[Smoking cessation in secondary prevention of acute coronary syndrome: The role of the electronic cigarette]. / Sevrage tabagique en prévention secondaire d'un syndrome coronarien aigu : la place de la cigarette électronique.

OBJECTIVES: To study the use, efficiency and wishes for a "medicalization" of the electronic cigarette (EC) for smoking cessation in secondary prevention of acute coronary syndrome (ACS). PATIENTS AND METHOD: Prospective epidemiological study with inclusion of smoker patients hospitalized from 1st June 2015 to 31st March 2016 at the St Quentin Hospital (Picardy, France) for an ACS (except unstable angina), interviewed 1 year after their ACS, excluding patients over 75 years or with personal history of ACS. RESULTS: Eighty-one patients were included. 59 questionnaires (73%) were returned and analyzed. The average age was 53.3 years. There were 45 men (76.3%) and 14 women (23.7%). 11 patients (18.6%) had used the EC at least once before their ACS and 11 (18.6%) had used it after. That was the second most used smoking cessation method after the nicotine patches. One year after their SCA, 39 patients (66.1%) had stopped smoking: 63.6% (7/11) of EC users after the ACS against 66.7% (32/48) of non-users (P=0.848). After multivariate analysis, only cessation without help was associated with ceasing (P=0.013). CE users were significantly younger, were smoking more before their ACS, and had started smoking earlier. 50% of CE users would have appreciated to be better informed by their general practitioner and 53.3% expressed themselves in favor of a sale in pharmacies. CONCLUSION: EC is the second most common means of smoking cessation after an ACS. Further comparative studies are essential to know more about its efficiency and safety.

Low immunogenicity of seasonal trivalent influenza vaccine among patients receiving docetaxel for a solid tumour: results of a prospective pilot study.

BACKGROUND: Patients receiving cytotoxic therapy for solid tumours are at risk of severe influenza. However, few data are available regarding the immunogenical efficacy of influenza vaccine in these patients. METHODS: In this prospective study, 25 patients with breast (n=13) or prostate (n=12) cancer received a trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine along with docetaxel (Taxotere) administration. The influenza virus type A and B antibody titres were measured using haemagglutinin inhibition (Garten et al, 2009) before and 21 days after the vaccination. Seroconversion rate was defined as the percentage of patients with an increase in the serum titres ≥ 4 after vaccination. RESULTS: Median age was 65 years (range: 33-87 years); 52% were females. Seroconversion rates were low: 28% (95% CI: 23.1-33.3) for H1N1, 8% (95% CI: 7.7-8.3) for H3N2 and 16% (95% CI: 7.7-25) for the B strain. The geometric mean titres ratios were 2.16 (H1N1), 1.3 (H3N2) and 1.58 (B). No serious adverse event (AE) related to the vaccine was reported. All the reported AE were from mild-to-moderate intensity. CONCLUSION: In the patients receiving docetaxel for solid tumours, influenza vaccine triggers an immune response in only one third. Strategies using more immunogenic influenza vaccines must be evaluated in such patients.

Cyclic FEE peptide increases human gamete fusion and potentiates its RGD-induced inhibition.

BACKGROUND: Alpha6beta1 integrin has been proposed to act as a sperm receptor on the mouse oocyte by interacting with spermatozoon fertilin beta. We investigated, in humans, whether oocyte integrins could act similarly in gamete fusion, using a cyclic peptide containing the putative disintegrin-binding domain of human fertilin beta [cyclic FEE (cFEE)] and RGD peptide. METHODS: Zona-free eggs were inseminated in the absence or presence of peptides. To maintain the membrane protein pattern, the zona pellucida was removed by microdissection. Immunofluorescence and confocal microscopy were used to detect integrin subunits on the oocyte. RESULTS: Unexpectedly, cFEE alone increased human gamete fusion by 94% instead of inhibiting fertilization. Furthermore, cFEE together with RGD potentiated the RGD-induced inhibition of fertilization in a dose-dependent manner. The data suggested the hypothesis of integrin cross-talk, further supported by the co-localization of alpha6beta1 and alphavbeta3 integrins, the putative receptors of cFEE and RGD peptides, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: RGD-sensitive and -insensitive integrins may be associated in a multimolecular complex working as a sperm receptor on the human oocyte membrane. Supplementation of human IVF culture medium with cFEE peptide might improve fertilization rates in ART.

Complexity of the human whole saliva proteome.

Recent characterization of the whole saliva proteome led to contradictory pictures concerning the complexity of its proteome. In this work, 110 proteins were analysed by mass spectrometry allowing the identification of 10 accessions previously not detected on protein two-dimensional maps, including myosin heavy chain (fast skeletal muscle, IIA and IIB), phosphatidylethanolamine binding protein, secretory actin-binding protein precursor and triosephosphate isomerase. Further comparison with available data demonstrated simultaneously a low diversity in terms of variety of accessions and a high complexity in terms of number of protein spots identifying the same accession, the two thirds of identified spots corresponding to amylases, cystatins and immunoglobulins. This diversity may be of interest in the development of non invasive diagnostic tool for several disease.

Cloning of a genetically unstable cytochrome P-450 gene cluster involved in degradation of the pollutant ethyl tert-butyl ether by Rhodococcus ruber.

Rhodococcus ruber (formerly Gordonia terrae) IFP 2001 is one of a few bacterial strains able to degrade ethyl tert-butyl ether (ETBE), which is a major pollutant from gasoline. This strain was found to undergo a spontaneous 14.3-kbp chromosomal deletion, which results in the loss of the ability to degrade ETBE. Sequence analysis of the region corresponding to the deletion revealed the presence of a gene cluster, ethABCD, encoding a ferredoxin reductase, a cytochrome P-450, a ferredoxin, and a 10-kDa protein of unknown function, respectively. The EthB and EthD proteins could be easily detected by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and were induced by ETBE in the wild-type strain. Upstream of ethABCD lies ethR, which codes for a putative positive transcriptional regulator of the AraC/XylS family. Transformation of the ETBE-negative mutant by a plasmid carrying the ethRABCD genes restored the ability to degrade ETBE. Complementation was abolished if the plasmid carried ethRABC only. The eth genes are located in a DNA fragment flanked by two identical direct repeats of 5.6 kbp. The ETBE-negative mutants carry a single copy of this 5.6-kbp repeat, suggesting that the 14.3-kbp chromosomal deletion resulted from a recombination between the two identical sequences. The 5.6-kbp repeat is a class II transposon carrying a TnpA transposase, a truncated form of the recombinase TnpR, and a terminal inverted repeat of 38 bp. The truncated TnpR is encoded by an IS3-interrupted tnpR gene.

Spectrum of CFTR mutations in cystic fibrosis and in congenital absence of the vas deferens in France.

We have collated the results of cystic fibrosis (CF) mutation analysis conducted in 19 laboratories in France. We have analyzed 7, 420 CF alleles, demonstrating a total of 310 different mutations including 24 not reported previously, accounting for 93.56% of CF genes. The most common were F508del (67.18%; range 61-80), G542X (2.86%; range 1-6.7%), N1303K (2.10%; range 0.75-4.6%), and 1717-1G>A (1.31%; range 0-2.8%). Only 11 mutations had relative frequencies >0. 4%, 140 mutations were found on a small number of CF alleles (from 29 to two), and 154 were unique. These data show a clear geographical and/or ethnic variation in the distribution of the most common CF mutations. This spectrum of CF mutations, the largest ever reported in one country, has generated 481 different genotypes. We also investigated a cohort of 800 French men with congenital bilateral absence of the vas deferens (CBAVD) and identified a total of 137 different CFTR mutations. Screening for the most common CF defects in addition to assessment for IVS8-5T allowed us to detect two mutations in 47.63% and one in 24.63% of CBAVD patients. In a subset of 327 CBAVD men who were more extensively investigated through the scanning of coding/flanking sequences, 516 of 654 (78. 90%) alleles were identified, with 15.90% and 70.95% of patients carrying one or two mutations, respectively, and only 13.15% without any detectable CFTR abnormality. The distribution of genotypes, classified according to the expected effect of their mutations on CFTR protein, clearly differed between both populations. CF patients had two severe mutations (87.77%) or one severe and one mild/variable mutation (11.33%), whereas CBAVD men had either a severe and a mild/variable (87.89%) or two mild/variable (11.57%) mutations.

Effect of salt and smoke on the microbiological quality of cold-smoked salmon during storage at 5 degrees C as estimated by the factorial design method.

The simultaneous effect of salt and smoke on the natural flora of cold-smoked salmon was studied during 5 weeks of vacuum storage at 5 degrees C. The quadratic polynomial, as a function of factors, was used to express total viable count (TVC), total lactic acid bacteria, lactobacilli numerated on Rogosa agar, H2S-producing bacteria, and yeasts at different sampling times. TVC and total lactic acid bacteria were mainly inhibited by the salt concentration (5% wt/wt) in the meat and to a lesser extent by the phenol content. Inhibition was linearly proportional to salt and smoke content (the higher the concentration, the greater the inhibition). No synergistic effect on inhibition was observed between the two factors. In our working conditions, the TVC French standard (<10(6) CFU g(-1)) was maintained during 4 weeks of storage at 5 degrees C, with a minimum concentration of 2.4% (wt/wt) of salt in meat and smoking treatment corresponding to 0.6 mg 100 g(-1) of phenol. When the salt level was higher than 3%, the TVC standard was maintained, regardless of phenol level. A negative interaction between the two factors was found for H2S-producing bacteria and a positive one for yeasts.

Study of the microbial ecology of cold-smoked salmon during storage at 8 degrees C.

Microbiological, chemical and sensory changes in cold-smoked salmon were studied during 5 weeks of vacuum storage at 8 degrees C. The aerobic 20 degrees C viable count reached its maximum level after 6 days (3 x 10(6) cfu g-1) however, the shelf-life of the product was estimated to be 2 or 3 weeks by the panellists, confirming that there is no correlation between those two factors. Acid, pungent, sour and rancid odours and flavours and pasty texture were the main spoilage characteristics. Trimethylamine did not play a major role in the spoilage mechanisms as only small amounts were produced. Two-hundred and seventy strains were collected over the storage period, purified and characterized. During the first 2 weeks, Gram-negative bacteria were dominant, mainly represented by S. putrefaciens immediately after the smoking process and then P. phosphoreum. Aeromonas spp. were present throughout the storage but in smaller amounts. Gram-negative bacteria then progressively decreased while Gram-positive bacteria, dominated by lactic acid bacteria (LAB), became by far the most common variety found. Carnobacterium piscicola was widely represented (97/155 LAB isolates). A diversification was observed at the end of the storage, with the appearance of L. farciminis, L. sake and L. alimentarius. Occurrence of yeasts and moulds was quite rare. Spoilage potential of the strains was tested on a sterile smoked salmon extract juice. Shewanella putrefaciens, Aeromonas spp. and Brachothrix spp. produced strong off-odours while most of the LAB and P. phosphoreum seemed not to be involved in spoilage.

Ultrasonic echography in the mare.

Ultrasonic echography in the mare allows pregnancy diagnosis as early as Day 14 after ovulation. In the 1980 and 1981 breeding seasons, a total of 7438 examinations of 4688 mares were performed on several farms with the same apparatus. The accuracy of positive pregnancy diagnosis was estimated to be greater than 95% and of non-pregnancy diagnosis greater than 84%. When abnormal pictures of vesicles are found, it has to be decided whether it is a conceptus or a cystic structure. Most small vesicles do not develop, whereas large ones, deformed shapes, presence of some echoes, or a division inside the vesicle most often represent a growing conceptus or sometimes twins. Twinning rate in early pregnancy (before Day 30) lies between 2.6 and 2.8%. Twins are suspected when there are 2 vesicles of equal size (observed successively rather than simultaneously) (50-60% are confirmed), unequal size (less than 9%) or one oversized vesicle (23%), one of an irregular shape (5%) or a divided vesicle (33%). No effect of the month of mating on the rate of twin conceptions was found. Early pregnancy loss (between mean Days 23 and 43) was estimated at 5.3% and total embryonic loss (early and late) at 9%. Rate of embryonic death increased in proportion to the interval between the two successive diagnoses. No critical period of early mortality or effect of the reproductive status on embryonic or fetal mortality was found.