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Biomedical subjects

A Agnoli

Publications and source records attributed to A Agnoli.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1985

Common migraine versus daily chronic headache: a study of the relationship between depression and anxiety scores, and dexamethasone suppression test.

To achieve a better understanding of CH and DCH, we used a multidisciplinary approach evaluating both the depression and anxiety scores and the ability of DEX to decrease plasma cortisol levels in patients with these two forms of headache. The Hamilton rating scale for depression, the Zung test for depression and Stai X2 for anxiety showed scores within the control range in both groups of patients without any statistically significant difference between the groups. The DEX test showed significant cortisol suppression in both groups of patients either at 8 a.m. or at 4 p.m. (after DEX administration, 1 mg orally at 11 p.m. the night before). The results obtained indicate that in CM and in DCH, normal depression and anxiety scores exist in the present of the apparent integrity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Antidepressant drugs and migraine.

There is evidence that some antidepressant drugs, above all amitriptyline and mianserine, are beneficial in the prophylaxis of migraine. The mechanism of action of antidepressants in migraine is likely to be complex. Mood disturbances accompanying migraine syndromes suggest a mode of action of such a class of drugs. In the last few years some clinical studies tend to show that the antimigraine effects of these drugs seem relatively independent of the antidepressant activity.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

[Neurotransmitter control of pupillary motoricity in man].

The pupillary responses to different agonists and antagonists of the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems have been studied in normal volunteers. The eyedrops were instilled unilaterally and the responses were evaluated by measuring the changes in diameter of the pupils (in millimeters). All the eyedrops induced an unilateral response on the instilled side. The mydriatic substances (phenylephrine, thropamide, tyramine) showed an evident and lasting action. Phenylephrine 1% was found to be a threshold dose to acquire the mydriatic effect. The beta blocking agent (timolol) induced a short mydriatic response, while methaproterenol did not change the pupillary diameter. Clonidine caused an unilateral mydriasis. The alpha blocking agent and the parasympathetic system stimulation agent induced miotic effects The results are discussed with particular reference to the possible mechanism of the pupillary response to timolol and clonidine.

Clonidine↗
PubMed1984

Influence of aging on cerebral derangement by acute severe hypoxia during hypovolemic hypotension.

In synaptosomes isolated from the motor area of the cerebral cortex of beagle dogs and incubated in Krebs-Henseleit-Hepes buffer (for 10 min at 24 degrees C), the energetic state was defined by the balance of the labile phosphates (ATP, ADP, AMP, and creatine phosphate), the redox state of the intramitochondrial NAD-couple, and the respiratory rate. By the experimental model utilized in the present research, it is possible to evaluate the potential synaptosomal damage induced by the in vivo hypoxic insult. Aging affects the phosphorylation state of the posthypoxic incubated synaptosomes. Although the oxygen consumption rate is the same in the synaptosomal fractions from the motor area of hypoxic beagle dogs of different ages, the cytochrome c and a contents are lower in the preparations from older brains. This points to higher activity of cytochromes in the synaptosomes from "mature" and "senescent" hypoxic animals. In dogs of different ages, hypoxia lowers the respiration of the synaptosomes but aging affects the oxygen consumption rates only in post-hypoxic synaptosomes incubated with succinate. In synaptosomes isolated from older hypoxic brains, the free energy utilized for the synthesis of two moles of ATP (delta GATP) is progressively lower than that released upon the transfer of electrons from the NADH to cytochrome c (delta Gox-red).

Adenine Nucleotides↗
PubMed1984

Trigeminal control of cranio-facial vasomotor response: I. Histamine test in patients with unilateral gasserian ganglion lesions.

It has been hypothesized that the trigeminal system may control vasomotor changes and pain in vascular headaches. In this study, headache was induced by an intravenous injection of histamine in 37 patients with trigeminal rhizotomy and in 12 controls. The vasomotor response to histamine was studied with facial telethermography. The headache in patients with trigeminal lesions differed, in a prevalence of unilateral localization contralaterally to the operated side (21 patients), from that in controls. No relationship was found between the hypoesthesia caused by the operation and the prevalence of unilateral headache. A statistically significant correlation (p less than 0.001) was found between unilateral absence of headache and decreased vasomotor response on the operated side. These reactions occurred more in patients who underwent thermocoagulation than in patients who underwent retro-gasserian rhizotomy. Thus the gasserian ganglion seems to control the cranio-facial vasomotor response and the headache through a vascular pathway, acting on cerebral arteries, which differs from the sensory pathway.

Cerebral Arteries↗
PubMed1984

Trazodone, a review of clinical literature and personal experience.

The authors summarize the international clinical research performed on trazodone, underlying some pharmacodynamic and therapeutic features of the activity of the drug, the originality of its pharmacodynamic profile and the possibility of using trazodone in a wide range of primary or secondary depression subtypes. Available data also suggest that trazodone is safer than traditional antidepressants even when taken in overdose, possibly due to its mild effects on cardiac or ventilatory function.

Clinical Trials as Topic↗
PubMed1984

Pharmaco-EEG study on vincamine and on teproside in patients with chronic cerebrovascular disease.

Pharmaco-EEG is a technique used in diagnostic and in neuropharmacological research. Correlations between the ageing brain and EEG spectral analysis have been discovered (1-5). Typical EEG findings of multi-infarct dementia, senile dementia and chronic cerebrovascular disease have been reported by several authors. Using this methodology, it is possible to know if a drug crosses the blood brain barrier, the period of drug action and the drug-induced enhancement or inhibition of cerebral bioelectrical activity. It is also possible to ascertain the pharmacological class of a drug through a comparison between it and another that is well known. The authors have studied the pharmaco-EEG effects of teproside and vincamine in two groups of subjects affected by chronic cerebrovascular disease. The first group (8 patients, mean age 58.3 years) were treated with vincamine 15 mg i.v. EEG spectral analysis was performed using a Hewlett-Packard 5423 A analyser with centro-occipital derivations. EEG registrations were executed by using an epoch of 5 min at times- 15, 0, +15, +45, +60, and +120 min with drug administration at zero time. In a chronic study, after a three day wash-out period, teproside 240 mg/os/day was administered to the first group, while vincamine 60 mg/os/day and 120 mg/os/day was administered to the second group. Subjects were studied with EEG spectral analysis by using the same methodology at baseline and after 10 and 20 days of treatment. The two drugs induced an enhancement of cerebral bioelectrical activity by an improvement of alpha waves mean relative power, by a shifting toward rapid rhythms of dominant frequency and by a decrease of delta and theta waves mean relative power. With the dosages used teproside appeared to be more active than vincamine.

Aged↗
PubMed1983

Therapeutic use of a selective cAMP phosphodiesterase inhibitor (Rolipram) in Parkinson's disease.

The effects of Rolipram, a new phosphodiesterase inhibitor, were assessed in a double-blind trial versus placebo in 10 patients with Parkinson's disease already under treatment. Contrary to previous findings with specific phosphodiesterase inhibitors, with Rolipram (at the dose of 3 mg per day), no significant deterioration of the therapeutic action of dopamine agonist Lisuride was noted.

3',5'-Cyclic-AMP Phosphodiesterases↗
PubMed1983

Effect of cholinergic and anticholinergic drugs on short-term memory in Alzheimer's dementia: a neuropsychological and computerized electroencephalographic study.

A correlation was found among the degree of memory loss, intellectual impairment, the quantity of senile plaques, and a decrease in choline acetyltransferase and acetylcholinesterase activity in patients affected by senile dementia of the Alzheimer type. In this study, patients were subjected to a series of computerized electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings and neuropsychological evaluations after acute administration of the following drugs: placebo; the cholinergic drugs physostigmine, pyridostigmine bromide, and edrophonium chloride; and the anticholinergic drugs scopolamine and orphenadrine. The results obtained show that the acute administration of some cholinergic drugs improved memory and attention performances, whereas the anticholinergic drugs induced opposite effects. The cholinergic drugs exhibited a tendency to shift the EEG spectrum analysis into more normal patterns compatible with the patient's age. This study supports the view that the cholinergic system plays an important role in memory and attention disturbances found in senile dementia of the Alzheimer type.

Aged↗
PubMed1983

Chrononeuroendocrine perspectives of ACTH and related peptides.

The mechanism of the circadian hormonal secretions is still obscure. The cyclic activity of the hypothalamus-ACTH-adrenal (H-A-A) axis is perhaps the most studied. ACTH derives with other peptides from a common precursor, proopiomelanocortin. ACTH secretion is under inhibitory and stimulatory influences. The inhibitory influence is mediated by the negative feed-back of adrenal corticosteroids and by the short loop feed-back of ACTH on its own secretion. The stimulatory influence is exerted by the hypothalamic corticotropin releasing factor (CRF), recently isolated in the ovine hypothalamus. CRF is regulated by various neurotransmitttttorial activities. Serotonin and acetylcholine play a stimulatory role, while dopamine and norepinephrine, in particular, seem to exert an inhibitory tonic control. The increased ACTH secretion in stress-response seems to be mediated by a reduction of this tone. However, the neurotransmitorial modifications involved in the rhythmic secretion of the H-A-A axis are still obscure. So chrononeuroendocrine study of the H-A-A axis in various psychoneuroendocrine diseases is of great interest in clearing up the neurotransmitorial mechanisms of this rhythm. Primary depression represents an interesting model being characterized by monoaminergic neurotransmitorial alterations. We have observed in this pathology an increase of the H-A-A axis activity and an alteration of the circadian cortisol profile characterized by an increase both in numeric and quantitative secretory bursts.

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone↗
PubMed1983

Post-traumatic headache: neuropsychological and clinical aspects.

Seventy patients suffering from post-traumatic headache were studied. Pain characteristics, personality and intellectual functions were assessed to be related to cranial trauma. No evident signs of brain damage were present, but an impairment related to pain in personal adjustment and well-being reducing work and study capabilities was identified. A psychopathological condition described as anxiety with somatizations and conversion mechanisms was found and when compared with the psychopathological characteristics from a group of common headache patients no differences were obtained between the two groups. DSM III diagnostic possibilities for post-traumatic headache patients were discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Abnormal involuntary movements: a study of dopaminergic receptor interaction.

UNLABELLED: Abnormal involuntary movements caused by chronic levodopa treatment in Parkinson's disease, tardive dyskinesia resulting from long-term treatment with neuroleptics, and Huntington's disease all seem to be related to functional alteration and/or derangement of the DA/ACh systems. Recent data show the presence of different types of DA receptors D1 and D2, which seem to be involved in the pathogenesis of AIM: an alteration of their mutual equilibrium could account for movements disorders. In addition, hypofunction of the ACh system also seems to play a role in the pathogenesis of AIM. The purpose of this study was to verify an alteration of DA/ACh relationships by evaluating the clinical responses to pharmacological stimuli in patients affected by AIM secondary to chronic levodopa and chronic neuroleptic treatment. The following drugs were used to evaluate the DA receptors: lisuride (0.007 mg/kg i.v.) and tiapride (2.85 mg/kg i.v.) as agonist and antagonist, respectively, at D2 receptors; oxopentphylline (2.85 mg/kg i.v.) and alpha-flupenthixol (.057 mg/kg p.o.) as agonist and antagonist, respectively, at D1 receptors. Levodopa plus carbidopa (250 mg + 25 mg) was also used. The ACh system was studied using orphenadrine (1.1 mg/kg i.v.) as an antagonist and physostigmine (0.014 mg/kg i.v.) and neostigmine (0.26 mg/kg i.v.) as agonists. Our results suggest an involvement mainly of D1 receptors in the pathogenesis of TD, whereas D2 receptors seem to be important in the onset of AIM after chronic levodopa treatment in Parkinson's disease.

Aged↗
PubMed1982

Influence of age upon the cerebral metabolic changes induced by acute hypoxia on the synaptosomes from dog brain.

The synaptosomal fraction obtained from the motor area of the cerebral cortex of normocapnic, normoxic or hypoxic "young adult," "mature" and "senescent" beagle dogs is incubated and analyzed for : ATP, ADP, AMP, creatine phosphate, pyruvate and lactate. The data are compared with those obtained from the whole controlateral cortical motor area, by the surface freezing technique. After hypoxic hypoxia /15 min; PaO2 = 17-19 mm Hg), the metabolite contents and ratios are differently affected by ageing when the evaluations are performed in the incubated synaptosomal preparation or in the controlateral whole cerebral tissue. In fact, ageing does not affect so much the cerebral changes that occur in the overall energetic state during the hypoxic assault in vivo, but rather those that the synaptosomes remember the tend to reverse during the subsequent incubation in vitro. The protective action of several drugs on the synaptosomal phosphorylation state is tested. Phenobarbital shows a quite broad, age-independent spectrum of action. (-)Eburnamonine and dihydroergocristine exhibits a more limited, age-dependent effectiveness, but are devoid of anesthetic action. Papaverine proves unable to affect the tested biochemical parameters.

Adenine Nucleotides↗