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Biomedical subjects

E Politi

Publications and source records attributed to E Politi.

11 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1997

Asthma and panic attacks.

Panic disorder (PD) and asthma share many common characteristics and have been found in epidemiological studies to be significantly comorbid. To investigate possible reasons for this overlapping, the authors evaluated 51 patients with asthma, assessing the prevalence of PD and sporadic panic attacks, the temporal relationship between these two disorders, and the familial risk for PD in the families of asthmatics. The results showed significantly higher prevalences of PD, sporadic panic attacks, and social phobia in asthmatics than those reported for the general population. In 9 (90%) of the asthmatics with PD, asthma appeared first. Finally, the morbidity risk for PD in families of asthmatics with PD (13.5%) was significantly higher than in families of asthmatics without evidence of panic (2%). Our results suggest that the high prevalence of PD in asthmatics might be related to a facilitating effect of asthma on the development of PD in subjects with familial predisposition to PD.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Modification of 35% carbon dioxide hypersensitivity across one week of treatment with clomipramine and fluvoxamine: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study.

The effects of short treatments (7 days) with clomipramine and fluvoxamine on the reactivity to inhalations of 35% CO2/65% O2 were compared in 39 panic patients who had positive responses to 35% CO2 inhalations. A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled design was applied. Each patient was given the 35% CO2 challenge on days 0 (before starting treatment), 3, and 7. Patients on placebo did not report any significant changes in their reactivity to 35% CO2 across the three sessions, whereas patients on clomipramine and fluvoxamine reported a significant attenuation of the reactivity on day 7. These results indicate that treatments with clomipramine and fluvoxamine decrease hypersensitivity to 35% CO2 after a few days, suggesting a relevant role of the modulation of CO2 sensitivity by the serotonergic system in antipanic properties of these compounds.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Functional promoter polymorphism of the human serotonin transporter: lack of association with panic disorder.

To probe the hypothesis of a role for a functionally relevant 44 bp insertion/deletion of the serotonin transporter promoter in the aetiopathogenesis of panic disorder, we determined the allele frequency of the variant in two samples (combined n = 158) of panic disorder patients (DSMIII-R) and compared it with its allele frequency in two ethnically matched control samples (combined n = 169). The fact that no difference could be observed (x 2 analysis) argues against a major role for this serotonin transporter promoter polymorphism in the aetiopathogenesis of panic disorder.

Alleles↗
PubMed1995

Age at onset of panic disorder: influence of familial liability to the disease and of childhood separation anxiety disorder.

OBJECTIVE: The authors investigated the relation of age at onset of panic disorder to liability to panic disorder and agoraphobia. METHOD: Two hundred thirty-one outpatients with panic disorder were compared with 131 surgical outpatients on demographic variables and familial risk of psychiatric disorders. The distribution of patients' ages at onset of panic disorder and several covariates were entered in a stepwise survival analysis. RESULTS: The patients with panic disorder had a significantly higher rate of childhood separation anxiety disorder and higher familial risks of panic disorder/panic disorder with agoraphobia and alcoholism. A family history of panic disorder with agoraphobia and the presence of childhood separation anxiety disorder influenced age at onset of panic disorder. CONCLUSIONS: Age at onset of panic disorder may reflect genetic penetrance, and separation anxiety disorder may be an individual predictor of earlier onset of panic disorder.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

A new tripeptide, Pol 509, influences biochemical events associated with antigen presentation efficiency of PPD-specific EBV-B cells.

A synthetic tripeptide (pGLU-LEU-TRP-OCH3) Pol 509, derived from snake venom, was studied directly by analyzing the interactions with synthetic lipid bilayers using NMR spectroscopy. Functional studies were also performed by measuring the effects: i), on early biochemical events (adenyl cyclase and phospholipase C activation products), intermediate (surface Ag expression) and late (DNA synthesis) parameters following B-cell activation elicited by PPD-linkage to specific membrane Ig; and ii), on the presentation of PPD to Ag-specific T-cell lines. Comparative experiments using PMA and IFN-gamma were also performed. We found that all parameters studied were affected by Pol 509 treatment. In fact, while PPD linkage to mlg reversed the balance between cAMP and IP3 existing in unstimulated EBV-B cells, Pol 509 reduced the PPD-induced accumulation of cAMP to control values and induced a further decrease of IP3 level. Pol 509-mediated decrease of these second messenger levels was accompanied by a slight increase of HLA-DR molecule expression and DNA synthesis inhibition. Furthermore, Pol 509 enhanced the efficiency of PPD presentation to T-cell lines. Taken together, these observations suggest that Pol 509, which enhances Ag presentation by modifying second messenger levels, may be considered as a new immunomodulatory drug with immunopotentiating activity.

1,2-Dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Comorbidity of panic and somatization disorder: a genetic-epidemiological approach.

Although recent diagnostic systems support the distinctiveness of panic disorder (PD) and somatization disorder, a high level of comorbidity of these two diagnoses has been reported, indicating a need for investigations with external validators. One hundred fifty-nine outpatients with DSM-III-R PD and 76 surgical controls were screened for lifetime presence of DSM-III-R somatization disorder, and the risks for some types of psychiatric disorders in their families were computed. In our sample, 23% of women and 5% of men with PD also had DSM-III-R somatization disorder did not differ from women with PD only in age at onset of panic, agoraphobia, childhood history of separation anxiety, or lifetime diagnoses of other disorders. Familial risks for PD, PD-agoraphobia, and alcohol dependence were significantly higher for families of women with PD and women with PD plus somatization disorder than for controls. The familial risks for antisocial personality (ASP) disorder (a familial indicator for the somatization disorder spectrum of liability, phenomenologically independent from both PD and somatization disorder) were significantly higher for families of women with PD plus somatization disorder than for families of women with PD only or for controls. Application of DSM-IV criteria for somatization disorder substantially decreased the comorbidity with PD. Our data suggest that somatization disorder is not simply a form of PD, and that the two disorders may coexist in the same subject without sharing a common genetic diathesis. Compared with DSM-III-R, DSM-IV criteria for somatization disorder appear to be simpler in structure and of less complicated application.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

An investigation of the co-occurrence of panic and somatization disorders through temperamental variables.

OBJECTIVE: The relation of temperamental dimensions to somatization and panic disorders in women was investigated. METHOD: Eighteen patients with both panic and somatization disorders, 41 patients with panic disorder only, and 22 control subjects were compared on the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire. RESULTS: The patients with somatization and panic disorders had significantly higher Novelty Seeking values than both the patients with panic only and the control subjects. The only significant correlation was between the number of symptoms of somatization disorder and Novelty Seeking. The presence of other psychiatric conditions, comorbid with panic disorder in the patient group, did not affect significantly the temperamental variables. CONCLUSIONS: A temperamental disposition characterized by extraversion, impulsivity, as well as frequent exploratory activity and pursuit of novel and pleasurable activities may help differentiate women with both somatization and panic disorders from women with panic disorder only.

Adult↗