Functional elements in Drosophila melanogaster heterochromatin.
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Animals↗
Biomedical subjects
M Gatti
Publications and source records attributed to M Gatti.
Primary prevention: HBV vaccination in hemodialysis unit.
The authors evaluated the response rate to HBV vaccination in 27 dialyzed patients. In the 1st stage, the response was 70.37%; nonresponder patients (n = 8) were treated with thymostimulin and revaccinated. The total percentage increased to 85.18%. In order to restore a normal response, the authors suggest to treat nonresponder patients with thymostimulin before revaccination.
Adult↗
Frequency of Mobiluncus spp. in bacterial vaginosis in Italy.
Eleven strains of Mobiluncus spp. were isolated from 35 vaginal secretions of patients with bacterial vaginosis (6 Mobiluncus curtisii and 5 Mobiluncus mulieris).
Bacteria, Anaerobic↗
Mutations affecting cell division in Drosophila.
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Animals↗
Lymphopenia and decrease in the total number of circulating CD3+ and CD4+ T cells during 'long-term' PUVA treatment for psoriasis.
The relationship between high-dose PUVA treatment in psoriatic patients and peripheral T lymphocyte subsets (total number and percentage) has been studied. Of the two groups of patients considered, the first included 19 patients, all affected by chronic, progressively worsening psoriasis; they had never been previously treated by photochemotherapy. The second group included 13 psoriatic patients, who had received an average cumulative dose of 2,007.69 +/- 1,191.05 J/cm2. The 'long-term' PUVA-treated group was assessed while undergoing maintenance therapy. No significant differences were found between untreated patients and healthy controls for any of the parameters considered. A significant reduction (p less than 0.05) in the total number of lymphocytes in long-term PUVA-treated patients both versus untreated patients and controls was found. Furthermore, long-term PUVA-treated patients showed a significant reduction (p less than 0.05) in the percentage of lymphocytes as compared with controls. The reduction in the total number of CD3+ and CD4+ T cells was, moreover, significant (p less than 0.05) as compared with untreated patients. The impairment of circulating CD3+ and CD4+ T cells (total number) was only on the borderline of statistical significance vis-à-vis controls. These findings suggest the usefulness of a careful assessment of circulating T lymphocyte subsets in patients who undergo long-term PUVA therapy.
Adult↗
Observations made on strains of Campylobacter spp. isolated in 1989 in northern Italy.
Over a 12-month period (1989), 192 thermophilic campylobacters (190 from stool and two from blood specimens) were isolated. All the strains were identified as far as species and biotype was concerned and 89 were also serotyped according to the Lior method. C. jejuni (90.10%) was the species most frequently isolated (mainly biotype I) while the most frequent serogroup was LIO 4. Erythromycin-resistance was found in only 15 strains, but while it was very low for the species C. jejuni (1.16%), it was frequent for C. Coli (68.42%), mainly for biotype I (73.33%). Moreover, eight strains of thermophilic campylobacters resistant to nalidixic acid (three strains of C. jejuni and five strains of C. coli) were found.
Bacterial Typing Techniques↗
Transcription of a satellite DNA on two Y chromosome loops of Drosophila melanogaster.
Primary spermatocyte nuclei of Drosophila melanogaster exhibit three giant lampbrush-like loops formed by the kl-5, kl-3 and ks-1 Y chromosome fertility factors. Detailed mapping of satellite DNA sequences along the Y chromosome has recently shown that AA-GAC satellite repeats are a significant component of the kl-5 and ks-1 loop-forming regions. To determine whether these simple repeated sequences are transcribed on the loop structures we performed a series of DNA-RNA in situ hybridization experiments to fixed loop preparations using as a probe cloned AAGAC repeats. These experiments showed that the probe hybridizes with homologous transcripts specifically associated with the kl-5 and ks-1 loops. These transcripts are detected at all stages of development of these two loops, do not appear to migrate to the cytoplasm and are degraded when loops disintegrate during the first meiotic prophase. Moreover, an examination of the testes revealed that the transcription of the AAGAC sequences is restricted to the loops of primary spermatocytes; the other cell types of D. melanogaster spermatogenesis do not exhibit nuclear or cytoplasmic labeling. These experiments were confirmed by RNA blotting analysis which showed that transcription of the AAGAC sequences occurs in wild-type testes but not in X/O testes. The patterns of hybridization to the RNA blots indicated that the transcripts are highly heterogeneous in size, from large (migration at limiting mobility) to less than 1 kb. We discuss the possible function of the AAGAC satellite transcripts, in the light of the available information on the Y chromosome loops of D. melanogaster.
Animals↗
Central vision impairment from optic disk drusen in the young.
Reduced visual acuity apparently due to the effects of drusen on the optic nerve is rare. We describe two young patients with central vision impairment from optic disk drusen: a man with a reduction of visual acuity to light perception, a women with a very fast evolution of the drusen, that, not visible at the clinical onset, could be documented in autofluorescence one month later. The appearance of drusen in disks initially diagnosed as pseudopapilledema is supposed to be related to axonal degeneration from abnormal axoplasmic flow.
Adult↗
[Tungiasis. A clinical case].
Tungiasis is a cutaneous infestation by the female sand flea, Tunga penetrans. Because of the increase in international travel, the disease is reported in Europe, in spite of it being formerly restricted to the equatorial zones. This report describes a case of tungiasis and discusses clinical features, diagnosis and treatment.
Adult↗
[Dermatomycoses observed at the Dermatologic Clinic, Pavia University. 2) Pathology of Microsporum gypseum].
Microsporum gypseum infections are 0.4% of 4900 suspected dermatomycoses examined with direct microscopic exam and culture on Lactrimel medium or D.T.M. This geophilic dermatophyte was isolated in 20 cases (1.5% of all dermatophytes). More frequently M. gypseum caused tinea corporis (13 cases: 65%) and rarely tinea capitis (2 cases: 10%), tinea faciei (2 cases), tinea manus (2 cases) and tinea cruris (1 case). Both sexes are equally affected. Direct microscopic exam was negative in 2 cases. This dermatophyte was more frequently isolated during the summer and fall. Finally M. gypseum was not isolated in tinea pedis and tinea unguium.
Academic Medical Centers↗
Pityriasis versicolor in the aged: a clinical investigation and epidemiological survey in 190 elderly hospitalized patients.
190 subjects over 60 yrs of age, hospitalized for long stays were checked for scaling and hyperpigmented patches of P. versicolor. 20 patients (10.5%) showed no clinical lesions; 170 patients (89.5%) showed scaling and/or hyperpigmented patches of which 13 patients (6.8%) on direct microscopic exam showed hyphae and yeasts of M. furfur, 64 (33.6%) only globular forms of P. orbiculare and 113 cases (59.4%) showed no fungal elements. Wood's light examination showed that 38 subjects (20%) were 6 positive for M. furfur and 23 for P. orbiculare while in the other 9 no fungal elements were observed on microscopic exam. Whereas 48/132 patients negative to Wood's light were positive for yeasts on microscopic exam (false negative). This study indicates that P. versicolor is not rare in the elderly and that Wood's light examination is not diagnostic. There was no relationship between P. versicolor and underlying illness.
Age Factors↗
Superficial mycoses observed at the Department of Dermatology of the University of Pavia. A 13-year survey.
Over a period of 13 years, 4,100 specimens were cultured for fungi. Pityriasis versicolor (Malassezia furfur) was demonstrated in 17.6%, dermatophytosis in 34.6% and candidiasis in 10.8%. The most frequently isolated strains were M. canis (31.5%), T. rubrum (26.3%), E. floccosum (19.7%), T. mentagrophytes (19.3%) for the dermatophytes and C. albicans (88.9%). Those rarely seen were: M. gypseum, T. violaceum, M. audouini, T. schoenleinii. We observed the absolutely complementary results of the microscopic examinations and the cultures of the specimens.
Candidiasis, Cutaneous↗
Genes controlling essential cell-cycle functions in Drosophila melanogaster.
On the basis of the hypothesis that mutants in genes controlling essential cell cycle functions in Drosophila should survive up to the larval-pupal transition, 59 such 'late lethals' were screened for those mutants affecting cell division. Examination of mitosis in brain neuroblasts revealed that 30 of these lethals cause disruptions in mitotic chromosome behavior. These mutants identify genes whose wild-type functions are important for: (1) progression through different steps of interphase, (2) the maintenance of mitotic chromosome integrity, (3) chromosome condensation, (4) spindle formation and/or function, and (5) completion of cytokinesis or completion of chromosome segregation. The presence of mitotic defects in late lethal mutants is correlated tightly with the presence of defective imaginal discs. Thus, the phenotypes of late lethality and poorly developed imaginal discs are together almost diagnostic of mutations in essential cell-cycle functions. The terminal phenotypes exhibited by these Drosophila mitotic mutants are remarkably similar to those observed in mammalian cell-cycle mutants, suggesting that these diverse organisms use a common genetic logic to regulate and integrate the events of the cell cycle.
Animals↗
Effects of medium-term PUVA therapy on peripheral T-lymphocyte subsets in psoriatic patients.
Three to four months' PUVA treatment is a widely-adopted procedure to induce psoriasis remission and for the purpose of this study is called "medium-term". The 32 psoriatic patients considered revealed a statistically significant baseline decrease in OKT3+ (p less than 0.001), OKT4+ (p less than 0.001) and OKT8+ (p less than 0.001) as compared with 40 healthy controls, while OKT4/OKT8 was normal. Variance analysis within the psoriatic group failed to reveal further significant variation in the immunological parameters during the 3 months under study. Nevertheless, there was a marked trend towards a reduction in OKT4+ cells and OKT4/OKT8 as compared with baseline values after 3 months. These results suggest that "medium-term" PUVA therapy does not statistically restore the pre-existing baseline changes in T-lymphocyte subsets of the psoriatic patients. The non-statistically significant effects as regards OKT4+ may be due to the small number of patients who reached 3 months' treatment (9 patients) but could be regarded as the first step towards the significant changes described here in long-term PUVA-treated psoriatic patients.
Adult↗
Changes in the water holding capacity of psoriatic stratum corneum in vivo.
This study investigated the functional capacity of the stratum corneum of psoriatic skin to bind water in vivo during a relatively long period of time (water holding capacity--WHC). An electrical capacitance test was applied to the psoriatic skin on the elbows, perilesional skin and apparently normal skin of 11 patients and the elbows of 10 controls. Measurements of electrical capacitance were performed using a Corneometer Schwarzhaupt for 25 min. The WHC levels were calculated for this period. Our results demonstrate that the WHC of psoriatic stratum corneum does not differ from controls in the first 10 min. Only after the 20th min do the WHCs differ significantly (p less than 0.02). Despite the biochemical keratin changes in psoriatic plaque, the latter is highly hygroscopic, in particular in the first minute after bathing. Perilesional skin binds water like the stratum corneum of controls, though not beyond the 20th minute after bathing.
Adult↗
Omental autoimplantation of splenic tissue and intravenous pneumococcal challenge. A comparative study in rats.
Splenectomized subjects show a higher incidence of myocardial ischemia and of Overwhelming Post-Splenectomy Infection (OPSI). It is doubtful that implanted splenic tissue guarantees an adequate protection from OPSI. The histological characteristics and the capacity of protection from OPSI of two models of omental autoimplantation of splenic tissue in rats were examined. The implanted splenic tissue offers a significant protection from pneumococcal sepsis, even though there is no relation between implant architecture and survival rate.
Animals↗
[Findings on dermatomycoses observed at the Dermatologic Clinic, University of Pavia. A third pathology caused by Trichophyton rubrum].
From 1974 to 1988 T. rubrum have been isolated in 304 cases (27.8% of dermatophytes) in the Department of Dermatology in Pavia and it is the second most frequent fungus after M. canis. Males are more frequently affected (61.1%) than females (38.9%). A single localization was found in 82.2% of the cases and two or more types of "Tineae" only in 17.8%. The age-group 31-40 is more frequently affected (29%). The most frequent dermatophytosis caused by T. rubrum was Tinea pedis (33.9%) while Tinea capitis resulted a very rare localization (2.1%). An increase of T. rubrum infections is noted particularly in the last years.
Adolescent↗
[Efficacy of fenticonazole in patients with pityriasis versicolor].
Thirty patients suffering from Pityriasis versicolor were treated with fenticonazole in cream or lotion form with two applications a day. At microscopy, Malassezia furfur was encountered in 25 cases and Pityrosporum orbiculare in 5. Disappearance of the yeast was obtained on average in 2 weeks of treatment. Measurement of sebum content with a Sebumeter apparatus did not reveal significant difference (p greater than 0.05) between patients suffering from Pityriasis versicolor and controls and in treated patients, in the course of topical therapy.
Administration, Cutaneous↗