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Biomedical subjects

P Tosca

Publications and source records attributed to P Tosca.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1985

A clinical and pharmacological study of the antidepressant activity of viloxazine in adult and elderly patients.

This work deals with the results of a clinical experience with viloxazine (VLZ) carried out on 43 depressed subjects of the female sex categorized with D.S.M. III criteria. Clinical ratings were made by means of the Hamilton Scale for depression and the Taylor self rating scale for anxiety. The results prove the efficacy of the drug in all the examined patients, along with the rapidity of effects in comparison with the tricyclic antidepressants. The elderly patients improved better than the adult subjects, especially when the depression was of the inhibited type.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

P 300 latency, age and cognitive styles.

20 normal subjects were submitted to seven auditory ERP paradigms in which they were required to count regularly presented cliks (A1, A2, A3), cliks presented in pseudorandom order (B) and in which they had to discriminate relevant from non relevant stimuli characterized by side of provenience (C1, C2) or intensity difference (D). In paradigms C and D a P 300 component was evoked. Age was significantly correlated with P 300 latency only in paradigm D. There was a significant relationship between differences in subjective feelings of difficulty or engagement in performing the counting tasks in C and D and P 300 latency.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

Neuroendocrinological aspects of depression and symptomatological picture.

Cortisol and prolactin circadian rhythms were determined in a group of depressed hospitalized women who were submitted the next day to the dexamethasone suppression test. The depressed were classified as endogenous and non-endogenous according to symptomatological criteria. Some significant differences were found between the two groups when compared to control subjects in cortisol as well as prolactin biorhythms, and the cortisol suppression percentages were significantly lower in the endogenous than in the non-endogenous. This difference is abolished by benzodiazepine treatment.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

Effects of lithium administration on central and peripheral nervous system in rats. Biochemical and morphological findings.

The effect of 4 weeks' treatment with lithium chloride on the central and peripheral nervous system of Wistar albino rats was studied. Normal activity values of some brain enzymes related to energy transduction (LDH, MDH, COX, NADH-ccRT) and neuro-transmission (ACHe), evaluated both in the homogenate in toto and in the crude mitochondrial fraction, were obtained. Fine changes in mitochondrial organelles and nerve processes of neurocytes were ultrastructurally observed. The peripheral nerve studies revealed in some treated rats a slight motor nerve conduction velocity impairment by electro-physiological methods, but no significant alterations in the sciatic nerve specimens examined by electron microscopy.

Animals↗
PubMed1981

Motor reactivity, pain threshold and effects of sleep deprivation in unipolar depressives.

The authors studied the motor reactivity by means of serial choice reaction, electromyography of simple reactions, and defense reflexes in normal and in depressed patients. Significant differences were observed between normal and depressed patients, especially in those with retardation. The 'retarded' depressives exhibited higher pain threshold values, a lower number of motor reactions, and more prolonged reaction times. 2 normal and 4 depressed patients were submitted to the same tests after 1 night's total sleep deprivation. In normals negative effects were found in the levels of vigilance and endurance. In depressed patients, at variance with normals, the number of motor reactions increased, the reaction time decreased, and the rate of basal motor innervation improved, tending to normalization. On the contrary, pain threshold underwent the same type of changes as in controls. Sleep deprivation seemed to specifically reduce retardation phenomena in depressives, thus strongly improving motor reactivity.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

Effects of lithium salts on pain experience in depressed patients.

15 depressed female patients were studied for sensitivity to pain stimuli before and after 1 month of treatment with lithium salts. By electric stimulation techniques, an aspecific sensitivity threshold, a pain sensitivity threshold and a pain tolerance threshold were measured and their relationship were evaluated. In this investigation, we evaluated the influence of the improvement of the clinical picture and of the blood levels of the drug on pain perception. Our data seem to suggest an analgesic action of lithium, which, however, appears to be partially masked by the effects on pain perception induced by the evolution of the depressive picture.

Depressive Disorder↗
PubMed1981

Memory performances in depressed patients during prophylactic treatment with lithium salts.

The study involved 42 subjects suffering from unipolar depression (35 females and 7 males) who had received 600-1,200 mg of lithium carbonate daily for periods ranging from 6 months to 7 years. Concurrently with the memory tests, the patients were also submitted to the Hamilton test for the evaluation of depression and blood samples were taken in order to measure lithium blood levels. In the groups of subjects examined by us (grouped according to lithemia, time on the drug and degree of depression, as, evaluated by Hamilton's test), significant differences were found only in the short-term figure test and, partially, in the long term memory verbal test.

Depressive Disorder↗
PubMed1975

Plasma and erythrocyte concentrations of lithium.

The authors have studied the clinical response, EMG and EEG changes in 12 depressed patients after 28 days of lithium carbonate treatment of 1,200 mg daily. The findings confirm: (1) a high correlation between the degree of improvement and the RBC lithium: plasma lithium ratio on the 28th day; (2) a slight decrease in motor conduction velocity (m.c.v.) and increase of M-response duration during lithium treatment; (3) no correlation between EEG and lithium levels and percentage of improvement.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Chemiluminescent determination of choline in cerebrospinal fluid and red blood cells.

The concentration of choline in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients affected by primary dementia and in red blood cells (RBC) of depressed patients before and after treatment with lithium salts was determined using a chemiluminescent assay. The mean CSF concentration of choline was found to be 60 pmoles/ml (SD = 20 pmoles/ml) and this was lower than values obtained previously by spectrophotometric-colorimetric methods. Mean RBC choline concentrations before and after therapy with lithium salts were 20 nmoles/ml (SD = 16 nmoles/ml and 328 nmoles/ml (SD = 206 nmoles/l) respectively and these are similar to those reported previously (obtained by chemiluminescent and non-chemiluminescent methods).

Choline↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Amitriptyline action on sympathetic neuronal function in depressed women.

1. Noradrenaline plasma levels and cardiovascular function modifications with orthostatic challenge during therapy were studied in 59 female depressed inpatients treated with 100 mg amitriptyline daily by intramuscular route for 4 weeks. 2. Therapy induced an increase in pulse rate in supine and upright positions, a decrease of noradrenaline levels and modified standing systolic and (partially) diastolic blood pressure, particularly in elderly subjects. 3. No correlation between neurotransmitter or functional changes and drug plasma levels was noted. 4. The supposed lower noradrenergic output together with blood pressure drop in both positions suggests a reduced sympathetic tone.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Cholinergic modulation of growth hormone-releasing hormone effects on growth hormone secretion in dementia.

An impairment of cholinergic and somatostatinergic neurotransmission have been reported in dementia. Both acetylcholine and somatostatin are involved in the regulation of growth hormone (GH) secretion. The effects of GH-releasing hormone (GHRH) 1-44 on GH release have been studied before and after the pretreatment with pyridostigmine or pirenzepine in subjects with senile dementia of the Alzheimer type, multi-infarct dementia and mixed dementia. The data have been compared with those obtained in an age-matched healthy control group. The GH response to GHRH is similar in the patients and in the controls, though the peak occurrence is significantly delayed in dementia. The cholinesterase inhibitor pyridostigmine enhances significantly the GH response to GHRH in both groups. The responses obtained in demented subjects are significantly larger than those found in the controls. Pirenzepine, a muscarinic receptor blocker, inhibits the GHRH effect on GH secretion in both groups. The findings may be interpreted in terms of an underlying impairment of the hypothalamic cholinergic neurotransmission, with an acetylcholine receptor supersensitivity that becomes apparent when the cholinergic tonus is enhanced by the inhibition of cholinesterase by pyridostigmine. No significant differences, due to the type of dementia, have been observed.

Acetylcholine↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Cardiac involvement in juvenile rheumatoid arthritis].

Four cases with cardiac involvement in patients suffering from systemic outset of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis are reported. The cases were chosen out of 83 juvenile rheumatoid arthritis patients studied from 1975 to 1988. They developed respectively myopericarditis (case 1), myocarditis (case 2), endopericarditis (case 3), myopericarditis (case 4). The drug employed in the acute disease phase was exclusively prednisone; in all subjects the acute inflammatory stage resolved.

Arthritis, Juvenile↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Depression and home environment].

The Authors consider the higher frequency of depressive disorders in women and examine the correlations between psychopathological expressions of depression and women's social and cultural roles. The condition of life at home, that is peculiar to housewife, sometimes can be a psychopathological risk factor or psychosocial stressor, as well as other work conditions (whether the woman is employed or not), that have to be examined in relation to each person, according to the individual's biological, psychosocial and cultural features.

Age Factors↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Female alcoholism and household conditions].

Alcoholism in women, above all in housekeepers, tends to destroy both families and society. This kind of alcoholism is frequently based on neurosis and depression. Alcoholism in women is supposed to be caused by: genetic factors, psychological factors and social factors. Therefore these components are linked both to neuroendocrinology of female and the way of life of housekeepers.

Alcoholism↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Antidepressive prevention with lithium salts: possible interaction with occupational exposure to nephrotoxic substances].

Forty-four patients suffering from depressive disorders treated with lithium have been subdivide in two groups. One of groups included subjects with previous working anamnesis of exposure to renal toxic agents. The differences of renal function between the two groups have been considered. Significant differences of glomerular and tubular function have been found. These findings permit to hypothesize a synergism between lithium and nephrotoxic agents.

Adult↗