Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Michalis Karamouzis.
Undescended testis is one of the most common disorders in Down's syndrome. We present an extremely rare case of torsion of an inguinal undescended testis in a 35-year-old patient with Down's syndrome. Surgical exploration revealed a rotated gangrenous testis, radical orchiectomy was performed, and pathological examination confirmed the diagnosis of testicular torsion.
PURPOSE: This study examined the effects of the number of sets on testosterone, cortisol, and growth hormone (hGH) responses after maximum strength (MS), muscular hypertrophy (MH), and strength endurance (SE) protocols. METHODS: Eleven young men performed multi-joint dynamic exercises using MS (5 reps at 88% of one-repetition maximum (1-RM), 3-min rest) and MH (10 reps at 75% of 1-RM, 2-min rest) protocols with 2, 4, and 6 sets at each exercise; and an SE (15 reps at 60% of 1-RM, 1-min rest) with 2 and 4 sets. Hormonal concentrations were measured before exercise, immediately after, and at 15 and 30 min of recovery. RESULTS: The number of sets did not affect the hormonal responses after the MS protocol. Cortisol and hGH were higher (P < 0.05) after the four-set compared with the two-set sessions in the MH and SE protocols. No differences were observed between the six-set and the four-set sessions in the MH protocol. Cortisol and hGH were higher (P < 0.05) than the MS after the SE and MH protocols, and only when four and six sets were performed in the latter. hGH was higher than the MH after the SE protocol, whether two or four sets were executed, whereas cortisol (P < 0.05) was higher after the SE protocol only when two sets were performed. Testosterone did not change with any workout. CONCLUSION: The number of sets functions up to a point as a stimulus for increased hormonal concentrations in order to optimize adaptations with MH and SE protocols, and has no effect on a MS protocol. Furthermore, the number of sets may differentiate long-term adaptations with MS, MH, and SE protocols causing distinct hormonal responses.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the medium-term effects of the selective AT1-blocker irbesartan on atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) levels in patients with moderate essential hypertension. The drug was given orally in a daily dose of 300 mg for 30 days. Plasma ANP levels increased by 15.7% despite the drop in blood pressure and the slight decrease of atrial and ventricular diameters. These findings indicate that AT,-blockers like irbesartan exert part of their antihypertensive action by increasing ANP plasma levels.
The objective of the study was to evaluate the safety and therapeutic efficacy of intralesional administration of doxorubicin in brain gliomas. Ten patients with recurrent grade III or IV glioma were enrolled in the study, after the second operation. All patients had not responded to radiation therapy. Chemotherapy was administered directly in the tumor through an Ommaya pump placed in the site of disease at the time of craniotomy. Doxorubicin 0.5 mg was administered in the Ommaya reservoir every 24 hours on days 1 to 10. Patients were evaluated at 6- to 8-week intervals until tumor progression and death. All patients were evaluated for response. Six of 10 patients had clinical improvement lasting from 12 to 73 weeks. Objective radiologic response was observed in 5 of 10 (50%) patients. One patient achieved complete response with time to disease progression of 119 weeks, and 4 patients had a partial response (duration 14-39 weeks) with 25% or more reduction of tumor volume on computed tomography scan compared with pretreatment measurements. Time to disease progression in patients who responded after the intratumoral chemotherapy was 39.83 +/- 40.5 weeks. One additional patient had stable disease for a duration of 12 weeks. The median survival of the patients with response was 55.17 +/- 54.22 weeks (range: 21-164 weeks), whereas survival of those who did not respond was 17.0 +/- 12.36 weeks (range: 8-35) (Mann Whitney U test: z = -2.13, p = 0.033). The median survival of all 10 patients was 39.9 +/- 45.52 weeks (range: 8-73 weeks). Bifrontal headache was reported in 4 of 10 patients immediately after the administration of doxorubicin. There were no other clinically significant adverse reactions either in the brain or systematically. Intralesional administration of doxorubicin appears to be a safe and effective treatment and should be further explored in the management of brain gliomas resistant to conventional forms of treatment.
This article reviews our current knowledge of the role of oxygen free radicals (OFR) in the process of arachidonic acid metabolism and platelet activation. During this activation several platelet enzymatic products are formed, which are measured by radioimmunoassays (RIA) and radioimmunometric assays (IRMA). Many studies have indicated that platelets are able to produce OFR, which are likely to play a significant role in the mechanisms of platelets activation and aggregation. These findings are important because they show that OFR may have a significant role in the mechanism of atherosclerosis and thrombosis. The role of several antioxidant factors in platelets' activation and aggregation is also presented in this review. It was found that antioxidant substances which act like OFR "scavengers" cause inhibition of arachidonic acid derivatives production and also inhibition of platelets activation. These studies suggest the possible therapeutic intervention with antioxidants acting as antiplatelet agents, to improve the pharmacological effects of various antiplatelet drugs. Finally we present our studies related to the arachidonic acid metabolites. The determination of arachidonic metabolic derivatives as thromboxane A(2), prostaglandin E(2), prostacyclin I(2) and isoprostane 8-iso-PG F(2alpha) by RIA and IRMA tests is important for the actual study of the above metabolic mechanisms because these tests are more accurate and less expensive, as compared to routine ELISA and other similar tests used for the same purpose.