EEG, CT and MRI findings in hepatic encephalopathy / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To describe the clinical manifestation and the EEG, CT and MRI findings of hepatic encephalopathy (HE).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The clinical manifestations and the plasma ammonia levels were analyzed in 17 patients with HE, who underwent EEG, CT and MRI examinations.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Fifteen patients had abnormal EEG findings characterized by lowered basic rhythm, moderate to high amplitude theta wave activity, and sporadic delta wave and triphasic wave. Fourteen patients had abnormal MRI findings, including increased signal in the bilateral globus pallidus (14/17), putmen(4/17) and tegmentum of the midbrain (7/17) in T1WI without corresponding alterations in the signal intensity in T2WI. T2 FLAIR demonstrated increased signal in the bilateral white matter of the cerebral hemispheres. CT identified no corresponding alterations in the signal intensity.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Abnormal EEG findings or MR signals in the brain are common in patients with HE. EEG allows detection of abnormal waves, and MRI may help identify such lesions, which all help in the diagnosis of HE.</p>

Frequencies distribution of human leukocyte antigen-B27 subtypes in healthy Chinese / 中国医学科学院学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the frequencies distribution of human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-B27 subtypes in unrelated healthy Chinese.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>Polymerase chain reaction sequence-based typing (PCRSBT) was used to determine HLA high-resolution genotypes of 825 unrelated healthy Chinese.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>A total of 25 HLA-B27-positive individuals and 8 HLA-B27 subtypes were detected. These subtypes and their corresponding frequencies were B * 2704 (30.77%) , B * 2705 (23.08%), B * 2707 (19.23%), B * 2711 (7.69%), B * 2712 (7.69%), B * 2701 (3.85%), B * 2713 (3.85%) and B * 2721 (3.85%).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The data obtained through PCR-SBT method may serve as important reference for the research of relationship between HLA-B27 subtypes and some diseases such as ankylosing spondylitis.</p>

Gene expression and pathological changes of rat submandibular glands after adenovirus-mediated gene transfer / 中华口腔医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate luciferase gene expression and pathological changes of submandibular glands (SMG) of rats after adenovirus-mediated gene transfer.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Adenovirus-mediated luciferase gene (AdCMVLuc, 10(8) pfu in 50 microl) was injected in to SMG of forty wistar rats. The SMGs were harvested for gene expression measurement and pathological study after 3 days, 1,2,4 and 8 weeks.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Peak expression was observed in three days following administration of the vector however, gene expression in submandibular glands decreased rapidly. the pathological changes induced by retrograde injection of AdCMVLuc included: after 3 days to one week, compression of acini, dilation of terminal ducts; after two weeks, slight atrophy of a part of acini, increase of iteracinar distance and focal lymphocyte infiltration in lobules and interlobular ducts; after 4 weeks, recovery evidence was found in acini; after 8 weeks, normal acini and ducts were found. The ultrastructural changes included: 3 days, much more rough endoplasmic reticulum was found both in acini and duct epithelial cell; a lot of mucus drops were found in acini; after 1 week, microvillus decreased in duct epithelial cells, mitochondria increased significantly in acini; intercellular space was enlarged.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Adenovirus-mediated gene transfer can produce biological proteins and induce marked inflammatory changes in rat SMG. The ultrastructural changes suggest high protein synthesis activity in the acinar cells after gene transfer.</p>