The proteome microenvironment determines the protective effect of preconditioning in cisplatin-induced acute kidney injury

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Increased glucose excursion in cystic fibrosis and its association with a worse clinical status

BACKGROUND: Abnormal glucose tolerance is a frequent co-morbidity in cystic fibrosis patients (CF), and is associated with a worse prognosis. The objectives are to investigate (a) the relative contribution of insulinopenia and insulin resistance (IR) for glucose tolerance and (b) the association between various glucose parameters and CF clinical status. METHODS: Oral glucose tolerance tests were performed in 114 consecutive CF patients not known to be diabetic as well as 14 controls similar for age and BMI. RESULTS: Abnormal glucose tolerance was found in 40% of patients with CF: 28% had impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and 12% had new cystic fibrosis related diabetes (CFRD). Compared to control subjects, all CF patients were characterized by an increased glucose excursion (AUC). While reduced early insulin release characterised CF, IGT and CFRD patients also present IR thus both mechanisms significantly contribute to glucose tolerance abnormalities. Increased glucose AUC and reduced early insulin release but not glucose tolerance categories were associated with a reduced pulmonary function (FEV(1)). CONCLUSION: In CF, early insulin secretion defect but also IR contribute to glucose intolerance. Early in the course of the disease, increased glucose AUC and reduced early insulin secretion are more closely associated with a worse clinical status than conventional glucose tolerance categories.     

Detection of the center of the hip joint in computer-assisted surgery: an evaluation study of the Surgetics algorithm.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this paper is to assess the accuracy of an algorithm implemented by PRAXIM in the SURGETICS navigation station for detection of the hip center. This study will assess the robustness and accuracy of the algorithm in various clinical situations such as those involving non-sphericity of the femoral head, motion of the pelvis during hip center detection, and restricted range of motion. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The localization of the hip center, based on kinematics, relies on the recording of n successive positions of the femoral rigid body in the localizer reference system during a passive circumduction motion of the hip joint. Therefore, the shape of the clouds of points acquired may vary from one acquisition to the next. To allow a comprehensive study of the consequences of these variations for hip center detection, we developed a simulator to generate numerous clouds of points. Results given subsequently for each test are the values of the difference between the femoral mechanical axis computed with C(c), the computed hip center, and the same axis computed with C(o), the reference hip center. RESULTS: Test 1: Sensitivity to noise. The errors ranged from 3.33 E - 12 (SD 3.29E - 12) for a noise of 0 mm to 8.18E - 1 (SD - 7.05E - 1) for a noise of 15 mm. Test 2: Sensitivity to the shape of the acquisition motion. All trajectories gave an error < 1 degrees . Test 3: Sensitivity to restricted range of motion. No value > 1 degrees was found during this test. Test 4: Sensitivity to the distance between two points of the cloud. No value > 0.5 degrees was found during this test. Test 5: Sensitivity to the number of points included in the cloud. No value > 1 degrees was found during this test. CONCLUSIONS: The Surgetics algorithm is robust to noise, can compensate for pelvic motion, and can be used even in the case of restricted range of motion.     

Effects of scopolamine,trimipramine and diazepam on explicit memory and repetition priming in healthy volunteers

The effects of scopolamine, an anticholinergic drug, of trimipramine, a tricyclic antidepressant with both anticholinergic and sedative properties, of diazepam and a placebo, on explicit memory and repetition priming were assessed using a free-recall task and a word-stem completion task. Forty-eight healthy volunteers took part in this double-blind study. Diazepam provoked a dissociation between free recall, which was profoundly impaired, and word completion, which was spared. No significant changes in memory performances were observed in the scopolamine group; however, a significant correlation between explicit and implicit memory performances was observed in this group. At the low dose used, the effects of trimipramine on memory were mild. The results suggest that the cholinergic system is involved in the priming effect.     

Effect of dietary protein level on aflatoxin B1 actions in the liver of weanling rats.

The hepatocarcinogenic responses of rats to aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) are believed to depend on microsomal activation of the toxin, followed by macromolecular binding. Dietary protein insufficiency is reported to reduce the level of microsomal metabolism, and therefore would be expected to reduce the AFB1-induced carcinogenicity. Indeed, diminished hepatocarcinogenicity in low-protein diet fed weanling rats that had received AFB1 has been reported. In the present study, carcinogenicity and other toxic effects of AFB1 (0.5 p.p.m.) fed to weanling male Fischer F344 rats on a low-protein diet (5%) or normal-protein (20%) diet for up to 8 weeks were examined. In our study, in contrast with the previous report, all animals that had survived some initial toxicity were found to have developed hepatic tumors or hyperplastic gamma-glutamyltransferase-positive foci a year later. The low-protein diet also produced sub-acute toxicity after AFB1 exposure in the weanling rats, leading to severe histological changes, and the death of about half the animals after 3-4 weeks of exposure. Animals fed an AFB1-containing normal-protein diet also exhibited AFB1-induced hepatocarcinogenicity, but not the sub-acute toxicity. The levels of hepatic enzymes involved in AFB1 metabolism were examined in animals fed the low- or normal-protein diets in the absence of AFB1. The low-protein diet, fed to 3 week weanlings for the subsequent 5 weeks, decreased hepatic cytochrome P450 levels, as well as the in vitro capacity of microsomal fractions to form AFB1-8,9-dihydrodiol, an index of AFB1-8,9-epoxide formation. Rats on a normal-protein diet did not show these changes. This discrepancy between the observed increase in sub-acute toxicity and decrease in microsomal activities in the low-protein fed animals implies that the toxic effects observed in these rats were not directly related to metabolic activation of the toxin. In contrast to the diminished microsomal in vitro AFB1 activation, however, in vivo AFB1-DNA adduct formation ability in rats receiving the low-protein diet in the absence of AFB1 was found to become elevated more rapidly during the 5 week experimental feeding period, compared with animals receiving the normal-protein diet. This was accompanied by a more rapid fall in the levels of AFB1-glutathione S-transferase isozyme activity in the low-protein fed animals. The results of this study on weanling rats support the importance of AFB1-GSH in protecting against the carcinogenic responses to AFB1, and probably also the sub-acute toxicity of the latter.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)     

Amphetamine sensitivity in open-field activity vs. the prepulse inhibition paradigm

Amphetamine-induced mesolimbic dopamine release has been reported to reduce prepulse inhibition of the acoustic startle response. In addition, it is well known that mesolimbic dopamine stimulation leads to hyperactivity. The present study was undertaken to explore the possibility that one or the other measure may be a more sensitive in vivo indicator of dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens by determining if the amphetamine dose-response curves for these two behavioral measures were different. The data indicate that the dose-response curves obtained for the different behavioral measures are identical. These data are consistent with the idea that the same dopamine terminal field supports both prepulse inhibition of the acoustic startle response and dopamine-stimulated hyperactivity.     

Cardiac MIBG scintigraphy is a sensitive tool for detecting cardiac sympathetic denervation in Parkinson's disease.

[(123)I]Metaiodobenzylguanidine ([(123)I]MIBG) cardiac scintigraphy could be helpful to differentiate Parkinson's disease (PD) from multiple system atrophy (MSA), demonstrating that, in PD with autonomic failure but not in MSA, there is a myocardial postganglionic sympathetic dysfunction. To investigate whether this method is more sensitive than standard autonomic testing to detect early involvement of sympathetic cardiac efferent, we analyse MIBG myocardial uptake in 8 PD patients with normal autonomic testing (nondysautonomia PD group, NDPD) in comparison with 10 PD patients with abnormal autonomic testing (dysautonomia PD group, DPD) and 10 MSA patients. Global MIBG uptake was assessed using the ratio of [(123)I]MIBG uptake in the heart to the upper mediastinum (H/M) on planar scintigraphic data. Regional MIBG uptake was determined on two single photon emission tomography scans in regions of the left ventricle. The mean H/M ratios were significantly different among the three groups (P < 0.0001). H/M ratios of both NDPD and DPD patients groups (H/M = 1.83 +/- 0.50 and 1.24 +/- 0.40, respectively) were significantly lower than in MSA patients (H/M = 2.52 +/- 0.60). However, in NDPD patients, H/M was significantly higher than in DPD patients. When compared to MSA patients, NDPD patients showed a regional reduction in MIBG uptake in all left ventricle regions markedly in the apex and the inferior wall. Our results suggest that MIBG myocardial scintigraphy (analysis of both H/M ratio and regional MIBG uptake) may be more sensitive than standard autonomic testing for the early detection of silent autonomic dysfunction in PD.     

Ovarian cysts are common in premenarchal girls: a sonographic study of 101 children 2-12 years old.

Previous studies of sonograms in premenarchal girls have reported the typical ovary to be homogeneous in echogenicity, with cysts an uncommon finding, particularly in children less than 6 years old. These studies found no macrocysts (cysts greater than 9 mm in greatest length) in patients less than 11 years old. This information contradicts published pathology studies and our sonographic experience. The goal of this study was to determine the prevalence of cysts in the ovaries of premenarchal girls. The pelvic sonograms of 101 consecutive premenarchal girls between 2 and 12 years old, without known gynecologic or endocrinologic disease, were prospectively studied. One hundred fifty-five ovaries were adequately imaged in three dimensions. Ovaries were evaluated for the presence or absence of cysts (as defined by sonographic criteria), and the length of the cyst or of the largest cyst, if several were noted, was measured. Cysts were identified in 106 ovaries (68%). Cysts were seen in patients of all ages, particularly in the younger children (2-6 years old). Thirteen of the cysts, noted in 11 patients between 2 and 10 years old, were macrocysts. The typical sonographic appearance of the ovary in premenarchal girls is not homogeneous. Cysts are common in premenarchal girls between 2 and 12 years old and are the cause of the typical heterogeneous image. Macrocysts can be seen in healthy girls less than 11 years old.     

Simultaneous occurrence of acute myelogenous leukemia and seminoma of the testis

Summary Simultaneous tumors are rarely encountered during the course of acute leukemias. We report on a case of seminoma of the testis that occurred during the evolution of acute myelogenous leukemia. To our knowledge, this stimultaneous association has not previously been described, but a causal relationship was not apparent in the present case. The likelihood of a common carcinogenesis existed, but direct exposure to carcinogens could not be established. Although the results of a physical examination and echography were normal at the time of diagnosis, we cannot exclude the presence of microscopic cancer of the testis. Since the dissemination pattern of seminoma is usually slower than that observed in this case and the disease remains limited to the lymph nodes for long periods following dissemination, the rapid development of the present case might have been attributable to the immunosuppression and the scrotal sepsis that occurred during the induction therapy. Immunosuppression might have stimulated the progression of a primary microscopic seminoma and the development of metastasis, whereas the scrotal sepsis and inflammation might have favored the occurrence of metastasis through bypass of the lymphatic barrier.