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Biomedical subjects

F Aubin

Publications and source records attributed to F Aubin.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1997

[Equitest and high performance patients].

The purpose of this study was to verify whether a clinical tool used to assess balance deficits could be used to document the enhanced equilibrium skills of highly trained individuals. A sensory organization test (SOT) based on computerized dynamic posturography (Equitest Neurocom) was administered at two levels of difficulty (sway-reference gains 1.0 and 1.99) to six populations of subjects (n = 81): controls, active duty fighters pilots, former fighter pilots, windsurfers, T-kwando athletes and firemen. The more difficult SOT (gain 1.99) provided the best estimation of performances differences among the six populations. Specifically, performance scores were significantly higher (p > 0.001) for wind surfer and active duty pilots compared to the other groups. Differences between active duty are retired pilots suggest that the enhenced balance of milots is an acquired skill required continued practice. Results furthers suggest that dynamic posturography can be reliable tool for identifying subjects with enhenced equilibrium skills.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Phototherapy in the treatment of cutaneous graft-versus-host disease. Our preliminary experience in resistant patients.

Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD)* is a frequent complication of allogeneic bone marrow transplantation. The potentially beneficial effect of phototherapy for treatment of cutaneous manifestations of GVHD led us to investigate retrospectively the effect of this therapy in a larger series of patients. Eleven patients with cutaneous GVHD (acute GVHD in 4 patients, chronic lichenoid GVHD in 6 patients, and chronic sclerodermatous GVHD in 1 patient) resistant to standard immunosuppressive drugs were treated with phototherapy. Skin lesions showed a complete clearing in 75% of patients with acute GVHD, and a response rate of 70% was observed in patients with chronic GVHD. No effect of phototherapy was achieved in 3 patients. Our results suggest that phototherapy is a nonaggressive treatment that may benefit patients with cutaneous GVHD, who already take high doses of immunosuppressive drugs.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Eosinophilic pustular folliculitis in infancy: report of two affected brothers.

We describe two brothers with eosinophilic pustular folliculitis. Both had recurrent crops of papules and pustules, primarily affecting the scalp. The eruption began in the neonatal period. Both children had a leucocytosis with eosinophilia. Histology revealed folliculitis, with an infiltrate in which eosinophils were predominant. Bacteriological and fungal cultures of pustules were negative. There was a good clinical response to treatment with a topical corticosteroid and dapsone. We review the 28 previously reported cases of eosinophilic pustular folliculitis in infancy. The occurrence of this disorder in brothers suggests that an inherited or contagious factor may be involved in its aetiology.

Adrenal Cortex Hormones↗
PubMed1995

Improvement of some schizophrenic deficit symptoms with low doses of amisulpride.

OBJECTIVE: The authors assessed the effects on primary negative symptoms of low doses of amisulpride, a substituted benzamide neuroleptic with high affinity for D2 and D3 dopamine receptors. METHOD: Young, drug-free schizophrenic patients with pure negative symptoms participated in a 6-week double-blind trial of placebo (N = 10) or low-dose amisulpride (N = 10). They were assessed with the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms. RESULTS: Amisulpride significantly improved negative symptoms. Improvement in avolition, attentional impairment, and retardation was significantly greater with amisulpride than with placebo. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that some primary negative symptoms may be directly affected by low doses of benzamide neuroleptics.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Treatment of negative symptoms in schizophrenia with amisulpride.

BACKGROUND: The efficacy of low doses of certain neuroleptics in improving negative symptoms is still controversial. This study assessed the efficacy of amisulpride, a benzamide which increases dopaminergic transmission at low doses via presynaptic dopamine receptor blockade, on negative symptoms of schizophrenia. METHOD: The study was designed as a parallel-group, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Patients had to fulfil DSM-III criteria for schizophrenia, Andreasen's criteria for negative schizophrenia, and to have a total score of at least 75 on the SANS; those treated with neuroleptics or antidepressants underwent a six-week placebo wash-out. One hundred and four in-patients were randomly assigned to amisulpride 100 mg/d, amisulpride 300 mg/d, or placebo for six weeks; 85 patients completed the study. RESULTS: Both amisulpride doses were significantly more effective than placebo on the primary evaluation criterion (SANS total score, MANOVA P < 0.02). No significant changes were found in positive symptoms or in extrapyramidal symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Negative symptoms can be improved by low doses of amisulpride, favouring the hypothesis of dopaminergic hypofunction as one of the causes of negative symptoms.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

[Cutaneous and lymphatic cryptococcosis after transient lymphopenia in an immunocompetent patient].

INTRODUCTION: Cryptococcosis is an opportunistic infection, that rarely occurs in immunocompetent patients. CASE REPORT: We report a case of a 82 year-old woman who suffered from a bacterial pneumonia associated with lymphopenia. During the hospitalisation, she developed a cutaneous and ganglionnary cryptococcosis. No other cause of immunosuppression was found. The lymphopenia disappeared with the healing of the pneumonia treated with systemic antibiotics. Treatment with fluconazole was effective in 2 months on the cryptococcosis. COMMENTS: To our knowledge, this is the first case of cryptococcosis after a transitory lymphopenia, occurring in a immunocompetent patient.

Aged↗
PubMed1994

Treatment of psoriasis with a new micronized 5-methoxypsoralen tablet and UVA radiation.

Since 1974, phototherapy with psoralen and ultraviolet A (UVA) has been used successfully for the treatment of psoriasis. However, undesirable side effects, including phototoxicity, nausea, stomach pain and headaches, have led investigators to develop new psoralen compounds. 5-Methoxypsoralen (5-MOP) has thus been introduced as an alternative to 8-MOP because of its less pronounced side effects. Since the absorption kinetics and bioactivity of 5-MOP are known to be variable, a new micronized tablet form (5-MOPm) has been developed. In an open randomized study, oral treatments with 5-MOP or 5-MOPm plus UVA radiation were compared in 22 psoriatic patients. Skin type and initial psoriasis area severity index did not differ significantly between treatment groups. Serum concentrations were significantly higher (320 vs 85.82 ng/ml) and occurred earlier (51.8 vs 229.09 min) with 5-MOPm. In addition, a reduction in PASI of more than 90% was achieved sooner (10.63 vs 17.27 treatments) and with a lower cumulative UVA dose (145.89 vs 232.11 J/cm2), in the group treated with 5-MOPm. No side effects were observed with 5-MOPm. Our data indicate that 5-MOPm has a higher bioavailability, clinical efficacy and tolerability than the commonly used 5-MOP.

5-Methoxypsoralen↗
PubMed1994

Effects of a new psoralen, 5-geranoxypsoralen, plus UVA radiation on murine ATPase positive Langerhans cells.

5-geranoxypsoralen (5-GOP), commonly called bergamottin, is a highly photoreactive psoralen, which in contrast to most furocoumarins, does not strongly interact with DNA. 5-GOP gives the opportunity to study, in a more selective way, the mechanisms of phototoxic and immunological activities induced by psoralen and UVA radiation. We investigated the effects of repetitive treatments with 5-GOP plus UVA radiation (320-400 nm) on the number of ATPase+ epidermal Langerhans cells and on the induction of photoreactivity. These effects were compared with those of 8-methoxypsoralen (8-MOP) or 5-methoxypsoralen (5-MOP) plus UVA radiation and UVA radiation alone. C3H/HeN mice were treated topically with the psoralen three times/week for 4 consecutive weeks followed each time by 1 J/cm2 of UVA radiation. At the end of the treatment, mice treated with 8-MOP or 5-MOP plus UVA radiation exhibited severe gross phototoxicity and nearly total depletion of ATPase-stained Langerhans cells. Both treatments produced severe morphological alterations of Langerhans cells. No gross but a microscopic phototoxic effect was observed after 5-GOP plus UVA radiation treatment, while the number of ATPase+ Langerhans cells was also greatly reduced. Interestingly the latter treatment induced no morphological alterations of the remaining Langerhans cells in contrast to treatment with 8-MOP or 5-MOP plus UVA radiation. We conclude that phototoxicity and decrease in the number of ATPase-stained epidermal immune cells observed after treatment with 5-GOP plus UVA radiation are not related to the DNA binding activity of the psoralen.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adenosine Triphosphatases↗
PubMed1994

Central D2 receptors and negative symptoms of schizophrenia.

Most in vivo studies of striatal D2 receptor (SD2R) density with positron emission tomography in schizophrenia have attempted to relate this variable to the diagnosis of the illness. In the present study, a relationship between SD2R and clinical dimensions of this psychosis was searched for in a highly selected group of young negative schizophrenics (8 drug-naïve and 2 drug-free). The SD2R density index measured in vivo using 76Br-bromolisuride and PET correlated negatively (r = 0.80, P < 0.01) with a psychomotor dimension of schizophrenia involving blunted affect and alogia. The mean SD2R index of the patients did not differ from that of age-matched control subjects. Therefore, this behavioural dimension accounts for the variance of the SD2R, suggesting that the striatal dopamine system modulates symptoms such as flattened affect and alogia.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

[Photoimmunology of melanoma].

Several epidemiological studies suggest that exposure to ultraviolet radiation and immunological responsiveness of the host contribute to the etiology of melanoma. In addition, a growing experimental evidence indicates a stimulant effect of ultraviolet radiation and a high immunogenicity of melanocytic tumors. These findings lead to the hypothesis of an ultraviolet-induced alteration of the immune response that decreases the host-resistance to melanoma antigens.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Treatment of scleroderma with oral 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3: evaluation of skin involvement using non-invasive techniques. Results of an open prospective trial.

1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol (1,25 (OH)2 D3) causes dose-dependent inhibition of fibroblast growth and collagen synthesis and has numerous immunoregulatory activities. We assessed the effects of oral 1,25 (OH)2 D3 in the treatment of patients with systemic sclerosis (SS). Eleven patients with SS entered an open prospective study. Oral 1,25(OH)2 D3 was given at a mean dose of 1.75 micrograms/day. The effects of the treatment were evaluated using clinical examination and physical measurements. After the treatment period (6 months to 3 years), a significant improvement, as compared with baseline values, was observed. No serious side-effects were observed. These results suggest that high-dose 1,25 (OH)2 D3 may be a useful therapeutic agent for scleroderma.

Administration, Oral↗