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Biomedical subjects

C L Cazzullo

Publications and source records attributed to C L Cazzullo.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1979

3-Methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol and primary depression: clinical and pharmacological considerations.

Pretherapeutic urinary excretion of 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol (MHPG) was studied in 25 primary depressed patients. The results indicate that: (i) There exists a wide variability among primary depressives with respect to MHPG excretion. (ii) Age of onset together with polarity of the disease may account for the nonhomogeneous division of the patients according to MHPG levels. (iii). The other variables considered, with the possible exception of motor activity, do not explain the dichotomy between high or normal and low MHPG levels, even though it is possible that they influence MHPG excretion to some extent, with the consequent possibility of errors in subclassification of the patients at the boundaries between the two groups. (iv) The correlation between motor retardation and low MHPG excretion is positive, but probably due to a frequent association between this motricity state and primary depression of bipolar early onset type. (v) Treatments with chlorimipramine and, to a lesser degree of specificity, with amitriptyline are particularly indicated in patients with normal or high MHPG. Some practical and theoretical implications deriving from these data are briefly discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1978

HLA typing on Italian multiple sclerosis population.

Considerable evidence suggests the existence of significant differences of HLA distribution between M.S. patients and normal healthy subjects of the same population. In the present work we investigate whether the antigen DW2 may be a better marker for M.S. than the specificities at the loci A and B by means of in vitro one-way mixed lymphocyte cultures.

HLA Antigens↗
PubMed1978

From etiology and pathogenesis to therapy of multiple sclerosis.

The Author describes the histopathologic picture of the Multiple Sclerosis and Experimental Allergic Encephalitis and discusses some etiopathogenetic hypotheses elaborating on the immunogenetic and immunopathological aspects. The therapeutical problem is analyzed in all its various facets: cortisone derivatives, immunosuppressive products and reabilitation therapy aiming simultaneously at motion reeducation and at individual and group psycotherapy.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

Immunogenetics of Lennox-Gastaut syndrome: search for LD determinants as genetic markers of the syndrome.

In a previous work we demonstrated a strong association between HLA-B7 and the susceptibility to the Lennox-Gastaut syndrome. In this work we report some preliminary results obtained performing one-way mixed lymphocyte cultures in vitro between 15 unrelated children showing the typical EEG and clinical patterns of the syndrome. The same children were also tested against unrelated control cells from healthy donors. The low stimulation displayed by Lennox-Gastaut patients between them as compared with the higher stimulation found in patients/controls and controls/controls comparisons suggests the existence of an LD allele which may be associated with the disease.

Alleles↗
PubMed1978

Clinical picture of multiple sclerosis with late onset.

A group of 47 patients (multiple sclerosis (M.S.) diagnosed according to Schumacher's criteria) with age at onset over 40 years, was studied by statistical analysis and compared with a control group (100 M.S. patients with onset between ages 18 and 38). The following features appear peculiar in this group: --the most frequent initial symptoms are motor disturbances --the onset is generally monosymptomatic --the course is generally progressive and more severe than that of controls, as seen by Kurtzke's Disability Scale, relapse rate, interval between first and second attack --the course is more severe when the onset is progressive and characterized by motor disturbances.

Adult↗
PubMed1978

HLA typing and affective disorders: a study in the Italian population.

HLA phenotype distribution was investigated in 91 affective patients. Significant increases over those of the control population were found in HLA-A 29 and in Bw 22 frequencies, while A 10 and A 30 were decreased. No significant difference was shown between the two clinical subgroups (41 unipolar patients and 50 bipolar ones). On comparing our data with those from other authors, Bw 16 was significantly increased. However, a high degree of heterogeneity was also shown for this antigen. Of some interest is the finding that relapsed and non-relapsed patients during long-term lithium therapy display diverging HLA phenotype distributions, with B 5 increased among the non-relapsed subjects.

Bipolar Disorder↗
PubMed1977

[Role of the family group in attempted suicide among the young].

Data from 1848 cases of attempted suicide on the files of the Milan University Emergency Psychiatry Ward and 990 suicides recorded by the Milan Legal Medicine Department in the period 1964-1969 were computerised on specially prepared cards, designed to permit objective study of acts of self-destruction in the light of the relations between the subject, his family, and the community. The results point to the importance of extra-subjective factors (loss of cohesion in the family, the way in which parents carry out their respective roles, various environmental factors) as motive forces in attempted suicide.

Adult↗
PubMed1977

Sleep, psychophysiological functioning and learning processes in schizophrenia.

Sleep research has underlined how sleep is a specific functional moment inserted in the more complex system of circadian psychobiological rhythms. Many experimental data have evidenced that in particular REM sleep is involved in information processing and cognitive processes. The authors examine correlations between daytime cognitive performances and sleep patterns in a group of 11 schizophrenic patients, and in a control group made of 11 non-schizophrenic (borderline, depressed, character disorders) patients. Results show that there exists a relationship between REM sleep and cognitive activities, beyond nosographic partitions. They on the other side suggest caution in using sleep as a means of discrimination between schizophrenic and non-schizophrenic patients.

Adult↗
PubMed1976

N-methylnicotinamide excretion and affective disorders.

N-Methylnicotinamide urinary output is examined in 38 healthy volunteers, 52 patients with secondary affective disorders (SAD), 55 patients with primary affective disorders (PAD) and 46 healthy first-degree relatives of PAD patients. The results indicate (1) that in PAD patients and their first-degree relatives the frequency of low N1-MN excretion was significantly higher (P less than 0-001) than in healthy controls and in patients with secondary affective disorders, and (2) that PAD patients have a consistently low N1-MN output, at all times constant and independent of the clinical phases of the disease. These findings provide evidence that the low N1-MN levels may represent an index of a biological background linked to a high morbidity risk for primary affective disorders. The theoretical implications deriving from these data are briefly discussed.

Adjustment Disorders↗
PubMed1976

The HLA system and the clinical response to treatment with chlorpromazine.

A group of 33 schizophrenic patients were typed for HLA-SD antigens and their qualitative clinical responses to chlorpromazine therapy determined. A highly significant positive correlation was found between response to chlorpromazine and HLA-AI positive, while HLA-A2 positive subjects showed a significant negative correlation to chlorpromazine treatment. In a second group of 17 patients the clinical response to chlorpromazine were evaluated quantitatively, by WPRS, in HLA-AI positive and HLA-AI negative patients. There were no pre-treatment differences in the scores. After treatment the scores of positive patients were significantly lower, indicating that they responded to a greater degree. Since the frequency of HLA-AI in hebephrenic patients is higher than that in other schizophrenics this may explain our earlier finding that hebephrenics, as a group, respond better to chlorpromazine than do other schizophrenics.

Anxiety↗
PubMed1976

Epidemiological survey on multiple sclerosis in Italy.

An epidemiological survey on Multiple Sclerosis was carried out in 1975 with similar methods in 9 italian provinces: 4 in the North, 2 in central Italy and 3 in the south and islands. It was found that the incidence of the disease was partically uniform in the northern provinces, in the central Italy and in Bari province. It is important however to complete in greater detail such survey in the south of Italy where the data are still incomplete.

Humans↗
PubMed1976

Cobalt-induced experimental epilepsy in cats pharmacologically immunodepressed. An EEG and histological study.

The authors made 11 adult cats epileptic by implanting cobalt powder on the left sensorimotor cortex. Some of the animals were treated with the immunodepressant drug, cyclophosphamide (Endoxan), before and after surgery, and others were not. Then the two groups of animals were compared in terms of EEG and histopathological findings. The treatedanimals showed a definite reduction of focal electrical activity both primary and secondary, and a much milder perifocal parvicellular infiltration and cerebral edema. In view of these findings, the authors suggest that in addition to other well-known factors, the pathogenesis of cobalt-induced experimental epilepsy involves immunological mechanisms triggered by the release of nerve tissue antigens as a result of tissue injury caused by cobalt. This would result in the formation of antibodies directed against several brain constituents. Last, the authors submit that a similar autoimmune mechanism may be at play also in the pathogenesis of some forms of focal epilepsy of traumatic origin.

Animals↗