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Biomedical subjects

M Colombo

Publications and source records attributed to M Colombo.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1991

Hepatocellular carcinoma in Italian patients with cirrhosis.

BACKGROUND AND METHODS: Patients with cirrhosis of the liver are recognized as being at risk for hepatocellular carcinoma. The magnitude of the risk, the natural history of this disease, and the possibilities for detecting potentially curable tumors in patients in the Western world are unknown. To address these questions, we examined 447 Italian patients with well-compensated cirrhosis (which was of viral origin in 62 percent of them) from 1985 through 1990, performing serum alpha-fetoprotein assays and real-time ultrasonography every 3 to 12 months. RESULTS: Hepatocellular carcinoma was found in 30 patients (7 percent) at base line and in another 29 patients (7 percent of 417 patients free of tumor at base line) during follow-up periods averaging 33 months (range, 1 to 48). The cumulative hazard of the development of hepatocellular carcinoma during follow-up was higher among patients with persistently elevated serum alpha-fetoprotein levels (12 with tumors among 42 with such levels) than among those with fluctuating levels (11 among 82) or those with consistently normal levels (6 among 255). Only 17 patients had potentially operable tumors. The proportion of potentially operable tumors among those detected during follow-up was significantly lower than the proportion at enrollment (4 of 29 vs. 13 of 30, P = 0.027). The survival at one year of the 12 patients who underwent surgery was 67 percent, and the tumor-recurrence rate was 60 percent. Outcome was not appreciably different for the five patients who refused surgery. CONCLUSIONS: In the West, as in Asia, patients with cirrhosis of the liver are at substantial risk for hepatocellular carcinoma, with a yearly incidence rate of 3 percent. Our screening program did not appreciably increase the rate of detection of potentially curable tumors.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Hepatocellular carcinoma in hemophilia.

A questionnaire-based survey involving 11,801 hemophiliacs from 54 hemophilia centers in the USA and Europe documented the occurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in 10 patients. The crude rate of HCC was 3.2/100,000 patients/year, at least 30 times higher than the background incidence of this tumor in the countries of origin of the patients. All patients were Caucasians with hemophilia A, 39 to 74 years of age, and had liver cirrhosis. All had one or more risk factor for cirrhosis and HCC: 5 were positive for serum hepatitis B surface antigen, 4 had the antibody to hepatitis C virus, and 4 had histories of alcohol abuse. Serum alpha-fetoprotein, measured in 6 patients, was significantly elevated in 4 (range: 807-1399 ng/ml), and only moderately elevated in 2 (25 and 171 ng/ml). The onset of HCC was asymptomatic in 5 patients, whereas it was accompanied by jaundice, abdominal pain, or ascites in the remaining patients. Thus, HCC seems to be a more important secondary disease for hemophiliacs than formerly recognized. Since HCC is often asymptomatic, screening hemophiliacs with chronic liver disease with periodic ultrasound scans might increase the changes of detecting HCC at a stage amenable to surgical treatment.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Hepatitis C antibody in patients with chronic liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is the major etiologic agent of parenterally transmitted non-A, non-B hepatitis. To determine whether there is a relationship between this virus agent and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the sera of patients with HCC and chronic hepatitis were assessed using a sensitive immunoassay for HCV antibody. Anti-HCV was detected in 65% of 132 patients with HCC, without any relationship with the presence of the hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). The prevalence (74%) of anti-HCV was high, as expected in patients with putative non-A, non-B cirrhosis also. The prevalence of anti-HCV was less in patients with HBsAg-positive cirrhosis (28%) and in patients with disease not related to viral hepatitis and healthy controls (8%). These data suggest, but do not prove, that HCV is an important factor associated with HCC.

Carcinoma, Hepatocellular↗
PubMed1991

Differential effects of various Ca2+ antagonists.

1. The effects of various Ca antagonists (nicardipine, nifedipine, verapamil, diltiazem, flunarizine, cinnarizine, lidoflazine and papaverine) were studied in one in vitro (inhibition of CaCl2 induced contractions in isolated rat aorta) and two in vivo tests [survival after BaCl2 in the rat and survival after arachidonic acid (AA) in the mouse]. 2. Test substances behave in different ways, thus suggesting varying mechanisms of action. 3. The three tests used are very simple and quick to perform, but taken together give a good preliminary information which allows classification of the products during the screening phase into four subgroups: dihydropyridines, verapamil, diltiazem and diphenylalkylamines.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

In vitro binding profile and in vivo pharmacological properties of the K-opioid compound PD 117302.

The in vitro binding profile and some in vivo pharmacological properties of (+/-)trans-N-Methyl-N-[2-(1-pyrrolidinyl)-cyclohexyl]benzo[b]-thiophene- 4-acetamide (PD 117302) were tested in rats. In rat brain membrane preparation, PD 117302 was selective for the k-binding sites, its KI (3.51 nM) being respectively about 200 and 1300 times lower at k- than at mu- and delta-sites. In vivo, PD 117302 injected intravenously (i.v.) showed dose-related analgesic effects in the 55 degrees C hot-plate test (peak-time 5 min) and in the paw pressure test. In both tests high doses of naloxone were required for full antagonism. PD 117302, injected i.v., produced dose-related diuresis in normally hydrated rats, which was prevented by 2 mg/kg of subcutaneous naloxone or diprenorphine. PD 117302 at doses between 0.125 and 2 mg/kg i.v. did not delay the gastrointestinal transit of a charcoal meal and did not antagonize morphine-induced constipation. Thus PD 117302 has good selectivity for k-binding sites in vitro and induces analgesia and diuresis, but does not slow gastrointestinal transit in vivo, supporting its k-agonist activity.

Analgesia↗
PubMed1991

[Drugs, impotence and infertility].

The Authors report the results of a study on 87 patients; among them some were drug dependent and others were already drug-free. This study has in object the consequences of some drugs use (psycoanaleptics, psycoleptics, psychodysleptics) in the sexual behavior and male fertility. Abuse of these drugs seems to be able to cause impotence by psychologic and organic factors. As it concerns the drugs effects on male fertility, we have observed O.T.A. during the dependence period, that seems to be reversible after detoxification. Our purpose is to further investigate the andrological aspects of drug dependence.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

[Reliability of transrectal echography in the early diagnosis of prostatic carcinoma: our experience].

The Authors observed a group of 20 patients, each of them suffering from prostatic carcinoma clinically localized in only one lobe. All patients were investigated by trans-rectal US tomography, performed with a 5 MHz linear sound, and by prostatic biopsy in both lobes. The Authors evaluate US tomography results in comparison with biopsy executed on the apparently normal lobe and appreciable sensibility, specificity and predictive capability of this method. The Authors believe that trans-rectal US tomography, after having considered sensitivity and specificity values is not to propose as a screening method for early diagnosis of prostatic carcinoma.

Biopsy, Needle↗
PubMed1991

[Ceruloplasmin in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy].

Duchenne muscular dystrophy is a well defined form of sex linked inherited muscular disease. Approximately 1/3 of cases are the product of a new mutation. We studied 20 patients with this disease and 19 heterozygous females. Ceruloplasmin levels were significantly higher in patients compared to controls. A possible protective role of this enzyme against oxydating agents may help prevent peroxydation of lipids from the smooth muscle cell membrane.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Suboptimal response to hepatitis B vaccine in drug users.

Fifty-five drug users institutionalized in a community for drug detoxification were vaccinated against hepatitis B virus (HBV) with a recombinant yeast-derived vaccine (Engerix B, Smith Kline Biologicals, Belgium). At 0, 1, and 6 months, 20 micrograms of vaccine was given in the deltoid to these patients, of whom 17 had no serum HBV markers, 15 had only the antibody to core antigen (anti-HBc), and 23 had anti-HBc and antibody to the surface antigen (anti-HBs) values lower than the allegedly "protective" value of 10 mIU/mL. Forty-one healthy controls were vaccinated in parallel. At month 7 (ie, 1 month after the third dose of vaccine), in 76% (13/17) of drug users with no HBV markers, 6% (1/15) of those with isolated anti-HBc, and 69% (16/23) of those with anti-HBc and nonprotective anti-HBs, protective anti-HBs titers (greater than or equal to 10 mIU/mL) developed, compared with 97% (40/41) of controls. At month 24, these rates fell to 43% for drug users with no HBV marker, 0% for those with anti-HBc, 31% for those with anti-HBc and anti-HBs, and 86% for controls. The drug users who did not respond to vaccination were more likely to be those with evidence of prior HBV infection and anergy to skin tests. This indicates that unresponsiveness to hepatitis B vaccine in drug users may be due to altered immunity.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Antibody to hepatitis C virus after a vapour-heated factor VIII concentrate. The Study Group of the Fondazione dell'Emofilia.

To evaluate whether or not clotting factor concentrates exposed to virucidal procedures transmitted hepatitis C, sera obtained in 1984-1986 from 27 previously untreated hemophiliacs infused with a vapour-heated factor VIII concentrate were tested retrospectively for the antibody to the hepatitis C virus (anti-HCV). A 2-year-old hemophiliac, negative for anti-HCV before administration of concentrate, seroconverted at week 12 and remained anti-HCV positive thereafter. Both his parents were anti-HCV negative and he had no other household contact. The patient had also become HBsAg positive at week 8 and had at the same time a marked elevation of alanine aminotransferase. His double infection with the hepatitis B and C viruses indicates that hot vapour was not completely effective in inactivating these viruses.

Antibodies, Viral↗
PubMed1990

Low risk for hepatitis C in hemophiliacs given a high-purity, pasteurized factor VIII concentrate. International Study Group.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To assess whether the hepatitis B virus (HBV), the hepatitis C virus (HCV), and the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are transmitted to hemophiliacs by a high-purity factor VIII concentrate in which the method of virus inactivation is pasteurization. DESIGN: Hepatitis B virus markers, the antibody to HCV (anti-HCV), the antibody to HIV (anti-HIV), and aminotransferases were measured on serum samples collected before the first concentrate infusion and at regular time intervals thereafter. SETTING: Seventeen hemophilia centers in Italy, the Federal Republic of Germany, Belgium, Austria, and the Democratic Republic of Germany. PATIENTS: Twenty-nine patients with hemophilia A who had not received a previous transfusion with blood products and who had normal alanine and aspartate aminotransferases (ALT and AST) were included in the final analysis. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: No patient became positive for anti-HCV or anti-HIV or developed sustained increases in aminotransferase levels. Similarly, none of the 15 unvaccinated patients developed markers of HBV infection. CONCLUSION: This prospective study conducted in previously untransfused hemophiliacs highly susceptible to developing post-transfusion hepatitis shows that a large-pool clotting factor concentrate treated with pasteurization carries a low risk for transmitting HCV, the major causative agent of post-transfusion hepatitis.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Serum hepatitis B virus DNA detects cryptic hepatitis B virus infections in multitransfused hemophilic patients.

The recognition of replicating hepatitis B virus (HBV) may be important to both define the cause of and know how to manage chronic liver disease in multitransfused hemophilic patients. Replicating HBV can be detected at the molecular level by methods for HBV-specific DNA (HBV-DNA), which are much more sensitive than the immunologic methods for detecting hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg). Unselected hemophilic patients (260; 6% with HBsAg, 4% with isolated anti-hepatitis B core (anti-HBc), 52% with anti-HBs and anti-HBc, 26% with isolated anti-HBs, and 12% with no HBV marker) were investigated retrospectively with a dot spot hybridization technique that detects serum HBV-DNA down to 0.5 pg and by Southern blot analysis, which tests the specificity of the HBV-DNA reactions. Eighteen patients (7%; five with serum HBsAg and 13 HBsAg seronegative with antibodies to HBV) had serum HBV-DNA. Serum HBV-DNA was detected more frequently in HBsAg carriers than in seronegative patients (33% versus 6%, P less than .01), and had no relationship to serum alanine aminotransferase. Serum HBV-DNA was more sensitive than the radioimmunoassay for HBeAg was for detecting replicating HBV (7% versus 1.1%, P less than .01). These findings demonstrate that there is cryptic HBV infection in a number of hemophiliacs and that serum HBV-DNA may coexist with markers thought to reflect immunity against HBV.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Auditory association cortex lesions impair auditory short-term memory in monkeys.

Monkeys that were trained to perform auditory and visual short-term memory tasks (delayed matching-to-sample) received lesions of the auditory association cortex in the superior temporal gyrus. Although visual memory was completely unaffected by the lesions, auditory memory was severely impaired. Despite this impairment, all monkeys could discriminate sounds closer in frequency than those used in the auditory memory task. This result suggests that the superior temporal cortex plays a role in auditory processing and retention similar to the role the inferior temporal cortex plays in visual processing and retention.

Animals↗