Showing papers by "French Institute of Health and Medical Research published in 1976"

Radical mastectomy versus radical mastectomy plus internal mammary dissection. Five-year results of an international cooperative study.

Abstract: From 1963 to 1968, the international group collected 1580 cases of breast cancer, randomized into two therapeutic groups: radical mastectomy and extended mastectomy. The data were processed on the UNIVAC 1107 computer of the I.N.S.E.R.M. Computing Center. No significant difference was observed between the two groups in the overall five-year survival rate. However, a more detailed analysis, according to certain prognostic features, showed that extended mastectomy improved the results in one subgroup: cancers of inner or medial quadrants, axillary N+. Within this group the difference was highly significant for a smaller subgroup (190 patients) including only tumors T1 and T2. In conclusion, there is no indication for extended mastectomy in any cancers of the outer quadrants or in those of the inner or medial quadrants without axillary involvement. A limited indication for extended mastectomy may be provisionally retained for T1 and T2 cancers of the inner or medial quadrants with axillary involvement.

Immunological classification of acute lymphoblastic leukaemias: evaluation of its clinical significance in a hundred patients.

Abstract: Summary. The use of T and B lymphocyte markers and of different antisera raised against malignant B cells and fetal thymocytes allowed the classification of 100 patients with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) into three groups. (1) Patients with non-T non-B ALL whose cells were devoid of conventional B and T markers but characterized by a leukaemia associated antigen (69 cases). (2) Patients with T-derived ALL (28 cases). (3) Patients with ALL of B cell origin (three cases). The search for haematological and clinical correlations showed that those patients with T-derived ALL tended to have a higher leucocyte count (P= 0.05) and acid phosphatase positivity of blast cells (P= 0.01), a higher incidence of tumour presentation (P= 0.05) and a thymic mass. Survival curves for the two main groups of patients are similar at 36 months but meningeal relapses were more frequent in patients with T-derived ALL (P= 0.02).

Unconjugated dehydroepiandrosterone plasma levels in normal subjects from birth to adolescence in human: the use of a sensitive radioimmunoassay.

Abstract: A specific and sensitive radioimmunoassay for measuring unconjugated plasma dehydroepiandrosterone(DHA) has been developed and the results expressed in ng/100 ml Mean values ±1 SD were in mixed cord blood 5933 ± 1865 in 21 females and 7127 ± 1909 in 18 males During the first day of life the peripheral plasma concentration of DHA was 9176 ± 3178 in 22 female and 92265 ± 290 in 17 male neonates During the first month of age, DHA levels decreased significantly and then more progressively throughout the first year of life Mean levels observed between the first and 6th month of life were 1471 ±536 in 15 girls and 1516 ± 627 in 28 boys Between 6 and 12 months of age mean DHA levels were 909 ± 433 and 6814 ± 309 in 11 girls and 24 boys, respectively In 250 normal children, plasma DHA levels were very low between 1 to 6 years of age, but rising progressively thereafter without any sex difference long before any clinical sign of puberty A circadian rhythm parallel to that of cortisol was obse

The antimüllerian hormone.

Abstract: Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the macromolecular nature of antimullerian hormone (AMH), gel filtration of AMH, ultracentrifugation in a density gradient, and ion-exchange chromatography. The antimullerian hormone is synthesized by the fetal Sertoli cells very early in fetal life, as soon as seminiferous tubules are recognizable under the light microscope and before the appearance of fetal Leydig cells. AMH production ceases in the perinatal period and is not resumed at puberty. The biochemical structure of AMH has not yet been elucidated, mainly because the bioassay used up to now is not quantitative and, therefore, not ideally suited to techniques of protein purification. The macromolecular nature of the hormone has been firmly established and its protein nature is highly probable. A molecular weight of 200,000 to 300,000 has been demonstrated by gel filtration, whereas by density gradient ultracentrifugation, lower values, from 120,000 to 200,000, are found. This discrepancy is compatible with the hypothesis that AMH is a glycoprotein.

Abnormal TSH, PRL and GH response to TSH releasing factor in chronic renal failure.

Abstract: TSH, PRL and GH response to TSH releasing factor as well as basal T4 and T3 were evaluated in a group of patients with chronic renal failure undergoing chronic hemodialysis. Serum T4 and T3 were lower than normal. Basal TSH was normal as compared to control, but did not rise after TRF stimulation. Larger dosages of TRF did not correct this abnormal response. Basal PRL was higher than control and remained at the same level during the test. GH was stimulated by the TRF with a peak occurring 20 min after injection. This abnormal secretion was not blunted by T3 administration. TRF half-life measured in 3 patients was 4 min. These data indicate that 1) there is an abnormal response to TRF in chronic renal failure which does not seem to be due to an altered sensitivity to, or metabolism of TRF; and 2) there is an abnormal TSH secretion which may be responsible for the low T4 and T3 measured in these patients.

Progressive glomerulonephritis in mice treated with interferon preparations at birth.

Abstract: IN addition to the well known antiviral action1 interferon preparations exert various biological effects on cells (for references see refs 2 and 3). While investigating the effect of interferon on the growth and development of newborn mice, we found that daily injection of potent mouse interferon preparations resulted in extensive liver cell degeneration and death between days 8 and 14 (ref. 4). When interferon treatment, begun at birth, was stopped between days 6 and 8 of life, liver cell damage appeared to be reversible and most mice recovered. In the ensuing months, several of these mice died and although the liver and other organs appeared normal, the kidneys were pale and the surface was granular. Histological examination revealed a severe glomerulonephritis. We report here an investigation of this phenomenon.

Stability of nucleosomes in native and reconstituted chromatins

Abstract: The stability of nucleosomes of SV40 minichromosomes extracted from infected cells or reconstituted by association of SV40 DNA and the four histones H2A, H2B, H3 and H4 was studied as a function of the ionic strength. As a measure of the stability of the nucleosome, we followed the disappearance of the nucleosomes from the original chromatin and their appearance on a "competing" DNA. We show here that the DNA and the histone components of the nucleosomes do not apprecially dissociate below 800 mM NaCl. At 800 mM and above, the histone moiety of the nucleosomes can dissociate from the DNA and efficiently participate to the formation of nucleosomes on a "competing" DNA.

Phenotypic expression of lethal chromosomal anomalies in human abortuses.

Abstract: From anatomical and cytogenetic studies of 1500 spontaneous abortuses attempts were made to establish correlations between the phenotype and karyotype of the specimens. The criteria used to determine the phenotype were based on estimated developmental age and macroscopic and microscopic examinations of embryo and placenta. Main features were described permitting, on anatomic examination of the conceptus, diagnosis of genetic anomalies, and in some instances possibly assigning the type of chromosomal aberration: viz., in monosomy X, triploidies, tetraploidies, and some trisomies. Phenotypic expression at the cellular level was studied by morphometry of the placenta and by study of in-vitro growth characteristics of cells lines initiated from aneuploid embryos. Study of growth rate characteristics may reveal the basis for the pathogenesis of developmental arrests.

In vitro release of luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (lhrh) from rat mediobasal hypothalamus: effects of potassium, calcium and dopamine.

Abstract: A suitable preparation to study the effect of dopamine (DA) on in. vitro LHRH secretion is presented. Enzymatic degradation of LHRH in the incubation medium is completely inhibited by bacitracin (2 × 10−5 M). A high potassium concentration (56mM) induces an increase in LHRH release from entire pieces of mediobasal hypothalamus (MBH), but not from a synaptosomal pellet; this release is inhibited when calcium is omitted. The depolarization-induced LHRH release in vitro is independent of the initial amount of the peptide present in the MBH. In contrast, DA (10−6M) is not effective in vitro on MBH from ovariectomized rats but induces a fast release of LHRH from MBH of normal male and estradiol-pretreated ovariectomized rats. The preparation presented here appears to be of great interest in investigating amine-steroid-LHRH interactions at the cellular level.

H-2 region product as determinant in immune cytolysis of syngeneic tumour cells by anti-MSV T lymphocytes.

Abstract: THE existence of cytolytic T lymphocytes (CTL) specific for antigenically related tumour cells during oncornavirus-induced oncogenesis in the primary host is well documented. They exist in murine sarcoma virus (MSV) tumour-bearing mice, during and after the tumour rejection1, and in Friend virus-infected mice, notably in the spleen of resistant C57BL/6 (ref. 2). It is probable that they play some role in tumour cell destruction in vivo3 and it can be supposed that the antigens of the tumour cell surface recognised by CTL are at least, for the most part, viral proteins or glycoproteins. It was suggested that CTL reacting with virus producer cells in non-oncogenic systems4, or with hapten-modified cells5,6 recognise an H–2-modified antigen. Therefore, it was of interest to determine whether the same situation exists in an oncornavirus tumour system. It is already known that anti-MSV CTL are much more efficient against syngeneic than against allogeneic tumour cells7,8, indicating that H–2 antigens may play some role in the CTL–target cell interaction. We report here that the H–2 specificities of the tumour cell surface determine the interaction with syngeneic anti-MSV CTL, the reacting antigen being either an H–2 specificity modified by the virus, or, less probably, a virus-induced antigen modified by an H–2 region product.

Postnatal maturation of rat Purkinje cells cultivated in the absence of two afferent systems: an ultrastructural study.

Abstract: Organized cultures of newborn rat cerebellum were established in Maximow chambers in order to study the maturation of Purkinje cells in absence of afferent systems. In the first model, standard cultures were devoid of extracerebellar afferents mossy and climbing fibers. Despite this absence, somatic spines appeared upon Purkinje cells during the first week in vitro and maturation proceeded normally except for the almost absence of spiny branchlets. Large dendritic trunks were studded with numerous spines, some of which were naked, a few bearing isolated post-synaptic densities and others occupied by boutons of parallel fibers. Stellate and basket axons made synapses upon the smooth portions of dendrites and soma. In a second model, the cultures were fed the antimitotic drug methylazoxymethanol (MAM) to prevent multiplication of granule cell precursors. Despite the absence of climbing and parallel fibers, the elongation of Purkinje dendrites was not prevented, but again the dendritic arbor consisted of large trunks studded with spines; somatic as well as dendritic spines were contacted by large boutons identified as Purkinje recurrent collaterals (PRC). It is concluded that the Purkinje cell possesses a large autonomy from afferent systems as to the growth of soma and dendrites. Conversely, the geometry of the dendrite and especially the spiny branchlets depend on the presence of both climbing and parallel fibers. One may conclude from the above experiments that specificity of synaptic contacts is maintained as long as postsynaptic sites are not devoid of their normal afferents. Heterologous synapses are formed when postsynaptic sites are present, their normal afferents absent and aberrant ones increasing by collateral sprouting. Such is probably the case in the second model of this study.