OBJECTIVETo evaluate the correlation between the efficacy of interferon-alpha-2a and the kinetics of viral load in serum.

METHODSThe authors conducted a trial including 58 patients with chronic hepatitis B. Patients were treated with interferon-alpha-2a three times a week for 6 months. Viral kinetics were assessed by serial quantitive measurements of HBV-DNA.

RESULTSA significant decline of serum HBV-DNA was seen after interferon-alpha-2a administration for 1 month, the decreases were (2.50 +/- 0.44) log10, (1.62 +/- 1.12) log10 and (1.05 +/- 1.35) log10 for complete responders, partial responders and no-responders, respectively. After 1 month of treatment, HBV-DNA level was (3.99 +/- 0.91) log10 for complete responders versus (5.63 +/- 1.31) log10 for partial responders, and (6.69 +/- 1.42) log10 for no-responders (P < 0.05). Multivariate analysis suggested that undetectable serum HBV-DNA after 1 month of interferon-alpha-2a treatment was associated with better efficacy; higher baseline ALT or/and no family history were also correlated with better treatment outcomes.

CONCLUSIONKinetics of HBV-DNA level under interferon-alpha-2a treatment are highly predictive of therapeutic response.

Antiviral Agents ; therapeutic use ; CD13 Antigens ; blood ; China ; DNA, Viral ; blood ; genetics ; Hepatitis B virus ; drug effects ; genetics ; Hepatitis B, Chronic ; blood ; drug therapy ; virology ; Humans ; Interferon-alpha ; therapeutic use ; Multivariate Analysis ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Treatment Outcome

To evaluate the impact of trisomy 8 on cytobiological and clinical features of acute myelomonocytic and monocytic leukemia (M(4), M(5)), a total of 56 cases of acute myelomonocytic and monocytic leukemia were investigated. Karyotypes were analyzed by G-banding or R-banding. The immunotypes in all cases were detected by flow cytometry. And the clinical characteristics at the first visit were analyzed retrospectively. The results showed that thirty-four of 56 (60.7%) patients had normal cytogenetics; 10 (17.9%) patients had trisomy 8 in their karyotypes, including 3 (5.4%) patients with trisomy 8 as the sole aberration; and 12 (21.4%) patents had other cytogenetic abnormalities (except trisomy 8). All trisomy 8 cases demonstrated a increased expression frequency of surface markers of myeloid progenitor cells CD34 (P < 0.01) and CD117 (P < 0.05) and a decreased expression frequency of surface markers of mature monocytes CD11c (P < 0.01) and CD14 (P < 0.05), compared with normal cytogenetics cases. Patients with trisomy 8 were slightly older (P < 0.05), which had lower percentages of peripheral blasts (P < 0.05) and lower WBC (P < 0.05) than the patients without trisomy 8. Patients with trisomy 8 had a shorter disease-free survival time than that of patients with normal cytogenetics (P < 0.05). It is concluded that trisomy 8 may play an important role in the pathogenesis and progression of acute myelomonocytic/monocytic leukemia (M(4)/M(5)), whic seems to be related with a block in differentiation of monocytes. Therefore, trisomy 8 may be an adverse prognostic factor for patients with M(4) or M(5).
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Antigens, CD34 ; analysis ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols ; therapeutic use ; Bone Marrow Transplantation ; CD13 Antigens ; analysis ; Chromosome Banding ; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 8 ; genetics ; Female ; Flow Cytometry ; HLA-DR Antigens ; analysis ; Humans ; Immunophenotyping ; Karyotyping ; Leukemia, Monocytic, Acute ; genetics ; immunology ; therapy ; Leukemia, Myelomonocytic, Acute ; genetics ; immunology ; therapy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Transplantation ; Prognosis ; Trisomy

Polymyositis is a rare complication of interferon alpha treatment as a result of immunemodulating role of the drug itself. In this case, interferon alpha induced polymyositis and cardiomyopathy is diagnosed in a 33-yr-old male patient with history of chronic hepatitis B. To treat hepatitis B, interferon alpha was administered until the proximal muscle weakness developed. Thereafter, sixteen cycles of immunoglobulin treatment (400 mg/kg) along with corticosteroids were instituted and led to an improvement in subjective symptoms with decreases in level of CPK and LDH. However, dilated cardiomyopathy has not improved in spite of the cessation of interferon treatment. Unlike the persistently elevated serum HBV DNA level, the serum ALT and AST levels have gradually decreased. Our case shows that clinical symptoms of polymyositis improved with steroid and immunoglobulin treatment without deterioration of the hepatitis B. To our knowledge, this is the first case of polymyositis associated with dilated cardiomyopathy after the administration of interferon in a patient with hepatitis B.
Adrenal Cortex Hormones/therapeutic use ; Adult ; Antigens, CD13/blood ; Antiviral Agents/*adverse effects/therapeutic use ; Aspartate Aminotransferases/blood ; Cardiomyopathy, Dilated/blood/*chemically induced/drug therapy/physiopathology ; Hepatitis B, Chronic/blood/complications/*drug therapy ; Humans ; Immunoglobulins, Intravenous/therapeutic use ; Interferon-alpha/*adverse effects/therapeutic use ; Male ; Polymyositis/blood/*chemically induced/drug therapy/physiopathology ; Treatment Outcome

To establish a mouse model bearing transplantable human chronic myeloid leukemia for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation to treat leukemia, 4 - 5-week-old female BALB/c nude mice were given cyclophosphamide 2 mg/mouse at day -2, -1, and then the human chronic myeloid leukemia K562 cells were engrafted into the mice at day 0 by injection via tail vein or peritoneal cavity. PB and BM cells were collected, the CD45, CD13, and CD33 antigens were delected by using FCM, the bcr/abl fusion gene mRNA was examined by RT-PCR. The results showed that transplantable leukemic mice could be yielded from 4 - 5-week-old nude mice either by injection through tail vein or peritoneal cavity when the total number of inoculated tumor cells was more than 2 x 10(5) per mouse, whether being pretreated with 2 mg CTX/mouse or not. The transplanted mice could survive 30 - 60 day with leukemia. In conclusion, the mouse model bearing leukemia can be established by inoculation 2 x 10(5) K562 cells into immunodeficient BALB/c nude mice.
Animals ; Antigens, CD ; blood ; Antigens, Differentiation, Myelomonocytic ; blood ; Antineoplastic Agents, Alkylating ; pharmacology ; CD13 Antigens ; blood ; Cyclophosphamide ; pharmacology ; Female ; Flow Cytometry ; Fusion Proteins, bcr-abl ; genetics ; Gene Expression Regulation, Leukemic ; drug effects ; Humans ; K562 Cells ; Leukemia, Experimental ; blood ; genetics ; pathology ; Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive ; blood ; genetics ; pathology ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Mice, Nude ; Neoplasm Transplantation ; RNA, Messenger ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Sialic Acid Binding Ig-like Lectin 3 ; Transplantation, Heterologous

A few members of coronavirus group I which includes porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) use porcine aminopeptidase N (pAPN) as a cellular receptor. Cellular receptors play an important role in virus attachment and entry. However, the low permissiveness of PEDV to APN-expressing porcine cell lines has made it difficult to elucidate the role of pAPN in vitro. The purpose of this study was to prove whether the treatment of soluble pAPN could enhance the antibody production against PEDV in guinea pigs, rabbits and sows. The animals (20 guinea pigs, 8 rabbits and 20 sows) were divided into 4 groups. Group A was injected intramuscularly (IM) with soluble pAPN at one hour before intramuscular infection of PEDV on the same site, group B for IM simultaneous injection of pAPN and PEDV, and group C for IM injection of PEDV only. Group D served as a control of pAPN treatment or PEDV infection. Antibody production against PEDV was compared among groups at regular intervals. The results suggested that pAPN could enhance the antibody production against PEDV in guinea pigs and rabbits which are free of pAPN, however, the effect of pAPN treatment in sows was not clearly elucidated.
Animals ; Antibodies, Viral/*blood ; Antibody Formation ; Antigens, CD13/*administration&dosage ; Cercopithecus aethiops ; Coronavirus/*immunology/physiology ; Coronavirus Infections/immunology/*veterinary ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay/veterinary ; Female ; Guinea Pigs ; Immunoglobulin G/*blood ; Immunoglobulin Isotypes ; Injections, Intramuscular ; Pregnancy ; Rabbits ; Solubility ; Swine ; Swine Diseases/*immunology ; Vero Cells/virology