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Biomedical subjects

M Roussel

Publications and source records attributed to M Roussel.

13 recordsLinked to original sources

[Health effects of chronic exposure to tobacco smoke on a non-smoker population].

A study devised to evaluate the effects of chronic exposure to tobacco smoke on the health of a population of non-smokers was conducted in a prison. Fourteen volunteers among male, non-smoking prisoners in good health and without history of lung disease were put for thirty days in a cell that was already occupied by three smokers. These subjects were examined on arrival and on the 30th day of their imprisonment. The examination included filling a questionnaire concerning daily habits and food, respiratory function tests, measurement of CO in the expired air, measurement of nicotine, cotinine, thiocyanates and cadmium concentrations in blood and in urine, and measurement of mutagenic substances excreted. The purpose of the study was to detect possible changes in the variables tested between the first and last days of confinement. No significant difference could be demonstrated within this lapse of time. These results are in agreement with the data available in the literature. In the present state of our knowledge, it is difficult to find evidence of a biological impact, notably on the concentrations of the specific indicators nicotine and cotinine, in subjects passively exposed to tobacco smoke.

Adult

Production and characterization of human monoclonal antibodies against core protein p25 and transmembrane glycoprotein gp41 of HIV-1.

With a view to obtaining human monoclonal antibodies against HIV-1 antigens we used the Epstein-Barr virus immortalization technique to induce lymphoblastoid cell lines from peripheral blood lymphocytes of 10 people who were seropositive for HIV-1 and had no clinical symptoms. A number of polyclonal lines were obtained which synthesized antibodies against most of the major proteins and glycoproteins of HIV-1. Three stable clones were characterized for class, secretion characteristics and specificity. Two of these clones produce antibodies which react with gp41, and the third reacts with p25. One of the anti-gp41 antibodies was found to have neutralizing activity.

Amino Acid Sequence

[Benign hypertrophic gastritis associated with cytomegalovirus infection].

A new case of benign hypertrophic gastritis associated with cytomegalovirus infection in a 7 year-old boy is reported. The main symptoms were complete digestive intolerance and protein loss, resulting in major hypoalbuminemia and anasarca. The alpha-1-antitrypsin clearance was very increased. Diagnosis was established by upper gastrointestinal x-rays which displayed important thickening of the gastric rugae, and by endoscopic examination with biopsy. A cytomegalovirus infection attested by seroconversion and viruria probably played a role in its origin. Symptomatic treatment and albumin infusions led to recovery within one month. In the last 25 years, 31 cases of benign hypertrophic gastritis have been reported. Vomiting is the main symptom with abdominal pain and G-I bleeding. The protein loss is constant, often severe. In most cases, the disease recedes within a few weeks, unlike the adults' Ménétrier disease which proves to be chronic and severe. The cause remains unknown. In 11 cases, a cytomegalovirus infection was reported and, so, is probably not fortuitous.

Child

Three new types of viral oncogene of cellular origin specific for haematopoietic cell transformation.

The RNAs of seven replication-defective leukaemia virus (DLV) strains contain three types of unique sequences, which correlate with the capacity of a given virus strain to transform erythroblasts, macrophage-like cells and myeloblasts, respectively. These sequences, termed erb, mac and myb, have their counterparts in the normal DNA of avian and mammalian species. Our results indicate that DLVs represent recombinants between a common 'vector' related to a chicken endogenous virus and one of three types of cellular gene possibly involved in haematopoietic differentiation.

Avian Leukosis Virus

The distribution of endogenous chicken retrovirus sequences in the DNA of galliform birds does not coincide with avian phylogenetic relationships.

The chicken is a domesticated form of Red Jungle-fowl (Gallus gallus), which belongs to the Pheasant family (Phasianidae) within the order Galliformes. Domestic chickens carry the genome of the endogenous retrovirus RAV-O as DNA sequences integrated into host chromosomes transmitted through the germ line. We have examined the presence and distribution of RAV-O-related sequences in the DNA of Red Junglefowl and other closely related species of Junglefowl, as well as more distantly related Pheasants and Quail. DNA sequences homologous to RAV-O were analyzed by molecular hybridization in liquid and after electrophoresis of restriction endonuclease fragments. The presence of RAV-O-related sequences in avian DNA does not correlate with phylogenetic relationships. Under stringent conditions of hybridization in liquid, DNA sequences homologous to RAV-O cDNA were detected at high levels (greater than 80% homology( only in the genomes of the domestic chicken and its phylogenetic ancestor, the Red Junglefowl (Gallus gallus). The DNA of two other species of Gallus (G. sonnerati, Sonnerat's Junglefowl and G. varius, Green Junglefowl), of Ring-necked Pheasant and of Japanese Quail contained sequences with less than 10% homology to RAV-O cDNA. Under conditions permitting mismatching, however, Ring-necked Pheasant DNA hybridized up to 50% of the RAV-O cDNA, and Quail DNA 24%, whereas the extent of hybridization to Sonnerat's and Green Junglefowl DNA was not markedly increased. Analysis of restriction enzyme digests revealed several distinct fragments of DNA hybridizing to chick retrovirus cDNA in both Red Junglefowl and domestic chicken, and multiple fragments in DNA from two species of Phasianus. No fragments with sequences related to chicken retroviruses were found, however, in digests of DNA prepared from Sonnerat's, Ceylonese and Green Junglefowl, from two other Pheasant genera (Chrysolophus and Lophura), or from one Quail genus (Coturnix). Thus the DNA of three Junglefowl species closely related to Gallus gallus lacked RAV-O sequences while the DNA of more distantly related Phasianus species showed significant homology. These results show that RAV-O-related sequences have not diverged together with the normal host genes during the evolution of the Phasianidae. Although RAV-O sequences are endogenous in all domestic chickens and Red Junglefowl studied thus far, it appears that the RAV-O genome has been introduced relatively recently into the germ line of Gallus gallus, following speciation but before domestication, and independently of the related sequences found in members of the genus Phasianus.

Alpharetrovirus

[Viral RNAs from cells infected by an oncornavirus. I. Characterization of viral RNAs associated with cytoplasmic particles].

Oncornaviral particles on the way of their synthesis have been isolated from cytoplasm of a Friend virus-producing murine cell line. By use of electron microscopy and retrotranscriptase assay, it was found that the majority of the viral structures is pelleted by sedimentation at 90.000 g. The Poly (A) RNA of this pellet contains principally 70S and 35S RNA species which, as judged by size determination and hybridization with Friend-virus c-DNA are the species embedded into the virions. We verified that conditions which were used in the course of isolation, effectively dissociate polysomes and prevent them from co-sedimenting with viruses.

Cell Line