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E Falcone

Publications and source records attributed to E Falcone.

35 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1993

RFLPs of the APOB gene: comparative study between Greeks and southern Italian peoples.

Restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) at codons 2488 (XbaI), 3611 (MspI), and 4154 (EcoRI) of the apolipoprotein B gene were investigated in sample groups from Athens (Greece) and Calabria (southern Italy) to verify whether the distribution of the APOB gene variants in Calabria, where Greek colonization occurred in the eighth century B.C., reflects that of the present Greek population. A sample from Apulia, a southern Italian region having a history different from that of Calabria, was also analyzed. Three specific DNA regions, each containing the polymorphic site, were amplified by polymerase chain reaction on 243 samples, and the restriction data for the three groups were compared. The allelic frequencies of the samples from Apulia and Greece showed variability patterns that agree with those found in Caucasians, whereas the Calabrian sample shows remarkable peculiarities, mainly for the EcoRI RFLP. Linkage disequilibrium analyses of pairs of markers showed strong D linkage values between X-M markers, whereas the D linkage values between M-R markers were too small to be reliably estimated. Last, for both Apulians and Greeks, X-R markers showed linkage disequilibrium, whereas for Calabrians they did not. Estimates of XMR haplotypic frequencies were computed; they were found to be appreciably different between Calabrian and Greek samples, whereas the frequencies in the Apulian sample were approximately midway between those in Calabrians and Greeks.

Apolipoproteins B↗
PubMed1989

A rapid serum neutralization test in microplates for the detection of antibodies to hog cholera virus.

The fluorescent antibody serum neutralization (FASN) test for the detection of antibodies to hog cholera virus was developed utilizing 96-well and Terasaki microplates. This microtechnique, especially when performed in Terasaki plates, offers some advantage if compared with conventional FASN in coverslip cell cultures, being easier and more rapid, saving of reagents and allowing simple microscopic observation.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Urinary and faecal mutagenicity in Sprague-Dawley rats dosed with the food mutagens quercetin and rutin.

The natural flavonoid quercetin was administered to Sprague-Dawley rats by ip injection or gastric intubation of a single dose of 500, 1000 or 2000 mg/kg body weight. Mutagenicity assays with Salmonella typhimurium strain TA98 showed moderate mutagenic activity in the urines and faecal extracts but not in plasma samples from the treated animals. The mutagenic activity detected in the urines accounted for about 0.5% of the administered dose, irrespective of the route of administration and the dose level. Higher mutagenicity was demonstrated in faecal extracts. Rutin (quercetin-3-O-rutinoside) was administered by gavage and ip injection at 2000 mg/kg. Although the chemical was inactive as a mutagen in vitro, significant mutagenicity was detected in the urines and faecal extracts of the treated rats. Such activity was similar to that detected after administration of free quercetin in a dose some four times lower (by weight).

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Mutagenicity studies in a tyre plant: in vitro activity of workers' urinary concentrates and raw materials.

The possible contribution to urinary mutagenicity of occupational exposures in the rubber industry was studied by assaying the urine concentrates of 72 workmen (44 smokers) employed in a tyre plant. Twenty three clerks (16 smokers) engaged in the administrative department of the same factory served as presumptive unexposed controls. XAD-2 resin concentrates of urine samples were assayed in the plate incorporation test and in the microtitre fluctuation assay with Salmonella typhimurium strains TA1535, TA98, and TA100. Furthermore, the in vitro mutagenicity of the major raw materials in use at the plant was determined in the plate incorporation assay with S typhimurium strains TA1535, TA1537, TA98, and TA100. The results obtained from the urinary mutagenicity study show that smoking habits, but not occupation, were statistically significantly related to the appearance of a urinary mutagenicity that was detectable with strain TA98. A possible synergistic effect of occupation with smoking was observed among tyre builders who were also smokers. The study of the raw materials showed that three technical grade materials were weakly active as mutagens in strain TA98 in the absence (poly-p-dinitrosobenzene) or in the presence of metabolic activation (mixed diaryl-p-phenylendiamines and tetramethyltiuram disulphide). The latter chemical was also weakly active in strain TA100.

Chemical Industry↗
PubMed1985

Monitoring of urinary mutagenicity in workers exposed to low doses of 2,4,7-trinitro-9-fluorenone.

A monitoring of the urinary mutagenicity in workers occupationally exposed to low doses of 2,4,7-trinitro-9-fluorenone (TNF) was undertaken. Urine concentrate of 22 exposed workers (11 smokers and 11 nonsmokers) and 18 presumedly unexposed workers (7 smokers and 11 nonsmokers) were assayed for mutagenicity in Salmonella typhimurium strain TA98 with the plate incorporation technique. In this test system none of the urine concentrate was effective as a mutagen, either in the absence or presence of S9. Fifteen urine samples (8 from exposed workers, 7 from referents) were also tested in the microtiter fluctuation assay. With this technique smoking habits were significantly related to urinary mutagenicity in tests performed with metabolic activation. In neither case however was the association between presumed exposure and urinary mutagenicity significant. These results were evaluated on the basis of urinary mutagenicity data obtained from rats exposed to TNF by different routes. It was shown that the observed urinary mutagenicity accounts for a minor fraction of the administered TNF dose (about 0.1 to 0.2%, depending on the route of exposure); thus it is possible that low-level exposure to TNF could escape detection by urinary mutagenicity monitoring.

Air Pollutants, Occupational↗
PubMed1984

In vitro mutagenicity of rubber chemicals and their nitrosation products.

14 chemicals employed in rubber manufacture were assayed in the Salmonella reversion test with the strains TA98 and TA100. Mixed diaryl-p-phenylenediamines were weakly mutagenic in TA98 after metabolic activation; poly-p-dinitrosobenzene was active in TA98 without as well as with S9. After in vitro reaction with nitrite at low pH, mixed diaryl-p-phenylenediamines became directly mutagenic in both strains, whereas poly-p-dinitrosobenzene retained its activity unchanged. Furthermore, 4 of the remaining chemicals acquired mutagenic characteristics: in the presence of S9, N,N'-dimethylpentyl-p-phenylenediamine reverted TA98 and hexamethylenetetramine reverted both TA98 and TA100; N-isopropyl-N'-phenyl-p-phenylenediamine was mutagenic in TA98 with and without S9; N-nitrosodiphenylamine was active in both strains without S9 and weakly mutagenic in TA98 after metabolic conversion.

Hydrogen-Ion Concentration↗
PubMed1984

Mutagenicity studies in a tyre plant: in-vitro activity of urine concentrates and rubber chemicals.

A possible occupational contribution to urinary mutagenicity was studied in a tyre plant, by assaying concentrates of urine from 72 workmen and 23 controls for their activity in the Ames test and microtitre fluctuation test. The results show that smoking habits but not occupation are related to the appearance of a detectable urinary mutagenicity in strain TA98. A possible synergistic effect of occupation was, however, observed among tyre builders who were smokers. Mutagenicity screening of 25 rubber chemicals, of major technological relevance and used in high volume in the workplace investigated, showed that three of them are weakly active in TA98 and TA100 (tetramethylthiuram disulfide) or TA98 alone (poly-p-dinitrosobenzene and mixed diaryl-p-phenylendiamines).

Chemical Industry↗
PubMed1983

DNA repair induction by cytostatic drugs in proliferating and quiescent MRC-5 cells.

The repair of DNA damage is closely related to cell cycle, in terms of both modulation of repairing ability throughout the cell cycle and perturbations in replication. We have studied the induction of Unscheduled DNA Synthesis (UDS) in human fibroblasts (MRC-5) by some chemotherapeutic agents, selected for their different mechanisms of action. To take into account the interaction between repair and replication systems, the experiments were performed in both proliferating and quiescent cultures; semiconservative DNA synthesis inhibition was examined by microphotometric measurements in the same autoradiographic preparations used for UDS analysis. Vincristine, methotrexate and 6-thioguanine induced no UDS. Adriamycin, actinomycin D, and, to a lesser extent, cyclophosphamide and thiotepa gave positive results only in proliferating cultures, whereas bleomycin was an effective inducer of UDS in quiescent cells, with weak UDS levels in proliferating ones. In all these cases, the combined analysis of UDS and semiconservative DNA synthesis inhibition proved to be of value in the assessment of interaction between drugs and DNA in proliferating cultures. The results of our experiments emphasize the importance of the cycling conditions in the cellular response to DNA damage.

Antineoplastic Agents↗
PubMed1982

A study on the urinary and fecal excretion of furazolidone in rats by means of mutagenicity assays.

The urinary and fecal excretion of furazolidone in rats was studied by means of mutagenicity assays: when animals received a single dose by gavage (1 to 10 mg/100 g body wt) the mutagenic activity recovered in urines accounted for less than 0.1% of the administered dose and quickly disappeared. After prolonged (1 week) treatments, however, some mutagenicity was retained in urine concentrates until the fifth to seventh days. Similarly the fecal excretion of mutagenicity accounted for less than 0.1% of the administered dose and disappeared within the third day. The efficient deactivation of furazolidone observed in vivo was shown to be unaffected by the amount of gut bacteria in treated animals; in in vitro experiments it turned out to be actively performed by a rat intestine homogenate fraction, working more efficiently under hypoxic conditions.

Animals↗
PubMed1980

[Intracranial calcinosis in computerized tomography].

Computerized tomography is much more accurate in detection of intracranial calcifications than the classic radiological methods since in makes possible demonstration of small calcifications invisible on plain films. The diagnosis of intracranial calcifications in computerized tomography depends on the size and position of calcifications and on the thickness of the visualized strate. Computerized tomography makes also possible qualitative as well as quantitative assessment of the calcifications and their relation to the nervous tissue and fluid spaces of the brain. In many cases it enables diagnosis to be made without the necessity of carrying out further neuroradiological investigations with contrast media.

Astrocytoma↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Gene/longevity association studies at four autosomal loci (REN, THO, PARP, SOD2).

The possibility that four loci (REN, THO, PARP, SOD2) are associated with longevity was explored by comparing the genotypic pools of subjects older than 100 years with those of younger subjects matched for sex and geographic area (northern and southern Italy). The markers (all located within the respective gene) were HUMREN4; HUMTHO1; HUMPARP (gt)845nt; SOD2(C/T)401nt. In order to reduce the number of genotypes, multiallelic polymorphisms were recoded as diallelic according to allele size and frequency patterns (small: S, and large: L, alleles). A significant loss of LL homozygous genotypes was found at the THO locus in male but not in female centenarians with respect to matched controls. On the other hand no significant difference was found between case/control genotypic frequencies at REN, PARP, SOD2 loci. The latter loci therefore do not affect inter-individual variability in life expectancy (at least in terms of qualitative variants associated with the tested markers). However, the data is consistent with an association between the THO locus and longevity.

Adolescent↗