Biomedical subjects
C Ferrari
Publications and source records attributed to C Ferrari.
Effect of two antiserotoninergic drugs, methysergide and metergoline, on gastric acid secretion and gastrin release in healthy man.
The effects of acute oral administration of the antiserotoninergic drugs methysergide (3 mg) and metergoline (4 mg) on basal, submaximal (0.6 micrograms/kg i. m.) and maximal (6 micrograms/kg) pentagastrin-stimulated gastric acid secretion, as well as on basal and food-induced gastrin release, have been evaluated in healthy volunteers. Methysergide significantly increased basal and submaximal pentagastrin-stimulated gastric acid secretion, and metergoline significantly inhibited gastric acidity in all experiments. Basal and stimulated serum gastrin concentrations were not modified by either drug. The effect of methysergide on gastric acid secretion was opposed to that of serotonin and was probably dependent on its antiserotoninergic action, but the decrease in gastric acidity caused by metergoline is not easily explained. Although the effect is similar to that of a dopamine infusion, it does not depend on dopamine infusion, it does not depend on dopamine receptor stimulation, since it was not influenced by pretreatment with metoclopramide. It is suggested that it might be due to the weak anticholinergic and/or antihistaminic properties of metergoline.
Actuarial survival after surgery for 350 patients with bronchial carcinoma.
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Metabolic effects of prazosin.
The effects of oral administration of 2 mg prazosin on several metabolic and endocrine variables were evaluated in 12 patients with hypertension (6 with normal and 6 with abnormal glucose tolerance). Prazosin was followed by a rise in plasma glucose and serum free fatty acids (FFA) in both normal and diabetic subjects; there was a trend upward in serum albumin (IRI), but growth hormone (GH), prolactin (PRL), and gastrin did not change. Although these results are in general agreement with metabolic effects of other alpha adrenergic blockers already reported, the rise in plasma glucose is at variance with studies performed with phentolamine.
Growth hormone secretion in hypertensive patients: evidence for a derangement in central adrenergic function.
1. In an attempt to test the hypothesis of a derangement in central catecholaminergic function in hypertensive patients, the serum growth hormone and prolactin responses to the alpha-adrenergic agonist clonidine (0.15 mg infused intravenously) and to L-dopa administration (500 mg orally) were evaluated in 15 hypertensive and 15 normotensive subjects matched for sex, age and body weight. 2. Whereas L-dopa elicited a growth hormone response of similar magnitude in both groups, clonidine infusion induced a significant increase in serum growth hormone in normotensive, but not in hypertensive, subjects. 3. Prolactin levels were equally suppressed by L-dopa and did not change after clonidine in either group. 4. The present study adds neuroendocrine evidence to the concept of a derangement in central alpha-adrenergic function in human hypertension.
Metabolic effects of chronic prazosin treatment.
The effects of chronic (3 mg/day for 1 week) administration of the vasodilator drug prazosin on several metabolic and endocrine variables were evaluated in 12 hypertensive patients, 6 with normal and 6 with abnormal oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). After 1 week prazosin treatment there were no significant modifications in fasting plasma glucose, serum free fatty acids (FFA), cholesterol, triglycerides, insulin (IRI), growth hormone (GH), prolactin (PRL) and gastrin levels; oral glucose tolerance and IRI response to glucose were unchanged in normal subjects, while in chemical diabetics there was a significant improvement in glucose tolerance and a slight increse in IRI secretion. Therefore, the untoward metabolic effects of acute prazosin administration, i.e. increased plasma glucose and serum FFA, are not sustained during chronic treatment, which may even improve glucose metabolism in diabetic patients.
Effect of dopamine infusion on serum prolactin concentration in normal and hyperprolactinaemic subjects.
The serum prolactin response to intravenous dopamine infusion (5 micrograms . kg-1 . min-1) was measured in twenty-one healthy subjects, in seven hyperprolactinaemic patients without evidence of a pituitary tumour, and in twenty-one patients with prolactinomas. Mean serum prolactin values were significantly suppressed in all three groups, without any significant difference between the degree of suppression. A decrease of serum prolactin to below 50% of basal values occurred in fifteen healthy subjects, in four patients without evidence of pituitary tumour, and in fourteen patients with prolactinomas. These findings demonstrate that most human prolactin-secreting pituitary adenomas are normally suppressible by exogenously administered dopamine and that dopamine infusion is not able to distinguish between tumorous and non-tumorous hyperprolactinaemia. Since intravenously infused dopamine is believed to inhibit prolactin secretion by acting at pituitary level, it is suggested that a normal functioning of pituitary dopamine receptors is maintained in most human prolactinomas.
Endocrine profile and therapeutic employment of a new prolactin-lowering drug, metergoline.
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Failure of nomifensine administration to discriminate between tumorous and nontumorous hyperprolactinemia.
It has recently been claimed that the PRL-lowering response to nomifensine administration (200 mg, orally) reliably discriminates patients with PRL-secreting tumors from those with so-called functional hyperprolactinemia. In the present study, this test was performed in 15 healthy controls, 7 hyperprolactinemic subjects without evidence of pituitary tumor, and 16 patients with prolactinoma. A decrease of serum PRL to below 65% of basal levels, which seemed to be the cut-off point in the previous study, was obtained in 11 subjects of the first group, in 4 subjects of the second group, and in 4 subjects of the third group. The decrease of mean serum PRL concentration after nomifensine was only significant in the first and second groups. Analysis of variance showed a significant difference in the PRL inhibition by nomifensine between the tumor group and the two groups without evidence of pituitary adenoma. Nevertheless, this study shows that the nomifensine test is unable to discriminate in the individual patient the tumorous or nontumorous origin of excessive PRL secretion.
Effect of central nervous system dopaminergic activation on prolactin secretion in man: evidence for a common central defect in hyperprolactinemic patients with and without radiological signs of pituitary tumors.
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Effect of four dopamine receptor antagonists on gastrin secretion in healthy subjects.
The effect of 1 week of oral treatment with four antidopaminergic drugs--metoclopramide, sulpiride, haloperidol, and pimozide--on fasting and meal-stimulated serum gastrin levels has been evaluated in healthy subjects. All of the four drugs significantly reduced the gastrin response to a meal, whereas basal concentration was unaffected. It is suggested that this action is mediated by central nervous system dopamine receptor blockade, which might act either via nervous or humoral mechanisms to inhibit gastrin release.
[Imidazole H2-antagonists and H2-angonists: effects of 5-alkyl substitution].
The effects of some imidazole derivatives, H2-antagonists and H2-agonists, with different alkyl groups in 5-position (R = Me, Et, i.Pr), were studied comparatively on cat gastric secretion and guinea-pig gastric fundus. The antagonistic and agonistic activities decrease with increase in the substituent inductive effect, and, in particular, it should be noted that the cimetidine ethyl analog (compound V) is a competitive antagonist of H2-histamine receptors. More hypotheses on the H1- and H2-receptor surfaces are proposed.
[Infectious agents in the G.I. tract diseases (author's transl)].
The distribution of normal intestinal flora changes in the different gut segments and is influenced by gastric pH, peristalsis, bactericidal activity of Immunoglobulins A (locally produced). Saprophytic bacteria prevent the growth of pathogenous microorganisms, partake in the production of vitamins (K, B group), can be responsible for the production of carcinogens and co-carcinogens by acting on bile-acids, food or drugs ingested, can affect the morphology of the intestinal mucosa. Enteroviruses are transient intestinal microorganisms, responsible for infectious disease whose highest incidence is summer and autumn, whose frequency is particularly elevated in malnourished subjects.
[An outbreak type A hepatitis in a family group living in a village near Parma. Epidemiologic evaluation and prophylaxis (author's transl)].
The most recent data concerning the characteristics of hepatitis A virus, as well as epidemiology and prophylaxis of type A hepatitis are described. An epidemic of hepatitis A which occurred in a village near Parma is analysed. The diagnosis was based on the detection, by radioimmunoassay, of specific antibody to hepatitis A antigen (anti-HAV) at the beginning of the infection and during the convalescence. In addition the occurrence of high levels of specific immunoglobulins type M anti HAV, during the acute phase, was a further evidence of the diagnosis. The presence of other agents responsible for acute hepatitis, such as Cytomegalovirus and Epstein-Barr virus, has been excluded by laboratory examination.
Gastric acid and gastrin secretion after administration of the anti-inflammatory drug, sulindac, in man.
The effects of oral administration of the anti-inflammatory drug, (Z)-5-fluoro-2-methyl-1-[p-(methylsulfinyl)-benzylidene]-indene-3-acetic acid (sulindac, Clinoril) 400 mg/d for 8 days, on basal and submaximal (3 micrograms/kg b.2. i.m.) and maximal (6 micrograms/kg b.w.) pentagastrin-stimulated gastric acid secretion as well as on serum gastrin concentration have been evaluated in female patients affected with osteoarthrosis. No significant changes in either gastric acid or gastrin secretion were induced by the treatment. Serum gastrin levels were also unaltered after acute administration of 200 mg sulindac. These results confirm and extend previous observations suggesting that the drug does not exert major actions on the stomach.
[Spontaneous post-operative rupture of the thoracic esophagus: conservative treatment in one case (author's transl)].
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Clonidine-induced hyperglycemia: evidence against a growth hormone-mediated effect.
The effects of acute clonidine infusion (0.15 mg over 10 min) on several endocrine and metabolic variables have been evaluated in 12 hypertensive patients and 12 normotensive controls. Plasma glucose increased significantly in comparison with a placebo study in both groups; serum growth hormone showed a significant increase in healthy subjects but did not rise in hypertensive patients; there was no correlation between the increments in plasma glucose and in serum growth hormone in the whole group of subjects; serum-free fatty acids, insulin, prolactin and plasma cortisol did not change in any group. These data, although not excluding a central site of the clonidine hyperglycemic action, contrast the view that it may depend on stimulation of growth hormone release.
Hyperprolactinaemia and cardiac disorders.
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