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Biomedical subjects

P Fioretti

Publications and source records attributed to P Fioretti.

At least 199 records · Page 11Linked to original sources

The effects of the gabaergic drug, sodium valproate, on prolactin secretion in normal and hyperprolactinemic subjects.

To find out whether the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)ergic system affects PRL secretion in humans, sodium valproate (DPA or Na-dipropyl-acetate), a drug inducing increase of endogenous GABA, was administered to 20 normal and 15 hyperprolactinemic subjects. PRL circulating levels were measured by RIA in the samples obtained after acute oral treatment with 400 mg DPA. A significant decrease (P less than 0.01) in comparison with basal levels was observed in normal women from 30-180 min after drug administration. DPA treatment also lowered blood PRL levels in hyperprolactinemic subjects (seven females) without evidence of pituitary tumor. A decrease very similar to the one found in normal subjects (P less than 0.05 vs. basal levels) was observed within 180 min from drug ingestion. Conversely, no significant changes were found after the same treatment in hyperprolactinemic patients with evidence of prolactinoma (seven females and one male). Taken together, these data seem to demonstrate that pharmacological enhancement of endogenous GABAergic tone is followed by inhibition of PRL secretion. They also suggest that GABA may exert an inhibitory control on PRL release in humans. In hyperprolactinemic subjects, this GABAergic control appears to be present only when a pituitary tumor cannot be demonstrated.

Adenoma↗

Hemodynamic effects of nifedipine in pulmonary hypertension.

Nifedipine is a calcium antagonistic drug which reduces elevated vascular resistances. The hemodynamic effects of 20 mg of sublingual nifedipine were studied in 10 patients with chronic pulmonary hypertension. The etiology of pulmonary hypertension was chronic lung disease in 4, congenital heart disease in 2, mitral stenosis in 1, recurrent pulmonary embolism in 2 and primary pulmonary hypertension in one case. 30' after the drug administration there was a fall both of total pulmonary vascular resistance (from 992 +/- 586 to 648 +/- 428 d s cm-5, p less than 0.02) and of systemic vascular resistance (from 1416 +/- 868 to 896 +/- 440 d s cm-5 p less than 0.02) with an increase of systemic cardiac index from 3.2 +/- 1 to 4.5 +/- 2 l/min/m'2 (p less than 0.02). No significant change in systemic arterial oxygen saturation was noted, while pulmonary arterial oxygen saturation increased from 56 +/- 16 to 62 +/- 13% (p less than 0.01). These hemodynamic changes persisted for 120' when a significant fall of mean pulmonary arterial pressure was also noted (from 59 +/- 11 to 52 +/- 9 mm Hg, p less than 0.02). These data indicate that nifedipine may be useful to reduce pulmonary resistance in pulmonary hypertension. However this effect was less pronounced in patients with chronic lung disease compared to the other cases. It is suggested that the type of pulmonary arterial changes may determine the hemodynamic response. Nifedipine may be particularly indicated when vasoconstriction (as in primary pulmonary hypertension) is the main determinant of pulmonary hypertension.

Adult↗

Norethisterone enanthate as an injectable contraceptive in puerperal and non-puerperal women.

Norethisterone enanthate (NET-EN) was intramuscularly administered to 5 puerperal women and 20 non-puerperal women for a total of 366 months. Contraceptive effectiveness and side effects of the drug were evaluated. Basal levels of LH, FSH, prolactin (PRL), estradiol 17 beta (E2) and progesterone (P) were measured in blood samples collected from 5 non-puerperal women, while LH, FSH, PRL and norethisterone (NET) plasma levels were evaluated in puerperal women. NET was also assayed in plasma from breast-fed newborns. No woman became pregnant. Side effects consisted of only menstrual abnormalities. Ovulation (P plasma levels higher than 2000 pg/ml) was achieved in 3 patients during the first month of NET-EN treatment but luteal function appeared to be insufficient. In puerperal women, NET plasma levels showed a course similar to the one observed outside puerperium. Lactation was not inhibited, and NET transfer to newborn through milk was negligible, since NET was undetectable in newborn plasma when maximal levels were measured in the mother. It was concluded that NET-EN is an effective contraceptive drug, deprived of major side effects, and particularly useful in women affected by metabolic diseases or during puerperium.

Chorionic Gonadotropin↗

Inhibitory effect of the dopamine agonist bromocriptine on the postcastration gonadotrophin rise in women.

Basal or stimulated gonadotrophin plasma levels were measured after bilateral ovariectomy in untreated and bromocriptine (BCT)-treated normal women. BCT was orally administered from the 7th to the 14th day after ovariectomy at a dose of 3.75 mg/day. BCT significantly (P less than 0.05) inhibited LH release, both basally and after LRF stimulation. Plasma FSH levels were also reduced in treated subjects, but this decrease did not reach statistical significance relative to controls. The blunted postcastration gonadotrophin rise found with BCT administration suggests that pituitary gonadotropin secretion is, in part, under dopaminergic inhibitory control.

Adult↗

[The retrograde catheterization of the aortic valve prosthesis. Usefulness and limits (author's transl)].

A retrograde catheterization of the left ventricle was performed in 10 patients with aortic valve prosthesis. The pulmonary wedge pressure increased during the procedure (median value 16 mmHg; range 1-33 mmHg). The sistolic aortic pressure (median value 26 mmHg; range 5-60 mmHg) and the diastolic aortic pressure (median value 16 mmHg; range 1-33 mmHg) decreased in all. In 5 patients a left ventriculography was performed. The left ventricle catheterization in patients with aortic valve prosthesis in the experience of the authors may preclude accurate hemodynamic measurements; it may be utilized only for the evaluation of an associated mitral valve disease.

Aortic Valve↗

Interaction of left ventricular relaxation and filling during early diastole in human subjects.

Seventeen patients with coronary artery disease were studied with cineangiography and simultaneous tip manometry at resting heart rate and maximal tachycardia induced by atrial pacing. During early diastole, defined as the interval from the opening of the mitral valve to the point of minimal left ventricular pressure, 20 percent of total ventricular filling took place at resting heart rate, but 62 percent occurred during tachycardia. Minimal pressure was significantly correlated with the time constant of pressure decay during the isovolumic phase (r = 0.75 at resting heart rate and r = 0.81 during tachycardia). The measured minimal pressure could be predictd by extrapolating the exponential decay of ventricular isovolumic pressure to the time of occurence of the minimal pressure, which occurred on average 2.7 time constants from the peak negative rate of change of pressure. At resting heart rate the time constant of relaxation was inversely correlated with ventricular inflow volume (r = -0.64) and inflow rate (r = -0.72). It is concluded that left ventricular relaxatin has a relevant role in early diastolic pressure-volume relations and increases during tachycardia.

Adult↗