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Biomedical subjects

L Milani

Publications and source records attributed to L Milani.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Modulation of neutrophil functions by activated platelet release factors.

Platelets activated with physiological agonists, such as thrombin, ADP, or collagen, released products able to modulate neutrophil functions. In particular, platelet supernatant contained an inhibitor of superoxide anion generation induced by phorbol ester and a chemotactic factor for human neutrophils. The proteolytic digestion of platelet supernatant completely abrogated chemotactic activity without interfering with the inhibitory effect, indicating the presence of different molecules involved in the modulation of different neutrophil functions. This was further confirmed by the pretreatment of platelets with aromatic benzamidine which abolished chemotactic activity, but did not affect superoxide inhibition of neutrophils. This report provides evidence for interaction of platelets and inflammatory cells, suggesting that platelets are able to induce accumulation of neutrophils and control their respiratory burst, which also has a critical role in tissue damaging in inflammation.

Benzamidines

[The monitoring of plasma digoxin levels during acute digitalis poisoning treated with Fab anti-digoxin fragments].

Life-threatening digitalis intoxication is treated using digoxin specific antibody fragments (Fab) that bind and inactivate the drug. The free digoxin serum concentration could be useful in the management of Fab-treated patients, but the standard methods of measurement can be clinically misleading because Fab anti-digoxin interferes with digitalis immunoassay measurements. A case involving Fab therapy of a digoxin overdosed patient, in which two laboratory methods gave very different results, is reported. The radioimmunologic assay (RIA), widely used in laboratories, yielded high values without relation to true serum free digoxin concentration. On the contrary, the recently introduced fluoroenzymatic sequential immunoassay (FEIA), which accurately measures free glycoside concentration, was a valuable aid in monitoring Fab treatment. Therefore, cardiologists' knowledge of a possible interference of specific anti-digoxin fragment treatment with many immunoassays may greatly enhance the rational management of these patients.

Acute Disease

Echocardiographic findings in one case of Swyer-James syndrome.

The Swyer-James syndrome is an uncommon disease. The main finding is a hyperlucent lung with small hilar shadows on chest x-ray. This is due to a decrease in pulmonary artery size at its origin and in the number and size of pulmonary branches. Pulmonary angiography is the standard method for diagnosis. We report a case of a unilateral hyperlucent lung in which the diagnosis was suggested by an echocardiographic evaluation.

Adult

Synthesis and platelet aggregation inhibitory effects of N-[(1H-pyrazol-1-yl)alkyl]benzoylamides.

A series of N-[(1H-pyrazol-1-yl)alkyl]benzoylamides was synthesized and tested in vitro for their inhibitory effects on adenosine diphosphate-, collagen-, arachidonic acid- and thrombin-induced aggregation of human platelets. Among them, N-[(1H-pyrazol-1-yl)butyl]benzoylamide (Ve) was found to have the most potent inhibitory activity. The structure-activity relationships are reported. The biological activity of the title compounds is reported in parallel with that of a known inhibitor of thromboxane A2 synthetase.

Chemical Phenomena

Improvement of left ventricular function in chronic alcoholics following abstinence from ethanol.

Preclinical abnormalities of left ventricular function are frequently found in chronic alcoholics. In 12 chronic alcoholics without cardiomyopathy and in 12 healthy controls, systolic time intervals and echocardiograms were investigated before and after 12 months of abstinence from alcohol. In chronic alcoholics, an increase was found in the PEP/LVET ratio (0.31 +/- 0.06; in controls 0.24 +/- 0.05; t = 3.11; p less than 0.005), the diastolic interventricular septal thickness (6.0 +/- 2.0 mm/m2; in controls 4.1 +/- 1.0; t = 2.95; p less than 0.01), the left ventricular wall thickness (6.3 +/- 1.0 mm/m2; in controls 4.9 +/- 1.0; t = 3.43; p less than 0.005) and the left ventricular diastolic dimension (29 +/- 4 mm/m2; in controls 26 +/- 3; t = 2.08; p less than 0.05). The left ventricular mass (135 +/- 33 g/m2; in controls 113 +/- 40; t = 1.47) did not differ from the controls. After 12 months of abstinence a significant decrease was found in the PEP/LVET ratio (0.26 +/- 0.05, i.e. -16%; t = 3.59; p less than 0.005), the diastolic interventricular septal thickness (4.7 +/- 0.9 mm/m2, i.e. -22%; t = 2.73; p less than 0.02), the left ventricular posterior wall thickness (5.6 +/- 1.0 mm/m2, i.e. -11%; t = 4.08; p less than 0.001) and the left ventricular mass (109 +/- 24 g/m2, i.e. -21%; t = 6.53; p less than 0.001). The left ventricular diastolic dimension (27 +/- 2 mm/m2, i.e. -7%; t = 1.3) did not change. In conclusion, in chronic alcoholics, the abstinence from alcohol can be followed by an improvement of left ventricular function.

Adult

4-(1H-pyrazol-1-yl)-2-butylamine derivatives as inhibitors of blood platelet aggregation.

Reaction of pyrazole and 3,5-dimethylpyrazole with methyl vinyl ketone gave 4-(1H-pyrazol-1-yl)-2-butanones which were converted to N-substituted 4-(1H-pyrazol-1-yl)-2-butylamines by reductive amination using ammonium acetate, primary or secondary amines and sodium cyanoborohydride as reducing agent. These new pyrazole derivatives were found to have an inhibitory effect on platelet aggregation in vitro.

Adenosine Diphosphate

Amidinosemicarbazido derivatives of pyrazole: synthesis and inhibitory effect on blood coagulation and platelet aggregation.

Amidinosemicarbazido derivatives of pyrazole having various substituents on pyrazole ring were prepared and their effect on platelet function and blood coagulation was determined in vitro. Platelet aggregation and serotonin release induced by ADP, collagen, arachidonic acid and thrombin were markedly inhibited by pyrazole derivatives at mM concentrations. Compounds with a hydrophobic nucleus at position 1 of the pyrazole ring showed the most potent antiplatelet activity. On the contrary, their effect on blood coagulation was faintly inhibitory.

Anticoagulants

Does defective chloride reabsorption at the loop of Henle play a major role in the pathogenesis of Bartter's syndrome?

In a patient with typical features of Bartter's syndrome, intrarenal reabsorption of sodium and water at different sites of the nephron, during maximal water diuresis, was studied twice in the course of the disease. During the first study, chloride reabsorption at the loop of Henle and renal diluting ability were not impaired. Chloride reabsorption at the loop of Henle was 0.72 (normal values 0.66-0.90), minimal urine osmolality 71 mosm/kg (normal values less than 75 mosm/kg) and chloride fractional clearance 0.44 (normal values 0.3-6.8). An impaired chloride reabsorption at the loop of Henle was found 6 months later. Chloride reabsorption at the loop of Henle was 0.28, minimal urine osmolality 197 mosm/kg and chloride fractional clearance 8.23. These data suggest that the defect in chloride reabsorption at the loop of Henle is not a pathophysiological abnormality of the syndrome because it appeared at a later time than the other symptoms.

Absorption

Value of prealbumin plasma levels as liver test.

To assess the sensitivity, specificity and clinical value of prealbumin as liver test, prealbumin plasma levels were measured in 100 patients with liver disease and in 65 patients without clinical evidence of liver impairment. The sensitivity of prealbuminemia was higher than that of albumin, pseudocholinesterase, apolipoprotein and prothrombin activity. Its specificity was higher than that of pseudocholinesterase and comparable with the specificity of other liver tests. Prealbumin plasma levels were progressively decreasing in patients with liver cirrhosis graded as Child's A, B and C, respectively. In these patients prealbuminemia was correlated with galactose elimination capacity, assumed to be an index of maximal liver functional capacity.

Adolescent

Are urinary enzymes useful markers of kidney damage in obstructive jaundice? An experimental study on Sprague-Dawley rats.

To evaluate the reliability of urinary enzymes as markers of renal tubular damage in obstructive jaundice, research was carried out on 26 Sprague-Dawley rats submitted to bile duct ligation and on 16 sham-operated rats. The fractional clearances of lysozyme (CfrLYS) and of malto-dehydrogenase (CfrMDH)-indices of tubular function-and the fractional excretions of gamma-glutamyltransferase (UfrGGT) and of alpha-glucosidase (UfrAGL)-indices of tubular anatomic damage - were measured 5, 10, 20 and 30 days after operation. Creatinine clearance, urinary sodium excretion, urinary potassium excretion, proteinuria, plasma bilirubin and bile acids were also measured. Kidneys were taken for histology. All rats submitted to common bile duct ligation had high levels of bilirubin and bile acids; proximal tubules were damaged and the extent of the lesions increased with time. However, creatinine clearance, urinary sodium excretion, proteinuria, CfrMDH and UfrAGL gave no indication of renal lesions, whereas CfrLYS and UfrGGT were significantly higher 20 and 30 days after bile duct ligation, respectively. These findings show that CfrLYS and UfrGGT could be useful tests for renal tubular lesions in jaundice.

Animals

[Unusual use of reflexotherapeutic technics for control of pain in cases of phantom limb. Spinal and supraspinal theory].

Treatment of selected cases of amputees suffering from phantom-limbs pains by means of unusual techniques of reflexotherapy is reported. Nose, hand and foot acupuncture and classical auricolotherapy demonstrate in the patients here reported the beneficial effect of these methods. Nosologic, pathologic, clinic results and the anatomo functional mechanisms through which the therapeutic action of reflexoterapy can be explained are discussed. Spinal and trigeminal-reticulo-spinal pathways (central biasing mechanism) are postulated as inhibitory control system for somatic afferences.

Acupuncture Therapy