Is dengue and malaria co-infection more severe than single infections? A retrospective matched-pair study in French Guiana

BACKGROUND: Dengue and malaria are two major arthropod-borne infections in tropical areas, but dual infections were only described for the first time in 2005. Reports of these concomitant infections are scarce and there is no evidence of more severe clinical and biological pictures than single infections. METHODS: To compare co-infections to dengue alone and malaria alone, a retrospective matched-pair study was conducted between 2004 and 2010 among patients admitted in the emergency department of Cayenne hospital, French Guiana. RESULTS: 104 dengue and malaria co-infection cases were identified during the study period and 208 individuals were matched in two comparison groups: dengue alone and malaria alone. In bivariate analysis, co-infection clinical picture was more severe than separated infections, in particular using the severe malaria WHO criteria. In multivariate analysis, independent factors associated with co-infection versus dengue were: masculine gender, CRP level > 50 mg/L, thrombocytopaenia < 50 10(9)/L, and low haematocrit <36% and independent factors significantly associated with co-infections versus malaria were red cells transfusion, low haematocrit < 36%, thrombocytopaenia < 50 10(9)/L and low Plasmodium parasitic load < 0.001%. CONCLUSIONS: In the present study, dengue and malaria co-infection clinical picture seems to be more severe than single infections in French Guiana, with a greater risk of deep thrombocytopaenia and anaemia

The influence of P-glycoprotein expression and its inhibitors on the distribution of doxorubicin in breast tumors

Abstract Background Anti-cancer drugs access solid tumors via blood vessels, and must penetrate tumor tissue to reach all cancer cells. Previous studies have demonstrated steep gradients of decreasing doxorubicin fluorescence with increasing distance from blood vessels, such that many tumor cells are not exposed to drug. Studies using multilayered cell cultures show that increased P-glycoprotein (PgP) is associated with better penetration of doxorubicin, while PgP inhibitors decrease drug penetration in tumor tissue. Here we evaluate the effect of PgP expression on doxorubicin distribution in vivo. Methods Mice bearing tumor sublines with either high or low expression of PgP were treated with doxorubicin, with or without pre-treatment with the PgP inhibitors verapamil or PSC 833. The distribution of doxorubicin in relation to tumor blood vessels was quantified using immunofluorescence. Results Our results indicate greater uptake of doxorubicin by cells near blood vessels in wild type as compared to PgP-overexpressing tumors, and pre-treatment with verapamil or PSC 833 increased uptake in PgP-overexpressing tumors. However, there were steeper gradients of decreasing doxorubicin fluorescence in wild-type tumors compared to PgP overexpressing tumors, and treatment of PgP overexpressing tumors with PgP inhibitors led to steeper gradients and greater heterogeneity in the distribution of doxorubicin. Conclusion PgP inhibitors increase uptake of doxorubicin in cells close to blood vessels, have little effect on drug uptake into cells at intermediate distances, and might have a paradoxical effect to decrease doxorubicin uptake into distal cells. This effect probably contributes to the limited success of PgP inhibitors in clinical trials

MicroRNA-31 Regulates Chemosensitivity in Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma

YesMalignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is associated with an extremely poor prognosis, and most patients initially are or rapidly become unresponsive to platinum-based chemotherapy. MicroRNA-31 (miR-31) is encoded on a genomic fragile site, 9p21.3, which is reportedly lost in many MPM tumors. Based on previous findings in a variety of other cancers, we hypothesized that miR-31 alters chemosensitivity and that miR-31 reconstitution may influence sensitivity to chemotherapeutics in MPM. Reintroduction of miR-31 into miR-31 null NCI-H2452 cells significantly enhanced clonogenic resistance to cisplatin and carboplatin. Although miR-31 re-expression increased chemoresistance, paradoxically, a higher relative intracellular accumulation of platinum was detected. This was coupled to a significantly decreased intranuclear concentration of platinum. Linked with a downregulation of OCT1, a bipotential transcriptional regulator with multiple miR-31 target binding sites, we subsequently identified an indirect miR-31-mediated upregulation of ABCB9, a transporter associated with drug accumulation in lysosomes, and increased uptake of platinum to lysosomes. However, when overexpressed directly, ABCB9 promoted cellular chemosensitivity, suggesting that miR-31 promotes chemoresistance largely via an ABCB9-independent mechanism. Overall, our data suggest that miR-31 loss from MPM tumors promotes chemosensitivity and may be prognostically beneficial in the context of therapeutic sensitivity

Élaboration de nanofils magnétiques de cobalt-nickel par voie polyol : mise à l'échelle du procédé et consolidation par le procédé frittage flash SPS

The main objective of this PhD work is to produce nanostructured bulk from anisotropic nanomaterials alloysbased on 3d transition elements (Co and Ni). For using these nanomaterials on an industrial scale, we haveextrapolated the synthesis method (polyol process) from laboratory scale to pilot scale. First, we showed that byvarying the parameters synthesis in laboratory scale we can control not only the morphology but also the size andthe size distribution of the nanoparticles. Indeed, spheres with diameter of 10 nm and nanowires with meanlength of 260 nm and a diameter of 7 nm were obtained for a stoichiometry Co80Ni20. The key parameters of thissynthesis are the concentration of the sodium hydroxide, the nucleation rate, the agitation and the appliedexternal magnetic field. The choice of suitable mixing system for a given geometry of the reactor also has animportant role for the control of the size and shape of the nanowires. When a six-bladed Rushton turbine wasused, shorter nanowires with unconventional small conical-shaped heads and a higher coercive field wereobtained, confirming a strong relationship between flow patterns and nanowire growth. Moreover, numericalresolution of Navier-Stocks equations that govern the transport of matter and quantity of movement in anagitated fluid allowed us to obtain a correlation between turbulent energy dissipation profiles and nanoparticlesize measured experimentally. Magnetic studies revealed a narrow relationship between the magnetic propertiesand the shape of nano-objects. The large-scale synthesis has produced 25 grams of cobalt-nickel nanowires perbatch. Thanks to the SPS sintering process, we have successfully elaborated nanostructured bulk materials.Whereas nanofils show high coercive field and low saturation magnetization, dense materials produced at hightemperatures behave as soft ferromagnetic materials (low coercivity) but show high saturation magnetizationvery close to that expected. The best coercivities are obtained with the bulk nanostructured material using SPSassisted by a permanent magnetic field. This magnetic field succeeded to align the nanowires during sintering.The mechanical behavior of the nanostructured materials depends mainly on the grain size. Hardness andmechanical resistance increase when the grain size decreases in agreement with the Hall-Petch relationship.L’objectif principal de ce travail est de produire des pièces massives nanostructurées à partir des nanomatériauxd’alliages anisotropes à base des éléments de transition 3d (Co et Ni). Afin d’utiliser ces nanomatériaux àl’échelle industrielle, nous avons extrapolé la méthode de synthèse de l’échelle du laboratoire (procédé polyol) àl’échelle pilote. Tout d’abord, nous avons montré qu’en variant les paramètres de synthèse à l’échelle delaboratoire, nous pouvons contrôler non seulement la morphologie mais aussi la taille et la distribution de tailledes nanoparticules. En effet, des sphères de diamètre 10 nm et des nanofils de longueur 260 nm et de diamètre 7nm ont été obtenus pour la stoechiométrie Co80Ni20. Les paramètres clés de cette étude sont la concentration dela soude, le taux de l'agent nucléant, la vitesse d’agitation et le champ magnétique externe appliqué. Le choix dusystème de mélange approprié pour une géométrie du réacteur donnée a également un rôle important dans lecontrôle et la maîtrise de la taille et la forme des nanofils. Avec une turbine Rushton à six pâles droites, nousavons obtenu des nanofils plus courts avec de plus petites têtes coniques et une forte coercitivité. Par ailleurs, larésolution numérique des équations de Navier-Stocks qui gouvernent le transport de matière et de la quantité demouvement dans un fluide agité a permis d’obtenir une corrélation entre les profils d’énergie turbulente dissipéeet la taille des nanoparticules mesurée expérimentalement. Les études magnétiques montrent que les propriétésmagnétiques des nanofils sont intimement liées à leur forme et à leur taille. La synthèse à grande échelle apermis de produire 25 grammes de nanofils de cobalt-nickel par batch. Grâce au procédé de frittage SPS, nousavons élaboré avec succès des matériaux massifs nanostructurés à partir de la poudre formée des nanofils. Alorsque les nanofils présentent des champs coercitifs élevés et des aimantations relativement faibles, les matériauxdenses consolidés par SPS possèdent les caractéristiques d’un ferromagnétisme doux (faible champ coercitif)mais une aimantation à saturation élevée proche de celle attendue. Des champs coercitifs meilleurs sont obtenusavec le matériau dense nanostructuré élaboré en présence d’un champ magnétique permanent. Ce champmagnétique a permis un meilleur alignement des nanofils au cours du frittage. Le comportement mécanique desmatériaux nanostructurés dépend essentiellement de la taille des grains. La dureté et la résistance mécaniqueaugmentent quand la taille des grains diminue conformément à la relation de Hall-Petch

Une methode de validation en regression, le Jackknife : theorie et pratique

SIGLECNRS T Bordereau / INIST-CNRS - Institut de l'Information Scientifique et TechniqueFRFranc