Elen Le Foll. 2024. Textbook English: A multidimensional approach. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 294 pp. ISBN: 978-9-0272-4680-6 (E-book).

Cannabis Legalization for Recreational Purposes took place in Canada in October 2018. One of the federal government’s stated goals with this legalization was to protect Canadian youth from cannabis-related harms. The Canadian model differs from other jurisdictions that legalized recreational cannabis use, especially with regard to a higher degree of government regulation of the cannabis market. Another difference is the development and endorsement of lower-risk cannabis use guidelines to educate the public and health professionals. Here, we will present the changes in the regulation of the Canadian cannabis market. We will also present some changes in the epidemiology and parameters of cannabis use (modes of use, potency of cannabis) among adults and youths. Although it is clear that prevalence of use has increased in some groups (notably older adults), results for youth are mixed, with the majority of studies showing no pronounced increase. A trend of a decrease in youth cannabis use seen pre-legalization may have reversed. Data about changes in the age of initiation, the influence of legalization on sex and gender, and race/ ethnicity are limited, with evidence suggesting that the age of initiation slightly increased and the prevalence of use has become more similar between females and males. The development and utility of the lower-risk cannabis use guidelines will be also presented.Disclosure of InterestB. Le Foll Grant / Research support from: . Dr. Le Foll has in-kind donations of cannabis products from Aurora Cannabis Enterprises Inc. . Dr. Le Foll has obtained industry funding from Canopy Growth Corporation (through research grants handled by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and the University of Toronto)

Holding the ground. Alliances and defiances between scientists, policy-makers and civil society in the development of a voluntary initiative, the “4 per 1000: Soils for food security and climate”

(Reprinted with permission from Sabioni P and Le Foll B. Psychosocial and pharmacological interventions for the treatment of cannabis use disorder [version 1; referees: 3 approved]. F1000Research 2018, 7(F1000 Faculty Rev):173 (https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.11191.1)).

Given the limited nature of the evidence concerning longitudinal alcohol consumption patterns and health-related quality of life (HrQoL), this study examined these associations. Data were from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (waves 1 and 2). Multiple linear regression was used to assess the associations between longitudinal alcohol consumption patterns (abstainers, no consumption change, decreased consumption, increased consumption, ceased consumption and initiated consumption) and HrQoL (Short-Form 12-Item Health Survey). Increased consumption over follow up was related to non-significant reductions in mental HrQoL for moderate and heavy drinkers at wave 1, whereas decreased consumption coincided with improvements in mental HrQoL for heavy drinkers at wave 1 (β for Mental Health Summary Scale and Mental Health Subscale: 0.84 and 0.91; P-values significant for both scales). Similarly, initiation of consumption among lifetime abstainers at wave 1 was associated with reductions in mental HrQoL (β for Mental Health Summary Scale, Vitality Subscale, Social Functioning Subscale and Mental Health Subscale: -1.50, -1.89, -0.86 and -1.74; P-values significant for all scales). On the other hand, cessation of consumption was accompanied by reductions in physical HrQoL (β for Physical Health Summary Scale, Physical Functioning Subscale, Role Physical Subscale, Bodily Pain Subscale and General Health Subscale: -1.29, -1.11, -1.35, -0.87 and -0.88; P-values significant for all scales). Increased or decreased consumption were inversely associated with mental HrQoL, but decreased consumption was also associated with reductions in physical HrQoL. These findings were confirmed by the ceased consumption and initiated consumption patterns. [Imtiaz S, Loheswaran G, Le Foll B, Rehm J. Longitudinal alcohol consumption patterns and health-related quality of life: Results from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. Drug Alcohol Rev 2018;37:48-55].

The incidence of acute kidney failure remains high, due to the multiplication of interventional procedures on subjects at risk. It increases both morbi-mortality in hospitals and in the long term. The identification of patients atriskis primordial in order to implement the preventiv emeasures, whose expansion remains the ‘gold standard’. The realization of a coronary angiography in ambulatory care in this type of patient at risk is possible without increasing renal morbidity, under the cover of a good hydration. Introduction: Acute renal failure is a complication that remains common after injection of contrast agent. It increases both morbidity and hospital mortality in the long term. We wanted to carry out a prospective observational study to evaluate the incidence of renal complications (acute renal failure, dialysis) of patients referred as an outpatient in our center for coronary angiography and who have benefited from measures of prevention of renal toxicity as recommended by learned societies. Methodology: We conducted a prospective study at the Yves Le Foll hospital in Saint Brieuc over a period of 4 months from November 2015 to February 2016, in patients admitted on an outpatient basis for coronary angiography who had previously suspended all drugs with nephrotoxic potential and with hydration surrounding the examination. A survey card was developed to collect, after informed consent, sociodemographic data, risk factors, comorbidities, clinical and paraclinical data. All data was entered and analyzed using SPSS software version 18.0. Results: Ninety-eight patients had an ambulatory coronary angiogram during this period. The sex ratio was 3.66 in favor of the male genus with an average age of 65 years. Three-quarters of the population (71%) had at least one risk factor for contrast-induced nephropathy. The mean clearance values before and after coronary angiography were almost similar (80 μmol/l) without significant variation. No impairment of renal function was observed in patients at risk regardless of the amount of contrast injected (range: between 30 and 277 ml). When patients accumulate risk factors for induced nephropathy in the contrast medium, there is an increase in the blood creatinine level with the number of factors but no significant change (p: 0.24) of renal function after iodine injection. Conclusion: The incidence of acute kidney injury remains high, due to the increase of intervention procedures in subjects at risk. The identification of these patients at risk is paramount in order to implement the preventive measures of which volume expansion remains the gold standard. The realization of an outpatient coronary angiography in this type of patient at risk is feasible without increasing renal morbidity with a good hydration.

Mimecan: A Newly Identified Adipokine and Regulator of Appetite

A prerequisite for the homeostatic control of fat mass is the existence of peripheral hormones that, together with nervous afferents, signal the state of energy balance to adipostatic circuits in the brain. It is assumed that the effects of these signals are mediated, at least in part, by changes in key neurotransmitters, especially those located in the hypothalamus. It has been known for many years that leptin from adipose tissue engages neurons producing α-melanocyte–stimulating hormones, while ghrelin from the empty stomach stimulates neurons producing neuropeptide Y/agouti-related peptide/γ-aminobutyric acid. These two neuronal populations in the arcuate nucleus mediate these two counterregulatory canonical signals for energy homeostasis (1). In addition, peripheral energy balance–reporting hormones may act on the brain stem (2). In this issue of Diabetes , Le Foll et al. (3) report that the pancreatic hormone amylin may use interleukin-6 (IL-6) as a noncanonical signal mediator in the brain. Thus, amylin may be dependent upon expression of IL-6 in the hypothalamus to exert its effects to reduce body weight and to increase leptin sensitivity. Like leptin and ghrelin, amylin is a periphery-to-brain messenger of importance for energy balance. Proamylin is coreleased with insulin from the β-cells after meals, and amylin decreases blood glucose (4,5). Amylin reduces food intake and body weight and potentiates effects of leptin …

Agricultural chemical companies in Europe are being buffeted by a series of initiatives to substitute—or reduce the use of—many pesticides applied in the region. Experts representing the European Union’s member states want to investigate restricting the use of 77 pesticide active ingredients that are potentially harmful to human health and the environment. The move could affect about 20% of all pesticides licensed in Europe. Matthew Phillips, cofounder of U.K. pesticide and biotechnology consultancy PhillipsMcDougall, cautions that ingredient replacement would take place only if safer alternatives exist. “Identifying safer alternatives is complex,” he says. “The likelihood is that there may be restrictions for certain applications of a product rather than outright bans.” In a separate move, France’s agriculture minister, Stephane Le Foll, has introduced a policy to cut pesticide use in France by 25% by 2020 and 50% by 2025. The policy, which aims to replace pesticides with agricultural methods that ...

Abstract Our vision of cancer has changed during the past decades. Indeed tumors are now perceived as complex entities where tumoral and stromal components interact closely. Among the different elements of tumor stroma the cellular component play a primordial role. Bone Marrow derived mesenchymal cells (MSCs) are attracted to tumor sites and support tumor growth. Endothelial cells (ECs) play a major role in angiogenesis. While the literature documents many aspects of the cross talk between stromal and cancer cells, the role of direct hetero-cellular contact is not clearly established. Recently, Tunneling nanotubes (TnTs) have been shown to support cell-to-cell transfers of plasma membrane components, cytosolic molecules and organelles within cell lines. Herein, we have investigated the formation of heterocellular TnTs between stromal (MSCs and ECs) and cancer cells. We demonstrate that TnTs occur between different cancer cells, stromal cells and cancer-stromal cell lines. We showed that TnTs-like structure occurred in 3D anchorage independent spheroids and also in tumor explant cultures. In our culture condition, TnTs formation occurred after large membrane adhesion. We showed that intercellular transfers of cytoplasmic content occurred similarly between cancer cells and MSCs or ECs, but we highlighted that the exchange of mitochondria occurred preferentially between endothelial cells and cancer cells. We illustrated that the cancer cells acquiring mitochondria displayed chemoresistance. Our results illustrate the perfusion-independent role of the endothelium by showing a direct endothelial to cancer cell mitochondrial exchange associated to phenotypic modulation. This supports another role of the endothelium in the constitution of the metastatic niche. Citation Format: Jennifer Pasquier, Bella s. Guerrouahen, Hamda Al. Thawadi, Nadine Abu Kaoud, Mahtab Maleki, Frank Le Foll, Arash Rafii. Preferential transfer of mitochondria from endothelial to cancer cells through tunneling nanotubes modulates chemoresistance. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Advances in Ovarian Cancer Research: From Concept to Clinic; Sep 18-21, 2013; Miami, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Clin Cancer Res 2013;19(19 Suppl):Abstract nr B69.

Variations in plasma fatty acid (FA) concentrations are detected by FA sensing neurons in specific brain areas such as the hypothalamus. These neurons play a physiological role in the control of food intake and the regulation of hepatic glucose production. Le Foll et al. previously showed in vitro that at least 50% of the FA sensing in ventromedial hypothalamic (VMH) neurons is attributable to the interaction of long chain FA with FA translocase/CD36 (CD36). The present work assessed whether in vivo effects of hypothalamic FA sensing might be partly mediated by CD36 or intracellular events such as acylCoA synthesis or β-oxidation. To that end, a catheter was implanted in the carotid artery toward the brain in male Wistar rats. After 1 wk recovery, animals were food-deprived for 5 h, then 10 min infusions of triglyceride emulsion, Intralipid +/− heparin (IL, ILH, respectively) or saline/heparin (SH) were carried out and food intake was assessed over the next 5 h. Experimental groups included: 1) Rats previously injected in ventromedian nucleus (VMN) with shRNA against CD36 or scrambled RNA; 2) Etomoxir (CPT1 inhibitor) or saline co-infused with ILH/SH; and 3) Triacsin C (acylCoA synthase inhibitor) or saline co-infused with ILH/SH. ILH significantly lowered food intake during refeeding compared to SH (p<0.001). Five hours after refeeding, etomoxir did not affect this inhibitory effect of ILH on food intake while VMN CD36 depletion totally prevented it. Triacsin C also prevented ILH effects on food intake. In conclusion, the effect of FA to inhibit food intake is dependent on VMN CD36 and acylCoA synthesis but does not required FA oxidation.

There has been considerable interest in modulating dopaminergic transmission for drug dependence treatment. However, the fact that dopamine (DA) acts through different receptor subtypes that may have different, perhaps opposing, properties have made the development of viable treatment strategies complex and challenging. It was initially thought that only two receptor subtypes, D1 and D2 receptors, defined on the basis of their distinct transduction mechanisms and pharmacological profiles, mediated the pleiotropic actions of DA. However, soon after D1 (Monsma et al. 1991) and D2 (Bunzow et al. 1988) receptors were cloned, D3 (Sokoloff et al. 1990), D4 (van Tol et al. 1991) and D5 (Sunahara et al. 1991) receptors were also discovered. Those five DA receptor subtypes, termed DRD1–DRD5 are categorized as either D1-like (DRD1 and DRD5) or D2-like (DRD2, DRD3 and DRD4) based on sequence homology and pharmacology (Le Foll et al. 2009). Among those receptors, we and others have proposed that targeting the DRD3 (Heidbreder & Newman, 2010; Le Foll et al. 2005; Newman et al. 2005) and DRD4 (Yan et al. 2012) may be a novel strategy for treatment of drug dependence. However, despite the recent development of promising molecules (particularly DRD3 ligands) by multiple pharmaceutical drug companies, the translational move forward to the clinic has been stalled, in part because of the loss of interest by pharmaceutical companies, of research in the area of neuropsychiatric disorders. In this context, the report recently published by Bergman et al. (2012) suggesting that buspirone binds to DRD3 and DRD4 (among other targets), and may thus aid drug-use cessation, is exciting and timely, especially considering that buspirone is an already-approved medication with a known …

Commentary on: Le Strat Y, Dubertret C, Le Foll B. Prevalence and correlates of major depressive episode in pregnant and postpartum women in the United States. J Affect Disord 2011;135:128–38.[OpenUrl][1][CrossRef][2][PubMed][3]...

RETURN TO ISSUEPREVNewsNEXTBee-Linked Pesticide Under FireCite this: Chem. Eng. News 2012, 90, 24, 9Publication Date (Print):June 11, 2012Publication History Published online29 March 2013Published inissue 11 June 2012https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/cen-09024-notw9https://doi.org/10.1021/cen-09024-notw9newsACS PublicationsCopyright © 2012 Chemical & Engineering NewsArticle Views16Altmetric-Citations-LEARN ABOUT THESE METRICSArticle Views are the COUNTER-compliant sum of full text article downloads since November 2008 (both PDF and HTML) across all institutions and individuals. These metrics are regularly updated to reflect usage leading up to the last few days.Citations are the number of other articles citing this article, calculated by Crossref and updated daily. Find more information about Crossref citation counts.The Altmetric Attention Score is a quantitative measure of the attention that a research article has received online. Clicking on the donut icon will load a page at altmetric.com with additional details about the score and the social media presence for the given article. Find more information on the Altmetric Attention Score and how the score is calculated. Share Add toView InAdd Full Text with ReferenceAdd Description ExportRISCitationCitation and abstractCitation and referencesMore Options Share onFacebookTwitterWechatLinked InRedditEmail Other access options SUBJECTS:Agriculture,Coating materials,Crops,Redox reactions,Safety Get e-Alerts

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article Communications and UpdatesFull AccessImpact of Hypertension and Body Mass Index on Quality of Life in SchizophreniaShaul Lev-Ran, M.D., Yann Le Strat, M.D., and Bernard Le Foll, M.D., Ph.D.Shaul Lev-RanToronto, OntarioSearch for more papers by this author, M.D., Yann Le StratToronto, OntarioSearch for more papers by this author, M.D., and Bernard Le FollToronto, OntarioSearch for more papers by this author, M.D., Ph.D.Published Online:1 May 2011https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2011.10101470AboutSectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail To the Editor: We were pleased to read the article by Joseph I. Friedman, M.D., and colleagues in the October 2010 issue of the Journal (1). The article highlights the negative impact of individual cardiovascular risk factors, particularly hypertension, on memory performance in patients with schizophrenia, and suggests that proper treatment of these risk factors may improve cognitive outcomes in these patients.Pronounced memory deficits have been linked to low quality of life in patients with schizophrenia (2). In recent years, the importance of predictors of quality of life on treatment outcomes among these patients is being recognized (3). We analyzed quality of life among patients with schizophrenia who had hypertension and a body mass index (BMI) >25 as reported in the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (N=43,093), a large representative U.S. survey. This survey assessed substance use and mental and physical disorders, including history of schizophrenia, as well as self-reported hypertension and a high BMI in the past 12 months.We measured quality of life using the 12-item Short-Form Health Survey, a norm-based general health scale, for eight subgroups: participants with schizophrenia with and without hypertension (N=134 and N=252, respectively) or with and without a BMI >25 (N=251 and N=125, respectively) and healthy comparison subjects (participants without schizophrenia) with and without hypertension (N=9,002 and N=33,705, respectively) or with and without a BMI >25 (N=16,983 and N=24,295, respectively). We adjusted all measures for age, gender, education, and ethnicity in all models. We included the vascular risk factor of interest (hypertension or elevated BMI) and the presence or absence of a schizophrenia diagnosis in the main effect model. The interaction between a schizophrenia diagnosis and the vascular risk factor was entered in a second step. We used Taylor linearization to adjust standard errors of means of estimates for complex survey sampling design effects including clustering data, and used the REGRESS procedure in the SUDAAN software package (4).Hypertension, but not a BMI >25, had a significant negative impact on quality of life in patients with schizophrenia (Figure 1). We found no significant interaction between schizophrenia and a BMI >25 on quality of life.FIGURE 1. Health-Related Quality of Life for Patients With Schizophrenia and Comparison Subjects With and Without Hypertension and With and Without a Body Mass Index (BMI) Over 25*p<0.001. **p<0.0001.Friedman et al. (1) stress the importance of addressing individual cardiovascular risk factors in patients with schizophrenia. The dissociation between the effect of hypertension and a BMI >25 on quality of life in these patients is in line with this. Our findings stress the importance of screening for and treating hypertension in patients with schizophrenia, given its association with a poorer quality of life in this patient population.Toronto, OntarioDr. Le Foll has received research grants from Pfizer and has performed consulting work for Richter Pharmaceuticals. The remaining authors report no financial relationships with commercial interests.Accepted for publication in March 2011.

A possible role for dopamine D 3 receptor stimulation in the induction of neurogenesis in the adult rat substantia nigra

P.6.030 Brain-derived neurotrophic factor polymorphism in patients with schizophrenia

Ontogenetic changes in the relative growth of males and females of the spider crab Maja squinado were analyzed and related to their reproductive (maturity) status in order to define criteria to assign individuals to each growth phase. The sampling was carried out in two different areas of southern Galician waters, northwestern Spain, in shallow water (<10 m) with mixed rocky-sandy bottoms (juvenile and postpubertal adult areas) and deep water (>20 m) with soft bottoms (adult habitat). A Principal Component Analysis (PCA) of morphometric variables and a nonhierarchic K-means cluster of PCA scores differentiated two morphometric groups defined as juvenile and adult phases. A significant change in allometry of cheliped size was detected in juvenile males with a break point at a 109-mm carapace length (CL). This point may indicate a change in the relative growth of juveniles, separating the immature and adolescent phases. Histological analysis of a subsample of males showed that sperm were present in most adolescent crabs, but not in immature crabs. Bivariate morphometric linear discriminant functions allow for the identification of juvenile and adult males (classified previously by K-means cluster) with over 99% correct classification using CL and the length or height of the right cheliped. Carapace length at the onset of sexual maturity was estimated to be 132.7 mm (50% of adult males), although in a broad range, 112-165 mm, the size of juveniles and adults overlap. The life history of male spider crabs shows 3 phases differentiated by the relative growth rate of chelipeds separated by two 2 critical molts: prepubertal molt (immature-adolescent) determines a slight increase in allometry, and pubertal or terminal molt (adolescent-adult) determines an increase in the relative size and allometry of chelipeds and the onset of functional maturity. Females showed only 2 phases separated by the terminal molt. Growth of chelipeds in females showed no changes in allometry and was similar to juvenile males. Juvenile females presented a smaller relative width and a higher allometry of the abdomen with regard to adult females. Unlike juvenile females with a flat abdomen, adult females with a domed abdomen have well-developed pleopods, gonads, and seminal receptacles. Carapace length at the onset of sexual maturity was estimated to be 130.4 mm (50% of adult females). The range of overlap of the size of juveniles and adults (114-143 mm) was smaller than in males.

S.21.03 Dopamine D4 receptor antagonists, schizophrenia and beyond?

A one parameter family of iterative methods for solving an operator equation with a bounded linear operator between Hilbert spaces is introduced and analyzed. The classical conjugate gradient method is included in the family as is a method due to Le Foll. The latter method is also studied without the assumption that the equation have a solution and convergence properties of the iterates are established in this setting. A general convergence theorem is given and a variety of known bounds for rates of convergence of the conjugate gradient method are extended to the entire class of methods.