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Biomedical subjects

A Vincent

Publications and source records attributed to A Vincent.

At least 451 records · Page 25Linked to original sources
PubMed1979

Long-term effects of repeated plasma exchange in myasthenia gravis.

Plasma exchange produces a short-term clinical improvement in myasthenia gravis (M.G.) which may be attributable to removal of acetylcholine receptor (AChR) antibody. The possibility that repeated plasma exchanges might confer cumulative long-term benefits was investigated. Serum-AChR-antibody and clinical response were followed for 4--12 months (mean 8 months) in six M.G. patients receiving 4--25 plasma exchanges of 2--4 1 together with immunosuppressive drugs (azathioprine [2.5 mg/kg] with or without alternate-day prednisone therapy), and in seven M.G. patients on immunosuppressive drugs alone. Percentage decrease in AChR antibody was not significantly different in the two treatment groups. Decline in antibody titre was associated with clinical improvement. Eight patients with previous thymoma showed significantly greater decline in antibody than the remaining five patients, irrespective of plasma exchange. Since repeated plasma exchange had no cumulative long-term benefit, the value of this treatment as used here lies only in short-term control of severe M.G. symptoms.

Acetylcholine↗
PubMed1979

Bleomycin induces cataract formation in newborn rats in association with modifications of crystallin synthesis.

The antitumor antibiotic Bleomycin induces the formation of cataract when injected into newborn rats but not when injected into rats after 12 days or older. The development of these lesions is strictly associated with progressive biochemical modifications of the crystallins as demonstrated by electrophoresis on one and two-dimensional gels. When the lenses of the rats are observed histologically, the first modifications appear between 7 and 13 days after the injection of the drug concomitantly with the first biochemical modifications. Later on the fiber cells start to degenerate and there is a gradual destruction of the whole center of the lens.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

Function of circulating antibody to acetylcholine receptor in myasthenia gravis: investigation by plasma exchange.

Plasma exchange has been used to investigate the function fo anti-acetylcholine receptor (anti-AChR) antibody in seven patients with acquired myasthenia gravis (MG) who had elevated antibody titers and in one patient with congenital MG who had normal titers. There was an inverse association between clinical indices of muscle strength and anti-AChR titers, with a minimum time lag of 2 days for the clinical response. The inverse association of the clinical state with anti-AChR antibody titers was closer than that with total immunoglobulin G or other immunoglobulins, and is consistent with the view that the anti-AChR antibody is the principal factor interfering with neuromuscular transmission in acquired MG.

Adult↗
PubMed1978

[Recording the electrogram of the sinus node. Effects of the injection of tetrodotoxin into the artery of the sinus].

The cells of the SA node (SAN) are very resistant to the action of tetrodotoxine (TTX), a drug which. paradoxically, blocks depolarisation of the outer myocardial cells. Injection of TTX into the artery of the SAN brings about asystole; bur regular electrical activity, consisting of a slow wave of 200 to 300 ms duration, can still be picked up by an electrode placed on the SAN. This electrical activity, which can only be picked up over the SAN, and is resistant to TTX but blocked by acetylcholine, is interpretated as being the electrogram of the SAN. After the artery has been washed out by normal saline, the effect of TTX becomes progressively less; under these conditions, all degrees of sino-atrial block can be observed. Arising from a study of the phenomena of capture of the SA and AV nodes, of the effect of artrial stimulation, and of the time relationships between the various electrical events recorded, some hypotheses of the electrophysiology of the SAN and the sino-atrial conduction are put forward.

Acetylcholine↗
PubMed1977

[Bone maturation in the fetus and newborn infant].

On the basis of a study of X-ray films of the lower limbs of 994 babies (included 245 hypotrophics) a "bone age" scale of the fetus between 28 and 42 weeks of gestation has been established. The Acheson's method has been used and the bone age determined by addition of notes given to different evolutive phases of the first five ossification centers of the ankle and the knee. To more practical purpose, the results of boys and girls have been joined, although the bone age is in advance among the girls and a theorical scale established with the 10th, 50th and 90th percentiles curves. The comparison with the curves established among 245 hypotrophic newborns, seems to prove that the bone age is a more resistant criteria to malnutrition than the weight and even the length. This new criteria to determine the fetal age does not escape to the criticisms given to the other existing criteria, but radiograph is an objective and fixed document. Its repetition allows to follow the growth of the child and probably to study the role of various factors, mainly nutritional, on this growth. The measure of the length of the tibia and of its increament on the same X-ray films is an other possible method of great interest for the same purpose.

Age Determination by Skeleton↗