[Mnesic disorders caused by left temporal gliomas]. / Les troubles mnésiques dans les gliomes temporaux gauches.

Episodic memory disorders are frequent in patients with temporal lesion. Verbal or visuo-spatial memory disorders depend on the location and the lateralization of the lesion. These disorders are well described in temporal epilepsy but rarely in population with cerebral tumor and especially not specifically focus on temporal glioma. The purpose of this study was to describe neuropsychological examination in patient with temporal glioma in the database of the regional memory centre of Besançon. Four patients were identified (all right-handed and with a left temporal glioma). Verbal episodic memory impairment and auditory-verbal short-term memory impairment were observed. One patient had also visual memory disorders. Therefore, further investigations showed an associated Alzheimer's disease. This finding modified the clinical management of this patient. Extensive neuropsychological assessment should be systematic initially to seek an associated pathology, especially in elderly patients, if the cognitive profile is unusual, during the follow-up to better understand cognitive evolution and the effect of therapies on cognition.

Rationale for carbon ion therapy in high-grade glioma based on a review and a meta-analysis of neutron beam trials.

PURPOSE: The standard treatment of high-grade glioma is still unsatisfactory: the 2-year survival after radiotherapy being only 10-25%. A high linear energy transfer (LET) ionising radiotherapy has been used to overcome tumour radioresistance. An overview of the field is needed to justify future prospective controlled studies on carbon ion therapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A meta-analysis of clinical trials on neutron beam therapy and a literature review of clinical investigations on light ion use in high-grade glioma were carried out. RESULTS: Four randomised controlled trials on neutron beam therapy were retained. The meta-analysis showed a non-significant 6% increase of two-year mortality (Relative risk [RR]=1.06 [0.97-1.15]) in comparison with photon therapy. Two phase I/II trials on carbon and neon ion therapy reported for glioblastoma 10% and 31% two-year overall survivals and 13.9 and 19.0 months median survivals, respectively. CONCLUSION: This meta-analysis suggests that neutron beam therapy does not improve the survival of high-grade glioma patients while there is no definitive conclusion yet regarding carbon therapy. The ballistic accuracy and the improved biological efficacy of carbon ions renew the interest in prospective clinical trials on particle beam radiotherapy of glioma and let us expect favourable effects of dose escalation on patients' survival.

[The French preliminary experience of the use of a seed-projector for exclusive iodine 125 prostate brachytherapy: feasibility and acute toxicity]. / L'expérience française de l'utilisation d'un projecteur de source pour la curiethérapie prostatique exclusive par implants permanents d'iode radioactif: faisabilité et données de toxicité aiguë.

PURPOSE: To analyse a new technique for prostate brachytherapy with permanent Iodine implants characterized by the use of a seed projector after a 3D dosimetric peroperative treatment planning (FIRST technique). PATIENTS AND METHOD: 395 patients have been treated in France with this technique in six radiotherapy centres between November 2002 and December 2005 for a localized prostate cancer. RESULTS: Thirteen patients (3.3%) developped a urinary retention, and respectively 7.8 and 26.5% an acute RTOG grade 3 and 2 toxicity. The 6-weeks IPSS score was equal or lower to 15 in 73% with a 11 median IPSS value. A failure of the loading with the seed-projector, leading to a manual loading of the seeds, occurred in 9 patients (2.3%) in two centres, directly related to the loading procedure with the seed-projector in 5 cases. The median duration of the procedure was reduced by 30 minutes for the patients treated in 2005. CONCLUSIONS: This multicenter study establishes the feasibility of the routine use of a seed projector for permanent iodine 125 prostate implants with an initial tolerance similar to the best results published for other implants techniques.

Contribution of encapsulation on the biodisponibility of retinol.

To show the benefits of retinol encapsulation in cosmetic industry, we compared the diffusion of two different retinol preparations through skin:oil-in-water (o/w) emulsions of retinol, also called 'free retinol', and suspension of Cylasphere including retinol, also called 'encapsulated retinol'. Two methods were used: Franz cell elucidated retinol release and storage in a hairless mouse skin according to time for the two types of preparations. The dosage of retinol by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) showed that encapsulated retinol was maintained into the skin for a longer time than free retinol. Raman microspectrometry measurements established a spectral image of the skin and determined the localization of retinol. Maps were collected according to time. They detailed the shifts of free and encapsulated retinol in the epidermis of a human biopsy. Spheres were smaller than droplets and they moved two times faster at this level of the skin.

Conformational changes of enzymes adsorbed at liquid-solid interface: relevance to enzymatic activity.

FTIR with attenuated total reflectance spectroscopy was used to study in situ adsorption of enzymes at water-solid interfaces to better understand how conformational changes may monitor enzymatic activity. Because the adsorption process depends on hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions, conformational changes were studied as a function of the nature of the adsorbing substrates, which are hydrophobic or hydrophilic in character. The adsorption kinetics of two examples of serine enzymes, alpha-chymotrypsin (alpha-chym) and Humicola lanuginosa lipase (HLL), were studied. The secondary structure and solvation of the adsorbed enzymes were both compared to the dissolved enzymes. The positively charged alpha-chym was adsorbed on a negatively charged hydrophilic support with minor structural changes, but the negatively charged lipase had no affinity for a similar support. Both enzymes were strongly retained on the hydrophobic support. The secondary and tertiary structures of the alpha-chym adsorbed on the hydrophobic support were strongly altered, which correlates to the inhibition of enzymatic hydrolysis. The specific solvation obtained for the adsorbed HLL is consistent with the existence of the open conformer in relation to the enhanced enzymatic activity at the water-hydrophobic interface.

Chymotrypsin Adsorption on Montmorillonite: Enzymatic Activity and Kinetic FTIR Structural Analysis.

Soils have a large solid surface area and high adsorptive capacities. To determine if structural and solvation changes induced by adsorption on clays are related to changes in enzyme activity, alpha-chymotrypsin adsorbed on a phyllosilicate with an electronegative surface (montmorillonite) has been studied by transmission FTIR spectroscopy. A comparison of the pH-dependent structural changes for the solution and adsorbed states probes the electrostatic origin of the adsorption. In the pD range 4.5-10, adsorption only perturbs some peripheral domains of the protein compared to the solution. Secondary structure unfolding affects about 15-20 peptide units. Parts of these domains become hydrated and others entail some self-association. However, the inactivation of the catalytic activity of the adsorbed enzyme in the 5-7 pD range is due less to these structural changes than to steric hindrance when three essential imino/amino functions, located close to the entrance of the catalytic cavity (His-40 and -57 residues and Ala-149 end chain residue), are oriented toward the negatively charged mineral surface. When these functions lose their positive charge, the orientation of the adsorbed enzyme is changed and an activity similar to that in solution at equivalent pH is recovered. This result is of fundamental interest in all fields of research where enzymatic activity is monitored using reversible adsorption procedures. Copyright 1999 Academic Press.

Characterization of Human Serum Albumin Adsorbed on a Porous Anion-Exchange Support.

Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) were used to study the adsorption behavior of human serum albumin (HSA) onto a polymer-layer type anion exchanger, poly(vinylimidazole) (PVI) adsorbed and cross-linked on a porous silica support. The data are compared with previous results for HSA adsorbed on C6 alkyl chains grafted on the same silica matrix. For the adsorption onto the PVI support from a phosphate buffer solution of low ionic strength (pD 7.4), the FTIR experiments reveal only very weak structural and solvation changes. A large fraction of the protein remains irreversibly adsorbed and the amount retained at equilibrium is close to that observed for the adsorption on the reversed-phase support, although the structural effect of the stationary phase was much larger with the grafted C6 alkyl chains. Comparing to the solution state, only 2% of the HSA backbone is modified by adsorption on PVI, whereas 12% alterations are involved for the protein adsorbed on the reversed-phase support. When adsorbed from an eluent containing 20% acetonitrile, the amount of HSA retained by the PVI ion exchanger is about twice that measured with the buffer alone. This result is explained by a more compact structure of the protein when dissolved in the organoaqueous solvent. The presence of acetonitrile does not markedly affect the elution front of HSA adsorbed on the charged hydrophilic adsorbent. This result contrasts with the much lower apparent adsorption rate observed when HSA is adsorbed on the grafted alkyl chain support in the presence of acetonitrile in the buffer. Copyright 1998 Academic Press.