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Biomedical subjects

M C Copin

Publications and source records attributed to M C Copin.

82 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1994

Diagnostic value of direct examination of the protected specimen brush in ventilator-associated pneumonia.

Interpretation of the protected specimen brush (PSB) technique is based on quantitative bacterial cultures (QC), which unfortunately requires at least 24 h. We prospectively compared the diagnostic value of direct examination (DE) and QC of PSB specimens in 75 patients with suspected pneumonia. We also determined the optimal technique for DE. QC was performed using the serial dilution technique. From the original suspension, two cytospin slides were obtained and stained by the May-Grünwald Giemsa (MGG) and the Gram method for DE. If the prescreening on the MGG-stained slide was positive, the morphology and the Gram staining of the organisms were assessed on the Gram-stained slide. Using the 10(3) colony forming units (cfu.ml-1) threshold for defining PSB as positive or negative, DE had a sensitivity of 85% and a specificity of 94%. In a parallel in vitro study, 18 pairs of PSB specimens were collected from respiratory secretions inoculated with S. aureus. From each pair, one brush was processed as described above and the other was smeared on a glass slide prior to performance of QC. Using direct smear instead of cytocentrifuged preparation, slightly but significantly affected QC. Direct examination of cytospin slides is highly predictive of quantitative bacterial culture results, and provides rapid information regarding the Gram-stain morphology of the causative organisms. It may therefore guide initial therapy.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

[Surgical treatment of leiomyosarcoma of the left atrium Report of a case and review of the literature].

The authors report a case of left atrial leiomyosarcoma presenting with systemic disturbances and retinal emboli diagnosed by echocardiography and surgery in a 59 year old woman. Surgical ablation was completed by a course of chemotherapy. Histopathological examination confirmed the diagnosis of sarcoma; although the patient remained generally well, severe mitral regurgitation appeared 21 months after surgery. Transoesophageal echocardiography revealed an abnormal, hyper-mobile, intra-atrial echo suggesting a ruptured chordae tendinae and the mitral valves appeared very thickened and retracted. The patient was reoperated and the mitral valve replaced with a bioprosthesis. After a total follow-up of 29 months, the patients is still alive and asymptomatic. The authors underline the importance of echocardiography in the diagnosis of intra-cardiac tumours in general and, in particular, of intra-cardiac sarcomas.

Echocardiography, Transesophageal↗
PubMed1994

Cytomegalovirus expression in minor salivary glands and chronic graft-versus-host disease.

A systematic survey of human cytomegalovirus (CMV) was performed in 29 allogeneic bone marrow transplant (BMT) recipients. At day 100 a lip biopsy was performed and histological grading according to Sale's score was compared with the immunohistochemical detection of the immediate early protein IE2 of HCMV. In 10 patients without chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), 3 had lip biopsy grade 1, 7 had grade 0 Sale's score and in 19 patients with chronic GVHD, 11 had grade 2, 1 had grade 1 and 7 had grade 0. On the same lip biopsies, we found IE2 protein in 8 of the 19 patients with chronic GVHD. None of the lip biopsies from patients without chronic GVHD expressed the protein, suggesting that HCMV expression is strongly associated with chronic GVHD and Sale's grade 2. To conclude, in our group of patients with a risk for HCMV infection, detection of the protein IE2 was a good predictive criterion of chronic GVHD with a sensitivity of 61% and a specificity of 100%.

Bone Marrow Transplantation↗
PubMed1993

Synthesis of interleukin-5 by activated eosinophils in patients with eosinophilic heart diseases.

Eosinophilic endomyocardial disease represents a major evolutive risk in chronic eosinophilia-associated disorders. Eosinophil granule proteins appear to be involved in cardiac injury, but the mechanisms leading to eosinophil infiltration and degranulation are not clear. Interleukin-5 (IL-5) has been recently shown to be produced by eosinophils and might play a role in both chemoattraction and degranulation of eosinophils. In four cases of eosinophilic diseases with severe cardiac failure, we evaluated the proportion of eosinophil phenotypes and the serum levels of eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) and soluble IL-2 receptor (sIL-2R), markers of disease activity in the hypereosinophilic syndromes. All four patients showed a markedly increased proportion of hypodense eosinophils with elevated serum ECP and sIL-2R levels. In all four patients, extracellular deposition of eosinophil granule proteins and features of eosinophil activation were observed in cardiac tissues. The synthesis of IL-5 by eosinophils was detected in myocardial sections and blood cells by in situ hybridization and by immunostaining with a monoclonal antibody against human IL-5. Sixty percent to 90% of tissue eosinophils expressed IL-5 mRNA and IL-5 protein. These data suggest that IL-5 can be produced by eosinophils at the sites of myocardial tissue damage and might participate in local eosinophil activation.

Biopsy↗
PubMed1993

Importance of ground-glass attenuation in chronic diffuse infiltrative lung disease: pathologic-CT correlation.

PURPOSE: To correlate areas of ground-glass attenuation at computed tomography (CT) with findings at open lung biopsy in chronic diffuse lung disease. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The cases of 26 patients were included on the basis of (a) extensive areas of ground-glass attenuation as the predominant (n = 17) or exclusive (n = 9) abnormality at CT in the absence of honeycombing and (b) histologic evaluation at open lung biopsy. Severity of ground-glass attenuation was scored in the lobe sampled at biopsy, with separate analysis of associated lung changes. RESULTS: Correlation of CT with histologic findings at the 37 biopsy sites demonstrated that ground-glass attenuation corresponded to inflammation in 24 (65%) cases and to fibrosis in 13 (54%) cases. Eleven of the 13 patients (85%) with fibrosis had traction bronchiectasis or bronchiolectasis. These findings were not present in any of the patients with inflammation. CONCLUSION: In patients with chronic diffuse infiltrative lung disease, areas of ground-glass attenuation not associated with traction bronchiectasis or bronchiolectasis are a reliable indicator of inflammation.

Biopsy↗
PubMed1993

Expression of human mucin genes in respiratory, digestive, and reproductive tracts ascertained by in situ hybridization.

In recent years considerable advances have been made in our knowledge of the peptide moiety of human mucins through cDNA cloning. In many diseases disorders in mucin biosynthesis are observed, which result either from changes in the synthesis of the carbohydrate side chains or from differences in the relative expression of the different apomucins, each of which may affect physical properties of the viscous gel. We describe in situ hybridization studies on healthy human mucosae with five different oligonucleotide probes corresponding to each of the human genes known to date that encode secreted mucins, i.e., MUC 2, 3, 4 (HGM nomenclature) and 5B, 5C (proposed name). These genes present a nucleic tandem repeat organization. The choice of oligonucleotide probes was made to amplify the signal by hybridization of many small probes on the same mRNA molecules. A characteristic pattern of mucin gene expression was observed for each mucosa.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1990

Neuron-glia interactions: effect of serotonin on the astroglial expression of GFAP and of its encoding message.

The trophic effect of serotonin on the glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) expression was investigated in rat brainstem astrocytes in primary culture. GFAP immunolabelling decreased and gliofilaments appeared localized in the cytoplasm periphery. GFAP protein level decreased in parallel with a decrease in its encoding message. Serotonin may act as an inhibitor of GFAP expression either on the transcription or on the stability of the GFAP-mRNA.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Airway-like inflammation of minor salivary glands in bronchial asthma.

Bronchial asthma is characterized by a chronic inflammation with accumulation of eosinophils, mast cells and activated T lymphocytes that release a large panel of cytokines. As the mucosal immune system comprises a series of specialized lymphoid tissues with a well-identified lymphocyte traffic between different compartments, we initiated a study to evaluate the histological abnormalities of minor salivary glands (MSGs) in patients with bronchial asthma. 58 patients were studied (29 with allergic asthma, 29 with nonallergic asthma) and compared to 15 healthy controls and 15 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). MSGs were normal in all controls except one and in 14/15 COPD patients. 43/58 asthmatics (74%) exhibited MSG abnormalities with T lymphocyte infiltration (57%), mast cell infiltration (64%), basement membrane thickening (64%) and endothelial cell changes (26%). Histological abnormalities were predominantly observed in nonallergic asthmatics. We propose that activated T lymphocytes, present in the bronchial mucosal lymphoid tissue in chronic asthma might migrate, colonize other glandular and mucosal sites, and so trigger at a distance, an airway-like inflammation.

Adolescent↗