Interstitial deletion of band q12 of chromosome 5

A six-months-old girl is presented with psychomotor retardation and multiple congenital malformations. The karyotype done on peripheral blood lymphocytes and skin fibroblasts was found to be 46,XX del(5)(411q13). The parents are consanguineous. Their karyotypes were normal.
The genes for Arylsulphatase B and Hexosaminidase B are not located in band 5q12.     

Monomères acryliques à fonction carbonate cyclique, 2 Modification chimique de copolymères à groupements carbonate cyclique lateraux

Acrylic monomers with a cyclic carbonate function, their synthesis having been described previously, are used to synthesize copolymers with pendent cyclic carbonate side groups. Their chemical modification by ring opening addition reactions provides a convenient method for preparing functional polymers. The study of reactions with amines, on model compounds and on polymers, shows the possibility of obtaining a macromolecular network with crosslinking groups of carbamate type.     

Induction of Apoptosis by Equine Arteritis Virus Infection

Equine arteritis virus (EAV) is the etiological agent of equine viral arteritis, a contagious viral disease of equids. EAV is the prototype virus of the arteriviruses, a group of small enveloped viruses with positive single-stranded RNA genomes. Because apoptosis or programmed cell death is believed to play an important role in the biogenesis of several cytopathogenic viruses, we examined whether EAV was able to induce cell apoptosis in vitro. To do this, Vero cells were infected with EAV at a multiplicity of infection of 0.1 tissue culture infectious dose (TCID₅₀) per cell, and analyzed at various time intervals for the appearance of apoptotic signs. Fragmentation of chromosomal DNA into nucleosomal oligomers and caspase activation were observed in the infected cells at the time (e.g. 24 h postinfection) where a noticeable cytopathic effect was observed. The kinetics of the DNA fragmentation correlated with that of the production of progeny virus, so that viral multiplication was not interrupted by the apoptotic cell damage. All these data provide evidence that EAV is able to induce apoptotic cell death in vitro.     

Isolation of exfoliated colonocytes from human stool as a new technique for colonic cytology

Cell exfoliation in the gut is an important cell renewal mechanism. To approach its investigation we applied a novel immunomagnetic technique for isolation of exfoliated cells from human stool. Exfoliated colonocytes were isolated from 168 stool samples. The cells were assessed microscopically using conventional stains and immunohistochemistry. The technique allowed us to obtain well-preserved colonocytes displaying characteristic features of well-differentiated colonic epithelium and positive immunostaining for cytokeratin 5/8. No mucin-producing cells were found. Exfoliated cells did not produce inducible nitric oxide synthase, albeit cultured colon carcinoma cells HT-29 analysed in parallel showed strong immunostaining. Analysis of exfoliated cell numbers in consecutive stool samples from the same subjects revealed considerable interindividual variation. Overall exfoliated colonocyte numbers were relatively low, isolation being unaffected by addition during the procedure of excessive amounts of HT-29 cells. Apoptosis was extremely rare among exfoliated colonocytes. Well-preserved exfoliated colonocytes can be consistently isolated from human faeces using a simple procedure. Our findings suggest that the actual process of cell exfoliation in the human colon may be much less intense than is generally accepted. Exfoliated cell isolation from human stool constitutes a convenient non-invasive approach that can be used for diagnostic and research purposes.     

Exploratory activity: genetic analysis of its modification by scopolamine and amphetamine

Short-term exploratory activity was found to be significantly higher in C57BL/6By than in BALB/cBy inbred mice. Scopolamine reversed the activity levels in these strains. Basal exploratory activity levels and the effects of scopolamine on this behavioral measure assessed in these two strains, their reciprocal F₁ hybrids, their recombinant inbred strains and three C57BL/6 congenic lines permitted characterization of a gene exerting a major effect on short-term exploratory activity [Exa, linked to H(w26), chromosome 4 (LG VIII)] and of a gene modulating the effects of scopolamine in this behavior, [Sco, linked to H-2, chromosome 17 (LG IX)]. Amphetamine exerted opposite effects in relation to those exerted by scopolamine on activity and its action was found to be determined by a polygenic system.     

Long-term follow-up of patients with tuberculosis as a complication of tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha antagonist therapy: safe re-initiation of TNF-alpha blockers after appropriate anti-tuberculous treatment.

This study investigated the long-term outcome of patients with tuberculosis (TB) as a complication of tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha blocker therapy. All TB cases (n = 21) complicating TNF-alpha blocker therapy from French university hospitals were collated between January 2000 and September 2002. Outcome was assessed via a postal questionnaire during September 2005. The mortality rate after 4 years was 4.8%, and one patient had relapsed and six (29%) patients had recommenced TNF-alpha antagonist treatment, after appropriate anti-TB therapy, without reactivation. These data support the concept that TNF-alpha antagonists can be restarted in TB patients provided that adequate anti-TB treatment has been completed.