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Biomedical subjects

A Couvelard

Publications and source records attributed to A Couvelard.

48 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1998

Leukemic pleural effusion in B-cell prolymphocytic leukemia.

The occurrence of leukemic pleural effusion is a rare complication in chronic lymphocytic leukemia and has not been reported in B-cell prolymphocytic leukemia (B-PLL). We report a case of pleural effusion revealing a B-PLL. The diagnosis was made on the cytological and immunological characteristics of cells in the blood and pleural effusion. This patient was treated with fludarabine and was in complete remission after three courses. This observation may have clinical implications for the use of new adenoside nucleotide analogues in symptomatic B-PLL.

Aged↗
PubMed1997

Expression of cell adhesion molecules by microvascular endothelial cells in the cortical and subcortical regions of the normal human brain: an immunohistochemical analysis.

We studied the repertoire of junctional, cell-matrix and leucocyte-endothelial adhesion molecules normally expressed by cortical and subcortical brain microvessels, as compared with large intracranial vessels. An indirect immunoperoxidase method was applied to acetone-fixed cryostat sections of normal brain tissue obtained from 10 adult patients during surgical resections for intracranial aneurysms or at autopsy. Like large intracranial vessels, brain microvessels expressed the two endothelial-specific junctional cell adhesion molecules VE-cadherin and platelet-cell adhesion molecule-1. We verified that they also expressed the molecular components of adherens-type junctions, including catenins, plakoglobin, vinculin and alpha-actinin. Brain microvessels expressed a large repertoire of integrin molecules of the beta 1, beta 3 and beta 4 subfamilies. However, they displayed apparently lower levels of alpha 2, alpha 5, alpha V and beta 3 integrin chains than large intracranial vessels. Brain microvessels constitutively expressed large amounts of the leucocyte-endothelial adhesion molecules, intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-2 and CD34 and very low amounts of ICAM-1 and lymphocyte function-associated antigen-3. In contrast to large intracranial vessels, brain microvessels presented no constitutive expression of P-selectin. Our study shows that, in contrast to their highly specific structural and functional characteristics, brain microvascular endothelial cells present a repertoire of cell adhesion molecules very similar to that of most other capillary vessels in the body.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

[Hyperplastic polyps arising in islands of gastric mucosa in the duodenum].

Hyperplastic polyps originating from islands of gastric mucosa can be observed in the duodenum. We report 3 cases of duodenal hyperplastic polyps on antral or fully developed fundic mucosa. They macroscopically presented as small confluent polyps or as large villous polyps. Their microscopic features were the same as those observed in hyperplastic gastric polyps. This type of polyp must be added to the list of tumor like lesions of the duodenum that may endoscopically present as polyps.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Structural and functional differentiation of sinusoidal endothelial cells during liver organogenesis in humans.

During fetal life, human liver sinusoids, which differentiate between 4 and 12 weeks of gestation from capillaries of the septum transversum, must support an important hematopoietic function and acquire the structural and functional characteristics of adult sinusoids. To gain insight into their differentiation process, we studied the expression of (1) markers of continuous endothelia, absent from adult sinusoidal endothelial cells (PECAM-1, CD34, and 1F10); (2) functional markers of adult sinusoidal endothelial calls (CD4, 1CAM-1, CD32, and CD14); and (3) extracellular matrix components (laminin, tenascin, fibronectin, and thrombospondin) in 37 fetuses of different gestational ages. We identified two successive differentiation events. (1) An early structural differentiation, occurring from 5 to 12 weeks of gestation, was characterized by the loss of continuous endothelial cell markers and a reduction in the perisinusoidal amount of laminin and in the deposition of tenascin, fibronectin, and thrombospondin; at the end of this process, fetal liver sinusoids present structural characteristics comparable to those of the sinuses in adult hematopoietic bone marrow. (2) A later functional differentiation was characterized by the acquisition of the markers of adult sinusoidal endothelial cells, initiating at 10 weeks of gestation and completed by 20 weeks of gestation; this process likely contributes to adapt liver sinusoids to the specific functions of the adult hepatic tissue.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Focal nodular hyperplasia of the liver: composition of the extracellular matrix and expression of cell-cell and cell-matrix adhesion molecules.

We studied by immunohistochemistry 25 cases of focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH) to evaluate the composition of the extracellular matrix and the expression and distribution of endothelial cell-cell adhesion molecules and integrin receptors. The extracellular matrix of FNH retained the overall organization of that of normal liver. The matrix of central scars resembled that of portal tracts. The main difference was the presence of large vitronectin deposits, which might indicate the existence of local hemodynamic disturbances. The matrix lining the sinusoid-like vessels running in the hyperplastic parenchyma retained characteristic features of the normal perisinusoidal matrix, such as the presence of tenascin. In the zone surrounding the central scars, it contained large amounts of laminin, von Willebrand factor, and thrombospondin, suggesting the development of perisinusoidal fibrosis. Laminin deposition was accompanied by the induction of cell-cell adhesion molecules on adjacent endothelial cells and by the up-regulation of specific integrin receptors on both hepatocytes and sinusoidal endothelial cells. In conclusion, our study: (1) reinforces the hypothesis that FNH is merely a hyperplastic response of liver parenchyma to local vascular abnormalities, and (2) shows that the lesions of perisinusoidal fibrosis associated with FNH are accompanied by the induction of integrin receptors on hepatocytes and sinusoidal endothelial cells.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Human allograft vein failure: immunohistochemical arguments supporting the involvement of an immune-mediated mechanism.

The aim of this study was to search for signs suggestive of an ongoing immune-mediated reaction in failed human cryopreserved venous allografts. In 15 samples, the authors analyzed: (1) the pattern of morphological changes; (2) the density, distribution, and phenotype of leukocytic infiltrate; and (3) the expression of class II major histocompatibility complex (MHC) antigens and inducible adhesion molecules. Two groups of samples could be recognized. In samples explanted before 3 months after grafting, the structure of the vessel wall was preserved. A dense leukocytic infiltrate was present within the intima and around the numerous vasa vasorum located in medial and adventitial layers. Class II MHC antigens and cytokine-dependent molecules were induced on endothelial cells lining the vasa vasorum and on residual smooth muscle cells. In samples explanted after 3 months of evolution, the vessel wall has lost its normal structure and contained few vasa vasorum. A few leukocytes were detected around capillary vessels located in the peripheral connective tissue surrounding the graft. Class II MHC antigens and adhesion molecules were induced on endothelial cells lining the peripheral capillary vessels. These results suggest the involvement of an immune-mediated mechanism at the early stage of the evolution of failed human venous allografts.

Cell Adhesion Molecules↗
PubMed1994

Endothelial cell heterogeneity in the normal human liver acinus: in situ immunohistochemical demonstration.

While a certain degree of structural and functional intra-lobular heterogeneity of sinusoidal endothelial cells has been observed in rodents, little information is available about the zonal characteristics of sinusoidal endothelial cells in the human liver acinus. We have therefore examined the intra-acinar distribution of a panel of endothelial markers in the normal human liver, including: (a) structural markers of continuous and sinusoidal endothelia (PECAM-1, CD-34 protein, VE-cadherin, 1F10 antigen), (b) functional markers specific for sinusoidal endothelial cells, as previously determined in the laboratory (CD4 protein, the lipopolysaccharide-binding protein receptor (CD 14), aminopeptidase N, ICAM-1, receptors II and III for the Fc fragment of immunoglobulins G), (c) endothelial cell-matrix adhesion proteins and leukocyte-endothelial cell adhesion molecules. We observed a heterogeneous distribution for: (a) the 1F10 antigen, whose distribution in the human liver acinus was restricted to vessels situated along the axis of acinar zone 1, (b) the lipopolysaccharide-binding protein receptor and the receptor III for the Fc fragment of IgG, not expressed or only barely expressed in acinar zone 1. The distribution of the other markers tested did not display significant intra-lobular variation. Our in situ results suggest the existence of a degree of zonal heterogeneity in the structural and functional characteristics of sinusoidal endothelial cells in the human liver acinus. This might contribute to the constitution of distinct microenvironments within the human liver parenchyma.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Parenchymal innervation of normal and cirrhotic human liver: a light and electron microscopic study using monoclonal antibodies against the neural cell-adhesion molecule.

Hepatic innervation participates in the control of sinusoidal blood flow and in the regulation of certain metabolic functions of the liver. The study of the distribution of hepatic nerves has been hampered by the lack of adequate markers. We therefore tested the value of the neural cell-adhesion molecule (NCAM) as a probe for the study of parenchymal nerves in the normal and cirrhotic human liver. Four antibodies against various epitopes of NCAM were tested by light and electron microscopic immunohistochemistry: Leu19, ERIC-1, VC1.1, and HNK-1. Their reactivity was compared with that of antibodies against the following neural cell markers: S100 protein, neurofilaments, and neuron-specific enolase (NSE). The tissue reactivity of anti-NCAM antibodies was variable, suggesting a microheterogeneity of the NCAM molecule in the normal liver. Clones Leu19 and ERIC-1 proved to be the most sensitive of the anti-NCAM antibodies. Their sensitivity was superior to that of the antibodies directed against the other neural cell markers tested. In the normal liver, both Leu19 and ERIC-1 demonstrated a heterogeneous distribution of nerve fibers inside the hepatic lobule. Intralobular nerve fibers predominated in Zone 1. This might contribute to the constitution of distinct zonal microenvironments inside the hepatic lobule. In cirrhosis, no nerve fiber was detected inside parenchymal nodules; no nerve plexus was visible at the contact of proliferating neoductules. These alterations might contribute to the pathogenesis of the hemodynamic and metabolic disorders observed in cirrhosis.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗
PubMed1993

Expression of cell-cell and cell-matrix adhesion proteins by sinusoidal endothelial cells in the normal and cirrhotic human liver.

We compared the expression of cell-cell and cell-matrix adhesion proteins by sinusoidal endothelial cells in normal human liver, in which the endothelial lining of hepatic sinusoids is discontinuous and devoid of basement membrane, and in cirrhosis, during which sinusoids might undergo a process of capillarization and acquire a continuous lining and a typical basement membrane. In normal liver, sinusoidal endothelial cells displayed a very restricted repertory of cell-adhesion molecules: the intercellular adhesion molecules PECAM-1 and CD34 were undetectable and only two integrins, alpha 1 beta 1 and alpha 5 beta 1, were present, whereas the laminin receptors alpha 6 beta 1 and alpha 2 beta 1 were undetectable and the beta 3 integrins were faintly expressed. In capillarized sinusoids, sinusoidal endothelial cells displayed striking changes in their repertory of cell-adhesion molecules, including the expression of PECAM-1 protein and messenger RNAs and the induction of the laminin receptors alpha 6 beta 1 and alpha 2 beta 1. Such changes co-localized with subendothelial laminin deposits. In conclusion, normal sinusoidal endothelial cells express a distinctive set of cell-adhesion molecules, adapted to their structural and microenvironmental characteristics, and this repertory is dramatically modified during sinusoidal capillarization, possibly as a consequence of the concomitant matrix changes.

Cell Adhesion Molecules↗