1987年 · 第100卷第06期

A hundred years ago the first of the fountainhead issues of the Chinese Medical Journal came out as one of the earliest scientific periodicals published in the English language in China. The ccntenary of this Jour- nal is indeed a grcat occasion which all our medical and hcalth workers can well be proucl of and dcservcs our hearty congratulations.

The Chinese Medical Journal (CMJ) has the longest history among the medical periodicals in China, and is the only one devoted to international exchange in English. Under the title of China Medical Missionary Journal (CMMJ), its first issue came off press in 1887. During the last 100 years, many important events and changes have taken place in China and in the world, such as the Sino-Japanese war in 1894, the Boxer Movement in 1900, the founding of the Republic of China in 1911, the two World Wars, the War of Japanese Invasion in 1937, the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949. However, the Journal, thick or thin, continued publication as the most telling witness of the development and progress of medicine in China. This review of the history of the Journal is by no means mere documentation of the past, but reminds us of the tortuous trail the Journal has blazed and the valor and determination required to continue publication to help promote patient care and advance medical science. The Journal's history is divided into 5 periods: 1. Early development, 1887-1932; 2. Growth, 1932-1941; 3. During World War II, 1942-1945; 4. Post-War and the Liberation, 1945-1965; and 5. Post-"Cultural Revolution," 1975-.

Thinking over the first 100 years of the well known Chinese Medical Journal, I feel that it is beyond my power to trace the great progress made during the last century which is recorded in the pages of the Journal, or to select the prominent features of important discoveries or interesting findings which have occurred. Instead, I will pinpoint one special aspect of the Journal during the editorship of Professor C. E. Lim who, during 10 years of editing, made the Journal outstanding among the great medical journals of the world. This task is made easier because of two informative and interesting fore- words attached to the Supplements which I chose because of their outstanding medical quality.

This paper lists some institutions established since the founding of the People's Republic of China engaged in the research and control of malaria, schistosomiasis, filariasis and leishmaniasis, and reviews their achievements in control. The number of reported malaria cases dropped from 3 059 636 in 1981 to 563 400 in 1985, while the estimated number on the eve of liberation was 30 million. Of 372 schistosomiasis endemic counties, 124 are now free of it and transmission has been virtually interrupted in 154 counties. Of 864 filariasis endemic counties, 660 exhibit an infection rate of microfilaremia of less than one percent in every village of the county. Kala-azar occurs only sporadically in six provinces and municipalites in north, northwest and southwest China, while in east, north-east and central China it has been successfully eradicated. The author enumerates other parasitic infections which have so far been neglected and notes their clinical importance. Their control is to be considered by the health authorities. The task will not be an easy one, but the prospects are bright in view of our past experience and development of new technologies.

The morbidity and mortality rates of cardiovascular diseases have been on steady increase in recent years in China. Much emphasis and effort have been instituted by our government and the medical profession since the First National Conference on Cardiovascular Diseases in 1959. The main targets of health measures and research have been focused on hypertension, coronary heart disease (CHD), stroke and pulmonary heart disease (PHD), as these are the main causes of cardiovascular mortality and morbidity of the people. Our main activities include the following aspects.

Following the rapid progress in molecular biology, we are moving from the period of "one peptide a year" to a period of "one peptide a day". To cope with the rapid emergence of novel biologically active peptides, new techniques are needed to clarify their physiological functions. Evidence is presented here to show that antibody microinjection is a rapid and reliable method to evaluate the functions of endogenously released peptides. It is especially useful when no specific receptor antagonist is yet available for pharmacological study.

In this paper data are presented to indicate that the tumor promoter, TPA and a potentially carcino-genic mycotoxin, Fusarin C (FC), are immuno-suppressive. While co-mitogenic to T cells TPA inhibits allospccific and tumor-specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) induction. This is due to its inhibitory effect on accessory cells. TPA also suppresses CTL activity in the effector phase of immune response. Macrophage-mediated tumor cytolysis (MTCL) and antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) are also inhibited. FC is a toxin of Fusarium moniliforme isolated from the esophageal cancer high-risk area in China. It is highly mutagenic and markedly inhibits T cell response to Concanavalin A, allo-antigen and tumor-specific antigens. The inhibitory effect can be bypassed by exogenous Interleukin-2. FC strongly but reversibly inhibits macrophage-mediated tumor cytostasis (MTCS), MTCL and ADCC. These results favor the view that immuno-deficiency acquired during carcinogenesis facilitates cancer development.