Seeds of Zizyphus lotus: In Vivo Healing Properties of the Vegetable Oil

The present study has been undertaken in order to highlight the healing effect of Zizyphus lotus vegetable oil. The seeds of this plant contain an oil rate of 30%. The obtained results on the main elements composing the vegetable oil have shown that Zizyphus lotus vegetable oil has a low value of acidity index and it presents a not negligible degree of unsaturation. The value of the peroxide index of Zizyphus lotus vegetable oil is less than 10 which characterizes the most of conventional oils. Furthermore, the spectral analysis by gas chromatography has shown the presence of 53 majority and minority molecules. Thus, the evaluation of the healing activity of Z. lotus seed vegetable oil has demonstrated a highly significant effect against the negative control and silver sulfadiazine was used as conventional treatment for burns. Based on the obtained results, we can suggest that the oil extracted from the seeds of the studied plant could be used to cure wounds.

[Medico-legal certificates in dentistry-oral medicine]

Certificates are acts meant to note facts of medical order. They constitute the proof of the bodily damage in a file of repair request. Only a doctor in medicine can write such a paper. The disciplinary, penal and civilian responsibility is committed every time that the doctor agrees to write a medical certificate. The medical secret must be respected when writing such a medical certificate. The document must be handed the patient. The dentist can establish certificates of different nature when he is asked by his patients, since the noted facts are part of his expertise. The certificate must be written after exam of the patient. The description of the lesions must be precise and complete. Under pain of nothing, the medical certificate must include: the identity of the doctor, the patient's one, the date of writing and the signature of the editor. The ITT show on the medical certificate is of great importance because it determines jurisdictions related to voluntary and involuntary violence.

[Primary malignant melanoma of the cervix uteri: apropos of 1 case with review of the literature]

The authors report a case of malignant melanoma of the cervix uteri diagnosed in a young 35-year-old patient. Isolated genital bleeding was the beginning symptom. The physical exam showed a cervical dark tumor, with extension into the vagina (superior third), the parametrium was free. Cervical biopsy concluded to a malignant melanoma. No other abnormalities were observed and the tumor was classed stage IIA-FIGO. A total hysterectomy with bilateral annexectomy and pelvic lymphadenectomy was performed. In the way, the patient died after ten months by local and general recurrence. Primitive malignant melanoma of the cervix uteri is rare. Only 39 cases are reported in literature at this day. It is usually initially misdiagnosed mainly in the achromic forms, then the immuno-histochemical study is useful. Its treatment is not well codified and its histogenesis was controversial for a long time.

A rapid and reliable method for NO quantification and 15NO/14NO determination using isotope ratio mass spectrometry: an application for the detection of NO synthesis in propionibacteria

For the last decade, numerous studies have focused on the positive or toxic effects of nitric oxide (NO) in procaryotic and eucaryotic cells. This gas has fundamental roles in neurotransmission, vasodilatation, cytotoxicity, and intestinal motility. The ability to produce NO by intestinal microflora or probiotic bacteria is unknown. In this preliminary study, we present a rapid and reproducible procedure for NO quantification and 15NO/14NO determination (based on the reaction between nitrite and acidic potassium iodide) by isotope ratio mass spectrometry. Using this method, we have demonstrated for the first time in vitro production of NO by a dietary bacterium (Propionibacterium acidipropionici, Pa 1) under anaerobic culture conditions. Using different sources of nitrogen, we have clearly shown that propionibacteria can synthesize NO from reduction of nitrate or nitrite. In our experimental conditions, NO synthase was not involved in NO production by propionibacteria.

[Mediastinal malignant schwannoma disclosed by pericardial tamponade in von Recklinghausen disease]

The authors report a case of a 47-years-old patient with Von Recklinghausen's disease. He was admitted with pericardial tamponade. 2D echocardiography showed, in addition to the compressive pericardial effusion, an enormous intrapericardial tumor compressing the left cardiac cavities. The patient died soon after pericardial drainage. The post-mortem examination revealed the diagnosis of malignant schwannoma of the left costo-vertebral gutter with an anterior intrapericardial development. A review of the literature showed that malignant schwannomas are seldom localized in the mediastinum, are associated with Von Recklinghausen's disease in 2 to 13% of cases, and have a poor prognosis. Pericardial tamponade is an exceptional presenting sign of mediastinal malignant schwannoma.