Solution structure and lipid binding of a nonspecific lipid transfer protein extracted from maize seeds.

The three-dimensional solution structure of a nonspecific lipid transfer protein extracted from maize seeds determined by 1H NMR spectroscopy is described. This cationic protein consists of 93 amino acid residues. Its structure was determined from 1,091 NOE-derived distance restraints, including 929 interresidue connectivities and 197 dihedral restraints (phi, psi, chi 1) derived from NOEs and 3J coupling constants.

Primary cultured normal human hepatocytes for hepatitis B virus receptor studies.

Background/aims: We analyzed the hepatitis B virus envelope specificities (HBs, preS2 and preS1) involved in virus attachment to normal human hepatocytes, and we performed in vitro hepatitis B virus infection experiments without addition of dimethyl sulfoxide and polyethylene glycol, which may affect cell membrane integrity, in order to study further the early steps of the life cycle of the hepatitis B virus.

Methods: Primary normal human hepatocytes were prepared from surgical biopsies by the two-step collagenase perfusion technique, and cultured in a fetal calf serum-free medium supplemented with 10(-6) M dexamethasone. Cell-binding assays, ligand blotting and immunohistochemistry experiments were carried out using our anti-idiotypic (Ab2) antibodies (Ab2s/preS1, Ab2s/preS2 and Ab2s/HBs).

Difference between guinea pig and rat in the liver peroxisomal response to equivalent plasmatic level of ciprofibrate.

Guinea pig was previously classified as a species nonresponsive to peroxisome proliferators. However, none of the previous reports was based on pharmacokinetic data. Here, after a comparative pharmacokinetic study between the guinea pig and rat, we evaluate the guinea pig liver peroxisomal response to ciprofibrate, a hypolipemic agent and a potent peroxisome proliferator in rat.

Do we need a European consensus on the use of antipsychotic medication?

Recently, much effort has been directed towards reaching a consensus on the use of antipsychotic medication in the United Kingdom (UK) and in France. Anecdotal evidence suggests, however, that any differences that may exist between practitioners in the UK are only minor in comparison to those between practitioners in the various countries in the European Union. A comparison was conducted of the number of prescribed antipsychotic compounds, as well as their way of administration, in two samples of schizophrenic patients in the UK and France.

Family history and deficit form in schizophrenia.

As no genetic study has been made in deficit patients, characterized by enduring and primary negative symptoms, the aim of the study was to test the involvement of a familial factor in deficit syndrome. The results in 71 schizophrenic patients showed less familial factors but a greater weight in heritage of schizophrenia in deficit than in nondeficit patients.

Kleine-Levin syndrome misdiagnosed as schizophrenia.

A 27 year-old man initially considered as a schizophrenic patient was later diagnosed as having Kleine-Levin syndrome.

A comparison of an atypical and typical antipsychotic, zotepine versus haloperidol in patients with acute exacerbation of schizophrenia: a parallel-group double-blind trial.

The atypical antipsychotic zotepine was compared to haloperidol in 126 patients suffering from acute exacerbation of schizophrenia (DSM-III-R) in a randomized, double-blind study. After 8-weeks, 150 to 300 mg zotepine improved scores on the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) more than 10 to 20 mg haloperidol (-17.03 versus -13.

Identifying subtypes of schizophrenia by cluster analyses.

The existence of two subtypes of schizophrenia (positive and negative) is well established. The evidence in favor of other subtypes, particularly a disorganized subtype, is still the subject of some debate. The aim of the study reported in this article is to investigate the possibility of further subtypes of schizophrenia by applying a particular method of cluster analysis to a particular set of data.

[Clinical and virological evaluation of the detection of pre-S1 and pre-S2 antigens in serum from patients with chronic hepatitis B].

Objectives And Methods: We performed a prospective study to determine the clinical and virological significance of pre-S antigen detection in serum samples from patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection. Four hundred thirty seven consecutive serum samples from 116 patients were tested for the presence of both pre-S1 and pre-S2 antigens by radioimmunoassay using specific monoclonal antibodies.

Results: The pre-S1 antigen/HBs antigen ratio, gave an estimation of the number of pre-S1 epitopes expressed on the surface of circulating viral particles, and was positively correlated with the intensity of viral replication intensity (P < 0.

Further evidence for anticipation in schizophrenia.

The term 'anticipation' is used to describe the increase in disease severity or the decrease in age of onset in succeeding generations within families. This phenomenon has been related to expansion of trinucleotide repeat DNA sequences in some genetic illnesses. We examined age of onset among two generations in familial schizophrenia.

No evidence for linkage or association between the dopamine transporter gene and schizophrenia in a French population.

Pharmacological and clinical findings suggest that the dopamine transporter (DAT) gene may be involved in the genetic predisposition to schizophrenia. Linkage of a Taq I VNTR polymorphism in the DAT gene to schizophrenia was studied in multiplex schizophrenic families from Rouen, France (n = 10) and the Island of La Réunion (n = 21). Neither the lod score method nor nonparametric methods (the affected pedigree member method of Weeks and Lange [1988] and the sibling method of Green and Woodrow [1977]) provided any evidence for linkage.

[The dopamine transporter: characterization and physiopathologic implications].

The dopamine transporter (DAT) is the carrier protein that transports dopamine across the presynaptic membrane. The DAT terminates the action of dopamine (DA) in the synapse via reuptake and thus regulates DA neurotransmission. The transporter has been studied by direct binding techniques using a variety of ligands which are inhibitors of DA transport.

pAM beta 1 resolvase has an atypical recombination site and requires a histone-like protein HU.

The broad-host-range plasmid pAM beta 1 from Gram-positive bacteria encodes a resolvase, designated Res beta, which shares homology with the proteins of the resolvase-invertase family. Here we report the purification and in vitro characterization of Res beta. This resolvase is particular in two aspects: it has an atypical binding site and requires a cofactor to promote resolution in vitro.

Negative symptoms in schizophrenia: their evolution during an acute phase.

Whereas the instability of positive symptoms over time is well recognized, the instability of negative symptoms is still debated. This controversy could be due to the fact that different negative symptoms have been studied in different phases of schizophrenia. We, therefore, hypothesized that some negative symptoms would improve whereas others would remain perfectly stable during the remission of the acute phase of illness.

[Identification of subgroups of schizophrenic patients by a typological analysis].

The existence of two subtypes of schizophrenia (positive and negative) is well established. The evidence in favour of other subtypes, in particular a disorganized subtype, is still the subject of some debate. Therefore, the aim of the study was to investigate the possibility of further subtypes of schizophrenia by applying a Ward's method of cluster analysis with the Positive And Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) scores in 138 schizophrenic patients.

[Anti-hallucinatory coping strategies in schizophrenia].

Despite the effectiveness of antipsychotic drugs in schizophrenia, many patients continue to have persistent positive symptoms like hallucinations. It has provided new interest for coping strategies used by hallucinated patients. Therefore the aim of the study was to explore the existence of such strategies in 50 schizophrenic patients defined by the presence of hallucinations.

Effects of ethanol on hepatitis B virus Pre-S/S gene expression in the human hepatocellular carcinoma derived HEP G2 hepatitis B DNA positive cell line.

Background/aims: Among the reported interactions between ethanol and hepatitis B virus (HBV), studies of transgenic mice have suggested an effect of ethanol on the secretion of viral envelope proteins.

Methods: We further investigated these interactions in vitro by determining HBs antigen levels and performing northern blots of viral mRNA in human cell culture (HepG2 HBV positive cells) exposed for 3 to 12 days to various concentrations of ethanol.

Results: In cultures exposed to 200 mM ethanol, HBs antigen concentrations increased in the medium (p < 0.

In vivo and in vitro expression of defective hepatitis B virus particles generated by spliced hepatitis B virus RNA.

The mechanisms involved in hepatitis B virus (HBV) persistence are still poorly understood. We have previously shown that the encapsidation of the singly spliced 2.2 kb-HBV RNA leads to the secretion of circulating HBV defective particles in patients with chronic hepatitis.

[French translation of the Chapman Social and Physical Anhedonia Questionnaire: validation of the French translation in controls and schizophrenic patients].

Whereas Chapman's social and physical scales are the most used instruments for the assessment of anhedonia in schizophrenia, no French translation has been still validated by the authors. Therefore, the aim of this study was first to translate into French the both scales, and after back translation, to obtain the agreement of the original authors. Second, the aim was to establish values and to establish the cut-off beyond of which French subjects could be considered as anhedonic.

A rare allele of a microsatellite located in the tyrosine hydroxylase gene found in schizophrenic patients.

We investigated the frequency of a rare variant of a common microsatellite tetrarepeat allele in the tyrosine hydroxylase gene in 2 independent ethnic groups of schizophrenic patients and their matched controls. In a French population we found the rare variant allele in 5 of 94 (5%) unrelated chronic schizophrenic patients and in none of 145 unaffected controls, thus yielding a significant association (p < 0.01) between schizophrenia and the tyrosine hydroxylase gene.

[Depressive symptoms and negative symptoms during schizophrenia].

Taking into account the wellknown frequency of depressive and extrapyramidal symptoms in schizophrenia and the rare studies about their evolution, several questions can be raised: How do these different symptoms move? Are there specific characters of each of them? First, stability of negative symptoms evaluated by the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS) was studied among 57 schizophrenic patients at admission and at discharge. The course of negative symptoms was compared to that of depressive MADRS (Montgomery et Asberg Depression Rating Scale) and akinetic symptoms (Extrapyramidal Symptom Rating Scale). All the subscores of the SANS decreased significantly but 4 items belonging to the affective flattening subscale and one item belonging to the alogia subscale did not vary significantly, showing the necessity of taking into account the individual items of the SANS rather than the subscale scores to evaluate the course of negative symptoms.

Characterization of nosocomial strains of Enterobacter aerogenes by arbitrarily primed-PCR analysis and ribotyping.

Objective: To study the spread of strains of Enterobacter aerogenes in our hospital in 1992 and 1993 by using two genotypic markers, and to evaluate these methods for the epidemiological investigation of this species.

Design: Ribotyping (using two endonucleases) and arbitrarily primed (AP)-PCR (using two different 10-mer primers) were applied to the epidemiological typing of clinical strains of E aerogenes isolated from hospitalized patients.

Setting And Patients: The intensive care unit (ICU; 5 patients, 13 isolates), nephrology units (3 patients, 5 isolates), and surgery units (2 patients, 2 isolates) of the university hospital of Saint-Etienne (France).

Direct connection between the coronary arteries in the human heart. Intercoronary arterial continuity.

Seven cases of intercoronary arterial continuity are described, which were obtained from a study of 100 human hearts in individuals with an average age (+/- standard deviation) of 61.09 years (+/- 21.96).