Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification for the Fast Detection of and in Flat Oysters.

The haplosporidian parasites (BO) and (BE) are serious oyster pathogens. Two independent laboratories evaluated fluorescence real-time loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assays for rapidly detecting these parasites. Specific LAMP assays were designed on the BO and BE genes.

Insights on the particle-attached riverine archaeal community shifts linked to seasons and to multipollution during a Mediterranean extreme storm event.

Even if Archaea deliver important ecosystem services and are major players in global biogeochemical cycles, they remain poorly understood in freshwater ecosystems. To our knowledge, no studies specifically address the direct impact of xenobiotics on the riverine archaeome. Using environmental DNA metabarcoding of the 16S ribosomal gene, we previously demonstrated bacterial communities significant shifts linked to pollutant mixtures during an extreme flood in a typical Mediterranean coastal watercourse.

A new multiplex real-time PCR assay to improve the diagnosis of shellfish regulated parasites of the genus Marteilia and Bonamia.

Aquaculture including shellfish production is an important food resource worldwide which is particularly vulnerable to infectious diseases. Marteilia refringens, Bonamia ostreae and Bonamia exitiosa are regulated protozoan parasites infecting flat oysters Ostrea edulis that are endemic in Europe. Although some PCR assays have been already developed for their detection, a formal validation to assess the performances of those tools is often lacking.

Particle-attached riverine bacteriome shifts in a pollutant-resistant and pathogenic community during a Mediterranean extreme storm event.

Rivers are representative of the overall contamination found in their catchment area. Contaminant concentrations in watercourses depend on numerous factors including land use and rainfall events. Globally, in Mediterranean regions, rainstorms are at the origin of fluvial multipollution phenomena as a result of Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs) and floods.

Impact of xynthia tempest on viral contamination of shellfish.

Viral contamination in oyster and mussel samples was evaluated after a massive storm with hurricane wind named "Xynthia tempest" destroyed a number of sewage treatment plants in an area harboring many shellfish farms. Although up to 90% of samples were found to be contaminated 2 days after the disaster, detected viral concentrations were low. A 1-month follow-up showed a rapid decrease in the number of positive samples, even for norovirus.

Electrophysiological effects of cetirizine, astemizole and D-sotalol in a canine model of long QT syndrome.

Observations of torsades de pointes during therapy with terfenadine and astemizole has raised concern about the cardiac safety of non-sedating H1-antagonist agents. We compared cetirizine, another compound of that class, to D-sotalol and to astemizole in a model of acquired long QT syndrome. Open-chest surgery was performed in adult beagle dogs anaesthetized with halothane and thiopental.

Mivazerol prevents the tachycardia caused by emergence from halothane anesthesia partly through activation of spinal alpha 2-adrenoceptors.

Background: Mivazerol (MIV) is an alpha 2-adrenoceptor agonist designed to prevent adverse cardiac outcome in perioperative patients. The present study was undertaken to determine whether the hyperdynamic state observed at emergence from halothane (HAL) anesthesia in rats could be modulated by MIV and to explore the mode of action of MIV under such conditions.

Methods: Male Sprague Dawley rats were anesthetized with 1% HAL and assisted for respiration (N2O-O2: 70-30%).

The novel alpha 2-adrenoceptor agonist [3H]mivazerol binds to non-adrenergic binding sites in human striatum membranes that are distinct from imidazoline receptors.

The alpha 2 adrenergic agonist [3H]mivazerol labelled two populations of binding sites in membranes from the human striatum. Forty per cent of the sites labelled by 3 nM [3H]mivazerol corresponded to alpha 2 adrenergic receptors as they displayed a high affinity for (-)-adrenaline and for rauwolscine. The remaining binding was displaced by mivazerol with a pIC50 of 6.

[Mutagenesis of the human histamine H1 receptor and design of new antihistamine agents].

The binding cavity of histamine and histamine antagonists is explored using site directed mutagenesis of the human histamine H1 receptor and the amino acids involved in ligand binding are identified. Whereas Asp107 and Phe199 are important for both agonists and antagonists, two additional amino acids (Asn198 and Trp103) are required for efficient histamine binding. The binding site of antagonists is best defined as resulting from a strong ionic bond to Asp107, an orthogonal interaction between one of the aromatic rings with Phe199, and probably a hydrophobic interaction between the second aromatic ring and the lipophilic amino acids of the upper part of TMIV and TMV.

Peripheral alpha 2-adrenoceptor-mediated sympathoinhibitory effects of mivazerol.

Mivazerol is a new compound that could potentially reduce perioperative cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in patients with or at risk of coronary disease and submitted to surgery. This action of mivazerol depends on a well documented centrally mediated reduction in sympathetic nerve activity, but a direct peripheral decrease in sympathetic neurotransmitter release induced by activation of prejunctional alpha 2-adrenoceptors located on sympathetic nerve endings could also contribute. To investigate this issue, the effects of mivazerol on the pressor, systemic and regional hemodynamic (pulsed Doppler technique) as well as on the cardiac responses to electrical stimulation of the spinal cord (SCS) were measured in pithed rats in the absence and in the presence of mivazerol.

The novel antiepileptic drug levetiracetam (ucb L059) appears to act via a specific binding site in CNS membranes.

Levetiracetam ((S)-alpha-ethyl-2-oxo-pyrrolidine acetamide, ucb L059) is a novel potential antiepileptic agent presently in clinical development with unknown mechanism of action. The finding that its anticonvulsant activity is highly stereoselective (Gower et al., 1992) led us to investigate the presence of specific binding sites for [3H]levetiracetam in rat central nervous system (CNS).

Effects of levetiracetam, a novel antiepileptic drug, on convulsant activity in two genetic rat models of epilepsy.

The anticonvulsant effects of levetiracetam were assessed in two genetic rat models. In the audiogenic-seizure prone rat, levetiracetam, 5.4 to 96 mg/kg i.

Pharmacological and functional characterisation of the wild-type and site-directed mutants of the human H1 histamine receptor stably expressed in CHO cells.

A cDNA clone for the human histamine H1 receptor was isolated from a lung cDNA library and stably expressed in CHO cells. The recombinant receptor protein present in the cell membranes, displayed the functional and binding characteristics of histamine H1 receptors. Mutation of Ser155 to Ala in the fourth transmembrane domain did not significantly change the affinity of the receptor for histamine and H1 antagonists.

Stable expression of human H1-histamine-receptor cDNA in Chinese hamster ovary cells. Pharmacological characterisation of the protein, tissue distribution of messenger RNA and chromosomal localisation of the gene.

A cDNA clone for the histamine H1 receptor was isolated from a human lung cDNA library; it encoded a protein of 487 amino acids which showed characteristic features of G-protein-coupled receptors. The percentages of identity of the deduced amino acid sequence with bovine, rat and guinea pig H1 histamine receptors were 82.6%, 79.

[Mivazerol and other benzylimidazoles with alpha-2 adrenergic properties].

4-Benzyl-imidazole compounds derived from Salbutanol are evaluated for potential adrenergic activities. The prevalent property of a series of new bioisosteres of catecholamines either of the saligenol-(ucb LO61) or benzamide-(Mivazerol) type is a selective alpha-adrenergic agonism, at the presynaptic level. The present study stresses the structural features responsible for the alpha-2-agonistic property.

Mivazerol, a novel compound with high specificity for alpha 2 adrenergic receptors: binding studies on different human and rat membrane preparations.

Mivazerol, 3-[1(H-imidazol-4-yl)methyl]-2-hydroxybenzamide hydrochloride, a new potential anti-ischemic drug designed by UCB S.A. Pharma Sector, has been studied in binding experiments on adrenergic, dopaminergic, serotoninergic, muscarinic and idazoxan binding sites.

ucb L059, a novel anti-convulsant drug: pharmacological profile in animals.

The anticonvulsant activity of ucb L059 ((S)-alpha-ethyl-2-oxo-pyrrolidine acetamide) was evaluated in a range of animal models. ucb L059 was active after oral and intraperitoneal administration in both rats and mice, with a unique profile of action incorporating features in common with several different types of antiepileptic drugs. The compound was active, with ED50 values generally within the range of 5.

Characterization of secretin and vasoactive intestinal peptide receptors in rat pancreatic plasma membranes using the native peptides, secretin-(7-27) and five secretin analogues.

A comparison has been made of the ability of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), secretin, secretin analogues, and secretin-(7-27) to stimulate adenylate cyclase in rat pancreatic plasma membranes. A parallel study of the capacity of peptides of the VIP-secretin family to compete with 125I-VIP for binding to the same plasma membranes was conducted. This allowed a classification of VIP-secretin receptors into three subtypes: (1) VIP-preferring receptors; (2) high-affinity secretin receptors, and (3) low-affinity secretin receptors.

A circular dichroism study of undegraded human ceruloplasmin.

The CD spectrum of human ceruloplasmin (Cp) has been studied between pH 6.90 and 12.00 in the far-ultraviolet, near-ultraviolet, and visible light regions.

Degradation of cholecystokinin-like peptides by a crude rat brain synaptosomal fraction: a study by high pressure liquid chromatography.

Degradation of CCK-8, CCK-4, and related peptides by a crude synaptosomal fraction of rat brain was investigated by monitoring the tryptophan fluorescence of reaction products after HPLC fractionation. At 20 degrees C, the half disappearance time was 52 min for CCK-8, 35 min for unsulphated CCK-8, 20 min for unsulphated CCK-7, 6 min for Tyr(SO3H)-Trp-Met-Asp-Phe-NH2, and 3 min only for CCK-4. Caerulein was much more resistant than CCK-8, and Boc-CCK-4 and Aoc-CCK-4 remained stable for at least 3 h.