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Biomedical subjects

B Lejeune

Publications and source records attributed to B Lejeune.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

[Cryopreservation of human embryos by vitrification].

Vitrification is a cryopreservation strategy where cells are converted into a glass-like amorphous solid which is free of any crystalline structure. Such process is achieved by a combination of high concentration of cryoprotectant and an extremely high cooling rate. In the last years, survival rates of up to 80% after thawing and pregnancy rates of almost 30% could be achieved after transfer of vitrified embryos at the zygote, cleavage, morula and blastocyst stages. Also deliveries of healthy babies have been reported numerous times. To this day, a limited interest in this technique can be noted. The explanation may lye in the apprehension of many ART units regarding exposure of embryos to high concentrations of cryoprotectants and storage in non sterile conditions. The aim of the first part of this article, is to analyse if such fears are justified on the basis that vitrification mimics conditions already in use for many years in slow-cooling procedures where cells are plunged into liquid nitrogen at around -30 degrees C and secondly since storage of embryos are now possible in high aseptic conditions. In the second part, results on survival after thawing, pregnancy rates and baby take home rates of vitrified embryos will be presented and the problems associated with vitrification of blastocysts will be discussed.

Blastocyst↗
PubMed2006

[Contamination with Sphingomonas paucimobilis: about seven cases isolated in conservation and transport mediums of corneal grafts].

From September to December 2004, contaminations were found in fifteen conservation and transport mediums of corneal grafts at the tissue bank of Brest, including seven by Sphingomonas paucimobilis. The pulsed-field gel electrophoresis made it possible to establish the genotypic profiles of each strain and to compare them. Similarities were found between certain strains of the contaminated mediums and those of the thermostated double boiler of the tissue bank. The link between the contamination and the defrosting of the mediums in the double boiler was thus established. Measures of prevention are currently proposed to defrost the bottles like the use of a dry bath to replace the current one.

Bacterial Typing Techniques↗
PubMed2006

Ileal impaction in 22 cows.

The clinical signs, diagnosis, treatment and outcome of 22 cows with ileal impaction were investigated using the medical records of bovine patients referred to the Department of Farm Animals, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich from 1993 to 2003. Only 15 of the cows had signs of colic, which were subtle but slowly increased in severity in some patients. The results of haematological and biochemical analyses were mildly abnormal in only few animals. There was no correlation between the duration of the disorder before admission, the severity of symptoms and the results of the haematological and biochemical analyses. Dilated loops of small intestine in the right dorsal quadrant of the abdomen could be palpated transrectally and imaged via ultrasonography. A definitive diagnosis of ileal impaction was made during exploratory laparotomy by finding the impaction and ruling out other abnormalities. In 19 cows, the obstructing food mass was easily massaged into the caecum, and in three animals an enterotomy was carried out. All cows had an uneventful recovery with no recurrence of the disorder. It is concluded that the cause of the impaction was most likely due to seasonal influences and winter-feeding with a hay based ration. The short and long-term prognosis after surgical intervention was good.

Animal Feed↗
PubMed2006

Speech discrimination and intelligibility: outcome of deaf children fitted with hearing aids or cochlear implants.

We retrospectively studied outcome of a sample of 36 congenitally deaf children who were fitted with either a conventional hearing aid (HA, N = 14) or a cochlear implant (CI, N = 22), and who received many years of audio-phonatory training by our multi-disciplinary team. In order to rate speech discrimination perception, we developed a new metric of speech discrimination performance based on several existing discrimination tests for the French language. Speech perception skills were measured with and without lip-reading cues. We also studied the evolution of auditory capacity in real-life situations, and the evolution of the intelligibility of spoken language during a five year period. To rate auditory capacity and speech intelligibility, we used commonly used metrics: CAP and SIR. During the five successive years of observation, CAP and SIR scores improve for both the HA and CI children. Improvement, however, is more pronounced for the CI children. At the end of the 5-years period, CAP and SIR scores of CI children are significantly higher than those of HA children. Our study is one of few that evaluates outcome of HA and CI fitting with age matched congenitally deaf children anno 2000.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

[Consumption of hand-hygiene products in health establishments in the west of France].

OBJECTIVES: The study had for aim to investigate hand hygiene product use in French hospitals between 2000 and 2003. DESIGN: A questionnaire was sent in 2002 and 2 more in 2003 and 2004 (for 2000 to 2003) requiring data on type of hospital, number of beds, staff members, admissions and patient-day, litres of mild soap, antiseptic soap and alcohol-based rub used and price per litre. Indices were calculated accordingly. RESULTS: 574 hospitals answered over the 4 year period (average 143 per year) representing an average of 50 000 beds/year, 80 000 full-time staff positions, 1.2 million admissions and 16 millions patient-days. The median consumption of mild soap was 3.8 l per bed, 2.7 l per staff member, 2.4 l per 100 admissions, and 10.6 ml per patient-day. The median consumption of antiseptic soap was 1 l per bed, 0.8 l per staff member, 4.8 l per 100 admissions, and 3.2 ml per patient-day. The median consumption of alcohol-based rub (HAS) was 0.3 l per bed, 0.3 l per staff-member, 1.5 l per admission, and 0.9 l per patient-day. Between 2000 and 2003, HAS use significantly increased from 69 to 88% (a relative increase of 31%) and the median consumption increased from 0.5 ml to 1.5 ml per patient-day. 370 fully completed grids gave a number of 7 opportunities per patient-day with less than 1 for HAS. CONCLUSION: The best indicator for an infection control practitioners is the quantity of alcohol-based solution in ml/patient-day and HAS per patient-day is the reference.

Alcohols↗
PubMed2005

Vitrification of hatching and hatched human blastocysts: effect of an opening in the zona pellucida before vitrification.

Partially or completely hatched blastocysts were obtained from women with at least one previous cycle with failure of implantation. On day 5 after fresh embryo transfers, the remaining vitrification cycles (VC) were divided into three categories according to the types of blastocysts. The first group (20 VC) contained blastocysts (n = 38) with open zona pellucida (ZP), the second group of 34 VC contained blastocysts (n = 100) with both open and intact ZP, while the third group (14 VC) contained blastocysts with intact ZP (n = 39). Blastocysts were exposed to two mixtures of cryoprotectants. At 24 h after warming, survival rates of 82% (31/38), 72% (72/100) and 64% (25/39) were observed in the three groups respectively. Numbers of embryo transfers and blastocysts in the three groups respectively were 20, 31 and 13 transfers, and 31, 60 and 25 blastocysts, resulting in corresponding ongoing pregnancy rates per VC of 35, 26 and 21%. Blastocysts with a larger blastocoelic cavity survived vitrification better when they had partially or completely hatched. Survival rates significantly increased (P < 0.01) from 55 to 81% after warming expanded blastocysts with an intact ZP (n = 42) compared with an open ZP (n = 54) respectively. This study shows that partially or completely hatched blastocysts can be cryopreserved by a simple vitrification procedure using the hemi-straw as embryo carrier.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

[Outbreak of Enterobacter aerogenes in paediatric unit].

Within the framework of breast milk control the hygiene laboratory of Brest hospital isolates, on 3 January 1996 a strain of Enterobacter aerogenes secretory of cephalosporinase in the breast milk of a mother whose child was hospitalized in neonatalogy. On 15 April 1996 a new strain of E. aerogenes is isolated from another mother's breast milk. Until 18 August 1997, 21 samples of breast milk were tested positive to this bacteria. During the same period, E. aerogenes was isolated in 26 children under 1 year of age, 11 of which were infected and 15 colonized. The breast milk did not correspond to those of the mothers of the infected or colonized children. All the strains presented the same antibioresistance. The pulsed-field gel electrophoresis showed that the children's strains, those colonized or infected as well as those isolated in breast milk had the same restriction profile. The epidemiological study concerned the biberonnery-lactarium. The biberonnery's staff is the same as the staff of the lactarium. A portage was searched for among the members of the staff of these units, but without success. The search for E. aerogenes in the environment and in baby-food, others than breast milk was negative. Finally, we did not find any source for these contagions. The only hypothesis we have retained is that of a common source from the biberonnery-lactarium, but without being able to bring any proof to it. Following this epidemic, we have revised all the working modalities and practices with the staff of the biberonnery-lactarium.

Disease Outbreaks↗
PubMed2004

[Ten years follow-up of medically assisted procreation in Belgium].

Since 1989, the data concerning medically assisted procreation (MAP) in Belgium have been registered through the BELRAP association (Belgian Register for Assisted Procreation). In 1999, the national College of Physicians in Reproductive Medicine has been installed and given the mission to carry out the quality controls and the registration of MAP activities in our country. In 2001, a new on line system of registration of all treatment cycles was started, the basic structure of the corresponding data base having undergone a series of changes along the years. Although the number of MAP trials has considerably increased in our country, mainly because of the introduction of new techniques such as intracytoplasmic injection of sperm (ICSI), the success rate per trial has remained almost unchanged, becoming stabilized around 18.8% of ongoing pregnancies per initiated cycle. The main modification that occurred during the analyzed period has been the reduction of the number of embryos transferred at each trial, being first reduced from 3 to 2 to evolve more recently towards the replacement of only one embryo per trial. Multiple pregnancies are indeed the chief complication of MAP and in order to avoid it Belgian centers have been among the first to reduce drastically the number of transferred embryos. In 2003, legal rules were enacted, fixing the number of replacable embryos in accordance to the patient's age and to the rank of trial, while also solving the problem of the long-awaited reimbursement of MAP by our national social security system.

Belgium↗
PubMed2003

Pseudomonas aeruginosa and cystic fibrosis: correlation between exoenzyme production and patient's clinical state.

In this study, we investigated the correlation between the production by Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates of four exoenzymes (protease, elastase, neuraminidase, and phospholipase C (PLC)) and the clinical state of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. We studied 212 P. aeruginosa isolates from 22 CF patients chronically infected with this bacterium. Patients were classified into three clinical groups according to a modified Shwachman-Kulczycki-Khaw (SKK) scoring system. The production of enzymes by isolates from patients in the three populations was analyzed and compared using four statistical tests: chi-square, Mann-Whitney U, principal component analysis, and discriminant analysis. Isolates from patients with excellent or good clinical status (group I, SKK score >/=71) had higher elastase and neuraminidase activities than isolates from the other patients. In contrast, PLC activity, a common characteristic of CF isolates, was higher in isolates from patients with poor or weak clinical status (group III, SKK score </=55). PLC also appeared to be the best parameter for differentiating between groups I and III. Enzyme production was highly variable in group II isolates (SKK score, 56-70). Our results suggest that P. aeruginosa isolates from patients with good clinical status produce large amounts of neuraminidase, and that PLC production may be involved in the decrease in pulmonary function.

Child↗
PubMed2001

Marchantia polymorpha mitochondrial orf identifies transcribed sequence in angiosperm mitochondrial genome.

Heterologous hybridizations performed using nine Marchantia polymorpha mitochondrial orfs and the sdh4 gene against angiosperm mtDNA suggested that three of them and the sdh4 gene have been conserved in the mitochondrial genome of different angiosperm species. Solanum tuberosum mtDNA fragments, which hybridized to M. polymorpha orf207 and sdh4 gene, were cloned, sequenced, and their expressions evaluated by Northern and RT-PCR. Hybridizing fragments to sdh4 gene and orf207 from potato mtDNA were shown to be transcribed, but only in the case of sdh4 gene was there homology between the protein encoded by the DNA sequence from M. polymorpha and the potato mitochondrial genome. M. polymorpha orf207 showed little similarity to an open reading frame from potato mtDNA, named here orf78. The putative proteins encoded by both orf207 and orf78 were not related, indicating that these orfs do not constitute homologous sequences.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed2001

[Evaluation of the immediate transfusion reaction incident reporting system at the Brest University Hospital Center].

The Haemovigilance Unit of Brest University Hospital has had a reporting system of transfusion reactions since october 1994. Reporting "any unexpected or undesirable effect due or likely to be due to the administering of blood cell components" must be done on an answering machine immediately or in the next eight hours. The main goal of the evaluation of this epidemiological surveillance system was to assess its sensitivity, its positive predictive value, its acceptability, its timeliness and its simplicity, according to the Centers for Disease Control criteria. An exhaustive monitoring of the immediate transfusion reactions (ITR) occurring within the 24 hours following the procedure was conducted from April 1, to June 30, 1998. Two sources of information were used, the spontaneous notification to the Haemovigilance Unit using the answering machine, and a telephone survey of the nurse responsible for the transfusion or post-transfusion follow-up. During the survey, 19 ITR, among which 12 were reported to the Haemovigilance Unit on the answering machine, were recorded. The incidence rate of the I.T.R. was estimated at 5@1000 transfused blood cell components. The sensitivity of the notification system was estimated at 63% (95% confidence interval: 41-85) and the positive predictive value at 70% (95% confidence interval: 48-92). This notification system is operational. The function of sanitary alert is ensured at the primary level of the system surveillance. The undernotification of the ITR (37% of false negative) must be corrected by specific recommendations.

Academic Medical Centers↗
PubMed2001

Plasma fatty acid levels in autistic children.

Phospholipid fatty acids are major structural components of neuronal cell membranes, which modulate membrane fluidity and hence function. Evidence from clinical and biochemical sources have indicated changes in the metabolism of fatty acids in several psychiatric disorders. We examined the phospholipid fatty acids in the plasma of a population of autistic subjects compared to mentally retarded controls. Our results showed a marked reduction in the levels of 22: 6n-3 (23%) in the autistic subjects, resulting in significantly lower levels of total (n-3) polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) (20%), without significant reduction in the (n-6) PUFA series, and consequently a significant increase in the (n-6)/(n-3) ratio (25%). These variations are discussed in terms of potential differences in PUFA dietary intake, metabolism, or incorporation into cellular membranes between the two groups of subjects. These results open up interesting perspectives for the investigation of new biological indices in autism. Moreover, this might have new therapeutic implications in terms of child nutrition.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

Identification and characterization of the trnS/pseudo-tRNA/nad3/rps12 gene cluster from Coix lacryma-jobi L: organization, transcription and RNA editing.

During a study of mitochondrial sequence conservation between the liverwort Marchantia polymorpha and several Angiosperm species, as revealed by heterologous hybridization experiments, the trnS/pseudo-tRNA/nad3/rps12 gene cluster in Coix lacryma-jobi L., an Asian grass species from the Andropogoneae, was identified using the mitochondrial probe orf167 from M. polymorpha. The Coix gene cluster was cloned and sequenced, and its expression analyzed. The gene sequence and gene locus organization were found to be similar to the corresponding cluster in wheat and maize. Northern hybridization and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analyses indicated that nad3 and rps12 genes were co-transcribed as a 1.25 kb RNA molecule. The transcript displayed 20 and six RNA edition sites, in the nad3 and rps12 genes, respectively, that changed the codon identities to amino acids, which are better conserved in different organisms. Twenty-three cDNA clones were analysed for the edition process and revealed different partial editing patterns without apparent sequential processing.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2000

Congenital malformations after intracytoplasmic injection of spermatids.

Spermatid microinjection into oocytes was applied in cases of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI)/testicular sperm extraction (TESE) where no spermatozoa could be found in numerous testicular samples. Although several pregnancies were obtained with this procedure, serious concerns remain regarding its safety. Although the relevance of the injection of spermatids is by no means certain, we wish to report that from four pregnancies obtained after injection of elongated spermatids, two cases of major malformation resulted.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Luteinizing hormone measurement in polycystic ovary syndrome: a practical approach.

The biological diagnosis of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCO) remains questionable, and a single immunological hLH (ihLH) determination can be misleading. In order better to characterize these patients, we studied hLH pulsatility every 10 min for 4h using a radioimmunoassay and then compared the results with others we obtained with a biological method. Radioimmunological and biological profiles were similar in patients with PCO and in controls. We also studied pulsatility characteristics - frequency and amplitude - and calculated the area under the curve (AUC). There was no significant increase in frequency in our 10 patients with PCO but, as in other studies, increased amplitude of hLH pulses was observed. The most discriminating parameter was the AUC. For practical purposes, we propose that hLH in patients with PCO could be assessed efficiently by taking four samples every 10 min, with computerized calculation of the AUC.

Adolescent↗