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Biomedical subjects

A Leone

Publications and source records attributed to A Leone.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources
PubMed1989

[Uncomplicated acute male and female gonorrhea: treatment with a single oral dose of epicillin-probenecid].

We treated 142 patients with acute uncomplicated gonorrhea with a single oral dose of epiciline-probenecid. All cases were confirmed by culture on Thayer Martin medium at the first day and they were all laboratory tested seven days after treatment. At the control time the patients were asked about drug tolerance. All isolated strains were tested for beta-lactamase producing capacity and susceptibility to epiciline and penicillin. All patients who were culture positive seven days after treatment were considered to be treatment failures. The treatment was effective in 94.4% and we detected 8 Neisseria gonorrhoeae strains resistant to penicillin (5.6%); seven of these were PPNG strains. Tolerance to the drug was excellent in 90% of all cases; 9% presented minor adverse reactions for a short period of time. Therefore, the combination of epiciline-probenecid is a valid alternative for routine treatment of acute uncomplicated gonorrhea.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1987

Abnormal copper metabolism and regulation of metallothionein gene expression in Menkes' disease.

Menkes' kinky hair disease, a lethal X-linked recessive trait, is characterized by abnormal copper accumulation in several non-hepatic tissues. The level of many copper enzymes is severely reduced, leading to damage of the connective and nervous tissues of the patients. Cultured skin fibroblasts from Menkes' patients retain more copper then normal controls, and the excess metal is bound to metallothionein. Low doses of copper in the media induce MT gene transcription in Menkes' but not in normal cells. Transfection experiments using a plasmid containing the mouse MT-I promoter fused to the enzyme chloramphenicol acetyl transferase show that the activation of the mMTI promoter is in trans. Two other effects are observed in Menkes' cells: (a) two heat-shock like proteins are synthesized in response to low doses of copper in the growth medium, and (b) Menkes' cells are more sensitive then normal fibroblasts to copper toxicity. Our interpretation of these results supports a model for a defect in one or more steps in copper metabolism or transport.

Brain Diseases, Metabolic↗
PubMed1987

Postinfarction cardiac rupture: a challenge to try surgical reparation.

68 patients deceased from AMI in CCU. They underwent postmortem examination and 12 patients displayed rupture of the free wall of the left ventricle at the sight of the infarction. Clinically, 8 deaths were preceded by an appearance or an increase of chest pain, which was only slightly affected by opiates; 9 patients displayed preterminal sinus rhythm, 2 atrioventricular block and 1 junctional rhythm. In all cases ST-segment was unchanged when the chest pain appeared and death occurred for the 8 patients who felt chest pain in a time interval between 35 and 660 minutes. One could observe a group with early rupture that deceased within 1 hour from the onset of this symptom and 4 patients with late rupture dying in a time-interval between 4 and 11 hours. Pathologically, cardiac hypertrophy and severe coronary alterations were found in all the hearts. Chest pain and unchanged ST-segment at the recorded electrocardiogram often in presence of sinus rhythm in patients showing clinical signs of cardiac hypertrophy should be considered an indication of impending rupture during the course of AMI. Consequently, we must plan a surgical reparation, the only treatment able to save the life of patients who have undergone postinfarction cardiac rupture.

Aged↗
PubMed1986

Metallothionein gene regulation in Menkes' disease.

Metallothioneins are a family of ubiquitous, cysteine rich proteins, whose amino acidic and genomic sequences have been highly conserved during evolution. MT synthesis is induced by heavy metals, glucocorticoids and a bacterial lipopolysaccharide in vivo and in vitro. MT forms stable complexes with heavy metals. One MTIIA gene, four MTI class genes and five pseudogenes have been isolated in humans. The cluster of MT genes is located on chromosome 16. The cloned, transfected genes retain metal inducibility. The first 150 bp of the 5' flanking region of mouse and human MT genes are essential for transcription and metal regulation. Two control regions have been identified. The distal region, between -151 and -78 is essential for efficient transcription and binding of cellular factor(s) which regulates MT gene expression. In Menkes' disease, a lethal X-linked recessive disorder, copper accumulates intracellularly bound to MT. Low doses of copper induce MT synthesis in Menkes' fibroblasts, but not in normal controls. Transfection experiments using the mouse MTI promoter fused to CAT show that the effect of copper in MT transcription is in trans. Menkes' cells are more sensitive to copper than normal controls and respond to copper poisoning by synthesizing two heat-shock like proteins. A mutation affecting copper transport or metabolism is discussed.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

Rounded atelectasis: considerations on its radiological diagnosis.

Rounded atelectasis is a particular form of peripheral lung collapse, adjacent to the pleura and causing a pulmonary opacity, often resembling a neoplastic mass. Its early identification avoids further investigations with more invasive techniques, especially unnecessary thoracotomy. The aim of this report is to contribute some case studies to the body of information which characterizes this radiographic and tomodensitometric entity; aspiration biopsy can possibly be performed to resolve diagnostic uncertainties.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Menkes' disease: abnormal metallothionein gene regulation in response to copper.

Menkes' disease, an inherited disorder of copper metabolism, is characterized by the accumulation of excess copper-metallothionein in certain tissues and cell types. Using cultured fibroblasts, we show that this is due to the ability of low concentrations of copper to induce metallothionein mRNA synthesis in Menkes' but not normal cells. We also show that copper, which is unusually toxic to Menkes' cells, induces the synthesis of 84 kd and 68 kd polypeptides tentatively identified as heat shock proteins. Transfection experiments with a cloned metallothionein fusion gene show that this is due to a defect in a diffusible factor involved in either metallothionein gene transcriptional regulation or copper metabolism.

Brain Diseases, Metabolic↗
PubMed1985

mRNA activity of a Sindbis virus defective-interfering RNA.

We obtained Sindbis defective-interfering particles by nine and undiluted passages of standard virus on chicken embryo fibroblasts. These particles contain a deleted 20S RNA molecule which has mRNA activity, as shown by translation in cell-free systems in vitro. In infected cells, this mRNA activity appeared to be totally inhibited except at very late times postinfection.

Defective Viruses↗
PubMed1985

In vitro synthesis of the gene coding for the glycoprotein E1 of Sindbis virus.

Ds cDNA of the 42S virionic RNA of Sindbis Virus has been synthesized and cloned in the plasmid pBR 322. Restriction map analysis and hybridization studies show that two clones cover the 3' end non coding region of the RNA, the whole membrane glycoprotein E1 and a peptide of MW 6,000 daltons. The use of these clones in experiments of gene expression in mammalian cell is discussed.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1984

Isolation of a cDNA clone containing a sequence complementary to the intestinal calcium-binding protein of the chick.

The present work describes the construction of a cDNA library in pBR322 plasmid from an mRNA population enriched for the intestinal calcium-binding protein (CaBP) mRNA of the chick. We report the isolation of one recombinant clone containing a vitamin D-regulated sequence, which is complementary to part of the CaBP mRNA. Northern blot hybridization experiments allowed us to identify a 1900 nucleotide RNA species as the CaBP mRNA.

Animals↗