[The streptolytic activity of actinomycetin].
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to M Welsch.
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A 38-yr-old man with external ophthalmoplegia, cardiac conduction abnormalities, hearing loss, and ragged-red fibres in skeletal muscle biopsy, developed severe signs of cardiac failure within a few months. Echocardiography and angiography demonstrated a dilated cardiomyopathy. Ubiquinone 140 mg day-1 did not stop the worsening of the cardiac status and cardiac transplantation was performed. Molecular analysis showed a heteroplasmic 4.5 kb mitochondrial DNA deletion in endomyocardial tissue. Eighteen months later, cardiac evolution is good and neurological status is stable.
We report the cases of two patients who, after prolonged amiodarone therapy developed hyperthyroidism and immune haemolytic anaemia. Antibodies were of the IgG type and non-specific at elution. A search for other causes of haemolytic anaemia with positive Coombs' test gave negative results. Antiamiodarone antibodies have recently been discovered; they reflect an immunological disturbance due to this drug and might be responsible for some of the undersirable effects of amiodarone. In our patients, hyperthyroidism and haemolytic anaemia were induced by a dual mechanism: accumulation of amiodarone and induction of an effect of this drug on the immune system.
BACKGROUND: Among the general population, mental stress seems to depress heart rate variability (HRV), and physical activity level seems to be positively associated with HRV. However, the extent to which these relationships exist among patients with ischemic heart disease is not clear. Therefore, this study investigated the association between level of physical activity and HRV among patients with ischemic heart disease during conditions of paced breathing and the Stroop Color-Word Conflict Test (Stroop). METHODS: Forty-two patients with ischemic heart disease were assigned to groups based on their documented volume of aerobic activity: Low = 1.008-2.646 kJ/wk; Mod = 3.024-3.864 kJ/wk; and High = 4.284-7.560 kJ/wk. These groups did not differ in age, body mass index, or hostility as determined by the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory. Time and frequency domain measures of HRV were derived from electrocardiograph data obtained during 5 minutes of paced respiratory control and 5 minutes of performing the Stroop Test. RESULTS: There was a main effect of activity level (P < 0.05) on the standard deviation of R-wave to R-wave intervals (SDNN), total spectral power, and high-frequency power such that these dependent variables were greater in the High group than in the Low or Mod group. Furthermore, there was a main effect of the test condition on SDNN and total power, both of which were lower during the Stroop Test as compared to paced respiratory control. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that, among patients with ischemic heart disease, a high level of physical activity is associated with higher HRV, but is not related to stress reactivity as measured by HRV.
The French network of Regional Centres of Pharmacovigilance has made an estimation of the occurrence of adverse drug reactions in a representative sample of patients in French public hospitals (departments of medicine, of surgery and of geriatrics). The study looked at one specific day in the spring of 1997. Each observed case of adverse drug reaction was validated. The total sample comprised 2132 patients of whom 969 were in a university hospital and 1163 in a general hospital. The hospitals and units concerned are representative of the country as a whole. One adverse drug reaction at least was present for 221 patients on the day of the investigation. This means a prevalence rate of 10.3 per cent (95 per cent CI: 8.7 to 11.9 per cent). In 33 per cent of cases (95 per cent CI: 26 to 42 per cent), the observed effects were rated as serious. From an incidence rate of 1.8 per cent (95 per cent CI: 1.0 to 25 per cent) on one specified day it can be estimated that in France an adverse drug reaction will occur in about 1,300,000 patients per year during a stay in hospital.
The French network of Regional Pharmacovigilance Centres evaluated in 1997 the prevalence of adverse effects of drugs (AED). In 1998, and again with the support of the French Drug Agency, in collaboration with the company CEMKA for economic evaluations, the incidence of AED-related hospitalizations in the medical department of French public hospitals was studied. The evaluation was performed over 14 consecutive days in 62 hospital departments, which were selected randomly. The total number of 3137 patients were hospitalized for a mean duration of 9 days and they were using a mean number of six different drugs. Taking into account the number of about 4 million patients admitted per year in the hospitals represented, it was estimated that the total number of AED-related hospitalizations amounts to about 130,000 annually (CI95%: 100,916-156,620). Using established cost calculations for hospitalized days (AP-HP, results of 1996) the mean cost for an AED-related hospitalization was estimated to be about FF16,000.
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Prostacyclin (PGI2) has vasodilatory effects and a powerful platelet anti-aggregating action. Receptors which may be common to prostaglandin E1 have been described on the platelet membranes, the uterus and various human arterial segments. The platelet activity is linked to the activation of adenylate-cyclase, coupled with a G protein. The mechanisms of the vasorelaxant effect have still not been fully studied. PGI2 is synthesized and released in vessels by the endothelium and the smooth muscle cells, and is very unstable. Its short half-life probably restricts its role to local regulation of platelet activity and vasomotricity. The kinetics and pharmacological effects of prostaglandins have been studied during intravenous injections in healthy volunteers and patients. The synthesis of numerous stable analogues is designed to produce drugs which can be administered orally to treat arteriopathies. The side-effects linked with the vasodilatory effects restricts the use of maximally active dosage.
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Two new cases of osteofluorosis are presented. They are attested by the existence of a bone X-ray densification, by histological lesions of hyperosteoidosis and a large increase in the fluorine content. One is a 61 year-old man who consumed 2.5 l a day of Vichy St-Yorre (a mineral water containing 8 mg of fluorine ions per litre) during 11 years; the other, an 86 year-old man who during 20 years took 500 mg of niflumic acid a day, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug containing 3 fluorine atoms per molecule (i.e., 50 mg fluorine per 250 mg gellule). Both these hypertensive patients had severe renal insufficiency. These two observations serve as a reminder of the indispensable precautions to be observed when prescribing fluorine salts in the treatment of post-menopausal osteoporosis: at least the plasma creatinine level should be available in order to calculate the endogenous creatinine clearance and any possible supplementary intake of fluorine salts should be checked.
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Since the first observation in 1978, it has been clearly established that the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) interfere with the pharmacokinetics of lithium: by reducing urinary clearance of the metal, they can raise the plasma lithium level and thus lead to intoxication. Among the NSAIDs available in France, this interaction has been reported with phenylbutazone (Butazolidine, Carudol), diclofenac (Voltarène), indomethacin (Indocid) and its antalgic derivative clomethacin (Dupéran), ketoprofen (Profenid), mefenamic acid (Ponstyl), niflumic acid (Nifluril) and piroxicam (Feldène). This interaction does not occur with aspirin; this exception suggests that the inhibition of prostaglandins synthesis is not the mechanism responsible for the decrease in the urinary elimination of lithium linked with an increase in its tubular reabsorption. In practice, in view of the growing diffusion of NSAIDs, it is necessary to inform all patients under lithium treatment of the risk of interaction resulting from their use.
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The frequency of asthma in a population including all the adolescents attending school in the department of Bas-Rhin (29 138) in May and June 1976, is 4,1%. This rate is 4,9% in boys and 3,4% in girls. The frequency of asthma is higher in urban areas (5,0%) than in rural areas (3,8%). Asthma is related to respiratory symptoms and is related to more school absenteeism (26%) than in non asthmatics (13,7%). These findings are confirmed by the data given in other medical surveys.
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