IFN-gamma involvement in the severity of gram-negative infections in mice.

The role of IFN-gamma in the regulation of inflammation leading to gram-negative septic shock is still poorly understood. IFN-gamma blockade has been shown to improve the survival of animals challenged with i.v.

Effect of glucose and insulin deprivation on differentiation and carbohydrate metabolism of rabbit proximal tubular cells in primary culture.

Rabbit proximal tubule cells in primary culture revert from gluconeogenesis to glycolysis. To determine whether glucose and insulin deprivation of the culture medium could prevent this metabolic conversion without a loss of differentiation, rabbit proximal tubule cells were cultured in hormonally defined medium free of glucose and insulin and compared to rabbit proximal tubule cells cultured in medium supplemented with 17.5 mM glucose and 5 micrograms/ml insulin.

Platinum complex-induced dysfunction of cultured renal proximal tubule cells. A comparative study of carboplatin and transplatin with cisplatin.

Platinum coordination complexes (PtCx) are potent against several types of cancer but are often nephrotoxic. With a view to developing a PtCx nephrotoxicity model, the toxicity of cisplatin (cDDP), transplatin (tDDP) and carboplatin (CBDCA) was studied in primary cultures of rabbit proximal tubule (RPT) cells and in the renal epithelial OK cell line. The cytotoxicity of these PtCx (10-3000 microM) was assessed after 24 h exposure of confluent monolayers in terms of LDH release; their effects at non-cytotoxic concentrations (1-1000 microM) on DNA and protein synthesis, glucose transport, marker enzymes and the total glutathione concentration were also determined, together with cellular platinum uptakes.

[Psoriatic onycho-pachydermo-periostitis].

Psoriatic-onycho-pachydermo-periostitis is a particular form of psoriatic arthropathy recently described, which combine psoriatic onychosis, thickening of the distal soft tissues and osteo-periostitis of the distal phalanx without lesion of the interphalangeal joint. Biological examinations are normal. Radiological lesions show a phalanx condensation which gives a spicule aspect.

[Acral erythema after allogeneic graft of the bone marrow].

Acral erythema (AE) is a painful, erythematous bullous eruption of the palms and soles which is chemotherapy-induced. To the numerous chemotherapies which induce AE we must add, perhaps, a new drug, Vépéside. AE is followed by graft-versus-host-disease in all patients receiving bone marrow transplantation.

[Idiopathic light eruption].

Idiopathic polymorphous light eruptions (PLE) are photodermatites due to an as yet unidentified photosensitizing agent. Benign estival PLE is the most frequent form: the face is spared, and as soon as the patient has acquired a slight tan the eruption will no longer occur. Juvenile spring eruption affects the free border of the helix and may be regarded as a localized and mild form of estival PLE.

Morphological and biochemical characterization of the opossum kidney cell line and primary cultures of rabbit proximal tubule cells in serum-free defined medium.

Proliferation, morphology and time course patterns of marker enzyme activities of primary cultures of renal rabbit proximal tubule cells (RPT cells) and Opossum kidney cells (OK cells) in antibiotic-free and serum-free defined medium were investigated. Both RPT and OK cells grew to confluency within 6-8 days. RPT cells were thicker and displayed higher density of both microvilli and mitochondria when compared with OK cells.

Sweet syndrome associated with acute myelogenous leukemia. Atypical form simulating facial erysipelas.

A case of Sweet syndrome in a patient with an acute myelomonocytic leukemia is reported. It is an unusual case simulating a facial erysipela. This case illustrates the difficulty in differentiating infection from Sweet syndrome in an immunocompromised patient.

Psoralen plus ultraviolet A in the prophylactic treatment of benign summer light eruption.

We report the results of a French multicentre study to evaluate the efficiency of psoralen plus ultraviolet A (PUVA) therapy in the prophylactic treatment of benign summer light eruption (BSLE) and to establish the optimal protocol of radiation. Nine photobiology centres took part in this study; 83 patients (76 of them women) were evaluated. The radiation protocols were as follows: oral psoralen (8-methoxypsoralen; 0.

Belgian general practitioners on their vocational training: a postal inquiry.

Vocational training of general practitioners in Belgium consists--among others--of 34 seminars to be followed in small groups during a period of two years. The purpose of this study was to develop an instrument for continuing evaluation of this system, and to gather evaluative data. 58% of 177 young general practitioners responded to our postal inquiry, in which ten open-ended questions were put, and 50 statements were to be rated on a six-point-scale.

Perception of the relative distances of nearby sound sources.

The pressure of a sound varies systematically with a listener's distance from a sound source, providing a useful cue for perceiving changes in the distance between a listener and a sound-producing object. The pressure-discrimination hypothesis predicts that thresholds for discriminating changes in distance are constrained by the underlying ability to discriminate the resulting changes in sound pressure--specifically, that the smallest discriminable change in distance should be about 5% of the reference distance. Previous studies reported thresholds of about 5% for reference distances greater than a few meters but surprisingly worse thresholds for closer reference distances.

[Problems stemming from pregnancy in a woman with phenylketonuria].

A normal infant was born to a 25 year-old mother with phenylketonuria who had never been treated. The mother had been fed a phenylalanine restricted diet for 3 months before the beginning of the pregnancy. Dietary control was maintained throughout the whole gestation.

[Immunologic diagnosis of the cerebrospinal fluid and serum in developing brain cysticercosis].

ELISA detection of specific antibodies in the serum (IgG) and cerebrospinal fluid (IgG, IgM and IgA) was evaluated in 28 patients. Diagnosis of cerebral cysticercosis and evaluation of disease activity was based on CT scan findings. Specific IgG antibodies were found in the serum in 83.

Aneurysm associated with chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis during long-term therapy with ketoconazole.

A little girl who was suffering from chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis also had a cellular immune deficiency and undetectable IgA levels. She was treated continuously for 6 years with ketoconazole at the same dosage of 200 mg/day. She was rapidly clear from infection and did not relapse although her immune abnormalities persisted.

[Malignant eccrine poroma. Apropos of 2 facial sites].

The authors report 2 cases of malignant eccrine poroma (M.E.P.