A murine MTEC_1 thymus epithelial cell line established by us has been characterized. The cells were polyhydral and closely packed each other as epithelial like cells. Using anti-keratin antibody, the keratin were shown in cytoplasm of all cells. Under electronmicroscope, bunches of tonofilaments were clearly shown in the cytoplasm, and desmosomes were seen between neighbouring cells. Using anti-mouse epithelial cell monoclonal antibodies for immunohistochemical study, nearly all of the MTEC_1 cells were MTS33 positive. It suggests that MTEC, cells were derived from the epithelial cells located in medulla. The majority of the MTEC_1 cells have normal mouse diploid chomosome number of 40. These results provide evidence that MTEC, cell line is normal murine thymus epithelial cells.

Fresh cryostat sections from the thymus of BALB/c adult mice were processed with semipermeable membrane technique for demonstration of non-specific esterase (NE). The various cell types and the pattern of their distribution may be showed, because this technique may preserve the total enzyme activity of cells. The NE activity of epithelial reticular cells (ERC), thymic nurse cells (TNC), and interdigitating cells (IDC) are lower, but macrophages (M?) show a high activity. Cortical ERCs appear as a sponge-like network. Medullary ERCs may be divided into two cell types, i. e. low and high activity cells. The distribution of the latter shows foci-like pattern. M? present in both the cortex and medulla, in the cortico-medullary border they are prominent and may form rosettes-like structure with thymocytes. The thymus was also studied with immunohistochemical method using the monoclonal antibody of rat-anti-mouse thymic stromal ceils (MTS-6). This observation enable studies on the type of thymic stromal cells formed thymic microenvironment under LM.

The ultrastructural localization of acid phosphatase in the cells of mouse thymic cortex was described by using Robinson and Karnovsky method with cerium chloride as capture agent. The results indicated that the enzyme activity was localized mainly on the plasma membrane of epithelial reticular cells and thymocytes, especially where both of them were in contact with each other. Acid phosphatase activity was also found in the invaginations of plasma membrane, the vesicles near the plasma membrane, the saccules of the Golgi zone, the lysosomes, and a part of the vacuoles of epitheleial reticular cells. The lysosomes and the dense granules of cytoplasm, as well as on the some area of plasma membrane of the macrophages showed the enzyme activity. The enzyme activity was demonstrated in the cytoplasm and on the plasma membrane of degenerated thymocytes. The role of acid phosphatase in thymic cortex cells was discussed.

The thymic cortex is the important site for thymocyte differentiation, maturation and selection. Direct cell-cell interactions between thymocytes and distinct stromal cells are an important pattern to demonstrate the essential role in T-cell development. In order to approach the mechanism of their interactions, ultrastructural cytochemical localization of 5'-nucleotidase activity in the thymic cortex of BALB/c mice were investigated by means of Robinson and Karnovsky method using 5'-AMP or 5'-IMP as the substrate, cerium as the capture agent, and levamisol (an inhibitor of nonspecific alkaline phosphatase) was also used. The cytochemical distribution of the reaction products from both the 5'-AMPase and 5'-IMPase activity was essentially similar. The enzyme activity was localized on the extracellular side of the plasma membrane of the epithelial reticular cells and some thymocytes, especially on their contact faces with each other. 5'-nucleotidase activity was also found in the lysosomes of macrophages and in the vacuoles, and vesicles near the plasma membrane and some lysosomes of epithelial reticular cells. The biological significance of the 5'-nucleotidase in thymic cortex was discussed.

A new sonographic pattern of fetal hydrocephalus-midline-waved sign, and its mechanism were reported in this paper. When the abdominal wall of the pregnant woman was percussed by hand during ultrasound examination, the wave of midline echo was observed on sonoimage. The diagnosis of hydro-cephalus was made by this sign in all 12 fetuses, and confirmed by autopsy. No dilatation of the cerebral ventricle was observed in 5 out of 12 fetuses. It would be difficult to make the diagnosis of hy-drocephalus would previous diagnostic criteria be used. This sign is negative in normal fetuses, therefore-this finding has the practical value in the early and differential diagnoses of hydrocephalus.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the therapeutic effect of heating and bandage treatment for chronic lymphedema of extremities accompanied with erysipelas.

METHODSFrom March 2004 to March 2013, 80 patients with chronic lymphedema of extremities accompanied with erysipelas were analyzed retrospectively. The patients underwent heating treatment (42 degree centigrade) with infrared light machine made by Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital, 2 hours a day, 20 hours for a session. Bandage treatment was adopted after heating treatment. 1 or 2 sessions were performed for each patient every year. The erysipelas occurring frequency, patients subjective feeling, treatment sessions and elastic material usage was recorded during the follow-up period. The erysipelas occurring frequency was tested by the method of rank and inspection. SPSS 17. 0 was used for statistical analysis.

RESULTSAfter heating and bandage treatment, the occurrence frequency of erysipelas was obviously controlled (Z = 7.598, P = 0.000). Erysipelas was not occurred any more in 60 (75%)patients. Remarkable reduction of occurrence frequency of erysipelas caused by various reasons was showed after treatment. Primary and secondary lymphedema after treatment were compared with those before treatment respectively, showing statistical difference (Z = 3.417 and 5.009, P = 0.001 and 0.000). Most of patients felt better subjectively. The relapse rate of erysipelas and lymphedema was lower if keeping using elastic material to give more pressure on extremities after therapy.

CONLUSIONSHeating and bandage treatment can obviously reduce the occurrence frequency of erysipelas. It can improve the quality of patients' lives. Simultaneously, the subsequent elastic material pressure therapy is essential.

Bandages ; Chronic Disease ; Combined Modality Therapy ; methods ; Erysipelas ; complications ; therapy ; Extremities ; Female ; Humans ; Hyperthermia, Induced ; methods ; Lymphedema ; complications ; therapy ; Middle Aged ; Pressure ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Time Factors

Objective To explore the dynamic changes of von willebrand factor(VWF)and Pseleetin in the finger-replanted patients,and the relationship between the prognosis of the surgery and hypercoagulability.Methods From December 2004 to December 2006,eishty finger-replanted patients were recruited to our study.with 40 healthy volunteers as controls.Plasma VWF and P-selectin were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(EUSA)in both controls and patients before or after replantation.Results The VWF and P-selectin levels had significant differences between the replantations and controls(F=14.76,11.76,P＜0.01).The VWF levels in the patients of 1,4,8,16 hours after replantation were(1 715±493),(1 396±549),(1 266±504),(1 163±436)U/L respectively,all markedly higher than the controls(P＜0.01).The P-selectin levels in patients of 1,4,8,16,24 hours after operation were(14.7±2.6),(12.5±3.0),(11.8±3.2),(11.1±3.0)、(10.5±2.6)μg/L,significanfly higher than the controls(P＜0.01).The VWF levels in patients of pre-replantion and the 1,4,8,16,24,48,72 hours after replantation were(854±209),(1 535±389),(1 177±407),(1 040±283),(958±216),(829±193),(777±151),(713±137)U/L in successful group,and were(1 202±164),(2 333±243),(2 146±161),(2 039±244),(1 865±170),(1 645±283),(1 427±331),(1 188±262)U/L in unsuccessful groups.They were all significantly different at the same test-time points between two groups(t=4.44,5.12,6.10,8.43,10.17,8.85,5.10.4.61,P＜0.05).The P-selectin levels in patients of 1,4,8,16,24,48,72 hours after replantation were(13.9±2.5),(11.2±2.0),(10.2±1.6),(9.6±1.2),(9.2±0.9),(9.5±0.6),(9.3±0.4)μg/L in successful group,and(17.2±1.0),(16.9±1.0),(17.0±1.3),(16.1±1.1),(14.9±1.5),(13.8±1.4),(12.8±1.2)μg/L in unsuccessful group.Significant difference existed at the same testtime points between two groups again(t=5.22.9.91,10.35,12.79,9.46.9.45,9.33,P＜0.01).After replantation,both VWF and P-selectin were rapidly elevated and went to the summit 4 hours later,then declined to pre-replantation level about 24 to 48 hours later after replantation.Conclusions VWF and P-selectin were associated with the hypercoagulability.Dynamic monitoring VWF and p-selectin may be useful in determining the existence of hypercoagulability and the therapy of anti-coagulability.

Objective Based on middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) model,to investigate the effects of melatonin (MT) on DWI and expression of Fas,FasL and cleaved Caspase-3 proteins in rat model with focal cerebral ischemia.Methods Eighty SD rats were randomly divided into Sham group (n=16),MCAO group (n=32) and MT group (n=32).The rats in sham group were treated with sham-operation.And the rats in MCAO and MT groups were peritoneally injected with saline and MT respectively.The behavioral scores were assessed in the three groups.The rats in MCAO and MT group with the behavioral scores of 1 3 points were selected in the study.The DWI relative signal intensity (rDWI-SI),Fas,FasL and cleaved Caspase-3 proteins were respectively examined by MR scaning and immunohistochemical staining in all rats of each group at 6 h,24 h,72 h and 7 days after ischemia reperfusion (IR) or sham-operation.And the DWI and immunohistochemical results for each group were compared.Results At last,there were 16 rats in sham group,29 rats in MCAO group and 30 rats in MT group,respectively.There was significant difference of the behavioral scores among the three groups (x2 =50.125,P＜0.01).The behavioral scores of MT and MCAO groups were higher than those of sham group (all P ＜0.05).And the behavior scores of the MT group were lower compared with MCAO group after IR.Compared with the rDWI-SI values measured at 6 h,24 h and 72 h,7 days in sham group,the rDWLSI values of MT and MCAO groups were significantly higher (all P＜0.01).And the rDWI-SI was higher in MCAO group than those in MT group at 6 h,24 h and 72 h after IR (all P＜0.01).And there was no significant difference of rDWI-SI at 7 days after IR between MT and MCAO groups (P＞0.05).The immunohistochemical staining results showed that the number of Fas,FasL and cleaved Caspase-3 positive cells in MCAO and MT groups were significantly higher than those in sham group (all P＜0.01).And there were less Fas,FasL and cleaved Caspase-3 positive cells in MT groups compared with MCAO group (all P＜0.05) at 6 h,24 h and 72 h after IR.There was no significant difference of Fas,FasL and cleaved Caspase-3 positive cells among the three groups at 7 days after IR (P＞0.05).Conclusion MT can effectively alleviate the rDWI-SI value and inhibit the expression of Fas,FasL and cleaved Caspase-3 proteins in rats of focal cerebral ischemia.

We investigated the effects of IFN-γ on Chlamydia psittaci (Cps) infection.HeLa cells were treated with different concentrations of recombinant human IFN-γ (5 ng/mL,25 ng/mL,50 ng/mL) after infecting with C.psittaci 6BC,then the number and morphology of C.psittaci inclusion bodies were examined after 48 hours.C57BL/6J mice were intranasally infected with 2 × 106 IFUs C.psittaci 6BC,and intraperitoneally administrated with 10 μg recombinant murine interferon-γ 24 hours prior or post infection,then body weight,activity and survival rate were recorded.The histopathology of mice livers and lungs was analyzed by HE staining on day 5 or day10 post infection.And the chlamydial inclusion bodies were titrated in the lung homogenates of mice sacrificed on day 5 after infection.The inclusion body numbers of recombinant human IFN-γ treated groups (by 5ng/mL,25ng/mL,50ng/mL) were significantly less than that in the control group (23.8±5.1)× 106,(10± 3.58) × 106,(8.0±2.22) × 106,(43.3±11.05)× 106,respectively).And the morphology of inclusion bodies in IFN-γ treated HeLa cells was irregular and much smaller.We also found that IFN-γ could significantly improve the survival rate,reduce acute clinical manifestations and pathological injurery of lung and liver in C.psittaci respiratory tract infected mice model.So we summarized that IFN-γ can mediate strong immunological protection during acute C.psittaci early infection.

Objective To explore the effects of two routes of melatonin (MT) administration including intraperitoneal and caudal vein injection on the behavior,histopathology and the expression of myelin basic protein (MBP) and active caspase-3 protein in focal cerebral ischemic rats.Methods 84 male Sprangue-Dawley rats were randomly divided into normal control group (CON,n=12),middle cerebral artery occlusion group(MCAO,n=24),MT-intraperitoneal group (n=24) and MT-intravenous injection group (n=24) by random number table.Twenty-four hours after ischemia reperfusion (IR),Morris water maze was used to observe the effects of two routes of MT administration on behavior in focal cerebral ischemic rats.7 d after IR,MBP immunohistochemical and hematoxylin eosin (HE) staining were used to examine the expression of MBP in striatum and histopathological changes in hippocampal CA1 region.24 h,72 h and 7 d after IR,the expression of active caspase-3 in hippocampal CA1 region was observed by immunohistochemical staining.Results The average escape latencies in Morris water maze in MT-intravenous injection group at different time points were all lower than those of the MT-intraperitoneal,and they were all lower than those of the MCAO group.Swimming time percentage of target quadrant in MT-intravenous injection group were higher than those of the MT-intraperitoneal,and they were all higher than those of the MCAO group (all P＜0.01);7 d after IR,the results of HE staining showed that the hippocampus cells in MCAO group were disarranged with hyperchromatic nucleus and cytoplasm.More hippocampal cells were observed in MT-intraperitoheal and MT-intravenous injection groups,and they were relatively well arranged.The optical density (OD)of MBP in MT-intravenous injection group (105.60±4.04) was significantly higher than those in MCAO group (95.60±2.07) and MT-intraperitoneal injection group (98.00±4.18) (both P＜0.01).Immunohistochemical results showed that the number of active caspase-3 positive cells in MT-intravenous injection group ((116.93± 12.58)/mm2,(130.16±21.22)/mm2,(88.25±7.80)/mm2) at each time point were significantly lower than those in MT-intraperitoneal injection group ((156.64± 32.54)/mm2,(176.49± 17.44)/mm2,(127.96±16.73)/mm2) (all P＜0.05).At the time points of 24 h and 72 h after IR,there were less active caspase-3 positive cells in MT-intraperitoneal and MT-intravenous injection group compared with those in MCAO group((273.56±32.54)/mm2,(288.63±35.17)/mm2)(all P＜0.01).Conclusion MT administration by both intraperitoneal and intravenous injection can significantly improve the behavior and attenuate the histopathology and white matter damage,and reduce the cell apoptosis in hippocampal CA1 region in focal cerebral ischemic rats,and the therapeutic effects of MT-intravenous injection are better than MT-intraperitoneal injection.