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Biomedical subjects

G Rizzardini

Publications and source records attributed to G Rizzardini.

49 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1987

Oral ciprofloxacin in the treatment of uncomplicated gonococcal urethritis in men.

Two hundred and seventy-one male patients suffering from uncomplicated gonococcal urethritis were treated in an open randomized study with either 250 mg (121 patients) or 500 mg (150 patients) single oral doses of ciprofloxacin. The efficacy of treatment was verified on the third day by direct examination of urethral swabs in 91 patients and by culture and direct microscopic examination in 180 subjects. Cure rates were 100% in the 500 mg group and 96.6% in the 250 mg treated patients. No side effects were seen. Ciprofloxacin appears to be a very effective and safe drug in the treatment of uncomplicated gonococcal urethritis in men.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed1986

[Correlation between the metabolic follow-up and diabetic retinopathy].

The state of the fundus oculi was investigated in 40 insulin-dependent and 20 non-insulin dependent diabetics. In both groups the state of the fundus oculi was correlated with total cholesterol, LDL, HDL, glycosylated haemoglobin, platelet adhesiveness, triglycerides and duration of the disease. In the case of insulin-dependent diabetics a correlation was also sought with daily doses of insulin. The fundus oculi was normal in 21/40 insulin-dependent and 14/20 non-insulin-dependent subjects. Multiple regression showed a positive correlation between insulin-HbA doses and duration of the disease and the fundus oculi. Simple liner regression showed a negative correlation between insulin doses and fundus, a tendentially positive correlation between platelet adhesion and fundus. A positive correlation between LDL-platelet adhesion and fundus was also shown in the non-insulin-dependent subjects. These results suggest that factors held to influence macroangiopathy also have an effect on macroangiopathy, that the check up of diabetics is important for the prevention of retinopathy, that insulin doses should be strictly limited to the necessary amount for the control of diabetes since excess is as harmful as insufficiency.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

[Our experience with biosynthetic human insulin].

Biosynthetic Human Insulin (BHI) was administered to 20 diabetics for six months. A clinical examination, glycaemia before and after eating, total glycosuria-ketonuria, and glycosylated haemoglobin tests were performed at fixed intervals, and the results were statistically analysed. It is concluded that human insulin produces no significant side effects. More important that the type of insulin treatment is effective outpatients surveillance of the diabetic, to ensure an adequate metabolic compensation.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Lipid-based amphotericin B in the treatment of cryptococcosis.

Amphotericin B is the only antifungal drug which, despite its dose-limiting toxicity, can be given intravenously when an aggressive treatment is required. In an attempt to reduce the drug toxicity while retaining its therapeutic efficacy, new formulations of amphotericin B have been developed. The most promising have employed lipid vehicles such as liposomes. Three lipid-based amphotericin B formulations have been developed by pharmaceutical companies and are under active clinical investigation. Efficacy and safety data of these derivatives in animals and humans are reviewed, with particular concern to cryptococcal infection. The authors' experience with a small unilamellar liposomal amphotericin B formulation, AmBisome, in the primary therapy of cryptococcosis is reported. Nine AIDS patients affected with cryptococcosis, seven of whom had meningitis, were given AmBisome (3 mg/kg/day) for 3-6 weeks. Complete response was obtained in six patients, marked improvement in two, and failure in one. AmBisome was well tolerated and shortened the time to clinical and mycological response suggesting a further improvement in the management of cryptococcosis in AIDS patients.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗
PubMedDate not supplied

HIV, HBV, delta-agent and Treponema pallidum infections in two rural African areas.

In order to compare the seroepidemiology of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus, delta agent and Treponema pallidum infections in two rural populations living in north Uganda (Kitgum district) and in central Burundi (Butezi, Ruyigi region), 448 sera were tested for HBS-Ag, HBS-Ab, and anti-HIV antibodies and screened for syphilis using the T. pallidum haemagglutination (TPHA) test. HBS-Ag positive sera were also tested for anti-delta antibodies. Overall seropositivity rates in healthy subjects, outpatients and inpatients (non-AIDS) were 14.2% and 9.5% in Kitgum district and Butezi, respectively. The prevalence of HBS-Ag and HBS-Ab ranged from 10.0% to 15.6% and from 66.2% to 68.9%, respectively. In north Uganda the rates of anti-delta positivity were 3.1% in the overall population and 30.6% in the HBS-Ag positive subjects. No serum obtained in Butezi was anti-delta positive. In Ugandan people, 64.0% of anti-HIV positive and 25.8% of anti-HIV negative patients were also TPHA-positive (P less than 0.01). For Butezi the corresponding figures were 21.4% and 1.6% respectively (P less than 0.04). On the contrary, no correlation was found between either anti-HIV or TPHA positives and seropositivity for B and delta hepatitis serological markers. The study demonstrated an association between seropositivities for HIV and T. pallidum (TPHA), suggesting common patterns of transmission. On the contrary, no association seemed to exist between HBV and HIV infections.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Functional analysis of HIV-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes in antiviral-treated- and-naive patients: a preliminary report.

HIV-specific CTL functions were analyzed in HIV-infected individuals who did or did not receive antiretroviral therapy (ART). Results showed that gp 160 (env)-stimulated perforin- and granzyme-expressing CTL, as well as perforin and granzyme-specific mRNA, were reduced in treated patients whereas TNFalpha was increased in ART-treated compared to naive individuals. Reduction of perforin and granzyme-expressing cells was not secondary to impaired IFNgamma production. A defect of CTL is observed in ART-treated individuals; this defect is not dependent on impaired Th cell function. These results reinforce the need for immunomodulants to successfully approach therapy of HIV infection.

Anti-HIV Agents↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Implementation of an Italian multicentric care network for early HIV infection diagnosis: 1999-2001 report.

BACKGROUND: Diagnosis of a new HIV infection during the primary phase (PHI) is sometimes misleading in a primary care setting. Since 1999 the Italian network for the study of acute HIV infection (ISAI) has been operative. At the time of PHI diagnosis the case is reported to the coordinating centre and enrolled in the National Register which records all epidemiological, demographic and clinical information. PATIENTS AND METHODS: From 1999 to September 2001, 51 symptomatic or asymptomatic patients with diagnosis of primary HIV infection were signalled to the coordinating centre. At screening, assessments were: interview to collect demographic and epidemiological data, clinical history (regarding PHI signs and symptoms) and, if available, relevant index case information; physical examination; routine hematology and chemistry; lymphocyte count; plasma HIV-RNA. In a subset of patients PBMC HIV-DNA, HIV-RNA, resistance genotyping and HIV subtype characterization were assessed. RESULTS: 74.5% of patients were males and all but four were Italian. Hetero and homosexual contacts were the prevalent route of HIV transmission. Forty-five patients (89%) were symptomatic and the most frequent signs and symptoms were: fever, lymphadenopathy, malaise and pharyngodinia. Baseline reverse-transcriptase (RT) and protease (PR) genotyping analysis was available for 29 patients. Only one of 29 patients harbored a virus with a resistance-associated mutation in the RT region (215Y); NNRTI mutations were identified in 3 of 29 patients. In the remaining 20 (69%) patients no mutations were found in the RT region. Sequence data from PR region were successfully obtained in 21 patients. Only one of these had a high-level resistance mutation (46L); in an additional 10 cases 1 or more secondary mutations were identified. The remaining 10 patients harbored a PR region wild type virus. One patient presenting two secondary mutations in the PR region, even if highly adherent and tolerant to drug regimen, showed a slow viral load decrease. CONCLUSIONS: Our cohort confirms the uptrend of new infections through unsafe sexual contacts involving both homosexual and heterosexual couples. Genotype sequencing for antiretroviral resistant viral variants describes a low prevalence of RT resistance-associated mutations, as well as primary mutations in the PR region. On the contrary, a higher prevalence of PR gene polymorphisms and mutations is not known with any certainty to confer resistance to NRTI and NNRTI. The identification of antiretroviral drug resistant HIV strains is strategic for clinical and therapeutical intervention, even though from a public health point of view cost-efficacy must be considered.

AIDS Serodiagnosis↗