Prevalence of sarcopenia in the French senior population

Introduction A muscle mass normalized for height2 (MMI) or for body weight (SMI) below 2SD under the mean for a young population defines sarcopenia. This study aimed at setting the cutoffs and the prevalence of sarcopenia in the French elderly population. Another objective was to compare the results obtained with SMI and MMI.Methods: Muscle mass was assessed by bioelectrical impedance analysis in 782 healthy adults (<40 years) to determine skeletal mass index (SMI, muscle mass*100/weight) and muscle mass index (MMI, muscle mass/height2). Prevalence was estimated in 888 middle aged (40–59 years) and 218 seniors (60–78 years). All were healthy people.Results: For women mean-2SD were 6.2 kg/m2 (MMI) and 26.6% (SMI); for men limits were 8.6 kg/m2 (MMI) and 34.4% (SMI). In middle aged persons a small number of them were identified as sarcopenic. In healthy seniors, 2.8% of women and 3.6% of men were sarcopenic (MMI). The prevalence was 23.6% in women and 12.5% in men with SMI. MMI and SMI identified different sarcopenic populations, leaner subjects for MMI while fatter subjects for SMI.Conclusion: Cutoff values for the French population were defined. Prevalence of sarcopenia was different from that in the US population

Pediatric Measles Vaccine Expressing a Dengue Antigen Induces Durable Serotype-specific Neutralizing Antibodies to Dengue Virus

Dengue disease is an increasing global health problem that threatens one-third of the world's population. Despite decades of efforts, no licensed vaccine against dengue is available. With the aim to develop an affordable vaccine that could be used in young populations living in tropical areas, we evaluated a new strategy based on the expression of a minimal dengue antigen by a vector derived from pediatric live-attenuated Schwarz measles vaccine (MV). As a proof-of-concept, we inserted into the MV vector a sequence encoding a minimal combined dengue antigen composed of the envelope domain III (EDIII) fused to the ectodomain of the membrane protein (ectoM) from DV serotype-1. Immunization of mice susceptible to MV resulted in a long-term production of DV1 serotype-specific neutralizing antibodies. The presence of ectoM was critical to the immunogenicity of inserted EDIII. The adjuvant capacity of ectoM correlated with its ability to promote the maturation of dendritic cells and the secretion of proinflammatory and antiviral cytokines and chemokines involved in adaptive immunity. The protective efficacy of this vaccine should be studied in non-human primates. A combined measles–dengue vaccine might provide a one-shot approach to immunize children against both diseases where they co-exist

Reconstitution of a High-Affinity Functional Lutropin Receptor by Coexpression of Its Extracellular and Membrane Domains

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LH receptor RNA and protein levels after hormonal treatment of porcine granulosa cells in primary culture

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Differential expression and functional characterization of luteinizing hormone receptor splice variants in human luteal cells : Implications for luteolysis

The human LH receptor (LHR) plays a key role in luteal function and the establishment of pregnancy through its interaction with the gonadotropins LH and human chorionic gonadotropin. We previously identified four splice variants of the LHR in human luteinized granulosa cells (LGCs) and corpora lutea (CL). Real-time quantitative PCR revealed that expression of the full-length LHR (LHRa) and the most truncated form (LHRd) changed significantly in CL harvested at different stages of the ovarian cycle (P < 0.01, ANOVA). LHRa expression was reduced in the late luteal CL (P<0.05). Conversely, an increase in LHRd expression was observed in the late luteal CL (P<0.01). Chronic manipulation of human chorionic gonadotropin in LGC primary cultures supported the in vivo findings. LHRd encodes a protein lacking the transmembrane and carboxyl terminal domains. COS-7 cells expressing LHRd were unable to produce cAMP in response to LH stimulation. COS-7 cells coexpressing LHRd and LHRa also failed to generate cAMP in response to LH, suggesting that this truncated form has a negative effect on the signaling of LHRa. Immunofluorescence staining ofLGC and COS-7 cells implied that there is a reduction in cell surface expression ofLHRa when LHRd is present. Overall, these results imply expression of LHR splice variants is regulated in the human CL. Furthermore, during functional luteolysis a truncated variant could modulate the cell surface expression and activity of full-length LHR.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Plantes envahissantes pour les milieux naturels de Nouvelle-Calédonie

Menaces pour la biodiversité, contraintes pour les agriculteurs et les activités humaines, les plantes envahissantes constituent un problème de plus en plus évoqué à travers le monde. Partant de ce constat, l'APICAN (Agence pour la Prévention et l'Indemnisation des Calamités Agricoles ou Naturelles) et ses partenaires ont soutenu l'élaboration de ce guide dans le but de faire connaitre, du plus grand nombre, les problématiques liées aux plantes envahissantes, les moyens de les identifier et les techniques à mettre en oeuvre pour les contrôler. Il s'adresse aux services techniques des communes et des réserves naturelles terrestres, aux exploitants agricoles, aux professionnels des espaces verts mais aussi aux citoyens sensibilisés à la protection de l'environnement. Ce guide décrit 81 espèces végétales envahissantes principales des milieux naturels de Nouvelle-Calédonie (Grande Terre et îles Loyauté). Le texte donne la description, la biologie, la répartition et les moyens de contrôler chaque espèce. Des photographies accompagnent chaque fiche pour faciliter l'identification des plantes