Etude des troubles psychiatriques et des mécanismes de défense psychologiques dans une population d’hommes stériles consultant en Andrologie

Results

26.2% of this population presented psychiatric disorders according to DSM-IV with a significant over-representation of generalized anxiety disorder and somatization disorder. The comparison between azoospermic males and oligoazoospermic males demonstrate the absence of significant difference in terms of psychiatric morbidity rate and use of defense styles. This population used similar defense modalities to the general population and preferentially used defense mechanisms corresponding to the mature defense style, such as humor, repression and anticipation. Psychiatric illness was significantly correlated with preferential use of withdrawal, consumption, reaction formation and lack of humor. This study also confirmed that subjects who essentially using neurotic defense styles were more likely to develop psychiatric disorders.

Conclusion

No difference in psychological effects was observed according to the degree of sterility. On the other hand, the presence of an over-representation of psychiatric disorders in sterile males compared to a control group indicates that Consultation-Liaison psychiatrists and andrologists must try to understand the patient’s suffering beyond the need for artificial insemination. Patients should therefore be given an opportunity to express all of the feelings related to their personal and marital drama in the department in which they are treated, as part of specialized management. Our study confirms the difficulty of determining whether certain defense mechanisms constitute risk factors for psychiatric disorders or whether defense mechanisms are an epiphenomenon of a particular psychiatric disorder, which is why many authors using DSQ agree that additional prospective studies are necessary to investigate correlations between defense mechanisms and specific psychiatric disorders. It would be useful to investigate defensive modalities before the diagnosis of infertility and after birth of a child in a larger population. A better understanding of the defensive modalities used by this type of population, in a psychotherapeutic context, could help to prevent or at least predict the appearance of psychiatric disorders.     

Opposite roles of the F-box protein Rcy1p and the GTPase-activating protein Gyp2p during recycling of internalized proteins in yeast

The F-box protein Rcy1p is part of a non-SCF (Skp1p-cullin-F-box protein) complex involved in recycling of internalized material. Like rcy1Delta, cells lacking the Rab-GTPase Ypt6p or its heterodimeric GEFs Rgp1p and Ric1p are unable to recycle the v-SNARE Snc1p. Here we provide genetic evidence suggesting that Rcy1p is a positive regulator of Ypt6p. Deletion of the GAP Gyp2p restores recycling in rcy1Delta, while overexpression of an active form of Ypt6p partially suppresses the recycling defect of rcy1Delta cells. Conversely, overexpression of Gyp2p in wild-type cells interferes with recycling of GFP-Snc1p, and the cells accumulate membrane structures as evidenced by electron microscopy. Gyp2p-GFP is distributed throughout the cytoplasm and accumulates in punctate structures, which concentrate in an actin-dependent manner at sites of polarized growth. Taken together, our results suggest that the F-box protein Rcy1p may activate the Ypt6p GTPase module during recycling.     

Cryopreservation of the unicellular marine alga, Nannochloropsis oculata

In microalgal culture collections, as in many biological resource centres, cryoconservation is the most attractive method for the long-term, secure storage of living material. Nannochloropsis oculata, a marine unicellular alga, is of interest in the field of biotechnology due to its high lipid content. Of various cryoprotectants tested for their toxicity and for their ability to prevent cryoinjury, glycerol (final concentration 1.1 M) was the most efficient. When glycerol-treated cultures were submitted to a strictly regulated cooling rate (-3 degrees C min(-1)), they attained the control culture density within 13 d after thawing.     

Indolomonoterpenic alkaloids from Strychnos icaja roots

In the course of our search for new antiplasmodial alkaloids from Strychnos icaja, we have isolated five alkaloids: three monomers, protostrychnine and genostrychnine, previously described in Strychnos nux-vomica, pseudostrychnine, already found in the leaves of the plant, a new bisindolic alkaloid, named strychnogucine C, and the first naturally occurring trimeric indolomonoterpenic alkaloid: strychnohexamine. This latter trimeric alkaloid presented an antiplasmodial activity against the FCA Plasmodium falciparum line near 1 microM.     

Agronomic approach: cropping systems and plant diseases

This paper deals with the effects of agronomic practices on parasite life cycles, and the design of integrated crop protection strategies. Cropping systems have a large effect on the size of the primary inoculum and its localisation, on the development and spread of epidemics, and on the coordination of the life cycle of cultivated plants and that of their parasites. They can disrupt ecological equilibria, either favouring or disfavouring the pathogens. By combining information concerning the effects of agricultural techniques on diseases and the physiological effects of diseases on growth and crop production, it is now possible to develop new crop management systems, in which the use of non-chemical methods for preventing diseases is a priority. However, the current knowledge need to be completed by studies on other scales, particularly of the effect of cropping systems on the genetics of disease populations integrating more completely the 'long-term' dimension of sustainable agriculture.     

Trends of a bitterling (Rhodeus sericeus) population in a man-made ditch network

This study describes the trends of a bitterling population in the Bourgneuf Marsh in relation to human activities. Although there were no bitterling during the period 1987-91, the species rapidly colonized the ditch network sampled (density reaching 61.7 +/- 47.0 individuals/100 m2 and frequency of occurrence around 70-75%) during a 5-year period (1997-2001). Clearance operations probably favoured the expansion of this vulnerable fish species because of positive associations of bitterling with large and deep ditches that had been cleared in the last 2-3 years and characterized by a small cover of submerged plants. Management recommendations are discussed for conserving the bitterling population.     

Molecular and genetic characterization of a non-climacteric phenotype in melon reveals two loci conferring altered ethylene response in fruit

Fruit ripening and abscission are associated with an ethylene burst in several melon (Cucumis melo) genotypes. In cantaloupe as in other climacteric fruit, exogenous ethylene can prematurely induce abscission, ethylene production, and ripening. Melon genotypes without fruit abscission or without ethylene burst also exist and are, therefore, non-climacteric. In the nonabscising melon fruit PI 161375, exogenous ethylene failed to stimulate abscission, loss of firmness, ethylene production, and expression of all target genes tested. However, the PI 161375 etiolated seedlings displayed the usual ethylene-induced triple response. Genetic analysis on a population of recombinant cantaloupe Charentais x PI 161375 inbred lines in segregation for fruit abscission and ethylene production indicated that both characters are controlled by two independent loci, abscission layer (Al)-3 and Al-4. The non-climacteric phenotype in fruit tissues is attributable to ethylene insensitivity conferred by the recessive allelic forms from PI 161375. Five candidate genes (two ACO, two ACS, and ERS) that were localized on the melon genetic map did not exhibit colocalization with Al-3 or Al-4.