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Biomedical subjects

Y Pennec

Publications and source records attributed to Y Pennec.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Acetaldehyde adducts with serum proteins are not responsible for decreased drug binding in alcoholic patients.

Decreased plasma binding of phenytoin and diazepam has previously been described in patients with alcoholic liver diseases. It has been attributed to hypoalbuminemia, endogenous displacers and/or qualitative changes in albumin such as formation of adducts with acetaldehyde, a highly reactive metabolite of ethanol. In the present report this hypothesis was tested. After treating the sera with activated charcoal to remove the endogenous displacers and adjusting albumin concentration to a constant level, the binding parameters of both drugs, phenytoin and diazepam, were determined in 14 healthy men and 16 alcoholic patients by equilibrium dialysis. In these conditions, no significant difference in the number of binding sites nor in the affinity constant was observed, which suggests that acetaldehyde adducts with proteins do not contribute, to a major extent, to the defect of drug binding observed in alcoholic patients.

Acetaldehyde↗

[Sicca syndrome with severe renal insufficiency].

The interstitial nephritis associated with sicca syndrome is usually symptomless or responsible for mild renal impairment. The authors report five cases in which renal failure was severe, requiring haemodialysis in two patients. The physiopathological mechanisms and the treatment of interstitial nephritis in sicca syndrome are discussed. Corticosteroids improved renal function in three of these five patients.

Acute Kidney Injury↗

Relationships between non organ-specific autoantibody production and age-related modifications of mononuclear cell phenotype.

13 autoantibodies were sought in 23-26 elderly people and in 47-118 young controls. We found at least one autoantibody (mainly rheumatoid factor, RF, and anti-nuclear antibodies in 17/23 elderly (i.e., 17%) and in 7/45 young controls (i.e., 16%). Autologous rosette-forming cells and Leu-7 positive cells (Natural Killer Cells?) were higher, and OKT4 and OKT8 positive cells lower in the former than in the latter group. We show that elderly have a high proportion of CD5 positive B cells, compared with young controls, following phorbol myristic acetate activation in vitro. This abnormality might account for the discrepancy in production of RF compared to other autoantibodies.

Adult↗

[Comparative study of rheumatoid polyarthritis with and without the Gougerot-Sjögren syndrome. 54 cases].

Clinical, biological and evolutive profiles of rheumatoid polyarthritis (RP) associated or not with a Gougerot-Sjögren syndrome (GSS) were compared in two series of 27 patients matched according sex and age, and recruited among 158 patients examined during a period of 36 months. The GSS was defined by the presence, in addition to RP, of xerophthalmia (Schirmer and Rose Bengal tests were positive) and/or salivary glands disorders (histological abnormalities at stages III or IV of Chisholm classification). The evolution of RP and the importance of articular or extra-articular involvement of the disease are identical in both groups. Biologically, the prevalence of agglutinating rheumatoid factors, antinuclear antibodies and specific organ antibodies, is not different from one group to the other. Only the serum levels of gammaglobulins and circulating immune complexes are higher in the presence of a GSS. Finally, it was not necessary to resort more often to steroid therapy and/or immunosuppressors for RP with GSS than for isolated RP. In summary, in the same age group and same sex, RP associated to a GSS do not appear to have a fundamentally different profile, contrary to what might have been suggested by previous studies.

Adult↗

[Binding of complement by anti-native desoxyribonucleic acid antibodies in systemic lupus erythematosus].

Antibodies directed against double-stranded (native) desoxyribonucleic acid (dsDNA) were detected by the immunofluorescence technique on Crithidia luciliae in 38 out of 58 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and in 22 out of 296 controls with autoimmune diseases. The SLE patients had high titers of anti-dsDNA antibodies which belonged at least to the IgG class and fixed the complement in 20 out of 38 cases. These complement-fixing antibodies differed from the others in their greater activity, as evaluated by C3 levels, and in their association with a high incidence of renal lesions.

Adolescent↗

[Pure hypertensive nephropathy associated with malignant arterial hypertension in disseminated lupus erythematosus. Case with a favorable outcome].

The authors report the association of a clinically florid form of lupus with malignant hypertension and renal failure. The renal histology revealed lesions of nephroangiosclerosis, with virtually no signs of lupus proliferative glomerulonephritis. With a follow-up period of 42 months, the renal function has returned to normal, although steroid treatment has been interrupted for 33 months. However, intensive antihypertensive treatment is still required. This unusual case is discussed in the light of previous reports in the literature of the association of disseminated lupus erythematosus and malignant hypertension, which is nevertheless a rare entity.

Adolescent↗

[Lambert-Eaton syndrome and myasthenia. Nosologic discussion].

The Eaton-Lambert syndrome is a presynaptic neuromuscular blockade with well-defined electrical characteristics. It contrasts with the postsynaptic neuromuscular blockade which typifies myasthenia gravis. A review of the literature shows that cases do not always perfectly fit the description by Eaton and Lambert and that both kinds of blockade may be associated as in the observation reported here. Since its first description in 1956, there have been many publications on the Eaton-Lambert syndrome. However, there are cases in which both types of blockade; i.e. myasthenic and pseudo-myasthenic, are associated and the following case-report has seemed to us worthy of interest.

Carcinoma, Small Cell↗

[Yersinia enterocolitica septicemia occurring in a hospital milieu. A case with septic shock in an immunocompromised patient].

A case of Yersinia enterocolitica septicemia is reported. This case is unusual as the infection was apparently acquired within the hospital and septic shock occurred during the course. Immunodeficiency, which is nearly consistent in similar observations and was established in the index case, was apparently caused by protein-calorie deficiency, without any of the usual associations reported in the literature.

Aged↗