Natural products mediating ecological interactions in Antarctic benthic communities: a mini-review of the known molecules.

Out of the many bioactive compounds described from the oceans, only a small fraction have been studied for their ecological significance. Similarly, most chemically mediated interactions are not well understood, because the molecules involved remain unrevealed. In Antarctica, this gap in knowledge is even more acute in comparison to tropical or temperate regions, even though polar organisms are also prolific producers of chemical defenses, and pharmacologically relevant products are being reported from the Southern Ocean. The extreme and unique marine environments surrounding Antarctica along with the numerous unusual interactions taking place in benthic communities are expected to select for novel functional secondary metabolites. There is an urgent need to comprehend the evolutionary role of marine derived substances in general, and particularly at the Poles, since molecules of keystone significance are vital in species survival, and therefore, in structuring the communities. Here we provide a mini-review on the identified marine natural products proven to have an ecological function in Antarctic ecosystems. This report recapitulates some of the bibliography from original Antarctic reviews, and updates the new literature in the field from 2009 to the present.

Interlaboratory reproducibility and proficiency testing within the human papillomavirus cervical cancer screening program in Catalonia, Spain.

In Catalonia, a screening protocol for cervical cancer, including human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA testing using the Digene Hybrid Capture 2 (HC2) assay, was implemented in 2006. In order to monitor interlaboratory reproducibility, a proficiency testing (PT) survey of the HPV samples was launched in 2008. The aim of this study was to explore the repeatability of the HC2 assay's performance. Participating laboratories provided 20 samples annually, 5 randomly chosen samples from each of the following relative light unit (RLU) intervals: <0.5, 0.5 to 0.99, 1 to 9.99, and ≥10. Kappa statistics were used to determine the agreement levels between the original and the PT readings. The nature and origin of the discrepant results were calculated by bootstrapping. A total of 946 specimens were retested. The kappa values were 0.91 for positive/negative categorical classification and 0.79 for the four RLU intervals studied. Sample retesting yielded systematically lower RLU values than the original test (P<0.005), independently of the time elapsed between the two determinations (median, 53 days), possibly due to freeze-thaw cycles. The probability for a sample to show clinically discrepant results upon retesting was a function of the RLU value; samples with RLU values in the 0.5 to 5 interval showed 10.80% probability to yield discrepant results (95% confidence interval [CI], 7.86 to 14.33) compared to 0.85% probability for samples outside this interval (95% CI, 0.17 to 1.69). Globally, the HC2 assay shows high interlaboratory concordance. We have identified differential confidence thresholds and suggested the guidelines for interlaboratory PT in the future, as analytical quality assessment of HPV DNA detection remains a central component of the screening program for cervical cancer prevention.

Evidence of pathway-specific basophil anergy induced by peanut oral immunotherapy in peanut-allergic children.

BACKGROUND: In Westernized countries, over 1% of the population is allergic to peanuts or tree nuts, which carries a risk of severe allergic reactions. Several studies support the efficacy of peanut oral immunotherapy (OIT) for reducing the clinical sensitivity of affected individuals; however, the mechanisms of this effect are still being characterized. One mechanism that may contribute is the suppression of effector cells, such as basophils. Basophil anergy has been characterized in vitro as a pathway-specific hyporesponsiveness; however, this has not been demonstrated to occur in vivo. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the hypothesis that basophil anergy occurs in vivo due to chronic allergen exposure in the setting of a clinical oral immunotherapy trial. METHODS: Samples of peripheral blood were obtained from subjects during a placebo-controlled clinical trial of peanut OIT. Basophil reactivity to in vitro stimulation with peanut allergen and controls was assessed by the upregulation of activation markers, CD63 and CD203c, measured by flow cytometry. RESULTS: The upregulation of CD63 following stimulation of the IgE receptor, either specifically with peanut allergen or non-specifically with anti-IgE antibody, was strongly suppressed by active OIT. However, OIT did not significantly suppress this response in basophils stimulated by the distinct fMLP receptor pathway. In the subset of subjects with egg sensitization, active peanut OIT also suppressed CD63 upregulation in response to stimulation with egg allergen. Allergen OIT also suppressed the upregulation of CD203c including in response to stimulation with IL-3 alone. CONCLUSION: Peanut OIT induces a hyporesponsive state in basophils that is consistent with pathway-specific anergy previously described in vitro. This suggests the hypothesis that effector cell anergy could contribute to clinical desensitization.

Prenatal microarray comparative genomic hybridization: Experience from the two first years of activity at the Lyon university-hospital.

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to describe how microarray comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) has shifted to become a prenatal diagnosis tool at the Lyon university-hospital. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective study included all patients who were referred in the 3 pluridisciplinary centers for prenatal diagnosis of the Lyon university-hospital and who received a prenatal aCGH between June 2013 and June 2015. aCGH was systematically performed in parallel with a karyotype, using the PréCytoNEM array design. RESULTS: A total of 260 microarrays were performed for the following indications: 249 abnormal ultrasounds (95.8%), 7 characterizations of chromosomal rearrangements (2.7%), and 4 twins with no abnormal ultrasounds (1.5%). With a resolution of 1 mega base, we found 235 normal results (90.4%), 23 abnormal results (8.8%) and 2 non-returns (0.8%). For the chromosomal rearrangements visible on the karyotype, aCGH identified all of the 12 unbalanced rearrangements and did not identify the 2 balanced rearrangements. Among the fetuses with normal karyotypes, 11 showed abnormal microarray results, corresponding to unbalanced cryptic chromosomal rearrangements (4.2%). CONCLUSION: Transferring aCGH to a prenatal diagnosis at the Lyon university-hospital has increased the detection rate of chromosomal abnormalities by 4.2% compared to the single karyotype.

Intraventricular meningiomas: MR imaging and MR spectroscopic findings in two cases.

CT, MR imaging, MR spectroscopy, and angiography were performed in two men (ages 21 and 48, respectively) with intraventricular meningioma. In both cases, CT and MR imaging showed large tumors located in the trigone of the right lateral ventricle that enhanced intensely after contrast administration. MR spectroscopy was helpful in supporting a preoperative diagnosis of meningioma in both cases.

Chondroblastoma of the temporal bone: CT and MR appearance.

The authors report a case of chondroblastoma in the unusual location of the temporal bone. CT findings do not differ dramatically from other reports: the lesion appeared as a soft-tissue density mass in the right temporal bone, with bony destruction and thinning of cortical margins. MR findings are more rare: on coronal T1-weighted images the lesion appeared as a mass, isointense to gray matter, centered in the right petrous bone; on axial T2-weighted images, as a mixed-intensity signal mass. They conclude that MR is an accurate indicator of the location and extension of the tumor, but that CT gives more specific information regarding bone involvement.

Neurinomas of the facial nerve. Report of three cases.

Three cases of neurinomas of the facial nerve are reported. Two of them originated from the labyrinthine portion of the nerve and the other from the vertical portion. Neurinomas of the first part of the facial nerve can be suspected preoperatively since they seem to give rise to specific clinical and radiological manifestations that can be distinguished from tumors of other portions of the nerve, the petrous bone area, or the cerebellopontine angle. The reported cases of neurinomas of the facial nerve are reviewed and analyzed.

Involvement of platelet-activating factor (PAF) in endotoxin-induced intestinal motor disturbances in rats.

Intestinal myoelectrical activity was investigated in conscious fasted rats chronically implanted with Nichrome electrodes in the duodeno-jejunum. Motility of the small intestine was characterized by the presence of migrating myoelectric complex (MMC) occurring regularly at 16.2 +/- 5.8 minute intervals. Intravenous administration of endotoxin (E. coli S.0111:B4) at a dose of 50 micrograms/kg increased the interval between MMC to 112.6 +/- 26.8 min, the duration of these effects being dose-related between 10 to 100 micrograms/kg. Such a typical myoelectrical alteration, corresponding to rapidly propagated groups of spike bursts, was mimicked by the IP administration of PAF at doses of 10 to 50 micrograms/kg. Previous administration of BN 52021, a specific PAF antagonist at a dose of 50 mg/kg abolished the motor alterations induced by IP injection of PAF (25 micrograms/kg) and significantly (p less than 0.01) reduced by 61.2% those induced by IV endotoxin (50 micrograms/kg). Indomethacin (10 mg/kg IP) as well as SC 19220 (5 mg/kg IV), a PGE2 antagonist, injected prior to endotoxin (50 micrograms/kg IV) or PAF (25 micrograms/kg IP) also reduced significantly (p less than 0.01) the duration of MMC inhibition. It is concluded that endogenous release of PAF is partly responsible for the intestinal motor alterations induced by endotoxin; these effects, strongly reduced after treatment with BN 52021, are also mediated through the release of prostaglandins.

Mood-independent aberrancies in associative processes in bipolar affective disorder: an apparent stabilizing effect of lithium.

Forty-eight patients from an affective disorders clinic were tested twice with a word association test. They gave significantly fewer repetitions of common responses than did 29 normal controls. This difference was not related to subgroup diagnosis (bipolar I, bipolar II, unipolar, schizoaffective, and cyclothymic personality), to mood state at the time of testing, or to cycling frequency. The total number of repeated responses was directly correlated with serum lithium level (r = 0.44, p less than 0.01, especially in those judged good lithium responders (r = 0.71, p less than 0.05). This finding may reflect a normalizing effect of lithium on associative processes in affective illness.

Attentional effects of caffeine in man: comparison with drugs acting upon performance.

The aim of this study was to observe if a method useful for measuring attentional effects could be applied in testing the differential effects of caffeine, the beta-stimulant salbutamol, and the beta-blocker propranolol. Caffeine (300 mg) was administered to a sample of 19 normal subjects compared to two samples of 40 controls. Caffeine was found to increase attention and vigilance by augmenting the number of repetitions of responses to a verbal stimulus in a free word association test. This pattern was also seen with salbutamol and propranolol, but to a lesser degree.

Enhanced spectrophotometric determination of nicotinic acid in a sodium dodecyl sulphate micellar medium.

The spectrophotometric determination of pyridine and pyridine derivatives by means of the König reaction was studied in micellar media of sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS), N-cetylpyridinium chloride and Triton X-100. The sensitivity was largely increased in SDS micellar medium. The attack of the pyridine ring with cyanogen bromide to produce a glutaconic aldehyde was not affected by the presence of SDS, but the yield of the coupling reaction with an arylamine to produce a polymethine dye was largely increased. In the SDS micellar medium, aniline was superior to other coupling reagents. The limits of detection (LODs) were 6 x 10(-7), 1 x 10(-6) and 5 x 10(-7)M for pyridine, pyrrol-ylmethylpyridine and nicotinic acid, respectively, and the reproducibility for 2 x 10(-5)M solutions was ca. 2%. In the absence of SDS, the LODs were 3 x 10(-6), 3 x 10(-6) and 9 x 10(-6)M, respectively, and the reproducibility was ca. 3.5%. Application was made to the determination of nicotinic acid in pharmaceuticals.

Myoelectric intestinal disturbances in Escherichia coli endotoxic shock in rats. Involvement of platelet-activating factor.

Administration of BN 52021 (50 mg/kg i.v.), a specific antagonist of platelet-activating factor (PAF), significantly reduced the intestinal myoelectric disturbances induced by E. coli endotoxin injection (50 micrograms/kg i.v.) by 62%. Thus, PAF may be involved in the intestinal motor alterations observed in endotoxic shock. When given in combination with indomethacin (10 mg/kg i.p.), BN 52021 inhibited endotoxic shock intestinal disturbances. Indomethacin alone also reduced PAF induced (25 micrograms/kg i.p.) disruption of migrating myoelectric complexes. Endotoxins may act on intestinal motility via release of endogenous PAF and prostaglandins, the effects of PAF being mediated through the release of prostaglandins.

Quantitation of antihistamines in pharmaceutical preparations by liquid chromatography with a micellar mobile phase of sodium dodecyl sulfate and pentanol.

A reversed-phase liquid chromatographic procedure with a micellar mobile phase of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), containing a small amount of pentanol, was developed for the control of 7 antihistamines of diverse action in pharmaceutical preparations (tablets, capsules, powders, solutions, and syrups): azatadine, carbinoxamine, cyclizine, cyproheptadine, diphenhydramine, doxylamine, and tripelennamine. The retention times of the drugs were <9 min with a mobile phase of 0.15M SDS-6% (v/v) pentanol. The recoveries with respect to the declared compositions were in the range of 93-110%, and the intra- and interday repeatabilities and interday reproducibility were <1.2%. The results were similar to those obtained with a conventional 60 + 40 (v/v) methanol-water mixture, with the advantage of reduced toxicity, flammability, environmental impact, and cost of the micellar-pentanol solutions. The lower risk of evaporation of the organic solvent dissolved in the micellar solutions also increased the stability of the mobile phase.

[21-hydroxylase autoantibodies as a marker of adrenal involvement in patients with autoimmune endocrinopathies]. / Intérêt du dosage des anticorps anti-21 hydroxylase comme marqueur de l'atteinte surrénale dans les endocrinopathies auto-immunes.

Autoantibodies against 21-hydroxylase are common in idiopathic Addison's disease. The objective of this study was to determine the frequency of these antibodies in different endocrine autoimmune diseases with or without adrenal insufficiency and to follow up their evolution. We have used a radiobinding assay based on 125-I labeled 21-hydroxylase (21-OH-AB, RSR, UK). Serum samples with 21-hydroxylase antibodies levels equal or greater than 1.0 U/ml were considered as positive. We found these autoantibodies in 21/23 idiopathic Addisonian patients, in 0/18 patients with isolated hypothyroïdism, in 0/6 patients with isolated Grave's disease, in 2/14 patients with isolated ovarian failure, in 1/27 patients with 2 ou more associated autoimmune diseases without adrenal insufficiency. The comparison between patients with or without adrenal insufficiency has shown, for this assay, a sensibility of 91 %, a specificity of 96 %. The 21-hydroxylase autoantibodies were followed up in 4 patients with Addison's disease and showed progressive decreasing levels. We can not exclude that the addisonian sera might become negative for these antibodies after the total destruction of adrenal cortex. In conclusion, the presence of 21-hydroxylase autoantibodies is highly specific for idiopathic Addison's disease and the level of these antibodies decrease with disease duration.

[Influence of lithium on cognitive functions]. / Influence du lithium sur les fonctions cognitives.

A free word-association quantitative test gave significantly different results in 48 manic-depressive patients and 29 normal controls. The difference was unrelated to subgroup diagnosis or to the patients' mood at the time of testing, but was related to the frequency of cycles. In patients treated with lithium, a positive correlation was found between measurements and serum lithium levels.

[Separation of manic-depressive psychoses and neuroses by a cognitive index]. / Séparation des psychoses maniaco-dépressives et des névroses par un indice cognitif.

A free word association quantitative test gave significantly different results in two groups of manic depressive patients (n = 18, n = 33) compared to two groups of neurotics (n = 25, n = 30) and two groups of controls (n = 29, n = 57). The biggest difference was between manic depressed and neurotics. Such measurements are considered to provide an approach to the reality system that differs in manic depressed and neurotics or controls.

[Cleidocranial dysostosis. Presentation of a case]. / Disostosis cleidocraneal. Presentación de un caso.

INTRODUCTION: Cleidocranial dysostosis is a syndrome defined by three characteristic findings: clavicular aplasia, retarded cranial ossification, and autosomic dominant hereditary transmission, with completed penetrance and full expression. However, the diagnosis cannot only be made based on those finding, because the polymorphism and extension of the lesions of this disease is important. Therefore, in this disease we can see upset in the second teething, short stature or dwarf, persistence of the biconvex appearance of vertebral body, bone hypoplastic iliac, retarded pubis branch ossification, wedge shape distal phalanges or with brachymesophalangia of the forefinger and fifth finger. CLINICAL CASE: We describe a 20 years old man, with cleidocranial dysostosis, without familiar antecedent (probable mutation), that come to our center for treatment of denture pathology with disabled eating, because anomalous distribution and eruption. He had clavicle agenesis, cranial ossification upset with wormian bones, vertebral bodies biconvex, superior maxillary hypoplastic, and dental packed in the superior maxillary and jawbone. CONCLUSIONS: Cleidocranial dysostosis is a hereditary disease, which can be of spontaneous apparition (mutation), has a grand polymorphism, affect the osseous development, predominate in the middle line membranous bone and is an entity of radiologic diagnosis.

Interactions among affect, cognition, and visuomotor coordination as measured in words and symbols.

The associative frequencies of responses to stimulus words during free and controlled forced-choice word-association tests correlate well with each other and with assessments of the affective character (emotional content) of the stimulus words for the test subjects (Osgood Index) for three samples of volunteer French undergraduate students (ns = 200, 64, and 72). These indices correlate negatively with the subjects' performance on Digit Symbol Substitution tests. Neisser's theory of schemata and Edelman's theory of neuronal group selection may provide insight into this relationship. If the associative frequency of a subject's response decreased, the affective content of the word stimulus (as perceived by the subject) diminished as well. This relationship was associated with a relatively higher score on Digit Symbol Substitution. Conversely, it was observed that subjects whose responses were characterized by high associative frequencies (whether the response was spontaneous or forced-choice) rated the stimulus words as having a relatively stronger affective content or emotional character and performed less well on Digit Symbol Substitution.

Word-association responses and severity of dementia in Alzheimer disease.

To test the impairment of semantic memory in Alzheimer Disease, two groups of patients (one French and one American) were given a free-word-association task. Analysis showed a strong correlation between the scores of the Mini-Mental State Examination and an index of commonality of responses in both groups. As the severity of dementia increased, Alzheimer patients were less likely to give common responses. Our results are consistent with those of previous studies showing a relationship between dementia severity and impairment in semantic memory in Alzheimer Disease.

[Le Quercinois, Guillaume Jacob, physician and surgeon at the Montpellier School, artisan of the reform of medical sciences in Spain the the 18th century]. / Le Quercinois, Guillaume Jacob, médecin et chirurgien de l'Ecole de Montpellier, artisan de la renovation des sciences médicales dans l'Espagne du XVIIIe siècle.

Guillaume Jacob born in Castelnau-Montratier at the dawn of the XVIIIth century, physician of the School of Medicine of Montpellier was attracted by Spain during the reign of Philip V grand-son of Louis XIV. Nominated Professor of Anatomy at the Royal Society of Medicine of Sevilla, later Royal Academy, he worked during seventeen years to improve Spanish medical science: he informed himself in Paris of the discoveries of French scientists, obtained modern surgical instruments, books to enrich the library, laid the foundations of a botanical garden for medical plants and established links between the Royal Society of Sevilla and various European Royal Academies in order to allow exchanges.