No abstract available.
Animals ; Meperidine* ; Mice* ; Morphine* ; Naloxone*

Objective To study the effect of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) on the proliferation and differentiation of neural stem cells (NSCs) in rats after middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO).Methods Seventy-two adult,male,Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into a control (CON) group,a hyperbaric air (HBA) group,a normobaric oxygen (NBO) group and a hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) group.All were subjected to MCAO.Rats in the CON group did not receive any treatment; those in the other groups were treated with HBA,NBO or HBO daily beginning 2 hours after the operation.Western blotting was applied to detect the expression of nestin,MAP2 and GFAP at 2,3,7 and 14 days after the MCAO.Results The expression of nestin in the HBO group was significantly higher than in the other groups on the 3rd,7th and 14th days.It peaked at day 3 but remained high until day 14.Similarly,expression of MAP2 was significantly higher than in the other groups at least until day 14.GFAP expression was significantly lower than in the other groups.Conclusion HBO can increase neural stem cell proliferation and neuronal differentiation,and inhibit the proliferation of astrocytes.

Aspergillosis comprises a spectrum of diseases caused by species of a ubiquitous saprophytic mold, Aspergillus, that usually lives on decaying vegetation. Aspergillus organisms rarely behave as pathogens in an immunocompetent host. But, in the presence of immunosuppression, Aspergillus may be invasive and take a fulminant course. Although extensive investigation has clarified multiple aspects of pulmonary aspergillosis, cutaneous aspergillosis occurs relatively less frequently and therefore remains poorly characterized. With this review, we have attempted to better define risk factors and common clinical presentations, as well as to formulate a reasonable approach to the diagnosis and management of cutaneous aspergillosis.
Aspergillosis* ; Aspergillus ; Diagnosis ; Fungi ; Immunosuppression ; Pulmonary Aspergillosis ; Risk Factors

The immune response to M. tuberculosis engages T-cell medicated reactions which determine the degree of resistance and also the clinical pattern of disease. Although antibodies produced by the infected host have yet no proven protection, they are appilicable for alternative diagnostic tests in tuberculosis. Preparation of purified antigens from Mycobacteria with specific antigenic determinants would improve serological diagnosis in tuberculosis. The antigen was prepared by extraction of M. tuberculosis with perchloric acid which was found to be major bands of 71, 42, 38 and 10 kD by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Thirteen sera from patients with active tuberculosis showed positive reactions to TB-P by ELISA, but the reaction to perchloric acid extract antigen is weaker than to PPD. The IgG subclass profiles to TB-P were IgG1, IgG2 and IgG4. By means of western blotting, the antibodies in the tuberculous patients showed the reaction with antigens of lower molecular weight such as 14, 12, 11 and 10 kD. These results suggested that the perchloric acid soluble antigen of M. tuberculosis might be more related with cell-mediated immune reactions rather than humoral immune reactions.
Antibodies ; Blotting, Western ; Diagnosis ; Diagnostic Tests, Routine ; Electrophoresis ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Epitopes ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin G ; Molecular Weight ; Sodium ; T-Lymphocytes ; Tuberculosis*

To investigate the pathogenicity, genomic pattern, and o-like hemolysin of Staphylococcus lugdunensis (S. lugdunensis) in acute oral infection, S. lugdunensis was isolated from patients with an acute oral infection and from healthy persons. Antibiotic susceptibility, in vitro cellular toxicity, in vivo virulence, and hemolytic activity were tested, and plasmid DNA and restriction pattern of whole genomic DNA were analyzed to characterize the staphylococci. The dot blot and Southern blot hybridization analysis of staphylococcal DNA were performed with o-hemolysin gene probe. The isolation ratio of S. lugdunensis in the patients was higher than that in the healthy persons. S. lugdunensis from the patients with an acute oral infection showed resistance to penicillin, ampicillin, methicillin, cephalothin, and clindamycin. In the analysis of plasmid, there was a clear band about 6.5 kb in three strains of S. lugdunensis isolated from the patients with infection. S. lugdunensis in the patients had cellular toxicity in vitro and virulence in vivo. All strains of S. lugdunensis had o-like hemolysin activity against rabbit erythrocytes. Four of the six strains of S. lugdunensis gave synergistic hemolysis with Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) on sheep blood agar plates. In the analysis of genomic pattern, four strains of S. lugdunensis that gave synergistic hemolysis with S. aureus showed a similar genetic pattern with HindIII enzyme digests. In dot blot analysis, all strains of S. lugdunensis showed a positive reaction with the probe of 5-hemolysin gene in S. aureus. In Southern blot analysis, a 7.3 kb HindIII fragment was observed in DNA of S. lugdunensis that gave synergistic hemolysis with S. aureus, and a 2.5 kb band was observed in HindIII digests of S. aureus in the patients. These results suggest that S. lugdunensis may be an important pathogen in an acute oral infection and the 7.3 kb HindIII fragment from S. lugdunensis DNA may contain o-like hemolysin gene.
Agar ; Ampicillin ; Blotting, Southern ; Cephalothin ; Clindamycin ; DNA ; Erythrocytes ; Hemolysis ; Humans ; Methicillin ; Penicillins ; Plasmids ; Sheep ; Staphylococcus aureus ; Staphylococcus lugdunensis* ; Staphylococcus* ; Virulence

Verrucous carcinoma is a slow growing, low grade squamous cell carcinoma, which usually occurs on oropharynx, genitalia and soles. When it occurs on feet, it is known as epithelioma cuniculatum. Epithelioma cuniculatum is characterized by its histologic sinuses and cystic formations in a cuniculate(rabbit burrow-like) pattern. A 59-year-old man was consulted to our department for a well circumscribed, 5 × 5 cm sized, round, hyperkeratotic, verrucous plaque on the right great toe. He suffered from diabetes mellitus for 16 years and was managed by peritoneal dialysis three times a week due to chronic renal failure for last two years. The plaque had gradually increased in size. The biopsy specimen taken from the tumor mass showed chronic ulcerative inflammation with atypical squamous cell proliferation. We herein report a case of verrucous carcinoma occurring in a patient with diabetes melli-t tus and chronic renal failure.
Biopsy ; Carcinoma ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Carcinoma, Verrucous* ; Cell Proliferation ; Diabetes Mellitus* ; Foot ; Genitalia ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Kidney Failure, Chronic* ; Middle Aged ; Oropharynx ; Peritoneal Dialysis ; Toes ; Ulcer

No abstract available.
Cryptococcosis* ; Hybridomas* ; Immunity, Cellular* ; T-Lymphocytes*

No abstract available.
Cryptococcosis* ; Hybridomas* ; Immunity, Cellular* ; T-Lymphocytes*

We present 2 cases of invasive extramammary Paget disease occuring in the vulva area of a 60 year old female, and in the scrotal and penile area of a 63 year old male patient. The histologically typical Paget cells were not only seen in the surface epithelium but were also involved in the outer root sheath of the hair follicles. Stromal infiltration of tumor cells into the upper dermis were present in both cases, however, no underlying primary sweat gland carcinoma was present. Metastatic foci of inguinal lymph nodes showed apocrine-type epithelium with abundant eosinophilic granular cytoplasm, which were positive for anti-CEA and GCDFP-15, as well as eccrine-type epithelium containing mucinous secretory materials in the lumen and the cytoplasm. Ultrastructural findings showed interdigitating plasma membranes with prominent desmosomes between the Paget cells, intracytoplasmic tonofibrils, intracellular tubules, lipid vacuoles, and enlarged mitochondria. Histological, immunohistochemical, and ultrastructural findings suggested that Paget cells showed both eccrine and apocrine differentiation.
Female ; Male ; Humans ; Neoplasm Metastasis

Objective To investigate the effects of high-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) at different intensities on the ultrastructure of an ischemic brain penumbra and the expression of brainderived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) using rats with permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO).Methods Forty-two rats were randomly divided into a blank control group,an MCAO model control group,a sham stimulation control group and an rTMS group.The rTMS group was divided further into 3 subgroups:an 80％ of motor threshold (MT) subgroup,a 100％ of MT subgroup and a 120％ of MT subgroup.The cerebral infarction model was established by right MCAO.rTMS treatment was given 24 hours after the MCAO model was successfully established.The rTMS group and sham stimulation control group were given 20 Hz rTMS with the planned intensities.The MCAO model control group was not given any stimulation.After 14 days of treatment,transmission electron microscopy,immunohistochemical and Western blotting ( WB ) methods were used to investigate the ultrastructure of the ischemic penumbra and the expression of BDNF.Results Damage reflected in the ultrastructure in the 3 rTMS subgroups was less than in the model control group and the sham stimulation control group.Expression of BDNF protein increased significantly in 100％ of the MT group and blank control group rats as compared with that in the sham stimulation control group,while the blank control group and the 3 rTMS subgroups had no statistically significant difference in comparison with the MCAO model control group.The expression of BDNF protein had no statistically significant difference between any of the groups.Conclusion 20 Hz rTMS might,especially at 100％ of the MT,promote the recovery of the ultrastructure of neural tissues in the ischemic penumbra after acute cerebral infarction and enhance the expression of BDNF in the ipsilesional hemisphere.This may be one of the important mechanisms of rTMS's effectiveness in the treatment of ischemic stroke.