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Biomedical subjects

E Gori

Publications and source records attributed to E Gori.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Possibility of spontaneous drug abuse tested in rat.

Given that a number of the techniques used to test drug abuse liability are not free from criticism, a series of oral free-choice experimental procedures was adopted. When simultaneously offered as alternatives to glucose using the classical polydipsic procedure, no preference for buprenorphine (0.025 mg/ml), morphine (0.5 mg/ml) or fentanyl (0.005 mg/ml) solutions was shown by premedicated rats. The same result was obtained when the two-bottle procedure was used for at least one month to offer etonitazene (10 micrograms/ml), buprenorphine (60 micrograms/ml), cocaine (300 micrograms/ml) and haloperidol (25 micrograms/ml) solutions as simultaneous alternatives to aspartame. This absence of preference was maintained even when the rats showed evident pharmacological effects and, in the case of the opiates, tolerance and withdrawal syndrome. However, when a gustatory marker (quinine) was introduced into one of the two solutions, preference was always shown for the other. Finally, in a conditioned taste aversion (CTA) test, etonitazene (5 or 40 micrograms/kg, i.p.) and haloperidol (0.5 or 2 mg/kg, i.p.) did not induce any reduction in saccharin consumption, while morphine (40 mg/kg) did. Pretreatment with naloxone (120 micrograms/kg, i.c.v.) did not antagonize morphine-induced CTA, while it did antagonize morphine-induced analgesia.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Incremental diagnostic value of dipyridamole echocardiography and exercise thallium 201 scintigraphy in the assessment of presence and extent of coronary artery disease.

BACKGROUND: The incremental diagnostic information of two noninvasive tests for the detection of coronary artery disease (CAD), dipyridamole echocardiography, and exercise 201Tl myocardial scintigraphy was assessed in a series of 102 patients with ordered logistic regression and receiver-operating characteristic curves. METHODS AND RESULTS: Patients were selected from those referred to our cardiovascular centers with the clinical suspicion of CAD. After clinical evaluation, all patients underwent both noninvasive tests during hospitalization 2 weeks before coronary arteriography. The coronary arteriogram was used as a gold standard: CAD was defined as the presence of one or more vessels with 50% or greater narrowing of the luminal diameter. Clinical data were 73.0% +/- 5.7% accurate in the prediction of CAD. The addition of dipyridamole echocardiographic data to the clinical model yielded a diagnostic accuracy of 88.3% +/- 4.3% (p < 0.00001), whereas the addition of thallium scintigraphic parameters to the clinical model improved diagnostic accuracy to 93.8% +/- 2.6% (p < 0.00001). A significant increase in accuracy to 97.2% +/- 1.4% was achieved when thallium scintigraphic data were added to the clinical and dipyridamole-echocardiographic model (p < 0.00001). CONCLUSION: Both noninvasive methods for detection of CAD, DET, and ETS showed a good diagnostic accuracy especially when tests-derived parameters were combined with clinical data by means of relative logistic models; nevertheless the ETS model showed a higher sensitivity in comparison with the DET model, essentially in presence of a lower extent of CAD.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Central and peripheral components of dermorphin's effect on rat intestinal propulsion in comparison to morphine.

Dermorphin, injected intracerebroventricularly (ICV) to rats, provokes, like to morphine, an inhibition of intestinal propulsion linearly related to the log of the administered doses (in the range from 0.06 to 0.56 micrograms/rat), but it is 143 times more active than morphine. Naloxone, ICV or IP, antagonizes dermorphin less effectively than morphine. Quaternary naloxone ICV administered antagonizes the intestinal effect of ICV dermorphin, while IP administered it is not effective until 8 mg/kg. The dose of dermorphin maximally active by the ICV route (0.56 micrograms/rat) is completely inactive when injected IP. Increasing doses of dermorphin IP (from 12 to 6400 micrograms/kg) inhibit intestinal propulsion to the same extent irrespectively of the doses employed, but never by more than 50%. Only a high dose of naloxone (30 mg/kg/IP) antagonizes this IP effect. The central and peripheral components of this intestinal effect of dermorphin are discussed.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

EEG power spectra and behavioral correlates in rats given chronic morphine. Lack of residual long-term EEG and neuronal changes.

The short-term (during tolerance to behavioural effects and withdrawal) and long-term (3, 6, 9 and 12 months after treatment) effects of morphine on mean total electroencephalographic spectral power (analysed by means of fast Fourier transform) and band distribution (delta, theta, alpha, beta) were studied in freely moving young rats implanted with chronic cortical bilateral recording electrodes. Morphine was administered i.p. daily for 1 month at weekly increasing doses of 20, 50, 100 and 200 mg kg-1, and the electroencephalogram was evaluated for 2 h at every change of dose. Treatment with 20, 50 and 100 mg kg-1 led to a significant increase in mean total spectral power 30-60 min from treatment. However, the dose of 100 mg kg-1 led to a smaller increase than that obtained with 50 mg kg-1 and no change was shown with the highest dose, suggesting the progressive development of tolerance. The modification observed for 100 mg kg-1 was accompanied by a relative increase in the delta and decrease in the theta and alpha power spectra. Between the last day of morphine and the first 3 days of abstinence, a progressive decrease in mean total spectral power accompanied by a significant increase in delta and beta and a decrease in theta and alpha frequency was observed. Long-term EEG activity and the counting of the pyramidal cells of the hippocampus failed to reveal any pathological findings after 3, 6, 9 and 12 months.

Analgesics, Opioid↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Incremental diagnostic value of dobutamine stress echocardiography and dobutamine scintigraphy (technetium 99m-labeled sestamibi single-photon emission computed tomography) for assessment of presence and extent of coronary artery disease.

BACKGROUND: The incremental diagnostic value of dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE) and 99mTc-labeled sestamibi single-photon emission computed tomography for the evaluation of the presence and extent of coronary artery disease (CAD) was assessed with ordered logistic regression and receiver-operating characteristic curves. METHODS AND RESULTS: Forty-five consecutive patients (33 men and 12 women; 53 +/- 6.8 years) underwent exercise electrocardiography and simultaneous DSE and sestamibi single-photon emission computed tomographic imaging. Coronary angiography was performed in all patients (significant coronary stenosis > 50%). On the basis of the results of exercise electrocardiography, the pretest probability for CAD (Diamond's algorithm) was low (45.6% +/- 12.7%). According to ordered logistic regression analysis, some models were estimated that performed a diagnostic accuracy level for CAD. In particular, we evaluated a clinical model (model 1) determined by the following parameters: sex, age, presence of chest pain, and positivity of electrocardiogram during dobutamine stress test. This model was 64.3% +/- 10.7% accurate for the prediction of CAD. The addition to model 1 of DSE parameters (wall motion stress and rest score index and relative difference) (model 2) yielded a diagnostic accuracy of 81.4% +/- 4.3% (p < 0.045), whereas the addition to model 1 of single-photon emission computed tomographic parameters (the difference between perfusional stress and rest score index) (model 3) improved diagnostic accuracy to 92.3% +/- 5.5% (p < 0.003), a level that appeared significantly higher than that of model 2 (p < 0.016). CONCLUSION: Both noninvasive methods for the detection of CAD showed a good diagnostic accuracy, especially when test-derived parameters were combined with clinical data. Nevertheless, the single-photon emission computed tomographic model showed a higher sensitivity compared with the DSE model.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Changes is Th1/Th2 balance in hemodialysis patients: effect of different membranes].

BACKGROUND: Hemodialysis (HD) patients present an immunodeficiency that is mainly related to the defect of cell-mediated immunity. We have previously shown the polarisation of T-helper cells toward the phenotype in HD treatment with cuprophan membrane. In the present study, we have examined the effect of a Vitamin E-coated dialyser (Excebrane, VE) on the activity of the two Th subsets. METHODS: We studied 8 healthy controls and 10 patients on RDT for at least 6 months with cellulose membrane (AC), then switched to HD-VE. Blood was collected from HD patients while on treatment with AC, and after 1 year of treatment with VE. CD4+ cells were isolated from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) by negative selection, treating PBMC with a cocktail of anti-CD8, -CD16, -CD19, -CD36 and -CD56 antibodies labelled with magnetic beads, and passing them through a magnetic field. The collected Th cells were cultured for 48 h with and without phytohemagglutinin (PHA). IFNgamma and IL-4 were measured in the supernatant using the ELISA assay. RESULTS: The constitutive release of IL-4 by CD4+ cells was abated significantly by treatment with VE. IFNgamma released by mitogen-stimulated CD4+ recovered with VE. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that treatment with vitamin E-coated dialyser improves the defect of PBMC function associated with cellulose membrane dialyser consisting of altered spontaneous and mitogen-stimulated cytokine release. The effects of vitamin E-coated filter, in particular the recovery of reactive IFNgamma production by Th1 cells and the restriction of spontaneous IL-4 release by Th2 cells may have clinical importance.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Large-cell mediastinal lymphoma].

The authors report a case of large-cell mediastinal lymphoma, a recently defined, fairly infrequent, highly aggressive tumor which responds scarcely to conventional chemotherapy. On the basis of its histopathology, the tumor must be classified as a highly malignant non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The latest data in the literature give cause for a little more optimism thanks to the introduction of the most recent schemes of chemotherapy combined with large-dose radiation for consolidation. Our patient was treated with chemotherapy CHOP high-dose radiation which resulted in complete disappearance of the mediastinal mass and rapid remission of the severe symptoms of mediastinal compression. After about 30 months, instrumental and laboratory findings confirm the persistence of the complete remission.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Mortality among male farmers licensed to use pesticides.

The mortality experience of 4,580 male farmers licensed to buy and use pesticides in Northern Italy was examined from 1974 to 1987. The historical cohort was determined from the registers of the agricultural inspectorate offices. The vital status at the end of the study period was ascertained by municipality records and only 4 subjects were lost to follow-up. Death certificates were obtained for 100% of the 565 identified deaths. External comparison on to the Italian male population was supplemented by regional comparison. Mortality deficits were observed for all causes, all neoplasms and most specific malignancies. A non-significant mortality excess due to brain cancer, compared both to national and regional populations, was found (11 cases, Standardized Mortality Ratio 169 and 139, respectively). The excess of brain cancer became statistically significant in the age group 65-75 years. Caution must be used in the interpretation of our findings. Nevertheless, it seems reasonable to hypothesize an association of the observed excess of brain cancer with the occupational and/or environmental exposure of the cohort.

Age Factors↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Audiological and neuropsychological development study in a sample of school children from a low-iodine area of the Central Apennines that is endemic for cretinism].

We have evaluated neuropsychic development in 70 normal schoolchildren in an area of severe endemic goitre and cretinism in the Central Apennines (Montefeltro). In each subject we have studied auxological, psychometric and audiometric parameters, together with tympanograms and stapedial reflexograms. Auxological data were in the normal range, as were the stapedial reflexograms and tympanograms. On the contrary, 54.8% of the sample performed below the 25th percentile in psychometric tests (Raven test PM-47), being also 22.8% below the 5th percentile. Audiometric data showed a neurological hearing impairment in 3.1% of the children tested, as compared with 0.28% in the area of Pisa. These data point out that an impairment of central nervous system function still persists in this area of severe endemic goitre.

Child↗