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Biomedical subjects

M Latini

Publications and source records attributed to M Latini.

13 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2003

Emerging pathologies in aquaculture: effects on production and food safety.

Infectious diseases represent a limiting factor for the further development of Italian aquaculture. The recent introduction and spreading of new pathogens, along with the global climatic change, has contributed to a considerable decrease in trout production. Emerging pathologies in rainbow trout culture include viral diseases, e.g. infectious haematopoietic necrosis (IHN), bacterial diseases, such as lactococcosis and visceral flavobacteriosis, and parasitical diseases, e.g. proliferative kidney disease (PKD). Higher mortality rates in trout fry and fingerlings are generally induced by visceral flavobacteriosis and IHN, while the main losses in large trout during the warm season are due to lactococcosis and PKD. Mariculture has at present a better sanitary status compared to trout culture, but a rapid dissemination of pathogens, including zoonosis agents, is envisaged also for seabass and seabream. Emerging pathologies in sea bass include VNN, pseudotuberculosis, streptococcosis and tuberculosis. Seabream is much more resistant and is mainly affected by novel Vibrio infections and enteromyxidiosis. A good sanitary management of fish farms is essential for avoiding or limiting losses caused by emerging pathologies. Transmission of zoonosis agents to man, through the consumption of cultured fish, is very remote in Italy. On the contrary, transmission of Streptococcus iniae, Vibrio vulnificus and Mycobacterium marinum by means of improper manipulation of infected fish, could represent a potential hazard for fish farmers and fish processors, as well as for people preparing fish meals.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

Bahren types III and IVa testicular vein anomalies as a reason for failure in left idiopathic varicocele retrograde sclerotherapy. Ontogenic discussion and clinical implications.

Left testicular vein anatomy has received more attention due to the presence of competent or incompetent venous valves and bypassing anastomoses, which are involved in venographic diagnosis and embolisation of varicocele. The left gonadal vein develops, in both males and females, between the 5th and 7th intrauterine weeks, being derived from the distal or postrenal portion of the left subcardinal vein. The varicocele aetiologic hypothesis leads to ontogenetic disturbances in the development of the secondary venous system. Retrograde testicular venography shows the precise anatomy of the left pampiniform plexus, while anterograde testicular venography identifies the presence of the valve and possible continence. In the present case sclerotherapy could not be achieved due to testicular vein anomalies. Sclerotherapy versus surgical high ligature of the left testicular vein in cases of left idiopathic varicocele with testicular vein anomalies is discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Aspirin inhibits androgen response to chorionic gonadotropin in humans.

Eicosanoids play an important role in the regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary axis; less clear is their role in testicular steroidogenesis. To evaluate the involvement of cyclooxygenase metabolites, such as prostaglandins, in the regulation of human testicular steroidogenesis, we examined the effects of a prostaglandin-blocker, aspirin, on plasma testosterone, pregnenolone, progesterone, 17OH-progesterone, androstenedione, dehydroepiandrosterone, and 17beta-estradiol response to human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) in normal male volunteers in a placebo-controlled, single-blinded study. To test the efficacy of aspirin, seminal prostaglandin E(2) levels were also determined. hCG stimulation increased peripheral levels of testosterone, 17OH-progesterone, androstenedione, dehydroepiandrosterone, and 17beta-estradiol, without affecting circulating pregnenolone and progesterone values. Aspirin significantly lowered seminal prostaglandin E(2) levels, whereas it did not modify steroid concentrations not exposed to exogenous hCG. Moreover, the drug significantly reduced the response of testosterone, 17OH-progesterone, androstenedione, and dehydroepiandrosterone to hCG, as assessed by the mean integrated area under the curve, whereas it did not influence 17beta-estradiol response. In conclusion, aspirin treatment inhibits androgen response to chorionic gonadotropin stimulation in normal humans. The action of aspirin is probably mediated via an effective arachidonate cyclooxygenase block.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed1997

Screening for coeliac disease: the meaning of low titers of anti-gliadin antibodies (AGA) in non-coeliac children.

Coeliac disease is diagnosed by means of jejunal biopsy, an invasive procedure. Anti-gliadin antibodies (AGA) have therefore been used in the first screening of the disease. On the other hand, low titers of AGA are widely detected also in normal subjects. In order to investigate if low levels of AGA could be correlated with laboratory and clinical data, we performed a study on 167 subjects with various illnesses, such as recurrent abdominal pain, failure to thrive, short stature, diarrhoea or constipation, cow-milk protein intolerance and/or food allergy, recurrent vomiting or previous gastroenteritis, all non coeliac conditions which have been associated with AGA presence. Seventy coeliac children, all biopsied, were selected as a control group. Among the 167 cases we found 60 subjects positive for AGA (35.9%), a high proportion as compared with the general population. Only 33/167 patients, all IgG and IgA AGA positive, fulfil our laboratory and clinical criteria to perform a 'confirming' biopsy. For the 134 residual cases (14 IgA, 13 only IgG AGA positive, 107 AGA negative) a diagnosis of coeliac disease has been excluded by clinical criteria (scoring). As a whole, the patients with coeliac disease had significantly higher levels of AGA of both IgG and IgA classes (p < 0.01). On the other hand, no significant difference emerged for all the anamnestic and laboratory parameters considered between AGA+ and AGA- non-coeliac subjects. However, laboratory parameters of IgG-AGA and/or IgA-AGA positive patients were similar to those of coeliac children for ion, Xylose, total IgA count. As no biopsied case showed mucosal atrophy, it is suggested that the presence of even low AGA levels in non-coeliac children may represent a highly sensitive index of intestinal alteration causing an increased permeability to macromolecules, but it is very unlikely that one could detect coeliac children by means of Ig-AGA among such illnesses and normal subjects. Strong clinical diagnosis and laboratory parameters are required to justify intestinal biopsies. In fact, the production of AGA seems to be a merely immunological phenomenon linked to an increased and probably transient permeability to macromolecules of the intestinal mucosa.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

[Parameters for the assessment of inflammation of the anterior segment of the eye].

The authors examine general aspects of the assessment and evaluation of inflammation of the anterior segment of the eye, stressing above all the importance of accurate history taking and correct diagnostic approach. The also define general features of inflammatory processes and analyse the main and most modern instrumental techniques that are essential for precise assessment of clinical parameters of inflammatory conditions of the anterior segment of the eye.

Anterior Eye Segment↗
PubMed1993

[Apropos of preventive ophthalmologic interventions in the child population of compulsory school age. Authors' experience].

The results are reported of work carried out during the last five years by the Center of Social Ophthalmology, director Prof. G. Scuderi, which is part of the II Division of the Ophthalmologic Clinic of Rome University "La Sapienza" with the object of trying out together with territorial units a model of preventive intervention acting as a filter for specialized university facilities. In other words, already existing facilities and medical personnel were to be used and trained for specific methods and techniques. From 1985 through 1990, 787 children selected by ophthalmologic screening by school doctors among the compulsory school population of the RM 3 and 5 districts were seen and submitted to periodic checks. This cohort included children aged 5 to 14 without significant differences in sex distribution and with prevalence of the 8 to 10 year olds. Each subject was submitted to complete eye examination including refractometry and orthoptics, color vision, biomicroscopic and ophthalmoscopic examination. The principal findings show that about 36% of subjects examined have a natural vision of 11/10 while the high percentage of ametropia observed was mainly represented by astigmatism and hypermetropy, albeit of minor intensity. Strabismus was found in 2.79% and implied marked visual deficit that was often refractory to any type of treatment. In addition, the prevalence was determined of other abnormalities concerning eye motility, color vision and pathologies involving anterior segment and eyeground. In their conclusion, the authors stress the rarity of organic ocular pathology in children (mostly represented by inflammatory changes of the adnexes and conjunctiva) whereas amblyopia was one of the main causes of visual deficit in children. They stress the importance of early therapeutic intervention in order to allow complete visual rehabilitation. The results of the clinical model for prevention were excellent so that it can even be proposed for large scale prevention of amblyopia.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Changes of lipocalin type prostaglandin D-synthase in the seminal plasma of subfertile man.

It was proposed that lipocalin type prostaglandin D synthase (L-PGD-S), a bifunctional protein both synthesizing PGD2 and transporting retinoids and other lipophilic ligands, could be involved in the development and the maturation of sperm. In the present study, the seminal plasma (SP) of 59 adult males was analyzed by standard WHO methods and immunoblotting, using a monospecific polyclonal antibody directed against L-PGD-S. Briefly, aliquots of SP (2.5 microl), were fractionated by polyacrylamide electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate, the blots were stained and densitometrically analyzed. To obtain quantitative data, the aliquot of SP was selected within the linear part of the dose/band intensity curve and a proper quality control was analyzed in all blots to normalize the intensity of the bands of different experiments. A significant reduction (p<0.05) of the L-PGD-S levels was observed in severe oligozoospermic patients compared to normozoospermic subjects and a significant correlation between L-PGD-S levels and sperm concentration was found, as reported by other authors. Further studies are warranted to evaluate the possible diagnostic and pharmacological applications of these observations.

Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Chronobiology of blood pressure in childhood: implications for tracking.

Chronobiology, in its methodological evolution, developed data series analyses paying particular attention to blood pressure (BP), because of the importance of this biorhythmic variable for assessing the risk of developing hypertension. An example of the potentiality of the chronobiologic procedures is given in the present report which deals with the inferential analysis of the BP 24-h patterns in 3-12 year-old children. By using the chronobiologic methodology, time-qualified standards for BP are calculated. Rhythmometric parameters for circadian rhythm of systolic and diastolic components of BP are also computed. Data presented are a tangible outcome for emphasizing the introduction of chronobiology in epidemiology and pediatrics in order to optimize the primary prevention and care of hypertension taking as reference the chronobiologic standards of BP.

Biometry↗