Chromosome aberrations in lymphocytes of residents living in buildings constructed with radioactively contaminated rebars.

Using the G-banding technique, we examined lymphocytes from 90 individuals (43 males and 47 females, median age 31 years) living in buildings constructed with radioactively contaminated rebars. Forty-five nonexposed control subjects (22 males and 23 females, median age 30 years), matched to the radiation-exposed individuals by sex and age, were selected for comparison. At least 500 metaphases were checked for each individual.

Chromosomal fragile site expression in lymphocytes from patients with schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia is a common complex mental disorder. The lifetime prevalence of this disease is about 1% across different populations. The etiology is still unknown despite decades of intensive study.

A pseudo-cryptococcal artefact derived from leucocytes in wet India ink mounts of centrifuged cerebrospinal fluid.

Wet India ink mounts of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) are useful in the laboratory diagnosis of cryptococcal meningitis. Pseudo-cryptococcal artefacts in such mounts have been attributed to leucocytes in CSF but their mode of formation has not been explained. This report describes the reproduction of such an artefact in cryptococcus free CSF-leucocyte mixtures that had been subjected to high speed centrifugation.

Chromosomal study in lymphocytes from subjects living or working in buildings constructed with radioactively contaminated rebar.

It has recently been found that many buildings in Taiwan were constructed with radioactively contaminated rebar, which raised great concern among the residents as well as governmental officials. In order to investigate the possible cytogenetic damage to the residents of contaminated buildings, a G-banding method was carried out on the lymphocytes of 30 radiation-exposed individuals from four families and one office building, as well as 15 control individuals from laboratory personnel. The estimated cumulative radiation doses for the exposed people range from 19.

Frequency and distribution of chromosomal integration sites of the Epstein-Barr virus genome.

Human lymphocytes can be transformed in vitro by integration of the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) into the host genome. To study whether integration sites are stable or changeable in the course of long-term cultivation, three EBV-transformed lymphoblastoid cell lines, along with positive control (Namalwa cell line) and negative control (noninfected lymphocytes) cells were studied. A biotinylated Bam H1WEBV-DNA fragment was used as the probe for fluorescence in situ hybridization to count the numbers and to localize the sites of integrated EBV-DNA.