Platelet serotonin uptake and migraine

Platelet serotonin uptake characteristics (K_m, V_max, y) were determined in platelet-rich plasma for 11 common migraineurs and 15 healthy volunteers. All three parameters were decreased only for the three patients having a migraine attack during blood collection. Migrainous platelets isolated on dextran or resuspended in control plasma exhibited normal serotonin uptake. This finding suggests that plasmatic factor(s) may be responsible for the decrease of platelet serotonin uptake observed during migraine attacks.     

Differential effects of neuroleptic and serotonergic drugs on amphetamine-induced hypothermia in mice

Intraventricular administration of amphetamine in mice produced hypothermia. Pretreatment with the dopaminergic (DA) receptor antagonist haloperidol reduced this response, whereas pretreatment with pimozide, sulpiride or cis-flupentixol did not. The direct DA agonist apomorphine strongly potentiated the hypothermia. Pretreatment with the serotonergic (5-HT) receptor blocker cyproheptadine also potentiated the hypothermia. Depletion of 5-HT in brain by p-chlorophenylalanine and accumulation of 5-HT induced by fluoxetine had no effect. In contrast, stimulation of 5-HT receptors by quipazine reduced the hypothermic effect of amphetamine. The inhibitor of catecholamine synthesis alpha-methyl-p-tyrosine, the alpha-adrenergic blocker phentolamine and the muscarinic antagonist atropine failed to alter the hypothermia. It was concluded that DA and 5-HT mechanisms are involved in amphetamine-induced hypothermia in mice and that these two systems display a functional antagonism.     

Anemia and diabetes

World Health Organization statistics identify 150 million people with diabetes mellitus worldwide and suggest that this figure may double by 2025. In countries with a western lifestyle, the number of patients admitted for renal replacement therapy with diabetes as a co-morbid condition has increased significantly up to three to four times in a period of 10 years. Diabetes and renal failure are thus tightly linked diseases, and so is anemia. However, whether anemia may be worsened and/or directly, at least in part, caused by diabetes is not clearly elucidated yet. In this article, we review the prevalence, pathophysiology and consequences of anemia in diabetic patients.     

Differential diffusions of indinavir and lopinavir in genital secretions of human immunodeficiency virus-infected women

Plasma and cervicovaginal secretion (CVS) samples were collected from 19 human immunodeficiency virus type 1-infected women on lopinavir- or indinavir-containing regimens. Lopinavir and indinavir were detectable in 29 and 93% of CVS samples, respectively, a finding that may be ascribed to these drugs' differences in protein binding and pK(a). The relationship between lopinavir and indinavir pharmacodynamics and viral evolution in the female genital tract should be assessed over time.     

Multifocal osteomyelitis as the first manifestation of chronic granulomatous disease

Chronic granulomatous disease is a rare immune disease related to an anomaly in phagocytes NADPH oxidase. The characteristic clinical feature is early recurrent and sometimes serious infection. We report the case of a 22-month-old child who developed multifocal osteomyelitis, an unusual inaugural manifestation of chronic granulomatous disease. Septic chronic granulomatous disease is an uncommon differential diagnosis in children who develop recurrent infections. Diagnosis is established with specific blood tests: reduction of tetrazolium nitroblue, chemoluminescence test, molecular analysis. Therapeutic management must be undertaken as early as possible in order to preserve the long-term prognosis. No curative treatment is currently available. Aggressive treatment of each infectious focus with an adapted antibiotic regimen and in certain cases surgical debridement is required in addition to long-term antibiotic prophylaxis.