[An epidemiological survey on paragonimiasis in Jin Miaopu township in Shanxi province].

Objective: To investigate the epidemiological factors and tendency of paragonimiasis in Jin Miaopu township in Zezhou county of Shanxi Province, and to understand the current status of public awareness for providing references to paragonimiasis education and prevention.

Methods: A questionnaire survey was conducted among 2172 villagers probing awareness of paragonimiasis and their experiences of eating crabs; Infection screening and antibody test were also performed by means of ELISA.

Results: The paragonimiasis knowledge coverage rate was zero, and 67.

[Significant decrease of recent thymic output function in patients with severe benzene intoxication].

The aim of the present study was to investigate the level of T-cell receptor excision DNA circles (TREC) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMNC) of patients with severe benzene poison, thereby to evaluate the content of naive T cells and the recent thymic output function. Quantitative detection of TREC in DNA of PBMNCs from 16 normal individuals and 8 cases with severe benzene poison was preformed by real-time PCR using TaqMan technique. The results showed that TREC level was 6.

[Evaluation of recent thymic output function in benzene-exposed workers].

Objective: To analyze the content of signal joint T-cell receptor excision DNA circles signal joint T-cell receptor excision DNA circles (sjTRECs) within peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), thereby to infer the level of naive T cells and the recent thymic output function in benzene-exposed workers.

Methods: Quantitative detection of sjTRECs in DNA of peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 11 normal individuals and 62 benzene-exposed workers were performed by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and TaqMan technique.

Results: The median value of sjTRECs copies/1,000 PBMCs was 7.

[Estimate of Recent Thymic Output Function - Quantification of T Cell Receptor Rearrangement Excision Circles (TRECs)].

For a long time, thymic function could not be monitored, as a consequence of the absence of adequate technology to detect recent thymic emigrants from naive T cells. T cell differentiation in the thymus is characterized by T cell receptor (TCR) rearrangement. During the rearrangement of TCRalpha gene segments, the deltaRec and psiJalpha rearrange to each other to delete the TCRdelta gene and form an extrachromosomal DNA circles, referred to as signal joint T cell receptor excision DNA circles (sjTRECs) or TRECs.

[Comparison of the clonal expansion of TCR Vbeta T cells in patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia in vivo and in vitro].

In order to analyze the distribution and clonal expansion of TCR Vbeta subfamily T cells in patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) in vivo and in vitro after T cell culture, the peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 3 APL patients were expanded by rhIL-2 and anti-CD3 antibody using liquid T lymphocytes culture technique. The complementary determining region 3 (CDR3) of TCR beta with variable region genes was amplified in T cells from 3 APL cases before and after T cell culture by using RT-PCR. The positive products were further analyzed to identify the clonality of T cells by genescan.