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Biomedical subjects

P Fondu

Publications and source records attributed to P Fondu.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Effect of the mucoactive drug nacystelyn on the respiratory burst of human blood polymorphonuclear neutrophils.

In lung diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or cystic fibrosis, the activation of phagocytic cells produces high amounts of cytotoxic reactive oxygen species (ROS) that are partly implicated in the pathogenic process. In this study, the ex vivo antioxidant activity of nacystelyn (NAL), a recently developed mucoactive thiol-containing agent, was investigated using the respiratory burst of human blood polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs). The ROS generation was induced by serum-opsonized zymosan and assessed with luminol- and lucigenin-enhanced chemiluminescence (ECL). The activity of NAL was compared with N-acetylcysteine (ACC) and captopril, other thiol-containing pharmacological agents having documented antioxidant properties. The three drugs significantly inhibited the ECL response of activated PMNs in the presence of luminol, a luminogenic agent which mostly reflects the production of hydroxyl and hypohalite radicals. NAL was more efficient than the other two drugs: the concentrations producing a 50% inhibition (IC50) of total luminol-ECL were 290 microM, 1580 microM and 760 microM for NAL, ACC and captopril, respectively. The inhibition of the lucigenin-ECL response of activated PMNs was less marked for all compounds suggesting a poorer reactivity with superoxide radicals. These findings demonstrate that NAL, at concentrations obtainable in vivo by inhalation, impairs the PMNs chemiluminescence response related to hydroxyl and hypohalite radicals production. As those radicals are highly cytotoxic, NAL appears as a promising agent in the prevention of oxidative lung damage caused by an active inflammatory response.

Acetylcysteine↗
PubMedDate not supplied

African histoplasmosis in a Belgian AIDS patient.

We describe an African histoplasmosis case in a 65-year-old Belgian living in Zaire for 46 years. Microscopic bone marrow examination showed Histoplasma. It was confirmed by cultures and hamster inoculation. Autopsy revealed a fungal dissemination by Histoplasma duboisii.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Effects of recombinant human granulocyte-colony stimulating factor on neutropenic mice infected with Candida albicans: acceleration of recovery from neutropenia and potentiation of anti-C. albicans resistance.

The treatment of systemic candidal infection in neutropenic patients continues to be a major problem, and only 20% of patients survive despite treatment with amphotericin B (Amph B). Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) is a haemopoietic glycoprotein that appears to control the survival, cycle, activation, proliferation and maturation of neutrophil granulocytes and promoter recovery from neutropenia. Confirming previous results, we observed that subcutaneous (s.c.) injection of recombinant human (rh) G-CSF in mice (30 micrograms kg-1 daily) increased the circulating leucocyte count (fourfold) on day 5 of treatment, and led to an expansion of the bone marrow myeloid compartment. The in vivo effect of rhG-CSF on murine resistance to systemic Candida albicans infection was also studied in neutropenic mice. Neutropenia was induced by intraperitoneal injection of a single dose of cyclophosphamide (CPA, 200 mg kg-1) 4 days before C. albicans infection and 2 days before rhG-CSF treatment. rhG-CSF administration showed a protective role on mice infected intravenously (i.v.) with one million C. albicans spores; all the untreated control mice died within 8 days after infection, whereas about 40% of mice treated with rhG-CSF remained alive for the same period. Furthermore, the survival rate was greater in host animals treated with combined Amph B and rhG-CSF than in those treated with Amph B alone. The number of C. albicans colony-forming units (CFU-C. albicans) in the kidney of infected mice was lower in the rhG-CSF-treated group than in the non-treated control mice. This suggests that the severity of infection is decreased in rhG-CSF-treated host animals.

Amphotericin B↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Acute inflammation effects on in vivo granulopoiesis: comparative studies in healthy and leukaemic mice.

Mice undergoing an inflammatory reaction, induced by subcutaneous implantation of copper rods, elaborate two kinds of humoral stimulatory factors: the diffusible granulopoietic stimulator (DGS) that enhances diffusion chamber (DC) granulopoiesis, and the serum colony stimulating factor (CSF) that stimulates in vitro granulocyte-monocyte colony growth. We demonstrate here that mice suffering from acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) are unable to augment the production of these humoral stimulatory factors when acute inflammation is induced. Moreover, our results show that increased levels of normal humoral stimulatory factors (DGS and CSF) do not influence the proliferation and/or the differentiation of leukaemic cells implanted in DC.

Acute Disease↗