Infragranular gene expression disturbances in the prefrontal cortex in schizophrenia: Signature of altered neural development?

The development of the human neocortex gives rise to a complex cytoarchitecture, grouping together cells with similar structure, connectivity and function. As a result, the six neocortical laminae show distinct molecular content. In schizophrenia, many anatomical and neurochemical changes appear to be restricted to a subset of lamina and/or cell types. In this study, we hypothesized that supragranular (SG; laminae II-III) and infragranular layers (IG; laminae V-VI) of area 46 in the human prefrontal cortex will show distinct and specific transcriptome alterations between subjects with schizophrenia and matched controls. To enhance sample homogeneity, we compared the gene expression patterns of the SG and IG layers of 8 matched middle-aged male subjects with schizophrenia to 8 pairwise matched controls using two replicate DNA microarrays for each sample. The study revealed strong disease-related laminar expression differences between the SG and IG layers. Expression changes were dominated by an overall underexpression of the IG-enriched genes in the schizophrenia subjects compared to normal control subjects. Furthermore, using a diagnosis-blind, unsupervised clustering of the control-derived SG or IG-enriched transcripts, the IG-enriched markers segregated the subjects with schizophrenia from the matched controls with a high degree of confidence. Importantly, multiple members of the semaphorin gene family reported altered gene expression, suggesting that the IG gene expression disturbances in subjects with schizophrenia may be a result of altered cortical development and disrupted brain connectivity.

Glutamine supplementation does not improve protein synthesis rate by the jejunal mucosa of the malnourished rat

It has been demonstrated that glutamine, a conditionally essential amino acid, improves nitrogen balance, acts as a stimulant of protein synthesis, and decreases proteolysis in myopathic children. In contrast, other studies have shown no beneficial effect of glutamine supplementation on burn victims or critically ill patients. Nonetheless, we hypothesized that glutamine supplementation would increase the fractional protein synthesis rate (FSR) in the jejunal mucosa of malnourished male Wistar rats. Thus, the objective of the present study was to test the effect of daily oral glutamine supplementation (0.42 g kg(-1) d(-1) for 14 days) on the FSR of the jejunal mucosa of healthy and malnourished rats. A 4-hour kinetic study with l-[1-(13)C]leucine was subsequently performed, and jejunal biopsies were obtained 1.5 cm from the Treitz angle and analyzed. Malnourished rats showed a 25% weight loss and increased urinary nitrogen excretion. Plasma amino acid concentration did not differ between groups. (13)C enrichment in plasma and jejunal cells was higher in the malnourished groups than in the healthy group. The FSR (percent per hour) was similar for the control and experimental groups (P > .05), with a mean range of 22%/h to 27%/h. Oral glutamine supplementation alone did not induce higher protein incorporation by the jejunal mucosa in malnourished rats, regardless of total food intake or the presence or absence of glutamine supplementation.

The Complement Component 5 Gene and Age-Related Macular Degeneration

To investigate the association between variants in the complement component 5 (C5) gene and age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Cost analysis in total hip arthroplasty: Experience of a Teaching Medical Center located in Paris

SummaryBackgroundSince the beginning of 2008, the implementation of a 100% activity-based payment system, has made efficiency one of the prime concern for the French health-care providing institutions. We therefore assessed the real cost of a scheduled total hip replacement (THR) in a teaching hospital and compared findings with French national data (and with the Government Healthcare Insurance System allowance).HypothesisThe study should suggest possible means to optimize organization of management and/or clinicians’ practice.Material and methodsThis is a retrospective full-cost economic study. Patients were included only if fulfilling the following criteria: admitted in 2006; classified in Diagnosis-Related Group (DRG) 08C23V or 08C23W (respectively THR without and with associated comorbidity); treated in a single department; admitted from home; and having undergone a THR (coded as NEKA020 in the french CPT) that same year. Treatment-cost was established on the basis of data collected from two main sources: the Information Systems Medicalization Program (ISMP) data-base, and the finance department data, which were taken into account in line with the French National Costs Study (NCS) structure.ResultsThe methodology employed here follows the 2006 National Costs Scale structure. Treatment costs (excluding the cost of implantable medical devices or IMDs) were estimated at €8,104.72 for DRG 08C23W and €7,529.19 for DRG 08C23V. These figures were higher than the rates authorized in 2006 (excluding IMDs), which were €7,677.92 for 08C23W and €6,358.97 for 08C23V (taking the 7% geographic coefficient into account) and than the 2005 NCS figures (excluding IMDs) of respectively €7,536.13 and €6,083.59.DiscussionClinical units and departments need to be able to assess costs for the pathologies they treat, as health-care institutions have to balance their expenditure against their income, which largely comes from their hospital-care activity. The methodology put forward here, of cost comparison according to the NCS structure, enables the total cost to be known. Comparing results (expenditure line by expenditure line) against national data, selectively highlights the areas in which efficiency can be improved. The exactitude of the obtained results remains, however, limited by the rules currently in use at each individual hospital's accounting department.Level of evidenceLevel IV, retrospective economic and decision analysis study

Vascular lesions associated with bicruciate and knee dislocation ligamentous injury

The incidence of associated vascular lesions in biligamentous cruciate injuries of the knee ranges from 16 to 64%, with a mean rate of 30%. Treatment of ischemic vascular lesions associated with ligaments injury is well established, comprising emergency arterial vascular repair, most of the times combined to external fixation. In the absence of clinical symptoms of vascular lesion, some authors recommend systematically performing arteriography, while others advocate selectively prescribing this examination in doubtful clinical situations. The present study analyzed data extracted from the prospective series of the 2008 SOFCOT Symposium (dedicated to management of bicruciate knee lesions) and from an analysis of the literature, with emphasis on developing a diagnostic strategy for vascular lesions associated with bicruciate lesions.

Bicruciate ligament lesions and dislocation of the knee: Mechanisms and classification

Knowledge of the mechanisms of bicruciate lesions and dislocation of the knee enables analysis and classification in terms of injuries' location and type, guiding surgery and facilitating assessment. Careful history taking and clinical examination shed light on the mechanism involved, but exact identification of the lesion further requires examination under anesthesia and static and dynamic X-rays and MRI, which together enable precise determination of lesion type and location. There are two types of mechanism: gaping, causing ligament tear; and translation, causing detachment. When a single mechanism is involved, the lesion is said to be "simple". Simple gaping causes bicruciate lesions without medial, lateral or posterior dislocation. Simple translation causes pure anterior or posterior dislocation. Gaping and translation may also occur in combination, causing dislocation with peripheral tearing. There are two types of classification: descriptive, based on X-ray findings--i.e., static classification; and physiopathological, based on clinical and dynamic X-ray findings. MRI further explores ligament detachment and bone lesions that are inaccessible to clinical and conventional X-ray examination. Physiopathological assessment-based techniques enable surgical procedure to be refined, defining the surgical approach according to lesion location and differentiating between lesions requiring repair (tears) and those with a good likelihood of spontaneous healing (capsuloperiosteal detachment). The classification advocated here is largely inspired by that of Neyret and Rongieras, extended to include dislocation with single bicruciate ligament lesion. It covers peripheral lesions completely, specifying type (tear or detachment) and including all bicruciate lesions as well as dislocations.

Dislocation and bicruciate lesions of the knee: Epidemiology and acute stage assessment in a prospective series

Knee dislocation and bicruciate lesions are rare. Assessments of results from retrospective series carry an insufficient level of evidence. A prospective multicenter study was therefore set up, under the auspices of the French Society of Orthopedic Surgery.

A continuous record of fire covering the last 10,500 calendar years from southern Sweden — The role of climate and human activities

4th International Meeting of Anthracology, Brussels, BELGIUM, SEP 08-13, 2008International audienceA high-resolution, continuous 10,500 cal. yrs-long macroscopic charcoal record from a peat and lake sediment deposit at Storasjo, in the hemiboreal vegetation zone of southern Sweden, is presented. This record was compared with the microscopic charcoal record from the same core, and tentatively correlated with the macroscopic and microscopic charcoal records from another site (Stavsakra), situated 30 km West of Storasjo. The charcoal records are also compared with regional climate proxy records with the aim to separate climate from human-induced fire activity. The results suggest that the major signal of both microscopic and macroscopic charcoal records represents local fire history. The best record of local fire history was obtained from the continuous macroscopic charcoal analysis. A tentative correlation of the charcoal records between the sites indicates that most fire episodes of the early and middle Holocene are probably of regional character. Both sites exhibit three major phases of high fire activity 1) 8700-8300 BC, 2) 7250 BC to ca. 4000 BC, and 3) 750 BC to the 19th century. These three phases are separated by periods with lower or very low fire activity. This general trend is in good agreement with the pattern emerging for Europe from the analysis of the recently developed global charcoal database. Fire appears to have been controlled by climate during the early and middle Holocene and by humans during the late Holocene. Warmer and drier climate during the early and middle Holocene caused frequent and intensive fires, which suggests that natural fire activity might increase under predicted future climate scenarios. The results also suggest that fire was an important disturbance factor in the hemiboreal vegetation zone of Sweden and played an important role in the forest dynamics and characteristics of the flora and fauna of the region. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Isolation and sequence analysis of DREB2A homologues in three cereal and two legume species

The transcription factor, DREB2A, is one of the promising candidate genes involved in dehydration tolerance in crop plants. In order to isolate DREB2A homologues across cereals (rice, barley and sorghum) and legumes (common bean and chickpea), specific or degenerate primers were used. Gene/phylogenetic trees were constructed using a non-redundant set of 19 DREB1A and 27 DREB2A amino acid sequences and were combined with taxonomic/species tree to prepare reconciled phylogenetic trees. In total, 86 degenerate primers were designed for different clades and 295 degenerate primer combinations were used to amplify DREB homologues in targeted crop species. Successful amplification of DREB2A was obtained in case of sorghum. In parallel, gene-specific primers were used to amplify DREB2A homologues in rice, barley, common bean and chickpea. Seven to eight diverse genotypes from targeted species were used for sequence analysis at DREB2A locus identified/isolated. A maximum of eight SNPs were found in the common bean DREB2A, indicating two distinct haplotypes, three SNPs with five haplotypes were observed in barley whereas a single SNP was observed in rice, sorghum and chickpea. Parsimony based phylogenetic tree revealed distinct clustering of cereals and legumes. Furthermore, alignment of corresponding amino acid sequences showed conservation of AP2 domain across the targeted species

Hématome du cervelet après chirurgie du rachis