PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

G Vitale

Publications and source records attributed to G Vitale.

At least 145 records · Page 8Linked to original sources
PubMed1984

A sero-epidemiological survey of asymptomatic cases of Boutonneuse fever in western Sicily.

963 sera from contacts, persons from various localities, and blood donors were examined with a commercially produced kit for micro-immunofluorescence for the presence of antibodies to Rickettsia conorii. 10.6% of sera were serologically positive. The higher rates of positivity were observed in sera of contacts (19%) and persons from Mussomeli (20%) and Ustica (18.4%), the lower rates in blood donors from Palermo (3.5%). These results support the view that there is an occupational risk factor related to a rural environment.

Antibodies, Bacterial↗
PubMed1983

[Alcoholism and the hospital. The treatment of alcoholism in a general medicine department].

Starting from the premise that a period in a General Hospital is an opportunity to cure the alcoholic, a treatment of alcohol dependence was undertaken during normal working hours based on the principles of social psychiatry and group therapy adapted for use in a General Hospital. The data on 71 alcoholics over a maximum period of eleven months are described. Relapses vary according to groups, which in their turn reflect the different degrees of problem involved. The total percentage of cures was 56%. The results were satisfactory especially when the type of treatment, cost-free and employing little time, is considered. A similar experiment in other hospitals in the area might offer effective cure and prevention of alcoholism in the Region.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

[Seroimmunologic studies in boutonneuse fever. I. Evaluation of a commercial micro-immunofluorescence kit in the serodiagnosis of boutonneuse fever].

The diagnosis of Boutonneuse Fever usually depends on clinical evidence (summer occurrence, fever, tache noire at the site of the tick bite, in 30-70% of cases, erythemato -papular rash, prompt response to chloramphenicol or tetracycline treatment). Serological confirmation is difficult since the only diagnostic procedure currently feasible, the Weil-Felix test, is not specific. Other more specific diagnostic procedures (agglutination, complement fixation, ELISA, indirect immunofluorescence tests) are beyond the possibilities of most laboratories (antigens are not available from the market). In the present paper, results obtained with a new commercially produced kit for indirect immunofluorescence are reported. Sera from patients with infectious and non infectious diseases as well as Boutonneuse Fever (at various stages of illness, from 6 days to 12 months) were examined. Sera from blood donors were also included. Specificity and sensitivity were satisfactory as well as reproducibility of results. Some apparently false positivities must be related to the present epidemiological pattern in western Sicily, and namely to the incidence of asymptomatic cases of Boutonneuse Fever, as demonstrated by recent works.

Antibodies, Bacterial↗
PubMed1983

[Enzymatic parameters in boutonneuse fever. II. Behavior and significance of lactic dehydrogenase].

Serum levels of Lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) were determined at weekly intervals, in 52 patients with Boutonneuse Fever: 33 adults (23 uncomplicated and 10 complicated cases) and 19 children (no complication occurred in these patients). In the first week of illness, LDH was increased in 86 and 100% of adults (uncomplicated and complicated cases respectively) and in 89% of children. Mean values were 419 and 472 U/l for adults (uncomplicated and complicated) and 423 for children (normal values until 240 U/l). In total (adults plus children), in the first week, pathological findings were observed in 90% of patients. In the second week, LDH was increased in 53 and 100% for adults, and 66% for children. Mean values were 252 and 306 for adults, and 291 U/l for children. The significance of this increase is related to the pathophysiology of rickettsial diseases. Rickettsiae cause endothelial injury with platelet aggregation, activation of inflammation as well as coagulation mechanisms and subsequently damage of various organ systems at various degree (from silent to evident forms). From a general point of view LDH increase appears in part of platelet origin, at first stage of illness, in part from other organ systems involved in the vasculitic process.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

[Preliminary results of the use of an ELISA test for the differential determination of IgG and specific IgM in toxoplasmosis serology].

The diagnosis of acute toxoplasmosis usually depends on serology, since clinical and/or histological features are difficult and/or often misleading. IgM titers are the best indicators of infection acquired in the past two to four months. IgG titers are generally correlated with non-active infections as well as previous (symptomatic and/or asymptomatic) illness. In the present paper, results obtained with a new kit for the evaluation of IgG and specific-IgM by micro-ELISA technique, are reported. Optical density values in sera from: a) blood donors; b) miscellany group; c) suspected toxoplasmosis, were at various degree high for IgG. Few sera of the entire sample (in the group of suspected toxoplasmosis and one in miscellany) showed high optical density for specific IgM. Reading of results with spectrophotometer were in agreement with reading to the naked eye. Reproducibility was satisfactory. Unfortunately some sera positive in the first determinations gave equivocal results in successive proofs. For these reasons diagnosis of toxoplasmosis must be based upon the use of at least three tests.

Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay↗
PubMed1976

Effect of oestradiol on gonadotrophin release induced by LHRH in men.

In order to study the role of the oestradiol on the feed-back mechanism, fourteen men were subjected to LHRH test before and after treatment with oestradiol. The oestrogen was administered i.m., 3 mug/kg/24 h and 150 mug/kg/24 h, in two groups of patients. Doses of 3 and 150 mug respectively produced a reduction of LH release of 74% and 60% below control. FSH response to LHRH was almost abolished by oestrogens. Our findings show that oestrogens in men decrease the pituitary response to LHRH.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Evaluation of goiter endemia by ultrasound in schoolchildren in Val Sarmento (Italy).

Ultrasonography is an excellent and objective method for assessing thyroid volume, especially in children where clinical evaluation is inaccurate. The aim of this study was to evaluate the presence of goiter by thyroid ultrasound and palpation in 244 schoolchildren, 6 to 14 years old, living in some rural villages of Val Sarmento, a mountain area of Basilicata, Italy. In 1996 we revealed the presence of endemic goiter in 25% of the schoolchildren evaluated by palpation, according to World Health Organization (WHO) criteria, and in 15.9% of the schoolchildren evaluated by ultrasonography (7.5 MHz linear probe). The median urinary iodine excretion, taken from an extemporaneous sample of the first urines in the morning, was 62.2 microg/l. This study includes Val Sarmento, an area with mild-moderate grade (Grade I) of iodine deficiency, suggesting the need for iodine prophylaxis. Furthermore, it proves that the measurement of thyroid volume by ultrasonography is an essential instrumental method for a correct epidemiological study of endemic goiter, particularly in areas where there is mild iodine deficiency.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Laboratory diagnosis of boutonneuse fever by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

Little is known about the use of the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in the diagnosis of boutonneuse fever, and the reports which do exist have concerned the use of a strain of African origin and a peroxidase-labelled conjugate. We have used, as antigen, a Sicilian strain of Rickettsia conorii recently isolated from a patient with boutonneuse fever and anti-human immunoglobulins G and M labelled with alkaline phosphatase as conjugate. 432 (84.6%) of 500 sera from patients with boutonneuse fever, 4.4% of 384 sera from patients with various other pathologies, and 2.9% of 204 sera from blood donors gave positive reactions. The ELISA was highly sensitive and specific in the diagnosis of boutonneuse fever, and seems to be the test of choice for sero-epidemiological investigations, and when a large number of specimens must be examined. The test is more sensitive than the indirect immunofluorescence test, at least in the early stage of the disease (44.9% vs 21.3% positive respectively), and a long time after an acute attack.

Antigens, Bacterial↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Quinoxaline chemistry. Part 12. 3-Carboxy-2[phenoxy]-6(7)substituted quinoxalines and N-[4-(6(7) substituted-3-carboxyquinoxalin-2-yl)hydroxy] benzoylglutamates. Synthesis and evaluation of in vitro anticancer activity.

Thirty quinoxalines bearing a substituted phenoxy or hydroxybenzoylglutamate group on position 2, a carboethoxy or carboxy group on position 3 and a trifluoromethyl group on position 6 or 7 of the heterocycle were prepared in order to evaluate the in vitro anticancer activity. Screening over 21 compounds selected at the National Cancer Institute (Bethesda, MD) showed that only few derivatives exhibited a moderate growth inhibition activity on various tumor panel cell lines at 10(-4) molar concentration. The acid derivatives showed no growth inhibition activity. The results obtained in this series seem to indicate that in general carboxy or carboethoxy groups close to O-link with phenyl or benzoyl glutamates on position 2 are detrimental for anticancer activity.

Antineoplastic Agents↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Headaches associated with chronic use of analgesics: a therapeutic approach.

We evaluated 102 patients attending the Headache Study Center of the University of Modena who were suffering from chronic daily headache with daily drug intake. Patients underwent either day hospital treatment followed by a standard prophylactic therapy or they started prophylactic therapy immediately. After 30 and 120 days, both the Headache index and the daily drug intake had significantly improved (P < 0.001), and there were no differences in reduction of mean values of the Headache index or daily drug intake with respect to the two treatments, nor with regard to the prophylactic therapy chosen. Twenty-eight percent of patients reverted to daily drug intake after a 4-month follow-up; these patients took barbiturate-containing mixtures in a higher percentage than other drugs, and within the group of relapsing patients the outpatients relapsed to analgesic intake more than the day hospital-treated patients (P < 0.05).

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Extracorporeal circulation in sheep with normal bleeding time using a surface heparinized circuit.

Bleeding due to systemic heparinization represents the major side effect of extracorporeal respiratory support. In the present animal study, a surface heparinized system (Carmeda Biological Active Surface) was applied to assess the feasibility of prolonged perfusion at low circulating heparin levels. Eight sheep divided into two groups: group A (5 animals) and group B (3 animals) underwent venovenous bypass using a heparin coated surface circuit. The following protocol was used: a) 24 hours at high heparin dose (30 to 100 U/kg/hr with an ACT [activated coagulation time] three to four times normal); b) 24 hours at low heparin dose (3 to 8 U/kg/hr with an ACT within the normal range); c) 24 hours at high heparin dose. Group B animals also received fresh frozen sheep plasma (14 ml/kg/day). During Period b, the clotting times were within baseline range. The bleeding time showed a dramatic decrease after change from a to b (27.9 +/- 3 minutes vs. 10.2 +/- 5.6 minutes). There was a negative relationship between antithrombin III (AT III) and thrombin coagulase time (TC); the latter is considered to be an aspecific indicator of circulating fibrin(ogen) degradation products. Maintaining AT III over 70%, TC changes were only minor. The use of the bioactive heparin surface allowed the performance of a 24 hour bypass, with normal coagulation times, at low circulating heparin levels.

Animals↗