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M Fatone

Publications and source records attributed to M Fatone.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

Purification, characterization, and partial structure of D factor from Polysphondylium violaceum.

The A component of D factor (DfA) was overproduced during development of wild type Polyspondylium violaceum strain China after starvation in liquid medium. Crude DfA excreted by strain China was partially purified by ultrafiltration using Amicon YM10 and YM2 filters with DfA extracted from the filtrate by absorption onto a preparative grade C-18 resin. The concentrated material was further purified on a C-18 analytical column using both acetonitrile:water and methanol:water gradients. This highly purified fraction was a single component with a final specific activity of greater than 10(6) units per mg dry weight. Purified DfA is red having a broad visible absorbance at 500 nm and a ultraviolet (uv) absorbance at 290-300 nm. The red chromophore is sensitive to pH and to oxidation-reduction. 1H and 13C nmr studies with purified DfA indicate that it is a C11 compound with both polar and non-polar regions. The non-polar region has been identified as a hexanone and is the same as the side chain of DIF from Dictyostelium discoideum. Purified DfA has been used in studies with the D factor non-producing mutant, tsg-119 cyc-1 aggA586 (A586), to show that neither production of glorin nor chemotactic sensitivity to glorin are affected by D factor. However, founder cells develop in A586 mutant populations only after addition of D factor. These data suggest that DfA may be necessary for induction of aggregate formation by aggregation-competent amoebae.

Cell Aggregation

Inhibition by somatostatin of LH-RH-induced LH release in normal menstruating women.

The present study was carried out in order to establish whether the concomitant treatment with somatostatin (SRIH) is capable of modifying gonadotrophin release in response to LH-RH administration in normal women during follicular, periovulatory, and luteal phases. SRIH was administered in a dose of 5.55 micrograms/min over 180 min and LH-RH (100 micrograms) was injected as a bolus at 90 min after the beginning of SRIH infusion. Within the dose used, SRIH significantly reduced LH response to LH-RH, whereas it did not alter FSH response to LH-RH. These results suggest that SRIH may play a part in the regulation of LH secretion in normal women.

Adult

Effect of metoclopramide on maternal and fetal hyperprolactinemia.

To investigate the effect of metoclopramide (MET), a dopaminergic antagonist drug, on serum PRL concentration in maternal and cord blood (CB) serum, the drug was injected in 94 at term pregnant women whereas 28 mothers received saline. Maternal serum (MS) samples were obtained before MET injection and at the parturition time. According to the interval of time between MET administration and birth, MS specimens were grouped in 7 groups. CB was obtained from neonates whose mothers were injected with saline, group 0 and from newborns whose mothers were treated with MET, groups 1 to 7. In the 7 groups of women the mean PRL concentration before MET ranged between 307 and 439 ng/ml. After MET injection a significant increase has been observed in all groups with a minimum and maximal mean value of 639 and 931 ng/ml. The highest net increment of PRL has been measured in group 1 sampled at 5 to 30 minutes after MET. CB PRL concentration in group 0, saline treated, was not different from the values measured in group 1 to 7, treated groups, with a range between 504 and 703 ng/ml. These findings suggest that maternal lactotropes are still responsive to MET. On the opposite, fetal pituitary does not release PRL after MET injection probably because PRL secretory activity is maximal or because the dopaminergic receptors' system is still immature.

Female

Failure of metoclopramide to affect thyrotropin concentration in the term human fetus.

Metoclopramide (MET), a potent dopamine receptor-blocking drug, or saline was administered to 125 term pregnant women at various time intervals (5-412 min) before delivery. Maternal serum was obtained before and after MET injection. Cord blood was obtained at delivery in MET-treated and saline-treated (control group) women. No significant changes in serum TSH, T4, T3, or rT3 concentrations were observed in maternal or cord blood after MET administration. These results suggest that, in contrast to euthyroid nonpregnant women and men, MET administration does not induce a rise in serum TSH concentration in term pregnant women or in the term fetus. Thus, the dopaminergic inhibitory effect on anterior pituitary TSH secretion may not be an important factor in TSH regulation during pregnancy or in the fetus, or the dose of MET employed may be unable to overcome the dopamine inhibitory effect.

Female

Automatic perimetry and visual P300: differences between upper and lower visual fields stimulation in healthy subjects.

Human visual-evoked potentials (VEPs) from upper and lower hemifield stimulation are thought to reflect the anatomical and functional differences between the hemiretinas and corresponding visual pathways. Conflicting results have, however, been reported in topographic studies on the putative cortical generators. We have estimated by automatic perimetry (Octopus 2000R, Program 32) and compared the sensitivity thresholds of lower and upper hemifields of the retina in 12 healthy subjects with no history or evidence of visual or neurological diseases. A visual P3 that is linked to cognitive function was recorded in an odd-ball paradigm with presentation of high-contrast checkerboards at two different spatial frequencies at 20 degrees eccentricity in each hemifield. VEP and P3 were recorded at O1 and O2 and at Cz according to the 10/20 international system. Lower sensitivity thresholds were found, and higher VEP and event-related potential (ERP) amplitude values were obtained when stimulating the lower, compared with the upper, visual hemifield. The results are consistent with previous findings and anatomical and physiological evidence in animals and man. Interactions between perceptive process in the visual system and higher cognitive functions are a possible explanation for this finding.

Adult