PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

Philippe Pinton

Publications and source records attributed to Philippe Pinton.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

Sexual behaviors and mental perception, satisfaction and expectations of sex life in men and women in France.

AIM: To analyze behaviors, mental perception, satisfaction, and expectations relating to sexuality in France. METHODS: A total of 1,002 subjects (483 men and 519 women) aged 35 years and over in a representative sample of the French population were surveyed by phone using a dedicated questionnaire in November 2003. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Sexual behaviors and mental perception, satisfaction and expectations concerning sexual life. RESULTS: Of the population, 80.2% reported having a sexual partner. The mean number of times subjects had sex per week was 1.8 (2.0 in men, 1.6 in women). The decision preceded the act by a few seconds or minutes in 82.7% of subjects. Thinking about sex was "frequent" in 47.1% of subjects, especially for men (60.8%). Regardless of gender, sexuality was more synonymous with pleasure (44.0%) and love (42.1%) than with procreation, children, or motherhood (7.8%). During sexual intercourse, simultaneous orgasms and feelings of closeness were important for the majority of subjects, 35.8% (41.6% of men) and 22.8%, respectively; foreplay, enjoyment, and vaginal penetration were the most important accomplishments for 13.1%. Regardless of gender, 83.0% of subjects expressed relative or full satisfaction with their sex life. However, only 38.7% of subjects (31.6% of men and 45.2% of women) did not wish to change anything, while 17.2% would like to have more time for it. Of the subjects, 63.0% reported a decrease in sexual desire during periods of work-related stress, especially in women (72.3%). The main sexual complaints reported by men were diminution of sexual desire (24.9%), early ejaculation (23.7%), and erectile problems (14.4%). In women, they were diminution of sexual desire (45.7%), orgasm disorders (15.5%), and dyspareunia (15.5%). CONCLUSIONS: This survey showed that the attitude of subjects, especially men, toward sexuality is changing through years and highlighted the extent of sexual problems in the general population.

Age Factors↗

Mycotoxin fumonisin B1 alters the cytokine profile and decreases the vaccinal antibody titer in pigs.

Fumonisin B1 (FB1), a mycotoxin produced by Fusarium verticillioides, may contaminate feed and food. In the present study, we investigated the effect of FB1 on the modulation of the cytokine profile and on the establishment of a vaccinal antibody response. In vitro investigations on pig peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) indicate that FB1 decreased interleukin-4 (IL-4) and increased interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) synthesis at both the protein and mRNA levels. A short in vivo exposure (7 days) of weanling piglets to 1.5 mg/kg body weight of purified FB1 altered the cytokine balance in mesenteric lymph nodes and spleen similarly to the in vitro PBMC results. We also investigated the effect of FB1 on the antibody response during a vaccination process. A prolonged in vivo exposure (28 days) of weanling piglets to feed contaminated with 8 mg FB1/kg significantly decreased the expression of IL-4 mRNA by porcine whole blood cells and diminished the specific antibody titer after vaccination against Mycoplasma agalactiae. By contrast, ingestion of the contaminated feed had no effect on the serum concentration of the immunoglobulin subset (IgG, IgA, and IgM). Taken together, our data suggest that FB1 alters the cytokine profile and decreases the specific antibody response built during a vaccination protocol. These results may have implications for humans or animals eating contaminated food or feed.

Animals↗

[Erectile dysfunction: a sentinel symptom?].

Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a frequent disorder affecting the man's sexual and relational quality of life. French epidemiological studies estimate that the prevalence of ED is between 11% and 44% and prevalence surveys show a correlation between ED and age: the relative risk of erectile dysfunction increases by a factor of 2 to 4 between the ages of 40 and 70 years. Few patients consult their doctor and only a small proportion of them receive treatment and few doctors take the initiative to discuss the question of their patients' sex life. Doctors should now have a good understanding of erectile dysfunction and must be aware of the importance of detecting or at least investigating any erectile dysfunction, which can be the first symptom of an underlying disease such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, depression, benign prostatic hyperplasia, prostate cancer, androgen deficiency or a drug-induced effect. Demonstration of erectile disorders therefore represents an excellent opportunity to conduct a general work-up, as more than one-third of patients with ED ignore their underlying health problem and management of ED is therefore an integral part of preventive medicine.

Erectile Dysfunction↗

Development of a macroarray to specifically analyze immunological gene expression in swine.

DNA arrays are useful tools for simultaneously studying the expressions of a large number of genes. Herein, we describe the construction and the optimization of conditions for a low-density DNA macroarray specific for the porcine immune system. This specific DNA macroarray contains 63 gene products, including 20 cytokines, 11 chemokines, and 12 immunologically relevant receptors. It was constructed by designing gene-specific oligonucleotide primers from porcine sequences available in the EMBL or TIGR expressed sequence tag data bank and using primers from conserved regions of aligned sequences from other species for sequences unavailable for swine. Amplicons produced by reverse transcription-PCR were cloned, sequenced, and spotted onto nylon filters. A trial DNA array was first produced to optimize the intensity, specificity, and variability of signals from amplicons amplified with either gene-specific or universal primers. The DNA macroarray was then validated by comparing the gene expression profile of nonstimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) to that of phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate and ionomycin (PMA-Iono)-stimulated PBMCs from three different animals over a 48-h time period. As already described for more conventional techniques, we showed that certain genes, such as those for CD40, gamma interferon, interleukin 2 (IL-2), the IL-2 receptor, and tumor necrosis factor alpha, were upregulated in PMA-Iono-stimulated PBMCs. A detailed analysis also indicated a downregulation of several genes which are expressed mainly by macrophages (IL-1, IL-8, AMCF-1, natural-resistance-associated macrophage protein, neutrophil chemotactic protein, DAP-12, and monocyte chemoattractant protein) in samples stimulated for 24 h with PMA-Iono compared to their levels of expression in control samples. These results indicate that the DNA macroarray that we constructed can be a useful tool for simultaneously monitoring the mRNA expression of immunologically relevant genes in different porcine samples.

Animals↗

[Management of erectile dysfunction in daily practice--PISTES study].

INTRODUCTION: Despite the improved knowledge on erectile dysfunction and its prevalence over recent years, no pharmaco-epidemiology study on the management of erectile dysfunction in daily practice has been performed. This absence of data is all the more regrettable in view of the real revolution in the management of this disorder, leading an increasing number of patients to consult. OBJECTIVES: To determine and analyse the presenting complaints, aetiological diagnoses, and modalities of management of patients with erectile dysfunction. METHOD: PISTES pharmaco-epidemiological, prospective and transverse study of a representative national sample of 411 private or hospital urologists and sexologists between April and June 2002. RESULTS: The majority of patients (56.7%) expressed discomfort talking about this subject. Patients with mixed predominant psychogenic ED and mixed predominant organic ED represented 67.1% of the population, confirming the multifactorial aetiology. The management varies according to the aetiology. Complementary investigations are essentially hormone assays (89.6%), well ahead of provoked erection tests (21.9%). Patients are reviewed within 2 months and 65% resumed a satisfactory sexual activity. The main causes of failure are inefficacy (83.7%) and the high cost of treatment preventing purchase (56%). CONCLUSION: This study shows an effective management of erectile dysfunction, but which is still faced with difficulties of access to care for psychological or economic reasons. These difficulties concern the patient, his partner and the practitioner Although information on erectile dysfunction has been greatly improved, it does not sufficiently encourage effective therapeutic management.

Cross-Sectional Studies↗

ChickRH6: a chicken whole-genome radiation hybrid panel.

As a first step towards the development of radiation hybrid maps, we have produced a radiation hybrid panel in the chicken by fusing female embryonic diploid fibroblasts irradiated at 6,000 rads with HPRT-deficient hamster Wg3hCl2 cells. Due to the low retention frequency of the chicken fragments, a high number of clones was produced from which the best ones were selected. Thus, 452 fusion clones were tested for retention frequencies with a panel of 46 markers. Based on these results, 103 clones with a mean marker retention of 23.8% were selected for large scale culture to produce DNA in sufficient quantities for the genotyping of numerous markers. Retention frequency was tested again with the same 46 markers and the 90 best clones, with a final mean retention frequency of 21.9%, were selected for the final panel. This panel will be a valuable resource for fine mapping of markers and genes in the chicken, and will also help in building BAC contigs.

Animals↗

[A survey on the position of France in international clinical research as assessed by pharmaceutical laboratories].

In order to evaluate the attractiveness of France for conducting international clinical trials, a survey was performed among pharmaceutical companies that are based in France or that have affiliates in France. The survey concerned international phase II and III clinical studies carried out in 2002 and 2003. Ten pharmaceutical companies representing 36% of the French market completed the survey. 134 trials were analysed in total. France recruited 8.3% of the overall number of patients recruited, and 15.0% of those recruited within Europe. France was within the overall mean with regard to the percentage of active centres (78.5% versus 79.5%) and the percentage of patients evaluable according to protocol (86.8% versus 87.3%). In contrast, France ranked within the last third of analysed countries with respect to the speed of recruitment (1.5 versus 1.9 patients/centre/month), and the number of queries per observation (16.8 versus 10.9). The analysis of the qualitative indicators of performance showed that, although the perception of pharmaceutical companies towards the quality of French medicine and administrative authorities is positive, France notably needs to improve the productivity of its clinical research in order to enhance its attractiveness for the pharmaceutical sponsors of clinical trials.

Clinical Trials as Topic↗