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Biomedical subjects

L Tesio

Publications and source records attributed to L Tesio.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1995

Rehabilitation: the Cinderella of neurological research? A bibliometric study.

Rehabilitation is under-represented in the neurological literature on disabling diseases. A Medline search was conducted to retrieve the articles published between January 1991 and June 1994 under the main headings of Stroke, Parkinson's disease, Multiple sclerosis, Brain injury, Ataxia and Dementia. These were then combined with the sub-heading Rehabilitation. The former search yielded 27724 articles, the latter 1272 (4.6%). In 1992, the Journal of Citation Reports (JCR) assigned to Journals publishing rehabilitation papers an average Impact Factor (IF) of 0.7-2.8 (median 1.8): that is, 31-90% (depending on the various main headings, median 68%) of the average IF given to Journals publishing non-rehabilitation papers. In the present study, the weight of the literature was defined as the product of the number of articles multiplied by the IF of the corresponding Journal (IF = 0 for non-JCR Journals). Across the various neurologic conditions, the weight of the Rehab literature was 0.1-7% (median 2%) of the weight of the non-Rehab literature. The results suggest that neurology is still reluctant to face the disability challenge.

Bibliometrics↗
PubMed1995

Flexible electrogoniometers: kinesiological advantages with respect to potentiometric goniometers.

Unlike conventional potentiometric goniometers, flexible electrogoniometers do not suffer from any alignment problems with respect to the joint axis. We hypothesized that flexible goniometers provide more valid measurements in that they avoid some biomechanical pitfalls. With both devices simultaneously we measured the movements of dorsal flexion of the ankle and flexion of the knee in three healthy subjects. In the various subjects, this comparison showed that the flexible goniometers signalled ankle excursion greater by 19-40% with the foot remaining in neutral position or being simultaneously pronated, and lower by 10-21% with the foot being simultaneously supinated. At the knee the flexible goniometers signalled a flexion greater by 24-32%, with respect to potentiometric goniometers. Biomechanical considerations support the validity of records taken with flexible goniometers, potentiometric measures being biased by (a) multijoint, multiplane motions underlying foot dorsal flexion, and (b) multiaxis motion underlying knee flexion RELEVANCE: In measurements of angles between adjacent body segments, flexible goniometers should be preferred to potentiometric goniometers despite their higher cost. Flexible goniometers not only are more practical: more importantly, they provide a valid measure of relative orientations in one plane, regardless of the number and different concurrent motions of the underlying joints.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1995

[Parkinson syndrome induced by veralipride].

Veralipride, an antidopaminergic drug commonly prescribed to counteract postmenopausal symptoms, may cause reversible parkinsonism. A 49-year-old healthy woman reported a 5 month history of progressive slowing of voluntary movements, postural changes, e.g. sit-to-stand manouevres, and gait. Clinical examination revealed moderate hypokinesia, hypomimia and plastic rigidity of the four limbs. Locomotor oscillations of the upper limbs were decreased. She had been taking 100 mg of veralipride daily to counteract postmenopausal symptoms (vasomotor flushes and irritability) for 17 months uninterruptedly. The drug was withdrawn. The patient's clinical picture fully normalized within 20 days. One year later she reported to be still asymptomatic. This seems to be a case of parkinsonism induced by veralipride, a drug known to cause other extrapiramidal signs such as bucco-facial or limb dyskinesia. To our knowledge, only one other such case has been published (a 77-year-old French woman who had been taking veralipride, prazepam and nicergolin). In both cases, the drug had been administered for longer and without intervals. In our patient the motor disturbances could not have been associated with either advanced age or interaction with concurrent medications. Therefore, this case is suspected for veralipride-associated parkinsonism. In conclusion, intoxication should be thought in case of parkinsonism arising in women taking this drug.

Dopamine Antagonists↗
PubMed1994

Restoration of gait with orthoses in thoracic paraplegia: a multicentric investigation.

Twenty-eight patients with complete T3-12 traumatic paraplegia were fitted with hip guidance orthosis (HGO, four cases), reciprocating gait orthosis (RGO, 13 cases) or advanced reciprocating gait orthosis (ARGO, 11 cases). Patients were enrolled for 2 months-6 years (median 5 months) in six Italian rehabilitation centres engaged in a common prospective protocol, including a 6 month follow up. After 12-84 (median 20) rehabilitation sessions over a 3-16 week (median 7) period of specific training all of the patients could perform don-doff manoeuvres autonomously in 2.5-15 min (median 6.4), and could walk at least 30 m with a walker (15 cases) or forearm crutches (13 cases) at 10-50 cm/s (median 16.6). HGO patients tended to walk more slowly than the others. None of them could walk upstairs, while three out of 13 RGO patients and seven out of 11 ARGO patients could. Six months later, 21 patients still used the orthosis for 0.5-3 h daily (median 2). Only four patients used the orthosis to walk outdoors. As a median they could still attain the speed recorded at discharge. Six patients had decided to abandon the device, while one was wheelchair bound due to a recent spinal intervention. Neither clinical, demographic or locomotor variables, nor centre and type of orthosis appeared to be predictive of abandonment of the device. During either the training or the follow up periods, six out of 13 RGO and seven out of 11 ARGO had to be repaired by the orthotist 1-10 times (median 3). Thus, in our sample of paraplegics, walking with these orthoses appeared to be a promising form of exercise rather than an alternative to wheelchair locomotion.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Transgenic mice expressing human CD14 are hypersensitive to lipopolysaccharide.

In vitro studies have previously shown that the myelomonocytic differentiation antigen CD14 is a receptor for a complex consisting of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and LPS-binding protein. To investigate the role of CD14 in vivo and its relationship to induction of LPS-induced endotoxin shock, transgenic mice expressing human CD14 were produced. These mice express human CD14 strongly on the surface of their monocytes, neutrophils, and Thy-1(+) lymphocytes and are hypersensitive to LPS, as evidenced by their increased susceptibility to endotoxin shock. These results document the importance of CD14 in vivo as a primary mediator of this lethal syndrome. Furthermore, these mice provide an important model for testing the therapeutic effects of agents directed specifically against the human, as opposed to the murine, CD14 protein in preventing LPS-induced endotoxin shock.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Autotraction versus passive traction: an open controlled study in lumbar disc herniation.

Autotraction (AT) is a treatment for low-back pain syndrome of benign etiology that uses a specially designed traction table divided into two movable sections. While lying on the table, the pelvis secured, the patient controls the traction forces by grasping and pulling the bars at the head of the table. There are controls for the therapist to apply, through movable sections of the table, rotation and bending forces to help restore mobility to the lumbar spine without inducing pain. The present study is based upon a randomized treatment trial comparing conventional passive traction (PT) to AT. The following outcome indicators were used: (1) subjective response concerning overall improvement, (2) pain intensity (visual analog scale, 0-100), (3) qualitative pain severity (McGill Pain Questionnaire, short-form, 0-45), and (4) pain related disability (Oswestry Low Back Pain Disability Score, 0-100). The favorable response to AT was 75% (30 of the 40 patients) versus the 22% (6 of 27 patients) to PT (p < 0.001). After 3 months, 19 of the 30 responders to AT (63%) reported continued improvement. In these patients, pain ratings remained stable and the disability scores decreased to 0 to 23% of the pretreatment value (median and mean respectively, p < 0.001).

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Spinal cord lesion after penicillin gluteal injection.

Penicillin gluteal injection may cause sudden and irreversible paraplegia. In the literature 6 cases have been reported, and spinal infarction was conjectured, the mechanism being obscure. The actual incidence of such a complication is not known. We observed 2 more cases, 6 and 16 years respectively following such an injection. The clinical features suggested that spinal infarction had occurred, and an MRI study in the most severely impaired patient showed marked spinal atrophy, giving further support to the spinal infarction hypothesis. These findings and the pathophysiological considerations suggest that the mechanism might be the accidental injection into the superior gluteal artery, causing its distal spasm and the upstream ascent of the penicillin with ensuing embolic and/or spastic occlusion of the arterior spinal artery.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Human normal CD5+ B lymphocytes can be induced to differentiate to CD5- B lymphocytes with germinal center cell features.

A significant proportion of cord blood CD5+ B cells express the activation molecules CD23, CD25, and transferrin receptor; react with the cell-cycle-associated monoclonal antibody (MoAb) Ki67; can be induced to enter the S phase of cell cycle by interleukin-2 (IL-2), IL-4, or low-molecular-weight B-cell growth factor (Imw-BCGF) and, exposed to IL-1 and IL-2, acquire the features (sIgD-, CD5-, CD10+, CD38+) of B blasts proliferating in the germinal centers of secondary follicles. These findings indicate that CD5+ B cells are preactivated and, in the proper microenvironment, may give rise to CD5- B cells.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Natchev's auto-traction for lumbago-sciatica: effectiveness in lumbar disc herniation.

In Lind's auto-traction (LAT) for lumbago-sciatica, the patient provides traction force by pulling with the arms on a specially designed table, which also allows painless mobilization of the lumbar spine and passive traction. Two studies reported that one to 15 one-hour sessions on successive days might be sufficient to relieve pain in 25% to 90% of cases with verified lumbar disc herniation. Unfortunately, the technique imposes tiring manual efforts on the therapist and requires that the patient be transported by ambulance and confined to bed for a long time. These inconveniences were removed in a new version of the treatment proposed by Natchev. The effectiveness of Natchev's auto-traction (NAT) was evaluated in an open prospective trial on 77 patient with chronic lumbago-sciatica refractory to previous therapies, and herniation of one or more lumbar discs verified by computed tomography (CT) or myelography. Thirty-six of the 77 patients (47%) responded to the treatment in three to ten (median = 5) half-hour sessions. Pain intensity dropped to 27% (median) of the pretreatment intensity. Six months after treatment, 28 of the 36 responders were stable; only four had undergone surgery. By contrast, 20 of the 41 nonresponders had been operated on. The severity of either the radiologic or the neurologic picture was not predictive of the outcome. NAT was as effective as LAT: thus, due to its greater convenience it appears to be suitable as a routine approach in lumbar disc herniation and as a screening technique before surgery.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

CD5 and CD21 molecules are a functional unit in the cell/substrate adhesion of B-chronic lymphocytic leukemia cells.

The modulation of surface molecules on B-chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) cells was studied in vitro by incubation with CD19, CD20, CD21, CD5 and anti-IgM antibodies. The cytoplasmic changes were evaluated by analyzing the organization of cytoskeletal F-actin and the adhesive properties of stimulated B-CLL cells. The following observations were made: (a) CD5 antigen is capped on the surface of B-CLL cells (but not on normal CD5+ B and T lymphocytes). (b) On B-CLL cells, CD5 and CD21, the receptors for the C3d fraction of complement, co-cap and co-modulate while surface IgM as well as CD19 and CD20 do not cap. (c) B-CLL cells, after capping of CD5 or CD21 surface molecules, fail to organize F-actin into podosomes. (d) The pre-incubation of B-CLL cells with either CD5 or CD21 antibodies prevents their binding to purified C3d protein used to coat coverslips. These data indicate that an intimate spatial relationship exists between CD5 and CD21 molecules on the B-CLL surface. The CD5-CD21 complex is involved in the redistribution of cytoskeletal proteins which may control the adhesive properties of these malignant B cells.

Actins↗
PubMed1988

Vinculin, talin, and integrins are localized at specific adhesion sites of malignant B lymphocytes.

The microanatomy of the dot-shaped, close-contact sites called podosomes and the mechanism of their formation have been investigated in vitro in the malignant lymphocytes of B chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL). In this paper the authors demonstrate that in B-CLL podosomes: (1) vinculin, talin, and beta 2 integrin (CD18) rings surround an F-actin core; (2) the beta 1 integrin is localized within the F-actin core; (3) the beta 3 integrin is not present. This distribution and organization of adhesion-related molecules appears to be unique to B-CLL lymphocytes, since it has not been observed in normal B cells. B-CLL adhesion and podosome formation are inhibited by the synthetic peptide GRGDSP that contains the Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) sequence.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1988

Comparative analysis of normal and malignant CD5+ B lymphocytes.

The T-cell related CD5 molecule is expressed by the major B cell population which forms primary follicles in fetal lymph nodes and spleen and circulates in cord blood but decreases to a numerically minor proportion (5-10% of all B cells) in adults [1, 3-5, 8, 9, 12, 14, 16]. The CD5 molecule is also expressed by the monoclonal B cells of B-chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL: reviewed in [5]). Even if there is no proof that CD5+ B cells are the target of the transforming events which lead to B-CLL, they are regarded as the normal counterpart of B-CLL. Therefore, the aim of the present work was the analysis of the phenotype, the cell cycle control and the cytoskeleton organization of normal CD5+ B lymphocytes in comparison with the data obtained on malignant CD5+ cells from B-CLL patients.

Antigens, Differentiation, B-Lymphocyte↗