[Benefits of a thickened infant formula with lactase activity in the management of benign digestive disorders in newborns]. / Intérêt d'une formule infantile épaissie avec activité lactasique dans la prise en charge des troubles digestifs bénins du nourrisson.

This study aimed at evaluating the interest of a thickened infant formula with lactase activity by comparison with a standard infant formula in the management of benign digestive disorders in infants. Infants of both sex (N =109), ranging in age from 0 to 3 months, were included in a randomised double blind trial. Infants went to the paediatrician because of benign digestive disorders such as regurgitation, eructation or hiccup, colic, persistent crying and/or meteorism. Nine hundred and three infants were included and randomised in two parallel groups: they consumed daily either the thickened infant formula with lactase activity or a standard infant formula. There were no significant difference in the infants included in both groups. Both formula were well accepted and tolerated. Growth of the infants and compliance during the study were identical and good in the two groups. The efficiency of the formula tested was showed on digestive symptoms through: a decrease of the intensity of the digestive discomforts more important in the test than in the standard formula group; a decrease of the intensity of the gaz significantly more important in the test than in the standard formula group; significant decreases in frequency and intensity of the gaz in the test group while there were no significant diminution in the standard group; This study showed the good tolerance, acceptability and efficiency of a thickened infant formula with lactase activity on benign digestive disorders of young infants.

[Subacute idiopathic eosinophilic pneumopathy with favorable outcome without corticotherapy]. / Pneumopathie éosinophilique subaiguë idiopathique d'évolution favorable sans corticothérapie.

The authors report a case of acute idiopathic eosinophilic pneumonia, a recently described entity of unknown etiology. The patients develop a rapidly progressive respiratory failure which is reversible following steroid therapy. The key to the diagnosis is an eosinophilia in the broncho-alveolar lavage or in the lung biopsy. Our observation of a favourable outcome in this case without steroid therapy is evidence perhaps of a less aggressive form of the disease.

[Mycoplasma pneumoniae respiratory infections in hospitalized patients]. / Infections respiratoires à Mycoplasma pneumoniae hospitalisées.

We report a study of 8 patients with acute Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection of the respiratory tract admitted to the Army Hospital Desgenettes over a 10 months period. Our clinical observations are compared with a review of the literature. We observed a seasonal outbreak in spring and autumn. This infection was encountered mainly in young people. The two most common clinical findings were cough and fever. Our report describes mild forms of this disease. Definitive etiological diagnosis is based on a four-fold or higher rise in titers. The macrolides or tetracyclines remain the most effective antibiotics.

[Bronchiectasis following colectomy for hemorrhagic rectocolitis]. / Bronchectasies après colectomie pour rectocolite hémorragique.

Pulmonary disease is an uncommon extraintestinal manifestation of inflammatory bowel disease. We report the case of a patient in whom colectomy for ulcerative colitis was followed by development of bronchiectasis. A discussion of the relation between ulcerative colitis and bronchial disease is presented.

A new immunostimulatory complex (PICKCa) in experimental rabies: antiviral and adjuvant effects.

The activity of an immunostimulatory complex (PICKCa) which is widely used against several human diseases in China was tested in experimental rabies prophylaxis. PICKCa protected mice against peripheral infection with both fixed and wild rabies strains. It also enhanced the protective activity of an experimental rabies vaccine injected either before or after rabies infection. PICKCa enhanced both non-specific immune responses and specific immunity including antibody production and cell mediated immunity as assessed by interleukin-2 production.

Beta-propiolactone treatment impairs the biological activity of residual DNA from BHK-21 cells infected with rabies virus.

The effects of beta-propiolactone (BPL), an alkylating and virus inactivating agent, on the structural and in vitro biological properties of different DNA preparations from BHK-21 cells were investigated. Both uninfected and rabies virus-infected cells were used. Purified cellular DNA (celDNA) was used as the reference, and supernatants from infected cells were treated with BPL. For structural and biological studies three types of DNA preparation were tested: celDNA; purified DNA from cell (infected or uninfected) supernatant (pcsDNA) with or without BPL treatment; and residual cell DNA present in purified rabies virus (inactivated or not) preparations. Rabies infection and BPL (diluted 1:4000) treatment induced modifications in the structure of the three DNA types, including strand breaks and nicks. The damage to the DNA structure by BPL modifies the biological properties of the pcsDNA appraised by its ability to serve as the template in vitro for different polymerases. When rabies virus was inactivated with BPL diluted 1:1000 the DNA damage increased dramatically: small double-stranded DNA fragments (50-200 base pairs) were generated which could not function as templates for polymerases.

A modified rapid enzyme immunoassay for the detection of rabies and rabies-related viruses: RREID-lyssa.

This paper presents a modification of the previously described Rapid Rabies Enzyme Immuno-Diagnosis test (RREID) by using biotinylated antibodies, streptavidin conjugate and a mixture of monospecific polyclonal antibodies against several lyssaviruses. In the modified technique (RREID-lyssa), microplates were sensitized with a mixture of purified antibodies against ribonucleoprotein (RNP) from Pasteur virus (Lyssavirus serotype 1), European Bat Lyssavirus (EBL, unclassified) and Mokola virus (Lyssavirus serotype 3). Bound RNP was detected by the same antibodies labelled with biotin and peroxidase-strepavidin conjugate. These techniques were used for the detection of RNP of different Lyssavirus serotypes (rabies and rabies-related viruses). For lyssavirus specimens of serotype 1, the threshold of detection of RREID and RREID-lyssa were similar. However, a smaller amount of labelled antibodies was needed when biotinylated antibodies were used. For specimens infected by rabies-related strains (serotypes 2, 3, 4 and EBL), the threshold of detection of the RREID-lyssa was between two and 512 times lower than with the RREID. The sensitivity and the specificity of the RREID-lyssa for rabies virus (serotype 1) when tested on a small field trial (53 specimens) were found to be identical to the RREID. Consequently, RREID-lyssa can be a useful tool for diagnostic laboratories that receive specimens infected by rabies-related viruses.

Rabies-specific production of interleukin-2 by peripheral blood lymphocytes from human rabies vaccinees.

Cell-mediated immunity induced by rabies vaccination was studied in humans by the determination of specific interleukin-2 (IL-2) production in a large number of donors (postexposure immunized patients and pre-exposure immunized laboratory workers). Peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) from 35 donors were tested for IL-2 production after in vitro stimulation by different rabies and rabies-related viruses. IL-2 responses were compared to antibody recognition of these different virus serotypes by sera from the same individuals. IL-2 was produced by PBL from more than 85% of donors after stimulation with inactivated and purified rabies viruses (IPRV) prepared from either Pittman Moore (PM) or Pasteur Virus (PV) strains. IL-2 was also produced by 65 and 45% of donor PBL stimulated with IPRV from the European Bat Lyssavirus (EBL) and Mokola (Mok) rabies-related virus strains respectively. No correlation was found between the production of IL-2 by PBL and the levels of virus neutralizing antibody (VNAb). Moreover, 50, 25 and 35% of donors produced IL-2 after stimulation of their PBL with ribonucleoprotein (RNP) from PV-, EBL- and Mok-viruses, respectively. These results obtained with a large number of human rabies vaccinees and using an assay specific to T-cell activation confirm the significant cross-reactivity of T-cell responses directed against rabies and rabies-related viruses. This study shows that IL-2 production could be used for the study of cell-mediated immunity and T-cell memory induced in humans by rabies vaccination.

[Primary tumor of the thoracic wall unusual in aged patients: costal osteosarcoma]. / Une tumeur primitive de la paroi thoracique inhabituelle chez le sujet âgé: l'ostéosarcome costal.

Osteosarcoma is a tumour that is encountered in children and young adults but is exceptional in elderly people. Moreover, it is very rarely located in the chest. A case of costal osteosarcoma revealed by a pleural blood effusion is reported in a 66-year old male patient. Full surgical excision completed by parietal reconstruction was performed. The diagnosis of osteosarcoma was definitely confirmed at pathological examination. A few months later, a local recurrence associated with ipsilateral lung metastasis, was discovered and the patient was put on chemotherapy. The clinical, radiological and therapeutic aspects of this case are discussed.

Correlation between T cell receptor gamma delta isotypic forms and cytotoxic activity: analysis with human T cell clones and lines.

Three biochemically distinct isotypic forms of the human T cell receptor (TcR) gamma delta structure can be expressed at the cell membrane. This unique variation in structure of TcR, which is due to C gamma gene segments utilization, prompted us to look for isotype-association functional differences. In this regard, we have developed human T cell clones or lines from normal thymus or peripheral blood from several patients. In the present report, we have selected by phenotypic, biochemical, and TcR gene rearrangement analysis representative pairs of IL2-dependent clones or lines for each TcR gamma delta isotypic form. The results showed a lack of correlation between the TcR isotypes and the ability of the cells to proliferate in response to TcR stimulation mediated through the CD3 molecular complexes. By contrast, despite the fact that all of these representative cells exhibit an NK-like activity, as measured by their ability to kill K562, the strongest lytic activity was observed with the cells having the disulfide-bonded form of the receptor. Moreover only those latter cells were able to efficiently kill the LAK-sensitive Daudi cell line.

[A rare tumor of the mediastinum: benign hemangioma]. / Une tumeur rare du médiastin: l'hémangiome bénin.

Mediastinal hemangiomas are rare tumours occurring more often in children and young adults. A new case is reported in a 21 years old male who had an anterior mediastinal mass detected on a routine chest roentgenogram. Pre-operative investigations including CT, venous digital angiography, MRI did not aid in the right diagnosis. The mass was totally removed surgically although involving extensively adjacent structures. Histologic examination of the tumour showed it to be a benign venous hemangioma. Clinical, radiological, pathologic features of mediastinal hemangiomas are reviewed and discussed.

Regulation of transcription of the human T cell antigen receptor delta chain gene. A T lineage-specific enhancer element is located in the J delta 3-C delta intron.

We have defined transcriptional enhancing sequences inside the TCR-delta gene locus, using transient transfections with constructs containing DNA fragments cloned upstream to a reporter gene fused to a heterologous promoter. A 14-kb DNA region extending from the J delta 3 segment to 6 kb 3' to C delta was analyzed. We show the presence of positive regulatory sequences inside the J delta 3-C delta intron and have localized these sequences to two DNA fragments of approximately 300 and 258 bp. Analysis of cell specificity of the activation of such sequences demonstrates a T cell pattern for one of the two fragments. The nucleotide sequence of the T cell-specific element shows motifs sharing homology with previously described core enhancers.

[Aortic-pulmonary chemodectoma (non-chromaffin paraganglioma). Apropos of a case which followed an adrenal pheochromocytoma]. / Chémodectomes (paragangliomes non chromaffines) aortico-pulmonaires. A propos d'un cas faisant suite à un phéochromocytome surrénalien.

The authors present the 61st published case of an aorticopulmonary chemodectoma diagnosed in patient of 59 years who had been operated on 7 years previously for a right sided adrenal pheochromocytoma. The diagnosis was provided by the histological examination of the operative specimen, since computerised tomography had predicted that this large hypervascular tumour of the anterior mediastinum would be totally resectable.

[Traumatic pneumatoceles of the lung. apropos of a case]. / Les poneumatocèles traumatiques du poumon. A propos d'une observation.

Pneumatocele, a special form of lung injury, is characterized by intrathoracic images of cavities detected on X-ray films. These cavities develop immediately after a trauma of the thorax, disappear rapidly and have a relatively favourable outcome.