Sensory room: Naturalistic assessment of auditory and visual perception in developing children.

INTRODUCTION: Hearing is essential for language acquisition and understanding the environment. Understanding how children react to auditory and visual information is essential for appropriate management in case of hearing loss. Objective and subjective assessments can diagnose hearing loss, but do not measure natural perception in children. We developed a "sensory room" for complementary assessment of children's perceptions so as to assess behavioral responses to meaningful natural sounds and visual stimuli in an ecologic environment suited to children. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Sixteen normal-hearing children and 10 with congenital hearing loss before cochlear implantation, aged 13 to 32months, were included in this feasibility study. They perceived 18 environmental sounds and 9 visual stimuli, and their behavioral responses were coded accordingly as: stopping, looking, moving, pointing, language or emotional reactions. RESULT: All children completed the task, demonstrating its feasibility in children. Percentage responses to auditory versus visual stimuli did not differ in normal-hearing children; those with congenital hearing loss responded like normal-hearing children to visual stimuli, but did not react to auditory stimuli. Progression in normal-hearing children's behavioral responses corresponded to cognitive and linguistic development according to age. CONCLUSION: The "sensory room" quantified children's responses to various auditory and visual stimuli, providing clinicians with measurable insight into the children's sensory perception and processing.

[Autoimmune limbic encephalitis with anti-NMDA receptor antibodies and ovarian teratoma: a treatable form of paraneoplastic limbic encephalitis]. / Encéphalite limbique auto-immune avec anticorps antirécepteur NMDA associée à un tératome de l'ovaire : une forme curable d'encéphalite limbique paranéoplasique.

INTRODUCTION: The first French-language case of limbic encephalitis due to anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor to glutamate (NMDA-R) antibodies associated with an ovarian teratoma is reported. CLINICAL CASE: A 35-year-old woman presented with a subacute severe anterograde memory deficit, psychiatric disturbances and generalized seizures associated with an ovarian teratoma. No abnormality was noticed on the two successive MRI. The cerebrospinal fluid showed mild lymphocytosis and elevation of protein concentration. The search for classical onconeuronal antibodies in the serum was negative. Total body computed tomographic scan disclosed a five centimeter long ovarian cyst. Pathology found an ovarian teratoma containing a small immature neuroepithelial component. Complete tumor resection associated with high doses of intravenous methylprednisolone and intravenous polyvalent immunoglobulins allowed her clinical state to improve as soon as three days after surgery. Full recovery was noted four months later. Serum anti-NMDA-R antibodies were positive. CONCLUSION: Owing to the recent description of the association between anti-NMDA-R and limbic encephalitis and the frequent good prognosis reported in the available series and case reports, it is important to search for this association in the not so rare cases of limbic encephalitis when no other cause is disclosed.

Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome during sunitinib therapy.

A case of posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) occurring in a women treated by sunitinib for an ovarian metastatis of a renal cell carcinoma is described. This is the third case described in the literature. The three cases are very similar except for the delay to onset of the PRES (one week to five months). Both antiangiogenic and prohypertensive effects of sunitinib are probably involved in the pathophysiology of PRES. Physicians should be aware of this potentially life-threatening side-effect of sunitinib easily controlled by withdrawing sunitinib and symptomatic treatment.

A brief compound test for assessment of autonomic and sensory-motor dysfunction in familial amyloid polyneuropathy.

BACKGROUND: Familial amyloid polyneuropathies (FAP) patients manifest progressive sensory-motor length dependent polyneuropathy and severe autonomic dysfunction. In this setting the autonomic manifestations include mainly postural hypotension, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea and constipation, sphincter distur- bances and erectile dysfunction. Reproducible quantitative evaluation of signs and symptoms are necessary for the assessment of treatment efficacy. OBJECTIVE: To determine the reliability of a new compound test cumulating evaluation of autonomic and sensorymotor dysfunction in FAP. METHODS: Compound Autonomic Dysfunction Test (CADT) is a new questionnaire to evaluate the main symptoms of autonomic dysfunction observed in FAP. A separate functional questionnaire assesses the disability due to the sensorymotor deficit (Modified Norris Test; MNT). The compound test takes approximately 10 minutes to perform. In this prospective study, we enrolled consecutively 60 FAP patients to test interexaminer reliability, i.e., both questionnaires rated independently by 2 examiners. We also evaluate the reliability of testing patients face to face and by phone call, by the same examiner. RESULTS: Interexaminer reliabilities tested were high (ICC=0.92 for the CADT, p < 0.001; and ICC = 0.99 for the MNT, p < 0.001). In addition, testing by phone as compared to testing during the initial medical visit by the same investigator gave similar results (ICC = 0.91 for the CADT, p < 0.001; and ICC = 0.98 for the MNT, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: In FAP, the CADT and the MNT have good reliability inter-investigators as well as between face to face and by phone call, by the same examiner. This newly designed compound test is a simple and reproducible scale which is adapted to evaluate the main neuropathic manifestations and will be useful for assessment of future treatments in this condition.

[Acute neurological disclosure of B12 avitaminosis induced by folic acid administration]. / Révélation neurologique aiguë d'une avitaminose B12 par l'administration d'acide folique.

A paradigmatic case of acute combined spinal cord degeneration and delirium due to inappropriate administration of folic acid in the context of chronic cobalamin deficiency is described. Rapid improvement was obtained with immediate cessation of folate administration and parenteral cobalamin supplementation. Folic acid and cobalamin prescription rules are recalled. Pathophysiological hypotheses tentatively explaining the neurotoxicity of folic acid in case of vitamin B12 deficiency are summarized.

TGFbeta-mediated activation of Smad1 in B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and effect on cell proliferation.

We have previously reported an overexpression of Smad1 in follicular lymphoma (FL) cells, which are characterized by the t(14;18) bcl2/IgH translocation. Smad1 is commonly involved in bone morphogenetic protein but not in tumor-transforming growth factor beta (TGFbeta) signaling pathways. This study focuses on Smad1 signaling pathway in non-Hodgkin lymphoma cells including follicular or large-cell lymphoma cells. Our results support the notion that phosphorylation of Smad1 is mediated by TGFbeta present in the microenvironment and occurs in FL in vivo. Using an in vitro coculture system mimicking interactions between stroma cells and FL cells, we found that both the cell partners release TGFbeta at a sufficient concentration to activate Smad pathways in the malignant cells. This Smad1 activation involves TGFbetaRII but not ALK-1 receptors, and does not compete with the Smad2 pathway. Moreover, proliferation assays performed on lymphoma cells expressing wild-type or mutated Smad1, or in which endogenous Smad1 level was decreased by gene silencing, strongly supported that overexpression and activation of Smad1 modifies the biological response of lymphoma B cells to TGFbeta family members. This work opens new insights into aberrant Smad pathways and their pathophysiological role in FL and in other non-Hodgkin lymphomas.

Practical asymmetric synthesis of 1,2-diamines in the 3-aminoazepane series.

A simple and versatile method for the enantio- and diastereoselective synthesis of mono- or disubstituted 3-aminoazepanes is described. The key step involves a highly regio- and diastereoselective tandem ring-enlargement/alkylation or reduction process. This novel synthetic route provides enantiomerically pure constrained diamines interesting as scaffolds for medicinal chemistry.

Enantioselective desymmetrization of meso bicyclic hydrazines: a novel approach to the asymmetric synthesis of polysubstituted amino cyclopentanic cores.

Catalytic asymmetric hydroboration can be successfully applied to meso bicyclic hydrazines. The resulting alcohols are of great synthetic interest and can lead in a straightforward manner to cyclopentanic diamino alcohols with good enantiomeric purity.

Gene expression profiling of B cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia reveals a homogeneous phenotype related to memory B cells.

B cell-derived chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) represents a common malignancy whose cell derivation and pathogenesis are unknown. Recent studies have shown that >50% of CLLs display hypermutated immunoglobulin variable region (IgV) sequences and a more favorable prognosis, suggesting that they may represent a distinct subset of CLLs which have transited through germinal centers (GCs), the physiologic site of IgV hypermutation. To further investigate the phenotype of CLLs, their cellular derivation and their relationship to normal B cells, we have analyzed their gene expression profiles using oligonucleotide-based DNA chip microarrays representative of approximately 12,000 genes. The results show that CLLs display a common and characteristic gene expression profile that is largely independent of their IgV genotype. Nevertheless, a restricted number of genes (<30) have been identified whose differential expression can distinguish IgV mutated versus unmutated cases and identify them in independent panels of cases. Comparison of CLL profiles with those of purified normal B cell subpopulations indicates that the common CLL profile is more related to memory B cells than to those derived from naive B cells, CD5(+) B cells, and GC centroblasts and centrocytes. Finally, this analysis has identified a subset of genes specifically expressed by CLL cells of potential pathogenetic and clinical relevance.

MCP-1 modulates chemotaxis by follicular lymphoma cells.

The localization and establishment of follicular lymphoma (FL) cells in distinct anatomic sites probably involves chemokine and adhesion receptors on the neoplastic cells and appropriate chemokines and adhesion receptor ligands in the microenvironment. Several chemokines play an important role in normal B-cell trafficking and differentiation. Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) is a C-C chemokine that induces chemotaxis of a variety of lymphoid cells through its receptor CCR2. CCR2 is also expressed on B cells, and MCP-1 induces chemotaxis of normal B cells. In this report, we investigated expression and function of CCR2 on FL cells. We found FL cells as well as the t(14; 18)+ B-cell lymphoma line H2 expressed CCR2. MCP-1 potentiated SDF-1-induced chemotaxis of FL cells and H2 cells, but MCP-1 alone did not induce chemotaxis. The specificity of the effects of MCP-1 and SDF-1 was demonstrated by antibody blocking studies. Because FL cells are generally associated with follicular dendritic cells (FDCs), FDCs may be an important source of chemokines. We found that cultured FDCs produced MCP-1, and this production was enhanced by tumour necrosis factor. These data implicate MCP-1 in the migration and localization of FL cells.

Synthesis, modelling and NK1 antagonist evaluation of a non-rigid cyclopropane-containing analogue of CP-99,994.

A non-rigid cyclopropane-containing diamine analogue of CP-99,994 was synthesised and was found to have only moderate NK1 receptor binding affinity. Molecular dynamics calculations of the conformational space of the former compound gave good correlation between observed activity and a recently published pharmacophore model, lending predictive value to the latter.

Synthesis of enantiomerically pure alpha-substituted propargylic amines by reaction of organoaluminum reagents with oxazolidines.

Various oxazolidines prepared in two steps from (R)-phenylglycinol react at 0 degrees C with dialkylalkynylalane-triethylamine complexes in the presence of trimethylaluminum in high yield and diastereoselectivity. Enantiomerically pure primary alpha-substituted propargylamines can be easily obtained in two steps after removal of ferrocenylmethyl protective group under smooth acidic conditions and oxidative cleavage of the chiral appendage.

Functional effects of TNF and lymphotoxin alpha1beta2 on FDC-like cells.

Recent studies suggest that tumor necrosis factor (TNF) family members such as TNFalpha and lymphotoxin alphabeta (LTalpha1beta2) are important in the development of follicular dendritic cells (FDCs) and maintenance of FDC function. In this study we used FDC-like cells (FDC-LC) cultured from normal human tonsil and investigated the effects of TNF and LTalpha1beta2 on expression of adhesion molecules and the production of cytokines and chemokines. TNF and LTalpha1beta2 both increased the expression of VCAM-1 and ICAM-1 on FDC-LC. In addition, IL-4 with LTalpha1beta2 synergistically increased the expression of VCAM-1, but not ICAM-1. Cytokine IL-6 and IL-15 mRNAs were induced following stimulation with TNF and LTalpha1beta2. These two cytokines were present in FDC-LC supernatants by ELISA and increased following TNF and LTalpha1beta2 stimulation. We also examined FDC-LC for chemokines, which affect B cells, including IL-8, SDF-1, MIP3beta/ELC, and BCA-1/BLC. SDF-1 mRNA and protein were expressed by FDC-LC, and following stimulation with TNF and LTalpha1beta2, decreases in both were observed. Therefore, TNF and LTalpha1beta2, which are produced by activated B cells, increased the expression of adhesion molecules and cytokines from FDC-LC, potentially providing key signals to support germinal center B cell survival and differentiation.

Quantitative high-performance liquid chromatographic determination of acrolein in plasma after derivatization with Luminarin 3.

A rapid, sensitive and specific high-performance liquid chromatographic method for the quantification of acrolein (1), one of the toxic metabolites of oxazaphosphorine alkylating agents (cyclophosphamide and ifosfamide) was developed. Condensation of acrolein with Luminarin 3 afforded a fluorescent derivative that could be specifically detected and quantified. Chromatographic conditions involved a C18 RP column Uptisphere and a gradient elution system to optimize resolution and time analysis. The method showed high sensitivity with a limit of detection of 100 pmol/ml and a limit of quantification of 300 pmol/ml. This technique is particularly suitable for pharmacokinetic studies on plasma of oxazaphosphorine-receiving patients.

RAFTK/PYK2-dependent and -independent apoptosis in multiple myeloma cells.

Related Adhesion Focal Tyrosine Kinase (RAFTK; also known as Pyk2), is a member of the Focal Adhesion Kinase (FAK) subfamily and is activated by TNF alpha, UV light and increases in intracellular calcium levels. However, the function of RAFTK remains largely unknown. Our previous studies demonstrated that treatment with dexamethasone (Dex), ionizing radiation (IR), and anti-Fas mAb induces apoptosis in multiple myeloma (MM) cells. In the present study, we examined the potential role of RAFTK during induction of apoptosis in human MM cells triggered by these three stimuli. Dex-induced apoptosis, in contrast to apoptosis triggered by anti-Fas mAb or IR, is associated with activation of RAFTK. Transient overexpression of RAFTK wild type (RAFTK WT) induces apoptosis, whereas transient overexpression of Kinase inactive RAFTK (RAFTK K-M) blocks Dex-induced apoptosis. In contrast, transient overexpression of RAFTK K-M has no effect on apoptosis triggered by IR or Fas. In Dex-resistant cells, Dex does not trigger either RAFTK activation or apoptosis. Finally, interleukin-6 (IL-6), a known survival factor for MM cells, inhibits both activation of RAFTK and apoptosis of MM.1S cells triggered by Dex. Our studies therefore demonstrate Dex-induced RAFTK-dependent, and IR or Fas induced RAFTK-independent apoptotic signaling cascades in MM cells.

Arg777 plays a major role in the conformation of the colony-stimulating factor-1 receptor intracellular kinase domain.

A point mutation substituting Arg777 by Gln was obtained in a highly conserved region of the human colony-stimulating factor-1 receptor (CSF-1R) sequence. Constitutive expression of wild-type receptors in CHO cells confers susceptibility to CSF-1 for proliferation whereas the mutated receptors exhibited a 90% reduced efficiency in proliferation. We sought to determine the alterations intervening in the CSF-1 signal transduction of the Arg777Gln mutated receptor. We found that ligand binding and ligand-induced CSF-1R internalization were unaffected. CSF-1-induced receptor dimerization and autophosphorylation were impaired to the same extent as mitogen-activated protein kinase activation (90%). However, only phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase activation and ligand-induced receptor ubiquitination were abrogated by the mutation. These features probably reflect the inability of the mutated CSF-1R kinase domain to fold properly and hence to autophosphorylate and/or to associate correctly with transduction proteins. These data may indicate a role for the conserved regions of the RTK kinase domains in the stabilization of the intracellular domain conformation.