Aim: To investigate the acute and chronic effects of nateglinide versus acarbose on plasma asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) levels and lipid profiles in patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes. Methods: A crossover trial of nateglinide and acarbose was conducted on 16 drug-naïve patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes during a total period of 9 weeks. Plasma glucose, serum insulin, free fatty acids (FFA), lipids and lipoproteins, and plasma ADMA were measured. Results: The efficiencies of a single dose of nateglinide (120 mg) and acarbose (50 mg) for lowering postprandial hyperglycemia were similar. Compared to acarbose, nateglinide significantly increased postprandial insulin release after a standard meal test in patients with type 2 diabetes. Nateglinide acutely decreased postprandial 120-min FFA concentrations and 240-min ADMA levels more significantly than acarbose. The fasting high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) level increased and the low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) level decreased significantly, but the fasting levels of triglycerides, total cholesterol, and ADMA were unchanged after 4 weeks of treatment with nateglinide. Acarbose did not affect fasting lipid profiles or the ADMA levels after 4 weeks of treatment. Conclusion: These results suggest that the reduction of postprandial FFA and ADMA concentrations induced by nateglinide may be associated with the partial restoration of early phase insulin secretion and may impart a cardiovascular advantage in comparison with acarbose.

The side population (SP) phenotype might represent a common molecular feature for a wide variety of stem cells. The aim of this study was to investigate whether monoclonal SP progenitor cells were established from human fetal pancreas. Islet-like cell clusters (ICCs) were isolated from human fetal pancreas. Monolayer epithelium-like cells were obtained from the ICCs and passaged thereafter. Single SP or non-SP cell were sorted from these cells at the sixth passage. The rate of clone formation was about 2.7% for the SP cells, whereas there was no clone formation for the non-SP cells. The SP cell clones were further expanded for more than 15 passages and induced for differentiation into cells with characteristics of pancreatic -cells. We show for the first time that the monoclonal SP progenitors are established from human fetal pancreas. Therefore, this study may offer a novel method to purify pancreatic progenitor cells from human tissues.

新生Wistar大鼠离体胰岛与细胞因子孵育后，观测胰岛素释放和一氧化氮（NO）生成的变化，并用逆转录2聚合酶链反应（RT-PCR）观察IL-18受体信号链（IL-18Rβ）mRNA的表达水平。结果表明：（1）0.625～10nmol/L基因重组小鼠（rm）IL-18孵育胰岛24h后，对累积的和葡萄糖刺激的胰岛素释放以及NO生成均无显著效应；（2）200U/ml基因重组大鼠（rr）γ干扰素（IFN-γ）或250U/ml基因重组人（rh）肿瘤坏死因子-α（TNF-α）单独存在对胰岛素释放和NO生成均无明显效应，也不能促使10nmol/LrmIL-18对胰岛素释放和NO生成产生影响；（3）200U/mlrrIFN-γ+250U/mlrhTNF-α或15pg/mlrhIL-1β均明显促进NO生成和抑制胰岛素释放，而10nmol/LrmIL-18则不影响IFN-γ+TNF-α或IL-1β的上述效应；（4）即使经IL-1β和（或）IFN-γ+TNF-α或IL-12孵育后，大鼠胰岛素瘤（RIN）细胞或离体大鼠胰岛仍未见IL-18RβmRNA的表达。提示IL-18在细胞因子所致胰岛β细胞损伤中不发挥直接作用，原因是IL-18受体在胰岛β细胞中不表达。

目的 探讨人胚胎胰腺中干细胞特异性标志巢蛋白（Nestin）的表达及阳性细胞的分布。方法 用连续切片免疫组织化学染色方法检测16周胎龄人胚胎胰腺中巢蛋白、胰岛素、胰升糖素和导管上皮标志细胞角蛋白19（CK19）的表达及分布。结果 16周人胚胎胰腺中可检测到巢蛋白阳性细胞，分布于胰岛以及胰导管和腺泡结构中，并且以腺泡结构和小导管中的数目为多。部分胰岛素和CK19染色强阳性的细胞中巢蛋白染色为弱阳性，胰升糖素强阳性的部位则未见巢蛋白染色阳性的细胞。结论 人胚胎胰腺中存在巢蛋白表达的细胞；巢蛋白阳性细胞可能是胰腺组织中一个特殊的细胞亚群，代表了一群未成熟细胞。

应用放免法对177名低出生体重儿生后1、7、14天血清TT3、TT4、FT3、FT4、TSH水平检测，并与30名足月儿水平进行对照。结果显示低出生体重儿生后甲状腺功能有逐渐成熟的过程且胎龄越小，甲状腺功能成熟越晚。

目的 探讨TF21细胞凋亡相关基因19（TFAR19）在甲状腺腺瘤（TA）和甲状腺乳头状癌（PTC）中是否有表达及其细胞定位。方法 6例TA和6例PTC患者，经手术得到甲状腺肿瘤组织标本并获病理诊断，以6例TA患者的瘤周正常甲状腺组织作为对照。TFAR19表达的检测采用免疫组化染色。结果 TFAR19在正常甲状腺组织中几乎未见表达；在TA组的甲状腺肿瘤组织中呈强阳性表达，而在PTC组中呈阴性表达。结论 TFAR19凋亡通路在TA中被激活，而在PTC中则受到抑制，提示细胞凋亡与增殖之间的平衡失调可能在PTC的发病机制中具有重要作用。

目的：探讨新的致炎性细胞因子白细胞介素18（interleukin-18，IL-18）在桥本病（Hashimoto'sthyroiditis， HT）的甲状腺组织中是否表达及其细胞定位。方法：6例HT和6例亚急性甲状腺炎（subacutethyroiditis，ST）患者以自动活检枪穿刺获得病理诊断并留取甲状腺组织，对照甲状腺组织获自6例喉癌全喉切除术患者。IL-18表达的检测采用免疫组化染色。结果：IL-18在正常甲状腺组织中未见表达。IL-18在HT组甲状腺组织中的表达明显高于ST组，前者IL-18表达主要定位于甲状腺滤泡细胞，而后者则主要定位于肉芽肿内单核-巨噬细胞。结论：首次报道了IL-18在HT的甲状腺细胞中表达。IL-18可能在HT的发病机制中发挥重要的作用。