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V Lambert

Publications and source records attributed to V Lambert.

64 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

[In which type of hypertension should ventricular hyperexcitability be suspected?].

The aim of the present study was to determine when a search for ventricular arrhythmias, by ambulatory electrocardiographic monitoring, is necessary in hypertensive patients. An electrocardiogram, an echocardiogram and a 24 hour Holter monitoring were recorded in 88 patients with essential hypertension. According to the results of electrocardiogram patients were subdivided into 4 groups: normal electrocardiogram, isolated left auricular hypertrophy (LAH), isolated left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and major ST-T wave changes. According to the degree of septal thickness (ST), patients were classed in 4 groups. [table; see text] For hypertensive patients with normal electrocardiogram, Holter monitoring is not necessary; in fact practically no complex arrhythmias is found in this group. On the contrary, for hypertensive subjects with ST-T waves changes, this investigation seems very interesting, nearly 75% of them present high-grade ventricular arrhythmias. For the patients with electrocardiographic isolated LAH or LVH, the realisation of an echocardiography permits to separate the subjects with mild LVH (ST less than 12 mm) where Holter monitoring is not necessary (81% Lown O-I) and the patients with mean or severe LVH (ST greater than or equal to 12 mm) where this investigation seems very interesting, nearly 65% of them present high-grade ventricular arrhythmias.

Adult↗

Contribution of aflatoxin B1 and hepatitis B virus infection in the induction of liver tumors in ducks.

The study of two major risk factors in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma, namely persistent hepatitis virus infection and exposure to dietary aflatoxins, has been hampered by lack of an experimental system. To this end we have used a Pekin duck model to examine the effect of congenital duck hepatitis B virus (DHBV) infection and aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) exposure in the induction and development of liver cancer. AFB1 was administered to DHBV infected or noninfected ducks at two doses (0.08 and 0.02 mg/kg) by i.p. injection once a week from the third month posthatch until they were sacrificed (2.3 years later). Two control groups of ducks not treated with AFB1 (one of which was infected with DHBV) were observed for the same period. Each experimental group included 13-16 ducks. Higher mortality was observed in ducks infected with DHBV and treated with AFB1 compared to noninfected ducks treated with AFB1 and other control ducks. In the groups of noninfected ducks treated with high and low doses of AFB1, liver tumors developed in 3 of 10 and 2 of 10 ducks; in infected ducks treated with the high dose 3 of 6 liver tumors were observed and none in the low dose of AFB1. No liver tumors were observed in the two control groups. Ducks infected with DHBV and treated with AFB1 showed more pronounced periportal inflammatory changes, fibrosis, and focal necrosis compared to other groups. All DHBV carrier ducks showed persistent viremia throughout the observation period. An increase of viral DNA titers in livers and sera of AFB1 treated animals compared to infected controls was frequently observed. No DHBV DNA integration into the host genome was observed, although in one hepatocellular carcinoma from an AFB1 treated duck, an accumulation of viral multimer DNA forms was detected. The metabolism of AFB1 in infected and noninfected duck liver was also examined. The study on the role of DHBV infection and AFB1 in the etiopathogenesis of liver tumors may help to clarify some of the basic mechanisms of carcinogenesis.

Aflatoxin B1↗

Virus-neutralizing monoclonal antibody to a conserved epitope on the duck hepatitis B virus pre-S protein.

In this study we used duck hepatitis B virus (DHBV)-infected Pekin ducks and heron hepatitis B virus (HHBV)-infected heron tissue to search for epitopes responsible for virus neutralization on pre-S proteins. Monoclonal antibodies were produced by immunizing mice with purified DHBV particles. Of 10 anti-DHBV specific hybridomas obtained, 1 was selected for this study. This monoclonal antibody recognized in both DHBV-infected livers and viremic sera a major (36-kilodalton) protein and several minor pre-S proteins in all seven virus strains used. In contrast, pre-S proteins of HHBV-infected tissue or viremic sera did not react. Thus, the monoclonal antibody recognizes a highly conserved DHBV pre-S epitope. For mapping of the epitope, polypeptides from different regions of the DHBV pre-S/S gene were expressed in Escherichia coli and used as the substrate for immunoblotting. The epitope was delimited to a sequence of approximately 23 amino acids within the pre-S region, which is highly conserved in four cloned DHBV isolates and coincides with the main antigenic domain as predicted by computer algorithms. In in vitro neutralization assays performed with primary duck hepatocyte cultures, the antibody reduced DHBV infectivity by approximately 75%. These data demonstrate a conserved epitope of the DHBV pre-S protein which is located on the surface of the viral envelope and is recognized by virus-neutralizing antibodies.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Prolonged duck hepatitis B virus replication in duck hepatocytes cocultivated with rat epithelial cells: a useful system for antiviral testing.

Duck cultured hepatocytes from Pekin ducks naturally infected by duck hepatitis B virus can remain functional twice longer if a coculture system with rat liver epithelial cells is used instead of ordinary primary culture. The use of a selective medium in which ornithine and lactate replaced arginine and glucose, respectively, allowed viral replication initiated in vivo to be maintained in the coculture for 2 months. Several antiviral compounds including the pyrophosphate analog (phosphonoformic acid) or nucleoside analogs (9 beta-arabinofuranosyl AMP, 1-(2'-deoxy-2'-fluoro-beta-D-arabinofuranosyl)-5-iodocytosine, 1,2'-deoxy-2'-fluoro-beta-D-arabinofuranosyl-5-ethyluracil and 1,2'-deoxy-2'-fluoro-beta-D-arabinofuranosyl thymine) were studied in both culture systems for their ability to inhibit duck hepatitis B virus replication. Hepatocytes were treated for 7 days with 1,2'-deoxy-2'-fluoro-beta-D-arabinofuranosyl-5-ethyluracil (10 microM) and 1,2'-deoxy-2'-fluoro-beta-D-arabinofuranosyl thymine (0.5 microM) or for 14 days with 9 beta-arabinofuranosyl AMP (90 microM), phosphonoformic acid (100 microM) and 1-(2'-deoxy-2'-fluoro-beta-D-arabinofuranosyl)-5-iodocytosine (6 microM). The effects of the drugs on viral replication were monitored by testing for duck hepatitis B virus DNA in the culture supernatant and in the cells by molecular hybridization.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗

Duck hepatitis B virus can tolerate insertion, deletion, and partial frameshift mutation in the distal pre-S region.

In-frame and frameshift mutations were introduced into the pre-S region (1,212 base pairs) of duck hepatitis B virus. The in-frame mutants retained the inserted 12 nucleotides, while the frameshift mutants either reverted to wild type or exhibited a 10-nucleotide compensatory deletion downstream of the original mutation site. Thus, although duck hepatitis B virus has a compact and highly economical genome organization, it can replicate despite alterations of up to 9 amino acid codons in the pre-S and P open reading frames.

Animals↗

Evidence for the presence of duck hepatitis B virus in wild migrating ducks.

A virus closely related to duck hepatitis B virus (DHBV) was isolated from serum and liver samples of wild migratory ducks (mallards) caught in two separate wildlife reserve parks in France. In the first one (Dombes region) 12% of wild mallards were positive for DHBV, and in the second (River Somme) 3% of mallards were found positive. The DHBV isolated from the serum of wild mallards was also associated with an endogenous DNA polymerase activity capable in vitro of completing a partially double-stranded viral DNA into a fully double-stranded DNA of 3 kb. The various replicative DNA forms reported for DHBV were also detected in the liver of wild viraemic mallards. The DNA restriction enzyme pattern of the wild mallard strain differed from that of American and French strains of DHBV. The wild mallard strain DHBV was experimentally transmitted to mallard and Pekin ducklings and induced a chronic viraemia in both varieties of infected birds. This strain might be the common ancestor of all DHBV strains isolated from domestic ducks world-wide. The discovery of a DHBV-related virus in the natural wild population might be an important clue in the study of the different roles of environmental, host and viral factors in the pathogenesis of DHBV infection, and their possible oncogenic action in ducks.

Animal Population Groups↗

Transcatheter closure of patent foramen ovale in patients with platypnea-orthodeoxia: results of a multicentric French registry.

BACKGROUND: Dyspnea and the decrease in arterial saturation in the upright position in elderly subjects is described as platypnea-orthodeoxia syndrome (POS). POS is secondary to the occurrence of an atrial right-to-left shunt through a patent foramen ovale (PFO). METHODS: This French multicentric study reports on 78 patients (mean age 67 +/- 11.3 years) with POS who had transcatheter closure of the PFO; frequently associated diseases were pneumonectomy (n = 36) and an ascending aortic aneurysm (n = 11). In all patients, the diagnosis was confirmed by transthoracic or/and transesophageal echocardiography. Five different closure devices were used: Amplatz (n = 45), Cardioseal (n = 13), Sideris (n = 11), Das Angel Wings (n = 8) and Starflex (n = 1). Closure was successful in 76 patients (97%). RESULTS: Oxygen saturation increased immediately after occlusion from 84.6 +/- 10.7% to 95.1 +/- 6.4% (p < 0.001) and dyspnea improved from grade 2.7 +/- 0.7 to grade 1 +/- 1 (p < 0.001). A small residual shunt was immediately observed in 5 patients (3 with the Cardioseal device, 1 with the Sideris and 1 with the Amplatz) leading to the implantation of a second device in one case (Cardioseal). Two early deaths occurred unrelated to the procedure (one due to sepsis probably related to pneumonectomy, another due to respiratory insufficiency). Other complications were: a small shunt between the aorta and the left atrium, two atrial fibrillations and a left-sided thrombus which disappeared with anticoagulant therapy. At a mean follow-up of 15 +/- 12 months, there were 7 late deaths related to the underlying disease. CONCLUSION: Percutaneous occlusion of the foramen ovale is safe and gives excellent results thanks to continuing improvement in available devices. This technique enables some patients in an unstable condition to avoid a surgical closure.

Aged↗