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C Biron

Publications and source records attributed to C Biron.

32 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Anticardiolipin antibodies and acute alcoholic intoxication.

Many clinical features have been associated with the antiphospholipid antibodies. In a preliminary prospective study, among 1014 consecutive patients admitted to a Medicine Department, 72 (7.1%) patients were found to be anticardiolipin antibodies (aCL) positive. Eight (11%) of these aCL positive patients had alcoholic intoxication. Chronic alcoholism is known to be associated with a high prevalence of autoimmune disorders. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of aCL in patients with acute alcoholic intoxication. Sixty two patients (13 women; 49 men), mean age 35 years (range 17-63 years) referred to the emergency care unit were studied. A control population of 62 apparently healthy subjects, age and sex matched, were also tested. Alcoholaemia, aCL, antinuclear antibodies (ANA), Venereal Disease Research Laboratory (VDRL) and Treponema pallidum immobilisation (TPHA) were determined. The mean alcoholaemia among all patients tested was 2.35 gl-1 (range 0.1-4). aCL were found positive in 10 patients (16%); eight men and two women. Seven patients had aCL IgG level of > or = 15 UG PL/ml while two had IgM level of > or = 12.5 UMPL/ml. One had both elevated aCL IgG and IgM. Statistical analysis confirmed that aCL positivity is more frequently encountered in alcoholic patients compared with an age and sex matched population (P = 0.0298). Among alcoholic patients, 12 (19%) had ANA. Four of them were VDRL positive while all were TPHA negative. Two of the 62 control subjects were found aCL positive. From these data, it can be concluded that increased aCL levels are frequently associated with acute alcoholic abuse.

Adolescent↗

Direct carrier detection for severe haemophilia A: application to families with no available affected male.

Haemophiliae A is a common hereditary disorder of blood coagulation resulting from deficiency of factor VIII. Mutation analysis is the factor VIII gene has been hampered by the large size of the gene and the heterogeneity of molecular defects. In severe haemophiliae A, the most efficient methods of screening for point mutations can detect the lesions in 50 percent of cases only; this is explained by the recent finding (5) of an intragenic inversion that disrupts the factor VIII gene. Since this anomaly could not be characterized by these methods, Lakich et al. have also described a Southern blotting assay that allows a direct determination of the mutation. The use of this assay should greatly increase the feasibility and accuracy with which carrier detection and prenatal diagnosis can be made, as illustrated by the analysis of families with no available affected male that we present here.

Adult↗

A block in both early T lymphocyte and natural killer cell development in transgenic mice with high-copy numbers of the human CD3E gene.

A severe immunodeficiency involving a complete loss of T lymphocytes and natural killer cells was observed in independent lines of transgenic mice containing > 30 copies of the human CD3E gene (pL12). T-cell- natural killer (NK)- mice could also be generated by using a gene fragment pL12 delta 1 (without exons 4A and 5) coding for the CD3-epsilon transmembrane region and its 55-amino acid nonenzymatic cytoplasmic tail. The abnormally small thymus gland in the homozygous transgenic animals, which was approximately 1% the size of a wild-type thymus, contained only a few (2-4%) prethymocytes with a Thy-1+Pgp-1+IL-2R alpha- CD3-4-8- phenotype. In mice with lower copy numbers of the transgene thymocyte development was blocked at the Thy-1+Pgp-1-IL-2R alpha+CD3-4-8- stage, and normal NK activity was detected. Mice generated with high-copy numbers of a transgene pL12 delta 2 (pL12 delta 1 minus exons 6), coding for a truncated protein from which the CD3-epsilon extracellular domain, its transmembrane region, and most of its cytoplasmic region were absent, contained normal numbers of T lymphocytes and NK cells. These transgene effects suggested that recruitment of signal-transduction molecules by the cytoplasmic tail of this protein played an important role in the abrogation of both lineages. Taken together these observations support the notion that T lymphocytes and NK cells stemmed from a common precursor.

Animals↗

Demonstration that anti-phospholipid auto-antibodies react with both anionic and zwitterionic phospholipids.

The specificity of anti-phospholipid auto-antibodies present in the serum of systemic lupus erythematosus patients towards the phospholipids has been studied by two different methods. The antibodies have been characterized either after affinity purification or by inhibition experiments. Our results clearly demonstrate that anti-phospholipid auto-antibodies recognize all phospholipids, whatever their polar head.

Anions↗

Plasma fibrinolytic activators and their inhibitors in women suffering from early recurrent abortion of unknown etiology.

The fibrinolytic response to a venous occlusion test was evaluated in 116 consecutive patients who had each had early recurrent miscarriages of unknown origin. A normal response to venous occlusion was defined from the statistical analysis of data obtained in a matched group of 90 women with no past abortion. Seventy-four patients had at least one abnormal fibrinolysis-related test, whereas no member of the control group had any (p < 10(-6)). Fifty-six of the patients had a stasis-induced shortening of the euglobulin clot lysis time that was less than normal (median decrement 3.5% [normal > or = 28%] [p < 10(-6)]). In this subgroup, 17 women also had a poor tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA) response (median increment 18% [normal > or = 34%] [p < 0.001]). Twenty-one of the 56 had high plasma levels of type 1 plasminogen activator inactivator (PAI-1) as well as a high PAI activity level (p < 0.001 for comparison with normal controls). Sixteen patients had both abnormalities (tPA response blunted and high PAI values). When retested in the same patients, the patterns persisted over time. Nine other habitual aborters had abnormally high type 2 plasminogen activator inhibitor plasma levels (> 4.2 ng/ml). Six other patients had a poor urokinase-type plasminogen activator reactivity to venous occlusion (post-stasis levels lower than 0.18 ng/ml). Thus activators and inhibitors of the fibrinolytic system are frequently abnormal in primary habitual aborters. The current pathogeneses of high PAI-1 concentrations and of impaired tPA reactivity to venous occlusion were not found in these patients. The role of the fibrinolytic components in trophoblast invasiveness has been suspected in animals, and an impaired plasmin-dependent proteolysis in women might favor recurrent abortion by promoting fibrin deposition in early placental circulation or by limiting trophoblast development, or both.

Abortion, Habitual↗

Corticosteroids.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Adrenal Cortex Hormones↗

A prospective epidemiological study on the occurrence of antiphospholipid antibody: the Montpellier Antiphospholipid (MAP) Study.

The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence and clinical significance of elevated antiphospholipid antibodies (APA) in a large series of patients admitted to a department of Internal Medicine. At the end of entry phase, 1014 patients were tested (488 males-526 females, mean age: 66.7 years, range 18-97). Seventy-two (7.1%) patients were found APA positive at least once: 44 males and 28 females, mean age 69 years, range 23 to 94. Twenty fulfilled the criteria of Primary Antiphospholipid Antibody Syndrome: 10 patients were referred for deep vein thrombosis, 3 had history of deep vein thrombosis, 1 had both arterial thrombosis and a history of venous thrombosis; 2 had thrombocytopenia; 3 had stroke, 1 had a history of a stroke. One patient had SLE according to ARA classification. The most frequent associated disease was cancer: 14 patients, 9 had evolutive malignant disease, 5 were in clinical remission of neoplasia. Other clinical conditions included chronic and/or acute alcoholic intoxication (n = 8), severe atherosclerosis (n = 4), leg ulcer (n = 4). Insufficient data are available about the evolution, but 7 patients died in the year following diagnosis. Eight patients had fluctuations in APA detection: 2 initially APA positive became negative, 5 initially negative became positive and 1 patient was alternatively positive, negative and positive without steroid treatment. Thus, as expected, APA occur in a variety of clinical disorders. The association with cancer or alcoholic intoxication deserves further investigations.

Adolescent↗

Acquired isolated factor VII deficiency during sepsis.

Isolated acquired factor VII deficiency is uncommon. We report 11 cases of acquired factor VII deficiency associated with severe systemic sepsis. All patients initially displayed a heterozygous-like factor VII deficiency confirmed by both clotting and amidolytic assays, associated with low factor VII antigen levels, and increased haemostasis markers (D-dimers, prothrombin fragments 1.2, thrombin-antithrombin complexes). After sepsis recovery, normal factor VII levels were evidenced. Isolated factor VII consumption or proteolytic degradation by leucocyte proteases can be evoked, but the mechanism of acquired factor VII deficiency during sepsis remains to be elucidated. The knowledge of this syndrome should avoid false diagnosis of congenital factor VII deficiency.

Adult↗