Improved detection of urothelial carcinomas with fluorescence immunocytochemistry (uCyt+ assay) and urinary cytology: results of a French Prospective Multicenter Study.

The aim of the study was to assess the sensitivity and specificity of fluorescence immunocytochemistry (uCyt+ assay) as combined with urinary cytology for detection of primary and recurrent urothelial carcinomas. We analyzed 694 urinary samples from 236 new symptomatic patients and 458 patients followed after transurethral resection (TUR) for bladder tumor. Lesions suspicious for cancer at cystoscopy were sampled by biopsies or TUR.

Life span, cancer and non-cancer diseases in mouse exposed to a continuous very low dose of gamma-irradiation.

Purpose: To analyse the life-span and pathologies of mice living under a continuous very low-dose gamma-irradiation.

Material And Methods: We exposed 300 C57B1/6J female mice, 3 weeks old, to 10 cGy year(-1) gamma-rays while 300 control mice lived in the same room. Irradiation was delivered continuously by thorium nitrate.

Influence of continuous, very low-dose gamma-irradiation on the mouse immune system.

Purpose: To investigate whether continuous, very low-dose gamma-irradiation (10 cGy/year) modifies immune parameters in mice.

Material And Methods: C57BL/6 female mice, 4 weeks old, were irradiated for 24 months and compared with control mice living in the same room. B- and T-cell subsets were evaluated by flow cytometry before and after stimulation with lectins; subclasses of immunoglobulins were determined by ELISA 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 18 and 24 months after the beginning of the irradiation.

Effect of a continuous gamma irradiation at a very low dose on the life span of mice.

Background: There is epidemiological evidence that suggests there are beneficial effects of ionizing radiation at low doses. Some experimental studies confirmed this hormetic effect with doses of about 1 cGy/day, but no data concerning very low dose rates are available.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the life span of mice exposed to very low doses of ionizing radiation.

[Alveolar lavage cytological data in lung transplants free of bronchial superinfection. Toulouse Lung Transplantation Group].

Total and differential cells counts from 173 bronchoalveolar lavages (BAL) carried out in 19 lung transplanted recipients have been analysed. The patients were separated into seven groups: (a) those without detectable complications (86 BAL); (b) those with acute rejection (AR) (26 BAL); (c) those with bronchiolitis obliterans (BO) (21 BAL); (d) those with intra-alveolar cytomegalovirus (CMV) but asymptomatic (11 BAL); (e) those with an associated intra-alveolar CMV and AR (7 BAL); (f) those with CMV pneumonia (11 BAL); (g) those with infectious pneumonia excluding CMV (11 BAL). The alveolar cytological data were compared to those from control subjects who were smokers (7 BAL) or non-smokers (8 BAL).

Antibodies to bladder-tumor-associated antigens as prognosis probes in the flow-cytometric analysis.

Monoclonal antibodies directed against bladder tumor cells (10D1, 7C12, 6D1, 3C6, G4 and E7) and human leukocyte antigen (HLe1) were tested by flow cytometry on 68 bladder tumors involving 10 grade I, 29 grade II and 29 grade III tumors (WHO classification). According to their evolution stage, these tumors can be subdivided into 17 stage Pa, 34 stage P1, 7 stage P2 and 10 stage P3. Fifteen normal bladder samples were used as a control.

Surfactant analysis during Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia in HIV-infected patients.

Pulmonary surfactant is altered in experimental Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia. Although P carinii is a major causative agent of pneumonia in immunocompromised patients, the pathophysiology of lung injury caused by this organism is poorly understood. Therefore, we studied bronchoalveolar lavage specimens obtained from 19 HIV-infected subjects with PCP compared with specimens from ten healthy control subjects.

The lavage fluid from a patient with alveolar proteinosis inhibits the in vitro chemiluminescence response and arachidonic acid metabolism of normal guinea pig alveolar macrophages.

Pulmonary alveolar proteinosis is characterized by the accumulation of a lipoproteinaceous material within the alveoli of the lung. It is well established that patients with pulmonary alveolar proteinosis have a high incidence of complicating pulmonary infections possibly resulting from defects of antibacterial functions of alveolar macrophages. Moreover, for unclear reasons, an inflammatory response in the airways is frequently absent.

Effects of angular speed in responses of Paramecium tetraurelia to hypergravity.

The paper shows the results of investigations carried out in a single cell organism. Paramecium tetraurelia exposed to different gravitational levels. Hypergravity resulted in a decrease in cell growth rate.

Flow cytometry analysis of urothelial cell DNA content according to pathological and clinical data on 100 bladder tumors.

DNA content of 100 bladder tumors (34 grade I, 42 grade II and 24 grade III, WHO classification) were studied by flow cytometry. Ten normal bladder samples were used as control. The 100 bladder tumors could then be separated into two groups.

[Biochemical and cytological study of the alveolar lavage fluid in 4 cases of lipid pneumopathy].

Four cases of interstitial lung disease caused by chronic inhalation of paraffin oil are reported. The disease is facilitated by disorders of deglutition or gastro-oesophageal reflux. The diagnosis is confirmed by chromatography on a thin slice of silica gel of the lipid extract of broncho-alveolar lavage fluid.

[Alveolar paraffinosis: cytologic and biochemical study of bronchiolo-alveolar lavage fluid].

A case report of a diffuse alveolar lipoid pneumonia occurring in a patient incapable of giving a proper history underlines the diagnostic difficulty of lipoid pneumonias. Till now, unless the diagnosis was made at necropsy, one relied on a history of prolonged consumption of medications containing mineral oil, with evidence on open lung biopsy of excess fatty material in the pulmonary parenchyma. Chromatography on thin slices of the lipid extract of bronchiolo-alveolar lavage liquid fixed in silica gel, a simple technique, should rapidly give the diagnosis.

Some ultrastructural aspects of the vitreoretinal juncture.

The ultrastructural study of the vitreoretinal juncture was carried out by comparing two groups of patients: 6 young subjects under 25 years and 6 older subjects over 70. Retinal samples were taken from the posterior pole, the equator and the extreme periphery. Our work shows that the morphological modifications of the vitreoretinal juncture during the aging process vary following location.

[Ultrastructural aspects of the dormant Artemia embryo].

The ultrastructure of the Artemia cyst and larval organism was investigated. The morphology of the blastomere and of the cell organelles was described. Investigations showed the presence of two mitochondria populations: one located in the cytoplasm, the other one embedded inside the yolk platelets.

[Ultrastructural study of the photoreceptors of the human retina during aging].

The ultra-structural study of the photoreceptors in the human retina during the aging process was carried out by comparing two groups of patient: 6 young subjects under 25 years of age, and 6 older subjects over 70. Retinal samples were taken from the posterior pole and treated with the classical techniques of electron microscopy. Our works show that during the aging process, nuclear and cytoplasmic morphological modifications are observed.

[Effect of ultraviolet irradiation on infrastructure and mitotic activity of Tetrahymena pyriformis].

Effects of U.V. irradiation, 3,600 erg/mm2, administrated at a low dose rate, over 75 mn at the very beginning of the cell cycle, were investigated in Tetrahymena pyriformis.