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Biomedical subjects

A Volpi

Publications and source records attributed to A Volpi.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources
PubMed1982

[Pneumonia mortality in Italy over a 26-year period (1951-1976)].

During the period 1951-1976 the annual mortality rate due to pneumonia decreased from about 60 deaths/100.000 to about 26 deaths/100.000. By studying the pattern of mortality in relation to the age of population, it is shown that pneumonia deaths in the elder group (greater than 60 year-old) progressively diminished from 1951 (266/100.000) to 1966 (125/100.000). After this year mortality rates showed to stabilize their levels. Pneumonia mortality among people with age between 0-5 years and 5-60 years showed a progressive decline during all the period here examined. At this time elder people seem to contribute to more than 80% of mortality from pneumonia in Italy.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1980

Single radial haemolysis for rubella antibody screening.

The single radial haemolysis technique was employed for the detection of rubella antibodies. By using this technique, as compared with the conventional haemagglutination-inhibition test on the same serum samples, it was observed that the single radial haemolysis technique supplies a reliable method for large rubella antibody screening.

Antibodies, Viral↗
PubMed1980

[Seroepidemiology of rubella in Rome (1972-1978)].

Data on hemoagglutination inhibition (HI) tests for rubella immunity which were performed in our laboratory since 1972, are reported. The results obtained on sera from healthy young women indicate a significant decrease of incidence of sero-negatives in 1978 as compared with previous years. The incidence of high titer-positive sera and the geometric mean titer of HI antibody were significantly greater in 1973 and 1978 than in the remaining years; a greater number of case reports to Public Health Authorities occurred in Rome during these two years. The data are also discussed in relationship with vaccination program.

Antibodies, Viral↗
PubMed1980

[Combination of alphathesin and ketamine. A physicochemical compatibility investigation and clinical study of short periods of anesthesia].

The clinical effect of an association of alphathesin and ketamine in short periods of anaesthesia is examined. Initially, an assessment was made of the physical and chemical compatibility of the two products by means of a series of specific tests. Next, a clinical trial revealed the excellent results offered by the association, with regard to both the effectiveness of anaesthesia and the virtual absence of side-effects.

Alfaxalone Alfadolone Mixture↗
PubMed1979

Protection from natural infection after live influenza virus immunization in an open population.

Live attenuated influenza vaccine containing the recombinant of A/Victoria/3/75 with A/PR/8/34 virus was administered to healthy adults in a field trial aimed at evaluating protection provided by immunization. The study was designed to measure the effect of vaccination on absenteeism from respiratory disease during a natural influenza epidemic. A total of 2115 male employees of the public transport service of Rome volunteered to participate in the trial, 1050 and 1065 receiving vaccine and placebo respectively, in a randomized blind fashion. Vaccination procedure was completed by the end of December 1976. A small-sized outbreak of influenza, due to a viral strain antigenically homologous to the vaccine, occurred during the month of February 1977. Analysis of absenteeism data, classified according to medical certificate, indicated that morbidity from respiratory disease was reduced in vaccinees compared with controls during the epidemic month; the rate of increase of morbidity compared with that of the preceding month was then three times lower in vaccinees than in controls and the difference in absenteeism between the two groups greatly exceeded the ordinary fluctuation that was observed during non-epidemic periods.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Influenza vaccination with live-attenuated and inactivated virus-vaccines during an outbreak of disease.

Immunization procedures with live attenuated and inactivated vaccines were carried out on a group of young recruits at the beginning of an outbreak of infection due to an A/Victoria/3/75-related virus strain, which occurred in February 1977 in a military camp. A retrospective investigation on protection from clinical influenza was then performed in order to investigate whether immunization with live virus vaccines, administered at the beginning of an epidemic, could provide early protection from the disease. In the course of the two weeks following vaccination, laboratory-confirmed clinical influenza cases occurred in 4 subjects among the 110 volunteers of the control group which received placebo, and in 8, 7 and 4 subjects respectively of the 3 groups of about 125 individuals, each of which received one of the following vaccine preparations: (a), live attenuated A/Victoria/3/75 influenza virus oral vaccine, grown on chick embryo kidney culture; (b), live attenuated nasal vaccine, a recombinant of A/Puerto Rico/8/34 with A/Victoria/3/75 virus; and (c), inactivated A/Victoria/3/75 virus intramuscular vaccine. These data do not support the hypothesis that, during an epidemic of infection, early protection from clinical influenza can be achieved through immunization with live attenuated or inactivated influenza virus vaccines, in spite of the high immunizing capability of the vaccine preparations.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1976

[Evaluation of the immunity to A/swine influenza virus in a sample of population of Rome].

Hemagglutination-inhibiting (HI) antibodies in respect of type A/swine influenza virus (strain NIB/3) were titrated on 225 serum specimens taken in Rome during 1976. No HI antibodies to the A/swine virus were found in the serum specimens of the 155 subjects under 50 years of age, while the majority (94%) of the serum specimens of the subjects over 70 years of age showed HI antibody reactivity to the virus, with a mean geometric titre of 21.75. The vaccination of 38 individuals over 50 years of age with live attenuated influenza virus (strain H3N2 - A/Port Chalmers/1/73) failed to cause any elevation of HI antibody titres against A/swine influenza virus, though producing significant seroconversion in respect of the A/Port Chalmers influenza virus in more than 60% of the vaccinees.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1976

[Complement fixation, hemagglutination inhibition and neuraminidase inhibition reactions in the seroepidemiologic evaluation of an influenza A epidemic].

Complement-fixing (CF), hemagglutination-inhibiting (HI) and neuraminidase-inhibiting (NI) antibodies in respect of type A influenza virus were titrated on 2080 serum specimens. The sera were collected between December 1974 and May 1975 for the open population of Rome, in groups of an average of 300 samples per month. Influenza type A strains, related to the Port Chalmers variant, were isolated in Rome in January and February 1975, during that time a significant increase of antibody titers and of serum positivity was detected. The increase of positive response for influenza type A antigen was of 21%, 17% and 8% for FC, HI and NI reactions, respectively. The NI reaction proved to be less responsive that the CF and HI reactions for the purposes of sero-epidemiological evaluation of the influenza epidemic.

Antibody Formation↗
PubMed1976

Seroimmunity to polioviruses in an urban population of Italy.

In a seroepidemiological survey on immunity to polioviruses, carried out in Rome, neutralizing antibodies were titrated on 602 serum samples collected from individuals aged from 6 months to 88 years. The geometric mean titres were 25.24, 25.92, and 18.12 for poliovirus types 1, 2, and 3, respectively. The number of seronegative results for each virus strain was very low (</=1.5%). The immune status of the study population could therefore be considered satisfactory. The distribution of antibody reactivity in different age groups was similar for poliovirus types 1 and 3, while for type 2 a significant difference in titres was found between adults and children.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

An efficient method for culturing human breast carcinoma to evaluate antiblastic drug activity in vitro: experience on 136 primary cancers and on 116 recurrences.

The feasibility of techniques developed for isolating and culturing human mammary epithelial cells of malignant origin was confirmed in 136 primary breast cancers, 116 hypodermal metastases, and 8 metastatic lymph nodes. In 115 (84%) primary breast cancers and in 81 (70%) hypodermal recurrences we observed a good in vitro cellular proliferation. These proliferating cells, at the second passage, were used for a clonal assay suitable for quantitating drug sensitivity. With this clonal assay median cloning efficiencies of 14% and 6% were obtained respectively in primaries and in skin recurrences. We examined the in vitro response to different drugs and confirmed the test's ability to detect heterogeneity in response to same drugs (doxorubicin, 4'-epidoxorubicin, vinblastine, cis platinum, and idarubicinol) among the different breast carcinoma cultures as well as heterogeneity among subpopulations within a single carcinoma.

Antineoplastic Agents↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Pharmacokinetics of amiodarone in man.

We studied the kinetics of amiodarone in three healthy volunteers after single oral (400 mg) and intravenous (150 mg) doses and in six patients with supraventricular tachycardia. Three patients were studied after the first oral dose (400 mg) and during subsequent therapy (200 mg/day); the other three after 5 mg/kg of amiodarone intravenous. Blood was drawn at intervals for 24 h in patients and up to 32 h (i.v.) and 50 h (p.o.) from healthy volunteers. The drug was measured by high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). No difference in kinetic parameters was found between healthy subjects an patients. The pharmacokinetic parameters, calculated on the intravenous data using a two-compartment open model, indicate a very large volume of distribution (9.26-17.17 L/kg in healthy volunteers and 6.88-21.05 L/kg in patients). The elimination half-life ranged from 12.09 to 20.70 h in volunteers and from 11.60 to 19.60 h in patients. Oral absorption was slow an erratic, with fourfold individual variations in systemic bioavailability (22-86%). A slight accumulation of amiodarone was observed in patients under chronic treatment.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Feasibility of a cell kinetic-based adjuvant chemotherapy trial in axillary node-negative breast cancer.

AIMS AND BACKGROUND: Accumulated information on biologic prognostic indicators and predictors of response to different types of treatment in patients with different tumor characteristics has made it possible to design clinical protocols on biologic bases. Among cell proliferation indices, the thymidine labelling index (TLI) has proved to be an independent and consistent prognostic indicator over time. Moreover, experimental and retrospective analyses of clinical studies have revealed a direct relation between TLI and response to chemotherapy. On the basis of the results, a prospective clinical protocol on axillary node-negative breast cancer was activated in Italy in 1989. METHODS: Patients with low TLI tumors were treated with local-regional therapy alone, whereas patients with high TLI tumors were randomized to receive local-regional therapy followed or not by adjuvant chemotherapy consisting of 6 cycles of CMF. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The present paper reports on the feasibility of a prospective clinical protocol based on a subgroup of patients with specific pathologic (node negative) and biologic (rapidly proliferating) breast cancers. However, patient eligibility was only 11%.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Effective pre-emptive therapy with Ganciclovir and specific immunoglobulins for CMV infection in a bone marrow transplanted patient.

BACKGROUND: A 29-year-old man, who underwent allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT) for acute non lymphoid leukemia (ANLL), presented with blood pancytopenia and mild hypoxemia on day +39, without signs of acute graft versus host disease (GVHD). METHODS AND RESULTS: Cytomegalovirus (CMV) antigens were detected on WBCs and cells from bronchoalveolar lavage by immunofluorescence (IF) with specific murine monoclonal antibodies. Prompt treatment with Ganciclovir and high titer CMV immunoglobulins was followed by disappearance of the laboratory findings of CMV infection. Therapy was well tolerated and no side effects were recorded except for hematological depression that did not reverse after withdrawal of the therapy. The patient is relatively well on day + 210. CONCLUSIONS: Detection of CMV antigenemia appears to be a valuable tool for deciding whether to start CMV therapy with potentially toxic antiviral drugs in BMT patients in early engraftment, with or without overt signs of CMV infection.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Inhibition of growth of breast cancer cells in vitro by the ribosome-inactivating protein saporin 6.

The antiproliferative activity of Saporin 6, a Ribosome-inactivating protein purified from the seeds of Saponaria officinalis has been tested on human breast cancer cells in vitro by the analysis (a) of colony formation in cells from surgical specimens from 27 patients bearing primary breast cancer and (b) of protein synthesis inhibition in the MCF/7 cell line. Results indicate a very high sensitivity of breast cancer cells from most patients to a short-term treatment with Saporin 6 at concentrations (10(-9) M), until now found effective only in acellular systems or after conjugation with monoclonal antibodies. On the contrary, the treatment of the human cell line MCF/7 indicate a very reduced sensitivity compared to fresh human neoplastic cells, with the necessity of a long lag for the effect to begin.

Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic↗