Le laboratoire et la prévention de l’immunisation Rhésus

Faire bénéficier toutes les femmes Rhésus négatif non immunisées des moyens à notre disposition pour réduire la fréquence de l’allo-immunisation anti RH1 est un objectif de santé publique dans lequel les trois partenaires, médecins, obstétriciens et biologistes, doivent agir de concert. Tout doit être mis en œuvre pour ce faire au niveau des établissements de soins privés ou publics et des laboratoires. Un oubli de la réalisation de la prévention, une mauvaise adaptation au volume de l’hémorragie foeto-maternelle, pourraient être, à bon droit, un motif de plainte de la part de patientes ultérieurement immunisées.     

Introduction historique et critique à la notion de dépression en psychiatrie

The author describes the history of the concept of depression in modern psychiatry from the end of the Age of Enlightenment until today in three parts. In the first period (1793–1854), the opposition of general delusion (mania) and partial delusion (melancholia) prevails, without the problem of changes of the affective state being an issue. Only with the work of J. Guislain, and later of W. Griesinger, does the concept of mood disorders become a categorical form in mental pathology with the idea of psychological pain. The second period (1854–1926) is distinguished firstly by the works of J.P. Falret on circular insanity, and then those of V. Magnan, J. Ségnan, J. Séglas et Ph. Chaslin in France and E. Kraepelin in Germany. This period is characterized by the classical construction of periodic manicdepressive psychosis and takes into account the opposition of mania and melancholia. In the third period (1926–1977), the influences of phenomenology, psychoanalysis and structuralism predominate. Gradually melancholia loses its place at the core of this field, in favour of the concept of depression and this change now characterizes contemporary psychiatry.     

L’Éjaculation prématurée: définitions à l’épreuve de la clinique, traitements

The various definitions and clinical features of premature ejaculation, as well as the major therapeutics and therapies of the moment, are being reviewed. We insist upon the evaluation of this dysfunction through a long conversation in order to establish its primary or secondary nature. Once this distinction has been made, we must differenciate the “immediate” premature ejaculators from the others. For the formers, we have few therapeutics at the present time. The others must start to learn what they have failed to do at the beginning of their relational sexuality due to ignorance, non-culture of pleasure, or by cultural traditions if feminine pleasure is not considered as something of value.     

Mouvances des familles et réponses aux besoins des enfants II. L’autorité, la construction de l’identité et la sexualité

There are a lot of different models of family structures apart from the traditional nuclear family which is why they have been grouped together under the generic termrestructured families. Do they satisfactorily meet — to paraphrase Winnicott — the psychic needs of children that live inside them? The answer cannot be simplyyes or no as it is obviously impossible to study every individual case Like all human institutions, these families have to deal with specific failures and successes, which may be momentary during a crisis or a highly productive period while others may be more structural. In the second of these two articles, dedicated to this subject (Part 1 inPSN, vol. 1, 2003, n^o5, pp. 31–37), the issue of authority, the elaboration of the feeling of identity and some questions regarding sexuality will be discussed.     

L’hypogénitalisme du pharaon akhénaton. Une énigme historique

Akhenaten is the most fascinating of the Egyptians pharaohs. His representations show some strange particularities (feminization, cranial deformation, hydrocephalus, acromegaly) which have, eventually, a symbolic character unless they suggest the existence of an endocrinous disorder. Through this paper, we try to elucidate the most probable diagnosis of Akhenaten’s illness.     

L’origine et l’évolution des éléphants

Origin and evolution of proboscideans. Recent palaeontological research has significantly enhanced our knowledge of the evolution of proboscideans, especially the beginning of their evolutionary history. New discoveries in the Early Eocene support, in particular, a lophodont ancestral morphotype for the Proboscidea and the African origin of the order, from which the Asiatic Anthracobunidae are excluded. The primitive Eocene proboscideans remain, however, poorly known. Other important discoveries have been made on the question of the origin of the moeritheres, of the deinotheres and elephantimorphs, and on the differentiation of elephantids. Palaeontology demonstrates in the Proboscidea a remarkably rich history, unsuspected from the extant relictual diversity, and one of the most spectacular morphological evolutions in the Mammalia.     

Immunocontraception par la prévention de l’interaction gamétique

The paper summarize the main data relevant to the obtention of contraceptive vaccines based on spermatozoa as well as zona pellucida antigens. The development of novel forms of contraception is one way in which this global population problems can be tackled. The sperm as well as the oocyte antigens are studied as possible contraceptive vaccine candidates are the subject of this review.     

Effets d’une exposition à la Vinclozoline et à la Génistéine de la gestation à l’âge adulte sur la fonction de reproduction du ratWistar mâle: protocole et résultats préliminaires

Current evidence indicates that endocrine disrupters (EDs) can induce adverse effects on the male reproductive tract in various mammalian species. Recent reports indicate deterioration in male reproductive health in several human populations, but the evidence for a causal link with endocrine disruption is still weak. In addition, the experimental conditions of most of the reportedin vivo studies are not representative of environmental exposures (for example, high doses, short-term exposure, a single ED) and the mechanisms by which EDs disrupt the reproductive system are poorly understood. The objective of the present study is to develop an animal model to assess the reproductive effects and study the putative cellular and molecular mechanisms involved after exposure to genistein (phytoestrogen) and vinclozolin (fungicide with a known antiandrogenic potential) alone or in combination. The study will be performed in male Wistar rats, with administration of low and high doses of the compounds from conception to adulthood and a subset of the males in each treatment group will be mated with unexposed females. We plan to assess the level of sperm production, histology of the reproductive organs, motility and morphometry of spermatozoa and hormone levels, as well as DNA fragmentation of spermatozoa and determination of the number of germ cells, Sertoli cells and the diameters of seminiferous tubules. Estrogen, androgen, progesterone and FSH receptors will be detected and quantified and the level of testicular apoptosis and several apoptosis pathways will be studied to determine the putative cellular and molecular mechanisms involved. The preliminary results confirmed the developmental effects previously reported for high doses of vinclozolin. More interestingly, they indicated a number of deleterious effects for male rats exposed to low dosages alone or mixtures of low and high dosages compared to controls and rats exposed to high dosages alone. For example, a number of developmental anomalies of the genitalia were observed and a significant decrease of sperm motility and motion and fertilizing ability were observed. These preliminary results provide evidence that chronic exposure to environmental levels of EDs or mixtures of EDs have a detrimental impact on the male reproductive tract. The next step involves assessment of the anatomical disorders and the study of some of the cellular and molecular mechanisms possibly involved.