Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to G Gaillard.
This study of serum erythropoietin levels and reticulocytes counts in the first month after kidney transplantation shows that the erythropoietin peak is efficient only when serum creatinine level at the time of the peak is under 200 mumol/l.
This study investigated the relationships between the findings from a standardized preparticipation athletic examination, the sport played, and athletic injuries requiring treatment by a physician and/or requiring the athlete to miss one or more games. Of public high school students receiving a preparticipation athletic examination during the 1989-1990 academic year, 674 (56%) either completed a telephone interview or returned a mailed questionnaire at the end of the academic year. The sample consisted of 408 (60.5%) blacks and 243 (36.1%) whites; 470 (69.7%) of the subjects were males. The subjects ranged in age from 13 to 20 years (mean +/- SD, 16.1 +/- 1.2 years), and participated in at least 10 school sports. Injuries were reported by 29.5% of the athletes. The highest proportion of athletes injured occurred among male football (36.3%), female basketball (33.3%), male baseball (19.4%), male soccer (17.2%), and female track and field (15.8%) participants. Responses by the athletes and their parents on the standardized health history were significantly associated with injuries in several specific areas. Knee injuries were associated with previous knee injuries, knee surgery, and history of injuries requiring medical treatment. Ankle injuries were associated with previous ankle injuries and previous injuries requiring medical treatment. Both arm and other leg injuries were associated with previous fractures. Male athletes with either abnormal knee or ankle findings from the physical examination were more likely to injure the knee or ankle, respectively. However, the sensitivities and positive predictive values of these relationships are weak. These data suggest that the preparticipation athletic examination may not predict certain athletic injuries and that additional prevention efforts for specific body areas of injury are needed in certain sports.
The effect of a 1-hr school-based AIDS/HIV education program on the knowledge and attitudes of high school students was evaluated with a modified version of the Centers for Disease Control Health Risk Survey. One urban and one suburban school each were randomly assigned to an educational intervention (n = 535) or a control group (n = 659). All students received a posttest 2 weeks after the intervention. Knowledge was based on responses to 12 true-false questions (pretest alpha = .76, posttest alpha = 0.81). Principal components analysis was used to develop three attitude scales and risk-taking behavior was assessed by self-report. Data were analyzed with Kruskall-Wallis analysis of variance (ANOVA) and multivariate ANOVA. The groups did not differ in knowledge level at pretest. At posttest the education group had significantly (p < or = 0.006) higher knowledge even after controlling for the effects of previous AIDS education (p < or = 0.019), gender (p < or = 0.007), and Hispanic ethnicity (p < or = 0.048). After the education program, students were less worried about exposure to the AIDS virus, but were more worried (p < or = 0.048) about AIDS acquisition during their adult life. Although single school-based AIDS/HIV education programs may increase knowledge, more extensive education may be needed to change the behavior and attitudes of older high school students.
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Factors associated with AIDS knowledge and perceived risk of currently having HIV infection among adolescents were examined. A modified version of the Centers for Disease Control's Health Risk Survey was administered to 11th and 12th grade students (N = 2,483) in homerooms from nine schools in one southeastern community. Knowledge was based on cumulative responses to 12 questions. Many adolescents incorrectly answered seven questions. Based on multivariate analysis of variance, lower AIDS knowledge was associated with no prior school-based AIDS education (p less than or equal to 0.0001), previous IV drug use (p less than or equal to 0.0001), male gender (p less than or equal to 0.0001), and being Black or "other" ethnic group (p less than or equal to 0.0001). Based on interaction effects, Hispanics not receiving AIDS education in school (p less than or equal to 0.0001) and Black and "other" ethnic group IV drug users (p less than or equal to 0.0011) had a lower AIDS knowledge. When controlling for AIDS knowledge level (p less than or equal to 0.0001), higher perceived risk of current infection with HIV was associated with previous IV drug use (p less than or equal to 0.0001) and male gender (p less than or equal to 0.0001). However, previous IV drug users who never received AIDS education (p less than or equal to 0.0001) or were from Black or "other" ethnic group (p less than or equal to 0.008) had higher perceived risks of presently having HIV infection.
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This study investigated reasons for adolescents' attrition from school-sponsored sports teams and the relationship between attrition and intention to participate in organized and nonorganized sports in the future. Of 674 high school student athletes, 26% dropped off at least one team in 1989-1990, and overall attrition increased to 29.8% when attrition from more than one sport was considered. Attrition was higher among black students, students reporting an athletic injury, those injured playing football, and those sustaining a knee injury. Injury was cited as the most frequent reason for attrition, followed by being cut from the team, "other reasons," needing to get a job, inconvenient game or practice schedule, and needing more time to study, although the main reason for attrition also varied by sport. When athletes were classified according to externally precipitated attrition, athlete-initiated attrition, or completion of the sports season, no differences were noted in the three groups' intent to engage in organized sports in the future. However, the group with externally precipitated attrition expressed a stronger intent to engage in nonorganized sports in the future than the other two groups.
Leukotrienes are eicosanoids arising from arachidonic acid via 5 lipooxygenase, an enzyme essentially present in leukocyte cells. Leukotriene B4 might be an indicator of neutropolymorphonuclear leukocyte activation when there is contact with artificial membranes. The level of plasmatic leukotriene B4 was measured at three different times during the hemodialysis treatment in several patients undergoing dialysis on three different membranes (one cellulosic and two synthetics). A moderate increase of leukotriene B4 was observed early (at 15 min), comparable among the three membranes, but levels returned to baseline at 180 min. Leukotriene B4 production proved leukocyte activation and was probably related to a direct interaction with dialysis membrane. Nevertheless, complement intervention could not be excluded. Leukotriene B4 is one molecule more among the group of inflammatory mediators produced during hemodialysis treatment.
A multicenter and retrospective study of the diagnosis value of SCC-TA4 in squamous cell carcinomas of 4 localisations was made with the 2 thresholds of 2 and 2.5 ng/ml. However, 3.1% of controls have a SCC value above 2.5 ng/ml. Sixteen benign gynecologic pathologies had no positive level. The benign digestive (N = 73), bronchial (N = 345) pathologies and no squamous cell carcinomas (N = 93, N = 220 respectively), had SCC-TA4 mean levels significantly lower than corresponding squamous cell carcinomas (N = 153, N = 128 respectively). Sensitivity of the test varied from 40% in the squamous cell carcinomas of the lung, to 72% in the squamous cell carcinomas of the uterine cervix. Specificity was always very high and varied from 91% in the SCC of lung, to 100% in the SCC of uterine cervix. For the SCC of uterine cervix, oesophagus and head and neck, the mean values and incidence of positive levels increased significantly with increasing tumor size and advancing disease stage. For the SCC of uterine cervix, mean SCC-TA4 levels and percentages of positive levels above 2 ng/ml were significantly higher for the patients with recurrence (22.5 +/- 4.6 ng/ml; 76%) or with metastasis appearance (23.6 +/- 5.4 ng/ml; 77%) than for the patients in remission (less than 1.5 ng/ml; 0%). In the SCC of oesophagus, we report levels before treatment that are significantly higher for the patients with metastasis at the first attempt (4.2 +/- 5.1 ng/ml; 59%), and an elevated SCC level at the diagnosis evoked a SCC of lung already disseminated (8.8 +/- 12.1 ng/ml; 50%) that will fail to respond to treatment (4.0 +/- 4.2 ng/ml; 48%).
The effects of the dopamine receptor agonist, apomorphine, on the total catecholamine content of the adrenal medulla were studied in normotensive rats. Apomorphine (3, 15, 30 mg/kg SC) induced a dose-dependent decrease in catecholamine content of the adrenal gland. The action of apomorphine was suppressed by previous treatment with the non specific dopamine receptor antagonist, haloperidol (9 mg/kg IP), or the D2 antagonist domperidone (2 mg/kg IP), but not by the D1 antagonist SCH 23390 (1 mg/kg IP). The apomorphine-induced decrease in adrenal catecholamine concentration was suppressed by denervation of the adrenal medulla, i.e. unilateral section of splanchnic fibers performed 5 days before. These results show that, under our experimental conditions, the effect of apomorphine is due to the activation of D2 dopamine receptors probably located on splanchnic nerve endings and suggest the existence of a peripheral D2 dopaminergic system which modulates adrenal medullary catecholamine content.
Recently Avissar et al. have established that Li+ can inhibit G proteins implicated in brain function. In order to investigate the effect of Li+ on transducin, the evolution of the electroretinogram (ERG) recorded on isolated rat retina has been studied in presence of lithium. Results indicate that 10(-5) M Li+ had no effect on ERG while 10(-3) M Li+, which corresponds to therapeutic blood levels, significantly decreases ERG amplitude. This effect being nearly totally inhibited by cholera toxin (75 micrograms/l), it is concluded that Li+ acts on transducin and so inhibits the visual transduction process.
We are reporting here a case of chondrosarcoma of the soft tissues of the thoracic wall. As far as we can tell it is the first case published in the world. The tumour appeared 13 years after radical mastectomy and radiotherapy for an adenocarcinoma of the breast. The tumor was greyish-white in appearance and hard, but friable and haemorrhagic. Clinically and biologically it looked like an inflammatory mass. This disappeared when the tumour had been removed but recurred 6 days post-operatively when nodules showing that it had permeated the tissues appeared. Histological and immunohistochemical examination confirmed the diagnosis. We discuss the clinical and histological aspects of the case and state what we found in the literature about other sarcomas that have followed adenocarcinomata of the breast that had been irradiated and operated on. The role of radiotherapy in bringing about this tumour is discussed, including the relationship between the site of the tumour and the dose and field of irradiation. The prognosis is particularly bad in this type of sarcoma which was induced by irradiation.
Muscle cell leakage and hormonal changes were compared immediately after and during the 3 days following a 24 h endurance run (R24h) in 8 subjects, and a 10 h triathlon non-competitive race (T10h) in 6 subjects. The study showed three main differences: 1) plasma enzyme increases were considerably more significant in R24h than in T10h: compared with resting levels, creatine kinase increased x 120 after R24h but only x 2 after T10h; lactic dehydrogenase x 4, as opposed to x 1.5; and transaminases only showed an increase after R24h. The plasma myoglobin increase after R24h was double that found after T10h; 2) for the same magnitude of plasma aldosterone and cortisol after R24h and T10h (3 times the resting levels), a highly significant decrease in urinary Na+ (p less than 0.001) and an increase in urinary K+ (p less than 0.01) were found only after R24h; and 3) the plasma free noradrenaline level increased significantly after R24h (x 2.6) whereas it was unchanged after T10h. In contrast, the plasma level of conjugated dopamine increased only after T10h (x 3.7, p less than 0.05). These results suggest that long-distance running causes more muscular lesions than the triathlon, and that important factors other than aldosterone are probably involved in the regulation of urinary electrolyte excretions during T10h.
This report describes, for the first time to our knowledge, a possible steroidogenic activity in established murine embryonal carcinoma cell lines (PCC3, PCC4, F9), revealed by a 3 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase activity (revelation of NADH2 by staining, and RIA assessment of delta 4-androstenedione). The remarkable analogy between such totipotent cells and embryonal cells may suggest that this activity could be present before histologic organization of the embryonal testis. Nonmalignant embryonal cells such as fibroblasts (3/A/1/D-3) or myoblasts (T984) were also found to possess a 3 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase activity, thus suggesting that this enzyme is not specific to hormone-secreting cells, but the sign of a more general phenomenon.
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The purpose of the study was to investigate leukocyte beta adrenoceptors and platelet alpha 2 adrenoceptors in pheochromocytoma. The study concerned nine hypertensive patients, five men and four women (aged 42 +/- 8 years) with a pheochromocytoma demonstrated by high levels of urinary catecholamines and radiological data. Catecholamine plasma levels, assayed by HPLC were wide-ranging: 10.7 to 172.8 nM for noradrenaline and 0.7 to 3.9 nM for adrenaline. In each case the number of leukocyte beta adrenoceptors sites (measured with 125 I-cyanopindolol) significantly decreased: Bmax was 20.6 +/- 2.8 versus 48.5 +/- 1.5 fmol/mg protein in controls (p less than 0.05). In contrast, the number of platelet alpha 2 adrenoceptors sites (measured with 3H-yohimbine) was not modified: 206 +/- 22.6 versus 186.0 +/- 12.1 fmole/mg protein in controls. There was no change in affinity constant (Kd), neither for beta nor alpha2 adrenoceptors. After tumor removal, there was a significant increase in beta adrenoceptor number. We conclude that down regulation occurs in vivo for beta adrenoceptors but not for alpha2 adrenoceptors and that the decrease in leukocyte beta adrenoceptor number is an interesting and suitable index in the management of pheochromocytoma.
HCG levels have been studied in 76 patients following laparoscopic treatment using laparotomy. This shows that early detection of treatment failure is possible of ectopic pregnancy. The decrease of HCG was the same as after conservative treatment from the third or fifth post-operative day onwards. The authors report a scheme for the post-operative follow-up after laparoscopic treatment of ectopic pregnancy based on the rate of HCG decrease.
This case report deals with an eight-year duration severe high renin hypertension and its consequences. In 1975, a 13 years old girl was found to have blood pressure (BP) levels of 240/150 mmHg with bilateral papilloedema. Hypokalemic alkalosis, a 45 mm Sokolow index (SI) and very high peripheral renin activity (PRA) were also noticed. Renal vein renin sampling (RVRS) suggested secretion from the left kidney but intravenous pyelography and renal arteriography were normal. BP levels were first controlled by triple treatment but rose one year later, despite adjunction of beta-blockers. High PRA was again found, but without hormonal gradient on a second RVRS. From 1977 to 1982, BP never fell to normal levels despite quadruple treatment. In 1982, a stage II optic fundus, a 58 mm SI and 2 g/day proteinuria are noticed, so that a new complete etiologic work up is undertaken in 1983: PRA is still high, with a dramatic acute BP fall after captopril and no gradient on a third RVRS, but intravenous pyelography, tomodensitometry and selective arteriography disclose a 4 cm diameter poorly vascularized tumour on the surface of the lower pole of the right kidney. BP levels are controlled for three months by captopril + chlorothiazide. The tumour is removed in january 1984. RVRS by direct peroperative punction indicates (a posteriori) hormonal secretion from the right kidney lower pole. Histologic examination and immunofluorescence with antirenin serum corroborate the juxtaglomerular origin of the tumour. Eighteen months later, BP is permanently normal, SI is 30 mm, and there is no proteinuria.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)