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Biomedical subjects

G Cuny

Publications and source records attributed to G Cuny.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1993

Successful treatment of Trypanosoma cruzi encephalitis in a patient with hemophilia and AIDS.

Although the frequency of infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is increasing dramatically in areas where Trypanosoma cruzi is endemic, trypanosomiasis has been rarely reported in persons with HIV infection or AIDS. Persons with hemophilia who receive multiple blood product transfusions from blood banks with little or no screening for infectious agents are at particularly high risk for infections with both HIV and T. cruzi. We describe the case of a person with hemophilia who was infected by blood transfusion with HIV and T. cruzi and in whom a multifocal, necrotic trypanosomal encephalitis was demonstrated by brain biopsy and electron microscopy. Treatment with benznidazole followed by that with itraconazole and fluconazole was associated with significant clinical and radiographic improvement.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗
PubMed1993

[Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia and vena cava filter. Difficulties of treatment].

The authors report two cases of thrombosis occurring after partial interruption of the inferior vena cava. They presented as collapse and anuria with fatal outcome. Heparin induced thrombocytopenia was present in two cases and distal migration of filter in one case. Thrombo-embolic complications can follow heparin induced thrombocytopenia and justify first treatment with low molecular weight heparin and/or early treatment with oral anti-coagulant. Thrombosis, recurrent embolism or thrombosis of renal vena may occur after vena cava filter. Renal vena thrombosis especially follow filter movement and present as collapse and cardiac failure often with fatal outcome.

Aged↗
PubMed1992

Effect of age on the disposition of sodium fluoride.

Sodium fluoride (NaF) is used in the treatment of axial osteoporosis and so is mostly given to old patients. Since its pharmacokinetics has not been studied in the elderly, the pharmacokinetics of an enteric-coated tablet containing 50 mg NaF has been investigated in 15 aged inpatients (aged 65 to 75 y) and 12 young healthy volunteers (aged 21 to 26 y). The serum AUC of fluoride was 1.7-time higher in older than in younger subjects. There was a strong inverse correlation between the AUC and either body surface area (BSA) or glomerular filtration rate (GFR), both of which were very much lower in the elderly. This concluded that if efficacy or safety are related to the bioavailability of fluoride, it may be valuable to adjust the dosage of fluoride accordingly to the GFR and BSA.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Analysis of mating systems in the schistosome-vector hermaphrodite snail Bulinus globosus by DNA fingerprinting.

Bulinus globosus, one of the intermediate hosts for Schistosoma, is a hermaphrodite freshwater snail. Multilocus DNA fingerprinting was applied in order to investigate the mating system of this facultatively self-fertilizing species. By analysing DNA fingerprints of eight broods, we have shown that selfed and outcrossed individuals could be unambiguously distinguished by comparison with their parent fingerprints. First, selfed offspring patterns shared a higher number of bands with their mother than did outcrossed ones. Secondly, at least three paternal bands could be detected per outcrossed offspring pattern.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Assessment of the clinical value of urinary trypsin inhibitory activity in elderly people.

To assess the clinical value of urinary trypsin inhibitory activity (UTIA) in elderly people, a prospective study was carried out over 4 months in our internal medicine department. Two hundred and forty-three patients of more than 60 years of age were included. A positive correlation was observed between UTIA and serum creatinine (p < 10(-3)). In the population with serum creatinine of less than 133 mumol/l (200 patients), UTIA was independent of age, sex and serum creatinine. UTIA was compared with seven serum inflammatory proteins titrated on patient admission. The principal interest of UTIA determination appeared in bacterial infections. UTIA was significantly increased in this group (p < 10(-4)). However, a positive correlation was proved only with C-reactive protein (CRP) (p = 9 x 10(-4)). Nevertheless, CRP appeared to be the best marker of bacterial infectious diseases after receiver operating characteristic curves analysis.

Acute-Phase Proteins↗
PubMed1992

A new 5' sequence associated with mouse L1 elements is representative of a major class of L1 termini.

Full-length L1 elements have been shown to possess, at their 5' end, tandem repeats called "A" or "F" types. By sequencing the 5' region of two large L1 copies that did not hybridize to A or F probes, we have identified a new sequence that is found at the 5' end of many L1 elements and that we call "V." The element characterized has no 200-bp tandem repetitive structure, and the new 5' sequence is not similar to the A or F sequences. The study of the relationships between the V and L1 sequences has shown that only half of the V (i.e., V-specific 5') sequences in the genome are linked to the 5' end of L1 copies. In related rodent species, a comparative study by Southern blot and PCR analysis of the V sequence suggests that this L1 subfamily has an ancient origin and that V sequence isolated from the remainder of the L1 element has been amplified during the evolution of the mouse genome.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

[Depression in elderly patients. Value of tianeptine in 140 patients treated for 1 year].

An open multicenter study of the efficacy and acceptability of tianeptine, a new antidepressant structurally related to tricyclic antidepressants, was conducted by 36 gerontologists. There were 228 patients in the study; 140 were treated for one year. The patients' overall MADRS score started to decrease on day 14 and continued to decline to month 3. An improvement in depression was again observed near the end of the treatment period from month 9 to month 12. This pattern of improvement was also found with the HARS, the first item on the CGI scale and the Zung self-evaluation scale. These findings demonstrate the beneficial effect of long-term treatment in depressed elderly patients. Ten patients (4.4 percent) dropped out because of side effects: mainly drowsiness, anxiety or gastrointestinal disorders. The benefit/risk ratio (CGI, item 3), an expression of treatment effectiveness and acceptability, was very satisfactory even in these elderly patients. Regularly performed laboratory tests and clinical examinations (including weight and blood pressure) revealed no significant changes. Finally, somatic disorders, essentially cardiovascular and neurological diseases often occurring in depressed patients, remained remarkably quiescent throughout the entire treatment period.

Aged↗
PubMed1991

"Pocket blotting": a method for transferring nucleic acids onto nylon membranes.

We have developed a fast and efficient method for transferring nucleic acids onto nylon membranes. This method requires less DNA for transfer; no decrease in efficiency is observed after successive probing, and several gels can be processed simultaneously. We believe that this techniques is of general interest in routine analysis of multiple samples in population genetic studies or in diagnosis purposes.

Buffers↗
PubMed1991

Biological variability of superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, and catalase in blood.

We studied the biological variability of blood superoxide dismutase (SOD; EC 1.15.1.1), glutathione peroxidase (GPX; EC 1.11.1.9), and catalase (CAT; EC 1.11.1.6) in a sample of 1836 apparently health subjects, ages 4-97 years. SOD and GPX activities were assayed in plasma (P) and erythrocytes (E) by automated methods, and CAT was measured in erythrocytes by a manual technique. No statistically significant variation of these antioxidant enzyme activities according to gender was demonstrated, except for E-GPX, which was slightly but significantly higher in women than in men (P less than 0.001). Activities appear rather stable in adults less than 65 years old, but decrease for most enzymes in the elderly. There is no evidence that weight, blood pressure, or menopause influences the antioxidant enzymes' activities. In girls ages 10-14 years, E-SOD activity is reduced by 16% (P less than 0.05) after menarche. Variations related to smoking and alcohol consumption are slight and concern only P-SOD and P-GPX, respectively. Conversely, intake of some drugs (e.g., anti-inflammatory agents, antidepressants, and thyroid hormones) modifies activity of some of the three enzymes. E-SOD positively correlates with P-SOD (r = 0.216, P less than 0.001) and E-CAT (r = 0.123, P less than 0.001), and E-GPX with P-GPX (r = 0.218, P less than 0.001). Finally, we propose reference intervals for activities of the three antioxidant enzymes in blood in individuals less than 65 years old.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

General procedure to construct highly specific kDNA probes for clones of Trypanosoma cruzi for sensitive detection by polymerase chain reaction.

Our strategy of probes designing for major clones of Trypanosoma cruzi was performed taking into account the: (i) clear identification of the major clones under multilocus study; (ii) hypothesis of a parallel evolution between the extranuclear and nuclear markers; (iii) structure of kDNA which allowed to amplify high variable regions of the minicircle (HVRm) by PCR. The large production of HVRm was very useful to test their ability to be used as probes for detection of DNA from a diversified genetic panel of T. cruzi. Our success in designing such probes has important implications on: the enhancement of 2 evolutive hypothesis about the clonal structure of T. cruzi and the parallel evolution of their extranuclear and nuclear genetics markers; direct diagnosis in patients and vectors. Studies on bio-clinical significance of major clones are discussed. This procedure could be used as a general strategy to generate DNA probes for Kinetoplastida.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Detection by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis of a new polymorphism in the apolipoprotein B gene.

The apolipoprotein B gene is subject to mutations that may be important in coronary heart diseases. We have used polymerase chain reaction and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis to characterize a single nucleotide substitution in the apolipoprotein B gene. This mutation affects amino acid 4311 of the protein and converts asparagine to serine. It was found in 24% of the 81 unrelated individuals analyzed. Moreover, another mutation was detected by sequencing in a single individual.

Apolipoproteins B↗
PubMed1990

[Cerebrospinal fluid amino acids in Alzheimer's disease].

Twenty-two amino acids are measured in cerebrospinal fluid of fourty patients with senile dementia of the Alzheimer type (SDAT) and of ten age matched healthy control subjects. There is no significant difference between these two groups.

Aged↗
PubMed1989

Lipid peroxidation and free radical scavengers in Alzheimer's disease.

Lipid peroxidation products and defenses against free radical damage were determined in serum of 55 patients with senile dementia of the Alzheimer type (SDAT) and compared with values in 24 age-matched healthy control subjects. The following parameters were evaluated: lipid-conjugated dienes and trienes, malondialdehyde, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activity in erythrocytes, vitamins E, C and A, zinc, selenium and copper, ceruloplasmin, transferrin and albumin. The results showed a statistically significant decrease in the levels of GSH-Px, vitamins E, C and A, zinc, transferrin and albumin in the SDAT group. On the other hand, most of the deficiencies concern the malnourished subgroup of the SDAT population (SOD, GSH-Px, vitamins E and C, selenium, zinc, transferrin and albumin). Such an alteration of free radical scavengers in the malnourished subgroup of the SDAT population could combine the radical and nutritional hypothesis advanced by some authors.

Aged↗