In-vitro adhesion of endometrium to autologous peritoneal membranes: effect of the cycle phase and the stage of endometriosis

BACKGROUND: Endometrium can adhere to autologous peritoneum. This study was undertaken to determine the effect of the menstrual cycle phase and the presence and stage of endometriosis on in-vitro adhesion of endometrium onto autologous peritoneum. METHODS: This was performed in an academic medical research centre. Sixty-seven subfertile women with a visually normal pelvis (n = 18) and with biopsy-proven endometriosis (n = 49) were included. Endometrial and peritoneal biopsies were obtained at laparoscopy during menstrual, follicular and luteal phase. Endometrium was cultured in vitro with autologous peritoneum, followed by fixation, paraffin embedding, serial sectioning, hematoxylin-eosin and immunohistochemical staining. Endometrial-peritoneal adhesion was evaluated using light microscopy. RESULTS: Endometrial-peritoneal adhesion was observed in approximately 80% of the adhesion assays and was not affected by the phase of the cycle, or by the presence and stage of endometriosis. The continuity of the mesothelial layer was disrupted at the attachment sites. Epithelialization was observed along the edges to integrate the endometrial implant. After adhesion, histological changes were observed within and below the implant. CONCLUSIONS: Endometrium obtained during menstrual, follicular or luteal phase appears to have a similar potential to implant in vitro on autologous peritoneum, and this adhesion process is not affected by the stage of endometriosis.     

Blastic NK-cell lymphomas (agranular CD4+CD56+ hematodermic neoplasms): a review

Blastic natural killer (NK) cell lymphoma (also termed CD4+CD56+ hematodermic neoplasm) is a recently described entity, with the first case reported in 1994. It was suggested initially that the disease originates from NK cells. Since 1994, single cases and a few small series have been published. In this review, data from the literature and a series of 30 cases from the French and Dutch study groups on cutaneous lymphomas are discussed. The major clinical, histopathologic, and phenotypic aspects of the disease and diagnostic criteria and data suggesting a plasmacytoid dendritic cell origin for the tumor cells are provided.     

Legionella pneumophila serogroup 1 strain Paris: endemic distribution throughout France

An analysis of 691 French clinical Legionella isolates showed that the endemic L. pneumophila serogroup 1 strain Paris was responsible for 12.2% of all cases of legionellosis and had a specific pulsed-field gel electrophoresis pattern. We also demonstrated the presence of this endemic clone throughout Europe.     

What triggers catch-up saccades during visual tracking?

When tracking moving visual stimuli, primates orient their visual axis by combining two kinds of eye movements, smooth pursuit and saccades, that have very different dynamics. Yet, the mechanisms that govern the decision to switch from one type of eye movement to the other are still poorly understood, even though they could bring a significant contribution to the understanding of how the CNS combines different kinds of control strategies to achieve a common motor and sensory goal. In this study, we investigated the oculomotor responses to a large range of different combinations of position error and velocity error during visual tracking of moving stimuli in humans. We found that the oculomotor system uses a prediction of the time at which the eye trajectory will cross the target, defined as the "eye crossing time" (T(XE)). The eye crossing time, which depends on both position error and velocity error, is the criterion used to switch between smooth and saccadic pursuit, i.e., to trigger catch-up saccades. On average, for T(XE) between 40 and 180 ms, no saccade is triggered and target tracking remains purely smooth. Conversely, when T(XE) becomes smaller than 40 ms or larger than 180 ms, a saccade is triggered after a short latency (around 125 ms).     

Plasma RNA viral load in human immunodeficiency virus type 2 subtype A and subtype B infections

Human immunodeficiency virus type 2 (HIV-2) is much less pathogenic than HIV-1, and HIV-2 infection is associated with plasma viral loads significantly lower than those found in HIV-1 infection. We have developed a real-time quantitative PCR method for measuring the HIV-2 RNA load that covers the range of genetic diversity of HIV-2 isolates and that detects extremely low viral loads. Samples from 49 patients were studied. Proviral DNA was first detected and quantified. The strains that were detected were then genotyped: 21 patients were infected with HIV-2 subtype A and 15 patients were infected with HIV-2 subtype B; 1 patient was infected with a highly divergent strain. Env PCR failed for the remaining 12 patients, so subtypes could not be determined. For viral RNA quantification, a stock of HIV-2 strain NIHZ, which was counted by electron microscopy, was used as the standard. Several primer sets targeting the highly conserved gag region were evaluated. Various primer combinations failed to amplify subtype B strains. With the final primer pair selected, which detected both subtype A and subtype B strains, the sensitivity of the assay was 100% at a viral load of 250 copies/ml and 66% at a viral load of 125 copies/ml. We found a correlation between the CD4(+)-cell count, the clinical stage, and the plasma HIV-2 RNA level. The median plasma HIV-2 RNA value for the 33 asymptomatic patients was 2.14 log(10), whereas it was 3.1 log(10) for the 16 patients with AIDS (P < 0.01). Proviral DNA was detectable in 18 symptom-free patients with high CD4(+)-cell counts, in whom viral RNA was undetectable.     

Early steps of a thymic tumor in SV40 transgenic mice: hyperplasia of medullary epithelial cells and increased mature thymocyte numbers disturb thymic export

Bone marrow progenitors migrate to the thymus, where they proliferate and differentiate into immunologically competent T cells. In this report we show that mice transgenic for SV40 T and t antigens under the control of the L-pyruvate kinase promoter develop, in a first step, thymic hyperplasia of both thymocytes and epithelial cells. Morphological studies (histology, immunohistolabeling and electron microscopy) revealed modifications of the thymic microenvironment and gradual expansion of medullary epithelial cells in 1 month-old mice, taking over the cortical region. Then, a thymic carcinoma develops. Two-color labeling of frozen sections identified the transgene in medullary epithelial cells. Flow cytometry analysis demonstrated a marked increase in mature CD4+ and CD8+ thymocytes in adult mice (39 +/- 10 x 10(6) in transgenic mice and 12 +/- 5 x 10(6) in age-matched controls). Furthermore, thymocyte export was disturbed.     

Epicutaneous immunotherapy protects cashew-sensitized mice from anaphylaxis

Background

The prevalence of tree nut allergy has increased worldwide, and cashew has become one of the most common food allergens. More critically, cashew allergy is frequently associated with severe anaphylaxis. Despite the high medical need, no approved treatment is available and strict avoidance and preparedness for prompt treatment of allergic reactions are considered dual standard of care. In the meantime, Phase III study results suggest investigational epicutaneous immunotherapy (EPIT) may be a relevant and safe treatment for peanut allergy and may improve the quality of life for many peanut allergic children.

Objective

We aimed to evaluate the capacity of EPIT to provide protection against cashew-induced anaphylaxis in a relevant mouse model.

Methods

The efficacy of EPIT was evaluated by applying patches containing cashew allergens to cashew-sensitized mice. As negative control, sham mice received patches containing excipient. Following treatment, mice were challenged orally to cashew and anaphylactic symptoms, as well as plasmatic levels of mast-cell proteases (mMCP)-1/7, were quantified.

Results

Of 16 weeks of EPIT significantly protects against anaphylaxis by promoting a faster recovery of challenged mice. This protection was characterized by a significant reduction of temperature drop and clinical symptoms, 60 minutes after challenge. This was associated with a decrease in mast-cell reactivity as attested by the reduction of mMCP-1/7 in plasma, suggesting that EPIT specifically decrease IgE-mediated anaphylaxis.

Conclusion

We demonstrate that EPIT markedly reduced IgE-mediated allergic reactions in a mouse model of cashew allergy, which suggests that EPIT may be a relevant approach to treating cashew allergy.

     

Radial gradient-based segmentation of mammographic microcalcifications: observer evaluation and effect on CAD performance

Precise segmentation of microcalcifications is essential in the development of accurate mammographic computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) schemes. We have designed a radial gradient-based segmentation method for microcalcifications, and compared it to both the region-growing segmentation method currently used in our CAD scheme and to the watershed segmentation method. Two observer studies were conducted to subjectively evaluate the proposed segmentation method. The first study (A) required observers to rate the segmentation accuracy on a 100-point scale. The second observer evaluation (B) was a preference study in which observers selected their preferred method from three displayed segmentation methods. In study A, the observers gave an average accuracy rating of 88 for the radial gradient-based and 50 for the region-growing segmentation method. In study B, the two observers selected the proposed method 56% and 62% of the time. We also investigated the effect of the proposed segmentation method on the performance of computerized classification scheme in differentiating malignant from benign clustered microcalcifications. The performances of the classification scheme using a linear discriminant analysis (LDA) or a Bayesian artificial neural network classifier both showed statistically significant improvements when using the proposed segmentation method. The areas under the receiver-operating characteristic curves for case-based performance when using the LDA classifier were 0.86 with the proposed segmentation method, 0.80 with the region-growing method, and 0.83 with the watershed method.