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Biomedical subjects

A Baruchel

Publications and source records attributed to A Baruchel.

78 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

Detection of minimal residual disease in leukemias: a critical approach.

The detection of minimal residual disease (MRD) represents a major goal in leukemias with great potential applications: identification of patients at high risk of relapse, earlier detection of relapses, possible improvement of autologous bone marrow transplantation (determination of the best time for bone marrow harvest and assessment of its quality). Theoretical requirements for a model of MRD detection exist and are recalled. Numerous methods (cytology, immunology, cytogenetics, clonogenic assays, molecular biology) have been used. All share limitations which may concern sensitivity, specificity, reproducibility, conveniency. Progresses will be brought by more sophisticated methods in immunology (double staining with or without flow cytometry) and above all molecular biology (revolutioned by polymerase chain reaction applications).

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗

Monosomy-7 in childhood hemopoietic disorders.

Acquired pure monosomy-7 is associated with various myeloproliferative disorders (MPD), myelodysplasias (MDS), and acute myeloblastic leukemias (AML) in children and a poor prognosis. A series of 14 malignant blood disorders with pure monosomy-7 in children (eight MPD, two refractory anemia with excess of blasts, (RAEB), and four AML) is reported and compared with cases in the literature. The median age is significantly different in the patients with MPD and those with MDS or AML: 23, 80.5, and 112 months, respectively. The outcomes of MPD and RAEB are characterized by a high risk of rapid blastic transformation and resistance to polychemotherapy. Bone marrow transplantation (BMT) seems to be the best treatment, and one survival of two years in complete remission after autologous BMT in a child with AML is reported. Several myeloid cell lineages are involved in the proliferation, which partly explains the difficulties of cytologic classification and suggests that a pluripotent stem-cell is at the origin of the disease.

Adolescent↗

[HIV infections and transfusions].

The prevalence of AIDS now approaches 1% in patients with hemophilia and laboratory evidence of abnormal immunoregulation is found in 50% of patients with severe hemophilia. Current evidence indicates that a human retrovirus HIV/LAV is the etiologic agent which can be transmitted through the administration of blood products. We reported 7 cases in childhood, 5 acute leukemia, 1 metastatic neuroblastoma, and 1 severe aplastic anemia in whom AIDS occurred after administration of blood products. To date 5 patients are alive and 2 have died of infections. It is suggested that the use of steroids or antineoplastic agents increases the incidence of AIDS in patients infected with HIV/LAV because of altered immune suppression. The maintenance treatment is difficult in these patients. The widespread use of HIV serology to screen donated blood should help to prevent AIDS transmission in leukemic patients.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗

Severe gram-negative infections in neutropenic children cured by imipenem/cilastatin in combination with an aminoglycoside.

Nine severe Gram-negative septicaemias in neutropenic (less than 500 neutrophils/mm3) children with neoplastic diseases were treated with imipenem/cilastatin (75 mg/kg/day) in combination with an aminoglycoside. The bacterial strains (Pseudomonas aeruginosa 7, P. putida 1, Enterobacter cloacae 1) were resistant to penicillins and cephalosporins, or were isolated during treatment with a broad-spectrum penicillin to which the bacterial strain was sensitive in vitro. The mean duration of neutropenia was 18.5 (3-51) days and duration of treatment 20 (8-51) days. Pyrexia was controlled in 2.8 (1-10) days and eradication of the pathogen from blood in one day. No clinical and biological adverse reaction was observed. These results show imipenem/cilastatin to be an effective treatment of infections in severely immunocompromised patients.

Adolescent↗

[Activation of oxidative metabolism of granulocytes and monocytes by IGG-coated platelets from patients with thrombocytopenia].

We have previously shown that monoclonal anti-T cell antibodies bound to their specific targets can trigger the activation of monocyte/macrophage oxidative metabolism through an Fc receptor-mediated interaction. The present study demonstrates that IgG coated platelets from patients with thrombocytopenia-associated diseases can induce a similar respiratory burst activation in polymorphonuclear and mononuclear phagocytes from normal individuals. The intensity of the oxidative reaction as measured by luminol-dependent chemiluminescence is in close correlation with the level of surface-bound IgG molecules as determined by a radioactive anti-immunoglobulin assay. This new methodology to evaluating IgG fixed on human platelets by their capacity to trigger the generation of highly reactive oxygen species by granulocytes and monocytes has also suggested a new mechanism in the genesis of thrombocytopenia associated with autoimmune diseases.

Cell Membrane↗