[Giardia duodenalis and its involvement in skin diseases]. / Giardia duodenalis et son implication dans diverses dermatoses.

BACKGOUND: Over the last thirty years, the scientific community has become increasingly interested in the intestinal flora, whether commensal or pathogenic, and its impact on other organs. In dermatology, the correlation between intestinal microbial agents and cutaneous lesions is well established. Giardia duodenalis, an intestinal parasite, has been particularly widely studied. The aim of this work is to provide a review of studies demonstrating the involvement of G. duodenalis in various forms of dermatosis. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The data were obtained by an English-language literature search of Medline, PubMed and Google Scholar for the period 1975-2015. Among the thirty case reports since 1976, we selected the twenty most objective and clinically relevant. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: This review demonstrates that intestinal giardiasis may be an etiological factor, either alone or in combination with other agents, of various dermatoses through inflammatory and allergic mechanisms or intestinal hyperpermeability. The mucocutaneous lesions are varied: urticaria, angioedema, atopic dermatitis, erythema nodosum, Wells syndrome, among others. The role and origin of the infection are often unknown, and it is thus difficult to determine the interval between parasite infestation and the onset of skin lesions. Consequently, a fecal examination to identify G. duodenalis should be considered in chronic urticaria or angioedema, and where atopic dermatitis occurs in adulthood without any specific etiology. Therapeutic test should be done in every suspicion.

RotundRacGAP functions with Ras during spermatogenesis and retinal differentiation in Drosophila melanogaster.

Our analysis of rotund (rn) null mutations in Drosophila melanogaster revealed that deletion of the rn locus affects both spermatid and retinal differentiation. In the male reproductive system, the absence of RnRacGAP induced small testes, empty seminal vesicles, short testicular cysts, reduced amounts of interspermatid membrane, the absence of individualization complexes, and incomplete mitochondrial condensation. Flagellar growth continued within the short rn null cysts to produce large bulbous terminations of intertwined mature flagella. Organization of the retina was also severely perturbed as evidenced by grossly misshapen ommatidia containing reduced numbers of photoreceptor and pigment cells. These morphological phenotypes were rescued by genomic rnRacGAP transgenes, demonstrating that RnRacGAP function is critical to spermatid and retinal differentiation. The testicular phenotypes were suppressed by heterozygous hypomorphic mutations in the Dras1 and drk genes, indicating cross talk between RacGAP-regulated signaling and that of the Ras pathway. The observed genetic interactions are consistent with a model in which Rac signaling is activated by Ras and negatively regulated by RnRacGAP during spermatid differentiation. RnRacGAP and Ras cross talk also operated during retinal differentiation; however, while the heterozygous hypomorphic drk mutation continued to act as a suppressor of the rn null mutation, the heterozygous hypomorphic Dras1 mutation induced novel retinal phenotypes.

p63/MT1-MMP axis is required for in situ to invasive transition in basal-like breast cancer.

The transition of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) to invasive breast carcinoma requires tumor cells to cross the basement membrane (BM). However, mechanisms underlying BM transmigration are poorly understood. Here, we report that expression of membrane-type 1 (MT1)-matrix metalloproteinase (MMP), a key component of the BM invasion program, increases during breast cancer progression at the in situ to invasive breast carcinoma transition. In the intraductal xenograft model, MT1-MMP is required for BM transmigration of MCF10DCIS.com breast adenocarcinoma cells and is overexpressed in cell clusters overlying focal BM disruptions and at the invasive tumor front. Mirrored upregulation of p63 and MT1-MMP is observed at the edge of MCF10DCIS.com xenograft tumors and p63 is required for induction of MT1-MMP-dependent invasive program in response to microenvironmental signals. Immunohistochemistry and analysis of public database reveal that p63 and MT1-MMP are upregulated in human basal-like breast tumors suggesting that p63/MT1-MMP axis contributes to progression of basal-like breast cancers with elevated p63 and MT1-MMP levels.

Overexpression of RnRacGAP in Drosophila melanogaster deregulates cytoskeletal organisation in cellularising embryos and induces discrete imaginal phenotypes.

RacGAP proteins have been shown to down-regulate members of the Rho/Rac subfamily, small GTPases controlling actin network organisation. Only one RacGAP protein, RnRacGAP, has been identified in Drosophila. To examine RnRacGAP function, we generated transgenic strains expressing RnRacGAP under the control of the heat-shock promoter hsp70. In cellularising embryos, ectopic RnRacGAP induces lethality, associated with radical cell-shape changes, apical F-actin delocalisation, and inhibition of basal actin polymerisation. Overexpression of RnRacGAP in pupae induces a number of phenotypes with distinct critical periods of induction. These include wing shape and margin changes, wing vein defects, disorientation of wing hairs and thoracic bristles, and abdominal segment fusion. Thus, changes in cell shape/adhesion and reorganisation of the actin network are sensitive to overexpression of RnRacGAP throughout development in Drosophila.

Alternative splicing of the Drosophila melanogaster rotundRacGAP gene.

The rotund (rn) gene in Drosophila melanogaster codes for a RacGTPase-activating protein, RnRacGAP. Cellular studies have shown that RacGAP proteins function as negative regulators of substrate Rac proteins which, in turn, control the localization and polymerization state of actin within the cell. Previous sequence analysis of rn genomic DNA and incomplete cDNA clones suggested that at least two differentially spliced forms of the transcript exist, rnRacGAP(1) and rnRacGAP(2). Using nested reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) methods, we have cloned missing exon and intron sequences, and detected differences between rnRacGAP(1) and rnRacGAP(2) involving 24 nucleotides (nt) of coding sequences and 119 nt of 3'UTR. This translates to a difference of seven amino acids at the C-termini of the polypeptide products. Utilization, in RT-PCR analysis, of form-specific primers provided a simple assay for the tissue specificity of expression of the two forms. rnRacGAP(1) is the predominant species in the testes and is expressed at a low level in the ovary and somatic tissues. rnRacGAP(2) is only very weakly expressed and is detectable solely in the testes.

Predictive value of the active renin assay for the diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy.

The increasing frequency of EP and the need for its early diagnosis have focused our interest on the research of biochemical markers. We have established hormonal values in the plasma of 99 spontaneous ongoing pregnancies between the 4th and 10th weeks of amenorrhea, in 21 EPs, and 20 cases of early abortion. We have examined the predictive values of trophoblastic and CL production in pathological pregnancies. The association of low hCG and low active renin appears to be able to discriminate between ectopic and abortive spontaneous gestations.

Progesterone and estradiol in saliva after in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer.

The importance of the luteal function to ensure adequate implantation prompted us to assay salivary estradiol (SE2) and salivary progesterone (SP) concentration serially after embryo transfer by simple and rapid radioimmunoassays to allow a noninvasive easily repeatable approach. SE2, which has fallen 1 day after human chorionic gonadotropin injection, increased after reimplantation (day 3), plateaued during approximately 1 week, and returned to basal levels before menstruation in absence of conception or in chemical pregnancy, whereas it increased steadily in successful pregnancy. SP increased in all the cases, formed a plateau, and returned progressively to basal levels before menstruation, whereas in ongoing pregnancy there was a transitory decline in the midluteal phase followed by a rapid and continuous increase, with a significantly higher ratio day 13/day 10 in successful pregnancy.

Inhibin concentration in the culture media of human oocyte-cumulus-corona cell complexes is not related to subsequent embryo cleavage.

We have demonstrated an in vitro secretion of inhibin by human OCCC, not related to subsequent egg cleavage. A putative signal, released by OCCC, that could modulate inhibin secretion by granulosa cells has not been discovered. Inhibin secretion by OCCC has no predictive value concerning the further fertilization and cleavage of the oocytes.

[Attempt at determining fetal sex by the simultaneous study of the HY antigen and testosterone in the amniotic fluid]. / Essai de détermination du sexe foetal par l'étude simultanée de l'antigène H-Y et de la testostérone dans le liquide amniotique.

Attempts have been made to determine fetal sex early by a simultaneous study of H-Y antigen and testosterone in amniotic fluid. H-Y (male) antigen was serologically detected in the amniotic cells from both sexes, but the results obtained from 473 amniotic fluids showed no significant sex differences either in fresh cells or after culture. Testosterone assays done from 263 samples of liquor confirm that the results obtained in cases of male fetuses were significantly higher than in females. 55% of all males and 47% of females could thus be detected to a level of 100% certainty. The probability of having a girl decreases as an inverse function of testosterone levels and comes out at 85% for testosterone less than 200 pg/ml. On the other hand the probability of a male fetus is 95% when the values are above 240 pg/ml. The determination of the testosterone/DHA ratio in order to try to eliminate the influence of the variations in volume has not improved the accuracy of this diagnosis.

Analysis of factor structure in a dream inventory.

Intercorrelations of responses to the KJP dream inventory, initially a checklist of dream elements, were factor analyzed from a database from 65 graduate majors in psychology. Six factors were identified within the checklist: repetitive traumatic dreaming, reoccurring pleasantness, openness or depth, discontentedness, dissociative avoidance, and uninhibitedness. Scoring criteria were developed for each subscale.

First results on angular distributions of thermal dileptons in nuclear collisions.

The NA60 experiment at the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron has studied dimuon production in 158A GeV In-In collisions. The strong excess of pairs above the known sources found in the complete mass region 0.2