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C Signorini

Publications and source records attributed to C Signorini.

72 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

On the biological effects of cosmic rays: epidemiological studies.

Determining the biological effects of cosmic rays and other natural ionizing radiations, could possibly help us in shedding light on the more general problem of low-dose ionizing-radiation effects. In this work we provide a survey of the most recent studies available on epidemiological methods: we discuss the main difficulties in using these methods, as well as the discrepancies in their results.

Animals↗

Positive inotropic effects of an ACTH analogue (ACTH 1-17) on myocardial performance.

The aim of the present investigation was to study the effects of a single 100-micrograms i.v. administration of the synthetic heptadecapeptide [beta-Ala1-Lys17]ACTH1-17-4-amino-N-butylamide (ACTH 1-17) on the left ventricular performance. The systolic time intervals (STI) were recorded in 20 healthy adult young subjects (10 treated with ACTH 1-17 and 10 receiving placebo) before as well as 20, 40, 60 and 80 min after the i.v. ACTH 1-17 or placebo infusion. The STI were recorded immediately after blood withdrawal for measuring cortisol, aldosterone, adrenaline and noradrenaline plasma levels. A highly significant statistical difference was demonstrated for preejection period (PEP) and preejection period/left ventricular ejection time (PEP/LVET) ratio between subjects treated with ACTH 1-17 and subjects receiving placebo. As expected, a significant increase of cortisol and aldosterone plasma levels was observed in subjects treated with ACTH 1-17. The difference of adrenaline and noradrenaline plasma levels was statistically highly significant between subjects treated with ACTH 1-17 and those receiving placebo. The lack of increase in PEP and PEP/LVET ratio recorded in subjects treated with ACTH 1-17 is consistent with an increased left ventricular contractile performance. An increased plasma catecholamine release is postulated as the mechanism of this improvement.

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone↗

Development of horse polyclonal antiserum inhibiting all in vitro biological functions of human IFN-gamma.

Following a standard immunization protocol with recombinant human interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), a horse polyclonal antiserum was obtained and evaluated for its ability to interfere with multiple IFN-gamma activities in vitro. Data obtained show that polyclonal horse antiserum neutralizes the antiproliferative activity of IFN-gamma, inhibits the binding of IFN-gamma to cellular receptors, and can up-regulate HLA-DR antigen expression and interfere with its antiviral activity. The broad neutralizing capacity of horse polyclonal antiserum has been assessed on cell lines which differ as to origin and sensitivity to IFN-gamma. Moreover, we observed that this antiserum could inhibit the binding of radiolabeled IFN-gamma to its cellular receptor, its subsequent internalization into the target cell, and its antiviral activity. As it is able to inhibit all the biological activities of IFN-gamma, this antiserum might provide new therapeutic approaches to diseases with evidence of activated cell-mediated immunity.

Animals↗