Computerized microscope morphometry of umbilical vessels from pregnancies with intrauterine growth retardation and abnormal umbilical artery Doppler.

Computerized microscope morphometry was used to study cross sections from the vessels of the umbilical cord in placentas of patients with intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) that displayed either normal or abnormal umbilical arteries (UA) Doppler flow velocity waveforms (FVW). Cords from 63 eutrophic fetuses with normal Doppler (controls), 47 IUGR fetuses with normal Doppler and 32 IUGR fetuses with abnormal Doppler underwent morphometric analysis using a highly optimized microscope environment (HOME) and "CordHOME" software. IUGR with an accompanying normal Doppler versus control showed a reduction of Wharton jelly and both the total and lumen vein areas. IUGR with an accompanying pathological Doppler showed a comparable reduction in wall thickness and areas of every vessel. These findings indicate that the hypoplastic umbilical vessels are associated with an increase in placental vascular resistance that may be the consequence of underdevelopment in response to a chronic reduction in placental blood flow.

[Flow cytometry in the study of meningiomas. Preliminary results and attempt at clinical correlation]. / Apport de la cytométrie en flux dans l'étude des méningiomes. Résultats préliminaires et essai de corrélation clinique.

Meningiomas are meningeal primitive tumors. These benign neoplasms can recur but the rate of recurrence is unknown as there is no reliable factor of predictibility. The aim of this study was to test Flow Cytometry based on clinical data and follow up in a series of meningiomas operated on in a neurosurgical department. This method allows the study of DNA content matched with the study of the cellular cycle. S cellular phase was chosen to be tested related to immunostaining with 2 proliferating markers, Ki67 and PCNA. This prospective study was carried out on neurosurgical samples, immediately frozen. On the one hand, results confirm well known discrepancies between Ki67 and PCNA immunostainings. On the other hand, two recurrent meningiomas belong to the diploid group. This is unexpected as aneuploid tumors are known to be biologically more agressive than diploid tumors.

Increased placental antifibrinolytic potential and fibrin deposits in pregnancy-induced hypertension and preeclampsia.

Preeclampsia is characterized by maternal hypercoagulable state and intravascular coagulation, microthromboses in several organs, and impairment of uteroplacental circulation. Excessive fibrin deposition occurs in the placenta, suggesting that disorders of placental coagulation and fibrinolysis physiologic systems may have a role in hemostasis activation. Term placentas were collected from 17 hypertensive/preeclamptic women and from 17 healthy pregnant women, and processed for both histologic and hemostasis studies. Placental fibrinoid deposition was visualized by cresyl-violet staining and quantified by histomorphometric analysis. The content in hemostasis factors was measured on extracts from homogenized placentas treated by a nonionic detergent. The percentage of villi with fibrinoid deposits was higher in the diseased placentas than in controls: 13.2 +/- 11.2 versus 6.75 +/- 2.7% (p < 0.001) for the total amount of deposits; 4.8 +/- 6.7 versus 1.5 +/- 1.0% (p = 0.04) for perivillous fibrinoid deposits, which are considered as histologic markers of intraplacental fibrin. The content in type 2 plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI-2) antigen was higher in the diseased placentas than in controls: 124 +/- 8 versus 104 +/- 6 ng/mg placental protein (p = 0.046); there was a negative correlation between PAI-2 antigen and thrombomodulin activity (r = -0.57, p = 0.02) in the diseased placentas. No significant differences were found between the two groups for placental procoagulant tissue factor and anticoagulant thrombomodulin activities, and for the content in plasminogen activators and PAI-1 antigens. Placental antifibrinolytic potential is increased in pregnancy-induced hypertension and preeclampsia. This change, and the association of the highest PAI-2 placental concentrations with the lowest concentrations of thrombomodulin, may contribute to the prethrombotic state and to the excessive placental perivillous fibrin deposition observed in these situations.

Effect of pantothenic acid and ascorbic acid supplementation on human skin wound healing process. A double-blind, prospective and randomized trial.

This study aimed at testing human skin wound healing improvement by a 21-day supplementation of 1.0 g ascorbic acid (AA) and 0.2 g pantothenic acid (PA). 49 patients undergoing surgery for tattoos, by the successive resections procedure, entered a double-blind, prospective and randomized study. Tests performed on both skin and scars determined: hydroxyproline concentrations, number of fibroblasts, trace element contents and mechanical properties. In the 18 supplemented patients, it was shown that in skin (day 8) Fe increased (p < 0.05) and Mn decreased (p < 0.05); in scars (day 21), Cu (p = 0.07) and Mn (p < 0.01) decreased, and Mg (p < 0.05) increased; the mechanical properties of scars in group A were significantly correlated to their contents in Fe, Cu and Zn, whereas no correlation was shown in group B. In blood, AA increased after surgery with supplementation, whereas it decreased in controls. Although no major improvement of the would healing process could be documented in this study, our results suggest that the benefit of AA and PA supplementation could be due to the variations of the trace elements, as they are correlated to mechanical properties of the scars.

[Placental development and viral infections]. / Développement placentaire et infections virales.

The stages of placental development are briefly described as well as the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in the immunologic defense systems at the maternofetal interface. Methods available for morphologic studies of placentas with viral infection are reviewed. Routes of transmission of viruses from mother to fetus, as well as the placental lesions seen in viral infections are discussed. Emphasis is put on the value of "oriented" pathologic studies of the placenta whenever viral fetal disease is suspected.

Detection of 47,XYY trophoblast fetal cells in maternal blood by fluorescence in situ hybridization after using immunomagnetic lymphocyte depletion and flow cytometry sorting.

Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) allows to diagnose aneuploidy in uncultured interphase nuclei. This rapid method of chromosomal analysis associated with cell-sorting techniques was realized on 47,XYY fetal cells isolated from maternal blood. Trophoblast cells were sorted by combining immunomagnetic removal of maternal lymphocytes and flow cytometry sorting using antitrophoblast monoclonal antibodies. Cells were sorted directly on slides and analyzed by FISH with a Y-centromeric probe. Among 1,387 examinable nuclei, 59 (4.25%) showed one single or two Y-specific domains.

Trophoblast-like cells sorted from peripheral maternal blood using flow cytometry: a multiparametric study involving transmission electron microscopy and fetal DNA amplification.

Three monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) against trophoblast (GB17, GB21, and GB25) and flow cytometry were used to sort trophoblast-like cells (TLCs) from peripheral blood of pregnant women. Sorted TLCs were processed for electron microscopy and fetal DNA amplification of the Y-specific sequences from mothers carrying male fetuses. At the ultra-structural level, most of the nucleated cells had the morphology of leucocytes, suggesting maternal contaminants, and we did not find the characteristic features of the free intervillous trophoblast cells. Nevertheless, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis showed an amplification of Y-specific sequences in two out of three samples of sorted TLCs. These results suggest that besides the maternal leucocytes, sufficient trophoblast nucleated fetal cells can be obtained using cell enrichment by sorting. This sensitive method holds promise for non-invasive prenatal diagnosis of fetal sex and if sufficient Y(positive) nuclei are found, for the diagnosis of selected numerical chromosome abnormalities.

[Improvement in the healing of colonic anastomoses by vitamin B5 and C supplements. Experimental study in the rabbit]. / Amélioration de la cicatrisation des anastomoses coliques par une supplémentation en vitamines B5 et C: Etude expérimentale chez le lapin.

To study the effects of vitamins B5 and C on the healing process of colonic anastomoses, 3 groups of 20 rabbits were given daily either placebo (group A), or vitamin B5 (100 mg/kg: group B) or vitamin C (100 mg/kg: group C). After 8 days of supplementation, via a midline incision and under general anaesthesia, 2 colonic segments were removed, and the continuity was restored. On the 3rd post-operative day, the rabbits were killed and the anastomoses were removed. Mechanical properties of both normal colon and anastomoses were determined by using bursting pressure tests, number of burst anastomoses, fibroblast count, hydroxyproline concentration and determination by microanalysis of trace element content: Mg, P, S, Ca, Fe, Cu, Zn and Mn. Vitamin B5 (p = 0.03) and vitamin C (p less than 0.01) both decreased the number of burst anastomoses. Furthermore the required bursting pressure values were higher with vitamin C (p = 0.01) than in controls. Both vitamins restored normal Zn levels at the anastomotic site, whereas these levels decreased on the 3rd post-operative day during the normal healing process of colonic anastomosis. Moreover, vitamins B5 and C increased Fe, Cu and Mn levels, which are intimately all involved in collagen synthesis. Vitamins B5 and C enhance the colonic wound healing process in the rabbit, acting together in synergy in vivo as well as in vitro, as previously demonstrated.

[Ultrastructural study of a case of Miescher-Leder granulomatosis disciformis chronica et progressiva]. / Etude ultrastructurale d'un cas de granulomatose disciforme chronique et progressive de Miescher et Leder.

Ultrastructural study of a case of granulomatosis disciformis occurring on the legs of a 62-year-old woman. The diagnosis is based upon the contrast between the clinical aspect of necrobiosis lipoidica and the histologic aspect of inflammatory granulomatous infiltrate of dermis without necrobiosis nor palisading. Electron microscopic findings are: perivascular mixed cell infiltrate and histiocytic granuloma with lysosomial and phagocytic activity; degenerative and necrotic cellular alterations; modifications of collagen fibres with two types of fibres: the thinnest are the most numerous and have a mean diameter of 50 nm, the thickest of 110 nm; no significant lesions of capillary walls. These findings suggest the following succession of pathological events: cellular necrosis, lysosomial and phagocytic activity, scarring. Some descriptions of necrobiosis lipoidica and granuloma annulare seem to be quite similar and our findings are in favour of the unity of these three illnesses.