PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

P Kuo

Publications and source records attributed to P Kuo.

25 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1991

[Materno-fetal dengue. Apropos of 5 cases observed during the epidemic in Tahiti (1989)].

During the dengue 3 epidemic which occurred in French Polynesia between September 1989 and March 1990, number of cases of Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever (DHF) were reported among children and infants. Of interest, five cases of neonatal infections were recorded and involved the transmission of the virus from mother to child as the end of the pregnancy. Detailed observations on these cases are presented in this paper. Fever in mother, when delivering or just a few days before, represents the circumstances of the diagnosis. Analysis of the clinical features shows that fever and vasomotor troubles (blotches) were the dominating traits of the disease in the newborns. Also, hepatomegaly was constantly observed. Concerning the biological results, thrombopenia (platelets count: 100,000/mm3) was reported for all cases. According to these data, all cases were classified into DHF cases. Laboratory confirmation was obtained by serological investigations (antidengue IgM immunocapture ELISA and Haemagglutination Inhibition Tests) and/or virus isolation in both mother and child. Thus, virus was recovered in two newborns while IgM were detected in all infants and in four mothers. Severity of the disease was variable. However, out of five cases one fulfills the WHO definition of Dengue Shock Syndrome (DSC). Moreover, the authors discuss about the difficulties encountered to classify the cases according to WHO criteria for the grade classification of DHF.

Dengue↗
PubMed1990

Effect of membrane fatty acyl composition on LDL metabolism in Hep G2 hepatocytes.

The mechanism by which dietary cis-unsaturated fatty acids lower plasma levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol is unknown. Since plasma membrane incorporation of dietary cis-unsaturated fatty acids is known to alter the function of plasma membrane associated proteins, perhaps by increasing membrane fluidity, we examined LDL receptor function in Hep G2 hepatocytes that were unmodified, enriched with the cis-unsaturated fatty acids oleate or linoleate, or enriched with the saturated fatty acids stearate or palmitate. Hepatocytes enriched in cis-unsaturated fatty acids exhibited augmented LDL binding, uptake, and degradation in comparison to unmodified cells. In contrast, Hep G2 hepatocytes enriched in saturated fatty acids had decreased LDL binding, uptake, and degradation. Enrichment with oleate or linoleate resulted in a decrease in the calculated fatty acyl mole-weighted melting point of the plasma membrane and an increase in plasma membrane fluidity, as measured by the steady-state fluorescence polarization of 1,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene incorporated into the plasma membrane. Conversely, stearate or palmitate enrichment resulted in an increased plasma membrane fatty acyl mole-weighted melting point and decreased plasma membrane fluidity. LDL binding, uptake, and degradation varied with plasma membrane fluidity in a highly correlated manner. Thus, one mechanism by which dietary cis-unsaturated fatty acids lower LDL cholesterol may possibly involve an alteration in membrane lipid composition or membrane fluidity that promotes enhanced LDL receptor function, thereby leading to increased hepatic clearance of LDL.

Biological Transport↗
PubMed1982

Insulin receptors on erythrocytes and hepatocytes from streptozotocin induced diabetic rats.

Insulin receptors on hepatocytes and erythrocytes were studied in rats two and eight weeks after the injection of streptozotocin (50 mg/kg) to see if erythrocyte insulin receptors change parallel with hepatocyte insulin receptors in response to hypoinsulinemia. Insulin binding to hepatocytes increased two (14.0 +/- 2.5% v.s. 7.7 +/- 0.7%; P less than 0.025) and eight weeks (15.9 +/- 1.9% v.s. 6.6 +/- 1.1%; P less than 0.005) after the streptozotocin injection. Scatchard analysis revealed that this increase was due to a rise in both the receptor concentration and affinity. The number of receptors was comparable in the two- and eight-week-streptozotocin rats while the increase in the affinity was more pronounced in the latter group. Insulin binding to the erythrocytes was also increased in both two- (5.0 +/- 0.7% v.s. 4.2 +/- 0.6%) and eight-week- (4.3 +/- 0.6% v.s. 2.7 +/- 1.2%) streptozotocin rats. This increase was due to a rise in the receptor concentration rather than the affinity. However, compared to hepatocytes, these changes were inconsistent and statistically not significant. Furthermore, no correlation was obtained between the binding and plasma insulin concentration. These results indicate that insulin receptors on rat erythrocytes are less sensitive to a change in the plasma insulin concentration and do not always reflect accurately the receptor state on hepatocytes.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Plasma membrane enrichment with cis-unsaturated fatty acids enhances LDL metabolism in U937 monocytes.

The mechanism by which dietary cis-unsaturated fatty acids lower low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol is unknown. Because cis-unsaturated fatty acids incorporated into cell membranes increase membrane fluidity and, as a result, can alter membrane-dependent cell functions, we examined LDL binding, uptake, and degradation in upregulated U937 monocytes enriched in membrane oleate, a monounsaturated fatty acid, and membrane linoleate, a polyunsaturated fatty acid. The same parameters were also examined in upregulated U937 monocytes enriched in membrane stearate, a saturated fatty acid, and in upregulated, unmodified U937 monocytes. Monocytes enriched in cis-unsaturated fatty acids exhibited augmented LDL binding, internalization, and degradation compared with both stearate-enriched monocytes and unmodified monocytes. The molar potency of linoleate in augmenting LDL metabolism was 50% greater than that of oleate. Enrichment with oleate and linoleate resulted in a decrease in the fatty acyl mole-weighted melting point of the plasma membrane and an increase in plasma membrane fluidity, as indicated by a reduction in the steady-state fluorescence polarization of 1,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene incorporated into the membrane. Stearate-enriched monocytes exhibited a slight increase in the plasma membrane fatty acyl mole-weighted melting point and essentially no change in plasma membrane fluidity. Thus, one mechanism by which cis-unsaturated fatty acids lower LDL cholesterol may involve alteration in membrane lipid composition and physical properties, thereby leading to an increase in cellular clearance of this atherogenic lipoprotein.

Cell Line↗