Biomedical subjects

R Iuliano

Publications and source records attributed to R Iuliano.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1991

[Lactoferrin].

Lactoferrin is a protein present in many fluids of the human organism and in the secondary granules of polymorphonuclear cells (PMN). In the blood stream lactoferrin favours the segregation of PMN by mediating and amplifying the immune response, and realizes a negative feedback control on the Colony Forming Unit Granulocyte/Macrophage (CFU-GM) proliferation. At intestinal level it promotes iron absorption and prevents bacterial overgrowth. The antibacterial effect of lactoferrin is used clinically to prevent bacterial infections in neutropenic patients submitted to chemotherapy for leukemic diseases type M1, M2, M4 and M5, according to FAB criteria. In patients affected by chronic pancreatitis the lactoferrin concentration, in duodenal juice, is found to be significantly higher than in normal subjects. This finding suggests a pathogenetic role of the protein in chronic pancreatitis.

Bacteria↗

PubMed1989

Antitissue antibodies in chronic pancreatitis.

Organ- and nonorgan-specific autoantibodies (AA) have been investigated in 49 patients affected by alcoholic or idiopathic chronic pancreatitis (CP) to evaluate their prevalence and correlation with the clinical features of the disease. AA have been found in about 50% of CP and their recurrence rate was similar to that of alcoholic or cryptogenic liver cirrhosis (LC); age- and sex-matched healthy subjects (C) showed only about 8% positive sera (C vs. CP, p less than 0.001). Quite different IFL patterns between CP and LC have been detected. Antibrush border, antireticulin and antigastric parietal cell antibodies alone or combined prevailed in CP, while antinuclear and antismooth muscle AA prevailed in LC. No correlation with sex, age, etiology, presence of pancreatic stones, diabetes, symptoms and years of CP was found for one or more AA. In conclusion, the detection of AA in CP is a quite common finding of still unclear clinical significance.

Alcoholism↗

PubMed1987

Increased incidence of cancer in chronic pancreatitis.

Patients affected by chronic pancreatitis were followed between 1970 and 1984 in a study set up to evaluate the natural history of the disease. The study population included 172 consecutive patients diagnosed as having chronic pancreatitis in the Gastroenterology Unit of the S. Giovanni Battista Hospital in Torino, Italy. Of them, 23 were found to be affected by cancer during the 14-year follow-up period. The incidence calculated using the person-year method was compared with data from the General Population Cancer Registry of Piemonte Region. The age-specific relative risks of cancer were increased manifold. Sex- and age-specific relative risks were markedly increased for liver, tongue, lip, and rectum tumors in males, and for liver, bone, and breast tumors in females. Selection bias did not seem to be an adequate explanation of this association. Survival curves were plotted by the estimation methods of Cutler-Ederer with year intervals for the complete study population and for the different type of cancer. Known risk factors and indicators for the expected tumors were evaluated by the Cox Proportional Hazard Regression Model. The incidence of cancer increases significantly with age but not with smoking, alcohol use, and diabetes. Our epidemiological study suggests an increased risk of pancreatic as well as extrapancreatic cancer in patients with chronic pancreatitis compared with the general population. Cancer seems to be a main determinant in the natural history of the disease.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Early gastric cancer. Survival and prognostic factors in 95 consecutive cases].

In order to characterize prognostic factors and therapeutic strategies for EGC, we have studied 95 patients operated on from 1980 to 1988. EGC was limited to the mucosa in 36% and extended to the submucosa in 64% of the cases. Lymph nodes involvement was observed in 13 patients; in 12 of them EGC extended to the submucosa. Gastric resection was performed in 73 and total gastrectomy in 22 patients with a postoperative mortality of 6% and 16% respectively. During the follow-up 8 patients died for causes related to EGC, 8 for unrelated causes. The 5 years survival rate was 79, without differences according to site, type, size and histology of EGC, lymph nodes involvement, type of gastrectomy; only EGC limited to the mucosa was associated with a better survival experience (96% vs 70% of tumors extended to the submucosa p less than 0.05). The prognosis of EGC is good and a curative surgery may be accomplished, especially if the lesion is limited to the mucosa. In EGC extended to the submucosa an accurate lymphadenectomy may further improve the prognosis, while total gastrectomy--de principe--carries a higher postoperative mortality, without significant improvement of the long term prognosis.

Adult↗