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Biomedical subjects

C Loguercio

Publications and source records attributed to C Loguercio.

18 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Glucagon-independent renal hyperaemia and hyperfiltration after an oral protein load in Child A liver cirrhosis.

The work was designed to study the effects of a meat meal on glomerular filtration rate (GFR), renal plasma flow (RPF), and plasma concentrations of glucagon, insulin, growth hormone, renin, aldosterone, total amino acids, and NH3 in healthy humans (H) as well as in patients with Child A liver cirrhosis (LC). The meat meal produced renal hyperaemia and hyperfiltration without changes in the filtration fraction. Fractional Na excretion in urine increased significantly after the meat meal only in LC. Hyperinsulinaemia and hyperglucagonaemia were seen at baseline in LC and were not affected by the meat meal, whereas in H glucagon concentration increased significantly over baseline within 30 min from the meat meal and insulin within 60 min. Growth hormone concentration was normal at baseline in LC and increased significantly 120-180 min after the meal, whereas it was not affected in H. Renin and aldosterone were stable in both H and LC. Plasma amino acid concentration began to increase 60 min after the meat meal, when hyperfiltration was present. The data indicate that in human Child A cirrhosis of the liver renal haemodynamic response to a meat meal is independent of changes in glucagon.

Dietary Proteins↗
PubMed1992

Alteration of erythrocyte glutathione, cysteine and glutathione synthetase in alcoholic and non-alcoholic cirrhosis.

Glutathione (GSH) and cysteine were determined in the plasma and the erythrocytes of alcoholic and non-alcoholic cirrhotics as fluorescent monobromobimane derivatives by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Cirrhotic patients displayed a significant decrease of plasma GSH, as well as of plasma cysteine, that was related to the degree of liver disease but not to the nutritional conditions. On the contrary, erythrocyte cysteine was found to increase significantly in all cirrhotics, particularly in alcoholics, regardless of the severity of disease. In an attempt to find a possible explanation of these alterations, the GSH synthesizing enzymes, gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase (GC-s) and GSH synthetase (GSH-s) activities were determined in the erythrocytes. GSH-s activity was significantly lower in cirrhotic patients, whereas GC-s activity did not differ in the three groups.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Hyperuricemia induced by fructose load in liver cirrhosis.

The intravenous administration of fructose in healthy subjects may induce an increase of blood uric acid and the urinary excretion of urate and xanthine as a result of hepatic adenosine triphosphate (ATP) breakdown. These changes are partially reversed by ATP resynthesis. We studied the effect of fructose load (0.5 g/kg body weight) on the products of ATP metabolism, and the interference of fructose on the galactose test in 10 patients with well compensated cirrhosis compared with 10 healthy controls. The fructose and the fructose/galactose loads induced a significantly greater increase of plasma uric acid in cirrhotics than in controls, with a 60 minute peak in the cirrhotics. Urinary excretion of urate and xanthines was significantly increased (p less than 0.001) only in the cirrhotics after the fructose/galactose load. As expected, the galactose elimination capacity (GEC) calculated with the galactose test, was lower in these patients than in controls. Fructose infusion before galactose did not significantly modify the GEC in either of the two groups compared. The higher uric acid increase induced by fructose in the blood of cirrhotic patients seems to be a good marker of the energy crisis of the diseased liver whereby it is unable to efficiently resynthesize ATP from its breakdown products.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Inhibitory effect of caerulein on salivary secretion in man.

Previous works have documented that pentagastrin has a stimulatory effect on salivary secretion. In this paper, we have studied the action of caerulein, a peptide that has an active gastrin-like terminal tetrapeptide, on salivary secretion in man. Our data documented that caerulein and pentagastrin have similar excitatory effect on gastric secretion in man, but different actions on salivary flow. Caerulein, at increasing doses, inhibits salivary flow, but not the secretion of amylase; this effect is statistically significant at 0.5 micrograms/kg/h which is the same dose that maximally stimulates gastric secretion. The inhibitory effect of caerulein was not reversed by previous injection of papaverin.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Regional variations in total and nonprotein sulfhydryl compounds in the human gastric mucosa and effects of ethanol.

This study evaluated the regional distribution of sulfhydryl compounds in the human gastric mucosa and the effect of ethanol on gastric sulfhydryl tissue levels. Total sulfhydryl, glutathione, and cysteine and their oxidized forms were measured in biopsy specimens taken from the gastric body and antrum of 22 healthy volunteers. Total sulfhydryl and glutathione contents of the body of the stomach were significantly higher than those of the antrum. In contrast, cysteine concentration was higher in the gastric antrum than in the body. No difference was found in the levels of oxidized sulfhydryls between the gastric body and antrum. The effect of acute administration of ethanol on gastric sulfhydryl content was studied in nine subjects. Ethanol caused gross mucosal damage and lowered the concentration of sulfhydryl compounds in both the body and the antrum. In 10 chronic alcoholics total sulfhydryl and glutathione, but not cysteine, were markedly decreased in the gastric body but not in the antrum as compared with nonalcoholic controls. In conclusion, 1) the human gastric body contains significantly higher tissue levels of total sulfhydryls and glutathione and lower concentrations of cysteine than the antrum; 2) ethanol in a damaging concentration significantly decreases gastric tissue levels of sulfhydryl compounds; and 3) chronic ethanol intake lowers total sulfhydryl and glutathione tissue levels in the gastric body.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

The frog spinal cord: a model to study methanethiol-central nervous system interaction.

1. The effects of methanethiol (MT), DL-dithiothreitol (DTT) and N-ethyl-maleimide (NEM) were studied on the electrical activities of the frog cord. 2. Methanethiol depressed spontaneous dorsal and ventral root potentials, whereas no effects were observed on evoked responses. 3. N-ethyl-maleimide, a SH modifying agent, irreversibly depressed electrical cord activities. 4. DL-Dithiothreitol, a SH reducing agent, dramatically increased spontaneous electrical cord pattern. 5. It is suggested that interneuronal membrane sulphydryl groups of dorsal horn cell population are involved in the origin of spontaneous electrical cord activities and that MT interacts with these interneurones, probably oxidizing membrane SH groups.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

[Effect of cerulein on human salivary secretion].

To evaluate the effect of cerulein on salivary secretion in man, 25 healthy volunteers have been studied. In the morning, before breakfast, saline solution (125 ml/h) has been infused at a constant flow, for one hour. Saline solution has been followed, for other 60', by saline solution + Cerulein at doses of 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.5 microgram/Kg/h. These different doses have been administered in different days according to a randomized order. A wash out by saline solution, at same velocity as before, has been carried out after Cerulein . Samples of saliva were collected every 15'. On salivary specimens the amylase activity (U/l) has been dosed. Each dose of Cerulein induced a reduction of salivary flow. By blocking the administration of Cerulein the salivary secretion returned to basal value in about one hour. No inhibitory effect has been noted on amylase secretion using different doses of Cerulein .

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Decrease of total, glutathione and cysteine SH in non-alcoholic cirrhosis.

The content of plasma thiols was determined in 42 patients with non-alcoholic cirrhosis. Total thiols were evaluated by Ellman's method, glutathione and cysteine by HPLC in fluorescence. Cirrhotic patients showed a significant decrease in plasma thiol content with respect to a control group of 32 healthy subjects, as total sulphydryls as well as glutathione and cysteine. The thiol decrease does not seem to be related to nutritional status or dietetic factors. Our data indicate that liver cirrhosis, independently from alcohol abuse, produces a decrease in all plasma thiols, probably secondary to a complex alteration of the transsulfuration pathway.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Malnutrition in cirrhotic patients: anthropometric measurements as a method of assessing nutritional status.

This study was undertaken to evaluate by anthropmetric measurements the nutritional status of cirrhotic patients at different stages of the disease and to establish intra- and inter-observer variability in the determination of these parameters. In 60 healthy controls and 108 cirrhotics (63 'well compensated' and 45 'decompensated' groups A and B + C on the Child-Pugh classification respectively) two independent experienced observers measured biceps, triceps, subscapular and overiliac skinfold thicknesses and arm circumference three times. Each observer was unaware of the results obtained by the other. No significant intra- or inter-observer variability was found. The study indicates that skinfold thickness measurements are a reliable and reproducible method of assessing the nutritional status of cirrhotics. It was found that more than 50 per cent of the decompensated patients were malnourished, with skinfold values significantly lower than those of the controls. In comparison with skinfold thickness and arm circumference, parameters such as body weight and lean body mass are unreliable, and other indices such as muscle and/or fat arm area do not add any significant information to the evaluation of the nutritional status of cirrhotics.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Effect of somatostatin on salivary secretion in man.

Intravenous infusion of pentagastrin increases salivary secretion progressively at doses from 1 to 4 micrograms/kg body weight/h. Pentagastrin also stimulates salivary secretion of amylase. Simultaneous administration of somatostatin, at the dose that inhibits gastric secretion of pentagastrin-stimulated HCl, blocks the effect of pentagastrin on salivary flow, while it does not reduce the amylase concentration. The data suggest that different mechanisms underlie the effects exerted by pentagastrin on salivary flow and on the concentration of amylase in saliva.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

[Gastrin stimulation of salivary secretion: preliminary observations].

The authors have investigated the effect of pentagastrin and of meat extract on salivary secretion. Both stimuli significantly increase the secretion of saliva. Factors such as taste and deglutition don't influence the increase of salivary secretion due to meat extract, as it remains even when meat extract was administered by naso-gastric tube. This finding suggest that endogenous gastrin, stimulated by meat extract, as well as exogenous pentagastrin, influence the secretion of saliva.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

[Influence of allopurinol on the half-life of tolbutamide and rifamycin-SV in blood of healthy volunteers].

The influence of treatment with allopurinol (5 mg/kg/die for 15 days) on T/2 of tolbutamide and rifomycin-SV intravenously administered, has been studied in 10 healthy volunteers. We have observed reduction of T/2 of tolbutamide and, on the contrary, prolongation of T/2 of rifamycin-SV. Tolbutamide behaviour was unexpected, considering that other Authors had previously found inhibition of metabolic degradation of other drugs metabolized by the microsomal enzymes. We conclude that data concerning the influence of a drug (in our case, allopurinol) on the metabolism of another drug cannot always authorize general deduction and previsions regarding the metabolic interferences on the pharmacokinetics of other substances.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Enterococcus lactic acid bacteria strain SF68 and lactulose in hepatic encephalopathy: a controlled study.

Forty cirrhotic patients with non-advanced hepatic encephalopathy were randomly allocated into groups which were given orally either two capsules three times daily of a preparation of Enterococcus lactic acid bacteria strain SF68 or 30 ml lactulose four times daily. The patients were evaluated over a 10-day course of treatment and for 10 days post-treatment. The Enterococcus SF68 preparation proved to be as effective as lactulose in lowering blood ammonia, and in improving mental state and psychometric performance. Moreover, the effects of Enterococcus SF68, contrary to that of lactulose, persisted longer after treatment withdrawal. Some patients reported diarrhoea and abdominal pain with lactulose. Lactulose is a standard therapy in the treatment of patients with hepatic encephalopathy. In this study, however, the use of the Enterococcus SF68 preparation was shown to offer advantages over lactulose in these patients.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Evaluation of the arterial share of portal flow using a scintigraphic technique in patients with liver cirrhosis. Correlations with other parameters of portal hypertension].

This study aimed to measure in semiquantitative terms the arterial-venous ratio of the portal flow using a scintigraphic technique, by means of a simple intravenous injection of a 99mTcDiethylHIDA bolus, a method which was found to be extremely simple and non-invasive, with a good degree of repeatibility. The percentage of arterialisation of the portal flow was found to be higher in cirrhotic patients compared to non-hepatopathic subjects, and among cirrhotic patients it was correlated with the severity of disease, the presence and degree of esophageal varices, and the presence of porto-systemic shunts, assessed using the ammonium chloride test.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

L-alanine plasma levels after oral loads in non-alcoholic liver cirrhosis: relationship with urea extraformation and ammoniogenesis.

In the post-absorptive stage L-alanine is the main source of alpha-amino-nitrogen reaching the liver as glucose precursor. This aminoacid has been used as a measure of urea synthesis capacity in several pathologic conditions, but it has not been employed sistematically in patients with liver cirrhosis. We tried to address this issue by evaluating: a) L-alanine plasma levels, b) urea extraformation (UE), and c) ammoniogenesis after oral L-alanine (0.25 and 0.50 g/kg b wt) in healthy control subjects and in patients with nonalcoholic compensated (Child-Pugh's A class) and decompensated (Child-Pugh's B and C) liver cirrhosis. L-alanine plasma levels after oral load were higher and lasted longer in cirrhotics as compared to controls. Furthermore, after L-alanine oral load, significantly higher ammonia plasma levels were observed in cirrhotics than in controls. Changes in the urea extraformation were comparable in cirrhotics and controls. Both delayed L-alanine elimination from plasma and L-alanine-induced hyperammoniemia were more evident in decompensated cirrhotics and related to L-alanine dose.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Early neuropsychological changes in patients with nonalcoholic liver cirrhosis].

The presence of latent encephalopathy was assessed by means of various psychodiagnostic tests in 24 non-alcoholic cirrhotics. Twenty-four subjects hospitalized for chronic extrahepatic conditions served as the control group. The following tests were utilized: 1) semistructured individual clinical interviews; 2) Rorschach test; 3) Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory; 4) Reitan's test; 5) spatial capability test (hand test); 6) reaction times to sound and light stimulation. Mood and behavioural modifications were frequently found in cirrhotics, probably as a consequence of the reaction to a chronic disease. Such abnormalities could, however, be differentiated from the early impairment of superior psychomotor functions which were present in nearly 50% of cirrhotics as latent encephalopathy. Results indicate that the use of the Reitan's test, can allow for a better management of cirrhotics even at non advanced stages of the disease and that more sophisticated tests failed to add further clues to diagnosis of latent encephalopathy.

Adult↗