Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to G Giacalone.
A newborn infant with patent omphalomesenteric duct (POMD), who presented faecal umbilical discharge, was treated with a semicircular periumbilical incision up to the abdominal cavity. The omphalomesenteric duct was followed up to the junction with the small intestine and there resected. The abdominal wall was closed without resection of the umbilicus.
The present study was performed in order to establish whether melatonin (MEL) plays a role in the regulation of arginine vasopressin secretion (AVP) in normal human subjects. For this purpose, the effects of an oral administration of 6 or 12 mg MEL on basal and metoclopramide (MCP)- or hypoglycemia-stimulated AVP secretion was tested in 18 normal men. MCP was given at a dose of 20 mg as an intravenous (i.v.) bolus; hypoglycemia was induced with an i.v. bolus injection of 0.15 IU/kg body weight of insulin. In addition, in view of the well-known inhibitory effect of MEL on the growth hormone (GH) response to hypoglycemia, GH levels were measured during the insulin tolerance test (ITT), as an independent index of MEL activity. MEL did not produce any change in AVP secretory patterns in basal conditions or during the MCP test. In contrast, the mean peak AVP response to hypoglycemia was 2.33 times higher than baseline in the control ITT, whereas it was only 1.77 times higher than baseline in the ITT plus MEL tests. Also, the GH response to hypoglycemia was significantly lower in the presence than in the absence of MEL. For both AVP and GH, the inhibitory effect of MEL during ITT was similar, when either 6 or 12 mg MEL was given. These data indicate an involvement of MEL in the control of the AVP response to hypoglycemia, but not of basal and MCP-induced AVP secretion. In addition, the similar effects of MEL on GH and AVP secretions during ITT suggest that similar neuroendocrine mechanisms underlie these hormonal responses to hypoglycemia.
Propionyl-L-carnitine (PLC) was shown to improve global cardiac function in pressure overload hypertrophy by acting directly on muscle mechanics. We investigated whether PLC can effectively ameliorate papillary muscle mechanics in a volume overload (VO) model. We induced VO by constructing an aortocaval anastomosis in adult Wistar rats. Three experimental groups were studied: sham-operated controls and untreated and PLC-treated VO animals. Isometric function of right and left papillary muscle was studied 16-18 weeks later. PLC was administered in the drinking water at the dose of 180 mg/kg for the last 2 weeks before experiment. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that in right papillary muscles from the untreated VO group the time course of the isometric contraction was significantly prolonged [time-to-peak tension (TPT, ms +/- SEM) from 126 +/- 4.9 to 156 +/- 7.1; time from peak tension to 30% relaxation (TRel) from 133 +/- 11.9 to 196 +/- 13.9; n = 11 and 8, respectively], and peak rates of contraction and relaxation normalized over developed tension were significantly decreased in comparison with sham [from (s-1 +/- SEM) 12.9 +/- 0.5 to 10.8 +/- 0.6, and from 7.2 +/- 0.6 to 5.2 +/- 0.4, respectively]. These parameters in the PLC VO group did not differ from sham (TPT, 140 +/- 5.7; TRel, 158 +/- 14.4; +dF/df/DT, 12.2 +/- 0.6; -dF/df/DT, 6.5 +/- 0.5; n = 8). Function of left papillary muscle was not modified by either VO or PLC treatment. Total carnitine levels in either ventricle free walls were unchanged by VO. PLC significantly increased total carnitine content of left ventricle free wall (from 5.4 +/- 0.28 to 7.0 +/- 0.50). The contraction changes observed in the right papillary muscle are likely to depend on the pressure overload occurring in the right chamber; moreover, they are unrelated to tissue carnitine depletion. PLC improved the altered right papillary muscle mechanics without exerting any apparent effect on the functionally normal left papillary muscle. PLC activity is independent of carnitine stores, but may presumably be ascribed to its anaplerotic properties.
This study investigated if propionyl-L-carnitine (PLC) treatment can directly affect cardiac mechanics, secondary to increase in myocardial carnitine content, in rats with aortic constriction and sham-operated controls. After weaning, rats were fed one of the following diets for 8 wk: 1) a low-carnitine diet (containing 2 nmol/g carnitine); 2) the same diet supplemented with PLC (710 mumol/kg body wt); 3) L-carnitine (LC; 118 mumol/kg body wt, given in tap water; or 4) a standard diet (containing 56 nmol/g carnitine). A 4-wk constriction of the abdominal aorta caused left ventricular hypertrophy associated with significantly prolonged timing parameters and reduced rate of tension decay in papillary muscles. In group 2, however, PLC treatment prevented hypertrophy-induced changes in these parameters and the reduction in unloaded shortening velocity in skinned trabeculae. Finally, PLC treatment maintained the relative proportion of myosin heavy chain isoforms in left ventricular wall of animals subjected to aortic constriction. Both PLC and LC completely prevented carnitine depletion due to hypertrophy and to dietary restriction. Because LC did not modify papillary muscle contractile function, these results demonstrate that PLC affects hypertrophy-induced changes in muscle mechanics and ventricular wall composition independently of tissue carnitine levels.
UNLABELLED: Delta-sleep-inducing peptide (DSIP) is a well-known inhibitor of pituitary ACTH secretion. In order to evaluate the possible influence of DSIP on basal arginine-vasopressin (AVP) secretion and/or on the AVP-response to osmotic and pressure/volumetric stimuli, DSIP (25 nmol/kg) was infused in 10 min to 8 normal men (23-34 years old) just before a 2-hour infusion of normal saline (NaCl 0.9%; DSIP test) or hypertonic saline (0.51 M NaCl; osmotic test) or before an orthostatic test (standing upright and maintaining an orthostatic position for 20 min). In different occasions, a 10-min infusion of normal saline (placebo) was given instead of DSIP. In an additional 7 subjects, DSIP or placebo was given 60 min before hypertonic saline or the orthostatic test. The results obtained after the administration of DSIP at time 0 and at -60 min were similar. RESULTS: The administration of DSIP or normal saline alone did not change the concentrations of circulating AVP. A slight physiological decline in ACTH levels was observed during saline infusion, whereas a significant decrease in ACTH levels was induced by DSIP administration. Osmotic stimulation of AVP secretion by hypertonic NaCl induced a significant increase in plasma AVP concentrations which was not modified by DSIP administration. The ACTH secretory patterns during hypertonic NaCl and hypertonic NaCl plus DSIP were similar to those observed during normal saline and normal saline plus DSIP, respectively. The orthostatic test provided similar plasma AVP increments, regardless of the previous treatment with DSIP.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
The plasma GH response to GHRH (100 micrograms i.v.) was evaluated either alone or after pretreatment with pyridostigmine (120 mg orally 1 h prior to GHRH) in 9 younger men (age range: 22-39 years) and in 9 healthy elderly men (age range: 63-77 years). On a different occasion, subjects were tested with pyridostigmine alone. Basal concentrations of glucose, cortisol, androgens, estrogens, thyroid hormones and GH were similar in all subjects, whereas insulin-like growth factor was lower in elderly men. The GH response to GHRH was significantly lower in the older (mean peak was 6 times higher than baseline) than in the younger group (mean peak was 11.3 times higher than baseline). The pretreatment with pyridostigmine induced a striking increase in the GH response to GHRH in the younger subjects (mean peak was 26 times higher than baseline), whereas it produced only a slight increase in the GHRH-induced GH response in elderly men (mean peak was 8.7 times higher than baseline). When pyridostigmine was given alone, plasma GH levels rose significantly in both groups; however, the pyridostigmine-stimulated GH response was significantly higher in younger (mean peak was 6 times higher than baseline) than in older subjects (mean peak was 2.5 times higher than baseline). These data indicate that the cholinergic stimulatory regulation of GH release is reduced in elderly subjects. Since acetylcholine inhibits hypothalamic somatostatin release, the reduced cholinergic tone in elderly subjects may result in an increased somatostatinergic tone.
The effects of endothelin-1 (ET-1) on hemodynamics and cardiac contractility were compared with the responses to angiotensin I (AI) and phenylephrine (PE) in Milan normotensive rats. Intravenous (i.v.) injection of ET-1 (0.8 nmol/kg) initially decreased mean blood pressure (MBP), total peripheral resistance (TPR), and dP/dt (-28 +/- 2, -34.8 +/- 3.7, and -9.4 +/- 1.3%, p less than 0.01, respectively), and increased heart rate (HR), cardiac output (CO), and the velocity of myocardial anterior wall shortening (dL/dt) (11.8 +/- 2.1, 10.4 +/- 2.9, and 28.3 +/- 8.3% p less than 0.05, respectively). These effects were followed by a sustained increase in MBP and TPR and a decrease in CO. As compared with AI (0.25 nmol/kg) and PE (35 nmol/kg), which produced a similar degree of increase in TPR, the reduction in CO induced by ET-1 was more prominent (-25 +/- 2 by ET-1 vs. -14 +/- 2 by AI and -14 +/- 3% by PE, p less than 0.05, respectively). Moreover, ET-1 induced a significant decrease in dP/dt, shortening fraction (SF), and dL/dt (-6.1 +/- 1.6, -35.0 +/- 3.8, and -38.6 +/- 5.5%, p less than 0.01, respectively), whereas these indexes of left ventricle performance were not affected by either AI or PE. Furthermore, the reduction in SF induced by ET-1 was mainly due to the decrease in myocardial diastolic segment length, suggesting reduction in diastolic filling volume.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
In the case of adult primary myxedema reported the diagnostic suspicion aroused by objective examination was confirmed by assaying the hypophysial-thyroid hormones (blood T4 and T3 below normal levels) and by the behaviour of certain muscle enzymes (CPK, LDH, GOT) that bore witness to diffuse muscle and bone damage (hypothyroid "myopathy"). The presence of antithyroid antibodies, though in small amounts suggested earlier and unnoticed thyroiditis as a possible aetiopathogenic explanation. The clinical and metabolic picture undoubtedly benefited from treatment with L-Thyroxine.
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527 Gram negative bacterial strains isolated from different biological substances were studied by chemo-antibiotic sensitivity. The examination was carried out by the agar diffusion test (Kirby-Bauer). A very good sensitivity to aztreonam (E. coli, Serratia spp., Klebsiella spp., Proteus spp.), to amikacin (Pseudomonas spp., Enterobacter spp., Citrobacter spp.) and to norfloxacin (Citrobacter spp.) was found. Even when it was not the best, aztreonam was the second (Citrobacter spp.) or the third choice (Pseudomonas spp.), always near to the drug of first choice.
Clinical and laboratory abnormalities were examined in relation to diabetes mellitus in a retrospective study of the 120 patients with acute stroke admitted to our medical unit between January 1, 1981 and March 31, 1984, inclusive. Paretic stroke was defined without clinical evidence of alternative diagnosis. We have examined: age, serum levels of glucose, urea, creatinine, cholesterol, triglycerides, albumin, globulins, ratio albumin/globulins and also a white and red blood-cells count, haemoglobin, erythrocyte sedimentation rate and blood pressure. The routine electrocardiogram (ECG) obtained on admission was examined for atrial fibrillation. The high prevalence of risk factors associated with diabetes mellitus in stroke patients indicate the need for further studies of stroke prevention and treatment particularly in this disease.
The authors have isolated 938 Gram-negative germs from 3141 urinocultures. In the work is reported the percentage of sensitivity of the single tested antibiotics and it is recommended an exact therapy, if we won't have clamorous failures.
The authors report a their casuistry on 2155 between urinocultures and cultures of vescical catheters, pointing out an unexpected prevalence of Gram-positive germs and of that point out the possible causes. There are represented also some tables relative to the antibiotics tested for the single germs.
The authors have studied the distribution of the Apolipoproteins A and B, the Apo A/B ratio and the HDL-cholesterol on healthy people, according to sex and age, in order to fix the reference values, considering that the literature is poor and the opinions are different.
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Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.