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Biomedical subjects

C Del Rio

Publications and source records attributed to C Del Rio.

18 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Response to neoadjuvant therapy for rectal cancer: influence on long-term results.

OBJECTIVE: Pre-operative treatment with chemoradiotherapy (CRT) seems to improve local control and overall survival in patients with rectal cancer. The aims of the study were to analyse the impact on overall, disease free and cancer related survival of tumour response to pre-operative CRT and to analyse the influence of the degree of response on long-terms results. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients with a locally advanced rectal cancer, treated by pre-operative CRT were studied. A radical resection of the rectal tumour with mesorectal excision was performed within 6-8 weeks. Judged on the final TNM classification patients were considered responders when the tumour showed histologically a complete response, microscopic residual disease or a partial response. Non-responders were those in whom the extent of disease remained stable or progressed. Results Radical excision was performed in 103 patients, and a palliative resection in five. Forty-three patients underwent abdominoperineal resection and 65 anterior resection of the rectum. Seventy-one (65.7%) patients showed a response to CRT, while 37 (34.3%) did not. The overall local and distant recurrence rates were 6.8% and 21.3%. Tumour recurrence (P < 0.008) and disease free survival (P < 0.007) were significantly different in responders and nonresponders. Of the 71 responders, 16 had a pathological complete response, 27 had persisting microscopic disease and 28 had macroscopic residual disease. No differences in cancer specific outcome were observed in these groups. CONCLUSION: Pathological response to pre-operative CRT is associated with improved tumour recurrence and disease-free survival rates. Any response to pre-operative CRT appears to improve outcomes as much as a complete response.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Antiretroviral therapy in HIV-positive men is associated with increased apolipoprotein CIII in triglyceride-rich lipoproteins.

OBJECTIVES: Dyslipidaemia has become a common problem in HIV disease, especially in patients on current antiretroviral therapy. However, the pathogenic mechanisms involved are not well understood or documented using conventional lipid measurements. METHODS: Using a cross-sectional design, the prevalence of abnormal standard lipid measurements and novel biomarkers for abnormal lipid metabolism was determined in 271 HIV-positive men from two HIV clinics in Atlanta, GA, USA. RESULTS: A total of 147 men were treated with protease inhibitors (PIs) for >3 months (54%), 84 were treated with nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) for >3 months (31%) and 40 had not received antiretroviral therapy in the past 3 months (15%). Patients being treated with a PI had higher total cholesterol and triglyceride (TG) levels than patients on no therapy (P<0.05 for each). Patients in the NNRTI group had higher TG, lower high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels, and higher low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels than patients on no therapy (P<0.05 for each). Patients treated with either PIs or NNRTIs were more likely to have higher apolipoprotein CIII (apoCIII) levels (P<0.05 for each) than patients on no therapy. Elevated TG was associated with disproportionably elevated apoCIII levels in both treatment groups. CONCLUSIONS: In this cross-sectional study of HIV-infected men, either PI or NNRTI therapy elevated levels of TG and apoCIII. Higher concentrations of apoCIII in apoB-containing lipoproteins [very low-density lipoproteins (VLDLs), intermediate density lipoprotein (IDL) and LDLs] have been predictive of an increased incidence of coronary events in clinical trials and more rapid progression of coronary lesions measured by angiography. These findings, on a background of an older population with additional risk factors of smoking and diabetes, portend future atherosclerotic events in these patients.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Characteristics of Ryan White and non-Ryan White funded HIV medical care facilities across four metropolitan areas: results from the Antiretroviral Treatment and Access Studies site survey.

The Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act 1990 (CARE Act) is one of the largest federal programmes funding medical and support services for individuals with HIV disease. Data that report services and gaps in service coverage from the organizational perspective are very limited. The Antiretroviral Treatment and Access Studies included a mail survey of 176 HIV medical care facilities in four US inner cities on clinic characteristics, services and practices, and patient characteristics. Characteristics of 143 (85%) responding Ryan White (RW) funded and non-RW funded facilities are described. RW funded facilities reported offering more services than non-funded facilities including evening/weekend hours (49% vs. 18%), transportation (71% vs. 22%), and on-site risk reduction counselling (88% vs. 55%). More RW funded facilities reported offering on-site adherence support services, such as support groups (44% vs. 12%), formal classes (20% vs. 2%), and pillboxes (83% vs. 43%), and served a larger proportion of uninsured patients (41% vs. 4%) than non-funded facilities. Our analysis showed that the RW funded HIV care facilities offered more clinic, non-clinic, and adherence support services than non-RW funded facilities, indicating that the disparities in services were still related to CARE Act funding, controlling for private-public facility type.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Beverage effects on patterns of alcohol consumption.

In this paper an analysis is made of beverage preferences and their effect on alcohol consumption patterns. For this purpose we have used the 1993 Spanish National Household Health Survey conducted on members of the population aged 16 or over. Beer and spirits are consumed more frequently by young people and wine by older people. The most consumed daily drink is wine and beer on a weekly basis. Men always drank more frequently and consumed a greater number of drinks per occasion than women for the three types of drink analyzed. The study shows that beverage preference is an important factor in the characterization of alcohol use patterns.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Neuropeptide Y and sigma ligand (JO 1784) suppress stress-induced colonic motor disturbances in rats through sigma and cholecystokinin receptors.

The effects of neuropeptide Y (NPY), sigma ligand (JO 1784) and sulfated cholecystokinin octapeptide (CCK8s) on emotional stress (ES) and corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH)-induced colonic hypermotility were evaluated in rats equipped with chronically implanted electrodes on the colon and a small catheter into the lateral ventricle of the brain. A 139% (97-172%) increase in colonic spike burst frequency was observed in rats placed in a test cage in which they had previously received electric footshocks, an event assimilated to an ES. Intracerebroventricular injection of CRH (0.5 microgram/kg) mimicked the effects of ES by increasing colonic spike burst frequency by 89.0%. Given i.c.v., both JO 1784 (0.1 microgram/kg) and NPY (0.15 microgram/kg) blocked these stimulatory effects. Similarly, i.c.v. administration of CCK8s (0.1 microgram/kg) abolished both ES and CRH stimulated colonic motility, an effect reproduced by central injection of JMV 180, a cholecystokinin (CCK) derivative with high affinity for CCKA receptors, (1 microgram/kg), but not by JMV 170, a CCK derivative with low affinity for CCKA receptor at similar or higher dose. BMY 14802 (a sigma receptor antagonist) injected s.c. (1 mg/kg) abolished the antagonistic effects of JO 1784 and NPY on the ES-induced colonic hyperkinesia. Injected i.c.v., devazepide (L 364,718), a CCKA receptor antagonist, at 0.1 and 1 microgram/kg, abolished the effect of both JO 1784 and NPY; by contrast L365,260, a CCKB antagonist, required a dose of 10 micrograms/kg to block the antagonistic effect of NPY and JO 1784.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Fungal peritonitis caused by Curvularia lunata in a patient undergoing peritoneal dialysis.

The authors present a case of a patient undergoing continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) who developed peritonitis with Curvularia lunata and gram negative Enterobacteriaceae. A review of the literature indicates that human infections caused by Curvularia are uncommon despite the ubiquity of the organism in the environment. In this case, the organism was present in the Tenckhoff catheter, lacking attachment to it, but obstructing the flow. Treatment of fungal peritonitis during CAPD is discussed.

Bacterial Infections↗
PubMed1989

Comparison of isolates of Neisseria gonorrhoeae causing meningitis and report of gonococcal meningitis in a patient with C8 deficiency.

We studied a previously healthy 20-year-old woman who presented with gonococcal meningitis. The gonococcal isolate, HT-1, was prototrophic by auxotyping, was protein I serovar IB-1, and agglutinated with wheat germ lectin. This isolate differed from the proline-requiring, serovar IA-1 and IB-4, wheat germ-agglutination-negative gonococcal isolates recovered from three patients during a recent outbreak of gonococcal meningitis in Philadelphia. HT-1 was killed by normal pooled human sera (greater than or equal to 98% at 30 min) but not effectively killed by the convalescent-phase sera of the patient (greater than 30% survival at 30 min). Similar results were obtained when mucosal and cerebrospinal fluid isolates from a Philadelphia patient were exposed to these sera, but mucosal and blood isolates from another Philadelphia case showed increased resistance to killing by normal pooled human sera. Further characterization revealed multiple differences in outer membrane and cellular proteins and lipopolysaccharide between case isolates. Absence of the L8 lipopolysaccharide epitope was noted for all isolates. Sera of our patient were found to have low total hemolytic complement (CH100 = 21 U/ml; normal = 55 to 100 U/ml) due to deficiency of C8 (C8 less than 1,000 CH50 U/ml; normal = greater than or equal to 16,000 CH50 U/ml). This is the first reported case of gonococcal meningitis occurring in a patient with a terminal-complement deficiency. Gonococcal meningitis is a rare complication of gonococcal bacteremia. Both defects in host defenses (e.g., terminal-complement deficiency) and organisms with unusual virulence appear to contribute to the pathogenesis of this complication of gonococcal bacteremia.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Knowledge about and attitudes towards drinking among university students in Spain.

A total of 545 Spanish university students from the University of Valladolid, were surveyed in 1985 about their alcohol use, knowledge of the effects of alcohol, and attitudes towards social drinking and towards alcoholism and alcoholics. The knowledge regarding alcohol (mean scores 7.7 +/- 0.1, ranging 1-15) was associated with academic aspects: it was higher among medicine and nursing students and increased according to the length of stay at university. The attitudes both towards social drinking (mean scores 0.6 +/- 0.1, ranging -9 to 9) and towards alcoholism and the alcoholics (mean scores 3.0 +/- 0.1, ranging -6 to 9), were related to alcohol consumption: those students self-reported as "heavy" and "moderate" drinkers, and those with alcohol intake over 40 g/day, had a more favourable attitude. The results suggest a need for education on alcohol.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Patterns of alcohol use among university students in Spain.

A total of 545 university students in Valladolid, Burgos and Palencia (Spain) were surveyed in 1985 with regard to their consumption of alcohol. Alcoholic drinks were taken frequently (daily, 13.6% of the subjects; weekly, 66.2%; monthly, 71.3%), the per capita consumption being 8.4 litres of pure alcohol per year. Consumption was higher among males and during the weekend. Beer, wine and, among spirits, gin, were the favourites. Most students started drinking before the age of 18 (81.2%), most commonly taking alcoholic drinks when 'going out in the evening' (62.2%); their principal reason for drinking was 'because the people I am with are drinking' (71.6%) and 52.8% admitted to having been drunk within their 'lifetime'. Most of the differences in patterns of alcohol consumption were related to sex, and more infrequently were related to the different faculties, cities and academic years.

Alcohol Drinking↗