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Biomedical subjects

P Courtin

Publications and source records attributed to P Courtin.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1996

[Lithium poisoning].

A case of therapeutic overdosage in a 58-year-old woman is reported. Lithium plasma level was 3.7 mmol.l. All clinical and biological disturbances regressed in 3 days after controlled rehydration only. Aetiology, clinical picture, biological characteristics and treatment according to the severity of the lithium poisoning are discussed.

Bipolar Disorder↗
PubMed1993

[Systemic form of sarcoid-like necrotizing granulomatosis with ocular, pulmonary and cerebral involvement].

Sarcoid-like necrotizing granulomatosis is an exceptional condition characterized by lesions of epithelioid granulomatosis and signs of vasculitis. It usually involves the lungs and has a favourable prognosis. We report the case of a young woman with a systemic form of the disease which affected not only the lung, but also the eye and the central nervous system. Under corticosteroid therapy the pulmonary lesions and the biological inflammatory syndrome disappeared, but the brain lesions followed a course of their own despite the addition to steroid treatment of an immunosuppressive therapy. This case highlights the superiority of MRI over CT of the brain in the diagnosis and monitoring of brain lesions: CT became normal after corticosteroid therapy was initiated, where as the neurological signs became worse and the brain lesions progressed on MR images.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Heparin does not inhibit oncogene induction in rabbit aorta following balloon denudation.

OBJECTIVE: Smooth muscle cell proliferation and migration are the predominant responses to intimal and medial injury after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty. The in vivo inhibitory effect of heparin on these responses is well documented. To test the hypothesis that the antiproliferative effect of heparin in vivo may be related to an inhibition of proto-oncogene expression, the effects of pretreatment with heparin on the expression of the c-myc, c-fos and c-jun proto-oncogenes were examined in a rabbit model of balloon denudation. METHODS: Animals were randomised 5 h before balloon denudation to receive a subcutaneous injection of unfractionated heparin (7500 IU.kg-1, n = 7) or saline (n = 6). Total RNA extracted from the aorta 1 h after balloon denudation was analysed by northern blot technique. A histological study was also performed in saline treated (n = 4) and heparin treated (n = 4) animals 28 d after balloon denudation. RESULTS: The histological study showed that the degree of neointimal thickening was significantly less in heparin treated animals. However, the level of expression of the proto-oncogenes we studied was similar in both groups. CONCLUSIONS: Heparin inhibits neointimal thickening after balloon denudation. This inhibition is not associated with an overall decrease in the level of expression of the c-myc, c-fos, or c-jun proto-oncogenes in the arterial wall, suggesting that the antiproliferative effect of heparin may be due to an effect on other events in the cell cycle.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Segregation of eosinophil proteins in alveolar macrophage compartments in chronic eosinophilic pneumonia.

BACKGROUND: The objective was to characterise the process and consequences of eosinophil activation and lysis in patients with chronic eosinophilic pneumonia and to compare them with those in patients with eosinophil pulmonary infiltrates from other causes. METHODS: Cells from bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of four patients with chronic eosinophilic pneumonia and four patients with eosinophilic infiltrates associated with Sjögren's syndrome, drug hypersensitivity pneumonia, postradiotherapy fibrosis, and pulmonary disease associated with graft versus host disease were studied ultrastructurally and with immunogold labelled antibodies directed against eosinophil proteins: major basic protein, eosinophil cationic protein, and Charcot-Leyden crystal protein. The concentration of eosinophil cationic protein was also measured in bronchoalveolar fluid. RESULTS: In the four patients with chronic eosinophilic pneumonia, ultrastructural studies demonstrated numerous lysed eosinophils. Further, three released eosinophil proteins were detected in distinct cytoplasmic structures in alveolar macrophages. These features were not found in the four patients with eosinophilic pulmonary infiltrates from other causes. CONCLUSION: Eosinophils in chronic eosinophilic pneumonia show signs of activation with release of eosinophil proteins. The appearance of three of these eosinophil proteins in different macrophage compartments suggests that macrophage uptake, with or without intracellular transport of released eosinophil proteins, involves separate mechanisms. This interaction does not lead to macrophage lysis, however, and one or more of these eosinophil proteins might directly affect macrophage function.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

[Flow cytometry and malignant pleural mesotheliomas. Value in the histologic and cytologic diagnosis].

To contribution the help of flow cytometry in the diagnosis of mesothelioma in pleural effusions, we studied the aneuploid frequency in paraffin-embedded pleural mesotheliomas. The low aneuploidy rate (31%) explains the moderate yield of mesothelioma diagnosis in pleural effusions. Because of the possibility of false aneuploidies, flow cytometry cannot replace of a cytologic or histopathologic evidence.

DNA, Neoplasm↗
PubMed1992

SPEM impairment in drug-naive schizophrenic patients: evidence for a trait marker.

Smooth-pursuit eye movements (SPEM) were assessed in healthy subjects and in drug-naive, chronic, and residual schizophrenic patients. SPEM gain was found to be decreased in all the schizophrenic patients who also exhibited a significant increase in the rate of saccades. The frequency of square-wave jerks was the same in schizophrenic patients and normal controls, suggesting that the primary abnormality in schizophrenic patients was a low gain rather than a defect of the saccadic system. Patients were retested 1 month later, and stability of gain was high even in formerly drug-naive subjects who had been treated for 1 month with neuroleptic drugs. Altogether these results confirm the conclusions of most previous studies, extend them to drug-naive schizophrenic patients, and favor the hypothesis that SPEM impairment is a trait marker in schizophrenia.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Immunopathological study of eosinophils in eosinophilic granuloma of bone: evidence for release of three cationic proteins and subsequent uptake in macrophages.

Eosinophils from two patients with eosinophilic granuloma of bone (EGB) were studied by combined immunohistochemical and immuno-ultrastructural methods with antibodies directed against three eosinophil granule proteins: major basic protein, eosinophil cationic protein, and eosinophil peroxidase. Immunohistostaining showed the presence and distribution of large numbers of eosinophils in the granuloma. Immuno-ultrastructural methods showed alterations of eosinophil fine structure associated with some steps in the release of granule proteins. No granule extrusion was seen, but rather cationic proteins diffused within cytoplasmic tubulo-vesicular structures. Furthermore, the three granule proteins were found within phagolysosomes of surrounding macrophages, suggesting an interaction between eosinophils and phagocytic cells at the destructive stage of EGB.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Acquired type II von Willebrand's disease associated with adrenal cortical carcinoma.

A case of acquired von Willebrand's disease (AvWD) associated with an adrenal cortical carcinoma is reported. The circulating highest molecular weight multimers (HMWM) of von Willebrand factor (vWF) were decreased when assessed by SDS-agarose plasma electrophoresis, leading to the diagnosis of type II AvWD. No forms of inhibitor could be detected in the plasma of the patient. In contrast, indirect immunoperoxidase studies with a monoclonal antibody to vWF demonstrated an absorption of vWF into malignant cells. Infusion of a vWF-FVIII concentrate, containing significant amounts of HMWM of vWF, allowed surgical resection of the tumour. After the first infusion of the concentrate, the vWF-RCo recovery was found to be low (38%) compared to the vWF:Ag (75%) and FVIII:C (163%) recoveries. The resolution of all biological signs of vWD, including the abnormal multimeric pattern, in the post-operative period was prompt and permanent. Therefore, the absorption of the HMWM of vWF by carcinomatous cells appears to represent a likely pathophysiological mechanism responsible for the AvWD syndrome in this patient.

Adrenal Gland Neoplasms↗
PubMed1991

[Leiomyosarcoma of the superior vena cava. Case report].

Leiomyosarcoma of the blood vessels is a rare malignant tumor, and its localization in the superior vena cava is exceptional. We had the opportunity to study such a case and we compared our clinical, histological and ultrastructural results with those of 5 other reported cases.

Aged↗
PubMed1991

[Relapsing polychondritis and cartilage].

Atrophic polychondritis (APC) results from elective lesions of the components of elastic cartilage. Clinical criteria have been established in terms of the incidence of auricular, nasal, ocular, tracheobronchial or cochlear involvement. However, recent clinical and pathological reviews have shown the frequency and severity of vascular lesions, aortic as well as peripheral. Several pathological mechanisms probably participate together in the destruction of elastic cartilage. A direct enzyme abnormality of glycoaminoglycanes and of elastic tissue are believed to be interlinked with an auto-immune process bringing type II anticollagen antibodies into play.

Cartilage↗