients: Twenty-seven healthy nonhysterectomized postmenopausal women. Interventions: Continuous micronized 17β-estradiol supplementation, 2 mg daily, and cyclic administration of dydrogesterone, 10 mg daily for the first half of each 28 day treatment cycle. Main Outcome Measures: Changes in the characteristics of the withdrawal bleeding pattern and the endometrial biopsy histology during 2 years of treatment. Results: The initial withdrawal bleeding was comparable to normal menstruation with respect to amount and duration. During the 2 years of treatment the bleeding showed a significant tendency to become shorter with less blood loss. This was mainly the result of the decrease (P < 0.001) in the number of days per cycle with bleeding grade II (normal menstruation). None of the women developed endometrial hyperplasia, and in almost all women the given hormone replacement therapy regimen induced secretory or atrophic changes of the endometrium. Conclusions: This sequential 17β-estradiol —dydrogesterone regimen can be regarded as safe with respect to the prevention of endometrial disease and appeared to foster patient compliance.     

慢性缺氧对肺动脉增压反应的影响——组胺受体的作用

本实验观察慢性缺氧幼猪(Ch组)和对照组(C组)对急性缺氧的血流动力学反应及组胺H_1、H_2受体阻断剂扑尔敏、甲氰咪呱的作用。急性缺氧可增加肺动脉压(Ppa),Ch组比C组增加明显(前者增加25mmHg、100%;后者增加17mmHg,83.4%)。缺氧时扑尔敏降Ppa的作用亦为Ch组大于C组(Oh组降11mmHg,C组6mmHg)。甲氰咪呱增Ppa的作用两组相近。结果提示:(1)慢性缺氧能增强HPPR;(2)组胺受体参与HPPR调节;(3)慢性缺氧可能使肺动脉H_1受体活性增强,此变化可能与HPPR增强有关。     

Partial destruction of Borrelia burgdorferi within ticks that engorged on OspE- or OspF-immunized mice.

We determined whether Borrelia burgdorferi outer surface proteins (Osps) E and F could elicit immune responses useful for a Lyme disease vaccine. Thirty days after challenge with B. burgdorferi, mice produced antibodies to OspE but not OspF, whereas antibodies to OspF were present in sera of mice obtained 90 days after infection. Examination of sera from patients with Lyme disease revealed antibodies to OspF in a small number (14%) of early-stage disease patients but in a majority (58%) of patients with late-stage disease, while antibodies to OspE were rarely detected in patients. Mice immunized with recombinant OspE or OspF produced high titers of antibodies to OspE or OspF, respectively. OspF-immunized mice were partially protected from both intradermal syringe challenge and tick-mediated transmission of B. burgdorferi while vaccination with OspE did not confer immunity. B. burgdorferi organisms were, however, substantially destroyed within ticks that engorged on either OspE- (75% reduction in the number of spirochetes within the ticks, compared with controls) or OspF (90% reduction in the number of spirochetes within the ticks)-immunized mice.