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Biomedical subjects

G Grassi

Publications and source records attributed to G Grassi.

At least 361 records · Page 20Linked to original sources
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[Results of autotransplantation of hepatocytes in hepatectomized rats].

With a view of clarifying the mechanism whereby the beneficial effect of hepatocyte transplantation is obtained, an autologous transplant was made of hepatocytes in the peritoneum of a surgical model of acute hepatic insufficiency in the rat, highly reproducible to the detriment of its reversibility. The cells were prepared in accordance with the non-perfusional enzymatic method proposed by Fry. The cell yield from 3 g of liver tissue was 4 X 10(6), with an index of viability of over 70%. There was no difference in survival between the treated animals and the control group, though coma appeared significantly later in the former. The conclusion is therefore drawn that transplantation offers no metabolic support to the anhepatic animal. Further investigation is required of the biochemical and metabolic aspects of the function of the hepatocyte in the light of its induction of a significant delay in the appearance of coma.

Animals↗
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[Education of the diabetic patient: 10-year experience at the Karen Bruni Center].

On the basis of a ten year experience, new behavioural and philosophical approaches to the education of insulin-dependent diabetic patients are proposed by the Karen Bruni Diabetes Center of Turin. Conceptual and methodological revisions of conventional programs should be tried out. Practical difficulties are still restricting an integrated educational treatment of the diabetic persons.

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[HLA typing and insulin antibody production in insulin-dependent diabetics].

The literature of the past ten years shows that the introduction of highly purified heterologous and, lastly, homologous insulins has notably lowered the production of IgG and IgE specific insulin antibodies, but has not succeeded in completely eliminating clinical manifestations of the immune or hyper-immune response to insulin therapy. In particular, insulin allergy with or without lipodystrophy is still seen. Among the factors of insulin immunogenicity, there is a possible genetic control of the immune response in type I diabetes: determining HLA halloantigens (A, B, C, D) might identify specific immune response genes (Ir genes). Initial researches, performed until now almost exclusively upon diabetics treated with conventional heterologous insulin, seem to indicate a positive relationship between haplotype HLA - B15 - DR4 and an elevated immune response, whereas haplotypes HLA - B8 - DR3 and HLA - B18 - DR3 might protect against the formation of anti-insulin antibodies. Antigens D/DR3 and D/DR4 are known to be primitively associated to susceptibility for type I diabetes, whereas antigens B8, B15, B18 are secondarily associated to the rise in frequency of DR3 and DR4 for the "linkage disequilibrium" existing between alleles of B and D loci. The results of HLA typing are presented in 2 groups of insulin-dependent diabetics (ID) followed from an immunological viewpoint during therapy with monocomponent heterologous insulin for over 5 years. The first group is composed of 50 patients with low IgG anti-insulin antibody titers (less than 1 mU/ml, Christiansen: low responders); the second group is made up of 23 patients with high IgG anti-insulin antibody titers (greater than 2.5 mU/ml, Christiansen: high responders) and includes 5 subjects with insulin allergy (associated or not with insulin lipoatrophy) and high levels of insulin specific IgE antibodies. A study of the frequencies of various HLA-B antigens in both groups of patients, in regard to a control group of piemontese population, in relation to the intensity of association (relative risk) and to the statistical importance of frequencies, shows only a possible protective effect of the HLA-B18 phenotype (linkage disequilibrium with HLA - DR3) towards the production of anti-insulin antibodies and hyperimmune clinical manifestations, such as allergy. Reliable conclusions are not possible between low and high responders for the other phenotypes (HLA - B7, B8, B15) commonly implicated. HLA-B12 was noted in 3 of 5 patients with allergy, in 2 cases associated with B8.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Adolescent↗
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[Advantages and disadvantages of an experimental model for the study of acute hepatic insufficiency].

At present, there is no ideal model for acute hepatic insufficiency that assists in the understanding of its numerous clinical and metabolic problems. Pharmacological models are reversible but biologically imprecise, whereas surgical models offer a homogeneous biological answer, but are irreversible and only suitable for brief experiments. An assessment is made here of a model in the rat involving complete devascularisation of the liver by portocava anastomosis and ligation of the liver peduncle, and total hepatectomy in a single stage. The following parameters were used to evaluate the experimental usefulness of the model: reproducibility of the response and death due to acute insufficiency after a period long enough to permit the efficacy of support management to be assessed. All the controls survived for indefinite periods after portocava anastomosis, whereas the mean survival of 20 animals subjected to total hepatectomy was 12.05 +/- 5.0 hr), and coma intervened 7.5 +/- 3.3 hr after resection. These results point to the usefulness of the model in studies on the treatment of hepatic insufficiency. It is open to further improvement through alteration of the post-operative glycidic control and reduction of the radicality of liver resection.

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