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Biomedical subjects

L Vallée

Publications and source records attributed to L Vallée.

72 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1994

Anticonvulsant activity of some 4-amino-N-phenylphthalimides and N-(3-amino-2-methylphenyl)phthalimides.

A series of fifteen N-phenylphthalimides including 12 4-amino-N-phenylphthalimides and three N-(3-amino-2-methylphenyl)phthalimides was prepared and evaluated for anticonvulsant properties. The compounds were tested against seizures induced by electroshock (MES) and pentylenetetrazol (scPTZ) in mice dosed intraperitoneally. Their neurologic toxicity was assessed using the rotorod assay procedure. The most potent 4-amino-N-phenylphthalimides against MES were those possessing small lipophilic groups in either 2 or 2 and 6 positions of the N-phenyl ring. They also exhibited some activity against scPTZ and were the most toxic of the series. By contrast, no activity against scPTZ or neurotoxicity could be observed up to 300 mg/kg for members of the N-(3-amino-2- methylphenyl)phthalimide series. In this series, the order of anti-MES activity appears to correspond to the phthalimide ring substitution pattern of 4-amino > H > 4-methyl. Quantitation of anticonvulsant properties and toxicity of 4-amino-N-(2,6-dimethylphenyl)phthalimide (ADD 213063) previously initiated in rats has been, here, extended to mice dosed intraperitoneally but also orally. The confrontation of the two modes of administration in mice suggests that ADD 213063 presents with a good bioavailability.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Peroxisomes in liver, heart, and kidney of mice fed a commercial fish oil preparation: original data and review on peroxisomal changes induced by high-fat diets.

Male NMRI mice were fed a diet with 10% w/w Beromegan for up to three weeks. Beromegan is a commercial fish (salmon) oil preparation rich in eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid. Peroxisomal beta-oxidation capacity, catalase activity, and ultrastructural morphometry of the hepatic peroxisomes were investigated. In myocardium and kidney, catalase activity, peroxisomal staining after catalase cytochemistry, peroxisomal morphology, and morphometry (in myocardium) were evaluated. In liver, we found a significant increase in peroxisomal beta-oxidation, catalase activity, and peroxisomal number already after 3 days of dietary treatment. These changes were more pronounced after 3 weeks. Peroxisomal size was not changed. Positive correlations were found between peroxisomal enzyme activities and the number but not the size of the peroxisomes, and between catalase activity and beta-oxidation capacity. The mean peroxisomal diameter per animal was inversely proportional to catalase activity measured in homogenate. In myocardium, catalase activity was increased with duration of fish oil feeding. Peroxisomal staining, number, and size were also increased when compared to controls. In kidney, no alterations were observed. Our results indicate a beneficial effect of a diet supplemented with fish oil on the peroxisomal metabolism in liver and myocardium; it differs from the changes induced by xenobiotic peroxisome proliferation.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

[Brain abscess complicating dental caries in children].

Brain abscess following dental or periapical infection is rare in childhood. This report describes brain abscesses found in two children with dental caries. Case 1.--A 12 year-old boy was admitted because he had suffered from acute meningitis for 3 days. Clinical examination showed symptoms of meningitis plus palsy of the right third and fourth cranial nerves and of the left facial nerve, and a defect in the left temporal field. Funduscopic examination showed papilledema; CT scan and MRI showed a ring-shaped lesion in the right occipital area. The patient was given cefotaxime and thiamphenicol. The abscess was drained; bacteriological examination showed Actinomyces viscosus and Peptostreptococcus magnus. The neurological condition and the CT scan lesion improved, but intracranial pressure increased again on the 17th day after the onset, requiring replacement of the antibiotics by rifampicin and ampicillin plus clavulanic acid for 2 months. This brain abscess appeared to be metastatic, derived from the infection of a large dental cyst due to a dental infection that had been treated 6 months earlier. Case 2.--A 8 1/2 year-old girl was admitted because she was suffering from palsy of the left facial nerve and left arm. She had had headaches and fever for a few days. Clinical examination showed the palsies and drowsiness. CT scan showed two brain abscesses. The patient was given ceftriaxone, fosfocin and metronidazole. She had been treated for a gingival abscess 1 month earlier, and had two infected teeth extracted. Improvement of the intracranial pressure was transient and the antibiotics were changed on the 12th day of treatment.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Age Factors↗
PubMed1993

Preliminary studies about novel strategies to reverse chemoresistance to adriamycin regarding glutathione metabolism, peroxisomal and extraperoxisomal hydroperoxide and valproic acid metabolic pathways.

The present work was aimed at defining novel strategies to reverse chemoresistance to anticancer drugs, especially by interfering with cellular glutathione metabolism, peroxisomal and/or extraperoxisomal hydroperoxide metabolic pathways. Preliminary results are presented about molecules we demonstrated to be capable of interfering with hydrogen peroxide metabolism in cells. Prior to describing these molecules, a short overview of glutathione and free radical metabolic pathways is presented as well as a rapid presentation of the characteristics of chemo-sensitivity and -resistance towards the anticancer drug adriamycin, with special emphasis on hydrogen peroxide metabolism. The strategies currently developed to reverse chemoresistance are further presented in subsequent sections, our own strategy to achieve inhibition of hydrogen peroxide breakdown and stimulation of peroxisomal hydrogen peroxide production is illustrated on the basis of molecular modelling studies and biochemical investigations on extraperoxisomal and peroxisomal metabolic pathways. Preliminary studies on cultured cells have been initiated. The perspective for future studies is presented as well as other possible models of chemoresistance as target for the design of hydrogen peroxide metabolism-interfering pharmacomolecules.

ATP Binding Cassette Transporter, Subfamily B, Mem↗
PubMed1992

[Is pericerebral hemorrhage a cause of severe malaise in infants?].

The authors report 7 cases of infants presenting with an apparent life-threatening event associated with acute pericerebral haemorrhage (subarachnoid haemorrhage and/or subdural hematoma) without evidence of traumatism, abuse, or shaking. Clinical characteristics were the same in all cases, including limpness, severe dysautonomic disorders, and pallor; all infants had retinal and pre-retinal haemorrhages. Two infants died; the five survivors have severe neurologic sequelae. The symptoms revealing an infant's pericerebral haemorrhage are usually axial hypotonia and pallor. Traumatism remains the most common aetiology and must be searched for. Non-traumatic aetiologies are unusual and were excluded in these reported cases. The 'shaken baby' syndrome is not the sole aetiology of an apparent spontaneous pericerebral haemorrhage: a slight bump associated with predisposing vascular factors particular to infancy could be involved. When confronted with an apparent life-threatening event associating limpness and pallor, one must consider the diagnosis of pericerebral haemorrhage.

Female↗
PubMed1991

[Hyperkinetic disorders with attention deficit. Diagnostic and therapeutic approach].

Attention deficit disorder (ADD) is the most common neurobehavioral disorder in the pediatric age group. The development of diagnostic criteria based on the "diagnostic and statistical manual of Mental Disorders" represents an advance in the reliable and valid diagnosis of ADD. An examination of neuromaturational signs (soft signs) and neuropsychologic and psychometric tests to specify the behavioral functions and the origin of learning disabilities are very important. ADD must be differentiated from other conditions such as psychiatric, developmental, neurological, psychosocial and environmental disorders. Management of the child with ADD should focus on the optimization of an educational plan. When stimulant pharmacotherapy is used, the physician must determine not only the optimal time at which pharmacotherapy should be initiated, but also the particular symptoms he hopes to ameliorate. The action and side-effects of pharmacotherapy are discussed. Psychotherapy or other specific associated therapy should be also proposed.

Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity↗
PubMed1990

A disorder of axonal development, necrotizing myopathy, cardiomyopathy, and cataracts: a new familial disease.

We report severe congenital encephalopathy and profound hypotonia associated with necrotizing myopathy, cardiomyopathy, and cataracts in 3 infants, including 2 sisters. Brain scans suggested agenesis of the corpus callosum. Neuropathological findings consisted of severe atrophy of the corpus callosum (not the usual agenesis with longitudinal callosal bundles), atrophy of the white matter, and absence of pyramidal tracts in the medulla. Multiple axonal swellings were present in the white matter and in Purkinje cells. Except for the corpus subthalamicum, gray matter structures were preserved. These findings are considered to be the expression of a primary disorder of axonal development leading to a reduction in interneuronal synaptic contacts. It is suggested that the anomaly may be due to an extension of the normal phenomenon of axonal elimination, related to a primary defect of the axonal cytoskeleton. The concept of a primary axonal disorder may also apply to other, mostly familial, conditions with progressive atrophy of the cerebral white matter and corpus callosum.

Atrophy↗
PubMed1990

[Prolonged remission in subacute sclerosing panencephalitis: 2 cases].

Long survival in subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE), including total disappearance of clinical signs, is rare. Two cases are reported. They concern a girl and a boy who, at age 13 and 15, developed SSPE and are still in remission 6 and 5 years later. After a typical onset and course over periods of 12 and 18 months, clinical improvement was observed and periodic EEG complexes disappeared. However, the electrophoretic oligoclonal pattern of CSF proteins and the elevated measles titers persisted (in one case specific CSF IgM were still increased 6 years after the onset). MRI showed asymmetrical areas of high-intensity signal in both white and gray matter, predominant in the temporal, parietal and occipital regions. The age at which SSPE begins and the interval between measles and SSPE onset are not prognostic factors. On the other hand, in reported cases with lasting remission SSPE did not progress beyond Jabbour's stage II. The second typical feature of these long-term improvements is disappearance of EEG periodic complexes and emergence of a normal basic background activity. No other prognostic factor has been reported.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

[Benign paralysis of the 6th cranial nerve in children].

Acquired sixth nerve palsies in infants and children that occur without fever primarily suggest a tumor or intracranial hypertension. In a few instances, the cause is benign and spontaneous recovery occurs although relapses are occasionally seen. We report seven episodes of benign sixth nerve palsy in four children aged 5 1/2 months to 8 1/2 years. An ENT infection was the precipitating factor in four of these seven episodes. Recovery consistently occurred within 4 days to 6 weeks. None of the children had residual oculomotor impairment. The various etiologic hypotheses put forward in the literature are discussed. No study provides a pathophysiologic explanation for these transient palsies.

Abducens Nerve↗
PubMed1987

[Study of congenital hemiplegia: value of x-ray computed tomography of the brain and of somatosensory evoked potentials].

21 cases of children with congenital hemiparesis have been studied by computerized tomography (CT) of the head and somatosensory evoked potentials (SEP). Computerized tomography is correlated with clinical features and may disclose cerebral lesions and their physiopathological mechanisms. Somatosensory evoked potentials allow a more functional approach of the handicap but are not perfectly correlated with the motor deficit. SEP are correlated with the topography of cerebral lesions showed by CT. These two investigations seem to be interesting and complementary for the exploration of congenital hemiparesis.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

[Ectrouria. Apropos of a case].

Report of a case of sirenomelia (mermaid) anomaly. This male fetus was born from a 30 year-old mother and remained alive for 18 hours. The following anomalies were present: Potter's syndrome, absence of external genitalia and internal genital ducts, presence of two male gonads, renal agenesis, lack of bladder and ureteral ducts, single umbilical artery. Were also found: right radial dysplasia, Fallot tetralogy, T.E. fistula with esophageal atresia, lumbo-sacral spina bifida cystica.

Abnormalities, Multiple↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Robinow's syndrome with dominant transmission].

Robinow syndrome in a mother and her 2nd male infant. Clinical and radiological findings were characteristic of this condition. Hands and spine were normal in the proband, but humerus were short. In this case, as in Robinow's first description, genetic transmission was autosomal dominant.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Cerebral venous thrombosis disclosing Behçet disease].

BACKGROUND: Behçet's disease is very occasionally revealed by thrombophlebitis in children. Dural sinus thrombosis can be one of its complication. CASE REPORT: A 14 year-old boy of Mediterranean origin was admitted for acute meningitis with temperature of 40 degrees C. His CSF contained 24 cells/ml and 0.33 g/l protein; it was sterile. The RBC sedimentation rate was 84 mm. Other investigations, including brain scan, were negative. The condition became worse, with a deterioration of visual acuity, attack of aphthous stomatitis and skin lesions at points of puncture. There was papilledema with retinal vascularitis. A second brain scan and MRI showed sagittal sinus thrombosis. The condition improved immediately after treatment with prednisolone and ticlopidine. The brain MRI taken 3 months later showed partial permeability of the sagittal sinus. The patient had several attacks of meningoencephalitis and stomatitis during the following 2 years. The last attack was complicated by iridocyclitis; this required cyclosporin treatment. CONCLUSION: Phlebothrombosis is a classic complication of Behçet's disease and can reveal the disease. Sagittal sinus thrombosis has never before been reported as the first manifestation of the disease in children.

Adolescent↗