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Biomedical subjects

A Micheli

Publications and source records attributed to A Micheli.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1991

[Planning of a prospective study with a biological bank].

This present work aims to give a critical description of the organization and operative aspects of project ORDET (prospective study on diet and hormones in the aetiology of breast cancer). A number of problems which could arise when carrying-out a prospective study are described: they concern participant recruitment, laboratory organization, planning of a biological bank plus relative security checks in order to ensure full workability and personnel standardization in questionnaire administration and anthropometrical measurements. The methods adopted by ORDET, or at least some of them, could be useful for those engaged in the planning phase of a similarly designed project using a biological bank.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Breast cancer incidence and prevalence estimated from survival and mortality.

Survival probability for female breast cancer patients was used to estimate incidence rates from breast cancer mortality data in Italy. The female breast cancer survival curve from the Lombardy Cancer Registry (LCR) was used to test the method on data from four local cancer registries, covering areas in different regions of Italy. In spite of the well known geographic variability of female breast cancer incidence and mortality, the results support the idea that survival probability does not change across the country and that the survival probability from the LCR is a good estimate of that in the country as a whole. Female breast cancer incidence and prevalence rates were then estimated for Italy, making use of a mathematical model specifically developed for chronic diseases. In 1985, crude incidence and prevalence rates of female breast cancer, for ages up to 74 years, were estimated as 71 and 701 per 100,000 women, respectively. Estimated incidence rates show a complex trend with age, increasing to a temporary pronounced peak at the age of 52. A marked cohort effect was found to increase significantly the risk of the disease from the 1886 to the 1930 birth cohorts by a factor of 2.9. After the 1930 cohort, risks have continued at a constant high level.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Isolation of HHV-6-related virus from children affected by infectious syndrome.

Peripheral blood cultures from children showing symptoms of generic infectious disease have been examined for human herpesvirus-6 (HHV-6). Two HHV-6-related isolates have been obtained: one from a child for whom a clinical diagnosis of exanthema subitum has been made when a typical rash appeared, and one from a child in whom the infectious symptomatology has maintained the characters of nonspecific syndrome. All the syndrome diagnosed as exanthema subitum resulted as being associated with fresh infection by HHV-6-related virus.

Antibodies, Viral↗
PubMed1989

The responsiveness of bone metastases to radiotherapy: the effect of site, histology and radiation dose on pain relief.

281 patients with a total of 463 symptomatic osseous metastases treated for palliation between 1975 and 1985 have been retrospectively analysed. The most frequent primary sites were breast (50.1%) prostate (16.6%) and lung (11%), accounting for more than three fourths of all metastatic areas. Other primaries were represented by bladder, kidney, colorectal, uterus (corpus and cervix) melanoma and thyroid tumors, and by cancer from unknown origin. Palliation was evaluated only on a subjective pain score. Complete response meant complete pain relief, and partial response meant more than 50% and less than complete pain relief in all treated sites. Complete response rates were similar independently from the primary site, except for the adenocarcinomas of the kidney and for non-small cell carcinomas of the lung in which the response tended to be lower. A correlation was also found between the incidence of pain relief and the site of bone metastases, in that a lower response was shown in limb localizations. Also, the number of metastatic sites did not influence the complete response rate. As expected, the response rate in all cases seemed to be dependent on total absorbed dose while, surprisingly, it could not be shown to be affected by the fraction size. A similar trend was shown for the pain recurrence.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Behaviour of biological indicators of cadmium in relation to occupational exposure.

Cadmium in blood (CdB), cadmium in urine (CdU) and beta 2-microglobulins (beta 2MU) were determined in 83 male workers exposed to cadmium fumes. CdU was measured both on 24-h urine samples and on spot samples. The behaviour of the biological indicators of cadmium was assessed in relation to degree of current exposure, length of exposure and cumulative exposure (computed as concentration of cadmium at the workplace multiplied by duration of exposure). CdB values were significantly higher in the subgroups of subjects with higher current cadmium exposure and in the subgroups of subjects with greater cumulative exposure, but the test levels were not influenced by duration of exposure. CdU levels were significantly higher in the subgroup of subjects with greater cumulative exposure, but were less influenced by current exposure or duration of exposure. Considering the entire population, a rather close correlation (r = 0.69) was observed between CdB and CdU. When the population was divided according to level of current exposure, a close relationship was observed between the two indicators in all subgroups; nevertheless, for identical CdU values, the CdB values were higher in the subjects with heavier current exposure. Even if in all Cd workers the beta 2MU levels were in the range of reference values, the highest beta 2MU levels were found in the subjects with CdU greater than 10 micrograms/l. The data confirm that CdU is prevalently influenced by the body burden of metal, but they also suggest that the CdB levels are not influenced solely by the intensity of current exposure but also depend to a considerable degree on the body burden.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Effect of 5-azacytidine (5-azaC) on the induction of chromatid aberrations (CA) and sister-chromatid exchanges (SCE).

Experiments were carried out using human lymphocytes from a male donor in order to test the action of 5-azaC treatment on the induction of SCE and chromatid aberrations. The 5-azaC was found to increase the frequency of both baseline and MMC-induced SCEs. Using the same 5-azaC treatment conditions it was found that the frequency of X-ray-induced CA did not increase.

Azacitidine↗
PubMed1983

Induction of proteolytic activity in serum by treatment with anionic detergents and organic solvents.

Using casein plates as a sensitive assay for proteolytic activity, it was observed that sodium-dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and other anionic detergents induce caseinolysis when mixed with sera and plasma. Caseinolysis was dependent on the presence of plasminogen in the fluids and could be blocked by inhibitors of serine proteases and antibody to plasminogen. Similarly, organic solvents such as isopropanol induced caseinolysis after mixing with plasma, but not normal serum. Isopropanol dissociated complexes of alpha 1-antitrypsin or alpha 2-macroglobulin with trypsin preformed in vitro. As both SDS and organic solvents are widely used in biochemical investigations of biological fluids, attention should be paid to the possible induction of proteolysis.

1-Propanol↗
PubMed1982

[Chondrocalcinosis].

Chondrocalcinosis is an arthropathy caused by deposits of calcium pyrophosphate-dihydrate microcrystals (CPPD) in the joints and occasionally in the tendons and ligaments. In our region it is almost always seen in its sporadic form in elderly subjects. The patients can be without symptoms or present four different clinical entities: an acute arthritis which can resemble and even be mistaken for an attack of gout or a septic arthritis; an inflammatory polyarthritis suggesting a rheumatoid arthritis; most frequently it appears as a benign polyarthrosis; sometimes it runs a destructive course capable of seriously damaging one or several joints. In certain cases chondrocalcinosis is associated with another metabolic disease. Familial forms have been described in some countries. Factors which induce the formation of the deposits of CPPD in the articular cartilages, fibrocartilages, the synovium and occasionally in the tendons and ligaments remain obscure. In contrast to urate gout, chondrocalcinosis appears to be due to a disturbance of pyrophosphate metabolism localized almost exclusively in the articular region. Its association with polyarthrosis rather frequently leads to destructive arthropathies. No etiological treatment for chondrocalcinosis exists at the present time. Therapy is limited to the administration of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs and physiotherapy.

Aged↗
PubMed1981

Measurement of soluble pyrophosphate in plasma and synovial fluid of patients with various rheumatic diseases.

Soluble pyrophosphate was measured in the plasma and synovial fluid of various groups of patients and in the plasma of two control groups. The two control groups consisted of 13 healthy subjects and 19 patients suffering from benign lumbar back pain. The other group of patients had rheumatoid arthritis (RA) (14 plasma and 19 synovial fluid examinations), osteoarthrosis (OA) (19 plasma and 26 synovial fluids) and articular chondrocalcinosis (ACC) (27 plasma and 43 synovial fluids). The level of soluble pyrophosphate in the plasma was 3.5 mumol/l in healthy subjects, 4.0 mumol/l in patients with lumbar back pain, 4.1 mumol/l in individuals having OA and 3.5 mumol/l in the group suffering from RA as well as for those with ACC. The differences between these values are not significant statistically. In the synovial fluid the values were 4.6 mumol/l for the group with RA, 12.7 mumol/l for those with OA and 34.2 mumol/l in the group having ACC. If a normal distribution of these values is assumed and the average values and standard deviations recalculated for each group after elimination of cases more than 3 standard deviations above the mean, then we obtain 9.8 mumol/l for the group with OA and 23.8 mumol/l for those with ACC. The difference between the group with RA and that with OA is highly significant (p greater than 0.0001). Even more significant is the difference between the group with RA and ACC (p less than 0.0005). The difference between the OA and the ACC is also highly significant (p less than 0.001). On the basis of these observations various mechanisms leading to the pyrophosphage crystal deposition disease are discussed.

Arthritis↗
PubMed1979

[Evaluation of a new commercial latex test for the study of rheumatoid factors].

A new commercial test of IgG-sensitized latex particle agglutination is compared with a long-established latex test for detection and titration of rheumatoid factors. The comparison was conducted on samples from three groups of patients: 125 with seropositive rheumatoid arthritis (RA), 115 seropositive samples from patients with various diseases except RA, and 100 seronegative samples with varying diagnosis including RA. The new test is very simple to perform. Its sensitivity, however, was lower than that of the Rheins test by about 2.5 dilutions. Its specificity as to the diagnosis of RA was significantly better than that of the Rheins test.

Arthritis, Rheumatoid↗
PubMed1979

[Arthropathies due to calcium pyrophosphates].

Articular chondrocalcinosis results from the deposits of calcium pyrophosphate microcrystals in the articular hyalin and fibrocartilages, the synovium and at times the tendons. In our area it is seen most frequently as isolated cases in the elderly and may be asymptomatic. When the affected joints present clinical manifestations, they vary from acute to subacute or chronic recurrent arthritis. A marked articular destruction can be observed in some cases. There is a classical radiological picture: linear opacities are most frequently seen localized in the mid-zone layer of the hyalin cartilage running parallel to but at a certain distance from the bone cortex. A part of our research has shown that in contrast to urate gout, articular chondrocalcinosis results from a metabolic disturbance of the calcium pyrophosphate localized almost exclusively in the same articular structures. Precise information is lacking at the present time to explain why calcium pyrophosphate mycrocrystals accumulate in the cartilage, the synovium and at times at the tendons; nor do we understand the precise role played by the pyrophosphate in bone and cartilage destruction.

Aged↗
PubMed1976

The immediate effects of intra-articular injections of osmic acid.

One hundred mg of osmic acid (with corticosteroid and lidocaine) was injected for therapeutic purposes into the knee in 10 patients suffering from various types of recalcitrant synovitis (mostly rheumatoid arthritis). The effects of this injection were followed by examination of synovial fluid, blood, and urine of these patients, collected at various intervals after intra-articular injection. As a control, a group of 3 patients (5 knees) received corticosteroid and lidocaine intra-articularly, and another group (6 patients, 7 knees) was injected with lidocaine only, both with the same total volume as the first group. Blood and urine examinations revealed essentially no effects of osmic acid, whereas in synovial fluid a strong inflammatory reaction was observed up to the second day after the injection, though the effusion soon disappeared. In a group treated with lidocaine + corticosteroid, a mild, early inflammatory reaction was noted, while lidocaine alone produced only a dilution effect, and the exudate remained relatively longer. Thus, the early local inflammatory reaction due to osmic acid is an expression of the necessary drastic effect of this beneficial therapeutic agent.

Adrenal Cortex Hormones↗
PubMed1975

Behaviour of synovial complement C3 and C4 components in inflammatory and degenerative joint diseases, before and after synoviorthesis.

The synovial fluid beta1a (C3) and beta1e (C4) expressed by their ratio to corresponding serum concentrations) were studied in 31 cases of seropositive rheumatoid arthritis (RA+), 5 cases of seronegative rheumatoid arthritis (RA-1), and 15 cases of osteoarthrosis (OA) before osmic acid synoviorthesis on knees. This was repeated after synoviorthesis in the synovial fluid (SF) of 24 RA+, 4 RA-, and 10 OA patients. The following studies were undertaken: (a) the relationship between these components; (b) their correlation with the SF protein concentration and rheumatoid factor titre, when present. This analysis led us to the following conclusions. (1) Before synoviorthesis (a) The SF beta1e is significantly lower than beta1a in RA+. In OA, an inverse phenomenon is observed. (b) The concentration of beta1a and beta1e are proportional to the protein concentration in the SF of OA. A significant inverse relationship between beta1a, beta1e, and the titre of rheumatoid factor is found. (2) after synoviorthesis the same studies performed on knees at the time of one or more relapses shows that the same pathogenetic process is involved and that the immunological mechanism is little influenced by this treatment. In OA also the relapse differs very little from the initial process observed before synoviorthesis.

Arthritis, Rheumatoid↗