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Biomedical subjects

E Polli

Publications and source records attributed to E Polli.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Complete remission in prolymphocytic leukemia with 4-demethoxydaunorubicin and arabinosyl cytosine.

Prolymphocytic leukemia (PL) is a morphologically distinct disease generally characterized by unsatisfactory therapeutic response and brief survival. Aggressive chemotherapy protocols including doxorubicin (DX) have been successfully used as alternatives to treatments usually effective in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). A patient with typical PL, resistant to regimens containing DX, was treated with 4-demethoxydaunorubicin (4-dm DNR), a new anthracycline analog derived from daunorubicin (DNR). The therapeutic response was rapid and impressive; furthermore 4-dm DNR combined with arabinosyl cytosine (Ara-C) produced a complete remission which is unusual in PL.

Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols

Giant coeloadenoma of the kidney.

A case of giant adenoma of the kidney is described with special regard to the histological and ultrastructural features of the neoplastic cells. The tumoral proliferation consisted mainly of clear and dark epithelial cells among which cells of a third type are occasionally interspersed. A possible origin of this last population from the coelomatic lining is suggested and the hypothesis of a dysontogenetic nature of the neoplasia is purposed.

Adenoma

Spleen alterations in hairy cell leukemia: a scanning electron microscopic study.

In Hairy Cell Leukemia (HCL) peripheral blood and bone marrow cells show under the scanning electron microscope (SEM) a characteristic surface with numerous ruffles and microvilli. The spleen of a patient affected by HCL was studied by SEM after fresh sectioning and routine preparation. Cells with the typical "hairy" surface were observed infiltrating the red pulp, altering the normal reticular meshwork and causing red blood cell distortion. In the sinuses, hairy cells adhered to the endothelial cells causing sinus dilatation and destruction. Aggregates of hairy cells delimiting pooled erythrocytes were also observed and may represent the "pseudosinuses" described in previous light and transmission electron microscopic studies. These preliminary findings may explain the condition of hypersplenism which characterizes HCL. In addition, SEM is proposed as a rapid and simple method to identify HCL spleen involvement.

Bone Marrow Cells

Delta thalassemia: a non-deletion defect.

Hematological and gene mapping studies of two Southern Italian children doubly heterozygous for delta 0-thalassemia and delta 0 beta 0-thalassemia have been carried out. No HbA2 was detectable by electrophoresis of total hemoglobin in these patients. Restriction enzyme analysis of the globin gene cluster with delta, gamma, epsilon and RIH cloned probes showed all the expected normal bands, in addition to the abnormal fragments related to a previously described type of delta 0 beta 0-thalassemic deletion, demonstrating an apparently intact globin gene cluster on the thalassemic chromosome. The relevance of this finding to models for coordinated expression of non alpha globin genes is discussed.

Adult

Renal dysfunction as a possible cause of essential hypertension in predisposed subjects.

In 65 young normotensive subjects with two hypertensive parents (HP), and in 55 matched subjects with two normotensive parents (NP), the following factors were measured: renal plasma flow (RPF), glomerular filtration rate (GFR) both as Inutest and creatinine clearances; 24-hr urinary output; plasma renin activity (PRA); Na and K in plasma and in 24-hr urine and 24-hr urinary excretion of aldosterone. In 30 HP and in 34 NP, the cardiac output and plasma concentrations of noradrenaline, adrenaline, and dopamine were also measured in the supine position and after 10 min of standing. The HP have greater RPF (P less than 0.01), faster GFR (P less than 0.02), greater 24-hr urinary output (P less than 0.05), and lower PRA (P less than 0.01) than the NP. All the other factors were similar in the two groups of patients. It is proposed that the differences in renal function in the HP and the NP may be due to an abnormality in tubular handling of ions and water in the HP, which may be responsible for the increase in blood pressure in a proportion of patients with essential hypertension.

Adolescent

Preferential induction of fetal versus embryonic globin chains in human leukemic cell lines.

By use of a newly developed technique combining affinity chromatography of hemoglobin on haptoglobin-Sepharose and IEF of globin chains, we analyzed the globin synthetic pattern of human K562 cells in both the basal state and after addition of several potential inducers. Hemin only was found effective: its addition at 50 microM results in a quantitative increase of globin chain synthesis (from 0.3 to 1% up to 5%) and a qualitative "switch" with a striking increase of alpha and a decrease of epsilon and zeta chains (relative to the prevailing gamma chains). This system, in which hemin induces changes that mimic to some extent the normal embryonic-fetal switch, might therefore provide a cellular model for investigating molecular mechanisms of globin gene regulation. In addition similar results were obtained with a different human myeloid leukemia cell line, the KG1, thus raising the possibility that the expression of embryonic globin genes in malignant cells might not be simply the consequence of abnormal gene expression but rather reflect a possibly physiological differentiation phenomenon.

Animals

Influence of familial hypertension of the donor on the blood pressure and antihypertensive therapy of kidney graft recipients.

The possibility that some hereditary factors favoring the development of 'essential' hypertension in man may act through modification of kidney function was evaluated in a retrospective study of 36 renal transplant recipients followed for 1 year. The patients were divided into two groups of 18 subjects each, matched for age, sex, body surface area, familial hypertension, duration of hemodialysis before transplantation and original kidney disease. In the first group, at least one of the donor's parents was hypertensive and in the second group all the members of the donor's family were normotensive. Plasma creatinine, daily dose of prednisone, number of rejection episodes and blood pressure were almost the same in both groups, but the requirement for antihypertensive therapy was significantly greater in the first group during the first 4 months after transplantation (p less than 0.05). Therefore, it seems reasonable to consider that there is some influence of familial existence of hypertension on the renal pressure regulatory mechanisms.

Adolescent

Isoelectric focusing of globin chains for antenatal diagnosis of beta 0-thalassemia.

A recently developed isoelectric focusing technique for human globin chain separation has been applied to the antenatal diagnosis of beta 0-thalassemia in Sardinia. Results obtained with this method show a complete concordance with those obtained by the currently-in-use chromatographic separation of globin chains by carboxymethyl-cellulose. The ease with which several samples (up to 20) can be simultaneously processed and analyzed by a single operator and the very simple equipment required make this new method ideal for the antenatal diagnosis of beta 0-thalassemia and could encourage a more widespread use of prenatal diagnosis of thalassemias.

Anemia, Sickle Cell

Globin chain synthesis in single erythroid bursts from cord blood: studies on gamma leads to beta and G gamma leads to A gamma switches.

Erythroid bursts from cord or adult blood were grown in methylcellulose cultures (3 international units of erythropoietin per plate). On day 13, single bursts were picked up and reincubated for 16-24 hr with [3H]leucine. Radioactive globin chains [alpha,beta,G gamma, and A gamma (Ala-136)] were analyzed by either isoelectric focusing on polyacrylamide gels and fluorography or carboxymethylcellulose chromatography. In all cases, alpha to non-alpha globin radioactivity ratios were close to 1. In single cord blood bursts, the values of both gamma-to-beta and G gamma-to-A gamma ratios were spread over a large spectrum and further characterized by a continuous rather than a bimodal distribution. Morever, the G gamma-to-A gamma ratios demonstrated in single bursts appeared to be directly correlated with the respective gamma-to-beta ratios. These data suggest that both the gamma leads to beta and the G gamma leads to A gamma switches are mediated via mechanisms modulating the relative activities of the different genes in the non-alpha globin gene cluster rather than via selection of clones committed to the preferential synthesis of beta and A gamma globins. In contrast with the results obtained with cord blood, individual adult blood bursts synthesize a lower and hence relatively more uniform amount of gamma globin chains.

Erythropoiesis

Hemoglobin synthesis in individual bursts from normal adult blood: all bursts and subcolonies synthesize G gamma-and A gamma-globin chains.

Gamma-globin chain synthesis has been evaluated in individual bursts and subcolonies that were generated by normal adult blood BFU-Es in methylcellulose cultures containing semipurified erythropoietin (Ep) and then analyzed via either isoelectric focusing (IEF) of globin chains or immunofluorescence techniques. At variance with previously reported results, based on plasma clot culture and immunofluorescence, all bursts and subcolonies analyzed synthesize gamma-globin chains. Identification of gamma-chains has been confirmed by preparative IEF of HbF, followed by either carboxymethylcellulose chromatography or IEF analysis of the resulting globin chains. In all bursts analyzed, the relative synthesis of the two types of gamma-globin chains (G gamma and A gamma) shows an adult ratio (i.e., approximately 1:1). The results obtained via IEF have been confirmed by immunofluorescence studies, which apparently showed presence of at least some HbF-positive cells within all scrutinized bursts or subcolonies. The significance of these studies is discussed in the light of current hypotheses on mechanism(s) underlying HbF synthesis in normal adults.

Cells, Cultured

[Pharmacological and clinical aspects of S-adenosylmethionine (SAMe) in primary degenerative arthropathy (osteoarthrosis)].

After some preliminary remarks of a biochemical and pharmacological nature, the authors have started a clinical study to test the antiinflammatory activity of the S-adenosyl-methionine (SAMe). An open trial, carried out on 90 patients with severe degenerative arthropathies has shown that 30 mg SAMe intravenously twice a day for 14 days have a marked anti-inflammatory effect a rather term and no side-effects. In a "double-crossover" investigation, SAMe was next compared to indomethacin by i.m. administrations to 15 arthropathic patients. The therapeutic responses of the two drugs proved exactly alike, whereas the side-effects following indomethacin administration were not present after SAMe. In 9 patients affected with rheumatoid arthritis administrations of SAMe have proved less effective, although some clinical parameters showed improvements.

Adult