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Biomedical subjects

F Ferrari

Publications and source records attributed to F Ferrari.

At least 163 records · Page 9Linked to original sources
PubMed1989

Antinociceptive properties of lysozyme fragments.

The in vitro digestion of hen egg white lysozyme with artificial gastric juice gave a complex mixture of peptides, from which a peptide corresponding to the aminoacid sequence 39-53 was isolated. Its further hydrolysis with artificial enteric juice gave two smaller fragments having the aminoacid sequence 39-45 and 46-53 respectively. These products, like lysozyme, showed antinociceptive activity in rats against foot hyperalgesia induced by a subplantar injection of brewer's yeast.

Analgesics↗
PubMed1988

Effect of isolation on dopaminergic agonist-induced penile erections and stretching and yawning in male rats.

Adult male rats reared in social isolation for 28 +/- 2 days were compared with animals housed in groups and pairs for frequency of penile erection (PE) and stretching and yawning (SY) elicited by dopaminergic (DA) autoreceptorial doses of B-HT 920 and n-N-propylnorapomorphine (NPA). PE and SY were consistently lower in the isolated group with respect to the other two groups, which did not differ significantly. The present experiments show the importance of housing conditions in modulating behavioural responses to DA agonists, a result that was confirmed when adult male rats, isolated or paired immediately after weaning until the day of tests (56 +/- 2 days), were treated with B-HT 920. In this case, however, not only isolated but also paired rats differed from grouped rats of the same age in their response to B-HT 920.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Imidazole and yohimbine antagonize hypomotility, penile erection, stretching and yawning induced in rats by BHT 920, a selective dopamine autoreceptor agonist.

When the azepine derivative BHT 920, a putative agonist at dopamine autoreceptors, was injected i.p. into adult male rats at 100 micrograms/kg, it induced numerous penile erections, stretching and yawning and sedation, all considered typical signs of central DA autoreceptor stimulation, but did not elicit stereotyped behaviour. Imidazole (37.5-150 mg/kg i.p.) and the alpha 2 antagonist yohimbine (0.5-1 mg/kg i.p.) both antagonized the behavioural effects of BHT 920. In the light of the proposed selective action of the drugs used, the possible involvement of specific receptors for the modulation of these forms of behaviour, as well the possible relevance of the data presented, are briefly discussed.

Adrenergic alpha-Agonists↗
PubMed1988

Biventricular function in Friedreich's ataxia: a radionuclide angiographic study.

The systolic and diastolic function of both ventricles was assessed by radionuclide angiography in 21 patients with Friedreich's ataxia and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The indices of systolic function of the two ventricles and those of diastolic function of the right ventricle were generally normal. But in patients with Friedreich's ataxia the time to peak filling rate divided by the diastolic time of the left ventricle was significantly larger than normal. The increase correlated with the heart rate (r = 0.79) and this suggests an alteration in the timing of ventricle filling that is more evident at high heart rates. Movement of the left ventricle was little impaired; however, in 48% of the patients with Friedreich's ataxia the right ventricle showed evidence of hypokinetic segments. Because there is a tendency for congestive heart failure to develop in patients with Friedreich's ataxia, this hypokinesis of the right ventricle should be monitored at follow up.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

Final height in a group of untreated children with constitutional growth delay.

We retrospectively evaluated the growth of 41 children with constitutional growth delay followed till adulthood and never treated with growth-promoting therapies. Final height has been correlated with prepubertal height, genetic target and height prediction calculated in both prepuberty and puberty. All patients showed a significant improvement of their height standard deviation score (HSDS) from prepuberty to adulthood, and the great majority of them achieved a final height above the 3rd percentile. Moreover, we found a good correlation between final height and both genetic target and height prediction, even if the latter overestimated final height in 25% of the patients. In conclusion, our data confirm that constitutional growth delay is a normal variant of growth. Therefore, caution should be paid in considering pharmacological treatment of this condition.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Imidazole modification of aggressive behaviour in rats and mice.

Imidazole (IMID) strongly affected aggressive behaviour in rodents, the type of influence varying according to the experimental model considered. In morphine-dependent rats, during naloxone-induced abstinence syndrome, signs of irritability and mild aggressiveness were observed after treatment with IMID. Moreover, IMID enhanced aggressive posturing elicited by the dopaminergic (DA) agonist lisuride, whether rats were affected by morphine-withdrawal symptoms or not. In isolation test in mice, on the other hand, IMID inhibited aggression. Imidazoleacetic acid, one of the metabolites of histamine, comparatively investigated in the same behavioural tests, never potentiated lisuride-induced aggressiveness in rats; moreover, it was more effective than IMID in inhibiting aggression in isolated mice.

Aggression↗
PubMed1987

Incremental binocular amplitude of the pattern visual evoked potential during the first five months of life: electrophysiological evidence of the development of binocularity.

The amplitude of the pattern visual evoked potential (VEP) of a binocular stimulus has been shown to be generally larger than the VEP obtained monocularly. There is evidence that this effect can be considered an electrophysiological index of fusion. To study how binocular vision develops in infancy we evaluated the incremental binocular amplitude (IBA) in three infants in a longitudinal investigation during the first five months of life. The stimuli were phase-alternating square-wave gratings with spatial and temporal parameters chosen to be appropriate for neonates. IBA was defined as the percentage increment of the largest binocular response compared with the monocular response. In the first two months of life IBA values were near zero, that is, no summation occurred. Between the second and third month IBA values rose markedly and after the third month its value was greater than 100%, demonstrating binocular facilitation. Thus in the first two months of life the eyes do not seem to cooperate as in adults. By the second and third month the binocular pattern VEP reflects an increasing binocular interaction. Other studies of the development of stereopsis have also found evidence of binocularity at similar ages.

Aging↗
PubMed1987

Effects of imidazole and some imidazole-derivatives on lisuride-induced mounting and aggressiveness.

Adult male rats were treated intraperitoneally (IP) with imidazole (IMID), distilled water or saline prior to administration of lisuride either IP or intracerebroventricularly (ICV) at doses too low by themselves to elicit the behavioural signs of mounting and aggressiveness, typically induced by higher doses of this drug. Pretreatment with distilled water or saline, or the procedure of injection alone, stimulated mounting in some of the animals. At a certain range of doses IMID induced a marked increase in both mounting and aggressive posturing in the same animals, while at higher doses mounting ceased, violent aggressive behaviour appeared and some of the rats died. Seven IMID derivatives were used on the lisuride-test: N-methylimidazole, 2-methylimidazole, 4-methylimidazole, N-acetylimidazole, 4-imidaaoleacetic acid, clonidine and cimetidine. Only 4-imidazoleacetic acid was completely ineffective with respect to controls. All the other drugs enhanced aggressive behaviour to varying degrees but proved to be less potent than IMID in inducing mounting, and clonidine reduced mounting at all the doses tested.

Aggression↗
PubMed1987

[Echographic identification of symptomatic gastric carcinoma and its lymph node metastases].

The diagnostic capability of ultrasound in symptomatic gastric cancer is stressed, on the basis of a prospective study of 64 neoplastic and 19 non-neoplastic patients. Aspecific signs are described which suggest the presence of five layers within the gastric wall as an index of absence of disease. The prospective importance of ultrasound investigation in 5 neoplastic patients with aspecific symptoms is emphasized.

Esophageal Neoplasms↗
PubMed1986

Imidazole has similar behavioural effects to yohimbine.

A number of animal behavioural models were used to study the activity of imidazole (IMID) on the central nervous system. IMID antagonized in a dose-related fashion penile erections (PE) as well as stretching and yawning (SY) elicited in male rats by B-HT 920, an alpha 2 and dopamine (DA) autoreceptor agonist. Inhibition of B-HT 920-induced PE and SY was also exhibited by haloperidol, a DA receptor blocker, and yohimbine, but not by prazosin, alpha 2 and alpha 1 receptor antagonists respectively. Moreover IMID behaved similarly to yohimbine in: 1) counteracting clonidine-induced hypothermia in mice; 2) antagonizing sedation and sleep induced by clonidine and B-HT 920 in chicks, while haloperidol was ineffective. When administered to sexually active rats before the copulatory test, IMID at low doses, significantly altered some aspects of mating, a result which is interpretable in terms of enhanced sexual arousal and resembling the aphrodisiac effect reported for yohimbine. The neurochemical mechanisms involved in these effects are discussed.

Adrenergic alpha-Agonists↗
PubMed1986

Lisuride-induced mounting and its modification by drugs active on adrenergic and dopaminergic receptors.

Imidazole (IMID), (9.37-75 mg/Kg) and yohimbine (YOH), (0.5-2.5 mg/Kg), strongly potentiated lisuride-induced mounting, scored as a percentage of animals affected and mean number of mounts per animal, while clonidine (150 micrograms/Kg) significantly antagonized the phenomenon. A high (2 mg/Kg) but not a low (50 micrograms/Kg) dose of B-HT 920 and DPI (100 and 500 micrograms/Kg) also inhibited lisuride-induce mounting. While, at present, IMID specific activity on monaminergic system is not yet conclusive, it is demonstrated that, at the doses used, YOH and clonidine are selective alpha 2 antagonist and agonist, respectively; B-HT 920 preferentially stimulates D2 receptors at 50 micrograms/Kg and alpha 2 receptors at 2 mg/Kg; finally DPI, proposed as DAI agonist, also activates alpha 2 receptors. Therefore, in view of the dose-related receptorial selectivity of action of the drugs tested, neurochemical mechanisms on specific receptors involved for modulation of this form of sexual behaviour are briefly discussed.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

Echocardiographic evaluation of verapamil in Friedreich's ataxia.

Nine patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy associated with Friedreich's ataxia were treated with the calcium antagonist verapamil, which is known to reduce myocardial hypertrophy and improve diastolic function in patients with idiopathic hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Daily oral doses of 7 mg/kg were given for a mean (SD) of 24 (8) months. M mode echocardiography performed at the start of the study and at the end of follow up showed no significant difference between the treated group and an untreated control group of nine patients. Verapamil produced no changes in left ventricular wall thickness, mass index, left ventricular internal diameter, fractional shortening, peak normalised lengthening rate, peak rate of septal and posterior wall thinning, and time from minimum ventricular cavity dimension to mitral valve opening. Myocardial calcium overload has been suggested as a cause of cardiac disease in Friedreich's ataxia; however, verapamil had no beneficial effect on these patients with established myocardial hypertrophy.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

Controlled clinical trial of imidazole.2-hydroxybenzoate (ITF 182) versus sulindac in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

The efficacy and safety of the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs imidazole.2-hydroxybenzoate and sulindac were compared in 30 patients with classical or definite rheumatoid arthritis. The trial was designed as a randomized parallel-group study comprising 15 patients given imidazole.2-hydroxybenzoate and 15 given sulindac orally for 28 days. Patients in both groups improved significantly in almost all of the variables evaluated. Imidazole.2-hydroxybenzoate was more effective than sulindac on Ritchie's articular index, left hand proximal interphalangeal joint circumference, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and C-reactive protein. The incidence of side effects was significantly higher in patients treated with sulindac.

Adult↗