Distinctive roles of PKC delta isozyme in platelet function.

Platelet activation is a complex balance of positive and negative signaling pathways. Several protein kinase C (PKC) isoforms are expressed in human platelets. They are a major regulator of platelet granule secretion, activation and aggregation activity. One of those isoforms is the PKCδ isozyme, it has a central yet complex role in platelets such as opposite signaling functions depending on the nature of the agonist, it concentration and pathway. In fact, it has been shown that PKCδ has an overall negative influence on platelet function in response to collagen, while, following PAR stimulation, PKCδ has a positive effect on platelet function. Understanding the crucial role of PKCδ in platelet functions is recently emerging in the literature, therefore, further investigations should shed light into its specific role in hemostasis. In this review, we focus on the different roles of PKCδ in platelet activation, aggregation and thrombus formation.

Surgical treatment of giant cell tumor of the cervicothoracic spine with combined anterior and posterior approaches.

Generally, giant cell tumors are rare and their localization in the spine is even more so. They are locally aggressive leading to spine instability and neurologic deficits. Radical excision is highly advocated. A role of radiotherapy in these tumors is controversial. We report the case of a giant cell tumor localized in D1 and D2 on a 39-year-old patient, presented with interscapular back pain, paraparesis grade 3/5 and sphincter dysfunction. Thoracic spine computed tomogarphy and magnetic resonance imaging showed a vertebral body tumor in D1 and D2, compressing the spinal cord at the same level. The patient initially underwent decompressive laminectomy of affected levels and stabilized with laminar hooks and rods. Second surgery performed through an anterior approach whereby tumor excision together with corpectomy of D1 and D2 carried out, autograft was placed and plate applied. Three weeks postoperatively, the patient's neurologic deficit recovered fully and back pain subsided.

[Relationship between lymphatic metastasis in breast and cervix cancers and the level of CD44-H expression evaluated by an immunohistochemical method]. / Relation entre envahissement ganglionnaire dans les cancers du sein et du col utérin et le taux d'expression du CD44-H évaluée par méthode immunohistochimique.

Immunohistochemistry has been used to evaluate the relationship between the rate of CD44-H antigen expression in breast invasive intracanalicuar and cervical epidermoïd carcinomas and the presence of node metastasis. A total of 36 cases of breast carcinoma and 20 cases of cervical carcinoma was examined. For the two types of carcinoma, the CD44-H molecule was highly expressed in cases with node metastasis; with 50% and 75% median value of CD44-H positive tumor cells respectively for the breast (p < 0.02) and for the uterine cervix (p < 0.05) compared to respectively 10% and 37.5% in the cases without node metastasis. The expression of this molecule increases with invasive potential of tumor cells and the use of this antigen for prognostic ends may be possible.

Effects of interleukin-10 on monocyte/endothelial cell adhesion and MMP-9/TIMP-1 secretion.

OBJECTIVE: Monocyte adhesion to endothelial cells and subsequent secretion of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) by activated macrophages are key events in arteriosclerosis and restenosis. We tested the hypothesis that interleukin-10 (IL-10), a potent anti-inflammatory cytokine, inhibits monocyte-endothelial cell interactions. METHODS: The effect of IL-10 on monocyte/endothelial cell adhesion, as well as on the expression of MMP-9 and the tissue inhibitor of MMP-9, TIMP-1, were first tested in vitro in coculture systems. In addition, we used an ex vivo binding assay to study the inhibitory effect of IL-10 on monocyte adhesion to carotid arteries obtained from either normal, or L-nitro arginine-methyl ester (L-NAME)-treated rats. The effect of IL-10 on the expression of monocyte adhesion molecules (CD18 and CD62-L) was studied by flow cytometry. RESULTS: IL-10 (150 ng/ml) inhibits monocyte adhesion to endothelial cells (by 35%) and to carotid arteries (by 40 and 50%, in normal and L-NAME-treated rats, respectively), via direct modulation of the expression of CD18 and CD62-L. Moreover, IL-10 dose-dependently decreases MMP-9 activity and increases TIMP-1 levels in coculture systems, both at the transcriptional level. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that IL-10 is an important modulator of monocyte-endothelial cell interactions.

[Treatment of cystobiliary fistula of hydatid cyst of the liver. Apropos of 33 cases]. / Traitement de la fistule kysto-biliare du kyste hydatique du foie. A propos de 33 cas.

33 hydatid cysts of the liver, opened into the biliary tract were reviewed. The biliary fistula was located in the biliary tract: 16 cases in the right, 14 cases in the left, 1 case in the common bile duct, and 3 cases in the gallbladder. (One case had fistula in the gallbladder and the anterior sectorial canal). Surgical treatment was conservative in 21 cases: bipolar drainage in 10 cases and cysto-biliary disconnection in 11 cases. The treatment was radical in 12 cases: Pericystectomy in 5 cases and liver resection in 7 cases. One postoperative death was observed following bipolar drainage-Postoperative biliary fistula was seen in 8 cases, 7 among them appeared following bipolar drainage. The present results prove the inadequacy of bipolar drainage that should be avoided in large fistula. Better results were observed with radical methods with low morbidity and no mortality. When radical methods are impossible, cystobiliary disconnection seems to allow efficient treatment of cystobiliary fistula with very good immediate and long-term results.

[Hepatic hydatic cysts rupturing into the bile ducts. Treatment by cysto-biliary disconnection]. / Kystes hydatiques du foie ouverts dans les voies biliaires. Traitement par déconnexion kysto-biliaire.

Rupture of hydatid cyst of the liver into the biliary tract is a severe and relatively frequent complication, and its treatment is controversial. Cysto-biliary disconnection provides an anatomical disjunction between the residual cavity and the biliary fistula. The operation consists of draining the main biliary tract, the ectocytic cavity and the fistulous tract, using a multiperforated drain which exists through a transparenchymatous channel. This technique has the advantage of avoiding the postoperative bile discharge and shortening the hospitalization time. It seems to give excellent short- and long-term results.

The oral immune system: dynamics of salivary immunoglobulin production in the inbred mouse.

In the oral cavity, salivary immunoglobulins (Igs) are the principal mediators of specific immunity. Using carbachol to stimulate saliva flow, we investigated, in a kinetic study, individual variations in salivary Ig concentrations in 23 adult BALB/c mice using an enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA). It appeared that salivary Ig concentrations are highly variable in individual mice (IgA: 3-81 micrograms/mL; IgG: 0-2.9 micrograms/mL; IgM: 0.002-0.14 microgram/mL). In individual mice stimulated at different times over a 3 week period there are considerable variations both in salivary Ig concentrations and in their respective ratio. Broad variations were also found in the levels of specific IgA and IgG antibodies to three indigenous oral murine bacteria. Present data thus indicate that among genetically identical mice of the same age and sex, sharing identical diet, there is considerable heterogeneity in salivary Igs. As this heterogeneity was mimicked at the cellular level in major and minor salivary gland-associated B-cells, it appears that antibody dynamics in the oral cavity could reflect the adaptive capacity of the oral immune system to local antigenic challenge.

The cellular basis of salivary immunity in the mouse: incidence and distribution of B cells, T cells and macrophages in single-cell suspensions of the major salivary glands.

A multiparametric analysis of the resident immune populations in the parotid, submandibular and sublingual salivary glands was done in single-cell suspensions. The incidence of T and B cells and of macrophages was assessed using phenotypic markers in immunofluorescent staining and a functional assay was used to enumerate immunoglobulin (Ig)-secreting cells. Characteristic frequencies and isotype distributions of cytoplasmic Ig+ B cells and surface Ig+ B lymphocytes were found in the three types of glands. Even though IgA was always found to be the predominant isotype in individual salivary secretions (90-93%) this was not directly correlated by an absolute predominance of IgA-secreting cells in the glands (45-65%). Significant percentages of T cells (Thy-1+ and Lyt-1+ cells: 3-4%) and macrophages (Mac 1+ and esterase-positive cells: 3-10%) were also recovered in our suspensions. It is therefore concluded that the murine salivary glands contain both effector and regulatory cells required for the development and expression of salivary immunity.