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Biomedical subjects

A Rodrigues

Publications and source records attributed to A Rodrigues.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

[Pregnancy in obese patients: which risks is it necessary to fear?].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the deleterious effects of maternal obesity on obstetrical complications and neonatal outcomes. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Historical cohort study including all patients delivered in our maternity between 1st January 2002 and 31st December 2004. Intra uterine death and fetal loss before 22 weeks were excluded. Women were categorized by the Body Mass Index: less than 25, between 25 and 30, and more than 30. Maternal data, obstetrical complications, labor and its complications, and neonatal outcomes were studied. RESULTS: During these 3 years, 23.5% (1336/5686) of patients were overweight and 7.5% (425/5686) were obese. Obstetrical pathologies (gestational diabetes mellitus, hypertension, preeclampsia and fetal macrosomia) and labour induction were more significantly frequent in obese patients (P < 0.01). We noted twice more caesarean sections during labour in obese patients. The rate of artificial placental delivery was significantly higher in obese patients (P < 0.01). Obese patients with prior caesarean sections had a rate of vaginal delivery significantly lower than non obese patients with prior C-sections (23.6 vs 43.8%; P < 0.01). Mean children birth weight was significantly higher in obese patients (3305 vs 3181 g; P < 0.01) with no impact on Apgar score. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Our study confirms that obesity is responsible for major obstetrical complications, for what should no doubt be considered as high risk pregnancies. Our practices must take these complications into account by ensuring an adapted and early management in order to improve maternal and neonatal issues.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

[Mode of delivery of HIV-infected women: a retrospective study of 358 pregnancies followed in the same hospital between 2000 and 2004].

OBJECTIVE: Evaluate the mode of delivery of HIV-infected women and the risk of mother-to-child transmission. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A retrospective study conducted on HIV-infected women who delivered at the maternity ward of Bichat Hospital in Paris between 1st January 2000 and 31(st) December 2004. Pregnancy care, antiretroviral therapy, decision of the mode of delivery and neonate treatment were conformable to the French recommendations. RESULTS: The analysis was performed on 332 cases out of 358 pregnancies followed during this period. 75% received a Highly Active Anti Retroviral Therapy (HAART), 24% an AZT monotherapy and 1% did not receive any antiretroviral treatment. Plasmatic HIV viral load was under the level of detectability (50 copies/ml) for 64,6% of women under HAART and 28,7% of women under AZT monotherapy. Only 31,7% of women under HAART delivered vaginally. 44,7% of women under HAART with undetectable viral load at the moment of delivery delivered vaginally. 59,5% of women who were allowed to deliver vaginally had finally a vaginal delivery. 332 women gave birth to 341 babies with 9 twin pregnancies and one still-birth at 22 WA. Out of these 340 babies, 3 babies whose mother received HAART were HIV infected (2 in utero and 1 per-partum). DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: The reasons why only one third of HIV-infected women could deliver vaginally in this study are primarily the persistence of a detectable HIV viral load under HAART. Women's choice of the mode of delivery comes next, which depends on the quality of the counselling about the benefits and risks of the cesarean section in the context of HIV infection. The third reason is obstetrical contra indications to vaginal delivery in the context of HIV infection. In the future, it is possible to reduce the incidence of cesarean section in HIV-infected women by elevating the level of HIV plasmatic viral load which allowed vaginal delivery (1000 copies/ml), by improving the observance to antiretroviral treatment, by adaptating antiretroviral medications posology using determination of serum protease inhibitors concentration and by modifying obstetrical management with less restrictive contra indications to vaginal delivery. However the impact of prophylactic cesarean section when plasmatic HIV viral load is undetectable must still be evaluated.

Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active↗
PubMed2006

Susceptibility of the ant-cultivated fungus Leucoagaricus gongylophorus (Agaricales: Basidiomycota) towards microfungi.

The aim of this study was to select virulent strains of microfungi against Leucoagaricus gongylophorus, a symbiotic fungus cultivated by leaf-cutting ants. The results from in vitro assays showed that microfungal strains had a variable and significant impact on the colony development of L. gongylophorus. Specifically, Trichoderma harzianum, Escovopsis weberi CBS 810.71 and E. weberi A088 were more effective, inhibiting the L. gongylophorus colonies by 75, 68 and 67%, respectively (P < 0.05) after 15 days. Strain E. weberi A086 and Acremonium kiliense were less effective: 43 and 26%, respectively (P < 0.05). In spite of the current negative perspective of a microbiological control approach for these ants, the present work discusses the possibility of using mycopathogenic fungi for the control of these insects, and points out the importance of encouraging more studies in this area.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Variability of non-mutualistic filamentous fungi associated with Atta sexdens rubropilosa nests.

A survey of the filamentous fungi other than the symbiotic one found in association with Atta sexdens rubropilosa colonies was carried out. Different fungal species (27 taxa) were isolated a few days after treating the workers with toxic baits (sulfluramid; Mirex-S), from 40 laboratory and 20 field nests. Syncephalastrum racemosum (54%) and Escovopsis weberi (21%), Trichoderma harzianum (38%) and Fusarium oxysporum (23%) were the prevalent species in laboratory and field nests, respectively. Acremonium kiliense, Acremonium strictum, E. weberi, F. oxysporum, Fusarium solani, Moniliella suaveolens and T. harzianum were found in both nests' groups. We revealed that many filamentous fungi can co-exist in a dormant state inside the nests of these insects and some of them appear to be tightly associated with this environment.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

High frequency of partial DIIIa and DAR alleles found in sickle cell disease patients suggests increased risk of alloimmunization to RhD.

We have set out to determine the frequency of DIIIa and DAR alleles among sickle cell disease (SCD) patients. These D variants permit the unexpected development of antibodies to RhD among individuals who are otherwise classified as RhD+. DNA samples from 130 SCD patients were tested for 455A>C (specific for DIIIa), 602C>G, 667T>G (common for both DIIIa and DAR) and 1025T>C (specific for DAR) by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) and sequence analysis. The PCR-RFLP showed that 12 (9.2%) of the SCD patients were carrying DIIIa and DAR alleles. Genomic DNA analysis performed by sequence showed that three samples were heterozygous DIIIa (2.3%), seven heterozygous DAR (4.6%) and two (1.5%) samples carried a partial D with four mutations: 455A>C (heterozygous), 602C>G and 667T>G (homozygous) and 1025T>C (heterozygous), indicating compound heterozygosity for one DIIIa allele and one DAR allele. The predicted phenotypes of eight (6.2%) SCD patients were DIIIa, DAR and DIIIa/DAR. Three patients were anti-D immunized (DAR, n = 1; DIIIa/DAR, n = 2). These findings suggest that SCD patients who are candidates for chronic transfusion may benefit from genotyping for DIIIa and DAR to prevent alloimmunization.

Alleles↗
PubMed2004

Weakened expression of 'e' owing to concomitant occurrence of Cys16 and Val245 (VS antigen).

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The 48 G>C transversion in exon 1 of the RHCE gene leads to Trp16Cys, usually present in the conventional RHCE Ce, while Trp16 is associated with RHCE ce. The presence of Cys16 in RHCE ce is associated with the R(0) (Dce) haplotype in Africans, leading to a weak 'e' antigen expression on red blood cells (RBCs). VS is a common red cell antigen in individuals of African descent and results from a single point mutation in exon 5 of the RHCE (733C>G), leading to Leu245Val substitution; VS positivity is also associated with weak expression of 'e'. This study investigated the association of Cys16 and/or VS with the RHCE ce alleles in a cohort of sickle cell disease (SCD) patients phenotyped as R(0)r or R(0)R(0) and rr. MATERIALS AND METHODS: DNA samples from 58 SCD patients were tested for the 48 G>C transversion, encoding Cys16, by allele-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR). We also amplified exon 5 of the RHCE by PCR and subjected the amplified product to restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis, using BfaI, in order to determine the VS status. Further cDNA analysis was performed on three samples to verify whether the mutations were located on the same or on different alleles. RESULTS: Fifty-six of the 58 SCD patients studied (97%) were heterozygous for 48G/48C (Cys16). Of these, 18 (32%) were also heterozygous for 733C/G (245Val). All of these 18 samples showed weak 'e' expression on RBCs when tested with at least one monoclonal antibody to e antigen. cDNA sequencing of three of 18 patient samples showed that the genes encoding Cys16 and Val245 (VS) were on different alleles. CONCLUSIONS: We found a high incidence of Cys16 associated with the RHCE ce in our SCD cohort. A high percentage of these patients were also found to be heterozygous for VS. cDNA analysis showed that, in at least three samples, the two mutations were on different alleles, with consequent weakening of expression of the e antigen on RBCs.

Alleles↗
PubMed2004

Mimicry and the evolution of premating isolation in Heliconius melpomene Linnaeus.

Ecological divergence can cause speciation if adaptive traits have pleiotropic effects on mate choice. In Heliconius butterflies, mimetic patterns play a role in mate detection between sister species, as well as signalling to predators. Here we show that male butterflies from four recently diverged parapatric populations of Heliconius melpomene are more likely to approach and court their own colour patterns as compared with those of other races. A few exceptions, where males were more attracted to patterns other than their own, suggest that some mimetic patterns are sub-optimal in mate choice. Genotype frequencies in hybrid zones between races of H. melpomene suggest that mating is random, so reinforcement is unlikely to have played a role in intra-specific divergence. In summary, co-evolved divergence of colour pattern and mate preference occurs rapidly and is likely the first step in Heliconius speciation.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

A validated 1H NMR method for the determination of the degree of deacetylation of chitosan.

A method for the determination of the degree of deacetylation (DDA) of chitosan by 1H NMR spectroscopy has been formally validated. Chitosans with DDA ranging from 48 to 100% have been used for the validation. The method is found to be simple, rapid and more precise than other known techniques like IR or titration for %DDA measurements. The precision, ruggedness, robustness, specificity, stability and accuracy of the technique are discussed in this paper.

Acetylation↗
PubMed2003

Haploidentical stem cell transplantation with purified CD34 cells after a chemotherapy-alone conditioning regimen.

We investigated whether a novel chemotherapy-alone conditioning regimen would permit durable engraftment of standard doses of CD34+ purified stem cell grafts from full-haplotype mismatched related donors. We also examined the role of infusing limited doses of donor leukocytes for prevention of leukemia relapse. Our conditioning regimen consisted of thiotepa, fludarabine, rabbit antithymocyte globulin, melphalan, cyclosporin, and prednisolone. Since October 1998, 14 patients with high-risk leukemia were treated; 13 donor-patient pairs shared 3 of 6 HLA antigens, and 1 pair shared 5 of 6 HLA antigens. A median of 5.4 x 10(6) CD34+ cells per kilogram, 1.62 x 10(4) CD3+ cells per kilogram, and 9.32 x 10(4) CD19+ cells per kilogram were infused. T-cell depletion was the only graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis. All patients had prompt engraftment, and no late graft rejections were observed. All surviving patients received at least 1 infusion of donor whole blood containing 5, 7, 10, 25, or 50 x 10(3) CD3+ cells per kilogram between days 25 and 95 after transplantation, after which 8 developed acute GVHD (3 grade I, 2 grade II, 2 grade III, and 1 grade IV) and 2 developed a bronchiolitis obliterans-like syndrome. After attaining complete remission, 5 patients relapsed and died with active leukemia. The estimated relapse-related mortality at 4 years is 38.1%. As of June 15, 2003, 6 of 14 patients have survived a median of 43.5 months after transplantation with 100% donor cells. All 6 surviving patients developed acute GVHD and had a natural killer cell mismatch with their donors in the direction of graft versus host. The estimated overall survival and event-free survival for the 14 patients at 4 years is 41.7% +/- 13.5%.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

[Surgery for uterine sarcoma: review of the literature and recommendations for the standard surgical procedure].

Hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy is the gold standard for the surgical procedure of uterine sarcoma in case of tumor limited to the uterine corpus. Omentectomy and lymphadenectomy should be performed in carcinosarcoma. In others histologic subtypes, lymphadenectomy should be performed only in patients with enlarged nodes discovered at the time of the surgical procedure. Surgical resection should be ideally performed without uterine parcelling out and so using a laparotomy in order to avoid this risk.

Adnexa Uteri↗
PubMed2002

Study of implantable calcium phosphate systems for the slow release of methotrexate.

The authors prepared and studied systems implantable in bone, for the slow release of an antineoplasic agent, methotrexate (MTX). The systems were made by compaction of a powdered mixture of an apatitic deficient calcium phosphate, dextran and various amounts of MTX. Used as a matrix, this calcium phosphate has outstanding adsorption and compaction properties. It is an osteoconductor and biodegradable. The in vitro study carried out on these systems showed that the release of MTX with time is slow and prolonged due to the phenomena of adsorption/desorption of MTX onto deficient apatite. The composition of the implants changed with time towards that of stoichiometric apatite. The in vivo pilot study was performed by implantation in the external femoral condyle of rabbits. A pharmacokinetic study revealed that the circulating concentration of MTX in the blood was always below toxic levels. Twenty percent of the initial MTX remained in the implants after 7 days. A study of the biocompatibility and bioreactivity showed no local necrosis at any time, while implants degraded and new bone formed simultaneously. These implantable systems seem appear suitable for use immediately.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

Can the diagnosis of recurrent vulvovaginal candidosis be improved by use of vaginal lavage samples and cultures on chromogenic agar?

OBJECTIVE: To investigate if introital and vaginal flushing samples inoculated on chromogenic agar could increase the recovery rate and rapid identification of Candida and non-albicans species, as compared to culture of posterior vaginal fornix samples on Sabouraud agar and speciation of isolates by biochemical tests. METHODS: Samples from the introitus and the posterior vaginal fornix and vaginal lavage samples were collected from 91 women with a history suggestive of recurrent vulvovaginal candidosis (RVVC), and with a suspected new attack of the condition. The specimens were cultured on Sabouraud and CHROMagar. Speciation of yeast isolates was made on the chromogenic agar by API 32C kits and by an atomized system (Vitek). RESULTS: Forty-six (51%) women were positive for Candida from one or more of the samples. The introital cultures were positive in 43 (47%) women, both on Sabouraud and chromogenic agar. From the posterior vaginal fomix, 42 (46%) women were positive on the Sabouraud and 43 (47%) on chromogenic agar cultures, while the vaginal lavage cultures yielded Candida on those two media in 40 (44%) and 41 (45%) cases, respectively. Candida albicans was the most frequent species recovered, from 40 (87%) cases, followed by C. krusei in 4 (9%), C. glabrata in 2 (4%), and C. parapsilosis in one case. There was only one woman who had a mixed yeast infection, by C. albicans and C. krusei. There was only one discrepancy in the speciation as demonstrated by mean of chromogenic agar and API 32C kit. CONCLUSIONS: Neither cultures of introital nor of vaginal lavage samples increases the detection rate of Candida in RVVC cases as compared to cultures of posterior vaginal fornix samples. Use of chromogenic agar is a convenient and reliable means to detect colonization by Candida and differentiate between C. albicans and non-albicans species.

Agar↗
PubMed2002

Presence of the RHD pseudogene and the hybrid RHD-CE-D(s) gene in Brazilians with the D-negative phenotype.

The molecular basis for RHD pseudogene or RHD Psi is a 37-bp insertion in exon 4 of RHD. This insertion, found in two-thirds of D-negative Africans, appears to introduce a stop codon at position 210. The hybrid RHD-CE-Ds, where the 3' end of exon 3 and exons 4 to 8 are derived from RHCE, is associated with the VS+V- phenotype, and leads to a D-negative phenotype in people of African origin. We determined whether Brazilian blood donors of heterogeneous ethnic origin had RHD Psi and RHD-CE-Ds. DNA from 206 blood donors were tested for RHD Psi by a multiplex PCR that detects RHD, RHD Psi and the C and c alleles of RHCE. The RHD genotype was determined by comparison of size of amplified products associated with the RHD gene in both intron 4 and exon 10/3'-UTR. VS was determined by amplification of exon 5 of RHCE, and sequencing of PCR products was used to analyze C733G (Leu245Val). Twenty-two (11%) of the 206 D-negative Brazilians studied had the RHD Psi, 5 (2%) had the RHD-CE-Ds hybrid gene associated with the VS+V- phenotype, and 179 (87%) entirely lacked RHD. As expected, RHD was deleted in all the 50 individuals of Caucasian descent. Among the 156 individuals of African descent, 22 (14%) had inactive RHD and 3% had the RHD-CE-Ds hybrid gene. These data confirm that the inclusion of two different multiplex PCR for RHD is essential to test the D-negative Brazilian population in order to avoid false-positive typing of polytransfused patients and fetuses.

Black People↗
PubMed2002

Lupus nephritis: a retrospective review of 78 cases from a single center.

UNLABELLED: Lupus nephritis (LN) is a frequent and serious manifestation of systemic lupus erythematosus. However, the outcome has progressively improved in the last 3 decades and this was due to more efficient and early treatment of LN and comorbid situations. The aim of our study was to analyze our experience and outcome in LN, to evaluate clinicopathologic and clinicolaboratory correlations and to search for risk factors for renal and patient survival. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We conducted a retrospective study of 78 patients with biopsy-proven LN. RESULTS: Acute renal failure and subnephrotic proteinuria with microhematuria occurred each one in 39.7% of the patients, nephrotic syndrome in 16.7% and nephritic syndrome in 3.8%. The mean serum creatinine at presentation was 1.45 +/- 1.03 mg/dl and the creatinine clearance was 68.2 +/- 40.3 ml/min. Class IV LN existed in 71.8%, Class III in 20.5%, Class V in 6.4% and Class VI in 1.3%. The treatment included steroids and cytotoxic agents in 87.5% of the patients with proliferative LN. Hypertension, serum creatinine and acute renal failure at presentation, as well as significant chronicity on renal biopsy, were significantly correlated with the progression to chronic renal failure in our population. Males were more prone to develop renal flares. 3.8% of the patients died, 9% lost their renal function, 26.9% are in remission, 33.3% still have subnephrotic proteinuria and microhematuria, 7.7% have nephrotic syndrome and 19.2% have chronic renal failure. The mean global follow-up was 102 +/- 74 months and 96.2% of the patients survived. The actuarial renal survival was 96.1% in the first year; 89.9% at 5 years; and 83.7% at 10 and 20 years. CONCLUSION: We can say that hypertension, serum creatinine and acute renal failure at the onset and significant chronicity on renal biopsy, proved to be risk factors for chronic renal failure in our study population. Male gender was a risk factor for renal flares. The achieved global outcome can be considered a good result.

Acute Kidney Injury↗
PubMed2001

Photosynthetic light acclimation in peach leaves: importance of changes in mass:area ratio, nitrogen concentration, and leaf nitrogen partitioning.

Photosynthetic light acclimation of leaves can result from (i) changes in mass-based leaf nitrogen concentration, Nm, (ii) changes in leaf mass:area ratio, Ma, and (iii) partitioning of total leaf nitrogen among different pools of the photosynthetic machinery. We studied variations in Nm and Ma within the crowns of two peach (Prunus persica L. Batsch) trees grown in an orchard in Portugal, and one peach tree grown in an orchard in France. Each crown was digitized and a 3-D radiation transfer model was used to quantify the intra-crown variations in time-integrated leaf irradiance, . Nitrogen concentration, leaf mass:area ratio, chlorophyll concentration, and photosynthetic capacity were also measured on leaves sampled on five additional peach trees in the orchard in Portugal. The data were used to compute the coefficients of leaf nitrogen partitioning among carboxylation, bioenergetics, and light harvesting pools. Leaf mass:area ratio and area-based leaf nitrogen concentration, Na, were nonlinearly related to , and photosynthetic capacity was linearly related to Na. Photosynthetic light acclimation resulted mainly from changes in Ma and leaf nitrogen partitioning, and to a lesser extent from changes in Nm. This behavior contrasts with photosynthetic light acclimation observed in other tree species like walnut (Juglans regia L.) in which acclimation results primarily from changes in Ma.

Chlorophyll↗