[An experimental study on the systemic distribution of calibrated talc after intra-pleural injection]. / Etude expérimentale de la distribution systémique de talc calibré après injection intrapleurale.

INTRODUCTION: Among the agents used to produce pleural symphysis talc is the most effective and least expensive. However, its use is controversial on account of the description of respiratory complications associated with subsequent systemic spread of the talc particles. This hypothesis rests on clinical and experimental observations of talc particles in the viscera. However, all talc preparations are not identical and this extra-pleural spread could be dependent on particle size. This experimental study was undertaken to determine whether there was systemic spread of a calibrated talc preparation used routinely in clinical practice following intra-pleural administration in rats. METHODS: 48 rats received 20 mg (11 rats) and 40 mg (33 rats) of calibrated talc suspended in 1 ml of physiological saline by intra-pleural injection. The animals were randomised for sacrifice at 24 hours (22 rats) and 72 hours (22 rats) after the injection. The lungs, parietal pleura, diaphragm, liver, spleen, pericardium, brain and blood were examined by light microscopy and polarised light to search for bi-refringent particles. RESULTS: No deaths occurred during the procedure. At the time of sacrifice no pleural symphysis was seen. In 5 animals some talc particles were seen in the extra-thoracic organs: in the liver in 3 in the spleen in 1 and one particle in the brain of one animal examined by electron microscopy. No talc particles were found in the blood. CONCLUSIONS: Intra-pleural injection of calibrated talc, (Steritalc-Novatech-Plan de Grasse-France) has a weak systemic spread in > small animals. These results may be related to the diameter of the talc particles used (mean 33.6 microns; median 31.3 microns). The hypothesis that systemic spread is influenced by the diameter of the talc particles needs to be supported by experimental studies using talc particles of smaller diameter in order to compare the systemic distribution of the different preparations.

[Four years of screening cervical smears of cervical lesions]. / Quatre années de dépistage sur frottis cervical des lésions du col utérin.

Twelve thousand two hundred and eighty nine Pap smears were collected from public hospitals and from private practices during a four year period (January 1987 to December 1990). 4.2% of Pap smears exhibited condylomatous or dysplastic lesions. 94.5% of such lesions were encountered in Pap smears taken from the transformation zone and which contained endocervical cells. Therefore, these smears represent the only adequate sample for cervical cancer screening. In our study, a close concertation between biologists and clinicians results in an improvement of the smear quality. The percentage of those containing endocervical cells increased from 49% in 1987 to 72% in 1990. Then, more cervical lesions were encountered on smears of patients from a low socio-economic level. New techniques such as detection of human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA on routine Pap smears by in situ hybridization would allow to improve the cytological diagnosis of HPV infections, mainly for non specific cytological alterations (11% in our series for 1990) and for cytological aspects of dysplasia only. These results point out how a cervical cancer screening can be better carried out.

Early transient ultrastructural and quantitative changes in nucleolar vacuoles of sympathetic neurons in isolated superior cervical ganglion of the rat.

Nucleolar changes and their time-course following axotomy and decentralization were investigated using an ultrastructural and stereological analysis of sympathetic neurons in superior cervical ganglion. By comparison with ganglia fixed immediately after removal, incubation for 2 h, 3 h and 5 h in NCTC 109 medium at 37 degrees C was found to induce early changes in the nucleolar volume (first a 33% increase, followed by a 43% decrease and a subsequent recovery to control values after 5 h). Moreover, dense material (also called 'microspherules') appeared in nucleolar vacuoles as early as 2 h after the beginning of incubation and was present after 3 h, but disappeared after a 5 h incubation. The dense material may have been either fibrillar component involved in rDNA transcription, or granular component involved in the storage and/or transport of preribosomal particles. Such early, transient and quantitative changes were observed very earlier than in previous studies on the axon reaction.

[Lipid pneumopathy and bronchopulmonary adenocarcinoma. Apropos of a case]. / Pneumopathie lipidique et adénocarcinome broncho-pulmonaire. A propos d'un cas.

The authors report a case of a patient aged 83 who presented with a lipid pneumonia and a primary broncho-pulmonary adenocarcinoma of the left lower lobe. The diagnosis of the lipid pneumonia was confirmed following broncho-alveolar lavage and the autopsy confirms the neoplastic origin of the mass lesion at the left base. The authors report 16 similar cases in the literature between 1943 and 1989.

[Dermatitis from contact with perfume]. / Dermites de contact aux parfums.

Contact dermatitis essentially involves those areas to which perfume is applied. The mixture of perfumes in the standard battery of the L.C.D.R.G. detects 70 to 80% of sensitised cases. The allergens that are most often involved are oak moss, isoeugenol and cinnamic aldehyde. Prevention of dermatitis requires, at individual level, use of non-perfumed cosmetics and at the industrial level, good observance of the international rules of I.F.R.A., aimed at limiting the frequency of occurrence.

[Multicentric bone chloroma disclosed by pleural cytology]. / Un chlorome multicentrique osseux révélé par la cytologie pleurale.

We report a case of granulocytic sarcoma of the bone with pleural involvement diagnosed upon cytologic analysis of the pleural fluid (centrifugation spots stained by May-Grunwald-Giemsa) and confirmed by more complex investigations, i.e., demonstration of granulomonocytic membrane antigens by immunohistochemical monoclonal antibody techniques on frozen sections of the tumor. This case draws attention to the value of cytologic studies in granulocytic sarcomas whose histologic features are suggestive of lymphoma.

Effects of isolation and high helium pressure on the nucleolus of sympathetic neurons in the rat superior cervical ganglion.

In prokaryotes, unicellular eukaryotes and cell-free systems, pressure is known to exert an inhibitory effect on protein synthesis and RNA metabolism, the mechanism(s) of which remain to be investigated in detail. The purpose of the present in vitro study was to compare ultrastructural and quantitative changes of the nucleolus, which is the site of ribosome biogenesis, in sympathetic neurons of rat superior cervical ganglia (SCG) maintained for 2, 3 and 5 h in NCTC 109 medium and subjected to pressure or not. In control SCG (left) the nucleolus greatly increased in volume (+ 33%) 2 h after excision, in comparison with SCG fixed immediately. This overall enlargement was found to reflect a marked increase in all nucleolar components (from 16 to 87%). After 5 h, volumes of nucleolus, fibrillar centers and vacuolar component returned to control values, whereas dense fibrillar and granular components remained affected. Such early and transient changes are regarded as reflecting basic metabolic changes associated with increased nucleolar RNA that should be of primary concern to experiments using SCG transplanted in culture media. Compression under helium up to 180 atmospheric pressure for 1 h of right SCG maintained for 2 h in culture medium, was shown to induce, on the contrary, a marked decrease in nucleolar volume (-39%) and in volumes of all nucleolar components (from -36 to -51%). When they were kept at constant high pressure for 1 and 3 h a progressive recovery of volumes of nucleoli and nucleolar components was observed. Consequently, compression was shown to exert opposite effects to those of isolation of SCG. Present data are interpreted as an inhibitory effect of pressure on ribosome biogenesis. Such observations on a vertebrate neuron might open a new field in the search for cellular mechanisms underlying the effects of pressure on living organisms and especially on the nervous system.

Changes in nucleoli and nucleolar fibrillar centres of chromaffin cells in rat adrenal medulla over a 24-hour period: an ultrastructural and stereological analysis.

A stereological and ultrastructural study was performed on the nucleoli of the adrenal medulla chromaffin cells of rats exposed to a standardized 12 h light/12 h dark cycle with free access to food and water. The animals were killed three at a time, every 4 h during the 24-h span and fixed by intracardiac perfusion. In these reticulated nucleoli, the stereological analysis over a 24-h period showed a variation dependent on the time of killing for the two parameters investigated, the mean nucleolar volume, Vnu, and the mean volume of the fibrillar centres, Vfc(nu). The minimal value occurred at 0300 h (dark span) and the maximal one at 0700 h (at the onset of the light span). Between these two extreme values, Vnu increased 1.8-fold and Vfc(nu) 5.3-fold. These data are compared with a previous description from our laboratory of circadian rhythm in nucleoli of sympathetic neurons of superior cervical ganglion in the same animals. Analogies and differences are pointed out, but apart from these considerations the present study provides a new example of temporal organization at the cellular level in the organelle involved in ribosomal RNA synthesis and ribosome assembly.

Diurnal rhythm of nucleolar volume in sympathetic neurons of the rat superior cervical ganglion.

Rhythmic variations of nucleolar volume in neurons from the superior cervical ganglion were studied in rats under artificial synchronization (light: 0700-1900 h; dark: 1900-0700 h) with free access to food and water. Groups of 3 animals were sacrificed by intracardiac perfusion every four hours during the 24-hour period and every two hours between 22 and 07 h. The mean nucleolar volume (Vnu) was estimated in the SCG neurons of each group by measuring the surface area of 450 semi-thin nucleolar sections using a camera lucida and a semi-quantitative analyzer. Stereological analysis demonstrated that variations in Vnu followed a normal curve distribution according to the time of sacrifice, the maximum Vnu being found during the dark between 00 and 01 h. During the 24-hour period, the Vnu (plus or minus SEM) which was low at 14 to 15 h (6.451 plus or minus 0.540 microns(3)), increased two fold to reach a maximum value (13.443 plus or minus 0.705 microns(3)) at 00 to 01 h and then decreased to its nadir at 14 to 15 h on the following day. The results of this study demonstrate that the more or less pronounced variation in the nucleolar volume of these interphase nuclei is related to a diurnal rhythm.

Effects of various media on tissular and cellular structures of the superior cervical ganglion of the rat.

The superior cervical ganglia of the rat have been incubated in vitro for 1 h in basal medium Eagle (BME) with Hanks' salts, BME with Earle's salts, Kreb's solution and NCTC 109 medium. Comparison of the cell areas, established by a semi-automatic quantitative method, shows that the three former induce a 30--35% neuronal retraction, whereas NCTC 109 has no effect. Thus this latter medium seems the best one for studies using incubation of these cells.

[Occurrence of giant nucleolar fibrillar centers in neurons of rat superior cervical ganglia during dark period: sterological analysis]. / Mise en évidence de centres fibrillaires nucléolaires géants dans les neurones des ganglions cervicaux supérieurs du rat au cours de la période nocturne: analyse stéréologique.

In the rat, fibrillar centers (nucleolar organizers) of neurons in superior cervical ganglia are small during light period whereas quite giant ones are observed during dark period. Stereological analysis demonstrates that mean volume of fibrillar centers which is 11.9 x 10(-2) micron 3 in light period increases up to 159 x 10(-2) micron 3 in dark period. So, the more or less development of fibrillar centers in these interphasic nuclei is a circadian phenomenon.