[The maniac-depressive psychosis in the Opera]. / La psicosis maníaco-depresiva en la Opera.

There's a brief mention on the origins of the operatic genre, to get then completely into the madness in the opera, describing a close relation between the sung drama and Psychiatrics studying mind sufferings which might have or not a characteristic anatomical substractum. There's a special focus in the illness of certain opera characters.

Distinct roles for RAG-1 in the initiation of V(D)J recombination and in the resolution of coding ends.

Although RAG-1 and RAG-2 have been shown to be indispensible for V(D)J recombination, their exact role in this reaction remains unclear. Co-transfecting RAG-1 and RAG-2 expression vectors into NIH3T3 fibroblasts confers V(D)J recombination activity to these otherwise recombinationally inactive cells. In this report we have found that in transient transfections of mouse NIH3T3 fibroblasts with RAG-1 and RAG-2 and the appropriate recombination substrates, one RAG-1 expression vector, pRAG-1A, is capable of yielding both signal joints and coding joints, while another RAG-1 expression vector, pRAG-1B, yields only signal joints. The RAG-1 open reading frame for these two expression vectors is interchangeable, indicating that the inability to resolve coding joints is due to the 45-base pair difference found in the 5'-untranslated regions of these constructs. Differences in this region result in a 15-fold difference in gene expression when the luciferase coding region is substituted for the RAG-1 cDNA. This report provides evidence that RAG-1 may have a role in both the initiation of V(D)J recombination as well as the resolution of coding ends. The data also suggest that these RAG-1 activities may be dependent on different levels of RAG-1 expression.

V(D)J recombination in mammalian cell mutants defective in DNA double-strand break repair.

V(D)J recombination has been examined in several X-ray-sensitive and double-strand break repair-deficient Chinese hamster cell mutants. Signal joint formation was affected in four mutants (xrs 5, XR-1, V-3, and XR-V9B cells, representing complementation groups 1 through 4, respectively) defective in DNA double-strand break rejoining. Among these four, V-3 and XR-V9B were the most severely affected. Only in V-3 was coding joint formation also affected. Ataxia telangiectasia-like hamster cell mutants (V-E5 and V-G8), which are normal for double-strand break repair but are X ray sensitive, were normal for all aspects of the V(D)J recombination reaction, indicating that X-ray sensitivity is not the common denominator but that the deficiency in double-strand break repair appears to be. The abnormality at the signal joints consisted of an elevated incidence of nucleotide loss from each of the two signal ends. Interestingly, in complementation groups 1 (xrs 5) and 2 (XR-1), signal joint formation was within the normal range under some transfection conditions. This suggests that the affected gene products in these two complementation groups are not catalytic components. Instead, they may be either secondary or stochiometric components involved in the later stages of both the V(D)J recombination reaction and double-strand break repair. The fact that such factors can affect the precision of the signal joint has mechanistic implications for V(D)J recombination.

A regulatory element that mediates co-operation between a PEA3-AP-1 element and an AP-1 site is required for phorbol ester induction of urokinase enhancer activity in HepG2 hepatoma cells.

We have characterized a transcriptional enhancer of the human urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) gene and found a regulatory element required for co-operation between a PEA3--AP-1 element and an AP-1 site in the enhancer. We designated this regulatory element co-operation mediator (COM). Both the PEA3--AP-1 element, the AP-1 site and the COM are required for efficient phorbol ester induction of transcription from the uPA promoter in the HepG2 hepatoma cell line. We show that the COM is also required for co-operation between the PEA3--AP-1 element and a glucocorticoid response element, both in the presence or absence of TPA, indicating that the COM is generally capable of mediating synergism between inducible enhancer elements. The COM contains multiple overlapping binding sites for nuclear proteins, designated uPA enhancer factors 1-4 (UEF-1-4). We have identified putative binding sites for UEF-1, -2 and -3. The UEF-1 and -3 sites in the uPA enhancer are highly conserved between species. We demonstrate the binding of UEF-3 to the NIP element, a previously characterized regulatory element in the human interleukin-3 and stromelysin promoters, suggesting that this factor plays a role in regulation of a variety of genes.

[Local pseudocancerous inflammatory polyposis in Crohn's disease of the colon. Usefulness of coloscopy (author's transl)]. / Polypose inflammatoire localisée pseudo-cancéreuse dans la maladie de Crohn colique. Intérêt de la coloscopie.

In Crohn's granulomatous colitis large pseudopolyps may produce local lesions with radiological images resembling cancer. In the case reported here, three successive lesions of similar radiological appearance located on different sites were found on post-operative examination to be proliferative pseudopolyps adjacent to typical granulomas. In all previously published cases, even when the patient was known to have Crohn's disease colectomy was invariably performed, probably for fear of a malignant tumour. Coloscopy, and particularly biopsies showing non-malignant lesions, could result in conservative treatment. Granulomas are more exceptionally found.

[Histoenzymatic study of the effects of aluminium phosphate on the gastric mucosa (author's transl)]. / Etude histo-enzymatique de l'effet du phosphate d'aluminium sur la muqueuse gastrique. 12 malades.

Gastric biopsies were performed before and after a 1-month aluminium phosphate gel treatment on 12 patients with gastritis or peptic ulcer requiring endoscopy. The sections were stained with various dyes used in histoenzymatic techniques, and colour intensity was evaluated double-blind by means of 0 to 5 scores. Compared with pretreatment levels, there was a statistically significant rise in PAS-toluidine blue activity, which measures mucus secretion (p less than 0.001) and in succinic dehydrogenase activity, an enzyme associated with cell respiration (p less than 0.05). The meaning of these changes is discussed. The mode of action of aluminum phosphate gels on the gastric mucosa remains hypothetical, but a direct contact induction mechanism seems more acceptable than an indirect mechanism involving non-specific reduction in intragastric acidity. Provided the results are statistically evaluated on a sufficient number of samples, PAS-toluidine blue and succinic dehydrogenase stains appear to constitute an easily measurable potential index of intracellular metabolic activity within the gastric mucosa. They could be used as markers to study the efficacy and biochemical mode of action of old and new drugs for gastro-duodenal disorders.

[Double contrast barium enema-colonoscopy. Comparative diagnostic value in 73 patients (author's transl)]. / Lavement baryté en double contraste-coloscopie. Valeur diagnostique comparée chez 73 malades.

Double contrast barium enema and colonoscopy are great value in the diagnosis of lesions of the colon, especially polyps. This study involved 73 patients. The results were in agreement in 71,2% of cases and disagreed in 23,3%. In 5,5%, colonoscopy was technically inadequate. Classical barium enema remains indicated for the detection of carcinoma or in elderly or bedridden individuals. By contrast, barium enema should be replaced by double contrast study in the aetiological evaluation of rectal bleeding. In our own series, the diagnosis was positive in 92% of cases as long as both the radiological and endoscopic techniques were used.

[Importance of endoscopy with biopsy in gastroduodenal amyloidosis. Apropos of 5 cases]. / L'intérêt de l'endoscopie avec biopsie dans l'amyloïdose gastro-duodénale. A propos de cinq observations.

The authors report five cases of gastric amyloidosis in addition of the fourty three published cases. These cases was polyvisceral forms, 4 times primitive and 1 time secondary to a psoriasic rheumatism. Three times only the patients had complaints of digestive tract. Four times non specific radiologic and endoscopic signs lead to a biopsy which permits diagnosis. The biopsy of gastric mucosa must take place beside the rectal biopsy; more difficult to do, it might be more successfull because the stomach is more often infiltrated by amyloidosis than the colon.