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Biomedical subjects

V Lo Cascio

Publications and source records attributed to V Lo Cascio.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1986

Treatment of Paget's disease of bone with intravenous 4-amino-1-hydroxybutylidene-1,1-bisphosphonate.

4-amino-1-hydroxybutylidene-1,1-bisphosphonate (AHButBP) was given intravenously (2.5-25 mg/day for 4 days) to 14 patients with Paget's disease of bone, five of whom had been treated with dichloromethylidene bisphosphonate (C12MBP) 32 months earlier. In the nine patients who had not been treated previously with bisphosphonates, the short course of AHButBP induced a suppression of serum alkaline phosphatase and urinary hydroxyproline values down to 30% of initial values. The biochemical suppression of the disease was sustained for 2-18 months and the time to relapse did correlate to the logarithm of the dose (P less than 0.001). In the five patients previously treated for Paget's disease, an apparent resistance to treatment with AHButBP was observed. However, in these patients both serum alkaline phosphatase and urinary hydroxyproline fell to or even below the nadir values which had previously been achieved with C12MBP, irrespective of the degree of relapse. Thus the degree of suppression of Paget's disease of bone, achievable after treatment with bisphosphonates, seems to be constant for each patient, such that normal levels of serum alkaline phosphatase and urinary hydroxyproline cannot usually be attained in patients with extremely active disease.

Alendronate↗
PubMed1985

Diagnostic value of urinary cyclic AMP measurement in patients with calcium nephrolithiasis.

One hundred patients with recurrent calcium nephrolithiasis were submitted to the Pak test. At fasting state hypercalciuria was found in 27 cases, while a group of 16 further patients became hypercalciuric after oral calcium load. Only measurement of urinary cAMP excretion in both conditions made it possible to diagnose renal hypercalciuria in 9 out of 27 patients in the former group; according to test results 4 patients were expected to have primary hyperparathyroidism, but afterwards the disease was identified in only one case.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed1985

Dichloromethylene-diphosphonate in patients with prostatic carcinoma metastatic to the skeleton.

A total of 17 patients with multiple osteoblastic bone metastases owing to prostatic carcinoma was treated with 2-dichloromethylene-diphosphonate, a powerful inhibitor of bone resorption. The drug was given intravenously (300 mg.) for 2 weeks and then orally (3,200 mg.) or intramuscularly (100 mg.) for 4 to 11 weeks. A definite improvement in pain, assessed by daily consumption of analgesic drugs and by an analogic scale, was observed within 10 days in 16 of the 17 patients. Four patients confined to bed rest for pain were able to walk after 2 weeks and reversal of paralysis also was noted in 1 patient. Transient changes in serum calcium (decreasing) and alkaline phosphatase (increasing) were observed in most patients. In the 3 patients in whom it was performed, repeated bone scanning showed a partial regression of pathological areas in 2 and the complete disappearance of most pathological areas in 1. Our results suggest that 2-dichloromethylene-diphosphonate may represent an important supportive treatment in patients with bone metastases owing to prostatic carcinoma, providing sustained relief of pain and regression of bone destruction without undesirable side effects.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Response of Paget's disease to human calcitonin in patients resistant to porcine calcitonin.

Eleven patients with Paget's disease of bone, treated intermittently for 2-4 years with porcine calcitonin (pCT) and clinically resistant to pCT [no modifications of serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and urinary hydroxyproline ( uHOP ) during pCT administration] were treated with 0.5-0.25 mg/day of human calcitonin (hCT) for 3-6 months. Nine of our patients showed biochemical improvement during the first 2 months of treatment, with reduction in ALP and uHOP . In one patient with slightly increased ALP and uHOP , and in another one during the second treatment course, hCT treatment did not modify the biochemical indices of bone disease. However all patients, including those with biochemical resistance, experienced a remarkable diminution of bone pain, which had not been observed during previous pCT treatment courses. Therefore, hCT appears to be indicated for therapeutic use in patients who are resistant to foreign calcitonins.

Aged↗
PubMed1984

Simultaneous measurement of 1.25-dihydroxy-vitamin D, 24.25-dihydroxy-vitamin D and 25-hydroxy-vitamin D from a single two milliliters serum specimen. Preliminary clinical application.

A simple method for extraction, purification and separation of the principal vitamin D metabolites from a single serum sample is described. The method involved extraction of serum with acetonitrile followed by a first purification employing C-18 Sep-pak cartridges eluted with methanol/water and acetonitrile. Final separation before assay was carried out by high pressure liquid chromatography. 1.25-dihydroxy-vitamin D was measured with radioimmunoassay using an antiserum (S11) with high selectivity for 1 alpha-OH function of the hormone at a final dilution of 1:100,000. 24.25-dihydroxy-vitamin D and 25-hydroxy-vitamin D were measured employing a competitive binding assay with normal rat serum at a final dilution of 1:10,000 as source of binding protein. The mean (+/- SD) serum 1.25-dihydroxy-vitamin D, 24.25-dihydroxy-vitamin D and 25-hydroxy-vitamin D concentrations for a group of healthy subjects were 50.4 +/- 17.3 pg/ml, 2.3 +/- 2.6 ng/ml and 20.8 +/- 12.3 ng/ml, respectively. 1.25-dihydroxy-vitamin D concentrations were low or undetectable in patients on dialysis or with mild renal failure. High 1.25-dihydroxy-vitamin D levels were found in 2 out of 17 patients with primary hyperparathyroidism. In 4 normal subjects treated for two weeks with large doses of 25-hydroxy-vitamin D, serum 25-hydroxy-vitamin D rose from 12.5 ng/ml to 119 ng/ml and from 0.89 ng/ml to 15 ng/ml, respectively; no changes in the 1.25-dihydroxy-vitamin D assay were found.

24,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D 3↗
PubMed1984

Sequential treatment of Paget's disease with human calcitonin and dichloromethylene diphosphonate (Cl2MDP).

Dichloromethylene diphosphonate (Cl2MDP), a powerful inhibitor of bone resorption, was given (daily dose: 500 mg i.v. for 2 months and then 1600 mg p.o.) to five patients with Paget's disease after 8 months treatment with 50-100 MRC u/day of human calcitonin (CT). During treatment with CT plasma alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and urinary hydroxyproline (HOP) levels fell to about 60% of pretreatment values within the first 2 months in all the patients. Cl2MDP therapy resulted in a further drop of urinary HOP to 20% of baseline values, while serum ALP rose impressively during the first 2 weeks of therapy and then slowly fell to 25% of baseline values. We conclude that Cl2MDP can induce a further biochemical response after the so-called plateau phenomenon to CT and that it may represent the therapy of choice for severe Paget's disease.

Aged↗
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

Calcium and parathyroid hormone behaviour after exogenous secretin infusion in man.

The response of serum calcium, PTH, CT and gastrin to an infusion of secretin (3 CU/kg/h) over a period of 90 min was studied in ten healthy males and two female patients with hypoparathyroidism. In the healthy males serum calcium, after a transient fall, significantly increased at 45 min after the onset of the infusion (P less than 0.001). Serum iPTH rose significantly within 5 min whereas serum CT and gastrin concentrations did not change. The two hypoparathyroid patients did not show any variations in either serum iPTH or calcium. These findings suggest that infusion of pharmacological doses of secretin into normal subjects modifies serum calcium, and that this change is due to PTH release.

Calcitonin↗
PubMed1981

Effect of graded doses of secretin on parathormone serum levels in man.

5 healthy volunteers were submitted to i.v. infusion for 45 min of graded doses of commercial GIH secretin (0.01, 0.025, 0.05, 0.5, 1 and 2 CU/kg h-1). Parathormone serum levels were measured before and during the infusion. All the dosages of exogenous secretin were followed by a significant increase in serum PTH levels in a dose-dependent fashion. Commercial GIH secretin, even at low doses, seems to increase circulating parathyroid hormone levels significantly.

Dose-Response Relationship, Drug↗
PubMed1980

Fine structure of nuclei and cytoplasm of osteoclasts in Paget's disease of bone.

To investigate the fine structural features of nuclei and cytoplasm in osteoclasts from patients with Paget's disease of bone, eight bone biopsies were examined. Unusual paracrystalline filamentous formations were found with the nuclei of both actively resorbing and degenerating osteoclasts. These formations were made up of parallel arranged filaments which, in most cases, clustered together regularly. The filaments were slightly argyrophilic and this helped to differentiate them from the surrounding nuclear matrix, even when they were not aggregated in clusters. Argyrophilic filaments were also found loosely aggregated inside the cytoplasm of osteoclasts. In three biopsies two additional and unusual cytoplasmic inclusions were found. The first consisted of irregularly branching, highly argyrophilic membranous strands which were located inside membrane-bound vacuoles. The second consisted of spindle-shaped structures enclosed by two membranes and containing three or more tubules. It is suggested that these results stand as further morphological evidence in favour of the view that a virus, possibly of the paramyxovirus class, has a pathogenetic role in Paget's disease of bone.

Aged↗
PubMed1979

[Incidence of thyroid diseases in primary hyperparathyroidism].

The incidence of thyroid diseases was evaluated in patients with primary hyperparathyroidism subjected to parathyroidectomy. Eleven patients (26.8%) were affected in this way: 2 with carcinoma, 5 with nodular goitre, and 4 with adenoma. The possible reasons for associations of this kind are discussed, and it is suggested that their high frequency points to a relationship of cause and affect.

Adenoma↗
PubMed1979

Fasting serum gastrin in primary hyperparathyroidism and in chronic hypercalcemia.

In order to investigate the frequency of fasting hypergastrinaemia in primary hyperparathyroidism (A) and in chronic hypercalcaemia (B), in 40 and 16 patients respectively gastrin, parathyroid hormone (PTH) and serum calcium levels were measured and compared with those of a control group (40 subjects) with similar distribution of sex and age. Moreover, possible linear relationships between these parameters were investigated. Notwithstanding significant differences in calcium and PTH levels between the three groups (A: high PTH, high Ca++; B: low PTH, high Ca++; C: normal PTH and Ca++ levels), no significant difference in gastrin levels were found. However, in the first group, a marked increase of gastrin was observed in one patient, very probably affected by a gastrin-secreting tumor (positive secretin test). While no linear relationship between PTH and gastrin values was present in all the three groups, a significant correlation between serum calcium and fasting gastrin was detectable in the group A, ruling-out the above mentioned patient. Present data suggest that PTH does not modify gastrin levels and that chronic moderate hypercalcaemia does not raise serum fasting gastrin, at least in clinical conditions. Moreover, the frequency of hypergastrinaemia in hyperparathyroidism is very low and it seems to be present only in patients with gastrin-secreting tumors.

Adult↗