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Biomedical subjects

C Farina

Publications and source records attributed to C Farina.

At least 145 records · Page 8Linked to original sources
PubMed1985

Evaluation of concentration procedures of mutagenic metabolites from urine of diesel particulate-treated rats.

Several concentration procedures of mutagenic metabolites contained in the urine of diesel particulate-treated rats were compared. Mutagenicity was monitored by the Salmonella/microsome assay. The procedures tested were: lyophilization; filtration on XAD-2, XAD-7 or Sephadex LH-20 matrices; ultrafiltration; and extraction with organic solvents. Urine extraction with dichloromethane (DCM) gave almost quantitative recovery of activity while leaving salts and other polar compounds in the aqueous phase, and is the method recommended.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Liver abscess caused by Edwardsiella tarda.

Edwardsiella tarda, among other Enterobacteriaceae, is a rare isolate from clinical specimens in man. A liver abscess caused by E. tarda was found in a middleaged woman without overt epidemiologic exposure to known reservoirs of this organism. While the most likely source of infection was the bowel, we failed to demonstrate a gut carriage of E. tarda or to show any local condition predisposing to the development of the liver lesion.

Enterobacteriaceae Infections↗
PubMed1984

[Toxic genetic effects of flunitrazepam].

The mutagenic activity of Flunitrazepam, the active ingredient of the drug Rohypnol, has been investigated by using the Salmonella/microsome mutagenicity test. A dose-related mutagenic effect was observed on Salmonella typhimurium strain TA 100 either in the absence or in the presence of a rat liver microsomal fraction (S9) as in vitro metabolic activation system. By adopting a modification of the Salmonella test, the mutagenicity of urines from rats or patients treated with the drug was evaluated. In these cases mutagenic activity was detected toward the Salmonella strains TA 98 and TA 100 both in presence and in absence of the metabolic activation system. The data indicate that Flunitrazepam and/or its urinary metabolites can induce both base-pair substitutions or frame-shift point mutations.

Animals↗
PubMed1984

Rifampicin in collections of pus--a kinetic study in human abscesses.

Most of the successful non-surgical management of abdominal abscesses is based upon the presence of therapeutic amounts of effective antibiotics within the collection. However few data are currently available concerning antimicrobial levels in human purulent lesions. To study the relationship between serum and pus concentrations of rifampicin, 11 patients with deep-seated abscesses were given 900 mg intravenously of rifampicin daily; after 3, 8 and 20 h from injection, an ultrasound-guided percutaneous aspiration of the collection was performed. Samples were obtained on the first day of therapy in six cases, while in other six the aspiration took place on the third day. Rifampicin levels of therapeutic value were present after 8 h from the first injection. From this time antibiotic amounts in pus, ranging from 1.6 to 5.8 mg/l, were consistent with a long persistence of rifampicin in abscesses, without any evidence of accumulation.

Abscess↗
PubMed1982

[In vivo studies on the transformation of cyclophosphamide to mutagenic metabolites].

Cyclophosphamide (CP), a widely used antineoplastic drug, requires hepatic mixed-function-oxidase-mediated activation to show alkylating activity as well as cytotoxicity, oncogenic transformation and chromosomal aberrations. Evidences are here reported that in vivo activation of CP to urinary mutagenic metabolites is catalyzed primarily by a phenobarbital-inducible cytochrome P-450 system. 24 hours urines from male Sprague-Dawley rats treated i.p. by a single CP administration were filtered through XAD-2 columns and mutagenicity of the acetonic extract was assayed by the Ames test in absence of enzymatic microsomal activation. a highly positive response with a linear dose-dependence was obtained in the range 0.500 mg/kg of CP. Treating rats with Phenobarbital, before CP (500 mg/kg) administration, induced a 250% increase in urine mutagenic activity, whereas. -Naphthoflavone pretreatment reduced the CP activation to urine mutagenic metabolites to 51% as compared with control CP-treated rats.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Novel bone antiresorptive agents that selectively inhibit the osteoclast V-H+-ATPase.

The vacuolar proton pump (V-ATPase) located on the plasma membrane of the osteoclast is a potential molecular target for the discovery of novel bone antiresorptive agents useful for the treatment of osteoporosis. In order to design novel compounds able to selectively inhibit the osteoclast V-ATPase we firstly identified the minimal structural requirements of bafilomycin A1, a macrolide antibiotic which potently inhibits all V-ATPases. This information allowed the design of 2-(indole)pentadienamide derivatives whose optimization led to a novel class of potent inhibitors that demonstrated a high degree of selectivity for the osteoclast V-ATPase. The most interesting derivative, SB-242784, was able to inhibit bone resorption by human osteoclasts in vitro and to completely prevent ovariectomy-induced bone loss in rats when administered orally at 10 mg kg(-1) day(-1). Structure activity relationships of this class of compounds were investigated further by replacing the 2,4-pentadienoyl chain with suitable spacers able to maintain the correct orientation and distance between the indole ring and the amide moiety.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Selective delta opioid receptor agonists for inflammatory and neuropathic pain.

In the last decade a number of selective and potent non-peptidic agents became available to explore the usefulness of the delta-opioid receptor in modulation of pain of different origins. As a continuing effort in this field, potent and selective delta-opioid agonists based on the pyrrolomorphinan framework have been designed, synthesised and characterised biologically in our laboratories. In animal models, a selected compound of interest, SB 235863, has proved the concept that selective delta-opioid agonists may have great potential as pain relief agents in inflammatory and neuropathic pain conditions. Importantly, such a compound was free of the unwanted side effects usually associated with narcotic analgesics such as morphine.

Analgesics, Opioid↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Antenatal triiodothyronine improves neonatal pulmonary function in preterm lambs.

OBJECTIVE: To characterize 1) pulmonary gas exchange, 2) pulmonary function, 3) lung fluid and tissue phospholipid content, and 4) thyroid hormone in the premature lamb (0.85 of term) after intra-amniotic administration of 100 micrograms of triiodothyronine (T3) 2 weeks before delivery. METHODS: Nine fetal lambs were given 100 micrograms of intra-amniotic T3 under ultrasound guidance at 112 +/- 1 days' gestation and delivered at 126 +/- 1 days (term = 149 days). Five saline-injected animals served as controls. Arterial blood gases, pulmonary mechanics, and lung volumes were compared between groups for 1 hour after delivery. At delivery, tracheal fluid and blood was taken for T3, and thyroxine (T4) levels. Tracheal fluid and lung tissues were assayed for total phosphorus and disaturated phosphatidylcholine. RESULTS: Triiodothyronine-treated lambs had significantly higher mean arterial pH and lower PCO2 than controls (P < .05) with a trend toward higher mean PO2. The dynamic lung compliance was increased by 54% with a 40% proportional increase in tidal volume and minute ventilation in the T3-treated group (P < .05). Functional residual capacity increased 69% (P < .05) without a change in specific compliance. The tracheal fluid and pulmonary phospholipids and tracheal fluid and plasma T3 and T4 levels were not different between the two groups. CONCLUSION: A single 100 micrograms dose of antenatal T3 significantly improves neonatal gas exchange and lung compliance. The improvement in lung function was not accompanied by an increase in pulmonary surfactant production. It is inferred that T3 improved lung function via accelerated structural development of the lung with an alternative possible effect on parenchymal connective tissue matrix.

Amniotic Fluid↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Climacteric complaints, female identity, and sexual dysfunctions.

Forty early menopausal women seeking relief from sexual symptoms within a long-term marital relationship and 40 matched women seeking relief of climacteric complaints completed questionnaires concerning three subject: vasomotor and psychosocial symptoms, sexual dysfunctions, and female identity. Results showed that women with sexual dysfunctions were more likely to suffer from vasomotor and psychosocial complaints and their feminine identity was based mainly on ideals of motherhood and beauty. In addition, sexual desire disorders were present significantly in those women with higher psychosocial symptoms, while sexual arousal disorders were particularly evident in women suffering more vasomotor symptoms.

Climacteric↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Haemostasis unbalance in Pugh-scored liver cirrhosis: characteristic changes of plasma levels of protein C versus protein S.

Liver cirrhosis leads to a protido-synthetic impairment that alters the levels of blood clotting factors and haemostasis. The aim of this study was to assess the alterations of haemostatic parameters in the evolution of liver cirrhosis scored according to Child's classification, with Pugh's modifications. Thirty-seven patients suffering from alcoholic and non-alcoholic liver cirrhosis, representing stages A5, A6, B7, B8 and C10, were tested for the main blood clotting parameters, i.e. prothrombin time, factor VII, partial activated thromboplastin time, fibrinogen, plasminogen, alpha 2-antiplasmin and physiological inhibitors [antithrombin III (ATIII), protein C (PC), protein S (PS)]. No variations were observed between substages A5 and A6 in any of the parameters, except for coagulation inhibitor levels. Most parameters showed a progressive decrease in stages B and C of the disease. The most significant alterations were found in the physiological coagulation inhibitors, with a sharper decrease in PC and AT III level and a lesser decrease in the level of PS through stages A5 and B8: this evidence could assume an important biological and diagnostic significance.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Vibrio cholerae O2 as a cause of a skin lesion in a tourist returning from Tunisia.

Isolates of Vibrio cholerae other than O1 and O139 (non O1 Vibrio cholerae) are associated with sporadic diarrheal disorders, and limited outbreaks of diarrhea, and have often been reported in association with extraintestinal infections. The majority of cases of non O1 Vibrio cholerae infection involve immunocompromised patients with hematologic malignancies or cirrhosis. In Italy, very few cases of gastrointestinal and extraintestinal infections due to non O1 Vibrio cholerae have been described in the past years. We describe a case of non O1 Vibrio cholerae infection with cutaneous bullous lesions in a tourist returning from Tunisia.

Humans↗