PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

C Ruffino

Publications and source records attributed to C Ruffino.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1993

Mucosal immunity in allergic rhinitis.

Secretory IgA (SIgA) is the main agent protecting the mucosal districts against both infectious microorganisms and inert foreign macromolecules. A lack of secretory immunity has previously been described in patients with allergic rhinitis, but it is a controversial finding. The discrepant results of SIgA levels found in allergy may partially be due to methodological problems. Sixty patients with previously demonstrated allergic rhinitis, treated or not with specific desensitization therapy and free from clinical manifestation of rhinitis were studied. Normal volunteers and patients with selective 11S IgA deficit, without allergic pathology, were investigated as controls. The titration of SIgA in nasal secretions, performed by an original immunoisoelectro-focusing method, showed significantly decreased values in allergic patients. An evaluation of the IgE level in nasal secretion was performed by ELISA. Low rates of IgE were also found in the intercritic period.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

[Importance of the determination of blood pressure profile in the diagnosis of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease].

The nocturnal decline of blood pressure (BP) is not observed in autonomic dysfunction (after cardiac transplantation and in patients with diabetic neuropathy) or in patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. This study evaluated if smoking prematurely alters the blood pressure during the night and if the cumulative risk of hypertension and smoking may additionally alter this nocturnal profile. Three different groups of subjects were studied. In each subject systolic and diastolic BP was recorded, for 24 hours at 15 min intervals, by automatic non-invasive monitoring. Group 1 consisted of 14 normotensive nonsmokers (with a mean age 50, range 38 to 54 years); Group 2 consisted of 14 normotensive heavy smokers (with a mean age 48, range 37 to 52); Group 3 consisted of 14 heavy smokers with mild or moderate hypertension and with left ventricular hypertrophy (with a mean age 51, range 39 to 54 years). We have evaluated particularly the average systolic and diastolic BP during 3 hours of the day and 3 hours of the night, the latter selected from midnight to 3.00 am, when the patients were asleep, and the former selected from 3.00 pm to 6.00 pm when they were engaged in social activities in the hospital. The statistical analysis showed that in normotensive heavy smokers (and in hypertensive smokers) the normal nocturnal decline of BP is not present. This physiologic fall in arterial pressure was normally observed in the group of normotensive nonsmokers. The absence of nocturnal decline of BP may be related to the reduced arterial distensibility secondary to smoking damage and may represent an important and early marker of this vascular alteration.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

[An elevated incidence in the association of diabetes mellitus and Dupuytren's disease].

The palmar aponeurosis typical of Dupuytren's disease has often been encountered in people with diabetes mellitus. A well-tested technique that is highly sensitive and specific was used to identify the signs of Dupuytren's disease in a group of Diabetic Clinic patients and revealed a statistically significant connection between the two conditions. For this reason, the hands should be examined carefully and systematically during periodic check-ups on diabetic patients.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

[Hepato-renal polycystosis, Marfan's syndrome and spina bifida occulta: a complex association. Description of a clinical case].

The simultaneous diagnosis of polycystic kidney, Marfan's syndrome and silent spina bifida in a young woman is described. The coexistence of the first two entities has recently been reported as not rare, but the pathogenetic mechanism is not clear. The prognostic importance and the frequency of these two clinical entities make complete assessment of patients with only one of the two malformations mandatory.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Respiratory diseases in wood workers.

A survey was carried out on wood workers and on a group of unexposed, healthy controls. One group of wood workers (group A) were asymptomatic and another (group B) had symptoms either of chronic cough and dyspnoea on exertion (B1) or dyspnoea at work and bronchial hyperreactivity (B2). The control group (group C) was randomly selected from among a population of laboratory workers. No significant differences were found among the groups with respect to the frequency of atopy but the prevalence of a positive skin reaction to wood extracts was significantly higher in the asthmatic subjects. The adjusted FVC and FEV1/FVC% were significantly higher in B1 than in the other groups; the FEV1 was lower in B1 than in B2 and in B2 than in the other groups; TLCO and KCO differed significantly in all four groups. A significant negative correlation was observed between FEV1, MEF50, TLCO and KCO and duration of exposure to wood dusts. The alveolar volumes were not significantly different between the groups and were not correlated with duration of exposure. These results confirm the observation that exposure to wood dust or to some bronchoreactive substances linked with wood working can induce chronic obstructive lung disease (COLD). Some cases of wood dust asthma seem to be related to an immediate allergic reaction, but precipitating antibodies appear to be an index of exposure rather than of disease. The decrease in diffusion capacity can be ascribed to a thickening of the alveolar capillary membranes secondary to an alveolitis like, non-symptomatic, allergic reaction.

Forced Expiratory Volume↗
PubMed1986

The effect of birth season on pollenosis.

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether exposure to antigens in the early months of life can increase or decrease subsequent sensitization. With this aim in mind, 304 subjects undergoing hyposensitization were randomly selected in an out-patient study: 207 of them had pollenosis (seasonal asthma, rhinitis, and positive skin tests to grass pollen) and 97, house dust respiratory allergy (perennial asthma and rhinitis with positive skin tests to house dust mites). The results of the study show a statistically significant association (P less than .005) between birth in grass pollen season and pollenosis. The region of birth (north or south Italy) appeared to be a "deterministic" effect modificator; the odds ratio due to the birth season was 5.099 in the northern and 0.997 in the southern Italian regions. The main effect of the region of birth was not significant, neither was sex, age, and the region of birth of the parents (main, polinomial and interaction effects). It is likely that there is a real relationship between the month of birth of atopic subjects and the prevalence of the pollenosis. The precise reason(s) of the different degrees of association between month of birth and pollenosis in subjects born in northern and southern Italy is not clear.

Adolescent↗