Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

A Carpi

Publications and source records attributed to A Carpi.

At least 163 records · Page 9Linked to original sources
PubMed1968

Effects of guanethidine on the blood pressure response to splanchnic nerve stimulation in the rat: role of the adrenal medulla.

1. Splanchnic nerve stimulation provokes a larger increase in blood pressure in intact rats than in rats previously demedullated by means of expression of the adrenals in situ and adrenalectomy followed by adrenocortical grafting.2. Rats pretreated with guanethidine showed an attenuated albeit prolonged hypertensive response to splanchnic stimulation. Similar effects were exerted by guanethidine in rats demedullated by expression. In rats demedullated by grafting, smaller doses of guanethidine induced a more substantial depression of the blood pressure response without increasing its duration.3. It is concluded that inhibition of the peripheral sympathetic endings induced by guanethidine was partially compensated by the enhancement of the cardiovascular effects of the mediators released by the adrenal medulla and that demedullation by expression did not completely eliminate chromaffin tissue.

Adrenal Glands↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Natural anticoagulants, aging, and thromboembolism.

The normal aging process alters blood coagulation system in humans; this may be of great concern in the view of the known association of vascular disease with advancing age. The plasma concentration of several coagulation factors, namely fibrinogen, factor VII, factor VIII, factor IX, high molecular-weight kininogen, and prekallikrein, increase in healthy humans, paralleling the physiological aging process. Plasma parameters of clotting activation in vivo, such as prothrombin fragment 1 + 2, fibrinopeptide A, thrombin-antithrombin III complex, and D-dimer, are positively correlated with age. Nevertheless, among centenarians, biochemical signs of marked hypercoagulability are associated with a healthy state. Natural anticoagulants, including antithrombin III, heparin cofactor II, protein C, protein S, and tissue factor pathway inhibitor, can modulate the reactions of blood coagulation system. The occurrence of menopause is accompanied by a significant increase in antithrombin III plasma level; the mean antithrombin III levels in older women exceed levels in male contemporaries. In healthy elderly subjects heparin cofactor II plasma concentrations are lower than in young subjects, independently of gender. Protein C levels raise with age in both sexes, as well as free protein S levels. In women, statistically significant increases in the plasma concentration of the tissue factor pathway inhibitor have been observed, whereas no significant age-related change has been found in men. The fact that many subjects with congenital defects of natural anticoagulants do not undergo thromboembolic events in young age suggests that in healthy individuals a raise in natural anticoagulants can balance the age-related increase of procoagulant factors.

Aging↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Postoperative follow-up of breast cancer patients: overview and progress in the use of tumor markers.

The role of serial measurement of serum tumor-associated antigens (TAA) in the postoperative follow-up of breast cancer patients is not considered by most authors. The authors of this article review the literature and original data showing benefits from the use of TAA in the postoperative follow-up of breast cancer patients. An increase in the lead time from the first pathological finding to the definite evidence of distant metastases has been observed in follow-up studies which have used TAA compared to those which did not use them. The sensitivity and specificity of TAA in the diagnosis of distant metastases have been markedly improved by selecting an appropriate combination of TAA and by identifying specific conditions associated with breast cancer responsible for false-positive results as well as by adopting a 'dynamic' evaluation of multiple successive determinations of TAA. TAA accurately predict patients with bone metastases and can be used to guide imaging techniques. The anticipation of distant metastasis by TAA can be used to initiate a relatively early treatment which has been shown to prolong overall survival in a previous study. It is hoped that these data will stimulate further trials including TAA in the follow-up of breast cancer patients.

Antigens, Neoplasm↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and other common tissue prognostic indicators in breast cancer: a case-control study.

VEGF is a specific mitogen and survival factor for endothelial cells and a key promoter of angiogenesis in physiological and pathological conditions. Nevertheless, VEGF tissue evaluation in cancer patients as a prognostic factor compared to the conventional histological and biological parameters is still controversial. In this case-control study, tissue VEGF was retrospectively determined by immunohistochemistry and related to T, N, ER, PgR, c-erbB-2, p53, MIB-1 and cyclin D1 in 129 breast cancer patients. Seventy-four of these patients had developed distant metastases postoperatively. The remaining 55 patients had remained disease-free >10 years after surgery. In 17 (13%) of the 129 patients (six with distant metastases and eleven disease-free) tissue and plasma VEGF were concomitantly evaluated. In univariate analysis no significant differences in VEGF and tumor size were found between metastatic and disease-free patients, whereas there were significant differences in N, ER, PgR, c-erbB-2, p53, MIB-1 and cyclin D1 (p ranging from 0.001 to 0.0001). In multivariate analysis VEGF showed less significance than N, ER, c-erbB-2, MIB-1 and cyclin D1 (p = 0.012, p = 0.007, p = 0.005, p = 0.005, p = 0.002 and p = 0.001, respectively). VEGF was a significant unfavorable prognostic indicator only in the N+ subset (p = 0.015), while ER (p = 0.05 and p = 0.021) and MIB-1 (p = 0.031 and p = 0.022) were significant in both the N+ and N- subgroups. In multivariate analysis in the 74 metastatic cases VEGF did not show any significance in relation to disease-free interval and overall survival from the time of mastectomy and from the time of relapse, whereas N and PgR did (p ranging from 0.018 to 0.001). In conclusion, tissue VEGF does not seem a suitable candidate to replace conventional histological and other common biological prognostic factors in breast cancer.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The femoral distal epiphysis of ovariectomized rats as a site for studies on osteoporosis: structural and mechanical evaluations.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate in detail the mechanical and structural characteristics of cancellous bone from the femoral distal epiphysis of normal and ovariectomized rats, and to provide reference values in order to improve experimental research on osteoporosis by characterising an alternative and complementary anatomic site. METHODS: 40 female Sprague-Dawley rats (10 months old) were randomly divided into 4 groups of 10 each: baseline, ovariectomized (Ovx), sham-operated (Sham-Ovx) and sham-aged (Sham-Aged). Baseline animals were sacrificed at the beginning of the study. Ovx and Sham-Ovx animals were sacrificed 16 weeks after surgery, whereas Shamaged rats were killed when aged 14 months. Femurs were excised and densitometric, ultrasonographic, mechanical and histomorphometric analyses were performed. RESULTS: When comparing the Ovx group with the others, ultrasonographic and densitometric measurements showed significant decreases (p < 0.0005) amounting to 3-5% in the amplitude dependent speed of sound (AD-SOS) and 13-20% in the BMD, respectively. Significant decreases were also seen in the femoral condyle Max. Load (28-31%; p < 0.0005) and Elastic Modulus (19-25%; p < 0.005) in the Ovx group in comparison with the Sham-Ovx and Sham-Aged groups. Histomorphometric analysis showed a significant cancellous bone loss (p < 0.0005). Densitometric (p < 0.01), histomorphometric (p < 0.01) and mechanical (p < 0.05) parameters were correlated with AD-SOS. Among the histomorphometric parameters, stepwise regression analysis showed that the trabecular bone volume (BV/TV) and Max. Load correctly predicted AD-SOS (p < 0.0005) and BMD (p < 0.0005). CONCLUSION: The data from this study characterize osteopenia occurring in the rat distalfemur 16 weeks after ovariectomy and provide methodology and reference values forfurther investigations on osteoporosis and bone-implant osteointegration in osteopenic bone.

Absorptiometry, Photon↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Evaluation of serum CA549, CA M26 and CA M29 levels in the post-operative follow-up of breast cancer patients.

In a group of breast cancer patients post-operatively followed-up by serum CEA, TPA, and CA15-3 level determinations, the CA549, CA M26 and CA M29 values as well were measured. In metastatic patients, CA549 and CA M26 showed a sensitivity only slightly lower (70% and 67%, respectively) than that of TPA which was the highest (78%), while CA M29 sensitivity (58%) was much lower than that of TPA and similar to CEA (57%). In non-relapsed patients, CA M26 and CA M29 showed a specificity (95% and 92% respectively) similar to CEA (86%) and CA15-3 (92%) and much higher than TPA (73%). Among the possible associations of all the studied tumor markers, the CA M26-CA M29-CEA one seems the most promising because of its high sensitivity and specificity. Benign liver diseases and/or diabetes are probably the reasons most often responsible for the aspecific increase in serum CA549 values. On the other hand, they seem to affect the CA M29 much less and the CA M26 almost not at all.

Antigens, Neoplasm↗