Biomedical subjects

O Boulat

Publications and source records attributed to O Boulat.

23 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMed1993

Plasma carnitines: reference values in an ambulatory population.

Carnitine was determined radioenzymatically in the plasma of 415 hospital employees involved in a screening programme for prevention of major cardiovascular risks. A reference population (N = 340) was extracted after excluding subjects with hypertension, diabetes mellitus or treatment for hypercholesterolaemia. This population showed a Gaussian distribution for total and free carnitine concentrations both in females and males but not for acyl carnitine or the acyl/free ratio. Females had lower total and free carnitine concentrations but a higher ratio of acyl/free carnitine than males. These differences were not detectable in older subjects (35 years for the acyl/free ratio, 45 years for total and free carnitine concentrations). Females with a body mass index > 28 had a lower acyl/free ratio than their respective controls. The differences in carnitine concentrations indicate that sex and age should be matched in patients or experimental groups and controls in studies involving carnitine plasma concentrations.

Adult↗

PubMed1992

[Screening for cardiovascular disease risk factors among employees of a hospital].

A health promotion and screening program for the detection of the major risk factors for ischemic heart disease was carried out in 1990 among the employees (n = 4,521; 70% female) of the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV). The prevalence of risk factors among the 1,425 employees (73% female) who took part in the study (participation rate: males 29%, females 33%) was compared with the prevalence of risk factors within three other populations: 1) new CHUV employees, who are systematically screened (n = 424: 71% female); 2) a representative sample of the general population; and 3) a group of employees from 44 companies located in the same region. Smoking was the most common of the three main risk factors; its prevalence was lowest among CHUV employees and highest among employees of the 44 firms. The prevalence of hypercholesterolemia and high blood pressure was variable among the different populations. These variations could partly be due to differences in methodologies and measurement conditions, but could not totally be explained in this way.

Adult↗

PubMed1990

3,4-Dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) as an index of noradrenaline turnover: effects of Hydergine and vincamine.

Among the drugs commonly used in the treatment of memory disorders of the elderly, vincamine and hydergine have been shown to moderately increase the firing rate of noradrenergic locus coeruleus (LC) neurons. Since changes in electrical activity of noradrenergic neurons are generally reflected in corresponding alterations of the turnover of this transmitter, the effects of these drugs on the accumulation of 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) and dopamine (DA) in the presence and absence of the dopamine-beta-hydroxylase inhibitor, FLA 63, were studied in the LC as well as in two of its projection areas, the hippocampus and the cerebellum. Characterization of this procedure with the alpha 2-adrenoceptor antagonist, idazoxan, the corresponding agonist, clonidine, the alpha 1-adrenoceptor antagonist prazosine, and haloperidol, suggested that--DOPAC changes are more suitable than those of DA or DOPAC/DA ratios in reflecting changes in noradrenaline (NA) turnover, inhibiting DBH is advantageous if NA turnover is to be measured in projection areas, but not in LC, and haloperidol and prazosine, in principle, did not affect NA turnover. Vincamine and hydergine at 10 mg/kg doses, at which they were reported to increase LC firing by 50%, did not induce a change in NA turnover in any of the areas. This, together with the data obtained with haloperidol, suggests that a minimal increase in the firing rate of LC cells (+140%) is required before it could influence the turnover of NA, as measured by DOPAC changes. Thus, the stimulating effect of nootropics on the central noradrenergic system may be more sensitively detected by electrophysiological techniques than by biochemical ones.

3,4-Dihydroxyphenylacetic Acid↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Visceral leishmaniasis and HIV-1 co-infection in southern France.

Between 1986 and 1993 visceral leishmaniasis (VL) was diagnosed in 50 adult patients with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection (8 females, 42 males: 31 intravenous drug users, 11 homosexual or bisexual men, 6 heterosexual individuals, 2 blood recipients) from 5 hospital centres in southern France. Diagnosis of VL was by demonstration of Leishmania and isolation of promastigotes by culture in Novy-McNeal-Nicolle medium. Leishmania isolates were identified by their isoenzyme profile in 28 patients. All the patients were immunocompromised when VL was diagnosed. Their median CD4 cell count was 25 x 10(6) (0-200). However, only 21 patients (42%) fulfilled the 1987 CDC criteria for the acquired immune deficiency syndrome before VL developed. Fever (84%), splenomegaly (56%), hepatomegaly (34%), and pancytopenia (62%) were the most common presenting features. Clinical signs were lacking in 10% of patients. Anti-leishmanial antibodies were detected by indirect immunofluorescence or enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 26/47 cases (55%). Combining these techniques with Western blotting (WB) gave a positivity rate of 95%. Amastigotes were demonstrated in bone marrow aspirates in 47 cases (94%). Unusual sites for parasites were found in 17 patients (34%), mainly in the digestive tract but also skin and lung. Viscerotropic L. infantum zymodeme MON-1 was characterized in 86% of cases. Dermotropic zymodemes MON-24, MON-29, MON-33, and a previously undescribed zymodeme MON-183, were isolated from 4 patients. The response rate to pentavalent antimony was 50% and to amphotericin B 100%, but clinical relapses were noted in both groups. In endemic areas, VL should be considered as a possible opportunistic infection in HIV-infected patients.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Automated analysis with computerized information transfer in a university hospital.

The organization of a central clinical chemistry laboratory of a university hospital, which in 1992 analyzed 880,000 results, is presented. Automation with midsize selective analyzers, which run in parallel and are able to do positive sample identification on the primary bar-coded tubes, in connection with a laboratory computer system and a central hospital computer allowed for reliable and timely obtainment of results. The output of the results is made on laser printers in the medical wards, thus alleviating the pneumatic sample transport systems. Assessment of the turnaround time show that it can be kept below one hour. Such a setup without sorting out emergency demands allows a simplified sample flow. Thus, there is no need for a laboratory to make "stat" requests.

Autoanalysis↗