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Biomedical subjects

G Milhaud

Publications and source records attributed to G Milhaud.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

[Tumours markers. Calcitonin and carcinoembryonic antigen in medullary carcinoma of the thyroid (author's transl)].

Medullary carcinoma of the thyroid (MCT) is characterized by high circulating levels of calcitonin (CT) and of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), these markers enable the diagnosis of the tumour, the assessment of the efficacy of treatment and the detection of metastases at a subclinical stage. In 130 patients with a primary tumour and/or metastases, CT level was high. In 120 of them (92%), CEA level was also high. There was a positive correlation between levels of CT and of CEA, and both assays should be included in the preoperative examinations. Following removal of the tumour, normalisation of CEA levels takes several weeks, in contrast to CT where normalisation is rapid. Finally, these estimations may be used to detect familial forms at a subclinical stage. This enabled us to detect 16 new cases of MCT amongst 77 subjects studied.

Adrenal Gland Neoplasms

Chromatographic isolation of thymic factors impairing neuromuscular transmission.

Thymopoietins I and II are chemically related peptides able to inhibit neuromuscular transmission. They were first isolated from bovine thymus by a protein-denaturating method, which may have destroyed other thymic factors displaying the same biological activity. The present investigation, based on a new gentle isolation procedure, suggests that thymopoietins are the only factors impairing neuromuscular transmission that are present in the thymus. The yield of the new procedure is at least twice as high as that of the original method.

Animals

[Tumoural calcinosis in a white male (author's transl)].

A case of tumoural calcinosis in a 61-years-old man. This is a rare condition (60 published cases), affecting above all black subjects. It takes the form of hard rounded masses which progressively increase in size and vary in their location (hips, elbows, shoulders, periscapular region). On X-rays, the tumour is rounded, consisting of a mass of several calcified small nodules. On technetium pyrophosphate isotope scanning, there is very marked and periarticular uptake. There is often hyperphosphoraemia associated with normal blood calcium levels, without any abnormality in the hormones controlling calcium and phosphate metabolism. Treatment usually consists of the excision of the tumour masses. More recently, the reduction of hyperphosphoraemia by the prescription of aluminium salts and a reduction in phosphorus intake has been suggested.

Bone Neoplasms

Immunochemical studies on rabbit calcitonin.

Cross reaction studies using radioimmunoassays specific for human and porcine calcitonin showed that rabbit calcitonin is structurally more closely related to human than to porcine calcitonin.

Animals

Endogenous nature of circadian rhythms in calcium metabolism.

Rats studied when the lights are on from 0600 to 1800 daily and fed only in the dark period displayed circadian rhythms in plasma calcium (ionized and total) and 45Ca concentrations, 6 and 8 days after 45Ca administration. In rats fed a calcium-deficient diet, the amplitude of daily variation of plasma ionized and total calcium increased markedly whereas plasma 45Ca daily fluctuation remained essentially unchanged. In the calcium-deficient rats, significant correlations between plasma calcium and 45Ca and between plasma calcium and magnesium were observed throughout the 24 h; circadian periodicity of calcium metabolism persisted in rats fasted overnight, regardless of the illumination schedule. Normal daily fluctuations in plasma 45Ca, lost after thyroparathyroidectomy (TPTX), were restored by feeding the TPTX rats a high-calcium diet. These results demonstrate clearly that circadian rhythms of calcium metabolism occurred irrespective of the light-dark schedule, the calcium supply through intestines and the thyroparathyroid system. An attractive suggestion is that circadian rhythmicity originates as a result of dynamic properties involving nonlinear processes of calcium metabolism.

Animals

Osteopetrosis reconsidered as a curable immune disorder.

Osteopetrosis is a unique model for investigating osteoclast formation from lymphocytes and more precisely from T-lymphocytes. In the pathogenesis of this condition, a thymic impairement must be postulated. The cure of several osteopetrotic animal mutants and an infant suffering from juvenile malignant osteopetrosis by injecting normal marrow are the first examples of the successful management of a bone disorder by cell injection.

Animals

[Hormone assays in polyadenomatosis (author's transl)].

Radioimmunological assays of peptidic hormone levels is now an essential procedure for the diagnosis of polyadenomatosis. The diversity of pathological associations found in polyadenomatosis cannot be completely explained by the unitary theories that have been proposed. Neither the APUD system, nor the common embryonic origin, nor the reduction in calcitonin excretion can fully explain the clinical picture: a logical explanation has still to be discovered. In practice, ectopic secretions are frequent in type 2 polyadenomatosis (medullary cancer, pheochromocytoma, neurofibroma, Marfan's syndrome, hyperparathyroidism) contrary to what is observed in type 1 cases (pituitary, parathyroid, pancreas).

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone

[Cartilaginous tissue and nalidixic acid].

1. Medication with nalidixic acid never produced articular lesions in adult animals. 2. In the species of immature animals, if sensitive to nalidixic acid, the articular lesions were macroscopically and microscopically identical. 3. The lesions regressed spontaneously as the basal germinative layer was never affected.

Age Factors

[Immobilisation hypercalcaemia. 1 case (author's transl)].

A 21-year-old man suffered severe (up to 15.5 mg%) and prolonged (7 months) hypercalcaemia as a result of immobilisation following severe trauma. During the period of hypercalcaemia, plasma parathormone and calcitonin levels were undetectable. A study using radioactive calcium revealed a very marked increase in bone resorption, a moderate increase in accretion and virtually no intestinal absorption. Iliac biopsy revealed dense calcification front and there was no osteoid substance. This hypercalcaemia appeared to be due to increased bone resorption, while the synthesis of osteoid substance seemed to be insufficient to permit an equivalent increase in calcium accretion.

Adult

[Hypercalcemia and biologically active parathyroid hormone].

Hypercalcaemia always results in serious clinical sequalae and, if not treated, carries a most unfavourable prognosis. The clinician will gain major diagnostic help from an evaluation of the calcitonin and parathyroid hormone blood levels. With regard to parathyroid hormone we have developed, for the first time, a radioimmunoassay which is specific for the estimation of biologically active hormone in the circulation. We are dealing here with an unusual radioimmunological situation as the immunochemical sites are generally quite distinct from those associated with hormonal activity. We are presenting in this first paper the normal values and also the variations that occur in different types of hypercalcaemia. The comparison of these results with those obtained by the usual methods of estimation for parathyroid hormone assay lacking in biological activity shows the value of this new technique.

Calcitonin