[The Hemovigilance Commission of the University Hospital Center]. / La commission d'hémovigilance du CHU.

As suggested by the National Blood Council, a Hemovigilance Committee was set up in the University Hospital of Liège in 1995. A multidisciplinary discussion takes place on any action aiming at the improvement of transfusion safety, and the follow-up of its implementation. The first issue to be discussed was the set up of a detailed documentation of all blood transfusions. The data are now recorded on a single document allowing proper identification of people and products involved, and of the eventual incidents. This document has lead to a better transfusion safety and to an improved administrative management of blood transfusion. The Commission has been coordinating two multi-centric studies analyzing the consumption of fresh blood products and the incidence of transfusion reactions. Among blood-saving policies, autologous transfusion and volume reduction of samples drawn for laboratory purposes have been discussed. Other measures were taken to improve the labeling of samples for cross-mach and to actively follow-up transfusion reactions. By its actions and advises, the Commission aims to direct strategies towards a safe and rational use of blood products.

Antimicrobial drug use in hospitals in The Netherlands, Germany and Belgium.

Data on the use of antimicrobial drugs was collected by means of an inquiry to 30 hospitals in Belgium (15 in Dutch sectors and 15 in the French sectors), 21 hospitals in Germany and 20 hospitals in the Netherlands. The use of these drugs was expressed as the number of defined daily doses (DDD) per 100 bed days by the anatomical therapeutical chemical classification system. The total use of antimicrobial agents was significantly (p < 0.001) higher in both parts of Belgium (55.6 and 52.0 DDD per 100 bed days) than in Germany (37.9 DDD) or the Netherlands (34.1 DDD). In particular, amoxicillin-clavulanic acid, the first- and second-generation cephalosporins, aminoglycosides and fluoroquinolones were used more in Belgium than in either of the other countries. At least part of the differences observed in antimicrobial drug use could be explained by differences in written antibiotic policy.

The isolation and structure elucidation of Afrocurarine.

The structure and the stereochemistry of afrocurarine (a new unsymmetrical bisindole alkaloid) previously isolated from S. USAMBARENSIS Gilg. are established especially from (1)H-NMR spectroscopic data. The separation of quaternary alkaloids has always been very tedious. Ion-pair reversed-phase column chromatography applied to the purification of afrocurarine is proved very useful and seems to be a suitable technique in quaternary alkaloid research.

The isolation of Nb-methyl-antirhine, malindine and isomalindine from Strychnos usambarensis.

Three quaternary alkaloids have been isolated from root barks of STRYCHNOS USAMBARENSIS Gilg from Rwanda: malindine, isomalindine and Nb-methyl-antirhine. The structure elucidation and the stereochemistry of the new isomalindine has been proposed based on its spectral data and their comparison with those of malindine, its isomer.

Strychnoxanthine, a monoterpene alkaloid of a novel skeletal type from Strychnos gossweileri.

Strychnoxanthine, an anhydronium base, was isolated from root barks of STRYCHNOS GOSSWEILERI, a few years ago. The structure of this new indole alkaloid is now established by spectral analysis, especially by (1)H NMR at 360 MHz.

Physico-chemical investigation of the mode of binding of the alkaloids 5,6-dihydroflavopereirine and sempervirine with DNA.

The mode of binding of 5,6-dihydroflavopereirine and sempervirine to DNA has been investigated by absorption spectrophotometry, circular and electric linear dichroism, fluorescence and fluorescence polarization, viscosity increase of sonicated linear DNA and circular DNA unwinding. Although the spectroscopic properties of both compounds bound to DNA resembled those reported in our previous study of DNA complexes with two other alkaloids, and observed with planar intercalating compounds, only sempervirine was able to unwind circular DNA. The latter drug however showed signs characteristic of aggregation at the surface of the polyion. The differences between the behaviours of the four alkaloids so far investigated by us are interpreted on the basis of different extent of penetration of the chromophore ring into the DNA helix.

Do planar alkaloids from Strychnos usambarensis intercalate into the DNA helix?

The mode of binding of melinonine F and normelinonine F to DNA has been investigated through physico-chemical methods which proved most valuable in the study of dye-DNA interactions, namely absorption spectrophotometry, circular and linear dichroism, fluorescence polarization, viscosity increase of linear DNA and circular DNA unwinding. The spectroscopic properties resembled those observed with planar heterocyclic compounds intercalating between the DNA base pairs: bathochromic shift and hypochromism in the ligand absorption bands; presence of a strong binding process with an association constant of the order of 10(6)M-1 and a number of binding sites of 0.1 to 0.15; appearance of extrinsic optical activity in the ligand absorption bands with a dependence on the binding ratio typical for an excitonic origin; negative reduced electric dichrosim of the ligand chromophore of the same order of magnitude as that of the DNA heterocyclic bases. However the increase of the length of sonicated DNA determined from viscosity changes was much smaller than for most intercalating compounds and no unwinding of PM2 circular DNA was detected.

[About major alkaloids of Strychnos scheffleri from Zaire]. / Les alcaloïdes majoritaires du Strychnos scheffleri du Zaire.

Leaves and stem barks of S. scheffleri Gilg afforded eight dihydroindole alkaloids. Four tertiary monomers (O-methyl Na-acetylstrychnosplendine, Na-acetylstrychnosplendine, strychnobrasiline and strychnofendlerine) have been isolated from leaf material while stem barks yielded one tertiary monomer (desacetylisoretuline), one tertiary symmetrical dimer (bis-nordihydrotoxiferine) and two quaternary monomers (mavacurine and fluorocurine).