[Immunostimulating properties of an extract isolated from Aloe vahombe. 2. Protection in mice by fraction F1 against infections by Listeria monocytogenes, Yersinia pestis, Candida albicans and Plasmodium berghei]. / Etude des proprietés immunostimulantes d'un extrait isolé à partir d'Aloe vahombe.

A partially purified extract of leaves of Aloe vahombe, a plant endemic in the south of Madagascar, administered intravenously to mice, protects them against infection of bacteria (Listeria monocytogenes, Yersinia pestis), parasites (Plasmodium berghei) and fungus (Candida albicans). The protective fraction must be administered two days before inoculation of the pathogenic agent. These results significantly confirm those we obtained in earlier study on mice infection by Klebsiella pneumoniae. Currently we are testing the protective action of the purified extract on the experimental development of sarcomas, and we are in the process of analysing the mode of action of this non specific immunostimulant.

Modifications in the sarcoplasmic reticulum and subcellular calcium distribution in skeletal muscle in a case of Westphal's disease (hypokalemic periodic paralysis).

In a case of hypokalemic periodic paralysis with characteristic alterations of the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) in the skeletal muscle, subcellular calcium re-partition, as revealed with the pyroantimonate technique, appears disturbed during paralysis. Pyroantimonate precipitates, normally concentrated in the terminal cisternae of the SR, were localized in the T tubules, whereas the terminal cisternae appeared empty. The increase (about 14%) in muscular calcium during paralysis may result from the accumulation of calcium in the extracellular compartment (T tubules). Defects in calcium uptake and storage by the SR may be involved in the pathogenesis of the periodic paralysis syndrome.