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Biomedical subjects

M De Marinis

Publications and source records attributed to M De Marinis.

31 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1991

Headache in the use and withdrawal of opiates and other associated substances of abuse.

The incidence and character of headache were retrospectively studied in 40 opiate addicts and 40 control subjects. The relationships between headache and use and withdrawal of opiates or other associated substances of abuse were investigated. In the opiate-dependent patients, the effects of opiate intake and withdrawal on headache were also investigated during detoxification treatment. A higher (p less than 0.001) incidence of headache was found in the opiate addicts (60%), particularly those with a longer history of addiction, than in the control subjects. A history of different types of headache (tension type headache, migraine-like headaches), which seemed respectively to be associated with the use of certain types of heroin, cocaine intake, and opiate withdrawal, was reported by the addicts who suffered from headache. Out of the 24 patients who completed the detoxification therapy, a migraine-like headache occurred in 37.5% of the subjects after opiate withdrawal.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Post-endarterectomy headache and the role of the oculosympathetic system.

A study was carried out on headache after carotid endarterectomy. A specific type of headache, similar in its characteristics to "cluster headache", occurred on the operative side in 30% of 54 patients, whereas no such headache occurred after extra-intracranial bypass or peripheral vascular surgery. This postoperative headache was not spontaneously reported by 56% of patients unless they were specifically asked about it. Pharmacological pupillary testing performed in 37 patients revealed that a decreased oculosympathetic activity (with or without adrenoceptor supersensitivity) was constantly associated with post-endarterectomy headache. Although this same abnormality was also observed in 54% of the patients without headache, a statistically significant (p less than 0.01) higher prevalence of decreased oculosympathetic responses was found in the patients with headache. The results suggest that damage to the sympathetic plexus due to the surgical procedure is involved in the development of postoperative "cluster-like" headache.

Carotid Artery Thrombosis↗
PubMed1990

Increased reactivity to a met-enkephalin analogue in the control of autonomic responses in migraine patients.

The effects of naloxone and a met-enkephalin analogue on head pain, vascular responses, and autonomic-associated symptoms were studied in 24 migraine patients, 12 patients suffering from tension-type headache, and 24 normal subjects in whom headache was induced by intravenous injections of increasing doses of histamine (histamine test). A hypersensitivity to histamine was found in migraine patients. Naloxone slightly increased the intensity of pain in migraine and tension-type headache sufferers. The met-enkephalin analogue did not affect the intensity of pain in migraine patients, tension-type headache patients, and normal subjects, but it reduced the intensity and duration of facial flushing (p less than 0.001) and the autonomic symptoms (p less than 0.001) in migraine patients when the pretreatment was not given shortly before histamine. In migraine patients, there seems to be an increased reactivity (receptor supersensitivity?) to the met-enkephalin analogue at the level of systems that inhibit facial vasodilatation and autonomic symptoms.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Lefetamine: new abuse of an old drug--clinical evaluation of opioid activity.

Lefetamine (SPA) combining amphetamine with opioid-like effects, a drug of wide abuse in Japan in the fifties, has now been introduced as such in Italy. In this study the drug was tested to verify its resemblance to opiates. Ten lefetamine abusers were hospitalized and then subjected to naloxone- and pentazocine-tests and detoxified. Moreover, lefetamine was administered to ten opiate addicts with an acute withdrawal syndrome and to ten methadone-treated addicts. The naloxone-test was positive and pentazocine could be substituted for lefetamine. Lefetamine was able to relieve opiate withdrawal and did not precipitate withdrawal symptoms in stabilized opiate addicts. It is concluded that lefetamine may act as an opioid partial agonist.

Anesthetics, Local↗
PubMed1988

Spectral EEG analysis and flunarizine treatment in migraine patients.

Spectral EEG analysis has been successfully utilized in previous studies on migraine patients. The aim of our study was to evaluate, by means of EEG mapping, potential correlations between the efficacy of flunarizine treatment in migraine patients and the EEG pattern recorded after chronic flunarizine therapy. Flunarizine was found to modify the non-specific EEG abnormalities of our migraine patients as well as evoke a positive clinical response.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Vascular headaches and cerebral circulation: an overview.

A complex network of neurotransmission systems underlies the control of the cerebral circulation. Classical neurotransmitters, vasoactive peptides and receptors have been found in cerebral arteries. Central and peripheral structures are also probably involved in the neurogenic control of the cerebral circulation. Vascular and neurotransmission changes reported in vascular headaches suggest that an alteration of the neurogenic control of the brain circulation may be implicated in vascular headaches. In particular, locus coeruleus, which may control the intracerebral adrenergic pathway, can induce vascular changes similar to those of migraine. Moreover, the trigeminal ganglion, which may induce the release of substance P, can change the extracranial and intracranial vasodilator activity. The vascular theory of migraine, proposed by Wolff, is re-evaluated on the grounds of a possible mediation of the vascular responses by neurotransmitters. It is hypothesized that a deficient modulation by enkephalins may cause alterations of locus coeruleus and/or trigeminal ganglion. The problem of pain in vascular headaches is also considered: whether it is of vascular origin or whether it is due to a dysfunction of the central nociceptive pathway. Knowledge of the neurogenic control of the cerebral circulation may be useful in understanding some pathogenetic mechanisms of vascular headaches.

Acetylcholine↗
PubMed1984

[Neurotransmitter control of pupillary motoricity in man].

The pupillary responses to different agonists and antagonists of the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems have been studied in normal volunteers. The eyedrops were instilled unilaterally and the responses were evaluated by measuring the changes in diameter of the pupils (in millimeters). All the eyedrops induced an unilateral response on the instilled side. The mydriatic substances (phenylephrine, thropamide, tyramine) showed an evident and lasting action. Phenylephrine 1% was found to be a threshold dose to acquire the mydriatic effect. The beta blocking agent (timolol) induced a short mydriatic response, while methaproterenol did not change the pupillary diameter. Clonidine caused an unilateral mydriasis. The alpha blocking agent and the parasympathetic system stimulation agent induced miotic effects The results are discussed with particular reference to the possible mechanism of the pupillary response to timolol and clonidine.

Clonidine↗
PubMed1984

Trigeminal control of cranio-facial vasomotor response: I. Histamine test in patients with unilateral gasserian ganglion lesions.

It has been hypothesized that the trigeminal system may control vasomotor changes and pain in vascular headaches. In this study, headache was induced by an intravenous injection of histamine in 37 patients with trigeminal rhizotomy and in 12 controls. The vasomotor response to histamine was studied with facial telethermography. The headache in patients with trigeminal lesions differed, in a prevalence of unilateral localization contralaterally to the operated side (21 patients), from that in controls. No relationship was found between the hypoesthesia caused by the operation and the prevalence of unilateral headache. A statistically significant correlation (p less than 0.001) was found between unilateral absence of headache and decreased vasomotor response on the operated side. These reactions occurred more in patients who underwent thermocoagulation than in patients who underwent retro-gasserian rhizotomy. Thus the gasserian ganglion seems to control the cranio-facial vasomotor response and the headache through a vascular pathway, acting on cerebral arteries, which differs from the sensory pathway.

Cerebral Arteries↗
PubMed1980

Circulating platelet aggregates: a chronic platelet activation in patients with transient ischaemic attacks.

Platelet hyperaggregability was tested in 62 TIA patients by means of the formalin fixing principle of Wu and Hoak. Compared to age-matched controls, the platelet aggregates ratio (PAR) was reduced from 0.99 +/- 0.04 SD to 0.807 +/- 0.14 SD. This means a highly significant increase of circulating platelet aggregates (CPA) in untreated TIA patients, regardless of the interval sinche the last attack (from 2 days to 1 year). PAR was especially reduced in patients with abnormal angiography (expressing pronounced cerebral or diffuse ATS) and it was possibly affected by previous antiplatelet treatment with ASA.

Aspirin↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Alterations of thermoregulation in Parkinson's disease.

Sweating and superficial vasodilator responses were studied in 22 patients suffering from Parkinson's disease in order to evaluate the thermoregulatory function. Sweating was evaluated on different areas of the body with a colorimetric method (Minor's method). The superficial vasodilatation at the level of the face was assessed after oral intake of nitroglycerin by means of telethermography. Sweating and superficial vasodilatation were reduced in parkinsonian patients compared with control subjects. Asymmetries in sweating and superficial vasodilator responses were also observed between the left and right sides of the body in the patients. The decreased heat elimination was more apparent on the symptomatic side in patients with hemiparkinsonism. No relationship was found between the alterations of the thermoregulation and the other clinical features of Parkinson's disease.

Aged↗