Treatment of juvenile chronic arthritis]

The treatment of juvenile chronic arthritis requires the integration of various professionals (pediatrician, physiotherapist, orthopedic surgeon, ophthalmologist). The therapeutic program is targeted to control the inflammation with drugs and to preserve joint function with physiotherapy. Since juvenile chronic arthritis is clinically heterogeneous, the natural course and the possible complications which characterize each clinical form must be taken into account.     

Andrology: Application of different in-situ hybridization detection methods for human sperm analysis

The detection of some types of aneuploidy in human spermatozoacan be based on the use of the fluorescence in-situ hybridizationtechnique (FISH). One of the crucial steps for FISH is to achievea proper decondensation and denaturation of the DNA in the specimen,so as to obtain efficient hybridization results. However, afterDNA decondensation the morphology of sperm heads is partly distortedand the majority of the tails is lost. This situation leadsto problems in the distinction between disomic and diploid spermatozoa,as well as between abnormal spermatozoa and somatic cells. Double-and triple-target FISH can partly solve this discriminationproblem. To improve these procedures we adapted the steps ofdecondensation and visualization of the single sperm cells.Firstly, DNA decondensation with 25 mM dithiothreitol in 1 MTris at pH 9.5 resulted in sperm cells with intact morphologyof both the head and the tail, and allowed efficient single-,double- and triple-target ISH to be performed. Secondly, weapplied a novel detection method, based on enzyme immunocyto-chemicalreactions, with coloured precipitation products. Thirdly, thisISH procedure was combined with Diff-Quik staining and bright-fieldmicroscopy. This absorption method has the advantage of a permanentsignal, and the adapted cytoplasmic staining of the sperm plasmamembrane allows the visualization of the outline of the singlespermatozoon. Using this approach, therefore, it is possibleto discriminate between disomic, diploid and abnormal spermatozoa,somatic cells and spermatozoa that overlap, because the morphologyof the cells is not distorted and the tails of the spermatozoaare intact and properly visualized.     

Binding characteristics of delta opioid receptors in different regions of the brain of young and old male rats as studied with the highly selective ligand [D-Pen2-D-Pen5] enkephalin.

The present experiments were performed to study the binding characteristics of delta opioid receptors in membrane preparations obtained from the brain of adult male rats, and to analyze whether aging modifies these binding parameters. The binding characteristics of delta opioid receptors were evaluated on membrane preparations derived from dissected brain regions (hypothalamus, amygdala, mesencephalon, corpus striatum, hippocampus, thalamus, frontal poles, anterior and posterior cortex) collected from male rats of 3 and 24 months of age; the highly selective ligand 3H-[D-Pen2-D-Pen5] enkephalin (3H-DPDPE) was used. The results obtained in young rats show that the distribution of delta opioid receptors is different in the various brain areas examined; these receptors appear to be maximally concentrated in the frontal poles, anterior and posterior cortex; lower concentrations were found in the other structures considered. Kd (dissociation constant) for the delta sites was found very similar in all areas. The distribution of delta opioid receptors in the brain of 24-month-old rats was similar to that observed in young animals; this result was surprising in view of the fact that aging modifies the number of other types of brain opioid receptors (mu and kappa).     

Increased muscular phospholipase A2 activity in diabetic rats.

Anomalies in prostaglandin (PG) synthesis have been suggested in both experimental and human diabetes mellitus; increased levels of plasma and tissue eicosanoids has been recently reported by several investigators. One step in prostaglandin synthesis is the enzymatic hydrolysis of membrane phospholipids by Phospholipase A2 (PLA2). Nevertheless the alternative pathway involving Phospholipase C must be considered. An evaluation of PLA2 activity is therefore a useful method for studying prostaglandin synthesis in the peripheral target tissues of insulin activity. We studied PLA2 activity in normal and diabetic rat muscle. Streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats showed significantly higher muscular PLA2 activity when compared with controls (3.04 x 10(-2) +/- 0.50 x 10(-2) versus 1.34 x 10(-2) +/- 0.35 x 10(-2) arachidonic acid pMol.mg protein-1.min-1 (p less than 0.01). This effect was not observed in diabetic animals successfully treated with insulin (1.78 x 10(-2) +/- 0.5 x 10(-2) versus 1.34 x 10(-2) +/- 0.35 x 10(-2) arachidonic acid pMol.mg protein-1.min-1), and a significant correlation was found between blood glucose and muscular PLA2 activity (r = 0.42; p less than 0.05). Our results clearly show that in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats muscular PLA2 activity is significantly higher. The relationship between blood glucose levels and muscular PLA2 activity and the decrease of PLA2 activity after insulin treatment suggest that these changes may be related to a defect in insulin effect.     

Argon laser lesions of the retina; occurrence and origin of macrophages.

Macrophage infiltration is frequent in the early stages of various proliferative eye disorders, including subretinal neovascularization. In this study, we set out to establish the origin of macrophages found in an animal model of laser-induced subretinal neovascularization. One primate received several intravenous injections of a colloidal carbon suspension. We then applied standard argon laser lesions to the retina of both eyes, which were enucleated eight days later and sectioned serially for histological examination. A quantitative estimate of carbon-laden and non-laden leukocytes was made based on morphological criteria. Mononuclear leukocytes accumulated in the laser lesions and the percentage of carbon-laden mononuclear leukocytes in relation to the total leukocyte number was higher in the extravascular area of the laser sites than in the systemic circulation. These findings indicate that the majority of mononuclear leukocytes that accumulate at the sites of laser lesions are derived from the systemic circulation.     

The effect of total arterial grafting on medium-term outcomes following coronary artery bypass grafting

Background  

While it is believed that total arterial grafting (TAG) for coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) confers improved long-term outcomes when compared to conventional grafting with left internal mammary artery and saphenous vein grafts (LIMA+SVG), to date, this has not become the standard of care. In this study, we assessed the impact of TAG on medium-term outcomes after CABG.