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Biomedical subjects

H Avet-Loiseau

Publications and source records attributed to H Avet-Loiseau.

59 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

[Abdominal lymphomas in children: place of surgery].

To determine the place of surgery in the management of abdominal Burkitt's lymphoma, we retrospectively reviewed the records of 17 children treated over a period of 10 years (1983-1992). Patients were 14 males. Seven patients presented with acute abdominal pain, 6 with an abdominal mass and 5 with intestinal obstruction. In 3 cases, the diagnosis was made without laparotomy (2 percutaneous tumoral puncture, 1 pleural puncture). In the 14 other cases, the diagnosis was made by laparotomy with 3 biopsies and 11 resection of the tumor (7 complete and 4 incomplete). These laparotomies were complicated by 1 evisceration and 2 intestinal obstruction. At the end of the initial chemotherapy, 1 children was reoperated for a residual mass with no histological viable tumor. Sixteen children were long term survivors (14 > 2 years); 1 died. Surgery was indicated in cases of intestinal intussusception. In cases of abdominal mass, surgery could have been avoided twice (positive ascitic fluid). A complete tumoral resection had no influence on survival which depend of extra-abdominal extension and more over of response to chemotherapy.

Abdominal Neoplasms↗

Probable disseminated cerebral aspergillosis: recovery with medical treatment.

Cerebral aspergillosis has a very poor prognosis. When this complication occurs in the immunocompromised host, evolution is virtually fatal in all cases despite surgical and medical treatment. We describe in this report the case of a child with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia who developed pulmonary aspergillosis, and subsequent cerebral dissemination during therapeutic induction. Due to multifocal cerebral lesions, surgery was impossible. The patient was administered long term treatment including amphotericin B, flucytosine and itraconazole for 9 months, during which time a neutropenic period occurred with reactivation of cerebral mycotic lesions, in spite of modification of antileukaemic therapy. Seven years later, he nevertheless remains in complete remission without any neurological sequelae. Thus cerebral aspergillosis requires early diagnosis and can be treated using a strong combination of antimycotic drugs (amphotericin B, flucytosine and itraconazole) on a long term basis, even when aspergillomas cannot be removed surgically. Antileukaemic therapy must be concomitantly adapted to avoid or limit neutropenia.

Amphotericin B↗

[Vertebral involvement and fetal alcohol syndrome].

Vertebral abnormalities observed in 8 children with fetal alcohol syndrome are described and discussed. They include scoliosis (4 cases), neural tube defects (4 cases) and complex malformations of the cervical spine (2 cases). The latter probably constitute a different entity from that of the Klippel-Feil syndrome. It is probable that alcohol plays a direct role in the genesis of these abnormalities.

Female↗

Ca2+-sensitive cytosolic nucleases prevent efficient delivery to the nucleus of injected plasmids.

BACKGROUND: Efficient gene delivery by synthetic vectors is a major challenge in gene therapy. However, inefficient nuclear delivery of cDNA is thought to be a major limiting step in gene transfer using non-viral vectors. It is commonly thought that, in the cytosol, cDNA has to be released from its vector before importation to the nucleus. The stability of naked cDNA in the cytoplasm is not well established. METHODS: cDNA plasmids, either free or complexed with poly(ethyleneimine) (PEI), were microinjected into the cytoplasm of mammalian cells and their turnover was assessed by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). Incubations of cDNA plasmids in cytosolic extracts were also performed. RESULTS: FISH experiments showed that naked cDNA rapidly fade with time when injected into the cytosol. Fading was not observed when naked cDNA plasmids were injected into the nucleus. Incubation of naked cDNA in a cytosolic fraction isolated from mammalian cells reproduced cDNA degradation as observed in microinjection experiments. Nuclease inhibitors, including aurin tricarboxylic acid or Zn2+, prevented in vitro cDNA degradation. The cytosolic nuclease activity was optimal at physiological pH and physiological Ca2+ concentration. By contrast, it was insensitive to Mg2+ or Na+ concentrations. Finally, cDNA complexation with PEI or addition of oligonucleotides prevented in vitro cDNA degradation. CONCLUSION: Altogether, these experiments suggest that cDNA digestion by cytosolic nucleases occur when the decomplexed transgene is present in the cytosol. We propose that the inefficient transfer of cDNA into the nucleus during transfection with synthetic vectors may result from rapid digestion of naked cDNA by a Ca2+-sensitive cytosolic nuclease.

Animals↗