Introduction. - Bing-Neel syndrome is a rare complication of Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia, defined by monoclonal lymphoplasmocytic cells in the cerebrospinal fluid or in central nervous system biopsy. Case report. - We report a 47-year-old man, with no prior history, who presented a recurrent aseptic lymphocytic meningitis with central nervous manifestations. The presence of a monoclonal lymphoplas-macytic proliferation in cerebrospinal fluid, blood and bone marrow biopsy results was compatible with a diagnosis of Bing-Neel syndrome. Despite the absence of any specific treatment, there was no recurrence of symptoms at 4-month follow-up, and the MRI lesions remained stable. Conclusion. - We report a case of Bing-Neel syndrome revealed by a recurrent meningitis. Outcome without treatment was favorable at 4-month follow-up. (C) 2021 Societe Nationale Francaise de Medecine Interne (SNFMI). Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Endogeic earthworms significantly modify soil aggregation and porosity, which in turn control water flow in soil. This study aimed to determine how the earthworm casting activity influences soil porosity and its dynamics. The main hypothesis was that the deposition of belowground water-stable casts increases soil porosity and its water stability. First we quantified cast production by the endogeic earthworm species Metaphire posthuma under laboratory conditions for 15 days. Secondly, casts and the bulk soil were analysed for structural stability to water and were packed in soil and subjected to wetting under various conditions and energy levels. The shape and size of pores were measured by image analysis.Almost all casts (98%) were produced belowground. M. posthuma produced approximately five times its own weight per day. Casts were depleted in C and were more easily disaggregated by water than the bulk soil. Although casts initially led to larger soil porosity (on average 50%), their structure was unstable. As a consequence, water inputs led to a faster decrease in soil porosity in the presence of casts. Large pores in between casts were rapidly replaced by small elongated and rounded pores. These results suggest that cast lifespan and associated porosity are of primary importance in the regulation of soil porosity turnover and the ecological functions that are under its control. Our findings suggest that in the field, the low stability of casts is likely to lead to a rapid compaction of the soil after rainfall events. However, high levels of cast production may prevent soil porosity from being broken down. Soil structural porosity thus depends on the balance between the production and degradation of casts. Improvements to the soil structure will occur when the former predominates. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

L’interleukine 5 produite par les lymphocytes Th2 est impliquée dans diverses maladies s’accompagnant d’hyperéosinophilie. Plusieurs groupes ont identifié des cellules Th2 clonales avec un phénotype aberrant dans le sang de certains patients atteints du syndrome hyperéosinophilique idiopathique. La nature prémaligne de ces lymphocytes aberrants est suggérée par le développement occasionnel d’un lymphome T périphérique porteur du même phénotype. Dans notre série de cinq patients, les clones T avaient tous le phénotype CD3– CD4+. La production de cytokines Th2 et la prolifération de ces cellules en réponse à des cellules dendritiques in vitro étaient dépendantes de l’engagement des molécules CD2 et CD28, ainsi que d’une boucle autocrine IL-2/IL-2R. L’importante apoptose spontanée de ces cellules était fortement inhibée par l’IL-2 et l’IFN-α in vitro, suggérant que l’administration d’IFN-α à de tels patients pourrait favoriser l’expansion et l’éventuelle transformation maligne du clone. En revanche, le syndrome hyperéosinophilique pourrait représenter une indication inattendue des nouvelles molécules immunomodulatrices telles que le CTLA4-Ig et l’anti-IL-2R-α.Interleukin-5 produced by Th2 lymphocytes is involved in the pathogenesis of a number of hypereosinophilic disorders. We and others have identified phenotypically abnormal clonal Th2 cells in peripheral blood of certain patients presenting the idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome (IHS). The pre-malignant nature of the aberrant lymphocytes is suggested by the occasional development of a peripheral T cell lymphoma bearing the same phenotype. In our series of five patients, the T cell clones all bore a CD3– CD4+ phenotype. The production of type-2 cytokines and the proliferation of these cells in response to dendritic cells in vitro were dependent on engagement of CD2 and CD28 molecules and on an IL-2/IL-2R autocrine loop. The high-level spontaneous apoptosis displayed by these cells in vitro was drastically inhibited by IL-2 and IFN-α, suggesting that administration of IFN-α to such patients could favour further expansion and eventual malignant transformation of the T cell clone. The hypereosinophilic syndrome may represent an unexpected application of new immunomodulatory molecules such as CTLA4-Ig and anti-IL-2R-α.