PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

S Bevilacqua

Publications and source records attributed to S Bevilacqua.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

[Study of 12 epidemical cases of legionnaire's disease occurred in Meurthe-et-Moselle (France) between July and August 2004].

PATIENTS AND METHOD: To describe epidemiological, clinical, biological, radiological data and therapeutic features of legionnaire's disease during an outbreak occurring in Meurthe-et-Moselle between July-August 2004. RESULTS: 12 cases were recorded including 11 men, 6 smokers, 4 alcoholo-nicotinic, 3 diabetics, 3 with hemopathy, 1 with corticotherapy; in one case no risks factors were found; mean age was 68.5 years [minimum=48; maximum=96]. Nine cases had sudden symptoms. Nine cases had a fever up to 40 degrees C, 9 with dyspnoea, 7 with cough, 7 with a relative bradycardia, 3 with diarrhoea, 3 felt faint, 3 with confusion. Radiology: unilateral unilobe localisation in 10 cases. Biological data: cytolysis in 8 cases, CRP >300 mg/l in 8. The diagnosis confirmed with urinary antigen of Legionella pneumophila serogroup 1 (UrAgLp1) in 12 cases. In 2 cases, UrAgLp1 appeared negative between 3rd and 10th day after the beginning of a treatment although UrAgLp1 was positive before the treatment. In all cases, the first serology realised during first days following occurrence the first symptoms remained negative. Two serology of control in four were positive. One search of L. pneumophila serogroup 1 in sputum was positive in 7. Bitherapy was used in 7 cases with preferential association: fluoroquinolone+rifampicin. Two patients died. Origin of the contamination remains unknown. CONCLUSION: Culture of Legionella is essential, in epidemic context, to compare clinical and environmental Legionella and to locate the origin of contamination.

Aged↗
PubMed2004

[Causes and characteristics of death among HIV-1 infected patients with immunovirologic response to antiretroviral treatment].

INTRODUCTION: To analyse the causes of death among HIV-infected adults in France in the year 2000. METHODS: Based on data from a national survey, our study describes and analyses the causes and characteristics of patients with immunological and virological response (CD4>200/mm3, ARN-HIV<500 copies/mL), who died during antiretroviral treatment. RESULTS: Among a total of 964 deaths registered, data on 864 cases were available for analysis. One hundred forty-nine patients (17%)were immunovirological responders. The underlying causes of death were non AIDS-defining malignancies for 36 (24%), mainly due to lung cancer (16 cases), hepatocarcinoma (7) and ano-rectal carcinoma (3), AIDS for 22 (15%), mainly due to Non Hodgkin Lymphoma (10 cases) and uterine cancer (3), cardiovascular diseases for 22 (15%), post hepatitis C hepatic failure for 16 (11%), suicide for 16 (11%), and bacterial infections for 14(9%). When comparing characteristics of death in the 149 responders versus the 715 other patients, the responders were significantly more frequently: co-infected by HCV+ (45 vs. 33%), injected drug addicts (40 vs. 27%),alcoholics (38 vs. 28 %), and dyslipidemics (19 vs. 11%). In 2000,around 20% of registered deaths of HIV patients in France had occurred among good immunovirological responders. CONCLUSION: To further reduce mortality among such efficiently treated patients, attention must be focused on treatable conditions such as hepatitis C, dyslipidemia and on the prevention of malignancies such as lung cancer and cervical or ano-rectal carcinoma.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗
PubMed2003

Symptom-based approach to colorectal cancer: survey of primary care physicians in Italy.

BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer is a frequent cause of mortality in Western countries, including Italy, where a definite screening policy has not yet been adopted. It is likely that most patients with colorectal cancer refer, first of all, to their primary care physician at onset of symptoms. AIM: To perform a survey on the approach, of primary care physicians, to patients with symptoms suggesting the presence of colorectal cancer. METHODS: A total of 280 consecutive symptomatic patients without previous diagnosis of organic colon disease or recent colon investigation in whom, after consulting, 159 primary care physicians in Lazio (Italy) prescribed colonoscopy or double-contrast barium enema. RESULTS: Most frequent presenting symptoms were lower abdominal pain (79.6%), bloating (59.6%), constipation (47.8%), diarrhoea (30.3%), iron deficiency anaemia (24.6%), change in bowel habits (20.3%) and weight loss (15%). Colonoscopy and barium enema were equally advised by physicians to rule out the presence of cancer (56% versus 44%, P = ns). Cancer was found in 14.6% of patients. Age > 50 years and iron deficiency anaemia were the only independent variables associated with colorectal cancer (Odds ratios 9.0 and 8.8 at multivariate analysis, respectively). CONCLUSION: The symptom-based selection criteria used by primary care physicians have been shown to be scarcely effective. Colonic investigation should be requested, irrespective to the symptoms, in patients aged > 50 years with iron deficiency anaemia.

Adenoma↗
PubMed2003

Taxonomic sufficiency and the increasing insufficiency of taxonomic expertise.

Taxonomic sufficiency (TS) involves the identification of taxa only to a level of taxonomic resolution sufficient to permit the detection of changes in stressed assemblages. Recently, however, TS has been proposed also for conservation issues as a tool to estimate biodiversity over large areas and in poorly known environments. This paper briefly reviews the use of TS in environmental impact studies and the effects of TS on sampling procedures and data analyses. The risk of possible loss of information depending on TS and the studied environment are discussed. Concluding remarks deal with the dangers of loss of taxonomic expertise in marine biological studies and assess critically the proposal of TS as a tool to describe biodiversity at a taxonomic level higher than species.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

Inhaled nitric oxide: more than a selective pulmonary vasodilator.

Because of its high diffusing capacity through the alveolar-blood barrier and its high selectivity for the pulmonary vasculature, inhaled nitric oxide (NO) has been recently shown to be a viable and efficient approach to restore pulmonary NO deficiency. The most relevant applications of inhaled NO are in infants with primary pulmonary hypertension or hypoxia. In these patients, inhaled NO improves gas exchange and ventilation-perfusion matching, reduces the length of hospitalization and is without severe detrimental effects. The use of inhaled NO has also been extended to adults with pulmonary hypertension and the acute respiratory distress syndrome. In addition, recent clinical evidence supported by data from animal models, shows beneficial extra-pulmonary effects of inhaled NO, including protection against myocardial ischaemia-reperfusion injury.

Administration, Inhalation↗
PubMed2001

Growing dictyate oocytes, but not early preimplantation embryos, of the mouse display high levels of DNA homologous recombination by single-strand annealing and lack DNA nonhomologous end joining.

We have investigated the ability of growing dictyate oocytes and early preimplantation embryos of the mouse to process extrachromosomal DNA molecules with free ends by intranuclearly microinjecting DNA fragments containing a region of homology of various extent at either the 5' or 3' terminus. Homologous recombination of these fragments by single-strand annealing (SSA), but not other DNA recombination/joining mechanisms, resulted in the formation of a full-length hsp-lacZ-pA fusion gene that was transcriptionally activated by heat shock in growing oocytes and spontaneously at the early two-cell stage in the embryos, making it possible to quantitatively evaluate SSA activities of these cells by the beta-galactosidase produced. SSA activities of oocytes and embryos were similar in their general properties and in the activity levels observed with saturating amounts of DNA. However, embryo SSA was almost one order of magnitude less effective than that of oocytes. Oocyte and embryo 5' --> 3' exonuclease (a key function of the SSA pathway) and DNA nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ) activities were also investigated using an asymmetric PCR assay. Results showed that NHEJ is lacking in oocytes and is very prominent in the embryos, where it competes with SSA for the injected DNA.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

Tolerability of postexposure prophylaxis with zidovudine, lamivudine, and nelfinavir for human immunodeficiency virus infection.

Tolerability of the combination of zidovudine, lamivudine, and nelfinavir used as postexposure prophylaxis (PEP) for HIV infection was prospectively evaluated among 185 patients at 11 hospitals in eastern France. After exclusion of the 106 persons who discontinued PEP either because the source patient subsequently tested HIV seronegative or because the injury was reassessed as resulting in a low risk for transmission of HIV, 67 (85%) of the patients who received such PEP experienced adverse effects, which led to withdrawal of nelfinavir in 28 (35%) of these patients.

Anti-HIV Agents↗
PubMed1995

Stage-specific regulation of murine Hsp68 gene promoter in preimplantation mouse embryos.

In early mouse embryos, the major inducible heat shock gene, hsp68, is spontaneously and transiently activated at the two-cell stage and becomes heat-inducible around blastocyst stage. We have probed mouse embryo's ability to activate the promoter of this gene during preimplantation development by expression analysis of DNA constructs containing a reporter lacZ gene driven by hsp68 (hsp70A1) 5'-regulatory sequences of various length: (i) a full-length promoter (construct phsplacZ); (ii) a heat shock element (HSE)-deleted promoter (p delta 1hsplacZ); and (iii) a minimal, proximal promoter (p delta 2hsplac Z). When analyzed in transfected L-cells, phsplacZ was heat-inducible, while neither p delta 1hsplacZ nor p delta 2hsplacZ was. Developmental activity of the full-length construct was first analyzed after genome integration in transgenic embryos and found to follow endogenous hsp68 expression in terms of spontaneous activation at the 2-cell stage, down-regulation at the 4-cell stage, and acquisition of heat inducibility at the 16/32-cell stage. In transient expression experiments, injected phsplacZ, p delta 1hsplacZ, and p delta 2hsplacZ were expressed at similar levels by 2-cell embryos, independently of construct topology and injection stage. At the 4-cell stage, however, phsplacZ and p delta 1hsplacZ were expressed at similar levels, while p delta 2hsplacZ was inactive. Only phsplacZ became heat-inducible in late morulas. We conclude that in early mouse embryos, developmental activity of episomic hsp68 promoter depends on proximal sequences at the 2-cell stage and on putative enhancer sequences at the 4-cell stage, while HSEs appear dispensable during early cleavage.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

[Value of the stool bacteriological test in Mycobacterium avium complex infections in AIDS].

Incidence of Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) infection has increased in HIV infected patients. We report a retrospective study of 25 cases of MAC infection occurring in HIV patients. Stools examination was performed in 5 (31%) of the patients without digestive symptoms and in the 9 (100%) patients presenting with diarrhoea. The stools culture are positive in 79% of cases (11/14). In all the patients with diarrhoea, direct examination of the stools gave the diagnosis of MAC infection. All the patients had profound immunodepression with CD4+ cell count < 5/mm3. The mean survival time from mycobacteriosis diagnosis was 122 +/- 90 days despite antimycobacteriosis therapy.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗
PubMed1994

Glycogen turnover during refeeding in the postabsorptive dog: implications for the estimation of glycogen formation using tracer methods.

Recent 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (13C-NMR) studies in the anesthetized rat and perfused liver suggest that hepatic glycogen is simultaneously synthesized and degraded, even during combined hyperglycemia and hyperinsulinemia. The presence of glycogen turnover would confound efforts to study glycogen repletion with the use of tracer methods during feeding, particularly if the liver is not glycogen-depleted. To ascertain whether glycogen turnover occurs during normal feeding, we measured liver uptake of glucose in 10 awake, healthy, postabsorptive dogs with long-term arterial, portal, and hepatic venous catheters before and for 3 hours after a meal of either glucose alone (1.5 g/kg) or glucose supplemented with crystalline amino acids (0.7 g/kg); the meal was labeled with D-[3-3H]glucose and [U-14C]alanine. Liver glycogen level was measured in biopsies obtained before and at 180 minutes after the meal. The postabsorptive liver glycogen content was 4.3 +/- 0.9 g/100 g, and net hepatic glucose release averaged 1.8 +/- 0.3 mg/min/kg. Over the 3 hours following feeding, the liver took up glucose (0.37 +/- 0.14 and 0.33 +/- 0.16 g/kg body weight in dogs receiving glucose and glucose with amino acids, respectively). At 3 hours, glycogen synthesis from D-[3-3H]glucose in the two groups averaged 0.24 +/- 0.09 and 0.22 +/- 0.05 g/kg, or approximately 15% of the ingested glucose load. 14C-glucose also was found in liver glycogen, demonstrating ongoing hepatic gluconeogenesis.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed1993

[Autotransfusion: its use in a case of spontaneous splenic rupture in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma].

The article refers to autotransfusion experience in a patient affected by lymphoma (not Hodgkin type), who reached surgery for haemoperitoneum caused by the spontaneous rupture of the spleen. Considering the pathology, this method brought unpredictable variations in the hemochrome thus leading to a deep reflection on the limitations of the use of autotransfusion.

Blood Transfusion, Autologous↗
PubMed1991

[Treatment of Crohn's disease in the acute phase].

The authors sent a questionnaire containing a series of questions dealing with acute manifestations of Crohn's disease, to eminent surgeons of different surgical schools. Results are interesting because differences are quite evident. In terminal ileitis mimicking acute appendicitis, 75% of surgeons perform an appendectomy. In the case of on acute intestinal obstruction, resection of the diseased bowel with primary anastomosis is preferred. In case of free perforation of the lesion, abdominal and massive hemorrhage, answers need to be analyzed in details.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1990

Operation of Randle's cycle in patients with NIDDM.

It has been suggested that the insulin resistance of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) may be caused by substrate competition between glucose and free fatty acids (FFAs) (Randle's cycle). We measured substrate oxidation and energy metabolism in 10 nonobese untreated NIDDM patients with fasting glucose levels of 7-8 mM with indirect calorimetry in the basal state and during an isoglycemic-hyperinsulinemic (approximately 100 mU/L) clamp without (control) and with a concomitant infusion (approximately 0.35 mmol/min) of Intralipid, a triglyceride emulsion. In the control study, fasting rates of total glucose turnover [( 3-3H]glucose) and glucose and lipid oxidation (9.4 +/- 1.4, 7.3 +/- 1.3, and 3.0 +/- 0.4 mumol.kg-1.min-1, respectively) were comparable with those of nondiabetic individuals. After insulin administration, lipid oxidation was normally suppressed (to 1.3 +/- 0.3 mumol.kg-1.min-1, P less than 0.01), as were the circulating levels of FFA, glycerol, and beta-hydroxybutyrate, whereas glucose oxidation doubled (14.1 +/- 1.8 mumol.kg-1.min-1, P less than 0.01). Because glycemia was clamped at 7.5 mM, endogenous glucose production (EGP) was completely suppressed, and total glucose disposal was stimulated (to 25.7 +/- 5.2 mumol.kg-1.min-1, P less than 0.01 vs. baseline), but glucose clearance (3.6 +/- 0.8 ml.kg-1.min-1) was 30% reduced compared with normal. With concomitant lipid infusion, FFA, glycerol, and beta-hydroxybutyrate all rose during the clamp; correspondingly, lipid oxidation was maintained at fasting rates (3.6 +/- 0.2 mumol.kg-1.min-1, P less than 0.01 vs. control).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Blood Glucose↗
PubMed1989

[Anti H2 receptors and perforated peptic ulcer. Review of 442 cases].

H2 blockers have accelerated the reduction in elective peptic ulcer surgery but appear to have had no equivalent effect on the incidence of perforated ulcer success. A 13 year (1975-1987) review of perforated peptic ulcer is presented. The mean annual number of operations for perforation fell from 8.21% to 4.93% after 1980, while the number of operations for perforated gastric ulcer in this period was almost unchanged. A significant reduction was found in mean annual rates for perforated duodenal ulcer from 6.86% to 3.82% after 1980, while the number of operations for perforated gastric ulcer in this period was almost unchanged.

Cohort Studies↗