PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

M Galimberti

Publications and source records attributed to M Galimberti.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Phlebotomy to reduce iron overload in patients cured of thalassemia by bone marrow transplantation. Italian Cooperative Group for Phlebotomy Treatment of Transplanted Thalassemia Patients.

In thalassemia after successful bone marrow transplantation (BMT), iron overload remains an important cause of morbidity. After BMT, patients have normal erythropoiesis capable of producing a hyperplastic response to phlebotomy so that this procedure can be contemplated as a method of mobilizing iron from overloaded tissues. A phlebotomy program (6 mL/kg blood withdrawal at 14-day intervals) was proposed to 48 patients with prolonged follow-up (range, 2 to 7 years) after BMT. Seven patients were not submitted to the program (five because of refusal and two because of reversible side effects). The remaining 41 patients (mean age, 16 +/- 2.9 years) were treated for a mean period of 35 +/- 18 months. All were evaluated before and after 3 +/- 0.6 years of follow-up. Values are expressed as mean +/- standard deviation (SD) or as median with a range (25 to 75 percentile). Serum ferritin decreased from 2,587 (2,129 to 4,817) to 417 (210 to 982) microg/L (P < .0001), total transferrin increased from 2.34 +/- 0.37 to 2.7 +/- 0.58 g/L (P = .0001), transferrin saturation decreased from 90% +/- 14% to 50% +/- 29% (P < .0001). Liver iron concentration evaluated on liver biopsy specimens decreased from 20.8 (15.5 to 28.1) to 4.2 (1.6 to 14.6) mg/g dry weight (P < .0001). Aspartate transaminase decreased from 2.7 +/- 2 to 1.1 +/- 0.6 (P < .0001) and alanine transaminase from 5.2 +/- 3.4 to 1.7 +/- 1.2 (P < .0001) times the upper level of normality. The Knodell score for liver histological activity decreased from 6.9 +/- 3 to 4.9 +/- 2.8 (P < .0001). These data indicate that phlebotomy is safe, efficient, and widely applicable to ex-thalassemics after BMT.

Adolescent↗

Changes in nitric oxide metabolite levels in stimulated substantia nigra neurons.

Simultaneous quantification of the two major nitric oxide (NO) metabolites, nitrite and nitrate, was performed on mouse mesencephalic neurons in vitro, in basal conditions or after excitatory stimuli. Measurements were made using both extracellular medium and cytosolic extracts. Basal metabolite levels were stable up to 5 min. Depolarization by high levels of potassium promptly increased extracellular nitrite (270% of basal, peak at 10s) leaving intracellular levels unchanged. Glutamate receptor agonists caused a rapid increase in intracellular, but not extracellular, nitrite levels (240% of basal, peak at 30s). Intracellular nitrate levels raised slowly after addition of potassium (215% of basal at 1 min) or N-methyl-D-aspartate (230% of basal at 5 min), but not after quisqualate. The different dynamic variations of the two NO metabolites point to the specificity of the activated metabolism according to the type of excitatory stimulus.

Animals↗

Graft-versus-host disease after bone marrow transplantation for thalassemia: an analysis of incidence and risk factors.

We analyzed risk factors in 724 patients evaluable for acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and in 614 patients evaluable for chronic GVHD who had received bone marrow transplantation (BMT) from HLA-identical siblings and/or parents for thalassemia and/or microdrepanocytosis, in a single institution. The overall incidence of grade II-IV and III-IV acute GVHD (aGVHD) was 26.9% and 13.5%, respectively. The cumulative incidence of grade II-IV aGVHD in patients treated with cyclosporine (CsA)/methylprednisolone (MP) or CsA/methotrexate (MTX)/MP was 32% and 17%, respectively (P=0.001). In logistic regression analysis, the risk factors associated with the onset of grade II-IV aGVHD in the entire group of patients were: patient age < or = 4 years (P=0.009), male patient sex (P=0.023), GVHD prophylaxis with CsA/MP or MTX/MP (P=0.000), more than twofold elevated alanine aminotransferase (P=0.001), and patient seropositivity for two to three herpes viruses (P=0.007). In patients treated with CsA/MP, splenomegaly > 2 cm (P=0.042) and donor age > or = 17 years (P=0.034) predicted aGVHD. Risk factors for grade III-IV aGVHD were similar to the risk factors identified for grade II-IV aGVHD. Moreover, moderate and severe liver fibrosis or cirrhosis predicted grade III-IV aGVHD (P=0.018). The incidence of chronic GVHD (cGVHD) was 27.3%. The probability of cGVHD at 2 years after BMT in patients with grade 0, I, II, and III-IV aGVHD was 15%, 32%, 53%, and 54%, respectively. Among patients with absent or grade I-IV aGVHD, prior aGVHD (P=0.000), female donor sex (P=0.000), use of alloimmune female donors for male patients (0.009), and GVHD prophylaxis with CsA/MP or MTX/MP (P=0.003) predicted cGVHD. This data should be considered in clinical management and in future investigations for improvement of immunosuppressive prophylaxis in BMT patients with thalassemia.

Adolescent↗

Increased serum levels of circulating intercellular adhesion molecule 1 predict the risk of graft rejection after bone marrow transplantation for thalassemia.

Beta thalassemia is a hereditary anemia curable by bone marrow transplantation (BMT). Class 3 patients have a much worse outcome with a high incidence of rejection after BMT. Adhesion molecules, including the intercellular adhesion molecule 1 are thought to play an essential role in the rejection process. To investigate whether increased levels of soluble intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (sICAM-1) may be predictive of graft rejection, the pretransplant serum concentration of sICAM-1 of 27 beta thalassemic patients who rejected the graft was compared to that of 68 beta thalassemic patients who achieved a sustained engraftment. Fifty serum samples, obtained from marrow donors, matched for age and sex, served as controls. Beta thalassemic patients had significantly higher sICAM-1 concentrations as compared to controls (P = 0.0001). Significantly increased levels of sICAM-1 were found in the patients who subsequently rejected the graft (mean (95% CI) = 490 ng/ml (440; 540)) as compared to those with sustained engraftment (400 ng/ml (384; 415)), (P = 0.004). The mean level of sICAM-1 in patients with early rejection was significantly higher than that in patients with late rejection (P = 0.04). This may indicate a transfusion-mediated role of sICAM-1: some beta thalassemic patients with high sICAM-1 levels, induced by the transfusion support, may remain immunologically active, despite the conditioning regimen, therefore such patients are likely to have an early graft rejection. Our findings indicate that sICAM-1 could be a useful indicator of immune activation in polytransfused patients with beta thalassemia who have a high risk of rejection. Determination of sICAM-1 has potential clinical implications in predicting which patients may reject after BMT.

Adolescent↗

Alpha-interferon treatment of chronic hepatitis C after bone marrow transplantation for homozygous beta-thalassemia.

No experience has been reported to date in treating chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection with interferon (IFN) therapy after BMT, mainly due to concerns related to the impact of an immunomodulatory drug in patients who are immunologic and haematologic chimeras. However, chronic inflammatory activity related to HCV infection results in a chronic fibrogenous mechanism potentially leading to liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Moreover, patients transplanted for beta-thalassemia could be at greater risk because of concomitant iron overload and pre-existing fibrous liver damage. Eleven patients with serological, biochemical, histological and molecular biological evidence of HCV infection were included in the study and treated for 6-12 months with recombinant IFN 24-65 months following BMT. The serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) was persistently elevated (range 85-1242 U/l; mean 416) for at least 1 year prior to IFN treatment. Ten patients completed the protocol; five were considered as responders to treatment. In these five patients the liver histology showed an overall reduction of inflammation and necrosis: histological inflammatory activity improved from chronic active hepatitis (CAH) to chronic persistent hepatitis (three patients) or minimal residual inflammatory activity (two patients). The Knodell total activity score varied from 5.4 (range 3-9) to 1.4 (range 1-2; P = 0.05). All responding patients revealed negativization of serum HCV-RNA, that has been persistent in four (follow-up 1-3 years). ALT level fell to 15-80 U/l (mean 52; P = 0.0027). No major complications occurred during the therapy and no influence on marrow engraftment parameters were noted. We conclude that IFN therapy does not adversely interfere with engraftment and that it is a feasible therapy for treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus after BMT.

Adolescent↗

Oral doxophylline in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Doxophylline, or 2-(7'-theophyllinemethyl)1,3-dioxolane, is a theophylline derivative which has shown interesting bronchodilating activity, and it appears to determine few adverse effects. The aim of the present investigation was to evaluate clinical therapeutic effects of the drug in the treatment of 2 groups of patients suffering from moderate to severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease differing in acute response to the inhaled beta 2-agonist salbutamol and to compare changes of lung function tests to serum concentration of doxophylline. We studied 67 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (median age 63 years, 9 females and 58 males) who were all clinically stable at the time of the study. Patients were separated into 2 groups on the basis of their reaction to inhalation of 200 micrograms of salbutamol: those with an increased FEV1 of more than 20% from baseline value (group 1), and those with no increase (group 2). Doxophylline was administered orally at the dose of 400 mg 3 times daily. Serum levels of doxophylline were determined by high-pressure liquid chromatography. Spirometry and blood gas analysis were performed before and 10 days after treatment. Four patients stopped drug assumption because of side effects (3 for dyspepsia and 1 for anxiety). In group 1 (34 patients), a significant increase in SVC, FVC, FEV1, FEF 25-75% and PEFR was observed. In group 1 (29 patients), only PEFR significantly increased. No modifications in blood gas analysis were observed. The mean serum level of doxophylline was 14 micrograms/ml in group 1 and 9 micrograms/ml in group 2: the difference was statistically significant. The relation between serum levels of doxophylline and FVC showed an increase in the parameter up to the concentration of 12-13 micrograms/ml, after which a plateau phase was observed. On the basis of our data, doxophylline appears to have an interesting bronchodilating effect in patients responsive to the inhaled beta 2-agonist salbutamol. The lower limit of the therapeutic range seems to be 12-13 micrograms/ml. The upper limit of the therapeutic range was not determined because it was not possible to obtain serum samples when side effects occurred.

Administration, Oral↗

Persistence of mixed chimerism in patients transplanted for the treatment of thalassemia.

Molecular genetic techniques permit sensitive assessment of host hematopoiesis after marrow transplantation for thalassemia. Information on this persistence and the cell lines in which it occurs may permit therapeutic intervention in patients at high risk for rejection and/or relapse. The objective of this study, therefore, was to determine the evolution and cell line distribution of persistent mixed chimerism detected in 55 patients treated for beta thalassemia. Our findings indicated that rejection occurred in 20 patients, the host component disappeared in 20, and mixed chimerism without transfusion need persisted for 1 to 7 years in 15. In three patients with stable mixed chimerism for 4, 5, and 7 years, host hematopoiesis fluctuated between 25% and 75%. Despite this, donor pattern beta-globin chain synthesis maintained hemoglobin levels between 10 and 13.5 g/dL without transfusion. In these three patients, the polymerase chain reaction of the VNTR and the fluorescent in situ hybridization analysis revealed the coexistence of donor and host cells in the different peripheral blood cell subpopulations and precursors studied (CD2+, CD4+, CD8+, and CD19+ granulocytes; glycophorin-A+, erythroid burst-forming units, CD33+, granulocyte-macrophage colony-forming units). We found that rejection and disease recurrence occur in approximately one third of patients with early mixed chimerism. High levels of host type hematopoiesis can be present in patients not requiring transfusion.

Adolescent↗

Marrow transplantation for patients with thalassemia: results in class 3 patients.

Thalassemia patients can be categorized as class 1 (minimal liver damage and iron overload), class 3 (extensive liver damage from iron overload), and class 2 (intermediate). These categories are prognostic for treatment outcome after marrow transplantation. Class 3 patients have more transplant-related mortality than other patients. This study examines transplantation outcome for class 3 patients. Records were reviewed of 215 patients in class 3 who received transplants in Pesaro from HLA-identical related donors between May 1, 1984 and May 1, 1994. The influence of pretransplant, peritransplant, and posttransplant variables on survival, relapse, and transplant-related mortality was examined by product-limit and proportional-hazards multivariate analysis. Age and conditioning regimen were influential on survival, and regimens with less than 200 mg/kg cyclosporine (CY) were associated with 5-year survival probabilities of .74 and .63 patients younger than 17 years and older patients, respectively. Transfusion history and regimen were influential on rejection with 5 year probabilities of .53 and .24 in patients who received less than or greater than 100 red blood cell transfusions before transplantation and regimens containing less than 200 mg/kg CY. Results of transplantation for patients with advanced thalassemia treatment have improved with the introduction of conditioning regimens with less CY. This has been associated with an increase in rejection (particularly in patients who have received < 100 red blood cell transfusions before transplant). Efforts at reducing the rejection rate by modifying the conditioning regimen should be concentrated on younger patients who have received a small number of transfusions. Patients with thalassemia who have HLA-identical family members should be transplanted before they are in class 3.

Adolescent↗

Antibiotics A21459 A and B, new inhibitors of bacterial protein synthesis. II. Structure elucidation.

The structures of the antibiotics, active against a few Gram-negative bacteria and Clostridium difficile, were determined on the basis of physicochemical analyses on the intact molecules and on the acid hydrolysate of A21459 A. FAB-MS and 1H and 13C NMR investigations identified the amino acid units and determined their sequence. Antibiotics A21459 A and B are homodetic cyclic peptides constituted by eight amino acid units. They are glycine, methoxytryptophan, tryptophan, cysteine, alanine, sarcosine, dehydroalanine, and alpha-aminobutyric acid for A21459 A (alanine for A21459 B). Cysteine and alanine condensed to form a thiazole moiety, according to the biosynthesis of thiazole containing antibiotics.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Mucormycosis after bone marrow transplantation: report of four cases in thalassemia and review of the literature.

We report four cases of mucormycosis that occurred among 711 patients who underwent BMT for thalassemia, and review 18 additional cases among BMT recipients that were reported in the English-language literature. All these patients were polytransfused and were in advanced phase of disease with severe acquired hemochromatosis. The sites of infection were sinonasal, rhinocerebral-pulmonary, pulmonary and pulmonary-central nervous system. Mucormycosis was the primary cause of death in three of four patients. Two infections were detected within the first 100 days after BMT. Only one of the four patients had partial resolution of sinonasal mucormycosis following aggressive antifungal therapy combined with hyperbaric oxygen treatment.

Adolescent↗

CsA-associated neurotoxicity and ineffective prophylaxis with clonazepam in patients transplanted for thalassemia major: analysis of risk factors.

Cyclosporin A (CsA) has been shown to be useful in the prophylaxis of acute graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD). However, this immunosuppressive agent produces multiple side-effects including nephrotoxicity, hypertension, hypertricosis, gum hyperplasia, infections, and neurotoxicity. We report a retrospective analysis of neurotoxicity in 625 recipients transplanted for thalassemia and given CsA as part of GVHD prophylaxis. Neurotoxicity consisted in mental status changes, tremor, headache (grade 1), visual disturbance and cortical blindness (grade 2) and seizures and coma (grade 3). The overall toxicity was 28.8% and the incidence of convulsions was 10.1%. Neurological findings were reversible after temporary reduction or discontinuation of CsA. Class 3 patients, when prepared with protocol 6 (Bu 14 + Cy 200 and CsA for GVHD) or when they developed acute GVHD, had the highest risk of convulsions. Age, sex, different conditioning regimens, different anticonvulsive prophylaxis, liver damage due to iron-overload and/or to chronic inflammation did not influence the occurrence of CsA-related CNS toxicity. The occurrence of acute GVHD with concomitant use of high-dose corticosteroids is the single significant predisposing factor in the occurrence of convulsions. Grades 1 and 2 of neurotoxicity occurred earlier and were not influenced even by acute GVHD.

Acute Disease↗

Needle liver biopsy in thalassaemia: analyses of diagnostic accuracy and safety in 1184 consecutive biopsies.

We report the reliability and safety of percutaneous liver biopsy in the evaluation of hepatic iron loading and histology in patients with homozygous beta-thalassaemia prior to and in serial biopsies following allogeneic bone marrow transplantation for this disorder. 501 thalassaemic patients aged 11 +/- 4.5 years (range 1-32 years) underwent 1184 consecutive percutaneous liver biopsies without ultrasound guidance. Overall, 81% of biopsies were evaluable for histological examination and grading of iron. The adequacy of liver biopsy specimens increased with patient age: evaluable specimens were obtained in 73% of patients < 5 years of age and in 86% of samples in patients aged > 15 years. The degree of iron overload and fibrosis in each biopsy was reported separately by at least two pathologists who did not know the clinical status of each patient. In 103 biopsies, iron grade by light microscopy corresponded to an iron concentration varying between a mean of 32.46 +/- 14 mumol/g dry weight liver tissue for iron stores graded by light microscopy as absent to 417.6 +/- 150 mumol/g dry weight liver tissue for stores graded as severe. The fibrosis score of multiple samples of liver obtained at autopsy within 100 d of the percutaneous biopsy in 41 patients who died following BMT correlated perfectly with that of the first sample in > 60% biopsies; in most of the discordant cases fibrosis had been underestimated in the percutaneous biopsy. Liver biopsy demonstrated evidence of chronic hepatitis in 30% of patients with normal transaminase and in 57% of patients with transaminase within twice the normal range. Liver biopsy was complicated in six patients (0.5%) by haemoperitoneum, periocholecystic haematoma, kidney haematoma, or bile peritonitis; no complication was fatal. These data demonstrate that percutaneous liver biopsy provides reliable information regarding liver iron and histology in homozygous beta-thalassaemia with an extremely low risk of complications.

Adolescent↗

Desferrioxamine therapy accelerates clearance of iron deposits after bone marrow transplantation for thalassaemia.

We treated 18 heavily iron-loaded patients who had become ex-thalassaemics after bone marrow transplantation with subcutaneous desferrioxamine therapy for 5-20 months. As determined using serum ferritin concentration, transferrin saturation and stainable liver iron obtained in follow-up biopsies, marked decreases in body iron stores were observed with this regimen. Moreover, the liver function tests demonstrate a trend to normalization in all cases. Local skin reactions to desferrioxamine were the only toxicities observed. We conclude that pharmacological iron chelation is a safe and effective therapy in the reduction of iron deposits in this clinical situation; it therefore represents a valid alternative to phlebotomy in selected patients.

Adolescent↗

Pharmacokinetics of MDL 63,246, a new semisynthetic glycopeptide antibiotic, in the rat.

Following intravenous administration in the rat, the concentration of MDL 63,246 in plasma was high and long-lasting. Concentrations fell with an apparent three-exponential decay. MDL 63,246 was distributed in a high volume and was cleared quite slowly. The pharmacokinetics of MDL 63,246 in the rat appear to be dose proportional in the dose range of 20 to 50 mg/kg of body weight. When administered subcutaneously, MDL 63,246 was slowly absorbed from the injection site, and the extent of availability was good, being 70.1%. MDL 63,246 was eliminated slowly by both renal and fecal excretion. MDL 63,246 is rapidly and extensively distributed into the tissues. At 0.5 h after drug administration, radioactivity was detected in all organs examined. At 24 h after administration, the total concentrations of radioactivity still increased in some organs which represent a slowly equilibrating compartment, but only the kidneys and liver showed a higher total concentration of radioactivity than plasma. Between 24 and 192 h after treatment, total concentrations of radioactivity decreased very slowly, and finally, apart from brain, all tissues showed higher concentrations than plasma, indicating a very high affinity of MDL 63,246 for tissues. The ratio of the concentration of radioactivity in blood to that in plasma ratio was 0.58, indicating that MDL 63,246 does not diffuse into erythrocytes and that binding to the erythrocyte membrane does not occur. All of these findings appear to correlate with the excellent in vitro and in vivo activities of the compound, suggesting that MDL 63,246 could be therapeutically efficacious at lower dosages and longer treatment intervals than those currently used for vancomycin and teicoplanin.

Animals↗

Bone marrow transplantation in thalassemia.

Early trials of allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT) for homozygous beta-thalassemia and the analyses of results of transplantation in patients less than 16 years old have allowed us to identify three classes of risk based on the following criteria: (a) hepatomegaly, (b) presence of liver fibrosis at histological examination, and (c) quality of chelation treatment given before transplant. Patients with none of these adverse criteria were assigned to Class 1; patients with either one or two adverse criteria comprised Class 2; and patients for whom all three criteria were adverse constituted Class 3. Most patients older than 16 years have disease characteristics that place them in Class 3, with very few falling into Class 2. All patients with a histocompatibility leukocyte antigen (HLA)-identical donor are actually assigned to one of two conditioning regimens on the basis of the class they belong to at the time of BMT and independently of age. For Class 1, Class 2, and Class 3 patients, the probabilities of survival and event-free survival are 95 and 90%, 86 and 82%, and 87 and 63%, respectively. For those patients older than 16 years at the time of transplant, the probabilities of survival and of event-free survival are 78 and 74%, respectively. Allogeneic BMT is currently the only rational therapeutic modality for the eradication of beta-thalassemia.

Adolescent↗

Pulmonary toxicity of alpha tumor necrosis factor in patients treated by isolation perfusion.

We studied pulmonary function in 22 patients affected by in-transit metastases from cutaneous melanoma and metastases from soft tissue sarcoma of the limbs who were treated with isolation perfusion in extracorporeal circulation with rTNF alpha at doses ranging from 0.5 to 4 mg/m2 in mild hyperthermia. Seventeen patients suffered from respiratory insufficiency which required assisted ventilation (7 mechanical ventilation for 1 day, 8 for 2 days and 2 patients on synchronized intermittent mandatory ventilation). Spirometric parameters recorded 7 to 15 days after treatment did not change from baseline values; in contrast, lung transfer factor for carbon monoxide significantly declined in a dose dependent fashion. These data confirm that rTNF alpha administered by isolation perfusion technique induces pulmonary side effects. Further studies are required to better define time course and reversibility of impairment in pulmonary function.

Adult↗

Oral cromolyn sodium in comparison with elimination diet in the irritable bowel syndrome, diarrheic type. Multicenter study of 428 patients.

BACKGROUND: In a significant number of patients affected by the irritable bowel syndrome, an adverse reaction to food is proposed to be a causative factor. A diet that eliminates the offending foods is the obvious treatment for such adverse reactions. Compliance with a dietetic regimen is often poor and sometimes not completely free from risks. METHODS: Since the diarrheic type of irritable bowel syndrome seems mainly affected by food intolerance, and previous observations suggested that oral cromolyn sodium is effective in such patients, a multicenter therapeutic trial in the diarrheic type of irritable bowel syndrome was carried out in 346 of 409 patients with this disease, to evaluate the effects of oral cromolyn sodium and compare its efficacy with that of an elimination diet. RESULTS: Symptoms related to the irritable bowel syndrome improved in 60% of patients treated with elimination diet and in 67% of those treated with oral cromolyn sodium (1500 mg/day) for 1 month. Moreover, in both groups clinical results were significantly better in the patients positive to the skin prick test than in the negative ones. CONCLUSIONS: These results confirm the high prevalence of adverse reactions to foods in diarrheic irritable bowel syndrome and the usefulness of cromolyn sodium treatment in these patients.

Administration, Oral↗

Biochemical and functional markers of lung damage after bleomycin treatment.

Lung function tests, including spirometry, and pulmonary transfer factor for carbon monoxide (TLCO), serum angiotensin-converting enzyme (sACE), serum copper (sCU++) and serum procollagen III peptide (sPIIIP) were measured in 20 patients with metastatic testicular carcinoma, before and after treatment with cisplatin, bleomycin, vinblastine or etoposide. A significant decrease of TLCO, total lung capacity and vital capacity was observed at the end of the treatment. No recovery of pulmonary function had taken place 2 yrs after the last dose of bleomycin. This result suggests that bleomycin-induced lung damage is not completely reversible. Serum angiotensin-converting enzyme, remained unmodified, whilst sPIIIP was found to be significantly increased at the end of chemotherapy, but normal 2 yrs after the completion of chemotherapy. Serum Cu++ showed a tendency to decline. No significant correlation was found between sACE, sCu++ and sPIIIP and lung function tests in the follow-up period. These results question the possibility that these markers could be useful indicators of bleomycin-induced lung damage.

Adult↗