La Société de Biologie de Strasbourg : 100 ans au service de la science et de la société.

Founded in 1919, the Society of Biology of Strasbourg (SBS) is a learned society whose purpose is the dissemination and promotion of scientific knowledge in biology. Subsidiary of the Society of Biology, the SBS celebrated its Centenary on Wednesday, the 16th of October 2019 on the Strasbourg University campus and at the Strasbourg City Hall. This day allowed retracing the various milestones of the SBS, through its main strengths, its difficulties and its permanent goal to meet scientific and societal challenges. The common thread of this day was the transmission of knowledge related to the past, the present, but also the future. At the start of the 21st century, the SBS must continue to reinvent itself to pursue its objective of transmitting scientific knowledge in biology and beyond. Scientific talks performed by senior scientists and former SBS thesis prizes awardees, a round table, and informal discussions reflected the history and the dynamism of the SBS association. All SBS Centennial participants have set the first milestone for the SBS Bicentennial.

TITLE: La Société de Biologie de Strasbourg : 100 ans au service de la science et de la société. ABSTRACT: Filiale de la Société de Biologie, la Société de Biologie de Strasbourg (SBS) est une société savante qui a pour objet la diffusion et la promotion du savoir scientifique en biologie et en médecine. Fondée en 1919, La SBS a célébré son Centenaire le mercredi 16 octobre 2019. Cette journée a permis de retracer les différents jalons de la SBS, à travers ses lignes de forces, ses difficultés et sa volonté permanente de mettre en exergue les défis scientifiques et sociétaux auxquels participent les recherches strasbourgeoises. Le fil rouge de cette journée a été la transmission d'un savoir en lien avec le passé, le présent, mais également le futur. En ce début du 21e siècle, la SBS se doit de continuer de se réinventer pour poursuivre son objectif de transmission des connaissances scientifiques en biologie et au-delà. L'ensemble des participants du Centenaire de la SBS a ainsi posé la première pierre du Bicentenaire de la SBS.

L-arginine: an ultradian-regulated substrate coupled with insulin oscillations in healthy volunteers.

OBJECTIVE: Coupled oscillations of 50-110 min in insulin and glucose have been found previously in healthy men under continuous enteral nutrition. Because L-arginine induces insulin release as glucose does, we tested the hypothesis that L-arginine can also display such an ultradian rhythm. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Seven healthy male subjects participated in one experimental night during which blood was sampled every 10 min from 2300 to 0700. Plasma glucose, C-peptide, and L-arginine levels were measured simultaneously. The insulin secretion rate (ISR) was calculated from plasma C-peptide levels by a deconvolution procedure. RESULTS: Plasma glucose followed the recognizable profiles, with oscillations closely linked to similar changes in the ISR. Pulse analysis of L-arginine profiles revealed significant oscillations linked to glucose and ISR oscillations, with the highest cross-correlation coefficients at time lag 0 ranging from 0.380 to 0.680 for glucose and L-arginine and from 0.444 to 0.726 for ISR and L-arginine (P < 0.01). The mean period of L-arginine oscillations was 77.2 +/- 6.2 min, and their mean amplitude was 19.9 +/- 1.7%, similar to that of glucose (17.0 +/- 1.9%), when expressed as the percentage of mean overnight levels. CONCLUSIONS: This newly discovered ultradian rhythm of L-arginine and its coupling with glucose and ISR oscillations sheds new light on the regulation of L-arginine, the substrate of numerous metabolic pathways, including nitric oxide synthesis. These oscillations may be of significance in conditions of hyperinsulinemia or abnormal glucose tolerance.

Chronic but not acute oral L-arginine supplementation delays the ventilatory threshold during exercise in heart failure patients.

The purpose of this study was to determine, in heart failure patients (HF), whether acute or chronic L-arginine supplementation (LAS) might delay the ventilatory threshold (VT) and whether chronic LAS might reduce exercise-induced plasma lactate increase. HF patients undertook 4 cardiopulmonary bicycle exercises tests. The first 3 were maximal without (EX(1)), after acute (EX(2)), or chronic (EX(3)) oral LAS (6 gm twice a day for 6 weeks). The 4th test (EX(4)) performed after chronic LAS, was similar to the first in order to investigate the effect of chronic LAS on circulating lactate levels. Results showed that acute LAS failed to improve both submaximal and maximal exercise capacities. Similarly, maximal exercise capacity remained unmodified after chronic LAS. Nevertheless, chronic LAS delayed significantly the patients' ventilatory threshold. Thus exercise duration prior to VT increased (mean +/- SEM) from 6.04 +/- 0.9 to 7.7 +/- 1.03 min (p = 0.04), resulting in a significant increase in oxygen uptake (1.05 +/- 0.08 to 1.24 +/- 0.12 L.min(-1); p = 0.03), CO(2) release (0.94 +/- 0.10 to 1.2 +/- 0.12 L.min(-1); p = 0.018), minute ventilation (29.31 +/- 2.8 to 34.5 +/- 2.7 L; p = 0.009), and workload (60.7 +/- 9.8 to 78.5 +/- 10.2 watts; p = 0.034). Furthermore, chronic LAS significantly reduced the exercise-induced increase in postexercise plasma lactate concentration (-21 +/- 7%). In conclusion, unlike acute supplementation, chronic LAS significantly delays the ventilatory threshold, and chronic LAS reduces circulating plasma lactate in HF patients. These data suggest that chronic LAS might improve the ability of HF patients to perform their daily-life activities.