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Biomedical subjects

G Zappalà

Publications and source records attributed to G Zappalà.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Divergent effects of corticotropin releasing hormone on endothelial cell nitric oxide synthase are associated with different expression of CRH type 1 and 2 receptors.

1. Endothelium is a target for an array of factors involved in inflammation. Endothelial cells express receptors for CRH, a neuropeptide produced during inflammation. We report both the concentration-dependent inhibitory effect of CRH upon cytokine-stimulated nitrite release by H5V murine endothelioma cells, and its stimulatory one in HUVEC cells. 2. Western blot analysis showed that CRH inhibits cytokine-stimulated iNOS protein in H5V cells, and, instead, potentiated it in HUVEC cells. 3. H5V cells expressed both CRH receptors (CRH-R1 and R2) mRNAs, whereas HUVEC cells expressed the CRH-R2 mRNA solely. 4. CRH increased medium nitrites and iNOS protein expression in H5V cells pretreated with the selective CRH-R1 antagonist CP 154,526. However, the selective CRH-R2 antagonist anti-Svg-30 failed to produce similar effects. In fact, anti-Svg-30 inhibited CRH-induced increase of nitrite release and iNOS expression in HUVEC cells. 5. Our results confirm the activating role of CRH on endothelial cells, although it suggests its possible inhibitory role in the late phase of the inflammatory response. NO-mediated effects of CRH on endothelial cells could be exploited in therapeutic strategies related to inflammatory and/or degenerative diseases.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

Memory disturbances in migraine with and without aura: a strategy problem?

Cognitive defects in migraine have been reported by several authors. These findings however, are controversial. In this study we carried out an investigation on 14 patients with migraine with aura and 16 with migraine without aura according to the International Headache Society criteria. They were submitted to a comprehensive battery of neuropsychological tests. The patients were compared with a control group not significantly different as to age, sex and education. Migraine subjects showed impaired neuropsychological performances only on some cognitive tests. Both groups of patients did worse than the control group on visuo-spatial memory tasks, while only migraineurs without aura showed significantly impaired verbal memory performances. The memory defects, both on visuo-spatial and on verbal cognitive tasks, could depend on an impaired recall mechanism. These memory difficulties seem related to strategically and organizationally defective aspects of learning.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Norms for the Mini-Mental State Examination in a healthy population.

BACKGROUND: Although the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) is widely used in clinical practice, few norms exist for healthy populations covering a broad range of ages. OBJECTIVE: To obtain MMSE norms specific for age, gender, and education in healthy adults. METHODS: From the population registers of seven communities across Italy, we selected a proportionate random sample of residents age 20 to 79 years to evaluate their health status with respect to conditions affecting cognitive performance. This sample yielded 908 persons who were deemed to be without cognitive impairment and who were then given the MMSE. We calculated fifth percentile norms and presented them as step functions. We then validated the norms as a screening tool for dementia in persons age 65 to 79 years. The validation was based on unpublished data from a separate study and involved estimates of sensitivity and specificity. RESULTS: The norms declined with advancing age, especially for less educated women. Given any age and sex, the norms were higher for individuals with higher educational levels. In screening for dementia, the norms had a sensitivity of 85% and a specificity of 89%. CONCLUSIONS: When using MMSE scores, it is important to account for age, gender, and education, especially in populations where the educational level is low. Expressing MMSE norms as step functions provides an easy-to-use tool for neurologists and other clinicians.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Thymic hormones, cancer and behavioural adaptive responses.

The effects of thymic hormones are not restricted within the immune system but are rather pleiotropic. Through neuropeptides the neuroendocrine system participates in the regulation of homeostasis as well as in the control of stress response and behavioural outputs. Thymic hormones increase spontaneous behaviour, inhibit anxiety-like responses and improve resistance to stress in tumour-bearing mice. In addition, thymic hormones modulate secretion of pituitary adrenocorticotrophin (ACTH) and beta-endorphin in both primates and rodents. In turn, both ACTH and beta-endorphin influence stress response and behaviour. Besides their neuroendocrine effects, thymic hormones have radioprotective effects either when administered alone or when associated with other radioprotective agents. Thymic hormones are possibly able to reduce postirradiation tissue damage in the bone marrow and in the central nervous system. Finally, evidence suggests a potentiating effect of thymic hormones when associated with current anticancer drugs. From the data reviewed it seems reasonable to conclude that the combination of thymic hormones with cancer therapy is associated with improvement of behaviour and well-being status, protection of tissues from detrimental effects of cancer treatment, and possibly also with potentiation of the antiproliferative effects of other drugs. Thus, thymic hormones could be envisioned as a valuable adjunct to actual cancer therapy.

Adjuvants, Immunologic↗
PubMed1995

Quantitative cytochemistry of human leukocyte elastase compared with plasma elastase and acute phase proteins in inflammatory diseases.

Plasma levels of human leukocyte elastase, a serine proteinase stored in the azurophilic granules of polymorphonuclear granulocytes, increase in the early stages of several inflammatory diseases. We studied the intracellular enzyme activity by cytochemical quantitative image analysis and the amount of elastase released in plasma by an automatic immunoactivation immunoassay method in 66 patients with inflammatory diseases and in a control group. The patients were divided into two groups with infective disease (severe and moderate) and one group with non-infective inflammation. Intracellular activity and plasmatic levels of elastase were also compared with other inflammatory markers, i.e. erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein, alpha 1-antitrypsin, haptoglobin, alpha 1-acid glycoprotein and fibrinogen. Our studies suggest that plasma and leukocyte elastase are correlated both with etiology and with the severity of the inflammation.

Acute-Phase Proteins↗
PubMed1995

Aging and memory: corrections for age, sex and education for three widely used memory tests.

The associate learning subtest from the Wechsler Memory Scale; Benton's Visual Retention test and a Controlled Word Association Task (FAS) were administered to a random sample of normal, healthy individuals whose age ranged from 20 to 79 years, recruited within the Italian peninsula. The neuropsychological examination took place on a mobile unit and the tests were given by the same team of neuropsychologists to reduce variability among examiners. The Research Project was known as Progetto Memoria. Corrections to the scores of these tests were calculated for age, sex, and education. These corrected values will allow clinicians to screen for memory impairment with greater precision among normally aging individuals, thus improving differential diagnosis between physiologic and pathologic deterioration of cognitive functions.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Raven's colored progressive matrices: a normative study of a random sample of healthy adults.

Raven's Colored Progressive Matrices Test (RCPM) was administered to 894 normal healthy adults who were randomly selected in six Italian cities and in the Republic of San Marino. Gender, age, and education significantly influenced overall test performance, and performance on different RCPM subsets. Findings from this large random sample provide demographic corrections to test scores for use in clinical practice.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

[Ischemic hepatitis. Description of 4 cases and review of the literature].

We studied four patients who presented a striking elevation of blood transaminases suggesting acute hepatitis. The post mortem histological examination of the liver revealed centrolobular necrosis that is commonly diagnosed as ischaemic hepatitis. The liver necrosis arose from heart failure which was worsened by an acute anaemia in one patient and by a severe hypoxemia, due to respiratory failure, in another. In three subjects there was evidence of disseminated intravascular coagulation that may be responsible for aggravating the condition of liver hypoxia. The authors also review the literature on the various aspects of ischaemic hepatitis.

Aged↗
PubMed1990

[Description of a case of rheumatoid pleuropneumopathy with primary onset].

A case of pleuropulmonary manifestation as the first symptom of rheumatoid arthritis is reported; articular involvement followed at a later stage. Pleuropulmonary localisation of rheumatoid arthritis is varied and infrequent; it is seldom the first manifestation of illness. This case was particular because isolated pleuropulmonary symptom appeared in a subject negative rheumatoid factor. The patient improved after initial NSAIDS treatment, followed by corticosteroids and NSAIDS together, leading to the resolution of clinical and x-ray symptoms.

Arthritis, Rheumatoid↗
PubMed1989

Manual behavior, lateralization of manual skills and cognitive performance of preschool children.

Direction and degree of manual specialization (functional asymmetry between the hands) on a pegboard task, and fine motor ability (total number of pegs inserted) of both hands were correlated with verbal and visuospatial performances for 47 preschool children. No significant differences were found between right-, and left-, and mixed-handers even though the best motor skills were shown by the 6 mixed-handed subjects, who also had the highest scores on cognitive tasks. Verbal and visuospatial performances were not correlated with degree or direction of manual specialization. They were instead correlated with the level of motor ability of both hands. Motor maturation should be viewed, then, as a process that implies a richer motor performance of both hands and could be interpreted as a more specific diagnostic parameter than the traditional indices of handedness in cognitive fields.

Child Development↗
PubMed1989

Ecological memory assessment in normal aging. A preliminary report on an Italian population.

Forty-eight healthy volunteers were administered a computerized battery of "ecological" memory tests simulating real life everyday tasks and actions such as recalling people's names or telephone numbers. The group was dichotomized according to recent criteria proposed by a NIMH study group. Younger individuals (below 50 years of age) always showed better performances than those over 50. Although the learning curves were significantly lower for the older subgroup, the forgetting rate did not differ, suggesting that most of the memory complaints of the elderly might be attributable to the initial encoding phase of the memorizing activity rather than to a retrieval problem. It seems that easy distractability and inefficient strategic elaboration of incoming information are also, at least in part, responsible for the memory problems associated with normal aging. This article reports preliminary findings of a normative and representative Italian population sample.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

[Chemical and cytologic tests in the differential diagnosis of ascites].

The value of chemical (protein, LDH, glucose, total and differential cell count) and cytological examination of the ascitic fluid in the differential diagnosis of peritoneal ascites was assessed in a prospective study of 98 patients. The ascites caused by hepatic metastases and primary carcinoma were of the transudative type and could not be distinguished from the type caused by cirrhosis on the basis of the parameters examined. In contrast the ascites caused by peritoneal carcinosis was exudative presenting a highly significant (p less than 0.001 for all parameters) difference from the three preceding groups. However there was no clear-cut distinction between the groups: in fact cirrhosis patients may present exudative ascites (8% in the present series, 12-19% in the literature). There was a substantial decrease in ascitic fluid glucose (less than 60 mg/dl) only in peritonitis and its measurement is therefore of secondary importance. In contrast with reports by other authors the ratio between LDH and protein concentrations in the effusion and the serum was found to be insignificant. The cytological examination revealed a significantly higher total cell count in bacterial peritonitis with a prevalence of polymorphonuclear cells and in peritoneal carcinoma where mononuclear cells predominate. Finally cytology revealed malignant tumour cells in the ascitic fluid and neoplastic peritoneal effusions in 28% of the patients examined.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

[Advantages and limitations of chemicomorphological study of pleural fluid].

A chemical-physical and morphological examination of 109 pleural samples taken from 66 patients showed that the most reliable laboratory tests for discriminating between an exudate and transudate were specific gravity, total effusion protein content and the effusion/serum protein ratio, while LDH and cell number seem less important. In the differential diagnosis of pleuritis, pleural fluid amylase assays are important only if certain well-defined diseases are suspected (particularly pancreatitis). In this case the assay is irreplaceable. Glucose assay may be carried out for a wider range of complaints although a review of the literature shows it to be always below 30 mg, particularly in cases of rheumatoid arthritis. A cytological examination offers a pathognomonic guide in the case of tumours and as a back-up to other checks for many other complaints.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Visual neglect in Parkinson's disease.

Recent studies have documented the presence of neglect in patients with subcortical lesions. In this study, we gave 31 patients with Parkinson's disease (14 bilateral, seven right sided and ten left sided) a visual cancellation test. Visual neglect was found only in the bilateral and left-sided parkinsonian patients. These data support the hypothesis that subcortical structures are involved in attentional mechanisms and indicate the dominance of the right hemisphere for these mechanisms.

Aged↗
PubMed1979

[Case studies of the histological characterization of primary tumors of the testis].

One hundred-ninety nine cases of testicular tumours, of which 189 (94,9%) germ cell tumours, have been studied by histological methods. Seminoma with its two subtypes (anaplastic and spermatocytic) is the most frequent tumour (110 cases i.e. 55,2%), followed by embryonal carcinoma (30 cases: 15,3%), teratocarcinoma (25 cases: 13,2%), teratoma (12 cases: 6,3%) and choriocarcinoma (5 cases: 2,6%). Tumours showing more than one histologic pattern are frequent. The distinctive histologic features have studied, with emphasis of those useful for diagnostic and prognostic purposes. The ages mostly involved by various tumours are stressed. The rarest tumours are briefly described. Histologic data suggest that germinal tumours are originated by the same primordial germ cell which is able to develop various degrees of differentiation. Histologic and histogenetic features of limphomas and tumours of specialized gonadal stroma are also discussed.

Adult↗