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Biomedical subjects

R Micciolo

Publications and source records attributed to R Micciolo.

105 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
PubMed1983

Serum primary bile acids in chronic alcoholic pancreatitis.

Since cholestasis is a common, although poorly recognized, complication of chronic pancreatitis, and bile acids seem to be a sensitive index of cholestasis, fasting and post-prandial s-cholic and s-chenodeoxycholic acids were determined by radioimmunoassay in 48 chronic alcoholic pancreatitis patients (CP) and 22 healthy controls (C). Patients were grouped as follows: chronic pancreatitis with and without cholestasis; chronic pancreatitis operated on or not. A statistically significant increase in both CA and CDCA was observed in CP with cholestasis vis-a-vis C. In the CP without cholestasis and with normal biliary tract the average CA and CDCA values were also higher than in C, even though the difference was not statistically significant. No difference was observed between patients submitted or not submitted to pancreojejunostomy. The CA/CDCA ratio was increased in all CP subgroups, even in the patients without cholestasis, with significant difference only for some samples. Thus an increase in serum bile acids can be detected.

Alcoholism↗
PubMed1983

[Multivariate statistical analysis in predicting bronchopulmonary complications after surgical interventions in cancer of the lung].

A multivaried statistic process, the linear discriminant analysis, applied to VEMS, CV, I.T., FEF 25-75, pH, PaO2, PaCO2, was used by the authors to foresee, in 42 patients suffering from bronchogenous carcinoma, the arising or absence of respiratory complications after operation. With such method, the falsely positive or negative previsions, resulted to be 13 with a total percentage of error as high as 30%. These results suggest that, even when elaborated through the multivaried analysis, the parameters studied do not allow to adequately discriminate the patients who would develop, after operation, bronchopulmonary complications from those who would be exent from them.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

Contribution of four markers of tubular proteinuria in detecting upper urinary tract infections. A multivariate analysis.

The presence of tubular involvement, as a marker for the detection of urinary tract infection (UTI) site, was examined in 19 patients with pyelonephritis and in 15 patients with cystitis or asymptomatic bacteriuria. The urinary excretion of four markers of tubular proteinuria, beta 2-microglobulin (beta 2M), lysozyme (LZ), lactic dehydrogenase isoenzyme V (LAD-5) and N-acetyl-beta D-glucosaminidase (NAG), was investigated. LAD-5 appeared particularly valuable for the early detection of upper UTI. However, the overall diagnostic accuracy appeared to be further strengthened using, besides LAD-5, one additional variable. A set of simple and noninvasive biochemical tests on urine samples can reliably help to identify the site of UTI.

Acetylglucosaminidase↗
PubMed1982

Duodenal ulcer in chronic relapsing pancreatitis.

Frequency of duodenal ulcer in patients with chronic pancreatitis is still controversial. This study aims to prospectively investigate the frequency of duodenal ulcer in a group of 190 patients (162 males and 28 females) affected by chronic relapsing pancreatitis admitted to our department between 1970 and 1979. 41 cases (21.5%) were endoscopically observed (22% of the males and 17.9% of the females; male:female ratio 1.2:1). Drinking habits, cigarette consumption, presence of pancreatic calcifications and surgery did not affect the frequency of duodenal ulcer. Exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, as fecal fat excretion higher than 7 g/day, seems to be linked with an increased frequency of duodenal ulcer (exact Fisher's test: p = 0.0586). Moreover, duodenal ulcer was present in about one third of the patients who afterwards died, but it was the cause of death in only 1 case. Even if a prospective control population is lacking, the male:female ratio of duodenal ulcer in chronic pancreatitis seems to be different from that observed in a comparable hospitalized group (1.2:1 vs. 2.4:1) and from that reported in literature in the general adult population.

Alcohol Drinking↗
PubMed1980

Adipose tissue cellularity and weight reduction forecastin.

Seventy-six obese female outpatients underwent controlled 1000 kcal diets (50% carbohydrate, 25% fat, 25% protein). Prior-to-treatment data underwent "step-wise" multiple regression analysis to investigate the possibility of predicting body weight after 6 months of treatment (y), Body weight can be forecast using a linear regression function. This function, based on initial weight (x1) and adipose cell weight (x2), uses the equation y = 9.75 + 0.87x1 - 8.41x2 (F = 696.53; P less than 0.001; R2 = 0.95). Afterwards, patients were subdivided into three groups according to the difference between 6th and 12th month body weights: weight loss, weight stable, and weight increase groups. Weight gaining patients showed a significantly higher mean fat cell number, weight lossers had a higher mean adipose cell weight than the other two groups.

Adipose Tissue↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Correspondence analysis in a study of the clinical evolution of uncomplicated chronic relapsing alcoholic pancreatitis.

This paper gives an example of the use of correspondence analysis in a study of the risk factors of surgery in uncomplicated chronic relapsing alcoholic pancreatitis (UCRAP) where censored observations are present. Ninety-seven patients were admitted to a long-term follow-up project on the clinical evolution of UCRAP. During follow-up 61 patients underwent surgery, while the observations for the remaining 36 patients were censored. Correspondence analysis was performed on three prognostic variables, selected by a preliminary univariate analysis. A supplementary variable indicating the state of each patient at a particular time (still in follow-up, operated on, lost to follow-up), was projected onto the best factor plane chosen by correspondence analysis. Cox's proportional hazards regression model was also used with the scores of patients on the factor axes as independent variables to evaluate their prognostic importance. Both correspondence analysis and the Cox model showed that the first two axes provide important prognostic information. Furthermore, the former suggested a pattern of censorship for patients with observations censored after 5 years of follow-up. The results of this study confirm that correspondence analysis may be useful in follow-up studies by providing graphic display of important information relative both about the event under study and about censored observations.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Starvation-induced insulin resistance: influence on 3-O-methylglucose transport.

Starvation causes insulin resistance which is partly due to decrease of insulin action on glucose transport in target cells. Preliminary data from other authors suggest that starvation is associated with an increase of the time necessary for insulin to exert its maximum effect on glucose transport. In order to verify this finding, 3-O-methylglucose (3OMG) transport was studied in isolated rat adipocytes from starved and fed rats. The total intracellular space for 3OMG was not modified by 48h starvation. After 48h starvation, 3OMG transport into fat cells was less responsive to maximum insulin concentration than in controls: 33 +/- 2% (controls) vs 23 +/- 4% (starved) of total glucose space, p less than 0.05; the sensitivity to insulin was normal or even increased in comparison to controls: 50% of maximum effect was reached at 42 microU/ml insulin in controls and at 26 microU/ml insulin in starved animals. We could not find any effect of starvation on the time-response curves of insulin action.

3-O-Methylglucose↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Elastase-1 vs trypsin, lipase and amylase serum levels in pancreatic diseases.

Serum levels of elastase-1 were measured in 174 patients with pancreatic diseases and in 131 controls and were compared with the circulating levels of trypsin, lipase and amylase and with clinical data. In 48 patients with chronic pancreatitis serum enzyme levels were also compared with the pancreatic exocrine capacity. About 50% of the patients with chronic pancreatic disease showed increased levels of serum elastase, sometimes even in the face of long lasting pain-free periods, and/or of severe pancreatic impairment. On the contrary, serum trypsin and lipase were almost always either normal or below the normal range in the absence of painful relapses and/or in the presence of an impairment of the exocrine pancreatic function. A strict correlation was found between elastase-1 and trypsin (r = 0.778) and lipase (r = 0.834). However, controls and patients with chronic pancreatic diseases behaved differently, an increase in trypsin and in lipase levels being associated in the patients with chronic pancreatitis with an increase in elastase-1 values significantly larger than that observed in controls. These findings raise the hypothesis, at present unproven, that trypsin and lipase serum assays are more reliable indices of pancreatic exocrine function, whereas serum elastase-1 levels may indicate the presence of acute pancreatic episodes, even if subclinical, the importance of which, in the natural history of the disease, remains unknown.

Acute Disease↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Prognostic score in liver cirrhosis developed using the Cox's proportional hazard regression model.

In order to assess the prognostic value of clinical and laboratory variables in liver cirrhosis, 36 of these variables were statistically analyzed in 151 patients followed up for 8 years. The 'survival time' was taken as the reference variable. In a first step we analyzed by log-rank test and by Cox's proportional hazard regression model the data of 98 patients (study group), obtaining 7 prognostically significant variables (age, leukocytes, calcium, potassium, globulins, cholesterol and previous diagnosis). From the regression coefficients of these variables, a risk score was obtained for each patient. To validate the prognostic value of this score, we computed it, using the same coefficients obtained in the study group, in 53 subsequently examined patients (control group) showing that the prognostic score allows the classification of these patients in 3 risk classes with different observed survival times.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Geographical variation in the seasonality of suicide.

This paper reports the results of a study on the seasonal variation of suicides occurred in Italy during the years 1969-1981. We found evidence for a cyclical pattern with one cycle per year for North/Central as well as for South Italy with no difference between the two parts in the variance explained by it. However, urban regions showed a higher seasonality than the rural parts of Italy, independently of their geographical location. To account for these findings, the hypothesis of a strong seasonal related urban rhythm has been put forward.

Climate↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Probabilistic models to analyze psychiatric contacts].

OBJECTIVE: To present three probabilistic models (Poisson, negative binomial, Waring) to analyze the distribution of the number of contacts of patients followed using a psychiatric case register. DESIGN: Longitudinal to obtain the distribution of the number of contacts (during 91 days following that of the first contact) observed on patients followed using the South-Verona Psychiatric Case Register during the period 1/1/79-31/12/91. RESULTS: There were a total number of 6913 contacts on 3454 subjects. The chi-square test for the goodness of fit yields a significant result both for the Poisson distribution (3580 with 6 degrees of freedom, p < 0.001) and for the negative binomial distribution (65.47 with 18 degrees of freedom, p < 0.001); on the other hand a non significant result was obtained for the Waring distribution (25.31 with 19 degrees of freedom, p = 0.151). CONCLUSIONS: The Poisson distribution gave a very poor fit for the distribution of contacts. The negative binomial distribution could be employed to analyze the pattern of contacts when the right tail of the distribution is not important. The Waring distribution is the best of the three presented. Moreover, the variance of the Waring distribution can be decomposed in three components: a random component, a component which accounts for endogenous factors and another component which accounts for esogenous factors. Therefore the Waring distribution is useful when one wants to make comparisons between psychiatric case registers of the same country or of different countries.

Humans↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Effect of glipizide on insulin secretion and insulin metabolism in obese type II diabetic patients.

This study was designed to explore the short-term effect of glipizide on insulin secretion and metabolism. Plasma insulin and C-peptide levels in the fasting state and after a 100-g oral glucose load were measured in 17 obese newly diagnosed type II (non-insulin-dependent) diabetic subjects before and after 1 mo of treatment with glipizide (15 mg/day). Plasma glucose levels decreased significantly after treatment with glipizide. Plasma insulin and C-peptide concentrations in the fasting state did not change after glipizide treatment. Also, postglucose plasma insulin levels did not change after glipizide, whereas postglucose plasma C-peptide concentrations significantly increased. A significant relationship was found between the increase in C-peptide plasma levels and the decrease in glycemic profile after glucose load following glipizide treatment. The relation between plasma C-peptide and insulin incremental areas after the oral glucose load significantly increased after treatment. These results suggest that in obese type II diabetic patients, 1 mo of treatment with glipizide potentiates the beta-cell response to oral glucose load and increases insulin metabolism, probably within the liver.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Glucose tolerance and blood lipids in bran-fed patients with impaired glucose tolerance.

Thirty-eight patients (13 men and 25 women) with impaired glucose tolerance, aged 33--70 yr, underwent a dietary program adding 20 g of raw bran to their usual diet without changing their dietary habits. After 1 mo of treatment, the areas under the curves for glucose and insulin were reduced from 26,214 +/- 5618 to 24,529 +/- 5207 g/min (P < 0.001) and from 15,893 +/- 9714 to 12,440 +/- 7377 mU/min (P < 0.001), respectively, cholesterol was reduced from 234 +/- 40 to 212 +/- 29 mg/dl (P < 0.001), and triglycerides were reduced from 108 +/- 56 to 97 +/- 50 mg/dl (P < 0.05). Body weight (initially 128.44% relative body weight) decrease 0.8% (P < 0.02). After the first month, 14 subjects were studied for a further 2 mo. Six patients continued bran feeding, and eight, who stopped bran, were used as controls. Patients who took bran maintained metabolic improvement over the 3-mo treatment period, while those who stopped bran did not.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Application of the OWAS method in the study of work postures among quarry manual workers].

BACKGROUND: Previous ergonomic and epidemiologic studies revealed high postural risk (exceeding the N.I.O.S.H. recommended limits) and relevant damage (significant excess of acute and chronic lumbosacral spinal disease) among the labourers in porphyry quarries in the Province of Trento (Italy). METHODS: An analysis of work postures was made with the OWAS (Ovako Working postures Analysing System) method. RESULTS: A high prevalence of work postures that have a harmful effect on the musculoskeletal system was found. Working methods need to be changed as soon as possible. CONCLUSIONS: The use of the OWAS method permits a detailed analysis of working conditions in order to identify and re-design the activities causing ergonomically problematic postures.

Data Interpretation, Statistical↗