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Biomedical subjects

E Palummeri

Publications and source records attributed to E Palummeri.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Longitudinal study of bone loss after thyroidectomy and suppressive thyroxine therapy in premenopausal women.

The effects of suppressive doses of L-thyroxine on the appendicular and axial bone mineral content were followed for 12-36 months after total or subtotal thyroidectomy in 15 premenopausal women. Compared to age-matched controls, these patients had a more marked bone loss of the spinal bone mineral content (2.6 +/- 1.9% vs 0.2 +/- 1.2% per year). The changes in radial cortical bone density were not significantly different from the control group. We conclude that when a suppressive therapy with L-thyroxine is necessary the rate of bone loss should be monitored at regular intervals.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Intermittent treatment with intravenous 4-amino-1-hydroxybutylidene-1,1-bisphosphonate (AHBuBP) in the therapy of postmenopausal osteoporosis.

Since data on the efficacy of 4-amino-2-hydroxybutylidene-1,1-bisphosphonate (AHBuBP) in the therapy of osteoporosis are not yet available, we have examined in an open, randomized study, the effects of an intravenous intermittent treatment with this drug on the vertebral and radial bone mass in postmenopausal osteoporosis. Forty postmenopausal osteoporotic women were randomly assigned to one of two groups, one treated with AHBuBP (5 mg/day on two consecutive days every 3 months for one year; n = 20), the other with oral calcium (n = 20). The bone mineral density (BMD) of the spine increased significantly in women receiving AHBuBP, whereas it tended to decrease in patients given calcium. The differences in the vertebral BMD changes between groups was highly significant (P less than 0.01). Radial BMD tended to increase in patients treated with AHBuBP, and to decrease in patients receiving calcium. The difference in the linear trends was statistically significant (P less than 0.05). The side effects of AHBuBP (a transient acute phase reaction in 3 out of 20 subjects) were slight and well-tolerated. A good effect of AHBuBP was observed also on back pain (P less than 0.05). We conclude that intermittent treatment with AHBuBP is capable of increasing spinal BMD and conserving radial BMD in postmenopausal osteoporosis and may represent a convenient therapeutic choice in this condition.

Aged↗
PubMed1989

Isotope retention for assessment of bone turnover in involutional osteoporosis.

A continuous bone remodelling takes place throughout life at different turnover speed according to age, physiological and pathological conditions. The evaluation of bone turnover may be of value for a prognostic and therapeutical assessment. Calcium bone exchange may be considered a suitable marker of bone turnover; for this reason 47Ca or 45Ca kinetics may be used; these methods have been employed in the past. Labelled diphosphonates, and in particular 99Technetium-methylene-diphosphonate (99TcmDP) are simpler and safer, because these substances are strongly and almost completely stored in bone and not absorbed by the soft tissue; for this reason they are used at the present time. The evaluation of blood levels and 24 hrs urinary elimination of 99TcmDP is used to measure whole bone diphosphonate retention (WBR). This parameter is positively correlated with other markers of bone turnover such as alkaline phosphatase (AP), osteocalcin (OC), urinary hydroxyproline (HOP). A bicompartmental analysis schedule of 99TcmDP distribution has been proposed some years ago and therefore applied by our group, based on the mathematical evaluation of serum concentration at different times and urinary elimination of the label given intravenously. This method provides the possibility to calculate not only WBR but also total body retention (TBR) and a constant (Kbh) which reflects the influx speed of the tracer in the bone. Kbh probably represents a more sensitive index of bone turnover than WBR. It presents a better correlation with AP and OC values and also shows some (statistically less significant correlations with some indices of bone remodelling obtained by histomorphometry on bone biopsies.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Osteocalcin levels in diabetic subjects.

Because a series of reports suggests the existence of altered bone and mineral metabolism in diabetes mellitus, we studied 106 diabetic subjects (42 insulin-dependent (IDD) and 64 noninsulin dependent (NIDD] to determine whether a difference in bone turnover (evaluated by serum osteocalcin (OC] could be found in comparison with normal controls. OC levels in diabetic subjects were lower than the age- and sex-specific predicted values. The reduction was especially evident in male and female NIDD (Z-score: - 1.12 +/- 0.92, t = 8.4, P less than 0.001 and -0.84 +/- 0.86, t = 4.0, P less than 0.01, respectively) and male IDD (Z-score: - 0.90 +/- 0.86, t = 4.5, P less than 0.01). The mean Z-score for female IDD, albeit negative (-0.31 +/- 0.79; t = 1.6; 0.2 greater than P greater than 0.1), was not significantly different from normal. Total serum calcium (Ca) and calcitonin (CT) showed an opposite pattern, being higher in all the diabetic subgroups (with the exception of Ca in female IDD), whereas parathyroid hormone (PTH) was lower than expected in each diabetic subset. By multiple regression analysis, the reduction of OC was related to PTH and CT levels and to the type of treatment. Subjects controlled with diet showed differences of greater magnitude from the expected normal values than those treated with oral hypoglycemic agents or insulin (Z-score: -1.28 +/- 1.05 vs. -0.85 +/- 0.90 and -0.63 +/- 0.97, respectively; P = 0.05). However, the variance explained by these three factors was small, suggesting that other variables (possibly 1 alpha,25(OH)2D) exerted important influences on OC levels.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Meal-stimulated gastrin release and calcitonin secretion.

In order to study the effects of a physiologic meal on calcitonin (CT) secretion we studied 6 normal male volunteers (aged 28-34 yr). Each subject was given, on two separate days, either a mixed meal or 200 ml of distilled water, in random order. Gastrin (G) was effectively stimulated by the meal (F = 8.82; p less than 0.001) and reached a peak (with an average 100% increase) 30 min after the end of the meal, slowly decreasing thereafter; no increase was seen after water ingestion. On the other hand, CT levels remained stable throughout the observation period on both occasions. Ionized and total calcium did not show significant variations either after the meal or after water ingestion. These findings suggest that G alone, at the concentrations usually reached after a physiologic meal, is unable to stimulate CT secretion, at least in the absence of calcium increases.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Short-term effects on bone and mineral metabolism of 4-amino-1-hydroxybutylidene-1,1-diphosphonate (ABDP) in Paget's disease of bone.

To study the short-term effects on mineral and bone metabolism of a recently introduced amino-diphosphonate (4-amino-1-hydroxybutylidene-1,1-diphosphonate or ABDP), 10 patients suffering from active Paget's disease were examined. Each subject received intravenously 5 mg/day of ABDP for 4 days and the effects of treatment were monitored for 12 days. ABDP administration was followed by an early and significant decrease of the urinary hydroxyproline and calcium excretion, of the theoretical renal threshold for phosphate of the serum calcium. Serum phosphate also decreased, while its urinary excretion increased. Intact parathyroid hormone levels at the end of treatment were four times higher than basal levels. Total and bone alkaline phosphatase tended to decrease only slightly at the end of the observation, whereas serum osteocalcin, tended to increase. These findings indicate that the earlier effect of ABDP is a profound inhibition of bone resorption, which brings about a compensatory parathyroid hormone response. The decrease of urinary hydroxyproline follows an exponential curve, with a calculated half-life of 2.2 days, suggesting an approximate equivalency of 5 mg/day ABDP to slightly more than 30 mg/day 3-amino-1-hydroxypropylidene-1,1-diphosphonate. Bone formation seems scarcely influenced in the short-term, but osteoblastic indices show a contrasting behaviour, which may reflect a different biological origin and/or significance.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

The comparative effect of ovarian hormone administration on bone mineral status in oophorectomized rats.

The effect of oophorectomy and hormone replacement therapy on cortical and trabecular bone mass was assessed in Sprague-Dawley rats. Bone mineral density (BMD) of the femur and the lumbar spine was determined by dual photon absorptiometry 4 months after surgery. Femoral mineral content was also determined. A significant decrease in bone density and in calcium content was observed after surgical castration. Bone mineral loss was prevented by either progesterone or estrogen, while the combination of progesterone and estrogen had no effect on the bone mineral content. The present study suggests the possibility that estrogen-progestin treatment may be less effective than a therapy with estrogen alone, and that further study on the effect of progesterone alone would be worthwhile.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Calcitonin levels in normal women of various ages evaluated with a new sensitive radioimmunoassay.

In order to establish the normal range of serum Calcitonin (CT), evaluated with a new, sensitive radioimmunoassay in normal women of various ages, 67 female subjects were examined. CT levels were detectable in all the subjects, with a reference interval (bounded by the 2.5 and 97.5 percentiles) of 3.6-16.9 pg/ml; a very slight decrease with age was observed (correlation coefficient = -0.24; P = 0.05; regression equation: CT = 9.55--0.042 x age). This assay seems sensitive enough to permit the measurement of CT in physiological conditions.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

[Changes in bone mass with age. Transversal study on a female population using photon densitometry].

In order to evaluate the age-related changes of the bone mineral content (BMC), 281 clinically healthy women (20-80 year old) underwent single photon abosorptiometry (SPA) on the distal third of the radius (where there is a prevalence of cortical bone); 161 subjects of this group were examined also by dual photon absorptiometry (DPA) of the lumbar tract of the spine (L2-L4) (trabecular bone). The relationship of trabecular BMC with age is described by a cubic polynomial regression (r = 0.46; p less than 0.0001) that shows an increase in BMC until 31 years of age followed by a decrease with a minimum at the age of 78; afterwards trabecular BMC adds an apparent increase. No increase in the rate of trabecular BMC loss was seen after the menopause. A positive correlation was found between body weight and vertebral BMC. The behaviour of cortical BMC with age is described by a quadratic regression (r = 0.42; p less than 0.0001) that shows an increase until 32 years of age followed by a decrease. Cortical BMC shows a significant decrease after menopause. No correlation was found between body weight and cortical BMC. These findings underline the different behaviour of trabecular and cortical bone tissue with age; in addition, the relation between trabecular (but not cortical) BMC and body weight argues for an important role of biomechanical factors in the local modulation of bone mass.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Adult osteopetrosis: study of two brothers.

Bone biopsies from 2 adult cases of benign osteopetrosis have been studied histologically and under the electron microscope. The most important findings were a high degree of osteosclerosis, narrowing and fibrosis of medullary spaces, and the presence of abundant uncalcified osteoid tissue with an osteomalacia-like appearance. The osteoclasts were not numerous. All of them lacked the brush border and many showed wide cytoplasmic vacuoles containing amorphous and filamentous material. This picture, which is not different from that found in cases of fetal osteopetrosis, has not been modified by ethydronate therapy.

Biopsy↗
PubMed1986

Effects of salmon calcitonin in postmenopausal osteoporosis: a controlled double-blind clinical study.

In this paper we present the results of a 12-month double-blind clinical multicenter study assessing the effects of synthetic salmon calcitonin (CT) administration in a group of white postmenopausal osteoporotic women. Treated patients were given 100 MRC units of synthetic salmon CT injected i.m. in the morning every other day. Control patients received a placebo injection. All patients received 500 mg of elementary calcium p.o., b.i.d. Bone mineral content (BMC) was measured at the extreme distal radius of the nondominant arm by a dual photon bone densitometer which utilizes two radionuclides, 241Am and 125I, with energies of about 60 keV and 30 keV respectively. Biochemical parameters of calcium-phosphorus metabolism were also measured. After 12 months of treatment a significant mean increment of BMC and nondialyzable OHPr/creatinine values and a significant decrease of total OHPr/creatinine values were observed in the treated group, while controls showed a significant decrease in BMC values. These results, together with the observation that in some patients the decrease in total OHPr/creatinine values was not accompanied by an increment of BMC, show that long-term salmon CT treatment may be of benefit in postmenopausal osteoporosis and that the effects of CT on bone mass may be due not only to the inhibition of bone resorption but also to the stimulation of bone formation.

Aged↗
PubMed1986

The pathophysiology of calcitonin in man.

It is generally accepted that calcitonin (CT) induces a decrement in cytosolic Ca++, and an increase of cAMP in target cells of several organs and tissues. This happens particularly in bone, where osteoclast activity and size decreases, along with the widely-known hypocalcaemic and hypophosphoraemic effect of the hormone. The physiological role of CT appears to be of importance in pregnancy and perhaps in infancy, when it antagonizes possible excessive bone loss. Some experimental evidence shows that CT may be involved in the maintenance of post-meal calcaemia. It is not yet established whether paucity of CT plays any important role in the pathogenesis of pathological conditions such as post-menopausal and senile osteoporosis.

Adult↗