Incorporation of the gene for a cell-cell channel protein into transformed cells leads to normalization of growth

Summary Incorporation of the gene for connexin 43, a cell-cell channel protein of gap junction, into the genome of communication-deficient transformed mouse 10T1/2 cells restored junctional communication and inhibited growth. Growth was slowed, saturation density reduced and focus formation suppressed, and these effects were contingent on overexpression of the exogenous gene and the consequent enhancement of communication. In coculture with normal cells the growth of the connexin overexpressors was completely arrested, as these cells established strong communication with the normal ones. Thus, in culture by themselves or in coculture, the connexin overexpressor cells grew like normal cells. These results demonstrate that the cell-cell channel is instrumental in growth control; they are the expected behavior if the channel transmits cytoplasmic growth-regulatory signals.     

不明原因肝功能异常患者的临床诊断思维

目的：建立不明原因肝功能异常患者的临床诊断思维以提高疑难肝病的诊治水平。方法：回顾性分析我院收治的4例不明原因肝功能异常患者的临床资料及诊治经过,并复习相关文献。结果：导致肝功能异常的病因虽极为复杂但通过详细询问病史,进行细致全面的体格检查以及必要的实验室和辅助检查,慎重采取诊断性治疗措施,提高少见病例对诊断影响的认识,绝大多数的病因可以查明。结论：不明原因肝功能异常患者的临床表现多样,病因复杂,建立相应的临床诊断思维可减少误诊和漏诊。     

Seeking causes: Classifying and evaluating congenital heart defects in etiologic studies

BACKGROUND: Classification and analysis of congenital heart defects (CHD) in etiologic studies is particularly challenging because of diversity of cardiac phenotypes and underlying developmental mechanisms. We describe an approach to classification for risk assessment of CHD based on developmental and epidemiologic considerations, and apply it to data from the National Birth Defect Prevention Study (NBDPS). METHODS: The classification system incorporated the three dimensions of cardiac phenotype, cardiac complexity, and extracardiac anomalies. The system was designed to facilitate the assessment of simple isolated defects and common associations. A team with cardiologic expertise applied the system to a large sample from the NBDPS. RESULTS: Of the 4,703 cases of CHDs in the NBDPS with birth years 1997 through 2002, 63.6% were simple, isolated cases. Specific associations of CHDs represented the majority of the remainder. The mapping strategy generated relatively large samples for most cardiac phenotypes and provided enough detail to isolate important subgroups of CHDs that may differ by etiology or mechanism. CONCLUSIONS: Classification of CHDs that considers cardiac and extracardiac phenotypes is practically feasible, and yields manageable groups of well-characterized phenotypes. Although best suited for large studies, this approach to classification and analysis can be a flexible and powerful tool in many types of etiologic studies of heart defects.     

282例海洛因依赖者复吸原因调查分析

目的探讨海洛因依赖者复吸原因,并分析社会因素、心理因素和戒毒后稽延症状对复吸的影响。方法采用在北京大学中国药物依赖研究所编制的16项复吸原因问卷,调查282例海洛因依赖者吸毒、脱毒后复吸情况以及影响复吸的三方面因素。结果出现稽延性戒断症状（81．9％）、失眠（75．5％）是产生复吸的主要身体因素;消除心情烦恼（39．0％）、打发无聊时间（34．4％）以及再享受最后一次（32．6％）是产生复吸的主要心理因素;毒友影响（43．3％）、旧的吸毒环境又引发毒瘾（33．7％）是产生复吸的主要社会因素。讨论吸毒者的心理康复是预防复吸最重要工作的之一;加强对戒毒后回归社会人员的管理,建立家庭社区综合康复机制,是预防复吸的重要手段;加大在广大青少年人群中禁毒的宣传力度。     

Etiology of Sarcoidosis: Does Infection Play a Role?

Sarcoidosis is a granulomatous inflammatory disorder of unclear etiology, which is known to affect multiple organ systems including the lungs, heart, skin, central nervous system, and eyes, among others. For this reason, sarcoidosis represents a systemic medical disorder that is clinically relevant to multiple medical sub-specialties. Despite extensive research, the etiology of sarcoidosis has yet to be elucidated, although most evidence supports that the pathogenetic mechanism of sarcoidosis is an aberrant immune response, driven by an unidentified antigen (or antigens) in genetically susceptible individuals. Multiple candidate etiologic agents, including microbial organisms and environmental agents, have been investigated, but study results are inconclusive. In this review, we describe the known histologic and immunologic features of sarcoidosis and discuss the evidence supporting a role for infectious processes in the pathogenesis of sarcoidosis.     

Rapid diagnosis of infection etiology in febrile pediatric oncology patients using infrared spectroscopy of leukocytes

Rapid diagnosis of the etiology of infection is highly important for an effective treatment of the infected patients. Bacterial and viral infections are serious diseases that can cause death in many cases. The human immune system deals with many viral and bacterial infections that cause no symptoms and pass quietly without treatment. However, oncology patients undergoing chemotherapy have a very weak immune system caused by leukopenia, and even minor pathogen infection threatens their lives. For this reason, physicians tend to prescribe immediately several types of antibiotics for febrile pediatric oncology patients (FPOPs). Uncontrolled use of antibiotics is one of the major contributors to the development of resistant bacteria. Therefore, for oncology patients, a rapid and objective diagnosis of the etiology of the infection is extremely critical. Current identification methods are time‐consuming (>24 h). In this study, the potential of midinfrared spectroscopy in tandem with machine learning algorithms is evaluated for rapid and objective diagnosis of the etiology of infections in FPOPs using simple peripheral blood samples. Our results show that infrared spectroscopy enables the diagnosis of the etiology of infection as bacterial or viral within 70 minutes after the collection of the blood sample with 93% sensitivity and 88% specificity.     

Possible factors in the etiology of Alzheimer's disease

Inherited cases of Alzheimer's disease (AD) comprise only a very small proportion of the total. The remainder are of unknown etiopathogenesis, but they are very probably multifactorial in origin. This article describes studies on four possible factors: aluminum; viruses—in particular, herpes simplex type I virus (HSV1); defective DNA repair; and head trauma. Specific problems associated with aluminum, such as inadvertent contamination and its insolubility, have led to some controversy over its usage. Nonetheless, the effects of aluminum on animals and neuronal cells in culture have been studied intensively. Changes in protein structure and location in the cell are described, including the finding in this laboratory of a change in τ resembling that in AD neurofibrillary tangles, and also the lack of appreciable binding of aluminum to DNA. As for HSV1, there has previously been uncertainty about whether HSV1 DNA is present in human brain. Work in this laboratory using polymerase chain reaction has shown that HSV1 DNA is present in many normal aged brains and AD brains, but is absent in brains from younger people. Studies on DNA damage and repair in AD and normal cells are described, and finally, the possible involvement of head trauma is discussed.     

Foliar blight in Centrosema pubescens (Benth.) in southwestern Nigeria

The etiology and epidemiology of leaf blight of centro (Centrosema pubescens Benth.) was investigated at Ibadan, southwestern Nigeria, in the lowland humid tropics. Rhizoctonia solani was associated with the leaf blight of centro. The pathogen was harboured by Rottboellia cochinchiensis, a weed growing within and outside the centro plot. A high inoculum population of 4.0 ± 0.3 × 106 colony forming units/g soil was estimated in the soil. The seed of centro were free of R. solani. Field infection of the disease occurs during the peak of the rainy season beginning in patches which later spread, causing extensive defoliation of the sward. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Sun exposure and skin cancer,and the puzzle of cutaneous melanoma: A perspective on Fears et al. Mathematical models of age and ultraviolet effects on the incidence of skin cancer among whites in the United States. American Journal of Epidemiology 1977; 105: 420–427

Sunlight has been known as an important cause of skin cancer since around the turn of the 20th Century. A 1977 landmark paper of US scientists Fears, Scotto, and Schneiderman advanced a novel hypothesis whereby cutaneous melanoma was primarily caused by intermittent sun exposure (i.e. periodic, brief episodes of exposure to high-intensity ultraviolet radiation) while the keratinocyte cancers, squamous cell carcinoma and basal cell carcinoma, were primarily caused by progressive accumulation of sun exposure. With respect to cutaneous melanoma, this became known as the intermittent exposure hypothesis. The hypothesis stemmed from analysis of measured ambient ultraviolet radiation and age-specific incidence rates of melanoma and keratinocyte cancers collected as an extension to the US Third National Cancer Survey in several US States. In this perspective paper, we put this novel hypothesis into the context of knowledge at the time, and describe subsequent epidemiological and molecular research into melanoma that elaborated the intermittent exposure hypothesis and ultimately replaced it with a dual pathway hypothesis. Our present understanding is of two distinct biological pathways by which cutaneous melanoma might develop; a nevus prone pathway initiated by early sun exposure and promoted by intermittent sun exposure or possibly host factors; and a chronic sun exposure pathway in sun sensitive people who progressively accumulate sun exposure to the sites of future melanomas.     

鼻咽癌癌变的分子机理

鼻咽癌是一种多基因遗传性肿瘤,在中国南方和国外中国南方移民及后裔中发病率极高,严重危害了我国南方地区人民生命健康.对于这样一种具有明显民族聚集现象和地域差异的恶性肿瘤,目前认为其病理发病机制与遗传和环境因素的共同作用密切相关.现主要阐述鼻咽癌作为一种多基因遗传性肿瘤的病因发病机制,初步建立鼻咽癌易感基因群的概念和鼻咽癌发生发展过程中易感基因群主导的多阶段性多米诺骨牌效应分子机制假说,为寻找鼻咽癌遗传易感风险因子,筛选鼻咽癌高危人群以及探索鼻咽癌靶向性及个体化的诊断和治疗手段奠定实验与理论基础.