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Biomedical subjects

G Piergiacomi

Publications and source records attributed to G Piergiacomi.

23 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

[Sjögren's syndrome: therapeutic trends].

Sjögren syndrome is an autoimmune, mostly benign disorder characterized by functional impairment of exocrine glands, especially of the salivary and lacrimal glands. Symptomatic treatment with recourse to hygienic measures and topical therapy permits to attenuate secondary disorders due to hyposecretion. Among drugs used, hydrochloroquine has proved apt to bring about marked improvement in some laboratory test results although it has scarce effect on the clinical picture. Corticosteroids and immunodepressant agents are indicated in severe forms of the disease with accompanying extraglandular and systemic manifestations. Some authors have reported interesting findings concerning the usefulness of a low lipid diet which is said to reduce inflammation and lymphocyte infiltration of the glands involved; these findings deserve further research.

Adrenal Cortex Hormones↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Personality pattern in rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgic syndrome. Psychological investigation.

This study reports the psychological symptomatology assessed in 50 rheumatoid arthritis patients (RA) and 50 with primary fibromyalgic syndrome (PFS). Depression and illness behavior were investigated by two self-report scales in their validated Italian translations: the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) and Illness Behavior Questionnaire developed by Pilowsky and Spence (IBQ). Our results suggest that the average RA patients were not depressed to a clinically significant level at the time of the investigation. The mean scores of CES-D by RA patients do not differ from those found in Italian patients affected by other organic diseases. On the contrary, mean score in the CES-D depression scale obtained from PFS patients was significantly higher than the cut-off point. In analyzing the pattern of illness behavior the significant difference between RA and PFS patients in scale of denial of problems is relevant. This means the RA patients have a tendency to deny life stresses and to attribute all problems to the effects of their illness. Such a result is in line with a classic psychosomatic point of view, that defines RA patients as alexitimic ones, that is, with poor capacity to recognize and express emotions. Our data support both the hypothesis that depressive symptoms are more common among PFS patients than RA patients, and that psychological factors may play a significant role in most patients with PFS.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Stimulated chemiluminescence of polymorphonuclear leukocytes in rheumatoid arthritis: in vivo enhancement by auranofin.

The aim of the study was to investigate the interaction of opsonized zymosan with polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNLs) from 26 rheumatoid arthritis patients (six males and 20 females; mean age, 51.88 +/- 11.15 years; range, 33-72 years) and 11 control subjects (two males and nine females; mean age, 56.54 +/- 12.1 years; range, 33-75 years) using a luminol-amplified chemiluminescence (CL). The data obtained suggest that the opsonized zymosan stimulated CL is decreased in untreated rheumatoid patients compared with control subjects. The decreased stimulated CL may be the result of a physico-chemical alteration of the membrane (including decreased membrane fluidity and translocation of receptor sites) induced by free radicals of oxygen and/or by multiple exposures to chemotaxins. Auranofin enhances stimulated CL although the mechanism is not clear. Auranofin could interact with membrane lipids, induce changes in membrane surface charges and increase membrane fluidity. Our results are difficult to compare with those of previous studies, since different assays, and chemoattractants were applied. In addition, the disease activity and medication were also different.

Adult↗