The neurological manifestations of Gaucher disease type 1: the French Observatoire on Gaucher disease (FROG).

BACKGROUND: Gaucher disease (GD), the most prevalent inherited lysosomal storage disorder, is caused by deficient glucocerebrosidase activity. Type 1 GD (GD1), the most common variant, is classically considered non-neuronopathic. METHODS: We performed a national cross-sectional observational survey-the French Observatoire on Gaucher Disease (FROG)-in patients with GD1 between March 2005 and September 2006. The study included all patients over 18 years of age with confirmed GD1 who attended participating centers for regular follow-up. RESULTS: One hundred and five patients were included, in whom we studied the prevalence and characteristics of relevant neurological symptoms associated with the neuraxis. Of these, 51 (49%) GD1 patients presented at least one neurological symptom. Four patients (4%) had Parkinson disease and 22 (21%) presented with at least one parkinsonian sign or at least one sign frequently associated with Parkinson disease. Five patients (5%) had a previous diagnosis of peripheral neuropathy. Other central nervous system symptoms were recorded in 20 (19%) patients and other peripheral nervous system symptoms in 39 (37%) patients. CONCLUSIONS: These data challenge the current classification of GD, and suggest that the three forms of GD each involve a different profile of neurological manifestations.

Local immunostimulation induced by intravesical administration of autologous interferon-gamma-activated macrophages in patients with superficial bladder cancer.

We conducted a phase I/II clinical trial of the safety and efficacy of intravesical administration of autologous IFN-gamma-activated macrophages (MAK) in patients with superficial bladder cancer. Monocyte-derived MAK cells were prepared in vitro and patients received six instillations of 1.4 x 10(8) to 2.5 x 10(8) cells, once a week, for five consecutive weeks. Treatment was well tolerated, with seven grade 1 and five Grade 2 protocol-related adverse effects. Nine out of 17 included patients had no recurrences during the year following the first instillation of MAK. The aim of the present study was to search for immune parameters related to local immunostimulation induced by MAK. Monitoring of the patients showed that urinary IL-8, GM-CSF and, to a lesser extent, IL-18 were increased following MAK instillations, with inter-individual differences. The urinary IL-8 level was about 10-fold higher than that observed for other cytokines, and its biological activity was reflected by a concomitant increase of urinary elastase, indicating neutrophil activation and degranulation. We also showed that nine out of 12 patients investigated presented an increase of urinary neopterin, a marker of IFN-gamma-activated macrophages, 7 days after MAK instillation, while serum neopterin levels were almost stable. These results are in line with persistence of activated macrophages in the bladder wall after infusions. Moreover, there was evidence of macrophages in urine smears 2 months after the sixth MAK instillation, and the score of macrophages correlated with the quantity of neutrophils in the urine. Overall, this study provides evidence of a local immunostimulation induced by this novel and safe immunotherapeutic approach of MAK instillations in patients with superficial bladder cancer.

Comparison of two methods to obtain a desired first isepamicin peak in intensive care patients.

A randomized multicenter study in intensive care unit (ICU) patients, evaluated the capacity of a Bayesian method to obtain an optimal first isepamicin (ISP) peak of 80 mg/L in comparison to a fixed loading dose (LD). Patients (n=236) over 18 years of age were enrolled from 6 September 1997 to 17 July 1999 and randomly assigned to received ISP in a calculated dose (CD) or a loading dose (LD) of 25 mg/kg body weight. The CD was estimated using a specific population model with Bayesian methodology implemented in the PKS program (Abbott PKS, Abbott Diagnostics, Rungis, France). The data required included age, body weight, height, gender and serum creatinine. ISP disposition is described by a one-compartment model. Blood samples were drawn 1 and 24 h after the start of infusion for fluorescence polarization immunoassay measurement of serum ISP concentrations. The predictive performance was assessed by computing bias and precision. Peak concentrations were significantly higher in CD group than the LD group (84.2 +/- 28.6 vs. 74.7 +/- 24.1 mg/L, respectively; P=0.008), but trough levels were comparable. The optimal ISP peak was attained by a significantly higher percentage of CD patients (P=0.018), and by significantly more CD patients on mechanical ventilation (P=0.025), and with simplified acute physiological scores (SAPS) > 35 (P=0.002). Pharmacokinetic parameters were similar for the two groups with large interindividual variations. Mean (+/- SD) volume of distribution of ventilated patients (72%) was significantly higher than of nonventilated patients (23.31 +/- 7.35 vs. 20.60 +/- 6.30 L, respectively; P=0.001). No relationship was found between the volume of distribution and SAPS. Total clearance was significantly correlated with estimated CLCR (creatinine clearance) (P=0.0001). Precision (RMSE) is better for CD than for LD strategy, respectively 27.96 and 28.66 mg/L. The Bayesian method was significantly more accurate and performed particularly well in ventilated patients and patients with high SAPS, compare to an LD of 25 mg/kg to obtain a first ISP peak of 80 mg/L in ICU patients. Therefore, a fixed dose of 28.5 mg/kg would be also adequate to reach a peak of 80 mg/L.