Biomedical subjects

E Fiore

Publications and source records attributed to E Fiore.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMed1993

Thyroid autoimmunity and female gender.

Sexual dimorphism exists in regard to the immune response between women and men, and it accounts for the greater prevalence of thyroid autoimmunity in women. Similarly to the human situation a sex-related susceptibility to autoimmune thyroiditis is evident in animal models. A direct influence of genes on sex chromosomes (X or Y) on the immune response has been postulated in some models of autoimmune thyroiditis in rats. On the other hand sex hormones have been implicated to explain the majority of sex differences in the autoimmune response against the thyroid. A state of immune suppression during pregnancy influences the clinical course of autoimmune thyroid diseases, in that a typical amelioration during pregnancy is accompanied by aggravation following delivery. This immunologic rebound phenomenon may also underly the post partum thyroid dysfunction in otherwise healthy women with a genetic predisposition to autoimmune thyroid disease. Thyroid autoimmunity also interferes with the female reproductive function. Hypothyroidism and less frequently hyperthyroidism due to thyroid autoimmune disorders may produce menstrual dysfunction, anovulation and eventually infertility. Maternal hyper- or hypothyroidism can affect the outcome of pregnancy, producing a higher incidence of miscarriages, maternal complications, and congenital malformations. Untreated maternal hypothyroidism produced by Hashimoto's disease during pregnancy can impair the neurological development of the fetus due to a reduced availability of maternal thyroxine during early gestation.2+ More specifically, fetal and/or neonatal hypo- or hyperthyroidism produced by the transplacental passage of maternal thyroid autoantibodies can impair growth and neuropsychological development of affected children.

Female↗

PubMed1992

Ventilatory and hematopoietic responses to chronic hypoxia in two rat strains.

Hilltop (H) and Madison (M) strains of Sprague-Dawley rats exhibit strikingly different susceptibilities to the effects of chronic altitude exposure. The H rats develop greater polycythemia, hypoxemia, and pulmonary hypertension. We studied ventilation, pulmonary gas exchange, tissue oxygenation, and hematologic adaptations in the two rat strains during a 50-day exposure to a simulated altitude (HA) of 5,500 m (18,000 ft). There were no strain differences among the variables we studied under sea level (SL) conditions. Within the first 14 days of hypoxic exposure, the only significant strain differences were that erythropoietin (EPO) rose much higher and erythroid activity was greater in the H rats, even though arterial Po2 and PCo2 (Pao2 and PaCo2, respectively), renal venous PO2 (Prvo2), and ventilation (VE) were equivalent in the two strains during this time. By day 14 at HA, the H rats had significantly higher erythroid activity, hematocrit (Hct), and EPO levels, significantly lower PaO2 and PrvO2, but equivalent VE and PaCO2. These changes persisted for the remainder of the exposure, except that the Hct continued to rise and the increase was greater in H rats. Despite the greater O2-carrying capacity of H rats in the later stages of hypoxic exposure, PaO2 and PrvO2 were significantly lower in H rats. There were no strain differences at either SL or HA in ventilatory responses to hypercapnia or hypoxia, in blood O2 affinity or 2,3-diphosphoglycerate, in extrarenal production of EPO, or in EPO clearance. We conclude that early in the hypoxic exposure the H rats produce more EPO at apparently equivalent levels of hypoxia, and this is the first step in the pathogenesis of the maladaptation to HA manifest by H rats. We find no consistent evidence that differences in VE contribute to the variable susceptibility to hypoxia in the two rat strains.

Altitude Sickness↗

PubMed1992

Thyroid autoimmunity and neuropsychological development.

Thyroid autoimmunity may affect neuropsychological development by interfering with the fetal and/or neonatal thyroid status; indeed, both hypo- and hyperthyroidism during the fetal-neonatal life may be associated with a subsequent impairment of intellectual and psychomotor performances. Maternal thyroid status during early pregnancy, and in particular hypothyroidism due to autoimmune thyroiditis, can also affect the fetal neurological development. Finally, anti-thyroid drugs used to control hyperthyroidism in pregnant women with Graves' disease have been widely investigated for their possible effect on the intellectual development of the offspring.

Congenital Hypothyroidism↗

PubMed1991