PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

R Bruni

Publications and source records attributed to R Bruni.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
PubMed1989

The life cycle of a low-molecular-weight protein of surfactant (SP-C) in 3-day-old rabbits.

To clarify the metabolic cycle of a low-molecular-weight protein of surfactant (SP-C), we obtained alveolar surfactant from 3 day old rabbits killed 24 h after the tracheal administration of 32P or L-[35S]methionine (donors). Aliquots of this naturally labelled surfactant were administered into trachea to 3-day-old rabbits (recipients) which were killed after 1 min or 3, 8 or 24 h. We then analyzed the radioactivity associated with SP-C and with saturated phosphatidylcholine in fractions of lung lavage fluid and in lung homogenate. We found that alveolar SP-C is turned over faster than saturated phosphatidylcholine, that alveolar macrophages do participate in the removal of SP-C and that SP-C does not enter the fraction of alveolar surfactant that remains unsedimented after ultracentrifugation. Considering the whole lung, SP-C and saturated phosphatidylcholine are turned over at a comparable speed.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Antioxidant defences of rabbit alveolar lining fluid.

In the lower respiratory tract, alveolar cells are exposed to an oxidative challenge related to the exposure to both high levels of molecular oxygen and oxidants generated by activated phagocytes. The antioxidant defence system of alveolar cells has been thoroughly investigated, but some reports also suggest the presence of antioxidants in the layer of fluid lining the alveoli. In this report we present our studies on the antioxidant activities present in the bronchoalveolar lavage of adult rabbits. We studied total radical-trapping antioxidant capacity of surfactant and the activity of antiperoxidant enzymes. Although previous reports suggested the presence of radical scavengers, we did not find any antioxidant activity in purified surfactant. On the other hand the alveolar-lining fluid seems to contain superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase, but not appreciable amounts of ferroxidase activity, as previously suggested. These enzymes could protect alveolar cells by catalyzing the dismutation of superoxide and hydrogen peroxide. The presence of glutathione peroxidase in the alveolar space seems to be physiologically relevant since the alveolar lining fluid also contains millimolar amounts of glutathione. Our studies support the concept that the alveolar lining fluid contains an active defence system against products of partial reduction of oxygen, but not chain-breaker antioxidants.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

[Etiopathogenetic and histopathologic aspects of acute necrotico-hemorrhagic pancreatitis in experimental animals].

In this study, the Authors have provoked experimentally acute pancreatitis in the rat by different methods, in order to find out morphological modifications of the pancreas in the initial stage of the disease. In case of biliary and pancreatic duct obstruction with pure pancreatic reflux, both oedema and inflammatory infiltrations were evident, whereas, in the presence of biliary reflux too, more serious histological features were detected. In conclusion, the first sign of alteration in acute pancreatitis could be represented by the association of intraductal hypertension and pure pancreatic reflux.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1988

d(GATC) sequences influence Escherichia coli mismatch repair in a distance-dependent manner from positions both upstream and downstream of the mismatch.

The role of d(GATC) sites in determining the efficiency of methyl-directed mismatch repair in Escherichia coli was investigated. Transfection of host bacteria, both proficient and deficient in mismatch repair, with a series of artificially constructed M13 heteroduplexes showed that a decrease in the total number of d(GATC) sequences within these vectors lowered the efficiency of repair in vivo. Single hemimethylated d(GATC) sequences were still able to direct the correction event to the unmethylated strand, providing that the mismatch to d(GATC) site distance was shorter than approximately 1 kb. In excess of this distance, the effect of hemimethylated d(GATC) sites on mismatch correction was almost unnoticeable. The directionality of the repair event could be dictated by d(GATC) sequences situated both upstream and downstream of the mispair, suggesting that this important antimutagenic pathway can proceed bidirectionally.

Base Composition↗
PubMed1988

Postnatal transformations of alveolar surfactant in the rabbit: changes in pool size, pool morphology and isoforms of the 32-38 kDa apolipoprotein.

To clarify perinatal transformations of surfactant we performed lung lavage in term fetuses and in 0-24-h-old newborn rabbits. Lavage fluid was separated into three pools, namely lavage pellet, lavage supernatant and cells. We found that at birth the pellet contains 94.1 +/- 1.4% (S.E.) saturated phosphatidylcholine, while the supernatant and cells contain traces of it. At birth the pellet contains secreted lamellar bodies while the supernatant lacks any recognizable structure. After birth, the alveolar saturated phosphatidylcholine level increases 5.1-times in 24 h, the proportions between pools reaching adult values in 90 min (pellet = 75.9 + 4.8%, supernatant = 22.7 +/- 4.9%), and small vesicles appear in the supernatant, probably originating from the turnover of alveolar surfactant during breathing. The saturated phosphatidylcholine associated with cells remains unchanged. At birth, the 32-38 kDa surfactant apolipoprotein appears to be less extensively sialylated than in adult life.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1988

Efficacy and safety of dexfenfluramine in obese patients: a multicenter study.

We have evaluated the effects of dextrofenfluramine treatment on body weight control during a 90 day period, in obese patients on a calorie-restricted diet. The weight loss in dextrofenfluramine-treated patients was significantly higher than in placebo group. The rate of weight loss was linear up to the end of the trial in d-fenfluramine patients. Neural disturbances (vertigo, headache, depression) were the most frequent side effects observed in both the d-fenfluramine and in the placebo-treated groups, without significant differences between the groups. A total number of 23 patients in the dextrofenfluramine group and 20 patients in the placebo group complained side effects. Six patients (five in the d-fenfluramine group and one in the placebo group) discontinued the treatment, due to the side effects. No modifications of the biochemical parameters considered (fasting blood glucose, bilirubin, alkaline phosphatase, creatinine, blood cell counts, asparate-amino transferase (AST), alanine-amino transferase (ALT), total plasma and HDL cholesterol, and triglycerides) were observed at the end of the trial. A significant reduction of total serum cholesterol was observed in both groups at the end of the period of treatment. In conclusion, dextrafenfluramine was proved to be in short term trials an effective and safe tool in overweight control in obese patients.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Turnover of phospholipids isolated from fractions of lung lavage fluid.

To clarify the steps following surfactant secretion, we injected adult rabbits with radioactive palmitate, lavaged the airways, removed the cells, separated by ultracentrifugation lavage components into two fractions (B and C), and followed the labeling of phospholipids of these fractions. The results were compatible with the view that total and saturated phosphatidylcholine are transferred from B to C. Furthermore, the fluxes of total and saturated phosphatidylcholine through fraction C (0.45 and 0.30 mumol . h-1 . g lung-1, respectively) were compatible with the actual estimates of surfactant recycling. The labeling of phosphatidylglycerol ruled out a simple precursor-product relationship between B and C but was compatible with a nonideal first-order relationship. The labeling of phosphatidylinositol, cardiolipin, and phosphatidylethanolamine was incompatible with the existence of a direct precursor-product relationship between B and C. The labeling of total and saturated phosphatidylcholine suggests that fraction B may be made by active surfactant, whereas fraction C may contain surfactant modified for reuptake or for reuptake and catabolism.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Analysis and comparative evaluations of the costs of supports and treatments of schizophrenia, affective psychosis, paranoia and neurosis].

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to show, trough the calculation of the direct costs of supports and treatments actually provided by a NHS Mental Health Department, the presence of associations between four diagnostic groups (schizophrenia, affective psychosis, paranoia and neurotic disorders) and their overall and items (community care, rehabilitation facilities and in-patients services) costs. SETTING: Mental Health Department and CSM "Scalo" (NHS Mental Centre), AUSL "Città di Bologna", Emilia-Romagna Region. DESIGN: Yearly direct costs were calculated for a sample (n = 75) of all patients (N = 745) who during 365 days had more than four contacts with CSM and also for four randomised diagnostic groups (n = 30 per group). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: We calculated unit costs of 15 types of services provided by CSM, selected according to the yearly number of services provided and the time spent by each health professional, and the in patient-cost per all days spent in a public or private sector hospital for psychiatric care. RESULTS: The statistic analysis, performed with the help of the Kruskal-Wallis test, showed significantly higher overall costs for the schizophrenic patients than the sample-group and the neurotic disorders-group; besides a significant difference in the item costs for rehabilitation facilities was found between the schizophrenic group and the paranoia, neurotic disorders groups and the sample one, whereas no significant differences in costs of inpatients services and drugs administration were tested between the groups. CONCLUSIONS: The results of our study allow to demonstrate that there are cost differences between the diagnosis (direct costs are highest for schizophrenic patients and lowest for those with neurotic disorders) and that the costs evaluation can be used to ensure appropriate provisions to Mental Health Department for support and treatment of a wide range of psychiatric disorders.

Cost of Illness↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Thyroid metastasis of a renal carcinoma. 3 clinical cases].

The clinical finding of metastasis to the thyroid is a very rare event. When a metastasis from a renal carcinoma is diagnosed, it is usually the distant evidence of a tumour discovered and removed surgically months or years before, or it may be the first clinical sign of an as yet undiagnosed asymptomatic renal tumour. A case of massive retrosternal goiter in a 65-year-old patient, operated on for a right renal carcinoma (nephrectomy 6 years before), is reported. The goiter, causing compression symptoms and dyspnoea, was treated by total thyroidectomy. The pathological diagnosis was metastasis from renal carcinoma. The authors present a second case of nodular goiter, in a 79-year-old woman, 9 years after a right nephrectomy for a renal carcinoma. The expanding nodule, diagnosed intraoperatively as carcinoma, was treated by total thyroidectomy. The postoperative pathological diagnosis was metastasis from renal carcinoma. The authors report a third case of an expanding nodule of the thyroid, in a 65-year-old patient, diagnosed intraoperatively as a metastasis from renal carcinoma, treated by right lobectomy and isthmusectomy. An abdominal CT scan revealed a renal asymptomatic tumor, treated by right nephrectomy. The diagnosis can be established by means of fine needle aspiration biopsy preoperatively or intra- or postoperative histology. Surgical therapy may resolve the compression symptoms and improve the prognosis.

Adenocarcinoma, Clear Cell↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[An uncommon application of counseling in medicine: encountering death in education and in practice].

If scientific knowledge can be acquired through a series of learning strategies that are made easier by the tutorial system, personal and relational training is a more complex task. In fact, it means acquiring a particular mental structure that one only reaches with personal development. The emotional management of patients and of their relatives also requires a set of psychological and communicative abilities that are inborn predispositions, but have to be nurtured: learning from experience, sympathetic listening, self insight and understanding, attention towards transference and counter-transference, cannot be acquired from theory, but have to be experienced and verified hands-on. Living other people's emotional experience is not easy; sympathizing means being able to identify with them, but at the same time, to perceive oneself as separate. Moreover, the contact with suffering and sickness amplifies problems of the self, activating a set of emotions and defence mechanisms. One may get caught into other people's suffering, and be influenced by fear and anguish. Approaching illness, pain and death already represents a border-line experience. Students have to overcome the reassuring reality of theoretical study to carry out a strong and complex relational experience: that of a never-ending alternation of taking care and separation, of fulfilment and frustration, of continuous professional and personal testing. The emotional urge is varied and uninterrupted: managing patients cannot be reduced to a protocol of interventions technically defined.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Counseling in Internal Medicine and Family Medicine: old and new needs of the patients].

INTRODUCTION: Present proliferation of so called Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM), reveals the patient's deep discomfort, as s/he does no longer perceive as satisfying the relation with his/her family doctor, thus wanting to seek for different solutions. The lack of a scientific basis of the majority of these medicines often causes an effective risk to health. OBJECTIVE: The survey highlights how the acquisition of expertise in Counselling, together with the more specific clinical ones, enables the physician to manage the many relational issues more adequately. This skill will allow physicians to meet patients' needs more effectively, and as a consequence, it will make them more satisfied of the relation which will loose its present anonymous and bureaucratic nature. The intrinsic dignity of the help relation will be restored and this will help to face the treatment processes even if these do not bring to recovery. CONCLUSIONS: The new expertise proposed to physicians, could be part of the new ECM programmes. It could also allow to verify, in Italy as well, if a medical class more prepared under this aspect, corresponds to a reduction of request for CAM, and consequently to a substantial improvement of the scientific dimension of personal professional vocation.

Complementary Therapies↗