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Biomedical subjects

B Varet

Publications and source records attributed to B Varet.

At least 163 records · Page 9Linked to original sources

[Abnormal sensitivity to erythropoietin in the erythroblast precursors in Vaquez disease].

Marrow specimens of patients with polycythemia vera rise to erythrocytic colonies in vitro without addition of erythropoietin to the culture. This behavior was never observed with marrow cells of normal subjects or secondary erythrocytosis. These results indicate that the sensitivity of some erythrocytic progenitor cells to erythropoietin is altered in polycythemia vera.

Bone Marrow↗

Genetic control of antinuclear antibodies in mice infected with Rauscher leukemia virus.

The incidence of antinuclear antibodies after Rauscher leukemia virus inoculation was found to be significantly higher in C57BL/6 than in BALB/c mice and still greater in their F1 hybrids. The relationships among antinuclear antibody incidence, erythroblastic disease, Rauscher leukemia virus production, and the H-2 genotypes were studied in the F1 generation and backcrosses using different virus inocula. The results observed suggest that (a) at least two genes are involved in the control of susceptibility to Rauscher leukemia virus-induced erythroblastosis, one of them probably being H-2 linked, and that (b) a non-H-2-linked gene seems to control, at the same time, induction of antinuclear antibodies, focus-forming virus production in the spleen, and susceptibility to the disease. It can be concluded that C-type viruses play an active role in antinuclear antibody induction.

Animals↗

An unusual case of leukemia with high fetal hemoglobin: demonstration of abnormal hemoglobin synthesis localized in a red cell clone.

A high level of fetal hemoglobin was found in an 8-yr-old boy without any hematologic disorders except for a moderate anemia. The absence of hemoglobin abnormalities in the parents led us to suspect a latent malignant disease that, on follow-up, was confirmed to be myelomonocytic leukemia. Hemoglobin biosynthetic studies provided evidence of unbalanced synthesis of globin subunits by reticulocytes, while the production of non-alpha chains was equal to that of alpha chains in bone marrow cells. The expression of red cell antigen i was increased, while those of I, A, and A1 antigens were found to decrease progressively. Two populations of erythrocytes, A-positive and A-negative, were distinguished and could be separated by differential agglutination. Unbalanced globin chain synthesis, increased fetal hemoglobin, and antigenic changes of the membrane were shown to be restricted to the A-negative population. The biologic data were not entirely consistent with a genuine reversion to fetal erythropoiesis. The question remains of a polychromosomal lesion of either quiescent F cells or adult stem cells.

ABO Blood-Group System↗

Enhancement of murine erythrocyte auto-antibody responses by Rauscher leukemogenic virus and by a weak allogeneic stimulation.

B6/c mice do not develop spontaneous positive direct Coomb's tests (DCT), but they are highly susceptible to the induction of erythrocyte auto-antibodies by immunization with cross reacting rat blood cells (36% positive DCT). Rauscher leukemogenic virus (RLV) does not directly induce DCT in these susceptible mice; neither does the inoculation of parental spleen cells. On the other hand both RLV and allogeneic stimulation by parental spleen cells enhance the incidence of the rat blood cell-induced DCT (up to 75% and 69% respectively). This is discussed in terms of a separate etiology to antinuclear and anti-erythrocyte auto-antibodies and of the possible mechanisms of auto-immune stimulation by oncogenic viruses or allogeneic stimulation.

Animals↗

A hitherto undescribed plasma factor acting at the contact phase of blood coagulation (Flaujeac factor): case report and coagulation studies.

This paper reports an asymptomatic coagulation defect responsible for an abnormality at the contact phase of blood coagulation in vitro, distinct from Hageman factor and Fletcher factor deficiencies. Coagulation studies in a 50-yr-old French woman without bleeding tendency revealed the following results: whole-blood clotting time in glass tubes and activated partial thromboplastin time with kaolin and ellagic acid were greatly prolonged; one-stage prothrombin was normal; no circulating anticoagulant was detected, and the infusion of normal plasma corrected the coagulation defect with an estimated half-life of 6.5 days; the levels of factor VIII, IX, XI, and XII were normal; mutual correction was obtained with a Fletcher factor-deficient plasma; the level of whole complement was normal. Studies of the contact phase of blood coagulation and contact-induced fibrinolysis showed the same abnormalities as in Hageman factor- and Fletcher-deficient plasmas. These results indicate that the patient's plasma is deficient in a previously undescribed coagulation factor, which participates in the initial stage of the blood coagulation process in vitro. Family studies revealed consanguinity in the propositus' parents. The assay of this newly described factor in the propositus' children revealed a partial defect, compatible with a heterozygous state, in three of the four tested children. This indicates a recessive inheritance of this new blood coagulation defect.

Blood Coagulation↗