L'AMP chez les blessés médullaires: indication et résultats

Spinal cord-injured men with ejaculation disorders can have children by means of Assisted Reproduction Techniques (ART). The possibilities of procreation of couples in which the man is praplegic or tetraplegic, have been improved over the this last decade by progress in the treatment of ejaculation disorders and the development of new ART techniques such as ICSI. Sperm quality is usually impaired in these patients. The indications for ART in spinal cord-injured patients are similar to those of other forms of male infertility. According to WHO recommendations, sperm preparation must be performed together with morphological study of spermatozoa to select the most appropriate ART technique, giving preference to so-called “simple” ART techniques, such as Intra-Uterine Insemination (IUI). Small studies have been conducted and showed that the clinical pregnancy rate per cycle was comparable to that observed in non-neurological patients. Autopreservation of sperm must be rapidly programmed to avoid repreated electrostimulation techniques and as a security measure before performing ART. A multicenter study should be conducted to pool data from all French centres.     

Etude au microscope electronique de l'ultrastructure du centriole chez les vertébrés

Zusammenfassung Die Ultrastruktur des Zentralkörpers wurde beiTriton, Pleurodeles, Maus, Ratte undHühnchen elektronenmikroskopisch untersucht. In allen Fällen stellt sich dieser Körper als Hohlzylinder mit einem Durchmesser von etwa 150 m und einer Länge von 300–500 m dar. Seine Wandung, die stark osmiophil ist, besteht aus etwa 9 Röhrchen, die untereinander und zur Achse des Zylinders parallel angeordnet sind. Der Zentralkörper liegt entweder am Spindelpol von Mitosen oder in der Nähe der Nuclearmembran und des Golgiapparates im Cytoplasma von ruhenden Zellen.Die an normalen Gewebe beobachtete Ultrastruktur des Zentralkörpers wurde ebenso in verschiedenen Krebsgeweben und in Zellen, die der Wirkung von Colchicin oder Natrium-Kakodylat ausgesetzt waren, nachgewiesen.Die Spindelfasern erscheinen als kleine Kanäle mit einem Durchmesser von 20 m; sie sind bei einer großen Mehrzahl von Mitosen, die der Wirkung von Mitosegiften ausgesetzt waren, nicht nachweisbar.Die Ultrastruktur des Zentralkörpers entspricht derjenigen des Basalkörperchens des Flimmerepithels und des proximalen Zentralkörpers der Spermatozoen.Der Zentralkörper erscheint als ein hochdifferenziertes Organ, dessen Ultrastruktur, je nach den verschiedenen Anforderungen der Zellentwicklung, die Synthese von Faserproteinen möglich macht.     

Sur la contraction extrême des muscles squelettiques chez les vertébrés

Sans résumé     

Recherches expérimentales sur l'action des rickettsies des invertébrés sur les vertébrés: Étude de l'infection nasale et buccale chez la souris parRickettsiella grylli

Résumé Une rickettsie entomopathogène:Rickettsiella grylli proche des chlamydies par son cycle de multiplication est introduite chez la souris par voie nasale et par voie buccale. La rickettsiose expérimentale produite est étudiée sous les aspects clinique, anatomopathologique, sérologique et histologique. Les rickettsies sont recherchées dans les tissus par immunofluorescence et microscopie électronique. Chez les souris infestées par voie nasale, les rickettsies restent localisées dans les poumons. Lors des contaminations fortes, ces derniers subissent une hépatisation et une bronchopneumopathie se développe; cette pneumopathie se maintient pendant eviron 2 mois puis évolue, dans de nombreux cas en une bronchopneumopathie chronique durant plus d'un an. Les souris élaborent des anticorps agglutinants spécifiques dont le taux est proportionnel à l'atteinte pulmonaire. L'infestation par voie buccale ne détermine aucun effect pathologique à court ou long terme.

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Summary Rickettsiella grylli Vago & Martoja is a rickettsial entomopathogen close to the chlamydia by its multiplication cycle. This organism has been inoculated in mice by intranasal and oral routes. The experimental rickettsiosis has been studied by the clinical syndromes, anatomopathology, serology, histology, immunofluorescence and electronic microscopy. By inhalationR. grylli is localized in lung tissues. In heavy contaminations the lungs present hepatisation and a bronchopneumopathy that last 2 months and evolves to a chronic bronchopneumopathy in 50 % of the tested mice. Agglutinin type antibodies are produced and their concentration are proportional to the severity of the lung infection. No short term or long term pathological effects are detected by oral administration.

     

Les vertébrés du Berriasiende Canjuers (Var,France) et leur environnement

The vertebrate fossil locality of Canjuers correspondsto a protected marine environment near an emersive zone, on the shelf of Middle Verdon, in communication with the open sea (toward the North) through channels. The fishes (carnivorous pelagic and planctonivorous pelagic) are the most abundant vertebrates. They were already dead when they reached the depositional area, together with the floated shells of ammonites. The necton, dependent on the bottom for its food and the fixed benthos are nearly absent. The free and sessile benthos, poor in species, shows adaptations to a muddy bottom and rare forms adapted to a hardened bottom. The microfauna is rare. The infauna (essentially horizontal) is present inside the channels. The water temperature, the very low hydrodynamism and the lack of infauna imply difficult conditions on the bottom (micrite beds and laminites in the lower part of the deposit). Tridactyle tracks of vertebrates confirm, on the other hand, the feeble depth of the water. The near supratidal zone was more or less colonised by vegetation and was occupied by a very differentiated reptilian fauna (flying forms, continental running and burrowing forms, swimming forms) corresponding to a continental environment. The biotic and abiotic factors show the occurence of four distinct environments: protected low depth marine, channels, supratidalintertidal and pure marine. The taphonomy corroborates that the deposit was a thanatocoenosis for the marine organisms, except when water movement permitted life.     

Place de l'autoconservation de sperme chez l'homme: Analyse d'une étude rétrospective

Cryopreservation of semen of patients with malignant diseases (testicular cancer. Hodgkin' disease and lymphoma) is a realistic option to preserve fertility of young patients before chemotherapy and/or radiation or sugery. We show here the results of a retrospective study in Cecos-Tours of cryopreservation between 1980 to 1990 and its outcome in 1995, in comparison with the national retrospective study of French Cecos Federation.This survey demonstrates an increase in cryopreservation demands and in the % of cryopreserved semen, especially in testicular cancer where semen alterations are significantly more important, because of the progress in assisted reproductive technology, particularly the efficacy of ICSI in low spermatozoal densities.In the absence of a real spermatogenesis protection in human, semen cryopreservation is an absolute indication before such treatments detrimental for fertility potential.     

Sur les possibilités d'adaptation chez les insectes sociaux et spécialement chez l'abeille

Résumé On peut rendre horizontaux les rayons d'une ruche et verticaux ceux d'un nid de guêpes sans perturbations visibles pour l'élevage ou le comportement des ouvrières.Les abeilles réparent très facilement et immédiatement les trous creusés dans les cellules d'ouvrières ou de reines, elles posent sans difficulté un fond aux cellules d'ouvrières si on l'a enlevé. Elles tordent une lame de cire perpendiculaire aux rayons pour la mettre en position parallèle.Les abeilles peuvent déposer leur miel dans les trous d'une plaque de bois, dans des rayons de métal ou de plastique; elles peuvent élever leur couvain dans des rayons de plastique et leurs reines dans des cellules de verre ou de plastique. Les guêpes peuvent operculer avec du carton les rayons des abeilles. Les guêpes souterraines dont on vient de déterrer le nid le couvrent de terre et l'enterrent en creusant au-dessous. Si une plaque de métal glissée au-dessous s'y oppose, elles le reconstruisent peu à peu de manière à l'amener sur le bord de la plaque et à l'enterrer à nouveau.     

Les premiers vertébrés et les premières étapes de l’évolution du crâne

The earliest vertebrates and the first steps of the evolution of the skull. Vertebrates are one of the few metazoan taxa, which display a well-corroborated phylogenetic pattern, a good and anatomically informative fossil record, and a relatively slow ontogenetic development. They are thus a favourite taxon for illustrating evolution as a historical process, although the stem of the vertebrate tree remains poorly documented by fossils, except for some Early Cambrian forms. Therefore, the characterization of the vertebrates now rests essentially on a small number of developmental characters, mostly involved in the rise of the skull, and whose precursors may occur in other chordates. The tree of the crown-group vertebrates also shows some major morphological gaps due to early extinctions, but a number of Palaeozoic stem gnathostome taxa helps in documenting the agnathan-gnathostome evolutionary transition. However, stem cyclostomes remain elusive.     

L'Inhibine B chez les blessés radiculo-médullaires. Résultats préliminaires

Spinal cord injuries in adult men sometimes results in semen alteration and in ejaculation missing. Testicular biopsies showed spinal cord injury is bound with testicular and germinal cells alterations. An endocrine profile for thirteen patients without semen at the time of the study is performed: total testosterone, bioavailable testosterone, FSH and inhibin B. Compared with seven normal controls, subjects with spinal cord injury had a significantly lower value of total testosterone, bioavailable testosterone and inhibin B. The FSH values higher in spinal cord injury are not significative. These results allowed to expect inhibin B like a good marker of testicular function and spermatogenesis. A longitudinal and on more subjects will answer to this question.     

Analyse du statut spermatique, érectile et hormonal chez des patients hémodialysés

Introduction

Our work was to establish the hormonal, semen and erectile profile among haemodialysed patients and to seek the impact of hormonal disturbances on erectile function and semen parameters.

Patients and methods

We conducted a cross-sectional study in haemodialysed patients in whom a semen, in parallel with hormonal analyses including FSH (follicle stimulating hormone) and testosterone. Erectile function was assessed by the study of the international index of erectile function in its French version (IIEF). Analyses of sex hormones were done by radio immunoassay and semen analyses according to WHO guidelines.

Results

Two patients had a semen analysis and a normal hormone balance; the IIEF was normal in a one patient. Azoospermic patients (16%) showed a hypergonadotrophic eugonadism. Forty percent of the patients had hypospermia without any correlation between hypospermia and hormonal values. One third of patients showed severe oligospermia associated with high levels of FSH in 77% of cases. Sperm motility and morphology were altered in 96% and 50% of the cases respectively. Hormonal analyses showed an elevated FSH (> 8.5 mUI/ml) in 40% of the cases and testosterone was decreased (< 3.2 ng/ml) in 25% of the cases.

Discussion

Semen volume was significantly decreased in patients over 30 years. Erectile function was disturbed in 73% of the patients with a mean IIEF score of 15. Several authors have shown a correlation between gonadal dysfunction and high levels of gonadotropins in men with chronic renal insufficiency, with or without testicular atrophy. In our series, testosterone was normal despite the absence of androgen. Are haemodialysis sessions effective in preserving the endocrine function?

Conclusion

Patients in chronic haemodialysis for a period exceeding one year had a hypergonadotrophic eugonadism and a severe erectile dysfunction. The state of the genital tract was relatively preserved. The duration of haemodialysis did not significantly affect sperm and erectile function. Patients older than 30 years showed a significant decrease in semen volume, which could be a marker to determine the impairment of erectile and reproductive functions.     

Nouvelles recherches sur la vitesse des vertébrés,auteurs de traces fossiles

This paper follows up on one published in Geobios1984, on the estimation of the velocity of trackmakers represented by fossil trackways.A simplification of the previously given formulaewill make it easier to calculate estimations of the lengths of «apparent limb, period and velocity of a walking animal. Observations show that the «walking angle decreases with the size of animals (in the case of a slow walk), the diminution being due to the exponential rising of the moment of inertia, a mathematical relation is proposed that links the «walking angle to the length of the radius of gyration i.e. the length of the «apparent limb. This relationship agrees with some datas from ichnology and with observations of living animals. With this equation and others presented here a table has been worked out which gives the estimates of «apparent limb, «walking angle, in terms of stride, estimates comprised in an interval of likelihood given by the coherent different values of the «walking angle. Velocity come from the pendular period. Interpolations from this table permit its utilization so for the values of the stride length distinct that presented.