Les stratégies psychothérapeutiques

Psychological support is an essential concern in the management of alcohol misuses. Motivation and readiness to change are key factors of the evolution. They have to be in the centre of the patient-doctor relation. Regular evaluation is a part of a step by step therapeutic strategy.     

Unklare peranale Blutabgänge bei einem 21-jährigen Mann

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Bedeutung molekular-zytogenetischer Befunde bei Speicheldrüsentumoren am Beispiel des Mukoepidermoidkarzinoms

Chromosomentranslokationen in Tumoren führen nicht selten zur Ausbildung von Fusionsgenen, die für Proteine mit onkogenen Eigenschaften codieren können. Mukoepidermoidkarzinome sind charakterisiert durch eine Translokation t(11;19), die in 60% der untersuchten Tumoren vorkommt. Diese chromosomale Umlagerung führt zu einem Fusionsgen, das aus dem Exon 1 des MECT 1-Gens und den Exons 2–5 des MAML 2-Gens zusammengesetzt ist. In der Folge bildet sich ein Fusionstranskript, wodurch unabhängig von Notch-Liganden eine Aktivierung der Transkription von HES 1, einem Notch-Zielgen, erfolgt. Durch die veränderte Funktion von MAML 2 kommt es zur Unterbrechung des NOTCH-Signaltransduktionsweges, was einen neuen Mechanismus in der Tumorgenese vermuten lässt. Der Nachweis der Translokation mittels FISH und/oder RT-PCR könnte von erheblichem diagnostischem und möglicherweise auch prognostischem Interesse sein. Zuvor müssen allerdings die molekularen Ereignisse, die einem scheinbar identischen chromosomalen Rearrangement in Warthin-Tumoren zugrunde liegen, geklärt werden. Warthin-Tumoren sind gutartige Speicheldrüsentumoren mit einer vom Mukoepidermoidkarzinom abweichenden Histomorphologie und Histogenese.     

Phosphorus Oxychloride in Organic Synthesis. Part 3: Synthesis of α-Benzoylaminocinnamic Acids

A new approach to the activation of reactants during the condensation of aromatic aldehydes with N-aroylglycines (acting as CH-acids) is described. The condensation reaction carried out on heating in phosphorus oxychloride leads to a high yield of 4-benzylideneoxazol-5-one derivatives. The hydrolysis of these intermediate products yields the target α-benzoylaminocinnamic acids. __________ Translated from Khimiko-Farmatsevticheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 39, No. 7, pp. 41 – 42, July, 2005.     

Steroids in Duchenne muscular dystrophy--deflazacort trial

We conducted a double blind controlled trial in 28 Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) patients with Deflazacort (DF), an oxazoline derivative of prednisolone which reduces its side-effects. Myometric muscle strength measurements, Scott Score and timed tests showed statistically significant improvement for the treated group (P less than 0.05). Side-effects after 9 months of treatment included mild cushingoid appearance in four patients (28%) and moderate in only one (7%), increased appetite in seven (50%), increased body hair in four (28%), irritability and hyperactivity in three (21%). Increased body weight was not prominent and was controlled with dietary measures. No patient had to be withdrawn from medication. More research and long-term follow-up are needed in order to establish the mechanism of improvement and the consequences of long-term steroid administration in DMD. In this regard DF appears as an alternative to prednisone preserving its benefits but with fewer side-effects.     

Altered excitatory and inhibitory amino acid receptor binding in hippocampus of patients with temporal lobe epilepsy.

We examined binding to excitatory amino acid and inhibitory amino acid receptors in frozen hippocampal sections prepared from surgical specimens resected from 8 individuals with medically refractory temporal lobe epilepsy. The excitatory receptors studied included N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA), strychnine-insensitive glycine, phencyclidine, and quisqualate. The inhibitory receptors studied were gamma-aminobutyric acid type A (GABAA) and benzodiazepine. Excitatory and inhibitory amino acid receptor binding were differentially altered in the patients with temporal lobe epilepsy in comparison to 8 age-comparable autopsy control subjects, and changes in receptor binding were regionally selective in four areas. Binding to phencyclidine receptors associated with the NMDA channel was reduced by 35 to 70% in all regions in the hippocampi of the patients. In contrast, binding to the NMDA recognition site and its associated glycine modulatory site was elevated by 20 to 110% in the cornu ammonis (CA) 1 area and dentate gyrus of the hippocampus of the patients. Binding to these sites was unaffected in area CA4. Binding to the quisqualate-type excitatory amino acid receptor was unchanged in all regions except the stratum lacunosum moleculare CA1, where it was increased by 63%. GABAA and benzodiazepine receptor binding was reduced by 20 to 60% in CA1 and CA4, but unchanged in dentate gyrus. The data indicate that excitatory and inhibitory amino acid receptors are altered in the hippocampus of patients with temporal lobe epilepsy.     

Dynamics of functional interconnections between cerebral motor cortex neurons of cats under stimulation

In acute experiments on cats the activity of the motor cortex neurons was recorded. The dynamics of interneuronal connections at passive bending and electrostimulation of the limb contralateral to the place of recording was studied by methods of cross-correlation analysis of impulse trains. At passive bending a considerable decrease of the number of common inputs between neighbouring neurons (within 50-100 microns) and an increase in their number between remote (from 100 till 400 microns) cortical neurons. During electro-stimulation a certain increase in the number of direct inhibitory interactions between the neighbouring neurons was observed.