Microplastics have been reported everywhere around the globe. With very limited human activities, the Arctic is distant from major sources of microplastics. However, microplastic ingestions have been ...found in several Arctic marine predators, confirming their presence in this region. Nonetheless, existing information for this area remains scarce, thus there is an urgent need to quantify the contamination of Arctic marine waters. In this context, we studied microplastic abundance and composition within the zooplankton community off East Greenland. For the same area, we concurrently evaluated microplastic contamination of little auks (Alle alle), an Arctic seabird feeding on zooplankton while diving between 0 and 50 m. The study took place off East Greenland in July 2005 and 2014, under strongly contrasted sea-ice conditions. Among all samples, 97.2% of the debris found were filaments. Despite the remoteness of our study area, microplastic abundances were comparable to those of other oceans, with 0.99 ± 0.62 m−3 in the presence of sea-ice (2005), and 2.38 ± 1.11 m−3 in the nearby absence of sea-ice (2014). Microplastic rise between 2005 and 2014 might be linked to an increase in plastic production worldwide or to lower sea-ice extents in 2014, as sea-ice can represent a sink for microplastic particles, which are subsequently released to the water column upon melting. Crucially, all birds had eaten plastic filaments, and they collected high levels of microplastics compared to background levels with 9.99 and 8.99 pieces per chick meal in 2005 and 2014, respectively. Importantly, we also demonstrated that little auks took more often light colored microplastics, rather than darker ones, strongly suggesting an active contamination with birds mistaking microplastics for their natural prey. Overall, our study stresses the great vulnerability of Arctic marine species to microplastic pollution in a warming Arctic, where sea-ice melting is expected to release vast volumes of trapped debris.
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•Microplastic concentration of East Greenland was similar to other oceanic basins.•Microplastics were more abundant when sea-ice was absent.•100% of little auks were contaminated with microplastics.•Little auks mistook microplastics for their zooplankton prey.•97% of debris were filaments.
Microplastic pollution is significant in the Greenland Sea, despite its remoteness. Local seabirds mistake microplastics for their zooplankton prey, and all of them are contaminated.
As significant numbers of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients are still refractory to conventional therapies or experience relapse, immunotherapy using T cells expressing chimeric antigen receptors ...(CARs) might represent a valid treatment option. AML cells frequently overexpress the myeloid antigens CD33 and CD123, for which specific CARs can be generated. However, CD33 is also expressed on normal hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPCs), and its targeting could potentially impair normal hematopoiesis. In contrast, CD123 is widely expressed by AML, while low expression is detected on HSPCs, making it a much more attractive target. In this study we describe the in vivo efficacy and safety of using cytokine-induced killer (CIK) cells genetically modified to express anti-CD33 or anti-CD123 CAR to target AML. We show that both these modified T cells are very efficient in reducing leukemia burden in vivo, but only the anti-CD123 CAR has limited killing on normal HSPCs, thus making it a very attractive immunotherapeutic tool for AML treatment.
Une cause rare de douleurs abdominales Sigur, N.; Alric, L.; Chiavassa, H. ...
La revue de medecine interne,
09/2014, Volume:
35, Issue:
9
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Un homme, âgé de 45 ans, était hospitalisé pour douleurs abdominales diffuses avec asthénie et perte de 15 kg en quelques mois. Ses antécédents étaient marqués par une fracture du plateau tibial, une ...discopathie L4 et L5/S1, une méniscopathie secondaire à un accident, une HTA, une appendicite compliquée d’une péritonite appendiculaire, une algoneurodystrophie du genou et un éthylisme chronique sevré en 2006. Il était originaire d’Algérie, vivait en France depuis 2 ans. Il avait des douleurs abdominales mal systématisées avec paroxysmes douloureux, à type de torsion ou de crampes, sans fièvre. L’examen physique était pauvre avec une sensibilité diffuse au niveau abdominal associée à des adénopathies inguinales bilatérales, supra-centimétriques. Biologiquement, il n’y avait pas de syndrome inflammatoire biologique, ni d’anomalie hydro-électrolytique ou hépatique, les sérologies virales VIH, VHB et VHC étaient négatives. L’enzyme de conversion de l’angiotensine était augmentée à 147 UI/L. Le Quantiféron® et l’IDR étaient négatifs. Un scanner thoraco-abdomino-pelvien, avec injection de produit de contraste, était réalisé
Anti‐PD1‐induced psoriasis: a study of 21 patients Bonigen, J.; Raynaud‐Donzel, C.; Hureaux, J. ...
Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology,
20/May , Volume:
31, Issue:
5
Journal Article
Expansion of human hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) is a rapidly advancing field showing great promise for clinical applications. Recent evidence has implicated the nervous system and glial family ...ligands (GFLs) as potential drivers of hematopoietic survival and self-renewal in the bone marrow niche; how to apply this process to HSC maintenance and expansion has yet to be explored. We show a role for the GFL receptor, RET, at the cell surface of HSCs in mediating sustained cellular growth, resistance to stress, and improved cell survival throughout in vitro expansion. HSCs treated with the key RET ligand/coreceptor complex, glial-derived neurotrophic factor and its coreceptor, exhibit improved progenitor function at primary transplantation and improved long-term HSC function at secondary transplantation. Finally, we show that RET drives a multifaceted intracellular signaling pathway, including key signaling intermediates protein kinase B, extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2, NF-κB, and p53, responsible for a wide range of cellular and genetic responses that improve cell growth and survival under culture conditions.
L’hépatite virale E a été décrite depuis les années 1970 dans des pays en voie de développement (Chine, Inde, Mexique) où elle sévit de façon endémoépidémique. Dans ces pays, elle présente de ...nombreuses similitudes avec l’hépatite A : réservoir humain, transmission féco-orale, présentation clinique (infection asymptomatique ou hépatite aiguë ictérique), évolution toujours aiguë et spontanément favorable en dehors des formes fulminantes, plus fréquentes chez la femme enceinte et les sujets cirrhotiques. Plus récemment, des cas autochtones de plus en plus fréquents ont été identifiés en Europe. Une transmission zoonotique a été identifiée, provenant du porc ou de la faune sauvage. Ces cas présentent certaines particularités : prédominance masculine, âge au diagnostic plus élevé, fréquence des formes sévères. Des manifestations extrahépatiques (neurologiques, hématologiques) sont rapportées. Un passage à la chronicité de l’hépatite E, avec évolution fibrosante hépatique jusqu’à la cirrhose, est décrit chez l’immunodéprimé (transplanté, porteur d’hémopathie chronique ou infection par le VIH). Le diagnostic positif de l’infection repose sur la sérologie (IgG et IgM) et la reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) virale, réalisée sur le sang et les selles. Aucun traitement n’a été testé dans le cadre d’un essai clinique. La prise en charge habituelle est symptomatique. Cependant, des patients avec hépatite E chronique ont été traités avec succès par interféron-α ou par ribavirine (600 à 800mg par jour pendant trois mois), ce dernier traitement étant actuellement le mieux validé. Deux vaccins ont fait l’objet d’études cliniques de phase II et III et s’avèrent efficaces et bien tolérés, mais aucun n’est encore commercialisé.
The hepatitis E virus is endemic in countries with poor sanitation, where it has many similarities with the hepatitis A virus. It causes a strictly human, feco-oral transmitted, acute, self-limited hepatitis in young adults. The outcome is excellent, except in pregnant women and cirrhotic patients, who experience a high mortality rate. The first cases described in industrialized countries were travellers coming from endemic areas. However, there is now growing evidence that locally-acquired hepatitis E is common in these areas, where it is an emergent disease, despite it is still misdiagnosed. In industrialized countries, hepatitis E spreads sporadically and has a predilection for elderly men with comorbidity, particularly chronic liver diseases. The mortality seems to be higher in this population. In these areas, hepatitis E is due to the genotype 3 virus that is thought to be zoonotically transmitted by pigs and wild boar. Hepatitis E may evolve towards a chronic infection in immunocompromised subjects, particularly in solid organ-transplanted patients. In case of chronic infection, it may cause liver fibrosis and cirrhosis. The diagnosis of hepatitis E is based on serological tests (IgM and IgG) and detection of the viral genome by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) on blood and stools. Acute hepatitis E does not require any treatment but in chronically infected patients, a sustained viral response and finally a definitive viral clearance has been observed after a three-month course of low-dose ribavirin (600 to 800mg/day). Two vaccines underwent successful human trials but are not yet commercially available.
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