Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

A Grimaldi

Publications and source records attributed to A Grimaldi.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
PubMed1994

Efficacy of recombinant alpha-interferon 2a and 13-cis-retinoic acid in the treatment of squamous cell carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Recent in vitro and in vivo studies hypothesize a synergistic effect of 13-cis-Retinoic Acid (13cRA) and recombinant alpha-IFN 2a (alpha-IFN) in the treatment of squamous cell carcinoma (SqCC). PATIENTS AND METHODS: 35 patients with SqCC in several sites were treated with 13cRA (0.6-1 mg/kg/day) combined with alpha-IFN (6 x 10(6) I.U./day), continuously for 3 months. RESULTS: We observed an objective response in 41% of cases (13/32 evaluable patients) with 5 complete and 8 partial responses. Toxicity was mild and always rapidly reversible, with no haematological side effects. CONCLUSIONS: These preliminary data confirm the feasibility and effectiveness of the combination of 13cRA and alpha-IFN in the therapy of SqCC, also in pre-treated patients, with acceptable toxicity and good compliance.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Brain metabolism after recurrent insulin induced hypoglycaemic episodes: a PET study.

Neuropsychological testing was carried out and the rate of oxygen metabolism in the brain was measured by PET in 15 highly selected patients with type 1 diabetes. The aim was to investigate the impact on the brain of hypoglycaemic comas resulting from insulin treatment. No significant difference was found between nine patients with a history of more than 10 hypoglycaemic comas and six others who denied any history of such events. These data suggest that intensified insulin treatment, although increasing the frequency of hypoglycaemic coma, may not always be harmful for the brain. This may be explained by the limited duration of hypoglycaemic coma induced by conventional insulin treatment.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Suspected postprandial hypoglycemia is associated with beta-adrenergic hypersensitivity and emotional distress.

Suspected postprandial (reactive or idiopathic) hypoglycemia is characterized by predominantly adrenergic symptoms appearing after meals rich in carbohydrates and by their rare association with low blood glucose level (< 2.77 mmol/L). We studied heart rate, blood pressure, plasma insulin, C-peptide, and catecholamine responses during a 5-h oral glucose tolerance test in eight patients with suspected postprandial hypoglycemia and eight age-, sex-, and body mass index-matched healthy controls. We also evaluated beta-adrenergic sensitivity by using the isoproterenol sensitivity test. Psychological profile was assessed by the Symptom Checklist (SCL-90R) self-report symptom inventory. Patients with suspected postprandial hypoglycemia had higher beta-adrenergic sensitivity (defined as the dose of isoproterenol required to increase the resting heart rate by 25 beats/min) than controls (mean +/- SEM, 0.8 +/- 0.13 vs. 1.86 +/- 0.25 microgram isoproterenol; P = 0.002). After administration of glucose (75 g) blood glucose, plasma C-peptide, plasma epinephrine, and plasma norepinephrine responses were identical in the two groups, but plasma insulin was higher in the patients (group effect, P = 0.02; group by time interaction, P = 0.0001). Both heart rate and systolic blood pressure were significantly higher (but remained in the normal range) after glucose administration in patients with suspected postprandial hypoglycemia than in controls (group by time interactions, P = 0.004 and 0.0007, respectively). After glucose intake, seven patients had symptoms (palpitations, headache, tremor, generalized sweating, hunger, dizziness, sweating of the palms, flush, nausea, and fatigue), whereas in the control group, one subject reported flush and another palpitations, tremor, and hunger. Analysis of the SCL-90R questionnaire revealed that patients had emotional distress and significantly higher anxiety, somatization, depression, and obsessive-compulsive scores than controls. We may conclude that patients with suspected postprandial hypoglycemia have normal glucose tolerance, increased beta-adrenergic sensitivity, and emotional distress.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

[Diabetic pregnancy. Evaluation and prospects from the study of 212 diabetic pregnancies followed-up between 1985 and 1992].

A total of 212 diabetic pregnancies were studied prospectively over the period 1985 to 1986, included: 76 insulinodependent diabetics (IDD), 34 non insulinodependent diabetics (NIDD), and 102 gestational diabetes. The perinatal mortality rate for all diabetic pregnancies was 1.4% (n = 3); 3 congenital malformations were recorded (a therapeutic abortion was performed in 2 cases). These results are comparable with those of the non diabetic population. However, it is to be noticed that maternal as well as neonatal morbidity was important (hypoglycaemic comas: 18 in 9 IDD, preeclampsia: 7 IDD, 2 NIDD, 1 DG; caesarean delivery: 50% IDD, 50% NIDD, 25% DG; neonatal morbidity 20% of the new born. The main objectives must be targeted on the prevention of severe hypoglycaemia in IDD, the early diagnosis of DG and the development of pregnancy care in NIDD.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

[Unusual association of somatostatin-secreting thyroid cancer and a calcitonin-secreting duodenal endocrine tumor. Is it an entity?].

We report a patient with a vesicular thyroid carcinoma secreting somatostatin and associated to an endocrine duodenal calcitonin secreting tumour. Increase of plasm somatostatin level induced an endocrine syndrome which completely resolved after thyroidectomy. By contrast, the digestive tumour remained asymptomatic. Six months after surgery, the course was marked by a relapse of the thyroid tumour along with pulmonary metastasis. At that time, pathological analysis showed only indifferentiated tumoural tissue.

Aged↗
PubMed1992

Effect of intermittent mechanical force on bone tissue in vitro: preliminary results.

The structure of metatarsal bones from 18-day-old rats subjected to intermittent mechanical force in organ culture are reported. The application of mechanical force enhances the osteoid thickness and osteoblast number in the periosteum and increases the number of viable osteocytes. These results indicate that (1) the mature bone tissue survives in organ cultures; (2) the mechanical forces better preserve the structure of the osteocytes and stimulate the osteoblasts, and (3) stimulate the osteogenesis.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Cognitive function, insulin-dependent diabetes and hypoglycaemia.

A series of seven psychometric tests, to evaluate mental concentration and the ability to retain selective attention, lexical fluency, wordlist memorizing and psychomotor speed, was performed on 25 non-diabetic control subjects and 55 insulin-dependent diabetes (IDD) patients of similar social background and professional status. When tested, none of the diabetics was hypoglycaemic and these patients were divided into two groups: Group I: 30 IDD patients unaware of hypoglycaemia, and experiencing frequent and severe episodes of hypoglycaemia. Group II: 25 IDD patients aware of hypoglycaemia. Groups I and II had experienced the disease for the same period of time (17 +/- 13 vs. 14 +/- 11 years, respectively) and they had similar HbA1c levels (7.14 +/- 1.25% vs. 8.6 +/- 1.88%, respectively) and degenerative complications. Compared with the scores of the controls, the Group I scores were lower in four tests: trail-making part A (psychomotor speed; P less than 0.001) and part B (retaining selective attention; P less than 0.01), lexical fluency (P less than 0.01) and Rey auditory-verbal learning test (wordlist learning; P less than 0.05). Group II scores were lower in two tests: trail-making part A (P less than 0.01) and part B (P less than 0.05). In word memorizing, the performance of Group I was inferior to that of Group II (P less than 0.05). In general, these psychometric tests showed that IDD scores were lower than those of the controls, with an average of 67% for Group II and 80% for Group I. Chronic hyperglycaemia and severe hypoglycaemia may have a deleterious effect on cognitive performance. In particular, several severe episodes of hypoglycaemia could be responsible for permanent memory impairment.

Adolescent↗