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Biomedical subjects

G Fortunato

Publications and source records attributed to G Fortunato.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1994

Inositol-specific phospholipase D activity in health and disease.

1. We report the first demonstration of the pathophysiological importance and clinical applications of the relatively recently discovered circulating enzyme, phosphoinositol-specific phospholipase D. This enzyme is known to cleave the large variety of important cell-surface molecules linked to the cell membrane by glycan-phosphatidylinositol linkages (glycan-phosphatidylinositol anchors). 2. When measured in the sera of healthy individuals, phosphoinositol-specific phospholipase D activity was found to show a strong negative correlation with age, the degree of depreciation being greater than that measured for most other analytes. 3. Serum phosphoinositol-specific phospholipase D activity was considerably depressed in patients presenting with conditions leading to reduced liver synthetic reserve, such as hepatocellular carcinoma or liver cirrhosis caused by chronic viral hepatitis, and correlated with reduced albumin levels in these conditions, indicating that the liver is the site of phosphoinositol-specific phospholipase D synthesis and that phosphoinositol-specific phospholipase D may be used as an additional marker of liver synthetic reserve. 4. When measured in patients with acute liver disease, such as acute viral hepatitis, or in patients with bronchopneumonia, phosphoinositol-specific phospholipase D activity was found to be significantly raised, demonstrating features characteristic of an acute-phase reactant. 5. These findings indicate that, besides its pathophysiological importance, phosphoinositol-specific phospholipase D and the measurement of its activity in serum may have a useful place in the investigation of a range of clinical conditions, including tissue injury and inflammation.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1994

Activation of blood coagulation after abrupt or stepwise withdrawal of oral anticoagulants--a prospective study.

The occurrence of a "rebound hypercoagulable state" in patients after dicontinuation of oral anticoagulants is still a matter of debate and no definite recommendation can be made on the best procedure for anticoagulant withdrawal. The present study investigated the changes in the levels of markers of activated blood coagulation in 32 patients (pts) in whom warfarin treatment (for venous thromboembolic disease) was randomly withdrawn abruptly (n = 17, group A) or gradually (n = 15, group B: 2/3 of initial dose the 1st week, 1/3 the 2nd weeks and nothing from the 3rd week on). Blood was sampled at baseline, once a week for the first three weeks and after 2 months. At the 1st week group A had significantly higher F1+2 and TAT values (p < 0.001); at the 2nd week F1+2 levels remained higher (p < 0.05) though INR values were not different from those of group B. After baseline, higher than normal F1+2 levels were recorded in 32/66 (48%) controls in group A vs 15/60 (25%) in group B (p < 0.01); at the 2nd week, 10/17 (59%) patients in group A vs 1/15 (7%) in group B still had higher than normal F1+2 levels (p < 0.01). The values of areas under curve (AUC) and maximum concentrations of all variables were not statistically different in the two groups; however, very high levels were observed in a few cases of group A. Thrombotic events (one DVT recurrence and one thrombophlebitis in a varicose vein) occurred in 2 pts of group A, both with high F1+2 and TAT AUC values.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Serum pseudouridine in the diagnosis of acute leukaemias and as a novel prognostic indicator in acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

The serum level of pseudouridine, a modified nucleoside deriving mainly from t-RNA catabolism, was evaluated in 66 acute leukaemia patients at diagnosis to investigate its diagnostic and prognostic value, and its potential as a parameter with which to classify subtypes of the disease. Serum pseudouridine, measured by high performance liquid chromatography, was increased in acute lymphoblastic leukaemia patients (90% according to the pseudouridine index, which is the serum pseudouridine/creatinine ratio), and in acute myeloblastic leukaemia patients (75% according to the pseudouridine index). The increase was higher in the L3 than in the L1 and L2 subtypes. In the acute lymphoblastic leukaemia group there was a highly significant inverse correlation between serum pseudouridine levels and the most common end-point parameters used to assess disease outcome in leukaemia (i.e., complete remission rate, disease-free survival, and overall survival). In addition, 83% of patients with serum pseudouridine values < 5.5 nmol/mL were alive and in complete remission 12 months after the initial diagnosis, while only 11% of patients with serum pseudouridine values > 5.5 nmol/mL were alive and none were disease-free after the same period. This study: 1. demonstrates that the diagnostic sensitivity of the pseudouridine index is high in adult acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and good in acute myeloblastic leukaemia; 2. suggests that the serum pseudouridine assay can contribute to the classification of adult acute lymphoblastic leukaemia; and 3. demonstrates unequivocally that both pseudouridine assay and the pseudouridine index are excellent independent prognostic markers for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Ticlopidine.

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Arterial Occlusive Diseases↗
PubMed1989

Ticlopidine in the treatment of intermittent claudication: a 21-month double-blind trial.

After a 3-month, single-blind, run-in period, 151 patients with intermittent claudication were randomly allocated to receive the antiplatelet agent ticlopidine (250 mg twice per day) or an identical placebo. One hundred and twenty patients completed the double-blind phase of the trial, which lasted 21 months. The primary analysis was performed according to the "intention-to-treat principle" in all 151 enrolled patients. There was, continuing on from the third month after randomization, a progressive and sustained improvement of the pain-free and maximum walking distances in the two treatment groups that was significantly greater in the ticlopidine group. The ankle-arm systolic blood pressure ratio at rest and after exercise increased in a significant manner in the ticlopidine group only. In a secondary analysis, with exclusion of 25 patients because of protocol violations at selection, consistently significant differences in favor of the ticlopidine group were still observed for maximum walking distance and systolic ankle-arm blood pressure ratio, both at rest and after exercise. No major side effects were reported in the treated group. It is concluded that long-term treatment with ticlopidine improves walking ability and ankle systolic blood pressure in patients with claudication.

Blood Pressure↗
PubMed1988

Improved procedure for measuring gamma-glutamyltransferase isoenzymes in serum.

In this electrophoretic procedure for measuring isoenzymes of gamma-glutamyltransferase, patterns obtained are highly reproducible and the analytical imprecision (CV) ranges from 1.10% to 6.17%. A cellulose acetate support is used, at 220 V for 40 min. Sharply resolved isoenzyme bands were made visible by fluorescence scattered light, formed by use of a coumarin derivative as donor substrate. Two bands were observed for sera from normal subjects; four bands were variably present in sera from patients with different hepatobiliary diseases. Detection of the latter was satisfactory, down to a total activity in serum of 8-10 U/L. Three of the pathological bands were associated with low- and (or) very-low-density lipoproteins, whereas a major fraction of one of the normal bands in cirrhotic sera precipitated with high-density lipoprotein. The bands in normal sera, and one of the abnormal bands, did not.

Biliary Tract Diseases↗
PubMed1988

Lack of similarity between the effect of lesions of the suprachiasmatic nucleus and subparaventricular hypothalamic zone on behavioral circadian rhythms.

Rats were submitted to electrolytic lesion of either the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) or the subparaventricular hypothalamic zone (SPVH) and the effects on circadian behavioral rhythms were compared. While the SCN lesion abolished the circadian rhythmicity of all behavioral patterns, the SPVH lesion only abolished that of the eating and drinking behavior and reduced the amplitude of a behavioral item usually associated with REM sleep.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Perinatal malnutrition, suprachiasmatic nuclear lesioning, and circadian-ultradian aspects of spontaneous behavior of albino rats.

The effect of reducing the dietary protein content at different stages of development was investigated. A group of control rats was fed a diet with 25% protein throughout the entire study. Four other groups were fed only 6% protein in a diet isocaloric with the control diet. In an "intrauterine"-deprivation (prenatal) group, the feeding of the low protein diet was limited to the span from mating to delivery. In a "postnatal"-deprivation (lactation) group, the reduced protein diet was limited to the 25 days allowed for lactation. In a "perinatal"-deprivation group, the low-protein diet was fed during both the pregnancy and the 25 days after birth. Protein deprivation in a "preperinatal" group started 1 month before mating and continued throughout gestation and lactation to day 25 after birth. Except for the perinatal group, consisting of two animals, other groups consisted each of three or four rats. Behavioral variables--activity, rest, eating, drinking, exploring, grooming, curling up, and lying down--were studied in rats from each group at 90 days of age for 3 days at consecutive near-12-min intervals for observation spans of 1 min. Two animals subjected to bilateral suprachiasmatic lesions, subsequently validated histologically, and two sham-operated controls were also investigated. Both the population-mean and the single cosinor methods were used for data analysis in conjunction with linear least-squares spectra. Cosinor methods allow the rejection of the zero-amplitude assumption on a group basis for the intact controls (P = 0.007), the intrauterine malnutrition group (P = 0.034), the lactation group (P = 0.059), the preperinatal group (P = 0.055), and on an individualized basis for the two animals constituting the perinatal group (P = 0.007 and 0.002). These results by population-mean cosinor are complemented by the single cosinor demonstration of rhythms for most animals and variables investigated. The results demonstrate, on an individualized basis, the persistence of circadian rhythms under differently timed conditions of protein malnutrition. The data on the behavior of rats with bilateral lesions of the suprachiasmatic nuclei show a circadian to ultradian variance transposition. In most behaviors, there are prominent ultradian rhythms, which, however, require study over longer spans with dense observations on additional animals.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

Hemostatic balance alterations in obese children.

Fibrinolytic response to venous occlusion and other clotting parameters were studied in 34 obese children and 16 controls. The obese children (mean age 9 2/12 years) had a mean overweight of 51.8% +/- 15.6, higher blood glucose and cholesterol levels, and increased baseline and glucose-induced insulinemia. However, baseline ELT did not differ significantly; ELT after 5 min venous occlusion was 203.2 +/- 110.9 min in the obese children and 114.7 +/- 67.9 min in the control group (p less than 0.01) with a mean percent decrease respectively of 14.9% and 29.2%. Poor fibrinolytic responders did not correlate with age, overweight, or metabolic indices. Lower levels of ATIII (p less than 0.01) and no changes in F VIII: C and F VIII: R Ag were also found in the obese. Furthermore, in a larger group of 84 prepubertal obese children (mean age 10 years; mean overweight 48.2%) and in 39 normal prepubertal children (mean age 10 4/12 years) we also studied platelet aggregation capacity according to Breddin. This parameter was altered in a high proportion of the obese children (p less than 0.05). The obese children were also poor fibrinolytic responders, similarly to obese adults, and exhibited early alteration of the clotting balance.

Antigens↗
PubMed1979

[Determining levels of bacteria present in urine by means of a gauged loop (author's transl)].

The loop method permits determining of bacteriuria without the necessity for serial dilution, and with a precision greater than that of the dip inoculum test. Results indicate that the method allows us to establish the level of bacteria present in infected urine (approximately 10(5) germs/ml) quite precisely, and furnishes reliable evaluation of high levels. Due to the small quantity removed by the loop, the possible presence of strong concentrations of chemobiotics does not influence the results, as subinhibiting concentrations easily occur with diffusion.

Bacteria↗