Volume 101  ·   Issue 03  ·  1988

Paragonimus antigen skin-test was performed in 31 cases to observe the interrelationship between hypersensitivity reaction and Ig level and peripheral blood T-lymphocyte activity. The results showed that no correlation existed between IgG level and hypersensitivity, the average value being 1198.06±406.09 10 mg/L, lower than the normal average value of 1 309.63+423.45 10 mg/L (P>0.05). However, higher than normal values were found in 12 cases (38.7%). Cell immunity Et-RFC, Ea-FRC and LBT were found to be 22.5%, 22.5% and 32.2% higher than normal respectively, suggesting that immediate-type hypersensitivity and T-lymphocyte mediated delayed-type hypersensitivity might coexist in paragonimiasis.

30 patients with severe thromboangiitis obliterans (TAO), Stage III, were treated by traditionalChinese medicine (TCM) anesthesia with an effective rate of 86.7%. It was proved to be more effective than dolantin for pain relief and could abstain from addiction of anesthetics, elevate skin temperature of the afflicted limbs, increase walking distance, extinct depending edema, and accelerate wound healing. The therapeutic mechanism of TCM anesthesia as to blood vitalization,blood-stasis elimination, immune suppression and nerve system regulation is discussed.

Fifty-seven patients with advanced malignancies, including 8 cases of soft tissue sarcomas, 9 ovarian carcinomas, 5 non-seminomatous testicular tumor, 11 bronchogenic carcinoma, 3 renal carcinoma, 7 non-Hogkin's lymphoma, 2 skeletal fibrosarcoma, 2 breast carcinoma and one each of Ewing's tumor, prostatic carcinoma, seminoma, plasma cell tumor, multiple myeloma, malignant teratoma, nasopharyngeal carcinoma, Wilms's tumor, neuroblastoma and mycosis fungoides, were treated with Ifosfamide and Mesna. In 53 evaluable cases of this series, there were 5 complete remissions and 20 partial remissions, a total response rate of 47.2%. The overall median survival time was 7.5 months. Non-seminomatous testicular tumor, non-Hogkin's lymphoma and ovarian carcinoma showed high response rates. The side effects of this regimen included dyspepsia, nausea, vomiting, myelodepression, dizziness and alopecia and were mostly grades l-2. Hemorrhagic cystitis can be prevented nearly completely by concomitant administration of Mesna.

Rat trachea was cultured with serum-free medium to see if sodium selenite can inhibit airway epithelial carcinogenesis induced by 3-methylcholanthrene (MCA). The four-week experiment reveals that epithelia exposed to MCA (2μg/ml) showed hyperplasia, squamous metaplasia and atypical hyperplasia, accompanied by advanced membrane changes. These MCA effects, however, were significantly prevented and reduced when sodium selenite (0.5μg/ml) was added to the media. The results suggest that selenium may be an antagonist against chemical carcinogens, or acts as an antioxidant to protect cells from oxidization damage.

It was thought that simple finger movements are commanded by the contralateral cerebral hemisphere. Dextrous digital movements mastered in the postnatal period, however, may be preprogramed in one hemisphere only, that is, the dominant hemisphere for manual movements. The encoded signals are sent to the opposite hemisphere through a myriad commissural fibers in the corpus callosum. Writing, drawing and paper cutting with scissors of either hand were tested in 46 normal subjects. Scissors cutting of both hands were basically similar in the 46 subjects. Of the 38 right-handed persons who had never written with the left hand previously, theideographs written and simple figures drawn with the left hand for the first time were quite similar to those with the right hand. Four dextral illiterates could only be tested on drawing. The simple figures drawn with either hand of these 4 persons, though rather poor, were very similar. Four left handed persons had already learned to write with the right hand. In them the ideographs and drawings made with the left hand were very close to those executed with the right. It seems that the dextrous digital movements of both hands were under the command of a common hemisphere.

The authors presented the application of indirect immunoperoxidase technique on liver sections of infected rabbit containing schistosomal egg granuloma (LE-IIP) as antigen to detect the specific antibodies in sera of patients with schistosomiasis japonica. Of 52 acute and 100 chronic cases 100% and 99% showed positive reactions respectively. The sensitivity of LE-IIP was higher than that of ID (92.0%), IHA (93.5%) and ELISA (92.0%) (P<0.05) and similar to that of COPT (97.0%). The false positive rate of LE-IIP was l%, similar to that of ELISA (3.03%)and lower than that of COPT (6.25%) and IHA (5.0%) (P<0.05). Cross reaction was observed in one of the 10 patients with Paragonimus westermani. The use of LE-IIP in different endemic areas of S. japonica revealed its well reproducibility and practicability. It is considered that the LE-IIP could be used as a useful method for the diagnosis of schistosomiasis in clinic and field survey.

The authors present an analysis of 23 cases of viral myocarditis and 140 cases of viral cardiomyopathy. The anticoxsackie B antibody was l:64 or more in 74.2% (23/31) cases of acute myocarditis and 52.4% (22/42) of cardiomyopathy. Most of them had an increase of B2 or B4. Five cases of Adams-Stokes syndrome and 1 inferior myocardial infarction were associated with increased B2 titer. In viral cardiomyopathy, most had negative phyto-hemagglutinin (PHA) and OT skin tests, with low OKT3, OKT4 and OKT8, low blastogenesis to PHA, increased serum inhibition factor and abnormal adhesive cell function. After treatment with immune ribonucleic acid (IRNA) or thymosine for 3-6 months, clinical manifestations ameliorated and cell-mediated-immunity normalized in most of the patients especially those after thymosine treatment.

From October to December 1984, rotavirus-like particles 50-55 nm in diameter were noticed in the feces of infants with gastroenteritis in Nanjing. The virus resembled rotavirus morphologically but differed in size. It shared common group antigen with known rotavirus by immune electron microscope(IEM) and ELISA. The virus had a double-stranded RNA with 11 discrete segments, and the virus RNA could also be divided into two subgroups (the long and the short types) and 4 different kinds of electro-phoretic types. The patterns of migration of the segments on polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE)were similar to those of rotavirus. 11 (29%) of 38 positive cases were identified as minirotavirus by EM. The main clinical symptoms of the patients were watery diarrhea, vomiting and dehydration.

Investigations were carried out to observe worm burden and egg granuloma formation at different time intervals between immunization and challenge in relation to the in vitro lymphocyte proliferative response in mice immunized with NTG-attenuated cercariae of Schistosome japonicum. Mice were exposed to 30 NTG-attenuated cercariae (30 μg/ml NTG × 15 min) twice at two week intervals and were challenged at week 4, 6, 8, 10 or 12 with 40 cercariae of S japonicum. Results showed that mice immunized with NTG-attenuated-cercariae had fewer or stunted worms and fewer splenic and hepaticgTanulomas. Worm reduction rates of 8%, 54%, 82%, 43% and 29% were observed at weeks 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 from initial immunization respectively. Thus, optimal acquired immunity against a challenge infection seems to occur at week 8. In mice immunized with NTG-attenuated cercariae, the proliferative response of lymphocytes from lymph nodes, thymus and spleen to soluble egg antigen increased gradually throughout the first six weeks postinitial infection, peaked at week 7 and then markedly decreased by week 12. This suggests that there maybe some correlation between the development of protective immunity and the dynamic characteristics of lymphocyte proliferative response in vitro in the mice model infected with NTG-attenuated cercariae of S japonicum.