Volume 100  ·   Issue 04  ·  1987

In vitro synthesis of anti-HBs by cross combination of T and B lymphocyte fractions of 41 cases with various types of HBV infections and normal controls is studied. Marked defects in anti-HBs response was observed in the B-cells of chronic active hepatitis (CAH) and chronic persistent hepatitis (CPH) patients. No enhancement was observed in combined cultures of these patients' B cells with HB vaccinees' T cells. Elevated suppressor T cell activity was revealed in asymptomatic carriers and CPH. Interestingly, restoration of anti-HBs response was seen in CAH B-cells when incubated with IL-2. The clinical significance remains to be further evaluated. Except for acute viral hepatitis B, all patients with HBV infections yielded low IL2 titers as compared with normal controls. No correlation was observed between IL-2 activity and anti-HBs synthesis in lymphocytes of those with HBV infections. In view of the results of these experiments, low anti-HBs synthesis appears to be due to a specific inability of the B-cells of chronic carriers rather than to aberrations in helper or suppressor T-cell functions.

The world's total reported number of papers and books on science and technology increased from 4.5 million in 1968 to 12 million in 1983. The available statistics for the total number of biomedical works was augmented from 0.9 million in 1967 to 2.4 million in 1983. It was reported that the People's Republic of China published 260,000 scientific and technical works in 1983 including 52,000 on biomedical problems.

Our study on the correlation of clinical classification of 109 cases of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) with Ph chromosome frequency showed that the mean frequency of Ph chromosomes was 41.22% in 24 cases with partial or complete reruission, 62.3% in 64 chronic cases and 81.13% in 21 acute transformation cases. Ph chromosomes tended to in crease markedly during the chronic stage and acute transformation. This helps elucidate the course of CML and serves as a valuable indicator of acute transformation of CML.

Histomorphometric study was made on a series of sections of undecalcified epiphyseal femoral specimens from rats with experimental fluorosis. The results revealed osteosclerosis in Group A (5 ppm) being more severe than that in Group B (25 ppm) With the increase of fluoride dose, the parameters fell down instead of increased in parallel. There is seemingly a threshold over which osteosclerosis in fluorosis becomes less severe. In contrast to Bely's conclusion the authors proposed that, fluoride toxicity, besides decreasing the number of osteoblasts, may also activate the osteoblasts. The number of osteoblasts may be increased with relative lower dose of fluoride also. The net outcome is the in crement in bone volume. When toxic dose of fluoride is higher enough (higher than the proposed threshold), however, the number of osteoblasts and its activity are inhibited. So are the osteocytes. This interpretation may be the cytological basis for osteosclerosis in the experimental fluorosis.

In this paper two cases of homozygous HbG Coushatta compounded with β+ thalassemia are reported. They were born in Zhejiang, and are sisters of Han nationality. The diagnoses were based on family pedigree. The abnormal Hb was shown to be passed peptide chain dissociation by electrophoresis and structural analysis. Case I1 (the father) had β+ thalassemia, I2 (the mother) heterozygous HbG Coushatta and siblings II2 and II5 had homozygous HbG Coushatta with β+thalassemia Analysis by constant chromatosome of dominant genetic regularity could not account for these two cases. No abnormal band was found in Case I1. The authors were not able to determine whether this was due to the abnormality being too small to measure easily by present methods or sudden gene change. Both cases, although having anemia and splenomegaly were not severe. They worked and lived normally.

A clinical analysis of 79 inductions of labor conducted from October 1984 to January 1985 is presented. The induction method used was syn chronous forewater amniotomy and oxytocin titration regulated by intrauterine pressure supervision. Vaginal delivery was achieved in 74 cases, so the success rate was 93.7%. The induction-delivery interval was less than 12 hours in 71 cases (95.9%). The longest labor time of the remaining 3 cases was 14.5 hours. There was one neonatal death, the fetus weighed l.4 kg and was born of a 36 weeks pregnant mother with eclampsia. . The only maternal complication was a slight puerperal infection in one case. The preinduction state of the cervix most significantly influenced the outcome of labor, especially the length of the cervix. We found that the average time needed to shorten 1 cm of cervical length was about 3 hours, but once the cervix was effaced completely, the course of labor progressed rapidly, most mothers delivering within 4 hours. An inductograph is charted based upon our data.

In vivo experiments performed on rats show marked decrease in intestinal glucose absorption following burn injury. Glucose absorption is partially increased by insulin administration (0.001 U/100g body weight). There was a linear relationship between blood sugar levels and the rate of glucose absorption. One week after scalding blood serum insulin was decreased and blood glucose levels were highly increased, showing that stress diabetes mellitus tends to appear. In order to avoid the complications involved in in vivo experiments, some rats were rendered diabetic by alloxan administration and their rate of glucose absorption was greatly decreased in vivo. However, in vitro measurement of intestinal glucose absorption revealed no marked difference between normal and diabetic rats. Insulin control is not primarily due to the active transport system for glucose but is probably secondary to changes in blood sugar levels.

Our digestive disease section performed lactose tolerance tests in 131 normal Chinese using the Hydrogen Breath Microlyzer Type CM made by Quintron Instrument Corp., USA. Subject age ranged from 4 to 58 years. There were 81 males and 50 females, a male to female ratio of 1.62:1. 103 (78.63%) of the subjects were lactose intolerant, their pulmonary alveolar air hydrogen being greater than 20 ppm, similar to the percentages found in orientals investigated in the USA. Comparison by age groups showed that lactose intolerance in adults was 85.85%, lactose intolerance. Lactose intolerance was 47.83%. In children it was 47.83%. The alveolar air hydrogen gas peak in children was significantly lower than that of adults. The appearance of the hydrogen gas peak was delayed in all children's age groups. This suggests that lactose intolerance is probably developmental in all with this defect. We consider that H2 breath test is of diagnostic value in many alimentary disturbances. It is simple to perform and worth further study.

An epidemic of neonatal viral meningitis occurred in Shanghai from July to September 1984. Cerebrospinal fluid cultures proved that the causative organism was Coxsackie B5 virus. The age at onset of disease was 4-14 days after birth. Symptoms were mild and prognosis was good. The average duration of illness was 10.9±4.1 days. No sequelae were found after one month to one-year follow-up. The epidemiology, pathogenesis, clinical manifestations, differential diagnosis and treatment are discussed.

12 cases of inverted tumor of the urinary bladder collected from 300 cases of transitional cell tumors and tumor-like lesions seen in the years 1975-1984 in Tianjin Medical College were reported. The term "inverted tumor" of the bladder is newly coined by the authors to define the tumor. Its histological morphology is different in some respects from "inverted papilloma of the bladder," though it was grouped as such in the past. The anthors suggested a new classification of the inverted tumor of the bladder based upon materials held.