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Objective – Home hygiene is very important in order to prevent transmission of community-acquired infections. We had for aim to determine the habits and knowledge of French women on this issue.Methods – A phone-call survey (CSA-TMO group) was performed, from November 22 to 28, 2000, among 500 women, 18 years of age or more. The women were selected according to usual poll techniques (quotas according to age, social condition, housing, region), and their answers overweighed for mothers with infants.Results – Spontaneously, the word “hygiene” called to mind cleanness (46%), house keeping (20%), but food hygiene or body hygiene was mentioned by only 3% of women. The three most spontaneously mentioned places at home, as requiring strict hygiene, were the kitchen (83%), bathroom (78%), and restroom (67%). The refrigerator was spontaneously mentioned by only 4% of surveyed women, but was rated as 9–10, on the risk scale, by 82% of the same women. The three factors perceived by over 30% of women as facilitating bacterial growth were humidity, lack of hygiene, and dust. The bad conservation of food was mentioned by only 8% of women, at the same rank as the presence of pets. The words Listeria (or listeriosis), Salmonella (or salmonellosis), Staphylococcus were in the mind of only 22%, 18%, and 13% of women.Comments – Home hygiene is more and more frequently mentioned in medias, during epidemics. But the general population''s knowledge is still low and requires information and education. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Sleeping enough is associated with a reduced risk of mortality and dementia. New evidence support regular physical exercise, including at home, as a corner stone intervention to prevent falls and fractures. In contrast, supplementation with high doses of vitamin D is ineffective and even deleterious in this indication and a routine screening in asymptomatic adults is not recommended. Several studies illustrate our difficulties in prescribing and deprescribing in frail older patients and a study suggests that statins in cardiovascular primary prevention should considered only when a patient's life expectancy exceeds 2.5 years. Finally, several studies have fueled the debate about screening for hearing impairment., Competing Interests: Les auteurs n’ont déclaré aucun conflit d’intérêts en relation avec cet article.

Several studies published in 2020 showed new data supporting the prescription of statins in some old and very old patients. Despite the enthusiasm about SGLT-2 inhibitors, caution must remain in frail and dependent older diabetic patients who are not well represented in most studies. Antihypertensive treatment appears more beneficial when taken at night rather than in the morning but beware of the prescribing cascade of a diuretic when a new prescription of a calcium channel blocker. Biomarkers, including plasmatic biomarkers, are becoming increasingly important in the diagnostic strategy of neurocognitive disorders. Finally, fall prevention studies showed heterogeneous results but multimodal interventions remain mainstream., Competing Interests: Les auteurs n’ont déclaré aucun conflit d’intérêts en relation avec cet article.

Most patients hospitalized for COVID-19 are aged over 70 years old, and half of those who die are over 83 years old. Older patients do not always present with typical symptoms (fever, cough and dyspnoea) but sometimes are and remain asymptomatic (contact screening), or have aspecific presentations (altered general condition, falls, delirium, unusual fatigue). Rectal swab, which minimizes exposition risk, appears useful in long-term care patients with diarrhea. Older age is associated with worse prognosis, but the analysis should be refined by means of prognostic indexes that account for the heterogeneous health, functional, and cognitive status of the elderly population. Gathering elderly patients' wishes and assessing their remaining life expectancy allows to anticipate care decisions according to the level of tension in the health system.

Up-dated recommendations published in 2019 about inappropriate medications in older persons and management for type 2 diabetes mellitus are discussed. New evidence has also been published regarding the benefits of physical activity in secondary prevention for falls as well as in the prevention of cognitive decline and dementia, independent of genetic and vascular risk profile. SPRINT MIND study reports a significant 19 % decreased risk of minor neurocognitive impairment with intensive BP treatment. A meta-analysis about prevention of delirium with antipsychotics report benefits only in cardiac and orthopedic post-operative settings, whereas another meta-analysis about delirium treatment did not find any benefits from antipsychotics., Competing Interests: Les auteurs n’ont déclaré aucun conflit d’intérêts en relation avec cet article.

Used as powerful chemical probes in Life science fundamental research, the application potential of new bioactive molecular entities includes but extends beyond their development as therapeutic drugs in pharmacology. In this review, we wish to point out the methodology of chemical libraries screening on living cells or purified proteins at the CMBA academic platform of Grenoble Alpes University, and strategies employed to further characterize the selected bioactive molecules by phenotypic profiling on human cells. Multiple application fields are concerned by the screening activity developed at CMBA with bioactive molecules previously selected for their potential as tools for fundamental research purpose, therapeutic candidates to treat cancer or infection, or promising compounds for production of bioenergy., (© 2015 médecine/sciences – Inserm.)

Protein-protein interactions have a key role in transduction pathways that regulate many cellular functions. Structural and functional properties of protein-protein interface are now better understood, therefore offering attractive opportunities for therapeutic intervention. Developping small molecules that modulate protein-protein interactions is challenging. Nethertheless, significant progress in this endeavour has been made on several fronts. Here, we use few illustrative examples to summarize recent work in this emerging field.

Protein kinase CK2 (formerly known as casein kinase 2) was among the first protein kinases to be identified and characterized. Surprisingly, in spite of intense efforts, the regulation and cellular functions of CK2 remain obscure. However, recent data on its molecular structure, its signal-mediated intracellular dynamic localization and its unexpected function in cell survival have raised new interest in this enzyme. These studies reveal unique features of CK2 and highlight its importance in the transduction of survival signals.

Protein kinase CK2 appears to interact with different signaling pathways and therefore represents the prototype of a multifunctional protein kinase. The enzyme is highly expressed in most cancers and this higher expression has been tentatively correlated with the involvement of CK2 in the promotion of specific phases of the cell cycle. This review summarizes our current knowledge on how CK2 may also contribute to tumorigenesis through its direct interaction with the cell-survival circuitry.

The protein kinase CK2 is an ubiquitous serine-threonine kinase found in all eukaryotic cells. Although well characterized on a biochemical ground, its role and regulation in the intact cell are not clearly understood. Its possible implication in the control of cell proliferation has been examined by several different approaches. (i) Immunocytochemical detection of CK2 revealed that whereas the signal was evenly distributed throughout cycle arrested cells in primary culture, it accumulates rapidly (30-90 min) in the nuclear compartment in cells stimulated to grow. (ii) CK2 biosynthesis is activated as an early response to growth factors in quiescent cells. The neo-synthesized kinase accumulates as the cells progress through the G1 phase. This growth factor-activated biosynthesis concerns in parallel the two kinase subunits. (iii) The kinase is activated in vitro by polyamines, which are increased in cells challenged by growth factors. Spermine binds to a specific domain of the beta subunit of CK2. (iv) In addition to phosphorylation CK2 forms a molecular complex with p53, a major negative regulator of the cell cycle. The complex was demonstrated in intact cells and reconstituted in vitro (Kd 70 nM) with purified components and shown to require the beta subunit and to result in the inhibition of p53 DNA-annealing activity. These observations suggest that CK2 and p53 may play a coordinated role in the cell response to mitogenic stimuli.

Treatment of thyroid differentiated carcinoma is controversial. In case of papillary microcarcinoma a low malignancy is usually considered and a limited surgical excision is currently used. We describe 49 cases with papillary tumor < 1 cm. Their high frequency (51% of all differentiated carcinoma discovered in the same period), current mode of their diagnosis (incidental histological findings: N = 48), and constant tumoral situation in extra nodular parenchyma are emphasised. In spite of median tumor size < 2 mm, 8% had extra thyroidal tumoral extent at diagnosis (node metastasis: N = 3; bone: N = 1). In one case with multifocal lesions in both lobes, an unilateral thyroidectomy would have missed contralateral periglandular metastatic nodes. Diagnosis of the case with asymptomatic bone metastasis was clearly attributable to radioiodine therapeutic use. These results suggest an heterogeneous prognosis of papillary microcarcinoma, with some cases requiring total bilateral thyroidectomy and radioiodine remnants ablation (e.g. Tumors invading peripheral thyroid tissue that seem at higher risk of extra glandular extension).

A decreased bone mineral density is a well known complication of thyrotoxicosis. If bone is also adversely affected by a subclinical hyperthyroidism is still debated. Such a situation is deliberately induced for treatment of thyroid differentiated carcinoma. We compared bone mineral measurements in case of thyroid carcinoma exposed to prolonged suppressive hormonal treatment (288 patient year, LT3 in 87%) and in age and weight matched controls. We did not find any difference in both sexes between the two populations in term of fracture rate and vertebral mineral density measured by dual photon absorptiometry, nor any influence of gonadal status in women.

Transforming growth factor beta (TGF beta) is a multifunctional polypeptide presenting various biological activities depending on the cellular context where it is studied. In the adrenal cortex, TGF beta is a potent inhibitor of corticosteroïdogenesis. The sum of data that we have collected in the past years has allowed us to establish that TGF beta (in particular TGF beta 1) is implicated in a physiological autocrine/paracrine regulatory loop. We determined that primary cultures of bovine fasciculatareticularis cells synthesize and secrete about 5 ng/24 h x 10(6) cells of TGF beta but that most of this activity is under a latent form. In the adrenal gland, TFG beta 1 could be localized in the fasciculata-reticularis zone by immunohistochemistry. We also reported that adrenocortical cells possess type I and type III (betaglycan) receptors, whose number is positively regulated by ACTH. Moreover, we have identified 3 major targets of TGF beta in our cell model: cytochrome P-450(17) alpha (17 alpha-hydroxylase) whose gene expression is decreased, angiotensin II receptors and LDL receptors whose number is reduced after TGF beta treatment. As a conclusion, TGF beta appears to participate together with other regulatory peptides (IGF-1, TNF alpha) in the fine tuning of corticosteroid secretion levels which are under the major control of the hypothalamo-pituitary axis.

Missing limb pain remains a preoccupying and worrisome problem for amputees. Approximately one-third of amputees experience missing limb pain. Although it often abates with time, this pain disables the patient in the first few months following amputation. We carried out a therapeutic trial of oral tablets of tiapride, which was given to twenty patients in three daily doses of 50 to 100 mg each. Tiapride was the sole medication in most instances. Analgesia appeared after an interval of 24 hours to 15 days. Clinical tolerance was excellent. Efficiency in terms of resolution of pain is observed in most cases.

Ten independant cellular hybrids were obtained from Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) fibroblasts and the murine cell line C11D. The comparison of electrophoretic and cytogenetic studies showed that 9 markers with known localizations in Man could also be localized on the homologous chromosomes of the Chimpanzee: pyrophosphate hydratase (PPH), phosphoglucomutase-1 (PGM1), and peptidase-C (Pep-C) on the No. 1; malate dehydrogenase MDH(NAD) on the No. 2; lactico dehydrogenase-A (LDH-A) on the No. 11; lactico dehydrogenase-B (LDH-B) on the No. 12; thymidine kinase (TK) on the No. 17; superoxide dismutase-1 (SOD-1) on the No. 21; glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) on the X. The localization of mannose phosphate isomerase (MPI) on the No. 7 could be excluded. One discrepancy between Chimpanzee and Man was noted: the localization of superoxide dismutase-2 (SOD-2) on the 6 is excluded.

Evidence is presented demonstrating the presence of a high affinity (Ka10(8)M-1), limited capacity (3-4 pmoles/mg protein) estradiol binder in the soluble fraction of the Bovine, Rat and Human adrenal cortex. The binding appears specific to the estrogen structure whereas C19 and C21 steroids do not bind. Upon sucrose density gradient centrifugation, the estradiol binder sedimented at 9 S at low ionic strength and was shifted to 4.5 S in the presence of 0.5 M KCl. This demonstration of a receptor-like moiety for estradiol in the adrenal cortex lends biochemical support to previous observations suggesting that adrenal cortex functions may be modulated by a direct effect of gonadal steroid hormones.

Analysis of cellular hybrids confirms the assignment of alpha-L-fucosidase (alpha-FUC) to 1p in man. Discordant results are in favour of the following gene order: 1pter (ENO-1, alpha-FUC,AK2) PGM1 centromere Pep-C but give no information on the relative positions of ENO-1,alpha-FUC, and AK2. The assignments of alpha-FUC to chromosome 1 in the chimpanzee and to chromosome 4 in the African green monkey are demonstrated (chromosome nomenclature by Finaz et al, 1976). These results confirm the homology of chromosome 4 of the African green monkey and 1p of man and the chimpanzee.

22 independent man-hamster (HGPRT-) hybrids using male human cells with balanced reciprocal translocation t(X;2)(p22;q32) were analysed for human genes localized on chromosome 2 (IDHs, MDHs), on chromosome X (PGK, alphaGAL, G6PD) and for the different chromosomes in relation with the balanced reciprocal translocation (chr.2, chr.2q-, chr.Xp+). The following results were obtained: The chromosomes 2 and 2q- are absent in the 22 hybrids. In 9 hybrids, the absence of MDHs in spite of the presence of the chromosome Xp+ indicates that the gene for MDHs is not localized on this chromosome (or that the gene for MDHs is not on the segment 2q32--2qter translocated on X). In 14hybrids, the three markers of X (PGK, alphaGAL, G6PD) and IDHs are expressed in the presence of the chromosome Xp+. This result indicates that the genes for these markers are on Xp+ or that the genes PGK, alphaGAL, G6PD are on X without the Xp22--Xter segment, translocated on the chr.2, and that the gene for IDHs is on the 2q32--2qter segment translocated on X. In 8 hybrids, in the absence of the intack chromosome Xp+, the higher percentage of the presence of G6PD (7 hybrids) and the lower percentage of the presence of IDHs (3 hybrids) are explained by the fact that these hybrids selected in HAT medium had to retain a segment of Xp+ bearing the human gene HGPRT. G6PD appeared very close to HGPRT and IDHs very distant from HGPRT. The study of the different correlations between the presence and the absence of these four markers on Xp+ in the different hybrids indicates the following order on the chromosome Xp+ from p to q: IDHs -- PGK --alphaGAL -- G6PD.

The ACTH and cortisol responses after CRF administration were studied in 21 patients with adrenal failure and compared with those obtained in 15 control subjects. In patients with Addison's disease, cortisol and ACTH responses were respectively abolished or excessive. In patients with secondary adrenal failure, a unique bolus injection of CRF allows the differentiation between pituitary or hypothalamic secretory defect. With regard to previous reports, the usefulness of CRF test in primary and secondary adrenal failure is stressed.

Incorporation of ouabain (G-strophantin) in the culture medium 24 h after that of Sandai virus, at a final concentration of 2.10(-6)M/1, increases considerably the yield of man/mouse or primate/mouse cellular hybridization.

The various protein kinase activities characterized in adrenal cortex from different mammalian species do not differ in their molecular and catalytic properties from similar types of enzymes described in other tissues. The cyclic AMP-dependent system has been the most thoroughly investigated in adrenocortical tissue and is generally accepted as an obligatory intermediate in the intracellular response to ACTH action. In addition, adrenocortical cells contain two types of messenger independent protein kinases, one of which being selectively activated by polyamines in vitro and possibly related to the control of adrenocortical growth processes. The definition of intracellular phosphorylatable targets related to specific adrenocortical functions might have been obscured by the pleiotypic effects displayed by ACTH, the major effector of these cell activities. Cholesterol esterase appears one of these targets and 11 beta-hydroxylase cytochrome P-450 has been found activated in vitro by a cAMP dependent process. Future research should provide a better understanding of the role of protein phosphorylation-dephosphorylation processes as a regulatory device in adrenocortical cell functions. This includes possible complex modulation by multisite phosphorylations of a given target protein, involving several different protein kinase systems under the dependence of separate intracellular effectors.

Eight primary man-mouse (C11D/TK-) hybrids, twenty three primary and seven secondary man-hamster (CH/HGPRT-) were analyzed for human phosphoglycolate phosphatase (PGP) and for human chromosomes. The following results were obtained: 1. A positive correlation is observed between the chromosome 16 and PGP. 15 hybrids are chr.16+PGP+, 14 hybrids are chr.16-PGP- and 4 hybrids are chr.16-PGP+. 2. The percentage of dissociation between PGP and the chr.16 is low (12%) in comparison with the high percentage of dissociation between PGP and the other autosomes (between 37% and 65%). 3. Excepted the chromosome 16, the other autosomes are observed in hybrids PGP-. These different results indicate the localization of the gene for human PGP on the chromosome 16. The dissociation results chr.16-PGP+ are explained by the breakage of the chr.16 in the hybrids.

By cellular hybridization with C11D cells, the following gene assignments to specific chromosomes were demonstrated for the chimpanzee: beta-glucuronidase on chromosome 7, enolase-2 on chromosome 12, and the phosphoglycerate kinase on the X.

The karyotype of Cercopithecus aethiops was analysed by RHG, GTG, and C banding, and a band nomenclature is proposed.