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Biomedical subjects

M Carrozzo

Publications and source records attributed to M Carrozzo.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Ciclosporin vs. clobetasol in the topical management of atrophic and erosive oral lichen planus: a double-blind, randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a chronic inflammatory disease that can be painful, especially in the atrophic and erosive forms. Several drugs have been used with varying results, but most treatments are empirical, and do not have adequate control groups or correct study designs. OBJECTIVES: To compare the effectiveness of clobetasol and ciclosporin in the topical management of OLP and to evaluate which is more cost-effective and which gives the longest remission from signs and symptoms. METHODS: A randomized, comparative, double-blind study was designed. Forty consecutive patients were divided into two groups to receive clobetasol propionate or ciclosporin for 2 months. Both drugs were placed in 4% hydroxyethyl cellulose bioadhesive gel. Antimycotic prophylaxis was also given. After the end of therapy, patients underwent a 2-month follow-up. RESULTS: Eighteen of 19 clobetasol-treated patients (95%) improved after 2 months of therapy, while 13 of 20 ciclosporin-treated patients (65%) had a clinical response (P = 0.04). Symptomatology improved in 18 clobetasol-treated patients (95%) and in 17 ciclosporin-treated patients (85%) (not statistically significantly different). Two months after the end of therapy, 33% of clobetasol-treated patients and 77% of ciclosporin-treated patients were stable (P = 0.04). Clobetasol produced significantly more side-effects than ciclosporin (P = 0.04). The daily cost of ciclosporin treatment was 1.82 compared with 0.35 for clobetasol therapy. CONCLUSIONS: Clobetasol is more effective than ciclosporin in inducing clinical improvement, but the two drugs have comparable effects on symptoms. Conversely, clobetasol gives less stable results than ciclosporin when therapy ends and has shown a higher incidence of side-effects. The daily cost of ciclosporin is more than five times higher than clobetasol.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Non-neoplastic salivary gland diseases.

A wide range of non neoplastic disorders can affect the salivary glands, although the more common are: mumps, acute suppurative sialadenitis, Sjögren's syndrome and drug-induced xerostomia. Salivary dysfunction is not a normal consequence of old age, and can be due to systemic diseases, medications or head and neck radiotherapy. Diagnosis of salivary disorders begins with a careful medical history, followed by a cautious examination. While complaints of xerostomia may be indicative of a salivary gland disorder, salivary diseases can present without symptoms. Therefore, routine examination of salivary function must be part of any head, neck, and oral examination. Health-care professionals can play a vital role in identifying patients at risk for developing salivary dysfunction, and should provide appropriate preventive and interventive techniques that will help to preserving a person's health, function, and quality of life. The present work provides an overview of most of the non neoplastic disorders of the salivary glands, in which the general presentation, pathology, and treatments are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Integration of cognitive allocentric information in visuospatial short-term memory through the hippocampus.

Visuospatial short-term memory relies on a widely distributed neocortical network: some areas support the encoding process of the visually acquired spatial information, whereas other ares are more involved in the active maintenance of the encoded information. Recently, in a pointing to remembered targets task, it has been shown in healthy subjects that, for memory delays of 5 s, spatial errors are affected also by cognitive allocentric information, i.e., covert spatial information derived from a pure mental representation. We tested the effect of a lesion of the hippocampus on the accuracy of pointing movements toward remembered targets, with memory delays falling in the 0.5-30 s range. The spatial distributions of the two target sets we used (line and left-right) allowed the exploitation of cognitive allocentric spatial information: both sets were in the frontal plane, the line one being composed by eleven points distributed uniformly along a virtual line tilted 45 degrees away from the vertical, whereas the left-right set was composed by two workspaces symmetrically distributed at the extremes of a horizontal virtual line. We have found a significant difference between the performance of three hippocampal amnesic subjects and a group of normal controls for delays equal to or longer than 15 s, the difference being along the allocentric axis, i.e., the direction of the virtual line defined by the target set. On this basis we suggest that the hippocampal formation may enhance the spatial information processed within short-term memory with cognitive allocentric information. The association that may be operated through the neocortical-hippocampal loop of the newly acquired spatial information with well established spatial cognitive items could affect the precision of the short-term memory storage for memory delays exceeding about 15 s and might be the result of a modulation of the span of the spatial memory buffer along context-specific directions.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Hepatitis C virus-associated oral lichen planus: is the geographical heterogeneity related to HLA-DR6?

BACKGROUND: The association between hepatitis C virus (HCV) and oral lichen planus (OLP) is more common in the Mediterranean area and Japan, possibly because of immunogenetic factors. METHODS: Intermediate-resolution HLA-DRB typing by hybridization with oligonucleotide probes was performed in 31 Italian OLP patients with HCV infection, in 45 Italian OLP and in 48 British OLP patients without HCV infection. As healthy controls we included data from 145 unrelated Italian and 101 unrelated British bone marrow donors. RESULTS: Italian HCV+ve OLP patients possessed the HLA-DR6 allele more frequently than Italian and British OLP patients without HCV infection (51.6% vs. 17.7% vs. 16.7%; P corrected = 0.028 and 0.017, respectively). There was no difference in the frequency of the HLA-DR6 allele between Italian and British control subjects. CONCLUSIONS: The present data suggest that HLA-DR6 may be responsible for the peculiar geographic heterogeneity of the association between HCV and OLP.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Epithelial biology.

The oral mucous membrane has features similar to skin but also differs in several ways. This paper reviews the aspects of epithelial biology necessary for an understanding of the vesiculoerosive disorders.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Number V Oral lichen planus: clinical features and management.

Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a relatively common chronic inflammatory disorder affecting stratified squamous epithelia. Whereas in the majority of instances, cutaneous lesions of lichen planus (LP) are self-limiting and cause itching, oral lesions in OLP are chronic, rarely undergo spontaneous remission, are potentially premalignant and are often a source of morbidity. Current data suggest that OLP is a T cell-mediated autoimmune disease in which auto-cytotoxic CD8+ T cells trigger apoptosis of oral epithelial cells. The characteristic clinical aspects of OLP may be sufficient to make a correct diagnosis if there are classic skin lesions present. An oral biopsy with histopathologic study is recommended to confirm the clinical diagnosis and mainly to exclude dysplasia and malignancy. The most commonly employed and useful agents for the treatment of lichen planus (LP) are topical corticosteroids but other newer agents are available.

Adrenal Cortex Hormones↗
PubMed2004

Proliferative verrucous vs conventional leukoplakia: no significantly increased risk of HPV infection.

Proliferative verrucous leukoplakia (PVL) is a very aggressive form of oral leukoplakia (OL) with high morbidity and mortality rates, hypothesised to be linked to HPV infection. This study aimed to determine the presence of HPV DNA in PVL in comparison with OL, and in relation to social-demographical variables (age, gender, smoking and drinking habits) in an Italian multi-centric hospital-based study. The study group consisted of 58 cases of PVL and 90 cases of OL as controls (47 homogeneous (H) and 43 non-homogeneous (non-H) form), both recruited from four Italian cohorts. HPV DNA was identified in exfoliated mucosal cells by nested PCR (nPCR) with MY09/MY11 and GP5+/GP6+ primer pairs and the HPV genotype determined by direct DNA sequencing. HPV DNA was found in 24.1% (14/58)of PVL and in 25.5% (23/90) of OL; there was thus no significant difference found between PVL and OL (both forms) for risk of HPV infection (OR=0.93; 95% IC:0.432-1.985). Similarly, in both groups of PVL and OL lesions, no statistic association was found between any demographical variable considered and HPV infection. HPV-18 was the most frequently detected genotype in all tissues, being found in 78.5% and 60.8% of HPV+ve PVL and OL, respectively. Other more rarely detected genotypes were HPV-16 (28.6% in PVL and 13% in OL), HPV-6 (17.4% in OL) and HPV-53 (8.8% in OL). PVL does not appear more likely to be associated to HPV infection than conventional OL lesions.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Risk of oral squamous cell carcinoma in 402 patients with oral lichen planus: a follow-up study in an Italian population.

The most important complication of oral lichen planus (OLP) is the development of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) but this is a very controversial matter. The aim of the study was to estimate in a Northern Italian cohort of OLP patients the risk for OSCC. Four hundred and two patients with histologically confirmed OLP diagnosed from January 1988 to July 1999, were followed-up to the end of February 2001. The standardized incidence ratio (SIR) of OSCC was calculated for the entire cohort and specific for gender, type of OLP, therapy for OLP and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. The relative risk (RR) of OSCC according to HCV infection was also estimated in the cohort. During the follow-up period, two men (1.3%) and seven women (2.9%) developed an OSCC. The SIR was 44.9 (95% CI: 20.5-85.2), being higher among women, but statistically significant in both genders. The RR of OSCC for patients with HCV as compared with those without HCV infection was 3.16 (0.8-12.5). Patients with OLP had a significantly increased risk of OSCC, irrespective of the clinical type of OLP and therapy. HCV infection apparently increased the risk for OSCC although this result could reflect the role of confounders, such as liver cirrhosis.

Aged↗
PubMed2004

Oral acanthosis nigricans, tripe palms and sign of leser-trélat in a patient with gastric adenocarcinoma.

Acanthosis nigricans (AN), tripe palms (TP) and the sign of Leser-Trélat (LT) may be seen with the presence of malignancy. Acanthosis nigricans may have a mucocutaneous localization involving the oral mucosa with papillomatous and verrucous lesions usually on the lips and buccal mucosa. These paraneoplastic dermatoses are generally linked with intra-abdominal malignancy, most often gastric adenocarcinoma. Improvement of the associated dermatoses after the treatment of the malignancy has been frequently observed. We report the case of a 53-year-old man suffering from advanced gastric adenocarcinoma, in which metastases seemed to sustain all three paraneoplastic dermatoses. To the best of our knowledge this is the first case of a patient showing manifestations of all three paraneoplastic dermatoses. Patients presenting with this set of dermatoses should be suspected to harbor an occult malignancy, or have persistence of a known malignancy.

Acanthosis Nigricans↗
PubMed2003

Systemic and topical corticosteroid treatment of oral lichen planus: a comparative study with long-term follow-up.

BACKGROUND: Topical corticosteroids are the mainstay treatment for oral lichen planus (OLP), but some authors suggest that systemic corticosteroid therapy is the only way to control acute presentation of OLP. METHODS: Forty-nine patients with histologically proven atrophic-erosive OLP were divided into two groups matched for age and sex. The test group (26 patients) was treated systemically with prednisone (50 mg/day), and afterwards with clobetasol ointment in an adhesive medium plus antimicotics, whereas the control group (23 patients) was only treated topically with clobetasol plus antimycotics. RESULTS: Complete remission of signs was obtained in 68.2% of the test group and 69.6% of the control group, respectively (P = 0.94). Similar results were obtained for symptoms. Follow-up showed no significant differences between the two groups. One-third of the patients of the test group versus none in the control group experienced systemic side-effects (P = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: The most suitable corticosteroid therapy in the management of OLP is the topical therapy, which is easier and more cost-effective than the systemic therapy followed by topical therapy.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed2003

Oral mucosal dysplastic lesions and early squamous cell carcinomas: underdiagnosis from incisional biopsy.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the degree and causes of underdiagnosis of incisional biopsy in oral potentially malignant lesions (PML). DESIGN: Cross-sectional retrospective study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All pathology slides (incisional biopsy and resection specimen) from 46 patients with oral PML were reviewed and scored blind. The provisional diagnosis was considered in order to provide underdiagnosis or overdiagnosis according to whether this score was lower or higher than the final diagnosis. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Concordance between the scores for provisional and final diagnoses was compared for reviewed and unreviewed assessments. RESULTS: Upon review, underdiagnosis significantly decreased from 23.9% to 4.4% (P=0.016, chi-square with the Yates' correction). As the underdiagnosis ratio was not significantly influenced by intra- or inter-observer variability, it is likely to be related to pathologists' interpretation difficulties when examining incisional biopsy specimens. CONCLUSIONS: The good quality of incisional biopsy samples was demonstrated, but clinicians should be conscious of the possible underdiagnosis by incisional biopsy when planning therapy in suspected early oral squamous cell carcinoma lesions.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Oral diseases possibly associated with hepatitis C virus.

Morbidity associated with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection can involve a variety of extrahepatic conditions, including lichen planus (LP) and sialadenitis, predominantly or exclusively involving the oral region, conditions which have been largely neglected in reviews. The literature suggests that HCV-infected patients may frequently have Sjögren-like sialadenitis with mild clinical symptoms, whereas oral LP may be significantly associated with HCV infections in Southern Europe and Japan but not in Northern Europe. These geographical differences could be related to immunogenetic factors such as the HLA-DR6 allele, significantly expressed in Italian patients with OLP and HCV. Analysis of experimental data suggests that HCV could be involved in the pathogenesis of both these diseases. Moreover, parotid lymphoma may arise in patients with sialadenitis, mainly with type II cryoglobulinemia. Little attention has been paid to oral health needs in HCV-infected patients and the variable effect of interferon-alpha therapy on oral tissues. Further research is needed, because of the potentially great influence of oral diseases possibly linked to HCV on the quality of life of millions of patients.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

Cognitive allocentric representations of visual space shape pointing errors.

Subjects reached in three-dimensional space to a set of remembered targets whose position was varied randomly from trial to trial, but always fell along a "virtual" line (line condition). Targets were presented briefly, one-by-one and in an empty visual field. After a short delay, subjects were required to point to the remembered target location. Under these conditions, the target was presented in the complete absence of allocentric visual cues as to its position in space. However, because the subjects were informed prior to the experiment that all targets would fall on a straight line, they could conceivably imagine each point target as belonging to a single rigid object with a particular geometry and orientation in space, although this virtual object was never explicitly shown to the subjects. We compared the responses to repeated measurements of each target with those measured for targets presented in a directionally neutral configuration (sphere condition), and used the variable errors to infer the putative reference frames underlying the corresponding sensorimotor transformation. Performance in the different tasks was compared under two different lighting conditions (dim light or total darkness) and two memory delays (0.5 or 5 s). The pattern of variable errors differed significantly between the sphere condition and the line condition. In the former case, the errors were always accounted for by egocentric reference frames. By contrast the errors in the line condition revealed both egocentric and allocentric components, consistent with the hypothesis that target information can be defined concurrently in both egocentric and allocentric frames of reference, resulting in two independent coexisting representations.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Malacoplakia of the tongue. A case report and review of the literature.

Our aim is to present a singular case of malacoplakia of the tongue and a review of the literature. Malacoplakia (from the Greek "malacos", soft, and "placos", plaque) is a granulomatosis initially described in 1902. It has the clinical aspect of a yellow-brown, soft plaque of variable size, characterized by a central navel or ulcer and an intense peripheral hyperaemia, usually located in the urogenital and gastrointestinal tract. The mortality rate is higher than 50% if vital organs are involved. In the world literature there are 16 cases of the head and neck region and particularly only 2 of them are located on the tongue. In these 2 cases the lesion caused some distress to the patients who referred to a medical observation for this motive. Conversely we report a case of asymptomatic lingual malacoplakia occurring in a 57-year-old woman, diagnosed by chance during a stomatological examination in the Department of Oral Medicine and Periodontology of Turin University. In this case the outcome was quite plain and our patient did not need any supporting medical therapy. Nevertheless the potential danger of malacoplakia should underline the importance of a more careful histological assessment of submucosal nodules of the oro-pharyngeal region. Moreover the histopathological characteristic, the present etiopathogenetic hypothesis and the therapeutic pattern of malacoplakia suggested in the literature are discussed.

Female↗
PubMed2002

Lichen planus and hepatitis C virus infection.

In the last 20 years an increasingly strong association between lichen planus (LP) and chronic hepatic disease has been suggested, mainly in Southern Europe and in patients with oral LP (OLP) of the erosive type. When sensitive hepatitis C virus (HCV) assays became available, several studies have supported the link between LP and HCV infection. The aim of this paper is to review the literature on LP and liver disease, especially caused by HCV. Pub-Med on line Medline data searches were carried up for the years 1966-2001 to identify literature on liver diseases, HCV infection and LP. All the paper found were critically reviewed. The available literature suggests that LP, mainly, OLP may be significantly associated with HCV infections in Italy, Spain, Japan, USA whereas controversial data are coming from France and Germany and in Holland and UK the OLP studied patients did not have signs of HCV infection. These geographical differences could be related to immunogenetic factors as the allele HLA-DR6 has been found to be significantly expressed in Italian patients with OLP and HCV infection. However a high prevalence of OLP has been found in UK-HCV infected patients suggesting that in countries with low HCV prevalence, LP should be probably better identify in HCV-infected patients rather than seeking to find HCV infection in LP patients. HCV viral sequences have been found in oral samples of patients with and without LP strongly suggesting the possibility that HCV may be involved in the development of the oral lesions. probably via an immunological still unknown pathway.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2001

Sequential immunohistochemical p53 expression in biopsies of oral lichen planus undergoing malignant evolution.

Transformation in squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) may occur in a small percentage of patients affected by oral lichen planus (OLP), but the pathogenesis remains to be elucidated. Overexpression of p53 protein was investigated immunohistochemically in 28 cases of OLP, followed up by sequential biopsies for up to 96 months. In 15 cases (Group 1), no dysplastic changes or neoplastic transformation occurred during the follow-up period; in 7 cases, OLP and SCC were synchronously observed (Group 2), whereas in another 6 cases (Group 3) SCC developed several months or years after diagnosis of OLP. The percentage of p53-positive epithelial cells at first diagnosis was significantly higher in the cases of Groups 2 and 3 than in those of Group 1. In contrast, evaluation of growth fraction by MIB-1 monoclonal antibody did not show any statistical differences among the three groups. Although no conclusions can be drawn about the molecular pathway leading to neoplastic transformation of OLP, or about the role of p53, the results indicate that immunohistochemical evaluation of p53 expression may be a practical tool to select cases of OLP with a high risk of neoplastic transformation.

Aged↗