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Biomedical subjects

C Parlapiano

Publications and source records attributed to C Parlapiano.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Cortisol circadian rhythm and 24-hour Holter arterial pressure in OSAS patients.

Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is a syndrome in which the principal symptom is apnea during sleep. Hypoxia in OSAS is a stress condition, which when prolonged in time, could alter hypothalamo-hypophysial-suprarenal control and the cortisol cicadian rhythm. We studied 28 patients with OSAS (30-60 years old), 20 female and 8 male. We calculated the OSAS class according to the Simmons classification. Twenty of the 28 patients maintained unmodified cortisol circadian rhythms, while 8 had cortisol levels more elevated in late and nocturnal hours. Holter monitoring showed arterial hypertension in 8 of the 28 patients (the same patients with cortisol circadian rhythm alteration). Our data seem to indicate that when the OSAS patients lack cortisol circadian rhythm they are having arterial hypertension.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Skin diseases as extrahepatic manifestations of HCV. Review of some clinical cases.

Among extra-hepatic manifestations of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection particular interest is focused on some dermatological diseases such as: leukocytoclastic vasculitis, oral lichen planus, pruritus-urticaria, psoriasis. Aim of this paper is to analyze these typical dermatoses in a population of patients with HCV infection and describe the characteristic clinical pictures. These clinical pictures confirm the importance of liver examination in presence of skin diseases not related to other pathogenetic mechanisms.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2001

Met-enkephalin levels during PTCA-induced myocardial ischemia.

Met-enkephalin (Met-enk) has been demonstrated to modulate myocardial-ischemia mechanisms via the opioid receptors, but no studies are now available on Met-enk levels in the coronary circulation. In this experience Met-enk levels were evaluated in aortic root and in coronary sinus at baseline (T0), during PTCA induced transient ischemia (T1) and during reperfusion (T2). No significant differences were found at any time. Thus, it appears that there is no Met-enk extraction from the coronary circulation during provoked myocardial ischemia and no Met-enk release from the ischemic heart.

Aged↗
PubMed2001

ET-1 levels in cardioischemic patients undergoing atrial pacing.

Atrial pacing (AP) procedure was carried out in 11 cardioischemic patients to reproduce tachycardia-induced myocardial ischemia. Six control subjects underwent the same procedure until the maximum pacing rate was reached. During the procedure, endothelin-1 (ET-1) and plasma lactate levels were measured in the coronary sinus and in the aortic root. In all the patients, atrial pacing provoked electrocardiographic signs and metabolic evidence of myocardial ischemia and a significant decrease (p<0.001) in left ventricular ejection fraction. At AP-induced ischemia, coronary sinus (17.31 +/- 4.20 pg/mL) and arterial (9.60 +/- 3.31 pg/mL) ET-1 plasma levels were significantly different (p<0.001) in the patients. On the contrary, at maximum pacing rate, no significant difference (p=0.186) emerged between coronary sinus (9.72 +/- 1.09 pg/mL) and arterial (8.95 +/- 0.75 pg/mL) plasma ET-1 levels in the control group. These results suggest that, in cardioischemic patients, tachycardia can induce the coronary endothelium to release significant amounts of ET-1.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

The role of met-enkephalin in silent myocardial ischemia in diabetic patients.

Met-enkephalin plasma levels were evaluated in 20 cardioischemic diabetic patients. All the patients had ECG ischemic signs. Ten patients with diabetic autonomic neuropathy, experienced no pain during myocarial ischemia. Met-enkephalin levels in the diabetic patients with silent myiocardial ischemia were significantly lower compared to those in the symptomatic patients. This demonstrates that the absence of myocardial ischemic pain in neuropathic diabetic patients is not accounted for by met-enkephalin action.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Are elevated levels of soluble ICAM-1 a marker of chronic graft disease in heart transplant recipients?

Positivity for circulating intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) in heart transplant recipients has been claimed to predict the development of coronary artery disease and risk of graft failure. Soluble ICAM-1 were evaluated in 32 heart transplant recipients. Five of these patients, who had undergone transplantation several years before, were positive for soluble ICAM-1 but did not present any clinical sign of graft rejection. Furthermore, although heart graft coronary disease was diagnosed in 15 of the 32 patients, they did not show significantly higher titres of soluble ICAM-1 compared to the remaining patients. These findings suggest that major caution is necessary when considering ICAM-1 positivity as a marker of graft disease.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Revealing deterministic structures in click-evoked otoacoustic emissions.

Click-evoked otoacoustic emissions (CEOAEs) were studied by means of recurrence quantification analysis (RQA) and were found to be endowed with a relevant amount of deterministic structuring. Such a structure showed highly significant correlation with the clinical evaluation of the signal over a data set including 56 signals. Moreover, 1) one of the RQA variables, Trend, was very sensitive to phase transitions in the dynamical regime of CEOAEs, and 2) appropriate use of principal component analysis proved able to isolate the individual character of the studied signals. These results are of general interest for the study of auditory signal transduction and generation mechanisms.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed2000

Mitral prolapse. A heart anomaly in a clinical neuroendocrine context.

Mitral valve prolapse was identified as a separate nosological entity by Barlow in 1963. A characteristic of this cardiac anomaly is blood reflux into the left atrium during the systole owing to the lack of adhesion between valve flaps. The presence of symptoms linked to neuroendocrine dysfunctions or to the autonomic nervous system lead to the onset of the pathology known as mitral valve prolapse syndrome (MVPs). It is usually diagnosed by chance in asymptomatic patients during routine tests. MVPs includes complex alterations to the neurovegetative system and a high clinical incidence of neuropsychiatric symptoms, like anxiety and panic attacks. A neuroendocrine mechanism thought to underlie panic attacks was recently proposed based on a biological model. In general, the cardiovascular anomaly manifested by patients with MVPs could be defined in neuroendocrine-constitutional terms.

Humans↗
PubMed1999

The relationship between glycated hemoglobin and polymorphonuclear leukocyte leukotriene B4 release in people with diabetes mellitus.

In order to evaluate polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMN) activity in diabetes mellitus, leukotriene B4 (LTB4) levels were measured in sixty patients, 31 affected with Type 1 diabetes mellitus and 29 affected with Type 2 diabetes mellitus. The LTB4 levels (12.1+/-0.2 pg/100 microl) in diabetic patients were higher compared to those of the control group (7.9+/-0.1 pg/100 microl) (P < 0.001), and remained significantly higher (P < 0.001) (12.8+/-0.2 pg/100 microl) than in the control group (11.0+/-0.2 pg/100 microl) after stimulation with calcium ionophore. A significant and positive correlation between glycated hemoglobin and LTB4 was demonstrated (P < 0.001, r = 0.80). This study demonstrates that in diabetic patients there is a PMN activation and that this activation is correlated to glycated hemoglobin level.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Increased plasma concentration of atrial natriuretic hormone in myotonic dystrophy.

Atrial natriuretic hormone (ANH) concentrations were measured in 16 patients affected with myotonic dystrophy (MyD) undergoing 24-hour Holter ECG and in 15 age-matched normal subjects. Although the MyD patients did not show overt left ventricular function impairment, their plasma ANH levels were found to be higher (183.76 +/- 113.25 pg/ml) compared to those of the control subjects (39.73 +/- 9.95 pg/ml, p < 0.001). Nine patients with arrhythmias and some echocardiographic alterations formed subgroup A. Seven patients without cardiac alterations formed subgroup B. No significant difference in ANH emerged between the two subgroups. This evidence suggests that high plasma ANH levels in MyD cannot always be related to overt or latent heart failure and to arrhythmias.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Plasma atrial natriuretic hormone in hyperthyroidism.

In 22 hyperthyroid patients, atrial natriuretic hormone (ANH) levels (71.91 +/- 21.03 pg/ml), measured during a 3-h-Holter, were found to be significantly higher (p < 0.001) than those in 20 age-matched normal subjects (37.22 +/- 8.73 pg/ml). We have demonstrated that the presence of tachiarrhythmias does not influence ANH release. The positive and significant correlation of FT3 with both ANH and heart rate confirms the hypothesis of a direct action of thyroid hormones on ANH release.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Coronary sinus plasma beta endorphin levels in cardioischemic patients undergoing PTCA.

Plasma beta-endorphin levels were studied in the coronary sinus of 8 patients undergoing percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA). All the patients had ECG ischemic signs and pain during the inflation of the balloon. No significant changes in plasma beta-endorphin levels were observed during PTCA-induced ischemia. Baseline coronary sinus plasma beta-endorphin levels were found to be elevated when compared with peripheral ones which would suggest an accumulation of beta-endorphin in the ischemic heart.

Aged↗
PubMed1997

Metformin does not alter diabetes incidence in the NOD mouse.

In insulin-dependent (type 1) diabetes mellitus, increasing peripheral insulin sensitivity might be a useful approach in controlling the process leading to beta cell destruction by reducing insulin output and thereby reducing the antigenicity associated with its release. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the use of a biguanide, Metformin, which has been suggested to increase insulin sensitivity, was capable of modifying the natural history of diabetes in a model of type 1 diabetes, the non-obese diabetic (NOD) mouse. Using age-, sex- and litter-matched groups, three groups of 32 animals each were treated with Metformin in their drinking water at a high dose of 200 mg/kg body weight and at a low dose of 20 mg/kg body weight; the third group of mice acted as controls. Diabetes incidence at 30 weeks of age was similar in all groups. No significant differences in the calculated index of insulitis were observed in treated or control animals. We conclude that Metformin does not affect the disease process leading to clinical diabetes in this animal model.

Aging↗
PubMed1997

ET-1 plasma levels during cold stress test in sclerodermic patients.

Endothelial cell injury in blood vessels of small arteries and capillaries is considered the primary event in the pathogenesis of systemic sclerosis (SSc). Because endothelin-1 (ET-1) is mainly released in the site of endothelial cell damage, thereby inducing a potent vasoconstriction, it was our intention to study ET-1 release in a group of SSc patients during a cold pressor test (CPT). Twelve SSc patients and a control group of 10 healthy subjects underwent CPT. Blood samples for ET-1 assay were collected at 90 and 180 seconds of exposure to cold stress. Heart rate and blood pressure were recorded at the same intervals. A capillaroscopic examination was performed in both groups before and after CPT. We observed significantly higher levels of plasma ET-1 in SSc patients compared with those of the control group at baseline (P=0.007) and at 90 (P=0.006) and 180 seconds (P=0.03) of CPT. During the test, the capillaroscopic examination showed a dramatic worsening of the vascular picture that was parallel to the increase in ET-1 plasma levels. This suggests that higher ET-1 plasma levels can have a part in the acute vascular reactivity of SSc patients undergoing CPT.

Aged↗