Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

P Lemoine

Publications and source records attributed to P Lemoine.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1998

Crystal structure of 11,18-oxidosteroids obtained by hypoiodination of cortisol acetonide.

The photochemical hypoiodination of cortisol acetonide, without neutralization of the excess of acidity during the work-up of the reaction, led to a mixture of 11 beta,18-oxido-17 alpha,21-dihydroxy-4-pregnen-3,20-dione and 11 beta,19-oxido-17 alpha,21-dihydroxy-4-pregnen-3,20-dione. Side chain cleavage of the former compound gave 11 beta,18-oxido-4-androsten-3,17-dione. The crystal structures of both of these 11 beta,18-oxidosteroids were determined by X-ray. The ring conformations are discussed and compared with those of aldosterone.

Crystallography, X-Ray↗
PubMed1998

Benzodiazepines alter cochleo-cochlear loop in humans.

By using otoacoustic emission, we looked for change in outer hair cell (OHC) motile activity and medial olivocochlear (MOC) system inhibition due to benzodiazepine administration, a drug that is known to produce a pharmacological effect by interacting with GABAergic inhibitory neurotransmission. No effect was observed on OHC motile activity, in contrast benzodiazepines decreased MOC system effectiveness suggesting the existence of GABAergic fibers projecting onto the MOC system.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed1997

Paracrine stimulation of interstitial collagenase (MMP-1) in the human endometrium by interleukin 1alpha and its dual block by ovarian steroids.

In the cycling human endometrium, the expression of interstitial collagenase (MMP-1) and of several related matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) follows the late-secretory fall in sex steroid plasma concentrations and is thought to be a critical step leading to menstruation. The rapid and extensive lysis of interstitial matrix that precedes menstrual shedding requires a strict control of these proteinases. However, the mechanism by which ovarian steroids regulate endometrial MMPs remains unclear. We report here that, in the absence of ovarian steroids, MMP-1 expression in endometrial fibroblasts is markedly stimulated by medium conditioned by endometrial epithelial cells. This stimulation can be prevented by antibodies directed against interleukin 1alpha (IL-1alpha) but not against several other cytokines. Ovarian steroids inhibit the release of IL-1alpha and repress MMP-1 production by IL-1alpha-stimulated fibroblasts. In short-term cultures of endometrial explants obtained throughout the menstrual cycle, the release of both IL-1alpha and MMP-1 is essentially limited to the perimenstrual phase. We conclude that epithelium-derived IL-1alpha is the key paracrine inducer of MMP-1 in endometrial fibroblasts. However, MMP-1 production in the human endometrium is ultimately blocked by ovarian steroids, which act both upstream and downstream of IL-1alpha, thereby exerting an effective control via a "double-block" mechanism.

Cells, Cultured↗
PubMed1997

Is hypnotic withdrawal facilitated by the transitory use of a substitute drug?

PURPOSE: Long-term consumption of hypnotics may lead to various side-effects, including impaired daytime and cognitive functioning and increased risk of accidents. Unfortunately, few guidelines exist for physicians to apply when attempting to withdraw hypnotics from patients. This study investigated whether withdrawal is facilitated by using zopiclone as a substitute drug and evaluated abrupt and gradual substitution techniques. METHODS: This open, multicentre and randomized study involved 1,002 male and female outpatients aged 18 years or over recruited by psychiatrists in Lyon, France. Patients had a mean age of 44 years, and 65.9% were women. Outpatients were chronic insomniacs being treated with a hypnotic for at least three weeks. The study included a substitution (D0-D35) and a withdrawal (D36-D56) stage. Patients were randomly drawn into three parallel groups: Group A underwent gradual substitution of zopiclone for the initial BZD; Group B was subjected to complete and immediate withdrawal of the initial BZD in favor of zopiclone; and Group C remained on the initial BZD, though told otherwise. The withdrawal stage began on D36 with a 50% reduction in medication and ended on D50 with complete withdrawal. RESULTS: Groups A (gradual substitution) and B (abrupt substitution) presented a net improvement in sleep during the substitution stage. However, Group B displayed a better improvement in sleep-onset period, a decrease in nocturnal awakenings and an increased quantity of sleep. In the withdrawal stage, Groups A and B were similar but Group C displayed a deterioration in sleep. Following the withdrawal stage, 29% of patients in Group C, 18% in Group A and 19% in Group B resumed hypnotic use. CONCLUSIONS: Discontinuation of this type of medication is possible in over three quarters of cases, provided that the prescribing physician adheres to a precise withdrawal protocol. Patients on zopiclone were less likely to resume consumption of hypnotics during the week of full withdrawal and were more satisfied with sleep than when treated with a BZD hypnotic. Finally, the results of the study showed that abrupt substitution yielded better results for chronic users of hypnotics.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

[Treatment of insomnia].

Insomnia is not frequently a disease and is rather to be considered as a symptom or a physiological signal. Consequently, its treatment should tend to be etiological. If a pharmacological sleep inducing intervention proves necessary, it has to be included within a more general synchronizing approach. Resynchronizing techniques lie on chronophysiology i.e. rhythms hygiena, control of sleep schedules, sleep restriction. Other non-pharmacological approaches include behaviorism, paradoxical injunctions, relaxation, psychotherapies. Prescription of hypnotics (benzodiazepine or non-benzodiazepine drugs) is sometimes necessary and must be submitted to certain rules including indications, contra-indications, length of treatment, specific withdrawal techniques.

Benzodiazepines↗
PubMed1996

Increased serum levels of neuron-specific enolase in epileptic patients and after electroconvulsive therapy--a preliminary report.

Serum neuron-specific enolase (NSE) levels were studied by an enzymo-immunoassay method in 2 groups of patients: a group of epileptic patients, and a group of patients with refractory major depression after electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). In patients without organic neurological disease (n = 274) the mean serum NSE level (+/- S.D.) was 8.4 +/- 3.4 micrograms/l. No correlation with sex or age was observed. No significant difference was observed between epileptic patients without seizure or major electroencephalogram (EEG) abnormality, and a reference group. Significant increases were observed in 32 samples collected from patients with interictal EEG without spikes and waves before the 7th day after a seizure, in whom mean NSE was 21.5 +/- 9.4 micrograms/l, and in 26 samples from 4 patients without seizures but with spikes and waves in the interictal EEG, whose mean NSE was 20.6 +/- 11.5 micrograms/l. The increases of serum NSE levels in epileptic patients seem therefore to be linked to seizures and/or to EEG abnormalities. The consequences of these observations for the survey of epileptic patients, and for the diagnosis of cerebral tumors (mainly neuroblastoma) or for monitoring treatment after surgical resection, are discussed. In only 1 patient out of 6, an increase in serum NSE levels was observed with a peak about 12 h after ECT. No significant correlation with the ECT features (length of seizures, one- or two-sided electrodes) was observed.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Bone resorption and response to calcium-regulating hormones in the absence of tissue or urokinase plasminogen activator or of their type 1 inhibitor.

Plasminogen activators (PA) are implicated in cell migration and tissue remodeling, two components of the bone resorption processes. Using mice with inactivated tissue PA (tPA), urokinase PA (uPA), or type 1 PA inhibitor (PAI-1) genes, we evaluated whether these processes, or their stimulation by parathyroid hormone (PTH) or 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin (1,25[OH]2D3) are dependent on these genes. Two culture models were used, one involving 19-day fetal calvariae, to evaluate the direct resorptive activity of osteoclasis, and the other involving 45Ca-labeled 17-day fetal metatarsals, in which this activity depends on preliminary (pre)osteoclast migration. PTH similarly increased (about 10-fold) PA activity in calvariae from wild-type tPA+/+ and uPA+/+ or deficient uPA-/- and PAI-/- mice; it affected only tPA, not uPA. In tPA-/- bones, the low PA levels, due to uPA, were not influenced by PTH. Calcitonin did not affect PA responses to PTH. No differences were observed between tPA+/+, tPA-/-, uPA+/+, and uPA-/- calvariae for any parameter related to bone resorption (development of lacunae, release of calcium and lysosomal enzymes, accumulation of collagenase, loss of hydroxyproline), indicating similar responses to PTH or calcitonin. The progressive 45Ca release was largely similar in cultures of tPA+/+, tPA-/-, uPA+/+, uPA-/-, PAI+/+, or PAI-/- metatarsals and it was similarly enhanced by PTH or 1,25(OH)2D3. However, uPA-/- metatarsals released 45Ca at a slower rate at the beginning of the cultures, suggesting an impaired recruitment of the (pre)osteoclasts, which migrate at that time from the periosteum into the calcified cartilage. Thus, it appears that the direct resorptive activity of the osteoclasts does not necessitate the presence of either tPA or uPA, but uPA is likely to facilitate the migration of the (pre)osteoclasts toward the mineralized surfaces. Although considerably enhanced by PTH, tPA does not mediate the actions of PTH (nor of 1,25[OH]2D3) evaluated in these models.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

Induction of sleep.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Antidepressive Agents↗
PubMed1995

[Uterine malformations. Diagnosis, prognosis and treatment].

Malformations of the uterus result from a variety of anomalies during embryogenesis from the 6th to the 17th week of development. Agenesia (not discussed here) should be distinguished from unicornis, pseudo-unicornis, bicornis, bipartitus and communicating uteri (Musset's classification). Such malformations occur in 3 to 4% of all women. Sonography provides the most useful information for diagnosis and should be used as first intention examination together with a work-up to determine extension. In certain cases, hysterography and laparoscopy may be required. Sterility is not increased in women with a malformation of the uterus, but fecundity is reduced due to a high rate of spontaneous abortions (30 to 40%) and premature births (15 to 45%). Obstetrical prognosis in case of a partitioned uterus can be improved by hysteroscopic resection of the partition. Most authors propose endoscopic treatment when a malformation of the uterus is diagnosed during a sterility work-up.

Congenital Abnormalities↗
PubMed1995

Quantification of the serotonin hyperinnervation in adult rat neostriatum after neonatal 6-hydroxydopamine lesion of nigral dopamine neurons.

Light microscope autoradiography after uptake and storage of tritiated serotonin (5-HT) in brain slices was used to count 5-HT axon terminals (varicosities) in the 5-HT-hyperinnervated neostriatum of adult rats subjected to neonatal 6-hydroxydopamine treatment and age-matched, normal controls. After correction for incomplete autoradiographic exposure and for section thickness, the results were expressed in millions of varicosities per mm3 of tissue. Control values ranged from 4.8 in the rostral to 6.3 in the caudal neostriatum (5.8 at intermediate level), for an average of 5.6. The corresponding values in 5-HT-hyperinnervated tissue ranged from 9.7 to 7.7 (8.8 at intermediate level), for an average of 8.7 and increases of 102%, 52% and 22% above control in the rostral, intermediate and caudal neostriatum, respectively (average increase of 55%). These data confirmed the predilection of the 5-HT hyperinnervation for the rostral neostriatum and demonstrated its presence in the caudal neostriatum also.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Obstructive azoospermia with agenesis of vas deferens or with bronchiectasia (Young's syndrome): a genetic approach.

Two groups of infertile men with obstructive azoospermia were screened for cystic fibrosis (CF) gene mutations (delta F508, exons 3, 4, 7, 10, 11, 14a, 17b, 19, 20, 21). The first group was composed of 26 patients with congenital agenesis of vas deferens (CAVD). The second group was composed of 12 patients with obstructive azoospermia associated with chronic suppurating respiratory disease (Young's syndrome). Of the group with CAVD, 77% of patients showed at least one mutation in the CF transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene. The delta F508 mutation occurred most frequently (54%), and the second most frequent mutation to occur was R117H (27%). Six patients were double heterozygotes. In Young's syndrome, no CF mutations were detected. CAVD can be considered as an incomplete clinical form of CF. However, the differences observed in CF mutations between CF and CAVD suggest that they are different disorders resulting from mutations in the same gene. Young's syndrome is a very different clinical entity.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Factors related to sleep apnea syndrome in sleep clinic patients.

We examined 129 patients recruited from two sleep clinics to study the sleep apnea syndrome (SAS), defined by the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) > or = 10. Information was registered from a self-administered questionnaire, basal physical measurements, and polysomnography. In 68 subjects recorded for two consecutive nights, a high correlation was found between first- and second-night AHIs (r = 0.89). Habitual loud snoring and breathing arrests during sleep were associated with AHI > or = 10. A model including these two variables, sex, age, and body mass index was created in order to predict AHI > or = 10 and with which it was possible to successfully classify almost three of four patients. Among subjective sleep questionnaire items, only daytime sleepiness was related to drops of transcutaneous oxygen tension. These discrepancies in the observed relationship between sleep parameters and subjective sleep items reduce the questionnaire value in epidemiologic settings where it aimed to detect SAS, as defined solely by the AHI value.

Blood Gas Analysis↗
PubMed1994

Validation of the transporter ligand cyanoimipramine as a marker of serotonin innervation density in brain.

UNLABELLED: Radiolabeled ligands of monoamine transporters have already been used to visualize cerebral monoamine innervation by tissue autoradiography and by PET or SPECT in vivo. METHODS: A sampling technique was developed to allow for both the autoradiographic counting of serotonin (5-HT) axonal varicosities, labeled by uptake and storage of [3H]5-HT, and the measurement of the binding of [3H]cyanoimipramine ([3H]CYI), a specific 5-HT transporter ligand, in adjacent slices of adult rat neostriatum. The experiments were conducted in normal, decreased (after 5,7-dihydroxytryptamine lesions in adults) or increased (after 6-hydroxydopamine lesions in neonates) states of neostriatal 5-HT innervation. RESULTS: In normal tissue, the regional density of [3H]CYI binding faithfully reproduced rostrocaudal variations in the number of [3H]5-HT-labeled axonal varicosities. Pairs of values from all three experimental groups showed a highly significant linear correlation (r = 0.93) between the density of [3H]CYI binding and the number of 5-HT varicosities per cubic millimeter of tissue. The intercept of the regression line was close to zero; this confirmed the selectivity of the ligand. CONCLUSION: Under drug-free conditions, specific [3H]CYI binding is a good quantitative index of 5-HT innervation density in brain tissue and is not significantly up- or downregulated on 5-HT denervation or hyperinnervation. When it is adequately labeled, such a ligand might therefore be appropriate to quantify regional 5-HT innervation in vivo by PET or SPECT. The present approach should also be useful to select ligands to quantify 5-HT and monoamine systems.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

A software for the description of workplaces.

Three softwares have been designed, the first for job histories, the second for job-exposure matrices, and this, the third and latest, for workplace descriptions. The first two softwares were presented in earlier articles while the current article presents the software for workplace descriptions. Workplace description has been based on the idea that a job is best described by listing its constituent tasks so as to determine associated risks better. The three softwares, the job history software (JHS), the job-exposure software (JES) and the workplace description software (WDS) are interfaced and constitute an integrated professional risk surveillance (PRS) system.

Algorithms↗
PubMed1993

Sleep and heart rate circadian rhythm in depression: the necessity to separate.

In order to determine whether a decrease in the amplitude of heart rate circadian rhythm (HRCR) could represent a chronobiological marker of depression and to answer the question of the possible role of this alteration in the reduction of rapid eye movement sleep latency (REM latency) observed in depression, 22 major depressed patients (DSM III R, Montgomery Asberg Depression Rating Scale) and 11 healthy volunteers entered this study, which included the simultaneous recordings of sleep and heart rate (HR) during two consecutive 24-h periods. After a smoothing procedure, the HR data, obtained from a portable device providing mean HR/min, were computed with the single cosinor method for the classical circadian parameters. We also determined the cosinor fitting index (CFI = percentage to fit). When studied as a single group and compared to the control group, the depressed patients, who had difficulties in sleep initiation and whose REM latencies were within normal limits, were characterized by a dampening of the amplitude HRCR and of the day-night HR difference. This was linked to a lesser increase of HR during the day and a reduced decrease at night. No significant phase modification of HRCR was observed in this group of depressives. In a second step, the depressives were divided into a depressed arrhythmic group (DAG, CFI < 50%, 11 patients) and a depressed rhythmic group (DRG, CFI > 50%, 11 patients) who did not differ on MADRS scores. Even though the amplitude of HRCR was reduced in the DAG only, with HR higher at night and lower during the daytime than for controls, both DAG and DRG significantly differed from controls on those items related to sleep induction and maintenance. In the DAG only was there a tendency toward a reduction of total sleep time and REM sleep time while REM latency was normal. This finding suggests that sleep problems are not responsible for the differences in HRCR parameters between the two depressed groups. These differences in HR and sleep parameters between two groups of similarly depressed patients also suggest that a short REM latency does not systematically imply a disruption of all circadian clocks.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

A double-blind comparison of moclobemide and toloxatone in out-patients presenting a major depressive disorder.

A double-blind comparison of moclobemide and toloxatone was performed in adult out-patients diagnosed as suffering from a major depressive disorder. Parallel groups of patients received moclobemide, 450 mg/day (n = 135) or toloxatone, 1000 mg/day (n = 133) for 28 days. Both groups showed a significant clinical improvement while on therapy; the response was most marked and rapid in those receiving moclobemide treatment. Improvement was greatest in those patients with the most severe depression at the time of trial onset. A significantly higher number of patients returned to normal sleep patterns following moclobemide treatment than following toloxatone. Overall, tolerance was rated as good or very good in more than 80% of patients. The most frequent complaints in the moclobemide-treated group were hot flushes, dry mouth, constipation and headache, while an increase in anxiety was associated with toloxatone usage. Moclobemide was found to be as effective as toloxatone in the treatment of major depressive episodes, but with the advantages of improved sleep patterns and reduced anxiety.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

[Thrombocytopenia induced by low molecular weight heparin].

Two cases of thrombocytopenia due to a low molecular weight heparin (Fraxiparine) are reported. The first case was a 35-year-old alcoholic man with acute mild pancreatitis. After having been treated with Fraxiparine for 12 days to prevent venous thrombosis, routine laboratory studies revealed a thrombocytopenia (49 G.l-1). At the same time, a minor haemorrhage occurred in the nasogastric tube. Prothrombin time, partial thromboplastin time, fibrin degradation products and D-dimers remained normal. There were no soluble fibrin monomers. Fraxiparine was discontinued. The thrombocyte count continued to decrease (12 G.l-1) up to the thirteenth day, it raised 3 days later to 110 G.l-1, and returned to normal after 9 days more (395 G.l-1). The second patient was a 58-year-old man given prophylactic Fraxiparine between the 5th and 16th days after admission for a severe asthma attack. Here again, after 12 days of treatment, the thrombocyte count decreased to 74 G.l-1. There were no other abnormalities, neither clinically nor in laboratory findings. Heparin administration was discontinued and the thrombocytopenia had resolved 3 days later. In both patients, the diagnosis of thrombocytopenia elicited by low molecular weight heparin was confirmed by finding, in vitro, a platelet aggregating factor in the presence of Fraxiparine. The literature concerning this topic is reviewed and discussed.

Adult↗