[Effect of ranitidine on secretion of gastric intrinsic factor and absorption of vitamin B 12]. / Effet de la ranitidine sur la sécrétion de facteur intrinsèque gastrique et sur l'absorption de la vitamine B12.

The effects of ranitidine, a new potent histamine H2-receptor antagonist, on gastric intrinsic factor (IF) secretion and protein-bound cobalamin absorption were evaluated in 6 patients with duodenal ulcer, before, during and after discontinuation of ranitidine therapy. Oral ranitidine (150 mg twice a day) resulted in a non significant decrease of IF concentration and IF output but was responsible for malabsorption of protein-bound cobalamin. This malabsorption was reversible upon discontinuation of ranitidine. These results indicate that occurrence of cobalamin deficiency cannot be excluded during long-term ranitidine treatment and emphasize the need for careful follow-up in these patients.

[Craniofacial architecture and temporomandibular joint pain-dysfunction syndrome. The possibility of orthodontic treatment]. / Architecture cranio-faciale et syndromes algo-dysfonctionnels des articulations temporo-mandibulaires (S.A.D.A.M.). Ouverture vers un traitement orthognathique.

The authors report the results of cephalographic studies in 65 cases of temporo-mandibular algo-dysfunctional syndromes. Cephalometric analysis according to the method described by Delaire allows specific cranio-facial morphotypic criteria to be defined. These results warrant presentation since they are frequently encountered but do not constitute a pathognomonic presentation. Statistical analysis of dento-maxillo-facial orthopedic abnormalities underlines their very frequent occurrence. The indications for maxillo-facial orthopedic surgery should therefore be widened.

Relationship between experimental obesity and plasma lipid fractions.

Serum lipids of three types of obese animals have been studied; GTG mice, the lesioned rat (VMH) and the Zucker rat. Analysis was performed by thin layer chromatography and densitometric quantification. These methods separate 14 lipid fractions after serum extraction. The experimental evidence shows that GTG mice and VMH rats are characterized, in comparison with their lean strains by elevated cholesteryl-ester fractions, triglycerides, lecithins and lysolecithins. In addition the Zucker rat is essentially hypertriglyceridemic and shows increased phospholipid levels. The analysis also stresses the importance of polyunsaturated fractions of cholesteryl esters in obese animals.

Circulating gastrin, endocrine cells, histamine content, and histidine decarboxylase activity in atrophic gastritis.

Thirty-five patients with fundic atrophic gastritis and achlorhydria were classified in two groups according to the presence or absence of fundic argyrophil, mostly enterochromaffinlike cell hyperplasia. Among the biologic and histologic parameters studied, the hyperplasic group differed only by a circulating hypergastrinemia and an antral G-cell hyperplasia. The histamine content, the histidine decarboxylase activity, and the mast cell number of fundic biopsies were determined in 10 controls, 16 of the preceding patients (11 with and 5 without fundic argyrophil-cell hyperplasia), and 5 patients with fundic atrophic gastritis and neither achlorhydria nor hyperplasia. Histamine content and histidine decarboxylase activity were increased only in the hyperplasic group despite an unchanged mast cell number. For all fundic biopsies the argyrophil-cell density was positively related to the histamine content. Finally, the argyrophil-cell hyperplasia occurring in fundic atrophic gastritis with achlorhydria is associated not with the gastritis intensity, as assessed by histologic and secretory criteria, but with a circulating hypergastrinemia and an increase of both fundic histamine content and histidine decarboxylase activity.