The brain as a source of relapsing Trypanosoma brucei infection in mice after chemotherapy.

During the aparasitaemic period following chemotherapy of all three strains of T. brucei infections in mice, successful transmission as shown by subsequent parasitaemia, was regularly achieved following the inoculation of homogenates of brain tissue into recipient mice. Transmission with blood obtained at the same time was consistently negative and in the case of T. brucei TREU 667, homogenates of other organs were non-infective. The implications of this central nervous system involvement are discussed with particular reference to its use as a model for relapsing infections after therapy in man.     

Probiotic properties of vaginal lactic acid bacteria to prevent metritis in cattle

AIMS: The isolation of bovine vaginal lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and the screening of their beneficial properties to select those that could be used as probiotics in the prevention of bovine metritis were performed. METHODS AND RESULTS: Out of 76 Lactobacillus sp. and seven Streptococcus sp. strains, a small number showed high- and medium hydrophobicity when the microbial adhesion to hydrocarbons method (MATH) was applied. In the agar plate diffusion test, a large number of strains inhibited vaginal bovine Escherichia coli 99/14 and human E. coli. This inhibition was due to acid. Only a few strains inhibited Actinomyces pyogenes 96/393, a pathogen isolated from bovine metritis. This inhibition remained after neutralization. The taxonomic identification of the selected strains was carried out by an amplified ribosomal DNA restriction analysis (ARDRA). Most of the strains were identified as Lactobacillus fermentum, a few as Lactobacillus gasseri and one as Lactobacillus rhamnosus. CONCLUSIONS: Bovine vaginal lactobacilli strains have differential surface properties. The strains selected are capable of inhibiting specific metritis pathogens. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: Our results can be applied for future studies to design a probiotic product to prevent metritis in dairy postpartum cows.     

Does loss of heterozygosity in critical genome regions predict a local relapse in patients after laryngectomy?

BACKGROUND: Patients, who had an upper aerodigestive tract malignancy, have a high incidence of succeeding tumor development. This has been attributed to the role of "field cancerization" in carcinogenesis. The aim of this study was analysis of loss of heterozygosity (LOH) in the regions frequently lost during the course of head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC), especially at early stages, which could answer the clinicians' question, if LOH analysis has any "predictive" value in relation to tumor occurrence. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Sixty-five larynx cancer patients were examined for loss of heterozygosity on 3p, 7q, 8p, 9p and 18q chromosomal arms with the use of 12 microsatellite markers. The material from a single patient consisted of blood, tumor, safe margin and one or two clinically unchanged mucosal samples. During follow up, the material from brush specimens (14 patients) as well as laryngeal swabs (4 patients) was also examined. RESULTS: The highest frequency of LOH was detected for marker D3S1234 in tumor tissues (29%). Analysis of margin samples (b) revealed low LOH frequencies (2-5%) and complete retention of heterozygosity for markers: D3S1234, D7S486, D8S261, D8S264, D9S171 and D18S46. Similarly, for normal appearing mucosa from upper part of larynx (c) frequencies of LOH were low (2-6%), with the complete retention of heterozygosity for markers: D3S1284, D3S1304, D3S1234, D8S264 and D9S1870. We did not detect any LOH in the material of normal appearing mucosa from tracheostoma region (d). During follow up, LOH was detected for eight markers, with the highest incidence for markers D18S46 (six cases), D7S486 (four cases) and D3S1300 (three cases). CONCLUSIONS: The data, obtained during this investigation, did not reveal the predictive value of LOH with respect to local relapse occurrence in laryngeal cancer patients. However, time of follow up did not reach 5 years, so that further clinical monitoring should be conducted.     

Anticonvulsant Activity of Enantiomeric N‐trans‐Cinnamoyl Derivatives of 2‐Aminopropan‐1‐ols and 2‐Aminobutan‐1‐ols

Epilepsy, one of the most frequent neurological disorders, is still insufficiently treated in about 30% of patients. As a consequence, identification of novel anticonvulsant agents is an important issue in medicinal chemistry. In the present article we report synthesis, physicochemical, and pharmacological evaluation of N‐trans‐cinnamoyl derivatives of R and S‐2‐aminopropan‐1‐ol, as well as R and S‐2‐aminobutan‐1‐ol. The structures were confirmed by spectroscopy and for derivatives of 2‐aminopropan‐1‐ols the configuration was evaluated by means of crystallography. The investigated compounds were tested in rodent models of seizures: maximal electroshock (MES) and subcutaneous pentetrazol test (scPTZ), and also in a rodent model of epileptogenesis: pilocarpine‐induced status prevention. Additionally, derivatives of 2‐aminopropan‐1‐ols were tested in benzodiazepine‐resistant electrographic status epilepticus rat model as well as in vitro for inhibition of isoenzymes of cytochrome P450. All of the tested compounds showed promising anticonvulsant activity in MES. For R(–)‐(2E)‐N‐(1‐hydroxypropan‐2‐yl)‐3‐phenylprop‐2‐enamide pharmacological parameters were found as follows: ED₅₀ = 76.7 (68.2–81.3) mg/kg (MES, mice i.p., time = 0.5 h), ED₅₀ = 127.2 (102.1–157.9) mg/kg (scPTZ, mice i.p., time = 0.25 h), TD₅₀ = 208.3 (151.4–230.6) mg/kg (rotarod, mice i.p., time = 0.25 h). Evaluation in pilocarpine status prevention proved that all of the reported compounds reduced spontaneous seizure activity and act as antiepileptogenic agents. Both enantiomers of 2‐aminopropan‐1‐ols did not influence cytochrome P450 isoenzymes activity in vitro and are likely not to interact with CYP substrates in vivo. Chirality 28:482–488, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Drugs,genes and screens: The ethics of preventing and treating spinal muscular atrophy

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is the most common genetic disease that causes infant mortality. Its treatment and prevention represent the paradigmatic example of the ethical dilemmas of 21st-century medicine. New therapies (nusinersen and AVXS-101) hold the promise of being able to treat, but not cure, the condition. Alternatively, genomic analysis could identify carriers, and carriers could be offered in vitro fertilization and preimplantation genetic diagnosis. In the future, gene editing could prevent the condition at the embryonic stage. How should these different options be evaluated and compared within a health system? In this paper, we discuss the ethical considerations that bear on the question of how to prioritize the different treatments and preventive options for SMA, at a policy level. We argue that despite the tremendous value of what we call ‘ex-post’ approaches to treating SMA (such as using pharmacological agents or gene therapy), there is a moral imperative to pursue ‘ex-ante’ interventions (such as carrier screening in combination with prenatal testing and preimplantation genetic diagnosis, or gene editing) to reduce the incidence of SMA. There are moral reasons relating to autonomy, beneficence and justice to prioritize ex-ante methods over ex-post methods.     

我国福寿螺入侵现状和防控研究进展

福寿螺原分布于南美洲,20世纪80年代作为一种水生经济生物引入我国,后因食味不佳被弃于水生环境,因其具有繁殖力高、适应性强、食性杂等特点,在我国多个区域迅速扩散入侵,已给农业生产、生态系统、人类健康等造成了严重的危害.文章对福寿螺入侵现状进行了深入分析与系统总结,介绍了现有福寿螺防控技术手段,重点阐述环境友好型福寿螺防...     

血链球菌在不同牙周状态下的分布及相关研究

目的：探讨口腔主要过氧化氢产生菌血链球菌和口腔链球菌在不同牙周健康状态下龈下菌群中的分布,及与牙周健康状态和牙龈卟啉单胞菌群中分布的相互关系。方法：纳入符合标准的受试者30人,受试位点86个,其中健康组11人,位点30个,龈炎组9人,位点29个,慢性牙周炎组10人,位点27个,检查记录牙周健康状态[包括牙龈指数（GI）和牙周袋深度（PD）],采集龈下菌斑标本,经厌氧菌培养基和AP-PCR及PCR鉴定后,将各受试组进行比较分析。结果：共获得草绿色链球菌523株,产黑色素菌241株。经AP-PCR及PCR鉴定后,得到血链球菌112株,口腔链球菌56株,牙龈卟啉单胞菌84株,健康组龈下菌斑中血链球菌,口腔链球菌和牙龈卟啉单胞菌构成比与牙周炎组相比有差异显著性;血链球菌和口腔链球菌与GI、PD呈负相关,牙龈卟啉菌与GI、PD呈正相关;血链球菌的构成与牙龈卟啉单胞菌的构成比呈负相关。结论：血链球菌等过氧化氢产生菌在龈下菌斑中比例的下降。可能是微生态失衡,致病菌过度增殖的重要机制。     

中日“防灾公园”和“城市防灾避险绿地”概念辨析

城市绿地是城市防灾避险体系中的重要载体,近些年城市防灾避险绿地的研究与建设逐渐受到重视。日本灾害频发,因此在防灾避险建设领域拥有较为丰富的经验和信息。在学习和借鉴中,中国的防灾避险研究与建设也在逐步发展。但目前从中日的相关研究来看,“防灾公园”“防灾据点”等概念的实际应用在两国之间存在着一定的差异。本文分析了中、日相关文献,辨析了“防灾公园”“防灾据点”等概念的定义及与“城市防灾避险绿地”的关系,细分了城市防灾避险绿地的类型。最后对中日两国防灾公园的概念定义和范围进行了对比,得到了日本“防灾公园”这一概念的实质更接近于中国“城市防灾避险绿地”这一概念的结论。     

茶树诱导抗虫性的研究进展

为了抵御植食性昆虫的为害,植物在进化过程中形成了包括组成抗性和诱导抗性在内的复杂防御体系.在通过受体识别茶树害虫为害后,茶树会启动早期信号事件,继而激活茉莉酸、水杨酸、乙烯和赤霉素等植物激素信号通路,从而引起次生代谢物的积累,最终对害虫产生直接和间接抗性.基于近年来茶树害虫为害诱导的茶树防御反应及其相关调控机理的研究进...     

肠道菌群与疾病发生及中草药调节和治疗作用的研究概述

肠道正常菌群及微生态稳定对人体极具重要性,中草药对肠道菌群具有调节作用.本文综述了人体的肠道正常菌群与疾病产生和发展的关系,结合中草药对肠道菌群调节作用的研究,探讨中药调节肠道菌群与其发挥疾病防治效果之间的相关性,以期为中草药的临床应用及药理学研究提供一定的参考依据.