[Poor responders followed for 3 years in an IVF program]. / Mauvaises répondeuses suivies sur 3 ans dans un programme FIV.

Our study consisted of a population of 100 women who represented an insufficient response to the induction of ovulation. We researched to find out which therapeutic approach, of the subsequent attempts to IVF would give greater hope to a better response. Two groups were individualized: in the first group (62 women) we obtained at least once, 3 oocytes (288 attempts), in the second group (38 women) we always obtained less than 3 oocytes. In the first group, in order to raise the pregnancy rate it was necessary to raise the rate of E2/oocyte. There fore raising the duration of stimulation and the quantity of ampullage of hMG. The long protocol, hMG, produced the best results. In the second group, the results were always worse it was more than a problem of protocol, it was a problem of the patients. In reality, the future of therapy for lower responsive patients is probably biological with hatching today and the possibilities with oocytary maturation in vitro in the near future.

[Incidence of the morphological aspect on the rate of implantation of embryos obtained by fertilization in vitro]. / Incidence de l'aspect morphologique sur le taux d'implantation des embryons obtenus par fécondation in vitro.

1350 embryos obtained by In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) have been examined with the reverse microscope before their transfer in utero. Some embryos are "morphologically normal" (34.7%); some others are atypical. It is difficult to determinate the implantation rate by embryo according to morphological aspect because, most of the time we transfer several embryos to only one patient and we do not know, in case of pregnancy, which one or which ones have developed. Nevertheless, we have tried to appreciate, for 500 embryos transfers after IVF, the incidence of morphological aspect according to the presence or absence of "morphologically normal" embryos. The implantation rate is significantly higher in the groups in which you find "morphological normal" embryos than in the group where they are missing. (19.7% and 19.2% vs 10.2%). It seems that the aspect of the embryo when it is transferred, has an incidence on its future development.

Antibacterial activity of phenethyl alcohol and resulting membrane alterations.

The antibacterial activity of phenethyl alcohol (PEA) towards Gram-negative (Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) and Gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus faecium) was investigated. This activity was expressed as IC (inhibitory concentration) and BC (bactericidal concentration). PEA was bactericidal in the concentration range of 90 to 180 mM, these concentrations being 4- to 5-fold higher than the corresponding IC. The mechanism of action of PEA upon the cell membrane of bacteria was also studied. Morphological examination with a transmission electron microscope showed that Gram-negative cell envelopes were permeabilized; for Gram-positive bacteria, the plasmic membrane in S. aureus was solubilized, whereas lesser changes were observed in E. faecium. At lethal concentrations, PEA also induced a rapid and total leakage of K+ ions from the four strains studied. Despite the correlation between alterations in the structural integrity of the cytoplasmic membrane in Gram-negative cells and the loss of cell viability, it cannot be inferred that membrane damage is the only cause of the lethal effect.

[Estimation of the quality of embryos obtained during fertilization in vitro as a function of their morphology]. / Appréciation de la qualité des embryons obtenus lors de la fécondation in vitro en fonction de leur morphologie.

Embryo quality after IVF should allow provisions for their pregnancy potential. We have classified all the transferred embryos into 4 types according to morphological criteria and we have studied the implantation rate of the different types. The results show: That pregnancies have been obtained with the 4 types of embryos. That it has been impossible to demonstrate statistically significant differences between the different types of transferred embryos even if embryos morphologically normal seem to be more favourable than others to induce a pregnancy. That the average implantation rate for each transferred embryo is of 14.4%.

Evaluation of a standard scrubbing method for the recovery of aerobic skin flora.

The most reliable method for sampling skin flora is still a matter of debate, although the subject is of importance in many fields ranging from clinical to basic research. For the evaluation of normal skin flora, Williamson and Kligman's scrub method is the most commonly used. In order to determine the value of this method, standardized for the evaluation of topical antimicrobial agents on aerobic skin flora, we compared its results to those obtained both from bacterial counts and from microscopic studies on biopsies performed at the same site. After different experiments had established the optimal experimental conditions on human and pig skin, a comparative study on six healthy subjects was carried out in the peri-umbilical area. The mean log numbers of aerobic bacteria in the scrub samples and in the biopsies were respectively, 3.1 and 2.9, which were not statistically significant. These numerical results were similar to those obtained by electron microscopy. Hence, the standard scrub method may be considered satisfactory for the recovery of aerobic bacteria from healthy human skin.

[Effects of adrenal medullectomy and passive immunization with an anti-CRF antiserum on the corticotropin secretion in response to stress in Long-Evans rats]. / Effets de la médullosurrénalectomie et de l'immunisation passive par un sérum anti-CRF sur la secrétion corticotrope en réponse au stress chez le rat Long-Evans.

Ether stress-induced ACTH and corticosterone secretion is similar in 60 days adrenal medullectomized and intact Long-Evans Rats. Passive immunisation with a 41-CRF antiserum impairs corticotropic function after stress. This decrease is more pronounced in adrenal medullectomized than in intact animals. These results suggest that epinephrine plays a minor role on the stress induced ACTH secretion. This role can be demonstrated only after immunoneutralisation of endogenous 41-CRF.