Explorative study on the expression of neuregulin-1 gene in peripheral blood of schizophrenia

Neuregulin-1 (Nrg-1)(1) gene has been considered as a schizophrenia susceptibility gene. In order to observe the association of Nrg-1 gene with schizophrenia, the study was designed to investigate the effect of anti-psychotic treatment on the Nrg-1 mRNA e

Circulating immunoglobulin A- and immunoglobulin G-secreting hybridoma cells in peripheral blood preferably migrate to female genital tracts. The role of sex hormones

Antigen-specific circulating immunoglobulin-secreting cells (ISC) migrate to various secondary and tertiary lymphoid tissues. To understand the migration of the cells into the genital tract and its regulation by sex hormones, spleen-derived SG2 hybridoma cells secreting immunoglobulin G2b (IgG2b) and Peyer's patch-derived PA4 hybridoma cells secreting polymer IgA were labelled with (3) H-TdR, and intravenously injected into syngeneic mice of both sexes. Using flow cytometry, surface molecular markers of plasma cells, CD38 and CD138, and adhesion molecules, CD49d, CD162, and CD11a were found to be positive in SG2 and PA4 cells, but CD62L, alpha4beta7 and CD44 were not expressed on these cells. The relative distribution indexes (RDIs) of the cells in genital tract and other tissues were measured. The means of RDIs of SG2 and PA4 cells in female genital tissues were 6.5 and 4.5 times as many as the means in male genital tissues, respectively. The treatment of ovariectomized mice with beta-oestradiol significantly increased the RDIs of PA4 cells in cervix and vagina, but decreased the RDIs of SG2 cells in vagina, horn of uterus, uterus and rectum (P <0.05). Progesterone treatment increased the RDIs of PA4 cells in vagina and rectum (P <0.05). The treatment with testosterone significantly increased the RDIs of SG2 and PA4 cells in epididymis and accessory sex glands (P <0.05). These results demonstrate that the female genital tract is the preferable site for the migration of circulating hybridoma cells to the male genital tract, and sex hormones play an important role in regulation of the migration of circulating ISC to genital tracts.

The Influence of Age and Sex on the Cell Counts of Peripheral Blood Leukocyte Subpopulations in Chinese Rhesus Macaques

therapeutic drugs, vaccines and mechanisms of human diseases. Little is known about the normal levels of leukocyte subpopulations of Chinese rhesus macaques. To obtain these data, 100 blood samples from Chinese rhesus macaques were collected. The normal range of major leukocyte subpopulations, such as T lymphocytes, B lymphocytes, monocytes, myeloid dendritic cells (mDCs) and plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs), were quantitatively analyzed by flow cytometry through BD trucount tubes. The influence of age and sex on the cell counts of leukocyte subpopulations was analyzed. The counts of CD3+ T cells, CD3+CD4+ T cells, CD3+CD8+ T cells and B cells decreased with age, but those of monocytes, mDCs and pDCs had no significant correlation with age. Significant differences existed in the cell counts of most leukocyte subpopulations between the male and female groups except pDCs. Furthermore the values of the females were higher than those of the males. The study provided basic information about the leukocyte subpopulations of Chinese rhesus macaques, and it may be valuable for immunobiological study of Chinese rhesus macaques. Cellular & Molecular Immunology. 2009;6(6):433-440.