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Biomedical subjects

M Massarotti

Publications and source records attributed to M Massarotti.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2004

Comparison between iloprost and alprostadil in the treatment of Raynaud's phenomenon.

OBJECTIVE: The prostanoids iloprost and alprostadil are widely used to treat ischaemic changes in patients with Raynaud's phenomenon (RP), but the optimal regimen is poorly defined. We evaluated whether there are differences between iloprost and alprostadil, in terms of either clinical efficacy or of laboratory data, with the aim of assisting in the treatment of connective tissue disease (CTD)-associated RP. METHODS: Twenty-one women with CTD-associated RP were given intravenous iloprost (11 patients) or alprostadil (10 patients) cyclically (5 consecutive days, followed by 1 day every 30 days). Clinical efficacy (RP symptoms, skin score, digital ulcers) and circulating levels of von Willebrand factor (VWf), tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), thrombomodulin (TM) and Type III procollagen N-terminal propeptide (PIIINP) were evaluated by enzyme-linked immunoassay at different intervals. RESULTS: The overall benefits of iloprost and alprostadil were similar. RP improved in 45% versus 90% of patients; ulcers in 60% versus 40% of patients (iloprost versus alprostadil). Skin score did not significantly change with either drug. Circulating VWf decreased with either drug (iloprost -6.2%, alprostadil -9.4%), while tPA, TM, and PIIINP remained unchanged. Side effects were only minor and less frequent with alprostadil. CONCLUSION: Iloprost and alprostadil were both of benefit in CTD-associated RP, without significant differences in either clinical efficacy or circulating markers. However, ease of handling and the lower price favours alprostadil.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Problems of drug surveillance--an international view.

The importance of Post Marketing Surveillance (PMS) is stressed, both to determine the therapeutic value of the drug and its adverse effects revealed in a large population of patients. A survey of such adverse effects of anti-epileptic drugs is provided: metabolic, dose-related and idiosyncratic. Problems of monotherapy and of drug interactions are discussed, as well as questions of central nervous system toxicity and of teratogenicity.

Abnormalities, Drug-Induced↗
PubMed1985

Effects of GM1 ganglioside in cerebrovascular diseases: a double-blind trial in 40 cases.

A randomized, double-blind trial on the effects of GM1 ganglioside in cerebrovascular diseases was done on 40 patients; the treatment (40 mg/day i.m. injection) began after the acute phase and lasted 6 weeks. 18 cases took the drug and 16 the placebo. The evaluation of the cases was made by graduating the severity of the clinical signs, and some neurophysiological and morphological parameters, i.e., EEGs, flash-evoked potentials and computer tomography scans. We found that the drug, in comparison with the placebo treatment, improved the clinical signs and also the neurophysiological parameters, whereas it was ineffective for the morphological damage. These data seem of some interest in relation to the action of GM1 ganglioside in the processes of neurotransmission and neuronal plasticity as described in the experimental animal.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

[Physiopathology of neurotransmitter metabolites in the cerebrospinal fluid in brain tumors].

The results in the group of III ventricle tumors, that is a decrease in the ventricular concentration of 5-HIAA in CSF, show that the hypothalamic metabolism of 5-HT is of importance for the concentration of 5-HIAA in the CSF. The results in posterior fossa tumors and in non communicating hydrocephalus (non tumor patients) for 5-HIAA and HVA confirm that the reabsorption of the metabolites from CSF occurs mainly in the caudal region of the ventricular system: the data in communicating hydrocephalus demonstrate that the intracranial hypertension can interfere by itself with the out transport mechanism of the metabolites from CSF. The results in normotensive idiopathic hydrocephalus sustain the hypothesis of a disturbance in 5-HT metabolism: it seems possible to separate this group from patients with secondary hydrocephalus in which the intracranial hypertension is only clinically compensated. The results in lumbar determinations demonstrate that in intracranial hypertension there is an impairment of the reabsorption of 5-HIAA also in the lumbar subarachnoid spaces. The concentration of 5-HIAA can depend mainly on the spinal cord metabolism, while lumbar HVA derives from the brain metabolism.

Brain Neoplasms↗
PubMed1983

Ganglioside treatment of alcoholic neuropathies: experimental and clinical aspects.

Recent research results indicate that gangliosides, complex glycolipids present in neuronal membranes, play an important functional role in nervous transmission. Physiological and pharmacological investigations have shown that the parenteral administration of a bovine cerebral cortex ganglioside preparation exerts a reinnervation-stimulating activity, due to enhanced nerve sprouting, in peripheral neuropathies. Experimental data are presented showing that the administration of ganglioside prevents the decrease of the conduction velocity, measured in the sciatic nerve of laboratory animals chronically intoxicated with ethanol. Gangliosides are also able to improve the conduction velocity in the sciatic nerve of animals already damaged by the same neurotoxic agent. With regard to therapeutical aspects in alcoholic patients with sensory or motor-sensory polyneuropathy, a review is presented covering 114 patients studied in several clinical trials by means of clinical and instrumental investigations. The clinical parameters, especially the sensory disturbances, turn out to be very responsive to ganglioside treatment. Also, the electrophysiological effects are positively influenced, even though this kind of investigation presents methodological difficulties connected with the great variability of baseline data.

Alcoholism↗
PubMed1978

Brain cortex phospholipids liposomes effects on CSF HVA, 5-HIAA and on prolactin and somatotropin secretion in man.

Liposomes obtained from bovine brain cortex phospholipids (BC-PL), which display several effects on brain function in mice, have been administered intravenously (200 mg) to healthy subjects at various times before diagnostic lumbar puncture. HVA and 5-HIAA concentrations in CSF have been evaluated with the aim of assessing changes of monoamines metabolism. An increase of HVA occurs after 2 hours from BC-PL administration, reaching its peak after 6--7 hours. The finding is interpreted as an index of an increased turnover of brain DA. 5-HIAA changes are less impressive and a smaller increase of the metabolite is observed. They cannot correctly be related to brain changes of serotonin metabolism, since 5-HIAA originates also from the spinal cord. No effects are observed on the secretion of prolactin, but somatotropin increases sharply between 2 and 7 hours from treatment, suggesting the possibility of an activation of the dopaminergic pathway, stimulating STH secretion.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1978

5-Hydroxyindoleacetic acid and homovanillic acid in human cerebrospinal fluid below partial and complete spinal subarachnoid block.

Concentrations of homovanillic acid (HVA) and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) were investigated by lumbar cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of 21 patients with partial and total spinal subarachnoid block. HVA levels in CSF below a complete block were significantly lower and 5-HIAA levels were signigicantly higher than controls. Below a partial block, HVA levels were normal; 5-HIAA levels were higher than in patients with complete block. Possible explanations for these findings are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1978

5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) levels in the cerebrospinal fluid of hydrocephalic children before and after ventricular shunting procedure.

21 cases of hypertensive hydrocephalus were investigated for lumbar 5-HIAA before and after operation. Seven groups (posterior fossa tumors) of patients aged between 2 and 12 years were tested after tumor removal; the others (nontumorous hydrocephalus) after ventricular shunting. This last group included 8 patients with noncommunicating hydrocephalus aged between 15 days and 12 years and 6 with communicating hydrocephalus aged between 6 months and 9 years. At the time of the second determination all patients presented an improvement of clinical signs of intracranial hypertension. A correlative analysis of 5-HIAA values before and after operation is made. In tumor cases, preoperative levels were higher than controls, and a significant decrease was found after operation in comparison with preoperative levels. In nontumor cases, a significant decrease was also observed in noncommunicating hydrocephalus, confirming clinical usefulness of the results for controlling the degree of the intracranial hypertension and, in consequence, shunt performance. In communicating cases the results were disappointing, because almost always postoperative levels did not differ from the preoperative ones. Possible interpretations of the data are analyzed.

Cerebrospinal Fluid Shunts↗