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Biomedical subjects

L Pollice

Publications and source records attributed to L Pollice.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1996

Biliary malformation with renal tubular insufficiency in two male infants: third family report.

We report two male sibs, born to non-consanguineous healthy parents, who showed arthrogryposis, cholestatic jaundice and tubular renal insufficiency. The liver biopsy of the first case showed scanty hypoplastic biliary ducts. This association, first reported by Lutz and Richner in 1973, is a distinct syndrome, characterized by intra-extrahepatic biliary hypoplasia, and described in McKusick's catalogue under the number 210550. All reported cases were males and consanguinity was found in two families. For these reasons, the possibility of an autosomal recessive or of an X-linked transmission should be considered. A similar association, in reports by Nezelof, Di Rocco, and Saraiva, without intra-extrahepatic atresia but with a cholestatic pigmentary liver disease was considered as another condition (no. 301820) by McKusick in 1992.

Abnormalities, Multiple↗
PubMed1994

Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) in multinodular goiters: a possible pathogenetic factor.

In order to support previous in vitro studies which had stressed a possible autocrine role for Insulin-like Growth Factor 1 (IGF-1) in thyroid growth regulation, we have investigated the presence of IGF-1, as detected by means of radioimmuno assay and of immunocytochemistry, in thyrocytes from normal thyroid and from multinodular goiter. Our study revealed that IGF-1 is detectable in thyroid cells from multinodular goiter and, to a lesser extent, from normal thyroid. Both techniques used in this study demonstrated that thyrocytes are the site of accumulation of IGF-1 and that stromal cells contain lower amounts of this growth factor. The findings of the present study seem to suggest that thyrocytes could produce IGF-1 in vivo. This feature gives further support to the hypothesis that IGF-1 may regulate thyroid growth and therefore it might be involved in the pathogenesis of multinodular goiter.

Goiter, Nodular↗
PubMed1994

Treatment of chronic hepatitis C with recombinant human interferon-alpha 2a: results of a randomized controlled clinical trial.

Sixty consecutive patients with chronic hepatitis C were included in a randomized controlled trial of recombinant human interferon-alpha 2a vs. no treatment. Treated patients received tapering doses of interferon thrice weekly for 1 yr. Twenty treated cases (66.7%) normalized serum aminotransferase levels within the first 4 mo of treatment, but reactivation or breakthrough frequently occurred afterward (20% in both cases). Only one of the untreated patients showed spontaneous normalization of serum aminotransferase levels. Liver histology did not improve in patients without a biochemical response or with breakthrough during therapy, whereas it did not worsen in long-term responders and reactivating patients. Lack of response does not appear to be related to serum interferon antibodies, although their early appearance is more frequent in patients who showed reactivation later on. No biochemical parameter was found to be predictive for positive response to treatment. Antibody to c100 became negative in 62.5% of long-term responders, whereas no change was recorded in other treated patients or controls. Reactivation and breakthrough often occur during treatment, and further studies are needed to determine the most effective schedule (dose and time) of interferon treatment. Loss of c100 antibody during therapy may be a marker of long-term maintenance of response to interferon therapy.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Vimentin- and GFAP-immunoreactivity in developing and mature neural microvessels. Study in the chicken tectum and cerebellum.

The expression of the cytoskeletal filaments vimentin and GFAP has been analyzed by immunocytochemical techniques in endothelial cells, pericytes, and astrocyte perivascular endfeet of microvessels of chicken optic tectum and cerebellum during embryonic development and in adulthood. Endothelial cells and pericytes were characterized by strong vimentin-immunoreactivity in both tectum and cerebellum only in early developmental stages (11-15 incubation days, i.d.). Astrocyte processes closely associated with the vessel wall were vimentin stained in the 11 i.d. cerebellum and vimentin-and GFAP-reactive in 15 i.d. tectum. These perivascular endfeet became GFAP-immuno-stained in the tectum and cerebellum by the 21st i.d. The results indicate that intermediate filament expression in the cells of the brain microvasculature is developmentally regulated, and suggest that the vimentin to GFAP transition in perivascular astrocytes parallels the vessel wall maturation.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Anti-HBe-positive chronic hepatitis B with HBV-DNA in the serum response to a 6-month course of lymphoblastoid interferon.

Eighteen heterosexual HBsAg carriers with anti-HBe- and HBV-DNA-positive chronic hepatitis B (CHB) were randomly assigned to receive human lymphoblastoid interferon (ly-IFN) at a dose of 5 MU/m2 i.m. three times a week for 6 months (ten cases) or no treatment (eight cases). All patients were followed for 24 months after IFN discontinuation and received a second liver biopsy. During the 6 months of treatment all patients had a progressive reduction of serum HBV-DNA levels, and at the end of therapy nine out of ten were HBV-DNA-negative and had normal ALT values. None of the untreated patients became persistently HBV-DNA-negative or showed significant variations of ALT levels. During the post-treatment follow-up, from 1 to 17 months after ly-IFN discontinuation, eight of the nine responders (89%) had recurrent or persistent reappearance of HBV-DNA in the serum and reactivation of the liver disease activity, with an ALT peak in four of them. On the post-trial liver biopsy seven of the eight relapsed patients showed persistence of HBcAg reactivity with no significant difference in the percentage of positive cells with respect to the pre-treatment liver specimen. Histological features improved in four treated patients, worsened in one untreated case and were unchanged in the remaining patients. These results indicate that ly-IFN shows a transient antiviral effect in the therapy of anti-HBe- and HBV-DNA-positive CHB. The 6-month treatment regimen employed in this study seems insufficient for eradicating the replicating virus from the liver cells in the majority of patients and consequently does not appear to prevent HBV reactivation after IFN discontinuation.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Differential diagnosis between thyroid follicular adenoma and carcinoma. Analytic morphometric approach.

In this study some nuclear dimensional and analytical parameters were evaluated in order to distinguish follicular atypical adenoma from follicular carcinoma of the thyroid. Eighty nuclei from carcinomas, 80 from adenomas and 80 from normal thyroid were studied. Analytical parameters obtained by the nuclear shape study (by S.A.M. system) as well as dimensional parameters were submitted to univariate statistical analysis. On the ground of our results atypical adenoma could be considered as an intermediate aspect of a progressive change from benign to malignant even if they are closer to normal thyroid than to carcinoma.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed1988

Hepatocellular dysplasia: immunohistochemical and morphometrical evaluation.

Hepatocellular dysplasia, first described by Anthony et al. [J. clin. Path. 26: 217-223, 1973], is considered a peculiar pattern of proliferation process mainly observable in cirrhotic nodules in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. Its precancerous meaning has been variously evaluated in the past. In the present study, immunohistochemical data concerning the presence of alpha-fetoprotein, alpha 1-antitrypsin, carcinoembryonic antigen, hepatitis B surface antigen and hepatitis B core antigen did not show meaningful differences between carcinomatous cells and normal and dysplastic hepatocytes. On the contrary, morphometric analysis seems to be useful to discriminate dysplastic cells by means of parametrical indexes of shape and symmetry of the nuclei and could probably offer in the future an objective evaluation of hepatocellular dysplasia.

Carcinoembryonic Antigen↗
PubMed1987

Lymphadenopathy syndrome and HIV infection in multitransfused beta-thalassemia child.

Lymphoadenopathic Syndrome (LAS), diagnosed also with histologycal studies, is described in a polytransfused 11-year old boy affected by beta-thalassemia major. After three days of the admission he suffered a serious acute diarrhea by Aeromonas hydrophila, an opportunistic enteric bacteria demonstrated, up to date, in immunocompromised patients and never in AIDS patients. It is important to remark that beta-thalassemic patients are at high risk from HIV infections, either for the chronic need of transfusions and for the impairment of the immunological functions.

AIDS-Related Complex↗
PubMed1986

Presence of cells with argyrophil granules in normal, hyperplastic, and neoplastic endometrium.

Cells with argyrophil granules were searched for in 131 consecutive specimens obtained from endometrial curettage. Particular care was taken with the fixation methods to avoid a false positivity to the silver impregnation according to Grimelius. We did not consider the grossly argyrophilic positivity on the cellular apex or of the whole cytoplasm, which was partially reduced by diastase digestion and probably due to the presence of glycogen and secretory mucoproteins. Cells with thin argyrophilic granules similar to those observed in endocrine APUD cells were present among glandular cells and/or among stromal cells in 15 of 131 examined specimens. They concerned 5 cases of proliferative endometrium, 3 of secretive endometrium, 5 of hyperplasia, and 2 of carcinoma. In 8 of the 15 cases with argyrophilic cells, immunohistochemical studies with the PAP method showed cells with the presence of FSH, S-100 protein, somatostatin, vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), gastrin, and neuron-specific enolase (NSE). The significance and origin of these cells in normal and neoplastic endometrium are discussed.

APUD Cells↗
PubMed1986

Struma cordis. Ectopic thyroid goiter in the right ventricle.

Intracardiac thyroid goiter (struma cordis) is an exceptionally rare finding. To our knowledge, only two cases have been reported in the literature to date. A middle-aged woman was the subject of our case, in which an intracardiac tumor was clinically diagnosed and surgically resected. The mass, adhesive to the ventricular septum and obstructing the right ventricular outlow tract, histologically was formed by thyroid tissue, separated from the myocardium by fibrous tissue. The woman died of renal failure two weeks after the operation, and at autopsy the thyroid gland showed strumous changes. The similarity to previously reported cases suggests a dysembryologic origin of this ectopia.

Female↗
PubMed1985

Full pancreatic endocrine differentiation in a mediastinal teratoma.

In a mediastinal teratoma containing pancreatic tissue rich in islet cells, immunofluorescence studies showed a high degree of differentiation of the endocrine tissue. Insulin-, glucagon-, somatostatin-, and pancreatic polypeptide(PP)-containing cells were all consistently represented. They showed the same precise topographic distribution that is seen in normal islets (i.e., a central core of insulin-containing cells with the other cell types in a peripheral position) and that is thought to be important for the integrated function of the islets. This may explain the absence of clinical symptoms of hypoglycemia. In addition, a nonrandom distribution of endocrine cell types, with PP-rich and PP-poor areas, similar to that found in pancreatic regions embryologically derived from the ventral and dorsal anlagen, respectively, was observed. This finding suggests that the unknown mechanisms responsible for the dissimilar endocrine cell contents in pancreatic regions of different embryologic origins were operating in the teratoma.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Inflammatory fibroid polyp of the rectum.

A case of inflammatory fibroid polyp of the rectum in an 8 years old boy is reported. This lesion is not infrequently found in the gastro-intestinal tract, is very rare in childhood and has never been reported in the rectum. The pathogenetical hypothesis that fibroid represents a dynamic response to recurrent small injuries with possible different histological patterns is prospected.

Child↗