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Biomedical subjects

F Marongiu

Publications and source records attributed to F Marongiu.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1992

Epidemiology of infection with HIV-1 in Sardinia: a multicentre prospective study.

To study the spread of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) in Sardinia, we conducted a multicentre prospective study of the prevalence of antibody to HIV-1 (anti-HIV-1) in various populations during 1985-1989. The highest anti-HIV-1 prevalence (61.4%) was found in intravenous drug users. Anti-HIV-1 was found in 32% of haemophiliacs, 4.2% of thalassemics and less than 1% in the other groups. We conclude that control of HIV infection in Sardinia will require a major expansion of prevention and treatment programs for drug addiction.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Activation of blood coagulation and fibrinolysis in Graves' disease.

We studied blood coagulation and fibrinolysis activities in hyperthyroidism before and after methimazole or 131I. Fibrinopeptide A and B beta 15-42, in vivo indicators of thrombin and plasmin activity, were measured by RIA, while fibrinogen by the Clauss method. We studied 50 patients, affected by toxic diffuse goiter. We evaluated 21 of them before and after treatment. Fibrinogen, fibrinopeptide A, and B beta 15-42 were higher in patients than in controls (p less than 0.0001). There was no difference in fibrinopeptide A nor in B beta 15-42 before or after treatment. In euthyroidism fibrinogen returned to normal values. Inflammation of the thyroid gland secondary to autoimmunity may activate blood coagulation by release of tissue factor. High fibrinogen before treatment may be explained as an aspecific response. Since it persists in euthyroidism, autoimmunity could account for high fibrinopeptide A and B beta 15-42 aftertreatment.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Bleeding time is prolonged during oral anticoagulant therapy.

We have performed the BT test in 55 patients undergoing oral anticoagulant therapy monitored by means of Thrombotest (TT). Patients in steady state of anticoagulation showed longer BT than normal controls; patients in overdose phase had longer BT values than either controls or patients in steady state. After recovery the overdose phase patients showed BT values not different from those of the controls. Moreover we were able to find in our patients a significant linear correlation between BT and TT. Impairment in primary haemostasis could be due either to a scarce fibrin deposition in the haemostatic plug or to deficiency of a possible vitamin K dependent vascular "bleeding factor".

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed1990

Is the imbalance between thrombin and plasmin activity in diabetes related to the behaviour of antiplasmin activity?

The aim of this study was to evaluate the balance between thrombin and plasmin activity in a group of 79 diabetic patients (IDDM and NIDDM). For this purpose we determined fibrinopeptide A (FPA) and B beta 15-42, specific products of thrombin and plasmin activity. Moreover we investigated the behaviour of antithrombin III and alpha 2 antiplasmin, important inhibitors of blood coagulation and fibrinolysis. Results show an increase both in FPA and B beta 15-42 in IDDM and NIDDM patients when compared to healthy controls. However the ratio between B beta 15-42 and FPA was lower than in controls indicating an imbalance between thrombin and plasmin activity. Antithrombin III levels were not different from the controls and no correlation was found with Hb A1c. alpha 2 antiplasmin was found to be higher in IDDM when compared both with NIDDM and controls. A non linear correlation was found between Hb A1c and alpha 2 AP in both diabetic groups. We conclude that the imbalance between thrombin and plasmin activity may have a role in determining fibrin deposition. These subclinical abnormalities, unrelated to vascular complications and duration of the disease, may progressively contribute to the development of the vascular complications in diabetes.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Changes in fibrinolysis in patients with localized tumors.

An array of fibrinolysis tests was applied to the plasmas of 125 untreated patients with breast carcinoma and malignant melanoma, localized or spread to regional lymph nodes with no detectable distant metastases, to see whether or not there may be changes related to the type or to the stage of malignancy. Breast carcinoma (a mucin secreting tumor) and melanoma (a neuroectodermal tumor) were chosen as examples of tumors that can be accurately staged for localization or spread. Forty healthy subjects matched for age served as controls. The most marked differences between malignant tumors and controls were elevated plasma levels of tissue plasminogen activator antigen (P less than 0.005), plasminogen activator inhibitor (P less than 0.01), cross-linked fibrin degradation products (P less than 0.001), fragment B beta 15-42 (P less than 0.001) and histidine-rich glycoprotein (P less than 0.005). For no fibrinolysis test were results significantly different between patients with localized and spread tumors. Our data indicate that in these tumors fibrinolytic alterations are an early phenomenon unrelated to spreading.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

T lymphocyte subsets and viral infections in Sardinian parenteral drug abusers: relationship to HIV infection.

To investigate whether the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection or the abuse of narcotic drugs or other viral infections may be responsible for immunologic abnormalities in parenteral drug abusers, sera from 168 consecutive individual patients were collected from 1985 to 1986. The sera were tested for antibody to HIV (anti-HIV), and the clinical, immunologic, and serologic characteristics of 83 seropositive and 53 seronegative parenteral drug abusers were compared. The presence of anti-HIV was significantly associated with a decreased number of T helper lymphocytes (P less than .001), a reduced T helper/suppressor ratio (P less than .001). Of the 83 seropositive patients, 63 (76%) had generalized lymphadenopathy and 16 (18%) had AIDS-related complex. No patient had AIDS. Parenteral drug abusers with AIDS-related complex had significant reductions in the number of T helper cells (P less than .01) and the T helper/suppressor ratio (P less than .01) compared with patients with lymphadenopathy syndrome (LAS), suggesting that parenteral drug abusers with HIV infection develop a progressive immunodeficiency. IgG antibody to cytomegalovirus was found in 75% of anti-HIV-positive and 45% of anti-HIV-negative parenteral drug abusers (P less than .01), but significant associations between anti-HIV and markers for other viruses were not found. Our data confirm that HIV infection is the major cause of low T helper cells and reversed T helper/suppressor ratio in parenteral drug abusers.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

AIDS-Related Complex↗
PubMed1989

Evidence for a relationship between high fibrinogen levels and decreased thrombin activity in vivo in elderly subjects.

In order to investigate whether high fibrinogen levels were associated with elevated thrombin activity, we measured fibrinogen and fibrinopeptide A in 37 elderly healthy subjects ranging from 60 to 93 years. Fibrinogen levels (519.1 +/- 127.0 mg/dl) and fibrinopeptide A (5.9, 0.9-18.1 ng/ml) were significantly higher than in younger controls. A highly significant negative linear correlation was found between fibrinogen and fibrinopeptide A in the elderly subjects (p less than 0.01). However, a polynomial regression showed that this negative relationship was present at the fibrinogen levels ranging between 420 and 700 mg/dl. Our results suggest that high fibrinogen levels in elderly subjects do not necessarily mean that their thrombin activity is concomitantly increased.

Aged↗
PubMed1989

Thrombin activity and oral anticoagulant therapy: a preliminary study.

The aim of this work was to investigate whether the thrombin activity is related to the degree of anticoagulation induced by oral anticoagulants. Moreover, we tried to detect an optimal anticoagulation range at which the lowest possible thrombin activity can be reached. We investigated 28 patients (19 women and 9 men, mean age 54 +/- 9 years). Anticoagulation had been induced by acenocoumarol for at least 1 year before the beginning of this study. The degree of anticoagulation was monitored by the thrombotest coagulation method. The therapeutic range was 5-13%. The thrombin activity was measured by means of the fibrinopeptide A radioimmunological assay. In 15, 7, and 6 of the patients, thrombotest and fibrinopeptide A were carried out twice, once, and three times, respectively. Our results show first of all a significant positive relationship between thrombotest and fibrinopeptide A (p less than 0.001). Once this result was obtained, we tried to improve our identification of the behaviour of the thrombin activity in relation to the degree of anticoagulation assessed by thrombotest. For this purpose we employed a third-degree polynomial regression analysis which showed a better fit of the data. Since the curve became steeper from about 10% thrombotest levels, we divided the FPA values on the basis of thrombotest ranges. FPA values for the 14- to 25% thrombotest range were significantly different from those in the thrombotest range of 4-10%. Moreover, FPA levels in the 11 to 13% thrombotest range were significantly different from those in the thrombotest range of 4-10%. Our results suggest that a significant decrease in thrombin activity may be achieved only with a deep anticoagulation.

Acenocoumarol↗
PubMed1989

[Immunological aspects in anti-HIV seronegative drug addicts. Correlation with the duration of heroin addiction and other viral infections].

In order to determine whether the immunological abnormalities described in intravenous drug addicts (IDA), are due to HIV infection, other viral infections or to the abuse of narcotic drugs, we studied the T lymphocyte subsets and serological markers of infection with hepatitis B and delta virus, cytomegalovirus and Epstein Barr virus, in 49 IDA. The immunological and serological features of IDA were compared with the control group, made up of 20 healthy subjects. In intravenous drug abusers we found a significant increase in the number of total lymphocytes (P less than 0.01), T-lymphocytes (P less than 0.05), T-suppressor cells (P less than 0.05), and serum IgG levels (P less than 0.0001) as compared with the control group. The prevalence of serological markers of infection with hepatitis B virus, hepatitis delta virus, cytomegalovirus and Epstein Barr virus was significantly higher in IDA as compared with the controls. In conclusion our study demonstrates that T-lymphocyte subsets in IDA seronegative for HIV infection are characterized by an enhancement of peripheral lymphocyte cells with a normal OKT4/OKT8 ratio.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

[Activity of the coagulation and fibrinolysis in non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. In vivo study].

In vivo study of blood coagulation and fibrinolysis activities in non insulin dependent diabetes mellitus. The aim of the study was to investigate in vivo blood coagulation and fibrinolysis activities in a group of diabetic patients NIDDM with and without vascular complications. For this purpose we determined two sensitive indicators in vivo of blood coagulation and fibrinolytic activities such as fibrinopeptide A and B beta 15-42 respectively. Moreover, we computed the ratio between B beta 15-42 and fibrinopeptide A in order to investigate a possible imbalance in vivo between blood coagulation and fibrinolysis. Control groups were 15 healthy subjects and 28 non diabetic patients affected by atherosclerotic disease. Fibrinopeptide A and B beta values were significantly higher in the diabetic patients than controls but there was no difference between the former group and the atherosclerotic patients. Also, no correlation was found for FPA, B beta, B beta/FPAr and HbAlc, fructosamine and blood glucose levels. There was no difference in B beta, FPA and B beta/FPAr values for patients treated with insulin and for those treated with either hypoglycemic agents or diet. Our data indicate that in diabetic patients fibrinolysis activity is increased, but it cannot counterbalance thrombin activity which appears much more enhanced. Finally, the lack of correlation for FPA, B beta, B beta/FPAr and HbAlc, fructosamine and blood glucose suggests that blood coagulation and fibronolysis abnormalities are not related to the degree of blood glucose control.

Adult↗