PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

G Perna

Publications and source records attributed to G Perna.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1997

Pharmacologic effect of imipramine, paroxetine, and sertraline on 35% carbon dioxide hypersensitivity in panic patients: a double-blind, random, placebo-controlled study.

The effects of short treatment (7 days) with the tricyclic antidepressant imipramine and the two selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors paroxetine and sertraline on the reactivity to inhalation of 35% CO2/65% O2 were compared in 70 panic patients who had positive responses to 35% CO2 inhalations. A double-blind, random, placebo-controlled design was applied. Each patient was given the 35% CO2 challenge on days 0 (before starting the treatment), 3, and 7. In the placebo group, there were no significant changes in the reactivity to 35% CO2 in the three sessions whereas there were significant similar reductions of reactivity to 35% CO2 in all three drug-treated groups. These results confirm the good reproducibility of 35% CO2 reactivity and the negligible effects of placebo on reactivity to CO2 and suggest that short treatments with imipramine, paroxetine, and sertraline decrease reactivity to 35% CO2, possibly as an expression of their antipanic properties.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Modification of 35% carbon dioxide hypersensitivity across one week of treatment with clomipramine and fluvoxamine: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study.

The effects of short treatments (7 days) with clomipramine and fluvoxamine on the reactivity to inhalations of 35% CO2/65% O2 were compared in 39 panic patients who had positive responses to 35% CO2 inhalations. A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled design was applied. Each patient was given the 35% CO2 challenge on days 0 (before starting treatment), 3, and 7. Patients on placebo did not report any significant changes in their reactivity to 35% CO2 across the three sessions, whereas patients on clomipramine and fluvoxamine reported a significant attenuation of the reactivity on day 7. These results indicate that treatments with clomipramine and fluvoxamine decrease hypersensitivity to 35% CO2 after a few days, suggesting a relevant role of the modulation of CO2 sensitivity by the serotonergic system in antipanic properties of these compounds.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Family history of panic disorder and hypersensitivity to CO2 in patients with panic disorder.

OBJECTIVE: The authors investigated the relationships between hypersensitivity to CO2 and familial-genetic risk for panic disorder in patients with panic disorder. METHOD: Morbidity risks for panic disorder were calculated for families of 203 patients with panic disorder, each of whom was challenged with 35% CO2. RESULTS: Patients who reacted with a positive response to the 35% CO2 challenge showed a genetic risk for panic disorder (morbidity risk = 14.4%) that was significantly higher than that for patients who did not react (morbidity risk = 3.9%). CONCLUSIONS: These findings support the idea that hypersensitivity to CO2 might be associated with a subtype of panic disorder specifically related to a greater familial loading.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

T-lymphocyte cholecystokinin-8 and beta-endorphin concentrations in eating disorders: I. Anorexia nervosa.

Baseline concentrations of cholecystokinin-8 (CCK-8) and beta-endorphin (beta-EP) were measured in T-lymphocytes from 33 restricting patients with anorexia nervosa (AN-R), 23 binging/purging patients with anorexia nervosa (AN-BP), and 24 healthy volunteers. CCK-8 basal values were significantly lower and beta-EP values significantly higher in AN-R and AN-BP patients than in normal volunteers. Levels of the peptides were measured three more times during a 4-month combined cognitive-behavioral/psychopharmacological treatment (nortriptyline or fluoxetine in AN-R, fluoxetine or amineptine in AN-BP). CCK-8 values fluctuated (nonsignificantly) during each treatment, while beta-EP values decreased (to a significant degree only in fluoxetine-treated AN-R patients).

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

T-lymphocyte concentrations of cholecystokinin-8 and beta-endorphin in eating disorders: II. Bulimia nervosa.

Concentrations of cholecystokinin-8 (CCK-8) and beta-endorphin (beta-EP) in T-lymphocytes of 26 women with bulimia nervosa (BN) and in 26 age- and sex-matched healthy comparison subjects were measured. Ten patients were then treated with 300 mg/day of fluvoxamine, p.o., and five patients were treated with 300 mg/day of amineptine, p.o., for 4 months. Concentrations of the two peptides were measured again after 1, 2, and 4 months of therapy. Basal CCK-8 values were significantly lower in patients than in healthy subjects. During fluvoxamine therapy, CCK-8 values increased, reaching normal levels by month 4 of treatment. No such increase occurred during amineptine therapy. Baseline beta-EP values were normal in the bulimic patients but had declined by month 4 of fluvoxamine therapy.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Hypersensitivity to inhalation of carbon dioxide and panic attacks.

Thirteen healthy subjects with infrequent panic attacks and without agoraphobia who did not meet DSM-III-R criteria for panic disorder, 43 patients with panic disorder, and 43 healthy control subjects who never experienced panic attacks underwent one vital capacity inhalation of 35% CO2. Healthy subjects with infrequent panic attacks reacted similarly to patients with panic disorder and more strongly than healthy subjects who never experienced panic attacks. The results suggest that (a) subjects with sporadic unexpected panic attacks and patients with panic disorder belong to the same spectrum of vulnerability and (b) CO2 hypersensitivity might be a trait marker of panic attacks rather than of a clinical diagnosis of panic disorder.

Administration, Inhalation↗
PubMed1995

Menstrual cycle-related sensitivity to 35% CO2 in panic patients.

In a double blind, random, cross-over design, 10 patients and seven controls inhaled one vital capacity of 35% CO2-65% O2 during their early-follicular and midluteal phases. Anxiety after CO2 intake was significantly stronger in the early-follicular phase than in the midluteal phase for patients. Controls had no anxiety reactions.

Administration, Inhalation↗
PubMed1995

35% CO2 challenge in panic and mood disorders.

20 patients with Panic Disorder (PD), 19 patients with Mood Disorder (MD) and 20 healthy controls inhaled one vital capacity of 35% CO2-65% O2 gas mixture and of compressed air in a double-blind, random, cross-over design. Only PD patients showed a strong reaction to 35% CO2 while MD patients and controls did not react significantly. These results support the specificity of the 35% CO2 challenge in PD patients and suggest that PD and MD are separate disorders.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Alpha 2-adrenergic receptor sensitivity in panic disorder: I. GH response to GHRH and clonidine stimulation in panic disorder.

Baseline levels of GH and somatomedin C (SmC) and GH responses to GHRH (1 microgram/kg b.w.) and to clonidine (150 micrograms) were measured in 10 outpatients with panic disorder before and after 30 days of 2-2.5 mg of alprazolam therapy, and in 10 psychophysically healthy controls. Basal levels of GH were normal in the patients and those of SmC significantly elevated, both before and after therapy. Basal GH responses to GHRH stimulation were normal and did not change change after alprazolam treatment. Basal GH responses to clonidine stimulation were blunted in the patients and improved after therapy, in parallel with an amelioration of the psychopathology. Our data suggest that adrenoceptor sensitivity, investigated by the clonidine test, is reduced in panic disorder.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Alpha 2-adrenergic receptor sensitivity in panic disorder: II. Cortisol response to clonidine stimulation in panic disorder.

The cortisol responses to acute administration of saline and of clonidine (Clon), 150 micrograms IV, were examined in 12 patients with panic disorder and agoraphobia, before and after 32 days of alprazolam therapy (2.5 mg/day), and in 12 normal controls. The responses in the Clon test corrected for the responses to saline differed in the two groups, and in patients were not changed by the therapy even though significant symptomatological improvement was achieved. The results suggest that presynaptic alpha 2- or postsynaptic alpha 1-beta-adrenoceptor sensitivity is impaired in panic disorder.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Laboratory response of patients with panic and obsessive-compulsive disorders to 35% CO2 challenges.

OBJECTIVE: The DSM-III-R anxiety disorders section includes both panic disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder. To evaluate the relationship between these two disorders, subject responses to inhalation of a 35% CO2 and 65% O2 mixture were assessed. METHODS: Twenty-three patients with panic disorder, 23 with obsessive-compulsive disorder, 12 with both obsessive-compulsive and panic disorder, and 23 healthy comparison subjects were given a single vital capacity inhalation of 35% CO2 and 65% O2 or a placebo mixture of compressed air. A double-blind, random, crossover design was used. RESULTS: Patients with panic disorder and patients with both panic disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder showed similar strong anxiogenic reactions to 35% CO2; while patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder alone did not differ from comparison subjects. CONCLUSIONS: These results confirm that obsessive-compulsive disorder and panic disorder are two distinct syndromes and that patients with these disorders have different sensitivity to CO2 inhalation.

Administration, Inhalation↗
PubMed1995

Sensitivity to 35% CO2 in healthy first-degree relatives of patients with panic disorder.

OBJECTIVE: The authors tested the hypothesis that hyperreactivity to CO2 in healthy subjects represents an underlying familial vulnerability to panic disorder. METHOD: One vital-capacity inhalation of 35% CO2 and 65% O2 was administered to each of 84 patients with panic disorder, 23 healthy first-degree relatives of probands with panic disorder, and 44 healthy subjects with no family history of panic disorder. RESULTS: The first-degree relatives of the probands with panic disorder reacted significantly more than the healthy subjects and significantly less than the probands. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest an association between family history of panic disorder and hyperreactivity to 35% CO2 in healthy subjects.

Administration, Inhalation↗
PubMed1995

Age at onset of panic disorder: influence of familial liability to the disease and of childhood separation anxiety disorder.

OBJECTIVE: The authors investigated the relation of age at onset of panic disorder to liability to panic disorder and agoraphobia. METHOD: Two hundred thirty-one outpatients with panic disorder were compared with 131 surgical outpatients on demographic variables and familial risk of psychiatric disorders. The distribution of patients' ages at onset of panic disorder and several covariates were entered in a stepwise survival analysis. RESULTS: The patients with panic disorder had a significantly higher rate of childhood separation anxiety disorder and higher familial risks of panic disorder/panic disorder with agoraphobia and alcoholism. A family history of panic disorder with agoraphobia and the presence of childhood separation anxiety disorder influenced age at onset of panic disorder. CONCLUSIONS: Age at onset of panic disorder may reflect genetic penetrance, and separation anxiety disorder may be an individual predictor of earlier onset of panic disorder.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

[Corono-radicular amputation of mandibular molars: indication, technic and prosthetic utilization. Apropos of a clinical case].

Lesions to the radicular bifurcation generally entail the removal of the tooth in question. This leads to the need to create a prosthetic bridge to compensate for the absence of the extracted tooth. This solution is not readily accepted by the patient who wishes to avoid involving other teeth. In these cases rhizectomy and the execution of an inlay on an adjacent tooth may satisfy the patient and resolve the clinical symptoms. The authors report a case of rhizectomy and prosthetic reconstruction of a tooth using inlay.

Dental Prosthesis↗
PubMed1994

Subclinical impairment of lung airways in patients with panic disorder.

Lung function was assessed in 17 panic patients and 20 healthy controls. Panic patients had abnormal values for some dynamic lung volumes, namely Peak Expiratory Flow Rate (PEFR), Expiratory Flow at 75% of Vital Capacity (FEF75) and Maximum Mid-Expiratory Flow Rate (MMEF). Such functional abnormalities might indicate subclinical obstruction of lung airways, possibly relevant to the mechanisms related to panic disorder (PD).

Adult↗