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A total of 100 Chinese blood donors (50 from Shen-Zhen and 50 from Taiwan) were studied by the participants in addition to 9 reference samples. A new nomenclature for the CR1 structural alleles was recommended by the participants which would use a numbering system, e.g. CR1*1. The structural allele frequencies in the Chinese were: CR1*1 (190 kD) 0.96, CR1*2 (220 kD) 0.03, CR1*3 (160 kD) 0.01 and CR1*4 (250 kD) 0.00. The HindIII expression polymorphism was also studied and the high expressing allele had a gene frequency of 0.71 while the low expressor gene frequency was 0.28. Erythrocyte copy numbers were quantified and compared between laboratories with good correlation (R = 0.55–0.88). The mean (± SD) erythrocyte copy number was 463 (± 229) in the Taiwan donors and 446 (± 207) in the Mainland Chinese.

The nonlinear relation between stimulus intensity and response amplitude of the electroretinogram (ERG) scotopic b wave can be described by a curve based on the Naka-Rushton (NR) equation. Up to now, the NR equation has been used to assess the features of the normal and pathological ERG, but the best approach for a correct evaluation of the parameters is still debatable. The parameters are thought to be related to the different conditions of retinal activities. The method is well known in experimental laboratories but is quite unusual at the clinical level. In the present paper the derivative analysis of the NR function is proposed as an easier approach to understand the variations of the NR parameters in selected pathologies.

Two mast cell degranulating factors, which closely resemble proteins in their chemical-physical behavior, were isolated from the celomatic fluid of Parascaris equorum und highly purified by combinations of salting out, ion-exchange chromatography and isoelectrofocusing. Both factors proved to be positively charged molecules of molecular weight close to 3-4 × 104 which, in terms of molar concentration, were as efficient as compound 48/80 in selective induction of histamine release.

Ascaris fluid was found to cause a phlogistic response when injected into the peritoneal cavity of rats. Evidence was provided that such an inflammatory reaction is determined by damage to mast cells, followed by histamine- and serotonin-release in tissues. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that Ascaris fluid does not act by a direct cytotoxic effect on mast cells, but by release of mast cell lytic factors from eosinophils. The meaning of such a phenomenon, relative to the function displayed by eosinophils in tissue injury, is discussed.