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Biomedical subjects

E Del Bene

Publications and source records attributed to E Del Bene.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Hypofunctionality of Gi proteins as aetiopathogenic mechanism for migraine and cluster headache.

The involvement of Gi proteins in the modulation of pain perception has been widely established, and mutations in G-proteins have already been identified as the aetiopathological cause of human diseases. The aim of the present study was to determine whether a deficiency or a hypofunctionality of the Gi proteins occurred in primary headache. The functionality and the level of expression of Gi proteins were investigated in lymphocytes from migraine without aura, migraine with aura and cluster headache sufferers. A reduced capability to inhibit forskolin-stimulated adenylyl cyclase activity in headache patients was observed. Migraine patients also showed basal adenosine cAMP levels about four times higher than controls. The reduced activity of Gi proteins seems not to be related to a reduction of protein levels since no significant reduction of the Gialpha subunits was observed. These results indicate Gi protein hypofunctionality as an aetiopathogenic mechanism in migraine and cluster headache.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Decentralization monoamine super-sensitivity of migraine and opiate abstinence: common features and different target mechanisms?

The similarity between opiate withdrawal and migraine (M) has been confirmed regarding increased monoamine sensitivity at the neuromuscular junction of the hand's dorsal vein as well as at the neuraxis where dopamine (DA) supersensitivity was observed. Similarities also included an increase in cAMP levels as a precocious sign in both M and opiate withdrawal. Particular attention has been devoted to the time-course of monoamine supersensitivity in M and in abstinence. It has been found that the maximum level of super-sensitivity occurs in M at the end of the M attack, whereas the maximum super-sensitivity is present at the very beginning of opiate abstinence. The inverse time-course of this phenomenon suggests that it could play some pathophysiological role in inducing the end of the M attack. Conversely, it can represent the expected transient result of a pharmacological denervation which ought to result in a supersensitivity of opioid-dependent neuron during withdrawal. In M, the super-sensitivity is wider, indeed, it involves more receptor types. This could be an indirect proof of the involvement of inhibitory pathways other than the opioidergic one.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Video assessment of yawning induced by sublingual apomorphine in migraine.

A double-blind, placebo-controlled study was carried out in 14 migraineous outpatients and 8 control subjects to assess yawning response to 0.25 mg of sublingual apomorphine, a dopamine receptor agonist, by means of an audiovisual technique. Apomorphine induced a significantly higher number of yawns than placebo in both groups of subjects, but the effect was significantly greater in migraine sufferers than in controls. The result seems to confirm the previous reported hyper-responsiveness to pharmacological dopaminergic stimulation in migraine sufferers. Moreover, the audiovisual technique seems to be an appropriate tool to study yawning response in man.

Administration, Sublingual↗
PubMed1983

Personality patterns of headache sufferers.

One hundred and sixty-seven subjects (91 females and 76 males) aged 18 to 55 and suffering from recurrent headache, daily headache, and cluster headache, were studied. In order to collect detailed information about their clinical as well as social and environmental conditions, a multi-page card was used which had been specially prepared for this purpose. The patients' personality patterns were assessed by the following methods: MMPI (the Hs, Hy, D, and Ma scales, in particular); EPQ (Eysenck Personality Questionnaire); and AS IPAT (Cattel's Anxiety Scale). The statistical analysis of the data obtained made it possible to define the personality patterns of both male and female subjects and then to differentiate between them in relation to the various types of headache. Furthermore, possible relationships between personality traits and headache suffering were investigated. If the personality patterns of females seem to have existed prior to the disease, those of males raise some questions. In cluster patients, in particular, the age of onset seems to be related to certain personality traits; in patients with daily headache, by contrast the association between the duration and severity of the disorder appears to play a major trigger role. Some of these correlations do not have a linear character and suggest new working hypotheses that go beyond the limits of standard correlations.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

Lisuride as a migraine prophylactic in children: an open clinical trial.

Lisuride is an ergot derivative which acts on serotonin and dopamine receptors at both peripheral and central levels. According to the central theory of headache, lisuride is an active prophylactic drug in adult headache sufferers. Because of its activity on dopamine receptors, a hypotensive action has been observed after acute and chronic administration of high doses of the drug in adults. An open trial on 45 migrainous children was carried out, to compare lisuride with pizotiphene treatment. Some 23 children were treated with lisuride and 22 with pizotiphene for 42 days. No statistically significant difference in therapeutic results between the two groups was found. Eight migrainous children were treated with a single oral dose of lisuride (0.0250 mg) and arterial blood pressure was measured before and after the drug. No significant change in either supine or orthostatic blood pressure was recorded in pre-drug and post-drug values. This study shows that lisuride is an effective and well-tolerated prophylactic drug in migrainous children.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

Multiple aspects of headache risk in children.

Both epidemiological and pharmacoclinical research have been carried out on children suffering from headache. Two epidemiological trials were performed. In the first, 562 migrainous children were questioned about several clinical symptoms that affect child headache suffers, and the incidence of these symptoms was recorded. In the second, we divided 504 nonselected school children into three groups: headache sufferers and nonheadache sufferers with or without family headache history. The same clinical symptoms were studied. Statistical analysis showed that motion sickness, recurrent abdominal pain, sleeping troubles, hyperactivity, cyclic vomiting, dizzines, and limb pain have different incidences in the three groups. These clinical symptoms and family headache history may be considered HR factors and indicate a predisposition to headache in children. The pharmacoclinical study was carried out on 15 migrainous children, five hyperactive and 10 controls. An increased sensitivity of iris adrenergic receptor in both migrainous and hyperactive children was evidenced by measuring phenylephrine-induced mydriasis. The possible etiopathogenetic correlations among headache, hyperactivity, and other HR factors are discussed in accordance with the central theory of headache.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

Sexuality and headache.

Ten percent of 362 headache sufferers reported sexual arousal during migraine attack. Clinical investigations on sexuality in 16 headache sufferers, according to some studies showing correlations between idiopathic headache and sexual behavior, were performed. Patients responding by questionnaire listed each sexual experience, headache attack, and number of sleeping hours every day for 1 month. In both men and women, the number of coiti, erotic dreams, and sleeping hours were similar in headache sufferers and controls, while the frequency of masturbation was significantly reduced in the former. Sexual excitement and fantasies appeared more often in female headache sufferers than in controls, while the opposite occurred in the male group. Among the clinical analogies between the crises of migraine and morphine abstinence, sexual arousal may be included.

Adult↗
PubMed1976

Sex, migraine and serotonin interrelationships.

Sexual deficiency or frank impotence in man could be due to an imbalance of monoamines, particularly 5-HT, at the mating center level. An absolute or relative excess of 5-HT seems to antagonize testosterone at the level of the mating center receptors in the brain. Plasma testosterone levels in so-called psychological impotence are normal. When the 5-HT concentration in sexually deficient men is sufficiently decreased with parachlorophenylalanine (PCPA) treatment and testosterone levels increased following its administration, a vivid sexual stimulation appears in about half of the untractable cases. Similar results are observed by substituting testosterone with monoamine oxydase inhibitor (MAOI) in PCPA-treated volunteers. Furthermore, MAOI-PCPA are administered to emphasize the brain shift between serotonin and catecholamines. Yet the PCPA-MAOI treatment avoids the prostate carcinogenic risk of testosterone administration in aging males, and seems to have euphorizing effects stronger than those expected only from MAOI therapy. Because of the several side effects of PCPA-MAOI testosterone, the present experiments should be interpreted very cautiously.

5-Hydroxytryptophan↗
PubMed1975

[Aphrodisiac action of MAO inhibitors and of parachlorophenylalanine (PCPA) in sexual asthenias].

The sexual function in man can be modified decreasing brain serotonin by PCPA and increasing brain cathecolamines by monoamineoxidase inhibitors. In 5 volunteers, sexual deficient men, the combination of PCPA with phenelzine (IMAO) stressed an increase in sexual stimulation, measured by number of erections. In two subjects this effect lasted for 2 months. A clear improvement in mood has also been shown. This pharmacological combination opens new and interesting possibilities in sexual deficiency treatment.

Adult↗
PubMed1975

The influence of tryptophan and parachlorophenylalanine on the sexual activity in man.

The effects on the sexual tone of parachlorophenylalanine, a selective inhibtor of 5-hydroxytryptamine synthesis, testosterone and placebo were evaluated in patients complaining of migraine-headache and sexual deficiency. The combined treatment with parachlorophenylalanine and testosterone significantly increases the sexual stimulus more than parachlorophenylalanine, testosterone and placebo, when given on their own. Conversely subjects with normal or excessive sexual activity, reported a decrease of sexual tone, during chronic treatment with tryptophan. The hypothesis of an implication of brain 5-HT in the mechanism of psychogenic sexual deficiency and the possibility of a therapeutic approach with drugs able to interfere with 5-HT turnover are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1975

5-Hydroxytryptamine and pain modulation in man: a clinical pharmacological approach with tryptophan and parachlorophenylalanine.

Monoamines are involved in the central nervous assimilation and modulation of the pain flow. According to a personal hypothesis, a disorder of this biochemical control (in particular a precariousness of brain 5-hydroxytryptamine turnover), is the basic mechanism of some painful conditions, such as migraine and other essential headaches. Acute (infusion) and chronic (ingestion) administration of tryptophan to migraine-headache sufferers improved the clinical course significantly in respect to placebo. Few patients with untractable pain from disseminated cancer received daily infusion of tryptophan and ingested a few gr of this amnioacid: improvement of pain and reduction of morphine necessity was observed. Parachlorophenylalanine chronic administration in migraine-headache sufferers lowered the pain threshold so far as to provoke (in 20% of cases) spontaneous pains in the trunk, legs and arms. This systemic pain syndrome was promptly reversible by discontinuing the treatment. Spontaneous pain syndrome was not reported by others in the healthy subject; this suggests an apparent vulnerability of 5HT turnover in essential headaches.

5-Hydroxytryptophan↗