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Biomedical subjects

C Albert

Publications and source records attributed to C Albert.

51 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1996

[Multicystic peritoneal mesothelioma].

We report on a 31-year-old man with a 29 x 15 x 15 cm large abdominal tumor who came to surgery under suspicion of echinococcus cyst of the liver. Histologically, the neoplasm could identified as multicystic peritoneal mesothelioma (synonyma: benign cystic mesothelioma). Additionally some cysts were located in the greater omentum and mesocolon. In contrast to our case the benign cystic mesotheliomas most commonly occur in young women, localized in the pelvis and abdomen and often complicated by postoperative local recurrence. We performed a resection of the right hemicolon and the omentum. Postoperatively no further therapy was necessary because of the benign appearance of the lesion. Close follow-up is required in these patients due to the disposition for recurrences.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Ethane exhalation and vitamin E/ubiquinol status as markers of lipid peroxidation in ferrocene iron-loaded rats.

Organ damage caused by iron overload has been mostly attributed to iron-induced peroxidation of membrane lipids. Using the ferrocene iron-loaded rat model, we studied ethane exhalation as a direct marker of in vivo lipid peroxidation, as well as concentrations of alpha-tocopherol and ubiquinol 9/10 in liver and plasma as indirect markers of this process. The feeding of a diet enriched with 0.5% TMH-ferrocene up to 31 weeks resulted in a large increase in liver iron concentration to about 25 mg/g wet weight (w wt). At lower, predominantly hepatocellular liver siderosis, the breath ethane exhalation was dependent on dietary vitamin E (VitE) supplements (onset of ethane exhalation at liver-Fe > 2 mg/g w wt on vitE-restricted diet; > 5 mg Fe per gram on VitE-replete diet). At severe liver siderosis, breath ethane exhalation reached a maximum of approximately 8 nmol/kg/hr independent of VitE supplementation. Plasma as well as hepatic alpha-tocopherol decreased with progressive iron loading. In addition, a significant depletion in hepatic ubiquinol 9 and 10 was noted.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Reduction of short-term radiation lethality by biological response modifiers given alone or in association with other chemical protectors.

The advantages gained by a combined treatment of different chemical protectors on short-term lethality of X-irradiated adult male mice have been studied. The following compounds were given alone or in a mixture of two or three compounds: 16,16-dimethyl PGE2 (PGE2), cysteine (Cys), glucan, glutathione (GSH), 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), mercaptoproprionylglycine (MPG), or WR-2721. The survival of mice treated before X irradiation with the optimal dose of each radioprotector given separately shows that WR-2721 and 5-HT yield the best protection with dose reduction factors (DRFs) of 2.2 and 1.7, respectively. Cysteine, glucan, PGE2, MPG, and GSH, with DRFs of 1.4, 1.4, 1.2, 1.1, and 1.1, respectively, are less efficient radioprotectors. When PGE2 was combined with a low dose of WR-2721 (200 mg/kg), the protection increased in a synergistic way. The increase in protection offered by a combination of PGE2 with Cys, glucan, GSH, or 5-HT is less marked and the effect obtained is only additive. A synergistic action is also obtained with a combination of WR-2721 (200 mg/kg) and 5-HT (8 mg/kg) (DRF 2.7).

16,16-Dimethylprostaglandin E2↗
PubMed1992

[Chronic kidney failure in the elderly].

Ageing does not spare the kidneys but, remarkably, renal impairment is virtually asymptomatic as homaeostasis remains ensured. Nevertheless, in routine practice physicians must take into account the "physiological" renal insufficiency of the elderly. In old people with chronic renal impairment the diagnostic and therapeutic approaches are special, owing to the age-related risks attached to both paraclinical examinations and treatments. Yet in certain subjects treatment can be remarkably effective and prevent the progression to terminal uraemia, and this justifies the detection and exploration of renal insufficiency in elderly patients. In the last few years, iterative dialysis programmes have been made available to third or even fourth age patients who had reached the so-called end-stage renal failure. The results are encouraging, but there are still purely medical questions concerning the measures to be taken in priority and the numerous organization problems to be solved for optimal management of these patients.

Aged↗
PubMed1990

[Is peritoneal dialysis adequate in the treatment of terminal uremia in aged patients].

In Europe and in the United States, the elderly comprise an increasing segment of the end-stage renal disease population on chronic dialysis. Based on our own experience (84 patients over 75 years treated by PD between 1983 and 1990), the aim of the study was to analyze the advantages and disadvantages of peritoneal dialysis (PD). There are many benefits of PD for elderly patients including less hemodynamic stress than hemodialysis, no need for a vascular access, increased mobility and sense of control over illness, maintenance of residual diuresis. Increasing experience in geriatric PD leads to a better control of problems which may affect the outcome of PD (inability to perform self-dialysis, nutritional abnormalities, peritonitis, bowel dysfunction). PD appears to be an acceptable form of renal replacement therapy in the elderly.

Aged↗
PubMed1987

The rorschach assessment of borderline defenses: a concurrent validity study.

This study assesses the concurrent validity of two Rorschach defense scales designed to identify borderline defensive structure. A Rorschach scale designed by Cooper and his colleagues was systematically compared to a defense scale constructed by Lerner and Lerner. Despite considerable overlap on a conceptual and operational level, the scales are based on divergent theoretical models (developmental arrest and fixation) and Rorschach units of analysis (all responses and human responses). Our results are based on the capacity of each scale to discriminate between independently diagnosed samples (neurotic, outpatient borderline, inpatient borderline, schizophrenic) and the relative discriminatory power of particular defenses within each scale to differentiate between groups.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

Progressive pseudorheumatoid arthritis of childhood (PPAC). A hereditary disorder simulating rheumatoid arthritis.

Five patients are described with a hereditary arthropathy affecting major and minor joints. The main features of this progressive connective tissue disorder are restricted joint mobility, osseous swelling of the interphalangeal and other joints, and platyspondyly. The condition is commonly misdiagnosed as "chronic juvenile polyarthritis with Scheuermann disease". It differs from the rheumatoid-factor-negative polyarticular form of rheumatoid arthritis and other rheumatoid spondylarthropathies by the absence of arthritic and other inflammatory changes, radiographically by the absence of destructive and the presence of dysplastic bone changes. The disorder does not seem to respond to the usual forms of antirheumatoid treatment. Histological studies showed a peculiar, nest-like clustering of chondrocytes in the resting and growth cartilage suggesting that pathogenetically this is a primary disorder of the articular cartilage.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

Ultrastructural alterations in peripheral nerve trunks of rats subchronically treated with chlorphentermine or perhexiline.

The present study deals with the effects of two lipidosis-inducing drugs (chlorphentermine and perhexiline) upon the ultrastructure of large nerve trunks (sciatic and plantar nerves) of adult rats. Subchronic oral administration of high doses of either drug led to comparatively mild lipidosis-like alterations in Schwann cells and in other cell types of both nerve trunks. In addition, plantar nerves, and more rarely sciatic nerves, showed some unspecific lesions such as myelin whorls and ovoids within the outer Schwann cell cytoplasm, intra-axonal accumulations of polymorphous material, and single degenerating fibres. The pathogenetic mechanisms responsible for the non-specific lesions remain to be elucidated. Chlorphentermine was, in all respects, more potent than perhexiline. In general, the drug-induced lesions developing in the fibres of large nerve trunks were less dramatic when compared a) with the severe lipidosis known to occur in neuronal perikarya, and b) with the severe alterations known to develop in preterminal or terminal axon portions of rats kept under similar experimental conditions.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Characterization of UDP-glucuronosyltransferases active on steroid hormones.

In recent years, the enzymes which are involved in the formation of DHT in steroid target tissues have been well investigated, however, enzymes responsible for the catabolism and elimination of steroids in these tissues, in particular the uridine diphospho-glucuronosyltransferase (UGT) family of enzymes, have received much less attention. We have recently demonstrated that human and monkey are unique in having high plasma levels of C19 steroid glucuronides. These circulating conjugates have been proposed to reflect the peripheral conversion of adrenal and gonadal C19 steroids to potent androgens, especially DHT. In humans, the presence of steroid UGT activities is found in the liver and several extrahepatic tissues including the prostate, mammary gland and ovary. In addition, UGT activities were observed in breast and prostate tumor cell lines such as MCF-7 and LNCaP, respectively. In agreement with the presence of steroid conjugating enzymes in extrahepatic tissues, UGT cDNA clones, which encode steroid conjugating proteins, have been isolated from libraries constructed from human and monkey prostate mRNA. The presence of UGT transcripts and proteins in extrahepatic tissues in both species, as determined by Northern blot, ribonuclease protection, specific RT-PCR, in situ hybridization, Western blot and immunocytochemistry analysis, indicate the relevance of steroid glucuronidation in tissues other than the liver. Knowing that both the human prostate and the human prostate cancer LNCaP cell line express steroid metabolizing proteins, including UGT enzymes, regulation of UGT mRNA and protein levels, as well as promoter activity was studied in these cells. The results demonstrate a differential regulation between the two highly related isoforms UGT2B15 and UGT2B17, where only the expression of UGT2B17 was affected following treatments of LNCaP cells with androgens, growth factors or cytokines. Steroid conjugation by UGT enzymes is potentially involved in hormone inactivation in steroid target tissues, thus modifications in UGT expression levels may influence hormonal responses.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Enhanced hippocampal CA1 LTP but normal spatial learning in inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate 3-kinase(A)-deficient mice.

To define the physiological role of IP(3)3-kinase(A) in vivo, we have generated a mouse strain with a null mutation of the IP(3)3-kinase(A) locus by gene targeting. Homozygous mutant mice were fully viable, fertile, apparently normal, and did not show any morphological anomaly in brain sections. In the mutant brain, the IP4 level was significantly decreased whereas the IP3 level did not change, demonstrating a major role of IP(3)3-kinase(A) in the generation of IP4. Nevertheless, no significant difference was detected in the hippocampal neuronal cells of the wild-type and the mutant mice in the kinetics of Ca2+ regulation after glutamate stimulation. Electrophysiological analyses carried out in hippocampal slices showed that the mutation significantly enhanced the LTP in the hippocampal CA1 region, but had no effect on the LTP in dentate gyrus (DG). No difference was noted, however, between the mutant and the wild-type mice in the Morris water maze task. Our results indicate that IP(3)3-kinase(A) may play an important role in the regulation of LTP in hippocampal CA1 region through the generation of IP4, but the enhanced LTP in the hippocampal CA1 does not affect spatial learning and memory.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Extrarenal clearance in HIV-infected patients with chronic kidney failure. Experience in a hospital center].

In HIV-infected patients with end-stage renal failure maintenance dialysis raises multiple problems, the most important of these being the quality and duration of life in these patients and the risk of contaminating other HIV negative patients under dialysis and/or members of the medical-nursing staff. In this study the results obtained in 14 patients treated in one single centre over a 5-year period are analyzed. Nine patients (group I) had end-stage renal failure consecutive to HIV-associated nephropathy: 5 died after 2 to 30 months (mean 9.2 +/- 5.2) of dialysis, while 4 patients were alive at the end of the study with a mean follow-up of 23.8 +/- 8.8 months (5 to 50). Five patients (group II) had end-stage renal failure consecutive to a nephropathy unrelated to HIV: only 1 female patient died 29 months after she was found to be seropositive; the remaining 4 patients were alive at the end of the study with a mean 47.5 +/- 5.5 months (33 to 58) of follow-up. Ten patients were found to have a less than 8 g/dl Hb anaemia which was corrected in the 4 patients who received recombinant human erythropoietin. Out of the 9 patients treated with zidovudine (300 mg/day) 6 had haematological side-effects. Throughout this study, there was no contamination of HIV negative patients or members of the medical-nursing staff. In these 2 groups, the survival of HIV positive patients dialysed for chronic renal failure seems to have been conditioned by the stage of HIV infection at the time when maintenance dialysis was instituted.

AIDS Dementia Complex↗