Ethane-beta-Sultam Modifies the Activation of the Innate Immune System Induced by Intermittent Ethanol Administration in Female Adolescent Rats

Intermittent ethanol abuse or ‘binge drinking’ during adolescence induces neuronal damage, which may be associated with cognitive dysfunction. To investigate the neurochemical processes involved, rats were administered either 1 g/kg or 2 g/kg ethanol in a ‘binge drinking’ regime. After only 3 weeks, significant activation of phagocytic cells in the peripheral (alveolar macrophages) and the hippocampal brain region (microglia cells) was present,as exemplified by increases in the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines in the macrophages and of iNOS in the microglia. This was associated with neuronal loss in the hippocampus CA1 region. Daily supplementation with a taurine prodrug, ethane-β-sultam, 0.028 g/kg, during the intermittent ethanol loading regime, supressed the release of the pro-inflammatory cytokines and of reactive nitrogen species, as well as neuronal loss, particularly in the rats administered the lower dose of ethanol, 1 g/kg. Plasma, macrophage and hippocampal taurine levels increased marginally after ethane-β-sultam supplementation. The ‘binge drinking’ ethanol rats administered 1 g/kg ethanol showed increased latencies to those of the control rats in their acquisition of spacial navigation in the Morris Water Maze, which was normalised to that of the controls values after ethane-β-sultam administration. Such results confirm that the administration of ethane-β-sultam to binge drinking rats reduces neuroinflammation in both the periphery and the brain, suppresses neuronal loss, and improved working memory of rats in a water maze study

Revascularisation versus medical treatment in patients with stable coronary artery disease: network meta-analysis.

peer reviewedOBJECTIVE: To investigate whether revascularisation improves prognosis compared with medical treatment among patients with stable coronary artery disease. DESIGN: Bayesian network meta-analyses to combine direct within trial comparisons between treatments with indirect evidence from other trials while maintaining randomisation. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR SELECTING STUDIES: A strategy of initial medical treatment compared with revascularisation by coronary artery bypass grafting or Food and Drug Administration approved techniques for percutaneous revascularization: balloon angioplasty, bare metal stent, early generation paclitaxel eluting stent, sirolimus eluting stent, and zotarolimus eluting (Endeavor) stent, and new generation everolimus eluting stent, and zotarolimus eluting (Resolute) stent among patients with stable coronary artery disease. DATA SOURCES: Medline and Embase from 1980 to 2013 for randomised trials comparing medical treatment with revascularisation. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: All cause mortality. RESULTS: 100 trials in 93,553 patients with 262,090 patient years of follow-up were included. Coronary artery bypass grafting was associated with a survival benefit (rate ratio 0.80, 95% credibility interval 0.70 to 0.91) compared with medical treatment. New generation drug eluting stents (everolimus: 0.75, 0.59 to 0.96; zotarolimus (Resolute): 0.65, 0.42 to 1.00) but not balloon angioplasty (0.85, 0.68 to 1.04), bare metal stents (0.92, 0.79 to 1.05), or early generation drug eluting stents (paclitaxel: 0.92, 0.75 to 1.12; sirolimus: 0.91, 0.75 to 1.10; zotarolimus (Endeavor): 0.88, 0.69 to 1.10) were associated with improved survival compared with medical treatment. Coronary artery bypass grafting reduced the risk of myocardial infarction compared with medical treatment (0.79, 0.63 to 0.99), and everolimus eluting stents showed a trend towards a reduced risk of myocardial infarction (0.75, 0.55 to 1.01). The risk of subsequent revascularisation was noticeably reduced by coronary artery bypass grafting (0.16, 0.13 to 0.20) followed by new generation drug eluting stents (zotarolimus (Resolute): 0.26, 0.17 to 0.40; everolimus: 0.27, 0.21 to 0.35), early generation drug eluting stents (zotarolimus (Endeavor): 0.37, 0.28 to 0.50; sirolimus: 0.29, 0.24 to 0.36; paclitaxel: 0.44, 0.35 to 0.54), and bare metal stents (0.69, 0.59 to 0.81) compared with medical treatment. CONCLUSION: Among patients with stable coronary artery disease, coronary artery bypass grafting reduces the risk of death, myocardial infarction, and subsequent revascularisation compared with medical treatment. All stent based coronary revascularisation technologies reduce the need for revascularisation to a variable degree. Our results provide evidence for improved survival with new generation drug eluting stents but no other percutaneous revascularisation technology compared with medical treatment

DC-ATLAS: a systems biology resource to dissect receptor specific signal transduction in dendritic cells

BACKGROUND: The advent of Systems Biology has been accompanied by the blooming of pathway databases. Currently pathways are defined generically with respect to the organ or cell type where a reaction takes place. The cell type specificity of the reactions is the foundation of immunological research, and capturing this specificity is of paramount importance when using pathway-based analyses to decipher complex immunological datasets. Here, we present DC-ATLAS, a novel and versatile resource for the interpretation of high-throughput data generated perturbing the signaling network of dendritic cells (DCs). RESULTS: Pathways are annotated using a novel data model, the Biological Connection Markup Language (BCML), a SBGN-compliant data format developed to store the large amount of information collected. The application of DC-ATLAS to pathway-based analysis of the transcriptional program of DCs stimulated with agonists of the toll-like receptor family allows an integrated description of the flow of information from the cellular sensors to the functional outcome, capturing the temporal series of activation events by grouping sets of reactions that occur at different time points in well-defined functional modules. CONCLUSIONS: The initiative significantly improves our understanding of DC biology and regulatory networks. Developing a systems biology approach for immune system holds the promise of translating knowledge on the immune system into more successful immunotherapy strategies

An asymmetry detected in the disk of Kappa CMa with the AMBER/VLTI

International audienceAims. We study the geometry and kinematics of the circumstellar environment of the Be star Kappa CMa in the Br gamma emission line and its nearby continuum. Methods. We use the VLTI/AMBER instrument operating in the K band which provides a spatial resolution of about 6 mas with a spectral resolution of 1500 to study the kinematics within the disk and to infer its rotation law. In order to obtain more kinematical constraints we also use an high spectral resolution Pa beta line profile obtain in December 2005 at the Observatorio do Pico do Dios, Brazil and we compile V/R line profile variations and spectral energy distribution data points from the literature. Results. Using differential visibilities and differential phases across the Br gamma line we detect an asymmetry in the disk. Moreover, we found that kappa CMa seems difficult to fit within the classical scenario for Be stars, illustrated recently by alpha Arae observations, i.e. a fast rotating B star close to its breakup velocity surrounded by a Keplerian circumstellar disk with an enhanced polar wind. Finally we discuss the possibility for kappa CMa to be a critical rotator with a Keplerian rotating disk and try to see if the detected asymmetry can be interpreted within the "one-armed" viscous disk framework

L'option spiruline reconnue ?

Article publié dans des revues sans comité de lecture : dans "l'Encre de mer" vol. 3

Se nourrir autrement : des solutions pour l'avenir ? Cap sur le Lac Ticaca

Article dans des revues sans comité de lecture : dans "Mer et Littoral Lacs et cours d'eau" vol.7

LE FLEXITARISME : ENTRE CARNIVORES SOCIAUX ET PRATIQUANTS DECOMPLEXES

International audienceLe flexitarisme est un omnivore à tendance semi-végétarienne. « Ce néologisme est utilisé pour décrire une éco-pratique alimentaire singulière et un régime écologique, bon pour la santé » 1. Ce terme désigne également un processus évolutif mais régulier de régime alimentaire d'un individu, et ce selon les circonstances. Certaines comme le cas de notre étude, nous ont semblé pertinentes. Les individus qui pratiquent le flexitarisme sont nommés flexitariens « celui-ci ne peut-être considéré comme un végétarien, qui lui ne consomme pas de produits carnés. Mais il représente un nouveau type de consommateur qui choisit ce qu'il mange » 2. « Car pour eux, chaque fois les mêmes constatations positives reviennent sur le plan sanitaire des populations ayant adaptée ce mode de consommation » 3. C'est pourquoi, nous avons entrepris d'étudier un terrain prédestiné à essaimer le flexitarisme: les agriculteurs bio, les producteurs de spiruline (aliment flexi 4 par excellence) et les naturopathes. En s'orientant vers ces éco-métiers certaines personnes ne recherchent pas uniquement une activité exemplaire, mais une vraie réflexion sur leur alimentation. Nous allons tenter de démontrer que ces individus au travers de leur métier et par leurs représentations, sont bien le terreau d'un véritable changement de leurs habitudes les guidant entre autres au flexitarisme. L'aliment au travers de l'alimentation a souvent été étudié du point de vue du consommateur, en accentuant sa haute charge affective 5 ou symbolique 6. L'alimentation et la qualité des aliments nous imprègne par les représentations qu'ils véhiculent, ils permettent d'actualiser des souvenirs, des valeurs surtout quand celui-ci est d'origine animale : « l'exemple du boeuf en Chine, un interdit qui implique encore aujourd'hui un processus social, éthique et religieux en agriculture même après un siècle de révolution » 7. 1 BITTMAN M., Définition : un flexitarien peut manger végétarien ou végétalien chez lui, mais manger des plats incluant de la viande lors d'occasions particulières comme aller au restaurant, lors de repas en famille ou chez des amis. Un flexitarien est donc, par définition, un omnivore. Ils s'imposent donc des contraintes alimentaires, plus souples que celles des végétariens, et ce pour différentes raisons comme des problèmes de santé, le souhait d'un traitement plus juste des animaux, ou des préoccupations environnementales, ou combiner toutes ces raisons. E