The role of apitherapy in the combined treatment of patients with chronic nonspecific lung diseases]

The authors suggest that apitherapy should be used in the treatment of patients with chronic non-specific pulmonary diseases (ChNPD) in order that it might be more effective. Apitherapeutic complex (bee venom and bee keeping apiculture produce) has been applied to the treatment of 104 ChNPD patients. High effectiveness of apitherapy in a combined treatment of ChNPD patients was demonstrated as was their stimulating and normalizing influence on the function of the adrenals.     

Perfluorochemical liquid ventilation: from the animal laboratory to the intensive care unit

Perfluorochemical or perfluorocarbon liquids have an enormous gas-carrying capacity. During tidal liquid ventilation the respiratory medium of both functional residual capacity and tidal volume is replaced by neat perfluorocarbon liquid. Tidal liquid ventilation is characterized by convective and diffusive limitations, but offers the advantage of preserved functional residual capacity, high compliance and improved ventilation-perfusion matching. During partial liquid ventilation only the functional residual capacity is replaced by perfluorocarbon liquid. Both tidal and partial liquid ventilation improve gas exchange and lung mechanics in hyaline membrane disease, adult respiratory distress models and meconium aspiration. Compared to gas ventilation, there is less histologic evidence of barotrauma after liquid ventilation. Cardio-pulmonary interaction, inherent to the high density of liquid, and long term safety need further study. However, extrapolating from animal data, and taking into account promising human pilot studies, liquid ventilation has the desired properties to occupy an important place in the therapy of restrictive lung disease in man.     

Prosthetic valve endocarditis: superiority of surgical valve replacement versus medical therapy only

The objective of our study was to assess the long-term outcome of patients with prosthetic valve endocarditis. We used a multicenter, prospective, observational study design. Six university teaching hospitals with high volume cardiothoracic surgery participated. Seventy-four patients with prosthetic valve endocarditis as defined by explicit, objective criteria were selected for participation. All patients were followed up prospectively for 1 year. Thirty-one percent and 69% had development of endocarditis within 60 days of valve insertion ("early") and after 60 days ("late"), respectively. The most common causes were Staphylococcus epidermidis (40%), Staphylococcus aureus (20%), streptococcal species (18%), and aerobic gram-negative bacilli (11%). Physical signs of endocarditis (new or changing murmur, stigmata, emboli) were seen in 58%. At 6 months and 12 months, mortality was 46% and 47%, respectively. Surgical replacement of the infected valve led to significantly lower mortality (23%) as compared with medical therapy alone (56%), as assessed by both univariate and multivariate analyses (p < 0.05). Improved outcome was seen for the surgical group even when controlling for severity of illness at time of diagnosis. From these findings we conclude that accurate assessment of outcome in prosthetic valve endocarditis requires long-term follow-up of at least 6 months following diagnosis. Surgical therapy warrants greater scrutiny; evaluation in controlled clinical trials is appropriate.     

Biology of chronic radiation effect on tissues and wound healing

Radiation therapy exerts both acute and chronic effects on normal tissue included within treatment fields. The physics of radiation therapy and treatment techniques to minimize deleterious effects of radiation are presented. Management of radiation-damaged skin is discussed. Radiation effect on tissue, wound healing, and tumorigenesis also are reviewed.     

The B-cell transmembrane protein CD72 binds to and is an in vivo substrate of the protein tyrosine phosphatase SHP-1

BACKGROUND: Signals from the B-cell antigen receptor (BCR) help to determine B-cell fate, directing either proliferation, differentiation, or growth arrest/apoptosis. The protein tyrosine phosphatase SHP-1 is known to regulate the strength of BCR signaling. Although the B-cell co-receptor CD22 binds SHP-1, B cells in CD22-deficient mice are much less severely affected than those in SHP-1-deficient mice, suggesting that SHP-1 may also regulate B-cell signaling by affecting other signaling molecules. Moreover, direct substrates of SHP-1 have not been identified in any B-cell signaling pathway. RESULTS: We identified the B-cell transmembrane protein CD72 as a new SHP-1 binding protein and as an in vivo substrate of SHP-1 in B cells. We also defined the binding sites for SHP-1 and the adaptor protein Grb2 on CD72. Tyrosine phosphorylation of CD72 correlated strongly with BCR-induced growth arrest/apoptosis in B-cell lines and in primary B cells. Preligation of CD72 attenuated BCR-induced growth arrest/death signals in immature and mature B cells or B-cell lines, whereas preligation of CD22 enhanced BCR-induced growth arrest/apoptosis. CONCLUSIONS: We have identified CD72 as the first clear in vivo substrate of SHP-1 in B cells. Our results suggest that tyrosine-phosphorylated CD72 may transmit signals for BCR-induced apoptosis. By dephosphorylation CD72. SHP-1 may have a positive role in B-cell signaling. These results have potentially important implications for the involvement of CD72 and SHP-1 in B-cell development and autoimmunity.