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Biomedical subjects

A Cesaro

Publications and source records attributed to A Cesaro.

12 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Inhibition of p38 mitogen activated protein kinase controls airway inflammation in cystic fibrosis.

BACKGROUND: Cystic fibrosis (CF) airways are characterised by chronic inflammation, increased interleukin (IL)-8 secretion, and neutrophil activation which are considered the principal factors of morbidity and mortality in CF patients. Optimising management of this chronic inflammatory response is therefore a key issue of basic and clinical CF research. Several reports have addressed ways to manage CF airways inflammation, and an attractive therapeutic strategy may be the inhibition of the p38-mitogen activated protein kinase (p38-MAP-k) pathway. METHODS: A new ex vivo model was used to study the mucosal inflammatory response to environmental airways stimuli. Nasal biopsy tissues from CF patients and controls were cultured ex vivo for 20 minutes, 4 hours, and 24 hours in the presence of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) with and without the p38-MAP-k inhibitor SB203580. Quantitative mRNA assessment, immunohistochemistry, and Western blots were used to detect the expression and modulation of inflammatory markers. RESULTS: PA-LPS challenge induced a time dependent mucosal inflammation indicated by rapid epithelial activation, IL-8 release, COX-2 upregulation, and neutrophil migration to the upper mucosal layers. Some of these LPS induced changes (IL-8 release and neutrophil migration) were specific to CF tissues. SB203580 significantly controlled all LPS induced mucosal changes in CF tissues. CONCLUSION: These findings provide a rationale and proof of principle for the potential use of p38-MAP-k inhibitors to control inflammation in patients with CF.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Cardiac performance in Turner's syndrome patients on growth hormone therapy.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate possible cardiac morphofunctional alterations observed in 26 Turner's syndrome (TS) patients on prolonged high-dose growth hormone (GH) therapy. STUDY DESIGN: We examined 26 TS subjects treated with rhGH (1 U/kg/week) for a mean period of 4.9 years (range 1-7.8) and 37 age-, weight- and height-matched healthy girls. Left ventricular volume, mass, systolic function, cardiac index, systemic vascular resistance and diastolic function were evaluated by two-dimensional and Doppler echocardiography. RESULTS: Heart rate and systolic blood pressure (BP) were higher in TS patients than in controls, while diastolic BP was lower. Left ventricular volumes, ejection fraction, mass index, M/V ratio and cardiac index did not differ significantly; systemic vascular resistance was slightly decreased. Left ventricular fractional shortening and mean velocity of circumferential shortening were slightly increased while end-systolic meridional stress was decreased in TS. Contractile state was normal in TS. Diastolic function assessment showed a shortening of isovolumetric relaxation and diastolic filling times with an increased atrial contribution and a normal pulmonary venous flow. CONCLUSION: Cardiac morphology in TS patients on GH therapy is similar to controls. The observed changes in left ventricular systolic and diastolic function should be interpreted as an adaptation to the higher heart rate and reduced peripheral vascular resistance induced by GH therapy.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

[Clinical evaluation of 2 years of hemodiafiltration using bicarbonate].

At the end of a previous study concerning the use of different buffers for hemodiafiltration (BHDF) in both the re-infusate (40 mM/L) and dialysate (26 mM/L). Retrospective data analysis and showed BHDF to permit good acid/base balance, good clinical tolerability and satisfactory and persistent sense of well-being. From the point of view of kinetics, it is essential to evaluate carefully the acute and/or chronic effect of an alkaline blood pH during or after dial lysis, especially since the volume distribution of bicarbonate is not known.

Bicarbonates↗
PubMed1990

Cardiovascular stability during the haemodialysis session: relationship between modelling and impedance parameters.

The percentage of body water, if calculated from impedance, was found to be significantly different from the classic 58%. This supports the view that the evaluation of the dialytic efficiency should be, in the near future, carried out on the basis of a 'two-pool' model instead of the old 'one-pool'. The serial collection of data during a dialytic session supported the hypothesis that, 90 min after the start or, in general, after a body-water loss of about 5%-6%, some fundamental changes in measured indexes (phase angle, systolic pressure, body volumes, correlation matrix) usually appear. Large-scale research, based on an RS 232 interface connected to a computerised program, will probably help in clarifying whether some major intra-dialytic phenomena could in the near future be easily and automatically predicted.

Body Water↗
PubMed1989

Different buffers for hemodiafiltration: a controlled study.

Hemodiafiltration (HDF) is usually performed using a dialytic solution (D) containing acetate (A) or bicarbonate (B) and a replacement fluid (RF) containing lactate (L). To clarify the role of buffers in HDF, 11 patients underwent different study periods, each three months long: bicarbonate hemodialysis (BHD = Baseline period); HDF with (A) in D and (L) in RF (first period of HDF); HDF with (A) in D and (B) in RF (second HDF); HDF with (B) in D and (L) in RF (third HDF); HDF with (B) in D and (B) in RF (fourth HDF = BHDF). HDF achieved: 1) an increase in dialytic efficiency (kt/V, 1.28), reducing the time-session (197 min); 2) an improvement in acid-base status (pre-dialytic values in BHDF: pH 7.36; pCO2 39.8 mmHg; HCO3- 21.8 mM/L); 3) better "dry weight" gain (reached in 92.8% of HDF and in 81% of BHD sessions); 4) a significant decrease, in dialytic side-effects (mainly during the third and fourth periods). On the whole, BHDF (HDF done using only bicarbonate buffer) represents an easy and safe technique, leading to better cardiovascular stability than BHD and HDF without bicarbonate buffer.

Acetates↗
PubMed1988

Chronobiological variations of prolactin (PRL) in chronic renal failure (CRF).

During a 24-hour period, the serum levels of prolactin (PRL) were determined in 89 subjects, including 24 controls and 65 with chronic renal failure (CRF), divided into groups according to sex, age and serum creatinine. In mild CRF, both in males and females, PRL level proved to be higher than controls while its circadian rhythm of secretion disappeared. The MANOVA analysis (multivariate analysis of variance) showed that all 3 considered factors (sex, age, creatinine) have a systematic effect on PRL values, that of creatinine being the most prominent. With the progression of renal failure, the physiological PRL oscillations tended to diminish. In general, increasing creatinine levels progressively shifted the acrophase (that is the time-distance between a given hour and the maximum peak of the function) to the morning, with hemodialysis patients showing acrophases between 12 p.m. and 1 a.m. It is possible that in CRF the PRL feedback system could no longer function.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Progression of chronic renal failure in remnant rats: role of arginase inhibition].

BACKGROUND: Oral administration of arginine to remnant (REM) rats (5/6 nx) slows the progression of chronic renal failure through a nitric-oxide(NO)-dependent mechanism. We have recently shown that inhibition of arginase, the main metabolic pathway of arginine, was able to induce similar results on renal dynamics (GIN: 2001, 18:285-290). Aim of the present study was to test whether these changes were mediated by increased availability of arginine-derived NO. Methods. Three Groups of REM rats were studied for 8 weeks after surgery: 1) untreated REM (Group REM); 2) REM rats treated with arginine (1%) in tap water (Group ARG); 3) REM rats administered a Mn++-free diet, to induce partial inhibition of arginase (Group MNF). Normal unmanipulated rats were used as controls (Group NOR). RESULTS: Liver arginase activity was significantly depressed only in MNF-rats (-35% vs. REM, p < 0.01). Blood pressure was significantly lower in Group MNF vs. ARG and REM after 6 weeks (p < 0.05). Proteinuria was significantly decreased in Group ARG (-42%, p < 0.05 vs. REM) and even more in Group MNF (-57%, p < 0.01). ARG plasma levels, decreased in REM rats (-41% vs. Group CON), were normalized in Group ARG (p < 0.01 vs. Group REM); arginase inhibition was able to increase such levels in Group MNF (+38% vs. REM) and this resulted in a proportional rise in urinary nitrite excretion (+33% vs. REM), grossly depressed in REM rats. Renal arginase activity was lower in all the Groups of remnant rats vs. Group NOR, but intrarenal concentrations of ARG were significantly lower only in rats of Group MNF (p < 0.05 vs. all the other Groups). Histological examination showed that MNF-rats had a glomerular sclerosis index lower than in the other Groups (p < 0.05 vs. Group REM and ARG). CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, inhibition of arginase in remnant rats slows the progression of CRF and preserves renal histology through a direct and/or indirect NO-dependent mechanism.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Effects of atorvastatin on ischemic acute renal failure in aging rats].

BACKGROUND: Aging (O) rats have a greater susceptibility to renal ischemia than young (Y) rats due to an endothelial dysfunction partially reversed by exogenous administration of L-Arginine. Since statins are able to increase nitric oxide (NO) production, aim of the study was to evaluate whether pre-treatment with atorvastatin (ATO, 10 mg/kg/day for 12 days), had positive effects on ischemic acute renal failure (ARF) of aging rats. METHODS: Renal clearance studies (inulin) were performed 24 hours after ischemia in 6 Groups (n=6 in each Group) of both Y- and O-rats: control rats (CON), untreated rats with ARF (Groups IRA), and rats with ARF but pretreated with ATO (Groups ATO+IRA). RESULTS: Renal ischemia determined a sharper decrease in GFR of Group O-IRA than Y-IRA (-80% and -63% vs respective CON, both p<0.001). In both Groups the fall in GFR was secondary to renal vasoconstriction and the consequent reduction in renal plasma flow. Pre-treatment with ATO did not modify GFR in Group Y-ATO+IRA, but was able to determine a marked rise in GFR of rats of O-ATO+IRA Group (+100% vs O-IRA), through a reduction in renal vascular resistances. Induction of ARF greatly enhanced nitrate excretion in Group Y-IRA, but slightly affected Group O-ARF. Administration of ATO did not modify nitrite excretion in Y rats, whereas it was able to increase nitrate excretion in O-ATO+ARF rats (+111% vs O-IRA). CONCLUSIONS: Pre-treatment with ATO is able to improve the renal response to ischemia in aging rats, through a mechanism which likely is NO-dependent.

Acute Kidney Injury↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Occupational arsine poisoning: description of a case].

A case of occupational arsine poisoning is described that occurred in a small family workshop during blackening operations on zinc/aluminium alloy manufactured parts with acid solutions. This report shows that occupational poisonings wrongly believed to have disappeared can still occur, especially in small and often unsafe working environments.

Acute Kidney Injury↗