Reduced expression of ERp46 under diabetic conditions in β-cells and the effect of liraglutide.

Background: Diabetes mellitus is characterized by peripheral insulin resistance, hyperglycemia and defective insulin secretion. Insulin producing pancreatic β-cells are equipped with a highly developed endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and thus are affected by ER stress under hyperglycemic conditions. We have previously studied the influence of high glucose on cultured β-cells in vitro.

Chios mastic fractions in experimental colitis: implication of the nuclear factor κB pathway in cultured HT29 cells.

The Pistacia lentiscus tree gives a resinous exudate called Chios mastic (CM) rich in triterpenoids. CM can be fractionated into acidic and neutral fractions (AF and NF, respectively). Oleanolic acid (OA) is a major triterpenic acid in CM with several antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.

[Smoking and pregnancy: search for a correlation between cotininemia and Doppler findings].

Objective: To search for a possible correlation between an effective marker of smoking and uterine and placental resistance during pregnancy.

Study Design: A prospective study was conducted at the Intercommunal Hospital Center of Montreuil, France: 81 healthy pregnant women underwent uterine and placental Doppler and cotidin blood assay, the best current test for smoking.

Results: This study shows a significative increase of utero-placental vascular resistances according with increased cotidine levels.

[Placenta percreta over a cesarean scar with bladder invasion. General review and 2 case reports].

The authors report two new cases of placenta percreta on a caesarian scar with invasion of the bladder. On the basis of a review of the literature, they demonstrate its seriousness, which is always increased by the unexpected nature of the complications. They therefore recall the clinical and paraclinical factors which can provide grounds for suspecting this possibility, so that the hemostasis hysterectomy required can be carried out on the best possible conditions.