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Biomedical subjects

P Agache

Publications and source records attributed to P Agache.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1985

[Weber-Christian disease associated with familial alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency. Apropos of a case].

The authors report a case of Weber-Christian disease associated with familial alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency in a 47-year-old woman. The serum alpha-1-antitrypsin level is low and the phenotype is Pi ZZ. The histological picture was consistent with Weber-Christian panniculitis, showing foci of fat cell necrosis with lipophagic granuloma and fibrosis. The same biological trait also exists in the propositus' sister who developed emphysema without cutaneous involvement. The pathogenesis probably rests on a particular reactivity to microtraumata with exacerbation of local inflammatory events due to a partial deficient control of proteolytic activity. The prognosis of the disease varies from a chronic recurrent process to a short fulminant course with possible fatal outcome. The treatment is at the present time ill-codified and any how only symptomatic. In this case, the propositus responded well to a high dose regimen of corticosteroids, 100 mg daily, but relapsed as the treatment was reduced to 50 mg daily.

Female↗
PubMed1985

[Role of an anti-estrogen, tamoxifen, in the treatment of metastatic malignant melanoma].

The hormone-dependence of malignant melanoma is brought to mind by some epidemiological facts (rarely found in children, more frequently in females, higher frequency in case of prolonged use of oral contraceptives from an early age). On the other hand, estrogen receptors can be found in about 30 p. 100 of malignant melanomas. Starting from this hypothesis of a sub-population of hormone-dependent malignant melanomas, it seemed of interest to us to study the efficiency of an anti-estrogen, namely Tamoxifen (Nolvadex) in the management of metastatic malignant melanoma. It was used at a 40 mg daily dose-regimen on four patients (three post-menopausal females, one male) with multiple estrogen positive cutaneous metastases. In post-menopausal women, two cases of total regression were observed, associated with a distinct increase in progesterone receptors while under treatment and with a return to the initial stage when the treatment was stopped. This phenomenon can be explained by a double self-contradictory effect of the drug, already well known in other hormone-dependent cancers such as those of the breast or the endometrium, namely an anti-estrogen result on the tumoral growth and an estrogen result as attested by the synthesis of progesterone receptors. Certain malignant melanomas therefore behave as endocrine-dependent tumours and may so answer an anti-hormone treatment through a competitive fixation on estrogen-receptors. Our clinical results are in agreement with such a theory since Tamoxifen is at best effective on cutaneous metastases of post-menopausal women. The overall efficiency on all metastases is of the order of 10.6 p 100 (complete or partial regression).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗
PubMed1984

In vivo studies of the evolution of physical properties of the human skin with age.

In vivo measurements taken by valid methods, help to interpret the phenomena associated with the aging process. The authors developed some routine techniques to measure physical properties of the skin both deep in the dermis-epidermis and at the surface (stratum corneum). Measurements on the forearm of 150 people yielded the following results regarding the dermis-epidermis level: (1) skin thickness begins to decrease at 45 years of age for men and women, when women's skin becomes thinner than men's skin; (2) torsion extensibility, normalized for a given skin thickness, sharply decreases after 35 years of age; (3) skin optical properties are modified, ie the photoplethysmographic signal, measured on the forehead, greatly increase after 60 years of age; (4) at the cutaneous surface level, the main modifications are increased shedding of stratum corneum after 60 years of age in parallel with a modification of the stratum corneum cohesivity, altered skin microrelief during the aging process, and slightly decreased transepidermal water loss while the corneocyte projected size increases. These findings allow consideration of the aging process at the skin level as a phased process. The alterations of the physical properties and their kinetics suggest a various process according to the different cutaneous sections.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

Humoral and cell-mediated immunity to human papillomavirus type 1 (HPV-1) in human warts.

The humoral and cell-mediated immune response to human papillomavirus type 1 (HPV-1) has been studied in 162 patients carrying papillomas of various clinical types: deep plantar wart or myrmecia, common wart, flat wart, and anogenital wart. Circulating antibodies were detected by immunodiffusion and microcomplement fixation, using purified HPV-1 particles as type-specific antigen. A significant association between myrmecia and anti-HPV-1 antibodies was found (39% of the cases). Cell-mediated immunity was evaluated by a study of delayed hypersensitivity (DH). The main capsid components of HPV-1 (HPV-1 CP), consisting mostly of a polypeptide of molecular weight 54,000, were injected intradermally. In addition to the type-specific antigens, HPV-1 CP contain other antigenic determinants shared by various types of human papilloma-viruses and masked in intact viral particles. The DH tests to HPV-1 CP showed no differences between the carriers of different papilloma types, confirming the presence of common antigenic determinants. Moreover, they gave rise to an increase or to new anti-HPV-1 antibody production mostly in myrmecia carriers (78% and 33% of the cases, respectively), and to new DH to HPV-1 CP in all groups of papilloma carriers (33% to 56%, depending on the clinical papilloma type).

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

[Analysis of the rebound phenomenon during outflow in plethysmography following programmed venous occlusion].

The venous outflow curve obtained using strain gauge plethysmography (Periflow JSI) frequently displays a slope change which modifies the classic exponential pattern: The semi-continuous arterial blood flow measurement together with an ECG-triggered plethysmography let the authors show the arterial origin of this slope change they called "the rebound phenomenon". Venous occlusion induces an ischemia which creates a reactive hyperemia when the venous blood current is let free. All the venous outflow curves stem from both a venous and arterial phenomenon. This latter may sometimes be of importance and has to be considered in plethysmography studies.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

Skin care in childhood.

Childhood (3 to 9 years) is a calm period of constant growth throughout which social contacts are discovered and intelligence and discretion take place. Consequently, most diseases are infectious. Microrelief was found twice shallower and skin (epidermis + dermis) twice thinner than in adults. Intervals between furrows were reduced parallel to total body surface, thus ruling out the possible existence of special shelters favouring bacterial growth. Sweating is lower, as are skin surface lipid levels, in contrast to the post-natal period, inducing dryness of skin. Although total skin stiffness in vivo was found to be identical to young adult skin, skin chapping is much more frequent. Since detergents as well as extended hot baths may reduce the stratum corneum water binding capacity, they should be used with discretion. Hence, skin care in this period of age should be based upon different criteria than in adults.

Child↗
PubMed1980

Action of trypsin on human plantar stratum corneum. An ultrastructural study.

Incubation of human plantar stratum corneum (SC) with trypsin at various pH suppressed the typical "keratin pattern" in the cytoplasm of the horny cells and disclosed tonofilaments and desmosomal attachment plates as they are seen in living keratinocyts. Tonofilaments were 62-75 A wide and showed a 100-120 A periodicity. This effect was non-specific since it was also obtained by incubation of SC with citric acid or sodium citrate, but it was not due to hydration alone. Partial acantholysis was obtained by incubation with trypsin followed by citric acid. After simultaneous action of trypsin in sodium citrate and in citric acid, cell membranes were separated from the cytoplasm and many of them were broken around desmosomes with subsequent isolation of desmosomes. The role of trypsin in this effect was uncertain. These findings strongly suggest that the filamentous network built up by living keratinocytes remains almost unchanged during the keratinization process although no longer visible under E.M.

Buffers↗
PubMed1980

Sebum levels during the first year of life.

Skin surface lipid levels in forty-five newborn babies and 193 infants aged less than 12 months were determined by an optical density method, using samples collected on ground glass. Although there was a wide individual range, sebum levels in the first week of life were very high, and were of the same magnitude as in adults. Females displayed a different pattern of sebum excretion from males. On the first day of life, the levels in females were lower than in the males but a large increase took place between the 3rd and 6th day, followed by a fall, bringing the level below that of the males. At 6 months the levels were low in both sexes. These findings suggest that there is a strong stimulation of sebum secretion before birth which probably stops at or soon after birth. Androgen may be involved in this stimulation and the probable role of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) is discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1979

The lipometre: an easy tool for rapid quantitation of skin surface lipids (SSL) in man.

The purpose of this study is to present a rapid, simple, and accurate method for quantitation of SSL in man. The technique which is derived from the works by Schaefer and Kuhn-Bussius, employs a series of clearn ground glass plates, and an apparatus, the Lipometre, for the determination of the variation of light transmission across the plates as a function of the fat deposited on them. Results on 32 adults, males and females, show that the first four iterative samplings, at constant pressure, on the same forehead area follow an identical physical law independently of whether the skin is fatty or dry. This law affords a precise definition of the Casual-Level, its quantification and its correlation with skin patterns. It is consequently possible, either as an investigative or a routine technique, to predict the total amount of SSL with good accuracy within 2 min. The SSL, for non-pathological skins, fall within the range 150 microgram/cm2 to 900 microgram/cm2 which is in good agreement with values quoted in the literature.

Adult↗