Surveillance monitoring for safety of in utero antiretroviral therapy exposures: current strategies and challenges.

The use of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in pregnancy to prevent vertical HIV transmission has been one of the most successful public health programs in the last decade. As a result, an unprecedented number of women are taking ART at conception and during pregnancy. Given few randomized studies evaluating safety of different ART regimens in pregnancy, ongoing drug safety surveillance is critical.

Management of viral hepatitis in patients with haematological malignancy and in patients undergoing haemopoietic stem cell transplantation: recommendations of the 5th European Conference on Infections in Leukaemia (ECIL-5).

Viral hepatitis affects millions of people worldwide, and host immunity is the key determinant of patient outcome. Viral hepatitis can be life threatening in patients with haematological malignancy, including haemopoietic stem cell transplant recipients, because of the virus itself, or through a need to decrease the dose of chemotherapy. A past or currently infected haemopoietic stem cell donor could also transmit viral hepatitis.

The relationship between liver stiffness measurement and outcome in patients with chronic hepatitis C and cirrhosis: a retrospective longitudinal hospital study.

Background: There is a relationship between liver stiffness measurement (LSM) and outcome of HCV patients.

Aim: To evaluate the performance of LSM to predict outcome of HCV patients at risk of liver-related complication.

Methods: We established a retrospective longitudinal cohort of 341 HCV patients with unequivocal cirrhosis.

Quick, non-invasive and quantitative assessment of small fiber neuropathy in patients receiving chemotherapy.

Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neurotoxicity (CIPN) is a common, potentially severe and dose-limiting adverse effect; however, it is poorly investigated at an early stage due to the lack of a simple assessment tool. As sweat glands are innervated by small autonomic C-fibers, sudomotor function testing has been suggested for early screening of peripheral neuropathy. This study aimed to evaluate Sudoscan, a non-invasive and quantitative method to assess sudomotor function, in the detection and follow-up of CIPN.

[Punish or cherish: p53, metabolism and tumor suppression].

The p53 gene is essential for tumor suppression, but how it does so remains unclear. Upon genotoxic or oncogenic stresses, increased p53 activity induces transient cell cycle arrest, senescence or apoptosis, the three cornerstones of the so-called triumvirate. Accordingly, it has long been thought that p53 suppresses tumorigenesis by somehow counteracting cell proliferation or survival.

The gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase to platelet ratio (GPR) predicts significant liver fibrosis and cirrhosis in patients with chronic HBV infection in West Africa.

Background: Simple and inexpensive non-invasive fibrosis tests are highly needed but have been poorly studied in sub-Saharan Africa.

Methods: Using liver histology as a gold standard, we developed a novel index using routine laboratory tests to predict significant fibrosis in patients with chronic HBV infection in The Gambia, West Africa. We prospectively assessed the diagnostic accuracy of the novel index, Fibroscan, aspartate transaminase-to-platelet ratio index (APRI), and Fib-4 in Gambian patients with CHB (training set) and also in French and Senegalese CHB cohorts (validation sets).

In vitro activity of josamycin against Streptococcus pyogenes isolated from patients with upper respiratory tract infections in France.

Objectives: The primary objective of our study was to obtain susceptibility data for josamycin against Streptococcus pyogenes isolated from patients presenting with upper respiratory tract infections in France. The secondary objective was to characterize the molecular mechanism of resistance in macrolide-resistant isolates.

Patients And Methods: MICs of erythromycin, clarithromycin, azithromycin, josamycin, and clindamycin were determined by the broth microdilution method.

Uncovering the peptide-binding specificities of HLA-C: a general strategy to determine the specificity of any MHC class I molecule.

MHC class I molecules (HLA-I in humans) present peptides derived from endogenous proteins to CTLs. Whereas the peptide-binding specificities of HLA-A and -B molecules have been studied extensively, little is known about HLA-C specificities. Combining a positional scanning combinatorial peptide library approach with a peptide-HLA-I dissociation assay, in this study we present a general strategy to determine the peptide-binding specificity of any MHC class I molecule.

von Hippel-Lindau gene disruption in mouse pancreatic progenitors and its consequences on endocrine differentiation in vivo: importance of HIF1-α and VEGF-A upregulation.

Aim/hypothesis: Different studies have linked hypoxia to embryonic development. Specifically, when embryonic pancreases are cultured ex vivo under hypoxic conditions (3% O2), beta cell development is impaired. Different cellular signalling pathways are involved in adaptation to hypoxia, including the ubiquitous hypoxia-inducible-factor 1-α (HIF1-α) pathway.

Reliability of a new method for evaluating femoral stem positioning after total hip arthroplasty based on stereoradiographic 3D reconstruction.

The goal of this study was to validate a new method for determining femoral stem positioning based on 3D models derived from the EOS biplanar system. Independents observers measured stem anteversion and femoral offset using CT scan and EOS system of 28 femoral stems implanted in composite femurs. In parallel, the same parameters were measured on biplanar lower limb radiographs acquired from 30 patients who had undergone total hip arthroplasty.

[Biotherapies in metastatic colorectal cancers in 2014].

The treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer has been transformed during the last decade with biotherapies, two of them were marketed in 2013. Four agents are monoclonal antibodies, while the fifth agent is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor. Two agents are inhibitors of the EGF-receptor pathway, cetuximab and panitumumab, and have as class-toxicity, cutaneous toxicity.

Neonatal and two-year outcomes after rupture of membranes before 25 weeks of gestation.

Objective: To assess the impact of extreme preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM) <25 weeks of gestation on preterm child outcome.

Study Design: Retrospective study comparing the neonatal and 2-year outcomes of infants exposed to extremely PPROM <25 weeks with a non-exposed group of neonates in a tertiary care referral centre located in Paris, France, between 2003 and 2007. All women with singleton pregnancy and PPROM between 15(0/7) and 24(6/7) weeks of gestation were recruited.

A fermented formula in pre-term infants: clinical tolerance, gut microbiota, down-regulation of faecal calprotectin and up-regulation of faecal secretory IgA.

Intestinal bacterial colonisation in pre-term infants is delayed compared with full-term infants, leading to an increased risk of gastrointestinal disease. Modulation of colonisation through dietary supplementation with probiotics or prebiotics could decrease such a risk. The present study evaluated clinical tolerance, the effects on gut microbiota, and inflammatory and immunological mucosal responses to an infant formula adapted for pre-term infants that included in its manufacturing process a fermentation step with two probiotic strains, Bifidobacterium breve C50 and Streptococcus thermophilus 065, inactivated by heat at the end of the process.

Analgesic efficacy and adverse effects of epidural morphine compared to parenteral opioids after elective caesarean section: a systematic review.

Background: The optimal effective dose of epidural morphine that provides postoperative analgesia after caesarean section with minimal side effects remains debated.

Aims: We performed a systematic review to assess the analgesic efficacy and the incidence of adverse effects of epidural morphine after caesarean section compared to systemic analgesia with opioids.

Methods: We searched Medline, Embase and Cochrane Collaboration Library databases.

[Analysis of the concept of risk in a medical teaching program].

The concept of risk has acquired an extremely important place in medical care in the course of various social developments. This concept plays a role in the physician-patient relationship, especially as the form in which the physician provides information to the patient; it is also a form of medical knowledge. We propose a cross-sectional medical course module on this concept of risk, intended for medical students; it can be included in module 1 of the curriculum for the national ranking examination.

Selected new antithrombotic agents and neuraxial anaesthesia for major orthopaedic surgery: management strategies.

We propose recommendations to reduce the risk of haemorrhagic events associated with regional anaesthesia in patients treated with newer anticoagulants after orthopaedic surgery. The risk/benefit ratio should be individualised for each patient according to the type and dose of anticoagulant, the type of regional anaesthesia and patient risk factors. Neuraxial anaesthetic management strategy can be based on the pharmacokinetic properties of specific anticoagulants, including the time required to reach maximal concentration, half-life, and dose regimen.

Salivary lactoferrin is recognized by the human herpesvirus-8.

Human herpesvirus-8 (HHV-8) is commonly detected in all epidemiologic forms of Kaposi's sarcoma. Despite the broad cellular tropism of HHV-8, studies on mucosal shedding of HHV-8 have shown that infectious particles are restricted to saliva isolated from the oropharynx. We used biotinylated purified HHV-8 particles in a direct binding assay to whole clarified human salivary samples isolated from HHV-8-infected and uninfected individuals.

[Evolution of male fertility in the last twenty years].

After the meta-analysis by Carlsen et al. (1992) showing a decline in human sperm count over the last 50 years, several studies have been made on the sperm characteristics of more or less homogeneous groups of men who were collecting semen in the same center for 10-20 years. A significant decline in sperm count was reported in some studies but not in others.

Long-term pulmonary functional outcome of bronchopulmonary dysplasia and premature birth.

Pulmonary function and exercise tolerance were evaluated in late childhood in two groups of prematurely born children: one group with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) [n = 15; gestational age at birth (GA): 29.6 +/- 2.8 weeks; birth weight (BW): 1,367 +/- 548 g; age at test: 7.

[Evaluation of obstetrical pain by a questionnaire of adjectives. Comparison of 2 epidural analgesia protocols].

A French version of the McGill pain questionnaire, the "Questionnaire Douleur Saint Antoine" (QDSA), was assessed prospectively by comparing two epidural analgesia protocols using bupivacaine. One hundred women in labour who asked for epidural analgesia were randomly allocated to two groups and received either 0.25% or 0.