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Biomedical subjects

M Belotti

Publications and source records attributed to M Belotti.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2004

Low levels of endogenous estradiol protect bone mineral density in young postmenopausal women.

OBJECTIVE: Low levels of endogenous estrogens may play a role in the protection of bone mineral density (BMD) in healthy postmenopausal women. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of endogenous estradiol and testosterone on bone mass in young and older healthy postmenopausal women. METHODS: The study involved 99 postmenopausal women aged 55-75 years. The BMDs of the lumbar spine, proximal femur and total skeleton were determined. Measurements were taken of serum calcium, bone alkaline phosphatase, Crosslaps, estradiol, estrone, sex hormone binding globulin, testosterone, bioavailable testosterone and urine calcium. Estradiol was measured using a sensitive assay with a lower detection limit at 5 pg/ml. RESULTS: A multivariate analysis showed that the BMD of the lumbar spine was significantly predicted by estradiol (p < 0.05), and testosterone (p < 0.0001). Likewise, testosterone was found to be an independent predictor of the BMD of the total femur (p < 0.001) and the total skeleton (p < 0.001). The population was divided into two groups: < or = 65 (Group 1) and > 65 years (Group 2) of age and also stratified according to estradiol levels: > 10 and < or = 10 pg/ml. Significant differences in BMD were found in women in Group 1 in whom estradiol levels higher than 10 pg/ml were associated with a higher BMD of the lumbar spine (+ 14%, p < 0.01), proximal femur (+ 6%, p < 0.05) and total skeleton (+ 7%, p < 0.05) compared with women with estradiol levels below 10 pg/ml. Bone alkaline phosphatase levels (p < 0.05) and serum Crosslaps (not significant) were lower in women in Group 1 with a level of estradiol more than 10 pg/ ml. CONCLUSION: Endogenous estradiol levels higher than 10 pg/ml and testosterone protected bone mass in healthy postmenopausal women under 65 years of age. These results were not observed in the group of older women.

Age Factors↗
PubMed2001

Working memory interference control deficit in children referred by teachers for ADHD symptoms.

It has been hypothesised that children with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) present memory problems, including working memory deficits. This research is aimed at finding clearer evidence of a working memory deficit in these children. In the first study 22 children that had been referred by teachers as having ADHD symptoms were compared with a control group. Their performance on a listening span test, drawn up by De Beni, Palladino, Pazzaglia, and Cornoldi (1998), was investigated. In this task the subjects were asked to select the names of animals in word strings and to remember the last word in each string. In a second study, 34 children with ADHD symptoms and 50 control children were presented with a visuospatial working memory task mirroring the verbal task used in Study 1. In both studies, the children with ADHD symptoms had difficulty in remembering the last item in the string and had a higher number of intrusions when memorising items that were not in the final position. The results were interpreted that children with ADHD symptoms have working memory problems because they are not capable of suppressing information that initially has to be processed, and subsequently excluded from memory. This particular difficulty can be interpreted as an inhibitory processing deficit. The implications of the results in understanding learning difficulties in children with ADHD are discussed.

Attention↗
PubMed1998

Modulation of spatial alternation and anxiety by septal scopolamine systemic diazepam in mice.

To investigate the behavioral consequences of benzodiazepines in subjects whose septo-hippocampal cholinergic (ACh) activity was impaired, C57BL/6 mice received an injection of 2.5 microg/0.2 microl of scopolamine into the medial septal area with an i.p. injection of 0.5 mg/kg of diazepam. The consequences of these treatments administered in combination or alone were evaluated on anxiety measured in an elevated plus-maze and on spontaneous alternation carried out in a T-maze, using two different intertrial intervals (ITI: 5s or 30s). In these conditions, only the combined treatment provoked a decrease of the anxiety level, which was associated with an impairment of spontaneous alternation restricted to the 5s ITI. Because mice were not impaired during the sequential 30s ITI, this seems to rule out the possibility that this alternation deficit resulted from a working memory loss. These results suggest an involvement of a septal ACh-GABA-A/BDZ interaction in the exaggeration of cognitive deficits produced by benzodiazepines in patients characterized by a cholinergic hypofunction.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

Consequences of selective blockade of septal noradrenergic afferents on anxiety and spatial working memory performance in mice.

This experiment was designed to investigate the role of septal noradrenergic (NA) afferents in the control of anxiety and spatial working memory. To this end, C57Bl/6 mice were infused bilaterally into the lateral septal nuclei with 500 ng/0.2 microliter of BE 2254, a selective alpha 1 postsynaptic adrenoceptor antagonist. The consequences of this reversible treatment were evaluated 20 min later on the anxiety level measured in an elevated plus-maze and on spatial working memory, evaluated under four different conditions via the learning of a delayed nonmatching to place (DNMTP) rule achieved in an eight-arm radial maze. In these conditions, the BE 2254, as well as the saline-injected control group, showed an elevation of the anxiety level that may be the indirect expression of a nonspecific septal dysfunction induced by the vehicle injection rather than the normal behavioral response produced by the decrease of septal NA activity. This septal dysfunction also impaired spatial working memory but only when mnesic difficulty of the task is increased, suggesting that this impairment expresses a general memory deficit rather than a working memory deficit per se. A lack of spatial working memory deficits in BE 2254 or saline-injected animals was also observed in two other conditions of the behavioral protocol. However, when treatments were applied before the first exposure of animals to the radial maze (exploration session), only the group which received BE 2254 was impaired during the acquisition session for the rule performed 24 h later. This delayed perturbation seems to be linked, at this stage of the learning procedure, to the lack of NA-dependent processes taking place during the exploration session. Taken together, these data suggest that septal NA mechanisms are more essential at initial stage of this learning, when animals process new features of the situation, than during the expression of spatial working memory per se.

Adrenergic Fibers↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Effects of bicarbonated-alkaline water (Uliveto) on gastric and gallbladder emptying in normal subjects. Ultrasonic evaluation].

In 10 healthy patients gastric and gallbladder emptying after a standard meal (800 cal, 60% glucides, 20% protides, 20 lipids) associated with 400 ml alkaline bicarbonated water or tap water were evaluated by ultrasonography. An increase of gastric emptying was noted after alkaline bicarbonated water versus tap water with significant differences at 30' (p less than 0.05), 60' (p less than 0.01) and 120' (p less than 0.05). No significant differences exist in final gastric emptying time. Alkaline bicarbonated water induced less intensive gallbladder emptying with statistical difference versus tap water at 60' and 120' from the standard meal (p less than 0.01).

Adult↗