Background: Traumatic brain injury management is a tricky issue in children and pregnant women (due to adverse effects of computer tomography). To facilitate management, we report the main analytical performances and reference ranges for blood tests for the wellestablished S100B biomarker in under-16 children on a DiaSorin ® Liaison XL analyzer and in pregnant women on DiaSorin ® Liaison XL and Roche Diagnostics ® Cobas e411 analyzers. Methods: Serum S100B concentrations were determined by chemiluminescent immunoassay on a DiaSorin ® analyzer in a population of 409 healthy children aged 0-16 years and on DiaSorin
Animal models of vitamin A (retinol) deficiency have highlighted its crucial role in reproduction and placentation, whereas an excess of retinoids (structurally or functionally related entities) can cause toxic and teratogenic effects in the embryo and foetus, especially in the first trimester of human pregnancy. Knock-out experimental strategies-targeting retinoid nuclear receptors RARs and RXRs have confirmed that the effects of vitamin A are mediated by retinoic acid (especially all-trans retinoic acid) and that this vitamin is essential for the developmental process. All these data show that the vitamin A pathway and metabolism are as important for the well-being of the foetus, as they are for that of the adult. Accordingly, during this last decade, extensive research on retinoid metabolism has yielded detailed knowledge on all the actors in this pathway, spurring the development of antagonists and agonists for therapeutic and research applications. Natural and synthetic retinoids are currently used in clinical practice, most often on the skin for the treatment of acne, and as anti-oncogenic agents in acute promyelocytic leukaemia. However, because of the toxicity and teratogenicity of retinoids during pregnancy, their pharmacological use needs a sound knowledge of their metabolism, molecular aspects, placental transfer, and action.
IntroductionPremature rupture of membranes (PROM) occurs at term in 8% of pregnancies. Several studies have demonstrated that the risk of chorioamnionitis and neonatal sepsis increases with duration of PROM. Decreasing the time interval between PROM and delivery is associated with lower rates of maternal infections. In case of an unfavourable cervix, the use of prostaglandin for cervical maturation demonstrates some advantages over oxytocin. The use of double balloon catheter in reduction of PROM duration has not been evaluated in the literature.Methods and analysisWe are conducting a prospective, monocentric, randomised clinical trial on pregnant women with an unfavourable cervix showing PROM at term (RUBAPRO).After 12–24 hours of PROM, women are randomly assigned to one group treated with a double balloon catheter for 12 hours, with oxytocin administered after 6 hours or to the control group treated with 24 hours of vaginal prostaglandin followed by oxytocin infusion alone. Patients (n=80) are randomised at a 1:1 ratio with stratification on parity.The inclusion criteria are a Bishop score of <6, cephalic presentation at term and confirmed PROM. Women with suspected chorioamnionitis; group B streptococcus (GBS) carrier; a history of caesarean delivery or any contraindication for vaginal delivery are excluded.The time from induction to delivery is the primary outcome. Secondary outcomes were mode of delivery, maternofetal morbidity and the effect of parity on strategies for reduction of PROM duration.To sufficiently demonstrate a difference (10 hours) between groups—with a statistical power of 90% and a two-tailed α of 5%—40 patients per group will be required.Ethics and disseminationWritten informed consent is required from participants.National Ethics Committee approval was obtained in August 2017. The results will be published in a peer-reviewed journal and presented at relevant conferences. Access to raw data will be available only to members of the research team.Trial registration numberNCT03310333.
Vitamin A and its active forms (retinoic acids/RAs) are known to have pro-healing properties, but their mechanisms of action are still poorly understood. This work aimed to identify the cellular and molecular processes by which atRA (all-trans RA) improves wound healing, using an in vivo model of mouse corneal alkali burns and an in vitro cellular human corneal epithelial injury model. Regulation by atRA has been studied on most of the cellular events that occur in wound healing. We investigated the direct influence of atRA on a specific target gene known to be involved in the extracellular matrix (ECM) dynamics, one of the pathways contributing to epithelial repair. Our results demonstrate that atRA promotes corneal epithelial wound healing by acting preferentially on migration. The induction of lysyl oxidase-like 4 (LOXL4) expression by atRA in the corneal epithelium environment was established as essential in the mechanism of atRA-dependent wound healing. Our study describes for the first time a direct link between a retinoic-induced gene and protein, LOXL4, and its general clinical pro-healing properties in ECM dynamics.
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