The prenatal exposure to delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol affects the gene expression and the activity of tyrosine hydroxylase during early brain development.

We have previously reported that the exposure of pregnant female rats to delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) during the perinatal period affected the gene expression and the activity of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) in the brain of their male offspring. Those studies were done in animals perinatally exposed to THC but tested at peripubertal and adult ages. In the present work, we explored whether these effects also appear during early fetal brain development, when TH expression plays an important role in neuronal development.

[Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis in neutropenic patients. Analysis of a series of 36 cases: contribution of thoracic scanners and itraconazole].

In neutropenic patients, one way of improving invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) prognosis is an earlier initiation of the antifungal treatment. We report our experience with 36 cases of IPA in 35 patients with haematological malignancies. When aspergillosis was diagnosed, all but 2 patients were neutropenic (PMN < 500; median duration = 20 days).

Terminal protein-primed DNA amplification.

By using appropriate amounts of four bacteriophage phi 29 DNA replication proteins--terminal protein, DNA polymerase, protein p6 (double-stranded DNA-binding protein), and protein p5 (single-stranded DNA-binding protein)--it has been possible to amplify limited amounts of the 19,285-bp-long phi 29 DNA molecule by three orders of magnitude after 1 hr of incubation at 30 degrees C. Moreover, the quality of the amplified material was demonstrated by transfection experiments, in which infectivity of the synthetic (amplified) phi 29 DNA, measured as the ability to produce phage particles, was identical to that of the natural phi 29 DNA obtained from virions. The results presented in this paper establish some of the requisites for the development of isothermal DNA amplification strategies based on the bacteriophage phi 29 DNA replication machinery that are suitable for the amplification of very large (> 70 kb) segments of DNA.

Possible role of the cytochrome P450-linked monooxygenase system in preventing delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol-induced stimulation of tuberoinfundibular dopaminergic activity in female rats.

The administration of delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) or related cannabinoids markedly affected neurobehavioral and neuroendocrine indices in male rodents but usually failed to affect those indices in females. We examined whether inhibition of the cytochrome P450-linked monooxygenase system in female rats is able to elicit the effects of THC on one of the most characteristic targets of cannabinoid action, tuberoinfundibular dopaminergic neurons, whose activity is known to increase after cannabinoid exposure in males. It was found that the administration of THC to ovariectomized rats acutely replaced with estradiol (to discard problems derived from differences in the estrogenic status) did not affect either dopamine and L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) contents and tyrosine hydroxylase activity in the medial basal hypothalamus or the density of D2-dopaminergic receptors in the anterior pituitary.

Changes in tyrosine hydroxylase gene expression in mesencephalic catecholaminergic neurons of immature and adult male rats perinatally exposed to cannabinoids.

We have previously reported that the perinatal exposure of pregnant rats to cannabinoids affected the activity of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) in the striatum of their male offspring at peripubertal ages. In the present work, we examined whether this effect was accompanied by modifications in TH gene expression. The amount of TH-mRNA--measured by Northern blot analysis with a specific TH probe--in the mesencephalon of 15- and 20-day-old male rats perinatally exposed to hashish extracts was higher than that measured in aged-matched controls.

Cross-sectional study of the susceptibility of Candida isolates to antifungal drugs and in vitro-in vivo correlation in HIV-infected patients.

Objectives: To investigate (1) the frequency of clinical resistance to oral polyenes or azole treatment for oral candidiasis, (2) the frequency of resistant in vitro Candida strains, (3) the relationship between the susceptibilities of in vitro Candida species and in vivo status in HIV patients.

Design: Prospective cross-sectional study.

Setting: Tertiary care clinic at Bocage Hospital, Dijon, France.

[Spontaneous unilateral adrenal hematomas. 10 cases].

Spontaneous unilateral adrenal haematoma is a very rare condition. We report 10 such cases in which the pathological examination confirmed the diagnosis and for which computed tomography (CT) (n = 10) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) (n = 5) were performed. The diagnosis of this condition was difficult because there was no specific clinical setting nor any specific functional disorder.

Silent necrosis of a pituitary corticotroph adenoma revealed by timely magnetic resonance imaging: a cause of spontaneous remission of Cushing's disease.

Spontaneous necrosis of a corticotroph adenoma is rare and is a very unlikely way of curing Cushing's disease. We report hereafter a case where magnetic resonance imaging of the pituitary provided clear evidence of the event. Successive and timely pituitary magnetic resonance imaging in this patient showed first a typical microadenoma as a well-limited mass with a low signal intensity before the necrosis, then a bright signal before gadolinium injection in the T1-weighted image at the time of the event and, finally, the aspect of an empty sella turcica with a small arachnoidocele 1 year later.

MR imaging and CT of surgical materials currently used in ophthalmology: in vitro and in vivo studies.

Purpose: To assess methods of imaging postoperative changes in the eyeball by performing in vitro and in vivo studies of the main solid and fluid materials used in the treatment of cataract and retinal detachment.

Materials And Methods: The samples were analyzed in vitro with computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging performed at 0.5 T.

Hyperacute rejection in liver transplantation: CT findings.

Hyperacute rejection is rare after liver transplantation. We report a case of early graft failure following liver transplantation in a 46-year-old woman. On the 5th postoperative day, progressive loss of graft function occurred.

[Radiology in the medicolegal identification of cadavers. A new technique of radiography of the maxilla].

After removal, the maxilla and the mandible are placed on a standard radiologic cassette and a X-ray is performed with a low energy beam. Different views can be obtained if required. These radiographic images provide a complete, permanent and detailed record of dental anatomy and restorations, for comparison with antemortem radiographies.

[Prognostic value of x-ray computed tomography in acute pancreatitis. Value of a new classification].

CT plays an important role in the screening of complications of acute hemorrhagic pancreatitis. There are three classifications at present, one based on a bioclinical score (Ranson) and the other two consisting of gradual stages of severity and resorting to CT imaging (Balthazar and Hill). The authors report about a study on 34 cases of acute pancreatitis, including 10 that became complicated, to which they applied a new classification including the existence of glandular necrosis, the number of extrapancreatic streaks, related to Ranson's bioclinical score.

Sarcoidosis: unusual cause of a rectal mass.

We have reported the case of a patient who had a rectal mass 3 years after the diagnosis of sarcoidosis. A malignancy was suspected, but biopsy of the rectal mass showed epithelioid granulomas with giant cells, consistent with sarcoidosis. Therefore, sarcoidosis should be considered as a rare cause of a rectal mass.

Comparison of computerized tomography and magnetic resonance imaging for the examination of the pituitary gland in patients with Cushing's disease.

Objective: The vast majority of patients with Cushing's disease have a corticotroph adenoma, the selective removal of which, through the transsphenoidal route, has the potential to offer a definitive and complete cure. This study was designed to compare the diagnostic accuracy of computerized tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to identify the presence, evaluate the size, and assess the topographic characteristics of pituitary corticotroph adenomas.

Methods: Forty-two patients with Cushing's disease were included in this prospective study, of whom 16 were subsequently explored transsphenoidally.

Acute effects of delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol on tuberoinfundibular dopamine activity, anterior pituitary sensitivity to dopamine and prolactin release vary as a function of estrous cycle.

The effects of delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) on the activity of brain dopaminergic neurons might be subject to gonadal influence. In this work, we tested this hypothesis in relation to the effects of THC on tuberoinfundibular dopaminergic (TIDA) activity, the anterior pituitary sensitivity to dopamine (DA) and prolactin (PRL) secretion. To this end, we examined the effects of an acute dose of this cannabinoid administered during different phases of the estrous cycle in the morning or afternoon.

Complement factor I deficiency with recurrent aseptic meningitis.

Patients with deficiency of the complement regulatory protein factor I typically present with systemic pyogenic bacterial infections, including meningitis. We report a novel case with total deficiency of factor I in serum and plasma; the patient experienced nine consecutive episodes of aseptic meningitis within a 2-year period. There was no history of previous bacterial sepsis.

Repeated inhalation of nebulized albuterol did not induce arrhythmias in a patient with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome and asthma.

It has been assumed that in asthmatic patients with Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW) syndrome, ablative therapy for the condition is necessary for the safe treatment of the asthma with beta 2-adrenergic drugs. The following case report illustrates that inhaled albuterol was safely administered to an asthmatic patient with electrocardiographic evidence of preexcitation, without the need of an ablative procedure. This case report is, to our knowledge, the first in the literature in which the cardiac rhythm of a patient with WPW syndrome was monitored during repeated inhalations of a beta 2-agonist.

Presence of cannabinoid binding sites in the brain from early postnatal ages.

The present study demonstrates the presence of cannabinoid receptors in the brain from early postnatal ages. Specific and saturable binding was observed in the forebrain and remaining brain from early postnatal ages (2 and 5 days after birth). Female neonate forebrain exhibited a higher receptor density at 2 days after birth than males, but this trend was inverted at 5 days.

Efficacy and tolerance of an amphotericin B lipid (Intralipid) emulsion in the treatment of candidaemia in neutropenic patients.

The efficacy and tolerance of a new amphotericin B lipid emulsion (AmB-IL) in which amphotericin B was diluted in a lipid solution for parenteral nutrition (Intralipid) was assessed in fourteen episodes of candidaemia occurring in neutropenic patients. The strains isolated were Candida krusei (nine cases), Candida albicans (three cases), Candida parapsilosis (one case) and Candida lusitaniae (one case). An AmB-IL was administered at a mean dosage of 1.

[Peritoneal tuberculosis and continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis].

Depressed immunity in uremic patients increases by ten the risk of tuberculosis. In such patients, 40% of tuberculosis manifestations are extrapulmonary, and peritoneum is involved in about 6% of the cases. Seventeen cases of peritoneal tuberculosis have been so far reported in CAPD patients, and we add a new case.

[Spontaneous unilateral adrenal gland hemorrhage and pregnancy].

Spontaneous unilateral haemorrhage of the adrenal gland during the third trimester of pregnancy is a rare event. The diagnosis may be suspected on the basis of echographic or MRI explorations. There is no sign of endocrine dysfunction.

delta 9-Tetrahydrocannabinol affects mesolimbic dopaminergic activity in the female rat brain: interactions with estrogens.

In this work, we studied the possible estrogenic modulation of the effects of delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) on mesolimbic dopaminergic activity, by examining the effects of an acute dose of this cannabinoid: (i) during the estrous cycle; (ii) after ovariectomy, chronic estrogen-replacement and tamoxifen (TMX)-induced blockade of estrogenic receptors; and (iii) combined with a single and physiological injection of estradiol to ovariectomized rats. THC significantly decreased the density of D 1 dopaminergic receptors and non-significantly increased the L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) content in the limbic forebrain of ovariectomized rats chronically replaced with estrogens. The decrease in D 1 receptors was also produced by TMX, whereas the coadministration of both THC and TMX did not lead to a major decrease.