Deroofing: A safe, effective and well-tolerated procedure in patients with hidradenitis suppurativa.

Introduction: Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a recurrent, debilitating, chronic disorder of the pilosebaceous unit. Although advances in HS treatment have been made, more than 45% of patients remain dissatisfied with systemic treatment, and more than one-third are dissatisfied with surgical procedures.

Objectives: A prospective, observational study on the deroofing procedures in HS with special attention paid to patient satisfaction and complications.

Defining hidradenitis suppurativa phenotypes based on the elementary lesion pattern: results of a prospective study.

Background: It has been proposed that two main phenotypes of hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) exist. This proposal is based upon different elementary structures detected in the skin, namely follicular subtypes and inflammatory subtypes. Having an accurate definition of these two variants could help us to better identify patients who may require an early intervention with currently approved targeted immunomodulatory therapies.

Intra-Abdominal Pressure as a Marker of Enteral Nutrition Intolerance in Critically Ill Patients. The PIANE Study.

To determine whether elevated intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) is associated with a higher rate of enteral nutrition-related gastrointestinal (GI) complications; to assess the value of IAP as a predictor of enteral nutrition (EN) intolerance. Intensive Care Unit (ICU) patients on mechanical ventilation requiring at least 5 days of EN were recruited for a prospective, observational, non-interventional, multicenter study. EN was performed and GI complications were managed with an established protocol.

Toxicity of seven Bacillus thuringiensis Cry proteins against Cylas puncticollis and Cylas brunneus (Coleoptera: Brentidae) using a novel artificial diet.

"Sweetpotato weevils" Cylas puncticollis (Boheman) and Cylas brunneus F. (Coleoptera: Brentidae) are the most important biological threat to sweetpotato, Ipomoea batatas L. (Lam), productivity in sub-Saharan Africa.

Total synthesis of (+/-)-alpha-isosparteine, (+/-)-beta-isosparteine, and (+/-)-sparteine from a common tetraoxobispidine intermediate.

The three title alkaloids were separately prepared in stereocontrolled fashion from a common tetraoxobispidine precursor, 3,7-diallyl-2,4,6,8-tetraoxo-3,7-diazabicyclo[3.3.1]nonane (16).

Small school-based effectiveness trials increase vegetable and fruit consumption among youth.

This article profiles a research initiative of state health agency-initiated 5 A Day school-based interventions. Four of the seven projects reviewed had significant results, with an average effect size of 0.4 servings of vegetables and fruit.

Study of fluidity of low density lipoproteins from liver cirrhotic patients.

Background And Aim: Liver disease is accompanied by major quantitative and qualitative modifications in plasma lipoprotein metabolism. Alterations in plasma lipoprotein composition and a lower susceptibility to in vitro peroxidation of low density lipoprotein (LDL) and erythrocyte membranes have been observed in liver cirrhosis. The main objective of the present work was to investigate LDL chemical composition and fluidity in liver cirrhosis using the fluorescence polarization (Pf) of the 1,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene (DPH) probe.

[Hyperinsulinism, heart rate variability and circadian variation of arterial pressure in obese hypertensive patients].

Aims: During insulin resistance, sympathetic nerve activity is increased. However insulin resistance is a common feature of obesity and essential hypertension, it is unclear if chronic hyperinsulinemia per se contributes to sympathetic overactivation. The purpose of our study was to explore++ the relationships between chronic hyperinsulinemia and heart rate variability (HRV), a non-intensive tool to assess autonomic function, in obese and hypertensive subjects.

Metabolic and anti-atherogenic effects of long-term benfluorex in dyslipidemic insulin-resistant sand rats (Psammomys obesus).

Benfluorex is a clinical lipid-lowering agent with antihyperglycemic properties. The effect of long-term oral treatment (10 mg/kg/day for 7.5 months) on carbohydrate and lipid metabolism and aortic morphology was investigated in 24 insulin-resistant sand rats receiving a standard laboratory diet supplemented with cholesterol (2%).

Preoperative embolization of solid cervicomedullary junction hemangioblastomas: report of two cases.

Solid cervicomedullary haemangioblastomas represent a small but technically challenging subset of posterior fossa haemangioblastomas because of their site, high vascularity and tendency to bleed. We present our experience with preoperative embolisation of two solid cervicomedullary haemangioblastomas. In both cases the main feeding artery was the posterior inferior cerebellar artery.

S15261, a novel agent for the treatment of insulin resistance. Studies on Psammomys obesus.

S15261 is a novel compound that has been proposed for the treatment of insulin resistance syndrome. We have studied the effects of this drug in insulin resistant sand rats (Psammomys obesus). When sand rats are transferred from their natural desert environment and placed on a laboratory chow diet, they become overweight, develop hypertriglyceridaemia, hypercholesterolaemia, become insulin resistant, and ultimately diabetic.

Increased susceptibility to lipid oxidation of low-density lipoproteins and erythrocyte membranes from diabetic patients.

The aim of the present study was to determine if low-density lipoproteins (LDLs) and red blood cell (RBC) membranes from diabetic patients present an increased susceptibility to lipoperoxidation, which might be related to the increased incidence of atherosclerosis in diabetes. LDLs and RBC membranes were isolated from 11 insulin-dependent (IDDM) and 18 non-insulin-dependent diabetic (NIDDM) patients and exposed to a peroxidative stress by incubation with phenylhydrazine. The susceptibility to peroxidation was determined by measuring the production of thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS) after the incubation.

Reduced Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase activity and plasma lysophosphatidylcholine concentrations in diabetic patients.

A fraction from normal human plasma inhibiting Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase has been recently identified as lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC). The aim of this study was to investigate the existence of a relationship between the activity of the cellular membrane Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase and plasma LPC in human diabetes. We studied 10 patients with insulin-dependent-diabetes mellitus (IDDM), 14 patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM), and 10 sex- and age-matched control subjects.

Susceptibility to in vitro lipid peroxidation of low density lipoproteins and erythrocyte membranes from liver cirrhotic patients.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the susceptibility of low density lipoprotein (LDL) and red blood cell membranes (RCM) from liver cirrhotic patients and control subjects, to the peroxidative stress, induced in vitro by phenylhydrazine. The susceptibility to peroxidation was determined by measuring the formation of the thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) after incubation with phenylhydrazine. Moreover the levels of cholesterol (C) and phospholipid (PL) were evaluated in plasma and isolated LDL and RCM.

Effect of desialylation on low density lipoproteins: comparative study before and after oxidative stress.

Aim of our study was to investigate the effect of the desialylation induced by neuraminidase treatment on low density lipoprotein susceptibility to peroxidative stress induced by incubation with copper ions. Our results show that peroxidative stress induces the formation of aggregates that was not observed in desialylated low density lipoproteins. An increase in thiobarbituric reactive substances and a decrease in polyunsaturated fatty acids content have been shown in oxidized LDL.

Physico-chemical properties of copper-oxidized high density lipoprotein: a fluorescence study.

The modifications of the physico-chemical properties of the high density lipoprotein (HDL) before and after in vitro induced oxidation by copper ions have been studied using the fluorescence polarization (Pf) of the phosphatidylcholine derivative of 1,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene (DPH-PC) and of the cationic derivative (TMA-DPH). We have observed that HDL oxidation is associated with a decrease of the molecular order at the lipoprotein surface as demonstrated by the increase in Pf with respect to untreated HDL. Moreover in oxidized HDL the polarity-sensitive probe laurdan has shown a decrease of the polarity in its microenvironment.

Lower susceptibility of low density lipoprotein to in vitro oxidation in diabetic patients.

The susceptibility to peroxidative stress of low density lipoprotein (LDL), induced by incubation with CuSO4, has been studied in eleven diabetic patients and eleven control subjects. Our results suggest that oxidized LDL (OX-LDL) of diabetic patients have a significant higher reactivity to 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS) than controls, that indicates a lower susceptibility of LDL to oxidative stress. Furthermore using the fluorescence polarization (Pf) of 1,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene (DPH) and its phosphatidylcholine derivative (DPH-PC) we have shown that peroxidation induces a decrease of fluidity in OX-LDL of controls and diabetic patients, both at the lipoprotein surface, where is localized DPH-PC and at the interface between lipoprotein surface and core which is probed by DPH.

[Biological reference values in the human fetus. 106 cord blood sampling in utero].

The authors give biological reference figures obtained from 106 fetuses that were sampled in utero between the 20th and 34th week of amenorrhoea. These fetuses were considered to be normal because there was no clinical or ultrasound evidence of an abnormality. Furthermore the biological values sought in antenatal testing and the absence of all pathology in the first year of life, confirmed that these were normal fetuses.

Desialylated low density lipoproteins and atherosclerosis.

Oxidative modification of LDL is accompanied by a number of compositional and structural changes, now well known. In addition, other atherogenic modifications of LDL exist, such as desialylation. The present article summarizes the recent data related to desialylated LDL and to the presence of these LDL in blood plasma of patients with coronary atherosclerosis.

Determination of apoprotein B in the skin.

To determine the origin of cutaneous cholesterol a method has been developed for extracting and determining by electro-immuno-assay apoprotein B in the skin as already performed by Hoff at the arterial level. This study demonstrated the presence of apoprotein B in the skin and its quantification. The easy and reliable technique employed required only conventional laboratory instruments.

[Predictive value of plasma apolipoprotein B in myocardial infarction in young subjects. Correlations with coronarographic data].

In recent epidemiological studies, apolipoprotein-B (apo B), the main low density lipoprotein (LDL), was found to be significantly elevated in patients with early atherosclerosis. The aim of this study was to compare plasma apo B in a population of men who had suffered myocardial infarction before 45 years of age (N = 31) with a control population (N = 22). In the coronary group, there were 27 angiographies between the end of the first and third month.

[Cutaneous cholesterol in the young and aged coronary patient].

Serum cholesterol (ch), its lipoprotein fractions and triglycerides were measured in three populations of proven coronary patients (less than 50 years, n = 56; between 50 and 65 years, n = 56; greater than 65 years, n = 23); the risk factor total ch/HDL ch was calculated. The level of skin cholesterol was also estimated by skin biopsy in each patient and compared to that of three control populations of the same age. The results indicated that 1) there was no significant difference in skin cholesterol of patients with myocardial infarction whatever their age, 2) there was a significant difference (p less than 0,001) with control subjects of the same age except in the over 65 population, 3) the total cholesterol was normal in all three groups, 4) the HDL cholesterol of coronary patients over 50 year old was normal and slightly reduced in younger coronary patients, 5) the ratio total ch/HDL ch was increased in coronary patients under 50, but normal after this age, 6) the triglyceride level was higher in the young coronary patients than in those over 50 years old.