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Biomedical subjects

A Vagnucci

Publications and source records attributed to A Vagnucci.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Obesity and medical illnesses in psychiatric patients admitted to a long-term psychiatric facility.

Obesity and associated medical conditions may have an impact on morbidity and even mortality in patients with psychiatric disorders. The authors present the results of a survey of the prevalence of obesity and selected medical conditions among 420 consecutively admitted psychiatric inpatients at a long-stay facility and compare these data with those reported in the literature. Female psychiatric subjects had considerably higher rates of being either overweight or obese (69%) as compared to women in the general U.S. population (51%). Male psychiatric subjects did not differ significantly from their counterparts in the general population in being overweight or obese (nearly 55%). The majority of psychiatric subjects with essential hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemias, cardiovascular disease, or sleep apnea were either overweight or obese (72%-87%). In this cross-sectional study, no associations could be deduced between psychotropic drug classes and specific medical conditions. No specific psychiatric diagnostic category was associated with a significantly greater prevalence of any specific medical condition, except that subjects with schizoaffective disorder appeared to have a higher prevalence of type II diabetes mellitus (11.6%). Subjects with predominant substance or alcohol abuse or dependence disorders had a lower prevalence of obesity and associated medical conditions.Obesity-either independently or additively along with a sedentary lifestyle, unhealthy dietary habits, and nicotine dependence-may have a serious impact on coexisting medical comorbidity in psychiatric patients. Judicious monitoring for obesity and rapid pharmacological and nonpharmacological intervention, where appropriate, by concerned clinicians may improve several coexisting medical conditions in psychiatric patients and thereby improve patients' overall quality of life.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2000

Inositol as an add-on treatment for bipolar depression.

OBJECTIVE: Inositol is a constituent of the intracellular phosphatidyl inositol (PI) second messenger system, which is linked to various neurotransmitter receptors. Inositol crosses the blood-brain barrier in pharmacological doses, and has shown efficacy in a small double-blind study of unipolar depression. This pilot study evaluated its potential efficacy and safety in bipolar depression. METHODS: Twenty-four consenting adult men and women with DSM-IV bipolar depression (bipolar I = 21; bipolar II = 3) were randomly assigned to receive either 12 g of inositol or D-glucose as placebo for 6 weeks. Efficacy and safety ratings were done weekly. Thymoleptic medications (lithium, valproate, carbamazepine) in stable doses and at therapeutic levels at study entry were continued unchanged. RESULTS: Two subjects receiving placebo dropped out early due to worsening or non-adherence to the protocol. Among the 22 subjects who completed the trial, six (50%) of the inositol-treated subjects responded with a 50% or greater decrease in the baseline Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D) score and a Clinical Global Improvement (CGI) scale score change of 'much' or 'very much' improved, as compared to three (30%) subjects assigned to placebo, a statistically nonsignificant difference. On the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), eight (67%) of twelve inositol-treated subjects had a 50% or greater decrease in the baseline MADRS scores compared to four (33%) of twelve subjects assigned to placebo (p = 0.10). Inositol was well tolerated with minimal side effects, and thymoleptic blood levels were unaltered. CONCLUSIONS: These pilot data suggest a controlled study with an adequate sample size, and the appropriate rating scale may demonstrate efficacy for inositol in bipolar depression. The tolerability and the 'natural substance' aspect of inositol may be particularly appealing to subjects with bipolar depression.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Subclinical left ventricular abnormalities in young diabetics.

Twenty young asymptomatic diabetic patients were evaluated for left ventricular dysfunction by determining the radionuclide ejection fraction response to supine bicycle ergometry. The double product at peak exercise (28,743 +/- 3,314 vs 29,007 +/- 3,625, p greater than .05) was not significantly different between the two groups. Seven of 20 diabetics had either no change or a drop in their ejection fraction during exercise while 1 of 20 control subjects had no change in ejection fraction. There was no correlation between the FBS (r = .26) and HbA1c (r = .32) and ejection fraction change during exercise, although those diabetics with LV dysfunction tended to have a higher HbA1c level as compared to diabetics with a normal response (16.8 +/- 3.1 percent vs 12.5 +/- 3.8 percent respectively, p greater than .05). The LV systolic dysfunction in young asymptomatic diabetic subjects does not appear to correlate with the degree of acute or chronic hyperglycemia, and therefore, is not a direct function of the dynamic metabolic state of diabetes.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Exaggeration of defective platelet function by methyldopa in hypothyroidism.

Platelet function was analyzed in two hypothyroid patients who were taking methyldopa. Results from these two patients are compared to those obtained in seven others with hypothyroidism on no medications. Bleeding times in the two drug patients were 33 and 26 minutes compared to normal values (4.0 to 8.0 minutes) in the other hypothyroid individuals. In addition, platelet aggregation responses to epinephrine, collagen, and ristocetin were abnormal in these two patients; these were normal in the others with hypothyroidism. Repeat studies were done in the first drug patient when she was euthyroid and still receiving methyldopa. Her bleeding time decreased to 11 minutes, platelet retention increased from 31% to 75%, and abnormal aggregation responses corrected to normal. Factor VIII coagulant activity, VIII antigenic activity, VIII ristocetin cofactor activity, and two-dimensional immunoelectrophoresis of VIII antigen were normal. These findings suggest that methyldopa can potentiate the mild platelet function defect seen in patients with hypothyroidism.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

Angiotensin II mediated ACTH release in rat pituitary cell culture.

Anterior pituitaries from normal rats were enzymatically dispersed and placed into monolayer cell culture in order to determine if and how angiotensin II (Ang II) mediates the in vitro release of ACTH and other pituitary hormones. Ang II stimulated ACTH secretion in a time dependent fashion. This release occurred at physiologic concentrations of Ang II and was linearly correlated with the log dose of Ang II. One hour pretreatment of the cells with cycloheximide, a inhibitor of protein synthesis, significantly decreased the cellular ACTH secretory response to Ang II. Ang 11 did not mediate the release of LH nor of ADH, a proposed stimulator of ACTH secretion.

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone↗