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Biomedical subjects

F Romano

Publications and source records attributed to F Romano.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Determinants of HTLV-1 seroprevalence in Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan: a cross-sectional study.

To evaluate determinants of the prevalence of human T-cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I) antibody positivity in an endemic region, Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan, demographic and serologic data were collected on 7,055 individuals consecutively seen at Miyazaki City Health Promotion Center between September 1983 and December 1984. The overall HTLV-I seroprevalence was 8.5%; age and gender distributions of HTLV-1 antibody positivity were consistent with previous findings for endemic populations. The prefecture could be divided into two geographic areas based on seroprevalence: high prevalence (12.1%) in the southwest and medium prevalence (6.6%) for the rest of the prefecture. Current occupation in fishing, forestry, or livestock raising significantly correlated with HTLV-1 seropositivity [relative risk (RR) = 3.0, 2.5, 2.0, respectively]; farming also was associated but only in the medium prevalence region (RR = 1.3; p = 0.06). For a subset of 157 HTLV-I-positives and 175 negative controls screened for antibodies to the toxoplasmosis organisms, toxoplasma exposure was not significantly associated with HTLV-I infection. In this endemic Japanese population, both geographic and sociologic factors characterized the distribution of HTLV-I seroprevalence, reflecting transmission patterns and historical duration of the infection.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

The efficacy, safety and tolerance of ceftazidime for the treatment of bacterial infections in the elderly.

An open multicentre trial to study the efficacy and safety of ceftazidime in elderly patients has been conducted in four geriatric units on 135 subjects suffering from urinary-tract or respiratory-tract infections. Sixty-two patients were cured (45.9%), and 60 improved (44.4%). Of the evaluable cases bacteriological eradication was achieved in 91.3%. No adverse events were recorded.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1990

Low protein supplemented diet corrects altered serum thyroid hormone and TSH concentrations in patients with chronic nephrotic syndrome.

Creatinine clearance, daily urinary protein excretion, serum concentrations of thyroid hormones (TT4, TT3, fT4, fT3), TSH and parathyroid hormone (PTH), have been measured before and after 2 or 6 months of a low protein diet supplemented with aminoacids and ketoanalogues in 18 patients affected by chronic nephrotic syndrome without significant impairment of renal function. Mean creatinine clearance and mean serum protein concentration (79.5 +/- 13.8 ml/min and 5.4 +/- 0.6 g/dl, mean +/- S.D., respectively) did not significantly change (79.1 +/- 17.3 ml/min and 5.5 +/- 0.6 g/dl) after the diet. Mean daily urinary protein excretion (7.1 +/- 2.2 g/day basally) significantly decreased (5.5 +/- 1.9 g/day) after the diet (p less than 0.05). Mean serum TT4 concentration (5.6 +/- 1.8 micrograms/dl basally) significantly increased (6.7 +/- 2 micrograms/dl, p less than 0.05) after the diet. Mean serum TT3 concentration (106.7 +/- 28.5 ng/dl, basally) significantly increased (126.7 +/- 22.6 ng/dl) after the diet (p less than 0.01). Mean serum fT4 and fT3 concentrations (8.0 +/- 2.9 pg/ml and 4.5 +/- 1.6 pg/ml, respectively) did not significantly change (9.4 +/- 2.7 pg/ml, and 4.9 +/- 1.9 pg/ml, respectively) after the diet. In some patients low basal serum concentration values of TT4, TT3, fT4, fT3 became normal after the diet. Mean serum TSH concentration (3.1 +/- 2.3 microU/ml basally), significantly decreased (1.5 +/- 1.3 microU/ml) after the diet (p less than 0.05). Mean serum PTH concentration (0.7 +/- 0.3 ng/ml basally) significantly decreased (0.4 +/- 0.2 ng/ml) after the diet (p less than 0.01).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Prevalence of dental caries and enamel defects in children living in areas with different water fluoride concentrations.

The prevalences of dental caries and developmental enamel defects were assessed in 643 randomly selected children aged 11 to 13 years who were lifelong residents of three areas of Naples with high (4 ppm), optimal (1 ppm), and low (0.3 ppm) concentrations of fluoride in their drinking water. The children living in the high fluoride area had significantly lower dental caries scores (DMFT 0.59, DMFS 1.01) than those in the optimal fluoride area (DMFT 1.67, DMFS 2.87) and those in the low fluoride area (DMFT 1.97, DMFS 3.48). The FDI index of developmental defects of dental enamel (DDE) was used to record enamel defects. There was a significant increase in the number of children with at least one tooth affected by an enamel defect as the fluoride level in their drinking water increased; the prevalences were 9.8 per cent in the low fluoride area, 23 per cent in the optimal area and 53.1 per cent in the high fluoride area. The prevalences of teeth affected were 2.2 per cent in the low fluoride area, 5.7 per cent in the optimal, and 20.3 per cent in the high. Demarcated opacities were the most common defect seen. Diffuse opacities were found to be the discriminating factor between fluoride and non-fluoride areas. In the high fluoride area 64.3 per cent of children with enamel defects had at least six teeth affected. In the maxilla the central incisors were the most affected teeth followed by the second and first premolars; in the mandible the first premolars and first molars were the most affected teeth.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

Use of colistin and sorbitol for better isolation of Serratia marcescens in clinical samples.

A comparison was made of different culture media and procedures for detection of Serratia marcescens from faecal, pharyngeal and ocular swabs collected from 213 neonates. MacConkey agar and MacConkey agar with sorbitol (1%) and/or colistin (200 i.u./ml) were used both for primary isolation and after enrichment using Mossel Enterobacteriaceae broth with colistin (200 i.u./ml). The use of MacConkey agar supplemented with colistin for primary isolation improved considerably the isolation rate of S. marcescens from faecal swabs but not from pharyngeal swabs; the number of ocular isolations were insufficient to demonstrate differences between procedures. Moreover the enrichment procedures consistently increased the number of S. marcescens isolates especially from pharyngeal and ocular swabs. Use of sorbitol made detection of S. marcescens from clinical specimens easier and time- and cost-efficient.

Colistin↗
PubMed1988

Inhibitors of ADP-ribosyl transferase suppress the mitogenic actions exerted by tumour promoters, but not those evoked by peptide mitogens, in primary neonatal rat hepatocytes.

A significant stimulation of the 24-h (between day 4 and 5 in vitro) new DNA synthetic activity was elicited in primary neonatal rat hepatocytes kept in low-calcium (0.01 mmol/l) HiWoBa2000 synthetic medium by the addition of a single dose (10(-10) mol/l) of each of several tumour promoters [i.e. 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA), phenobarbital, nafenopin, saccharin, teleocidin, benzoyl peroxide butylhydroxytoluene (BHT), dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), lindane, clofibrate and melittin]. Even hormones [e.g. epidermal growth factor (EGF), glucagon and insulin at 10(-10) mol/l] and EGF-like acting drugs (i.e. imidazole and indomethacin, at 10(-11) mol/l) similarly enhanced with respect to untreated controls the 24-h flow into S phase of the primary hepatocytes on condition, however, that the cells were incubated in a high- (i.e. 1.8 mmol/l) and not a low-calcium HiWoBa2000 medium. Xenobiotics, peptide mitogens and EGF-like acting drugs also enhanced the in vitro hepatocellular mitotic activity. The growth-stimulatory effects of the aforementioned eleven tumour promoters were entirely suppressed by the simultaneous addition to the growth medium of a fully effective dose (10(-4) - 10(-3) mol/l) of agents, such as 3-aminobenzamide (3-ABA), 3-methoxybenzamide (3-MBA) or nicotinamide (NA), that are known to inhibit the activity of ADP-ribosyl transferase (ADPRT). However, under the same conditions these inhibitors hampered neither the basal DNA synthetic and mitotic activities of spontaneously cycling hepatocytes nor the stimulation of the hepatocellular growth processes evoked by peptide mitogens and EGF-like acting drugs. Quantitative autoradiographic investigations showed that the incorporation of the ADP-ribose precursor and ADPRT substrate [3H]NAD into nuclear macromolecules of gently digitonin-permeabilized hepatocytes was negligible in the untreated cultures, whereas it was strikingly and nearly steadily increased by a 2-, 8- and 24-h exposure to a fully mitogenic dose (10(-10) mol/l) of TPA, thereby revealing that an early, significant and roughly steady activation of the nuclear ADPRT had taken place in the phorbol ester-treated liver parenchymal cells. The simultaneous addition of 3-ABA (10(-4) mol/l) not only fully checked the mitogenic effects of TPA, but even suppressed about two-thirds of the TPA-elicited nuclear incorporation of [3H]NAD by the permeabilized hepatocytes, thus showing that a significant curtailment of the TPA-activated ADPRT did occur is association with the abatement of the mitogenic effects of TPA by this inhibitor.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Evaluation of tricyclic antidepressant plasma levels by an automated enzyme immunoassay (EMIT) in comparison to a high-performance liquid chromatographic method.

A new homogeneous enzyme immunoassay technique (EMIT) for the measurement of plasma levels of amitriptyline, nortriptyline, imipramine, and desipramine was used with an automated procedure and the results were compared to those of a high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method. Precision of the EMIT test was similar to that of the HPLC method with within-day coefficients of variation in the range of 3.9-10.9% (EMIT) and 3.9-9.6% (HPLC). The day-to-day coefficients of variation ranged from 4.4 to 11.7% for EMIT and from 6.1 to 8.4% for HPLC. Samples from 124 patients were analyzed by both methods and a good correlation was observed for all the four drugs. A paired t test indicated no significant difference for the EMIT and HPLC values. No significant interferences were observed between the tricyclics tested and other commonly associated drugs, such as benzodiazepines and neuroleptics. The new EMIT assay proved to be rapid and easy to perform and showed sufficient reliability and reproducibility to be used for either emergency or routine analysis.

Antidepressive Agents, Tricyclic↗
PubMed1988

[Comparison of anti-influenza vaccines: whole adsorbed trivalent, trivalent subunit and tetravalent subunit].

Two different sub-unit polyvalent vaccines have been compared with the trivalent whole virus adsorbed vaccine, in two different groups of people, including both sexes, aging between 20 and 60 yrs. and between 65 and 85 yrs. respectively. Our findings show that all the three vaccines induced high seroconversion rates against the subtypes A/Mississippi/1/85 and A/Chile/1/83. As to the strain B/Ann Arbor/1/86 the sub-unit vaccine induced significantly higher seroconversion rates then the whole virus vaccine; the geometric mean titer has been higher in the groups given the vaccine than in the remaining group; in the latter group the GMTs of antibody against the A strains were consistently above the protective level, whereas the GMT of antibody against the B strain was fairly low. The authors consider useless including into the vaccine the strains A/Mississippi/1/85 and A/Chile/1/83, whereas it seems to be essential the incorporation of the strains A/Singapore/1/86 like and B/Ann Arbor/1/86. Moreover it turns out that the sub-unit vaccines, because of their better effectiveness, should substitute the whole virus adsorbed vaccine.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

An epidemiological study of the clinical impact of pharmacokinetic anticonvulsant drug interactions based on serum drug level analysis.

The impact of pharmacokinetic anticonvulsant drug interactions on prescribing patterns and serum drug level distribution in a routine clinical setting was evaluated in a population of 848 patients chronically treated with phenytoin, phenobarbital, carbamazepine and valproic acid (either alone or as two-drug combinations) and referred for therapeutic drug monitoring for the first time. While dosages of each drug did not differ significantly between monotherapy and polytherapy patients, significant differences in serum level distribution were found. The proportion of patients with suboptimal serum carbamazepine and valproic acid levels (less than 4 and less than 50 micrograms/ml, respectively) was much greater in the polytherapy than in the monotherapy groups, probably as a consequence of induction of carbamazepine and valproic acid metabolism by combined anticonvulsants. Conversely, the proportion of phenobarbital levels above the upper limit of the optimal range (40 micrograms/ml) was greater among patients receiving phenytoin in combination than among patients taking phenobarbital alone, presumably as a result of phenytoin-induced inhibition of barbiturate metabolism. The therapeutic implications of these findings are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

Growth stimulation and apoptosis induced in cultures of neonatal rat liver cells by repeated exposures to epidermal growth factor/urogastrone with or without associated pancreatic hormones.

In untreated primary cultures of neonatal rat liver kept in high-calcium (1.8 mmol/l), foetal bovine serum (10% v/v)- containing minimal essential medium (FBS-MEM), the absolute numbers of hepatocytes did not change between day 4 and day 9 because ongoing cell loss was counterbalanced by proliferation of a discrete sub-population of the cells. By contrast, the number of stromal cells increased linearly with time. Growth of hepatocytes and stromal cells was differently affected by the daily addition, between day 4 and day 8 of culture, of fresh medium to which peptide mitogen(s) in concentrations ranging from 10(-14) to 10(-8) mol/l had been added. Epidermal growth factor/urogastrone (EGF/URO) with or without equimolar mixtures of glucagon and insulin, induced first hyperplasia of hepatocytes and stromal cells and then apopotosis (degeneration and death) of the progeny of the stimulated cells. By contrast, equimolar mixtures of glucagon and insulin caused a progressive increase in the number of hepatocytes and stromal cells unbalanced by any increase in cell death. At subphysiological concentrations glucagon, in synergism with EGF/URO and/or some other unknown heat-stable component of serum, acted as a trophic factor for hepatocytes. By contrast, insulin alone did not enhance growth of hepatocytes, but rather blocked the mitogenic effects of EGF/URO. The three hormones exerted neither mitogenic nor apoptotic effects when administered in a low calcium (0.01 mmol/l) FBS-MEM medium. These results reveal that EGF/URO may control the size of cell populations in neonatal liver by calcium-dependent mechanisms that make it unlikely to be a promoter of hepatocyte tumours. They also show that glucagon acts as a positive trophic regulator for hepatocytes.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

Antioxidants and blockers of arachidonate metabolism inhibit the mitogenic effects of TPA in hepatocytes: differences in the operative mechanisms according to the cell cycle setting.

A single exposure to a low concentration (10(-10) mol/l) of TPA doubled the size of the fraction of neonatal rat hepatocytes flowing into DNA synthesis within 24 hours in 4-day-old primary cultures kept in low-calcium (0.01 mmol/l) HiWoBa2000 synthetic medium, thereby evoking a phenotypically neoplastic feature in normal, i.e. non-initiated cells. Inhibition kinetics studies, in which several antioxidants and blockers of the arachidonate cascade were given, each by itself, simultaneously with or at various time intervals after TPA, showed that the early mitogenic effects of TPA, i.e. the commitment of GO hepatocytes to grow and the reactivation of hepatocytes poised at the G1/S boundary required oxygen radicals and all the main metabolites of arachidonate. Instead, the subsequent flow into S phase of TPA-committed hepatocytes was not controlled by oxygen radicals and prostaglandins but by retinoid-modulable activities and by products of the lipoxygenase and thromboxane synthase pathways of arachidonate metabolism.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

Studies on the mechanisms by which tumor promoters stimulate the growth of primary neonatal rat hepatocytes.

A single exposure to a low concentration (10(-10) mol/L) of several tumor promoters, namely 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA), phenobarbital (PB), nafenopin, saccharin, teleocidin, benzoyl peroxide, butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), lindane, clofibrate, and melittin significantly stimulated DNA synthesis of neonatal rat hepatocytes in 4-day-old primary cultures. These cultures were kept in low-calcium (0.01 mmol/L) HiWoBa2000 synthetic medium, thereby evoking a neoplastic phenotype in otherwise normal (i.e., non-initiated) cells. The simultaneous addition of a single dose of alpha-tocopherol (10(-4) mol/L) or selenous acid (10(-5) mol/L), just as that of exogenous superoxide dismutase (SOD) (4), together with each of the above agents fully suppressed the stimulation of hepatocytic DNA synthesis by the xenobiotics. Hence, these findings strengthen the view that superoxide anions (or some other oxidizing compounds) act as the common mediators of the mitogenic effects of various tumor promoters in hepatocytes. Inhibition kinetics studies, in which TPA in a single dose (10(-10) mol/L) was used as the paradigmatic compound together with several kinds of inhibitors of its activity showed that the early mitogenic effects of TPA, i.e., the commitment of quiescent (G0) hepatocytes and the reentry into active cycling of hepatocytes spontaneously poised at the G1/S boundary, required oxidizing compounds, arachidonate metabolism derivatives, and plasmalemmal calcium-binding sites and transmembrane calcium fluxes. Instead, a later TPAs effect, the flow into DNA synthesis of hepatocytes previously committed to cycle, was shown to be controlled by retinoid-modulable activities, by some product(s) of the lipoxygenase pathway, and again by plasmalemmal calcium-binding sites and transmembrane calcium fluxes. Such results reveal that in the neonatal rat hepatocyte the ability to answer to a single mitogenic stimulus and the metabolic pathways by which this answer is enacted depend upon the mitotic cycle setting of the hepatocytes at the moment of the experimental treatment.

Animals↗