Improvement of Charcot-Marie-Tooth Phenotype with a Nanocomplex Treatment in Two Transgenic Models of CMT1A.

Curcumin has been shown to exert beneficial effects in peripheral neuropathies. Despite its known biological activities, curcumin has unfavorable pharmacokinetics. Its instability has been linked to its failure in clinical trials of curcumin for the treatment of human pathologies.

Charcot-Marie-Tooth-1A and sciatic nerve crush rat models: insights from proteomics.

The sensorimotor and histological aspects of peripheral neuropathies were already studied by our team in two rat models: the sciatic nerve crush and the Charcot-Marie-Tooth-1A disease. In this study, we sought to highlight and compare the protein signature of these two pathological situations. Indeed, the identification of protein profiles in diseases can play an important role in the development of pharmacological targets.

The macrophage: a key player in the pathophysiology of peripheral neuropathies.

Macrophages are present in all mammalian tissues and coexist with various cell types in order to respond to different environmental cues. However, the role of these cells has been underestimated in the context of peripheral nerve damage. More importantly, macrophages display divergent characteristics, associated with their origin, and in response to the modulatory effects of their microenvironment.

Key Developments in the Potential of Curcumin for the Treatment of Peripheral Neuropathies.

Peripheral neuropathies (PN) can be triggered after metabolic diseases, traumatic peripheral nerve injury, genetic mutations, toxic substances, and/or inflammation. PN is a major clinical problem, affecting many patients and with few effective therapeutics. Recently, interest in natural dietary compounds, such as polyphenols, in human health has led to a great deal of research, especially in PN.

Curcumin-cyclodextrin/cellulose nanocrystals improve the phenotype of Charcot-Marie-Tooth-1A transgenic rats through the reduction of oxidative stress.

The most prevalent form of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT type 1A) is characterized by duplication of the PMP22 gene, peripheral dysmyelination and decreased nerve conduction velocities leading to muscle weakness. Recently, oxidative stress was reported as a feature in CMT1A patients. Curcumin exhibits antioxidant activities and has shown beneficial properties on peripheral nerves.

Peripheral nerve regeneration and intraneural revascularization.

Peripheral nerves are particularly vulnerable to injuries and are involved in numerous pathologies for which specific treatments are lacking. This review summarizes the pathophysiological features of the most common traumatic nerve injury in humans and the different animal models used in nerve regeneration studies. The current knowledge concerning Wallerian degeneration and nerve regrowth is then described.

Local low dose curcumin treatment improves functional recovery and remyelination in a rat model of sciatic nerve crush through inhibition of oxidative stress.

Traumatic injuries to peripheral nerves are frequent, however, specific pharmacological treatments are currently lacking. Curcumin has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective properties but high oral doses are required for therapeutic use, particularly due to its low bioavailability. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of local and continuous treatment using low curcumin doses on functional recovery and nerve regeneration after rat sciatic nerve crush (SNC).

Isolation of Astrocytes Displaying Myofibroblast Properties and Present in Multiple Sclerosis Lesions.

A wide heterogeneity of lesions can affect the central nervous system (CNS). In all situations where neurons are damaged, including multiple sclerosis (MS), a common reactive astrocytosis is present. Sedimentation field-flow fractionation (SdFFF) was used to sort astrocyte subpopulations.

The myofibroblast, a key cell in normal and pathological tissue repair.

Myofibroblasts are characterized by their expression of α-smooth muscle actin, their enhanced contractility when compared to normal fibroblasts and their increased synthetic activity of extracellular matrix proteins. Myofibroblasts play an important role in normal tissue repair processes, particularly in the skin where they were first described. During normal tissue repair, they appear transiently and are then lost via apoptosis.

Neural Stem Cell Properties of an Astrocyte Subpopulation Sorted by Sedimentation Field-Flow Fractionation.

Astrocytes encompass a heterogeneous cell population. Using sedimentation field-flow fractionation (SdFFF) method, different, almost pure, astrocyte subpopulations were isolated. Cells were collected from cortex of newborn rats and sorted by SdFFF to obtain different fractions, which were subjected to protein analysis and characterized by immunocytofluorescence.

Newborn hearing screening: analysis and outcomes after 100,000 births in Upper-Normandy French region.

Objectives: Neonatal hearing impairment is a common disorder with a prevalence of 1 to 2‰ worldwide, with significant consequences on overall development when rehabilitated too late. New-born hearing screening has been implemented in the 1990s in most European countries and the USA. The Upper-Normandy region of France has been conducting a pilot program since 1999.

Smoothelin, a new marker to determine the origin of liver fibrogenic cells.

Aim: To explore this hypothesis that smooth muscle cells may be capable of acquiring a myofibroblastic phenotype, we have studied the expression of smoothelin in fibrotic conditions.

Methods: Normal liver tissue (n = 3) was obtained from macroscopically normal parts of hepatectomy, taken at a distance from hemangiomas. Pathological specimens included post-burn cutaneous hypertrophic scars (n = 3), fibrotic liver tissue (n = 5), cirrhotic tissue (viral and alcoholic hepatitis) (n = 5), and hepatocellular carcinomas (n = 5).

Fast astrocyte isolation by sedimentation field flow fractionation.

Astrocytes play a key role during central nervous system (CNS) repair and glial scar formation. After CNS damage, an extensive deposition of the extracellular matrix produced by the activated astrocytes limits the extension of the lesion but impairs axon outgrowth and functional recovery. Until now, methods to obtain astrocytes need long culture period and laborious cell culture conditions and do not allow the isolation of pure astrocyte preparation.

The myofibroblast, multiple origins for major roles in normal and pathological tissue repair.

Myofibroblasts differentiate, invade and repair injured tissues by secreting and organizing the extracellular matrix and by developing contractile forces. When tissues are damaged, tissue homeostasis must be re-established, and repair mechanisms have to rapidly provide harmonious mechanical tissue organization, a process essentially supported by (myo)fibroblasts. Under physiological conditions, the secretory and contractile activities of myofibroblasts are terminated when the repair is complete (scar formation) but the functionality of the tissue is only rarely perfectly restored.

Influence of corticostriatal δ-opioid receptors on abnormal involuntary movements induced by L-DOPA in hemiparkinsonian rats.

Chronic L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-DOPA) treatment of Parkinson's disease induces in time numerous side effects, such as abnormal involuntary movements called L-DOPA-induced dyskinesias (LIDs). An involvement of glutamate transmission, dopamine transmission and opioid transmission in striatal output pathways has been hypothesized for the induction of LIDs. Interestingly, our previous experiments indicated that some striatal δ-opioid receptors are located on terminals of glutamatergic corticostriatal neurons and that stimulation of these receptors modulates the release of glutamate and dopamine.

Patient-specific electromechanical models of the heart for the prediction of pacing acute effects in CRT: a preliminary clinical validation.

Cardiac resynchronisation therapy (CRT) is an effective treatment for patients with congestive heart failure and a wide QRS complex. However, up to 30% of patients are non-responders to therapy in terms of exercise capacity or left ventricular reverse remodelling. A number of controversies still remain surrounding patient selection, targeted lead implantation and optimisation of this important treatment.

TLR4 signal transduction pathways neutralize the effect of Fas signals on glioblastoma cell proliferation and migration.

The Fas pathway is described as an activator of the glioblastoma proliferation by increasing the pathogenicity of this tumour. The lipopolysaccharide (LPS) pathway depending on Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) could limit the glioblastoma spreading. Here, Fas and TLR4 pathways were activated in glioblastoma cell lines by an agonist antibody and/or LPS treatment.

Mechanisms of pathological scarring: role of myofibroblasts and current developments.

Myofibroblasts play a key role in the wound-healing process, promoting wound closure and matrix deposition. These cells normally disappear from granulation tissue by apoptosis after wound closure, but under some circumstances, they persist and may contribute to pathological scar formation. Myofibroblast differentiation and apoptosis are both modulated by cytokines, mechanical stress, and, more generally, cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions.

Personalization of cardiac motion and contractility from images using variational data assimilation.

Personalization is a key aspect of biophysical models in order to impact clinical practice. In this paper, we propose a personalization method of electromechanical models of the heart from cine-MR images based on the adjoint method. After estimation of electrophysiological parameters, the cardiac motion is estimated based on a proactive electromechanical model.

Fibrogenic cell phenotype modifications during remodelling of normal and pathological human liver in cultured slices.

Background: The debate concerning the potential remodelling and/or reversibility of cirrhotic lesions and biliary fibrosis is still open.

Aims/methods: In this work, we have used the precision-cut liver slice (PCLS) model, which maintains cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions to study, by immunohistochemistry, the behaviour of the different fibrogenic cells, i.e.

Toward patient-specific myocardial models of the heart.

This article presents a framework for building patient-specific models of the myocardium, to help diagnosis, therapy planning, and procedure guidance. The aim is to be able to introduce such models in clinical applications. Thus, there is a need to design models that can be adjusted from clinical data, images, or signals, which are sparse and noisy.

Influence of glial cells in the dopamine releasing effect resulting from the stimulation of striatal delta-opioid receptors.

Recent data indicate that striatal dopamine release induced by stimulation of delta-opioid receptors is a consequence of glutamate release. However, glial cells, which mainly support glutamate uptake and are involved in glutamate signaling and potentially express delta-opioid receptors, could participate to this effect. The present study investigates the contribution of glial cells in the releasing effects of [d-Pen2, d-Pen5]-enkephalin (DPDPE) by using the gliotoxin l-alpha-aminoadipate (l-alpha AA).

Involvement of corticostriatal glutamatergic terminals in striatal dopamine release elicited by stimulation of delta-opioid receptors.

We have previously shown that striatal dopamine release induced locally by a delta-opioid receptor agonist was totally inhibited by a glutamate N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist, indicating the involvement of glutamatergic receptors in this effect. The aim of the present study was to specify this mechanism. Firstly, we investigated the effect of [D-Pen2,D-Pen5]-enkephalin (DPDPE) on glutamate release in rats by intrastriatal microdialysis.

[Traissac voice prosthesis. Apropos of 9 years experiences].

Background: Long term results are discussed.

Patients: A retrospective study of 9 years (1/01/89, 1/01/98) concern 107 laryngectomized patients with 9 patients a part from this period, and 30% without prosthesis. Among 80 patients with prosthesis, 57% had received primary TEPs (tracheoesophageal puncture), 21% delayed primary TEPs and 22% secondary TEPs.

Computed tomography in traumatology with special regard to the advances of three-dimensional display.

There is a variety of methods to aid in the diagnosis of fractures requiring operative treatment. A computer program that produces pseudo-three-dimensional (3D) images from sets of axial computed tomograms is used for examining fractures in areas of complex skeletal anatomy. The resulting reconstructions, representing the surface in a form similar to that of anatomic preparations, can facilitate the process of diagnosis.