Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to F Bernardi.
The paper describes the advantages and negligible side-effects of the use of E2-type (Suprostone) synthetic prostaglandin, administered i.m. in a dose of 250 mg, 2-3 hours before voluntary abortion during the first trimester of pregnancy in pre-cesarean-section patients.
One early biochemical process in PMN activation is the stimulation of the NADPH oxidase membrane enzyme, which produces a flux of superoxide radicals, directed towards the extracellular place. These radicals initiate bacterial destruction; however they can react against the periodontal tissue and lead to its destruction, either when too many of them are produced, or when they are not adequately neutralized by the antioxidant activity of the gingival fluid. Striking a proper balance between the activation state of crevicular PMN and the antioxidant activity of the gingival fluid may be a critical factor in determining whether PMN response to plaque bacteria is either protective or destructive for the parodontium.
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The von Willebrand factor pseudogene, previously mapped to chromosome 22, was sublocalized by in situ hybridization using as probe a von Willebrand factor cDNA fragment completely contained in the pseudogenic region. Chromosome spreads were from a patient carrying a unique balanced de novo translocation 46,X,t(X;22)(pter;q11.21). Silver grain analysis indicated that the human von Willebrand factor pseudogene is located on 22q,11,22-q11,23, a region relevant for several somatic and constitutional chromosomal alterations.
The localization of human protein C gene on chromosome 2 was investigated by in situ hybridization using a partial cDNA for protein C. Silver-grain analysis indicates that the protein C gene is located on 2q13-q14.
Fifty-five consecutive patients with primary gastrointestinal intermediate or high grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma were analysed to assess the efficacy of chemotherapy following surgical tumour resection. Histological subtypes were high grade (n = 18), intermediate grade (n = 36) and unclassified (n = 1). The majority of patients had gastric presentation (71%) and localised disease (84%). Surgery consisted of radical resection in 25 patients (45%) and partial or palliative excision in the remaining cases (22 and 8 respectively). Four subjects died within 3 months of surgery, two patients refused adjuvant chemotherapy and 49 completed the postoperative chemotherapeutic programme. Chemotherapy included either Fi2/74 (adriamycin + vincristine + bleomycin + cyclophosphamide + prednisone) or Fi3/74 (adriamycin + VM26 + bleomycin + cyclophosphamide + prednisone). Excluding the group who underwent radical tumour resection, postoperative chemotherapy induced complete remission in 81% of the remaining 30 patients. The 10-year cause-specific survival for the 53 treated patients was 76% (median follow-up 58 months) with a stable curve plateau after 80 months. Proportional-hazard multivariate statistics showed that survival was influenced by type of surgical resection (P less than 0.05) and stage (P less than 0.05), whereas age, sex and histological subtype were not influential. Our data indicate that chemotherapy following surgical resection of gastrointestinal lesion induces long-term remission in primary gastrointestinal lymphomas.
The large body of nucleic acid sequence data now available offers a unique opportunity for the characterization of individual oligonucleotides which may be specific to sequence functional domains. We have prepared algorithms for the study of the frequency distribution of all oligonucleotides of length 2-6 in DNA sequences. We have implemented them in the study of 634 mammalian DNA sequences spanning 1.782 Mb, and have obtained the distribution of the ratio between the observed frequency of oligonucleotides and their expected frequency based on independent nucleotide probabilities. We then studied the distribution of oligonucleotides (or k-tuples) of each length in a subset of 129 complete mammalian genes spanning 0.607 Mb. Eight distinct genomic regions, namely 5'-non-transcribed, first exon, first intron, intermediate exons, intermediate introns, last intron, last exon and 3'-non-transcribed, were considered. We observed that some oligonucleotides show a statistical behaviour and a regional distribution similar to that of known signal sequences. Moreover the frequency distribution of oligonucleotides of length 5 and 6 tends to become bimodal, indicating the existence of a population of very frequent oligonucleotides.
The presence of gene lesions in coagulation factor VIII (FVIII) gene was investigated in 70 Italian patients severely affected by haemophilia A. cDNA probes specific for exons 14-26 of the FVIII gene were used. In two related patients a gene deletion removes exon 26, a gene lesion similar to that described previously in a British haemophiliac. In exon 24 a C to T transition in the reverse complement strand causes a missense mutation in the coding strand (CGA----CAA, 2209 Arg----Gln). The mutation is located in a very conserved FVIII homology region and severely reduces FVIII activity. By restriction analysis and hybridizations with oligonucleotide probes this gene alteration was found in two unrelated haemophiliacs and in their relatives.
The presence of gene lesions in coagulation factor X (FX, Stuart factor) was investigated in patients with FX deficiency or an FX abnormality (FX Friuli). The proposita had a heterozygous partial deletion of the FX gene with severe deficiency of FX activity and antigen. The lesion, which was inherited from her mother, removes the 3' portion of the gene coding for the catalytic domain of the factor. In this family, two differently affected FX genes are present, leading to double heterozygosity of the proposita and thus excluding consanguinity of parents. An apparently normal gene structure was observed in the other patient with FX abnormality, suggesting the presence of a small gene lesion.
The lymphocyte subsets T4 and T8 in 25 women in the first trimester before and after voluntary interruption of pregnancy after Karman, have been evaluated. Our results demonstrated no significant change in the composition of T-subsets in any of the patients, so we can think this procedure does not modify the mechanisms of the T-lymphocyte dependent immunity.
The relationship of neutrophil to the periodontal tissue can be equated to the image of a double-edged blade. The role of the polymorphonuclear cells in the containment of gingival bacteria and their products must be weighed against the localized tissue destruction that may be due to the extracellular release of lysosomal enzymes and oxygen derived radicals. It seems reasonable to suggest that the role of neutrophils in the gingival tissue is primarily a defensive one. Therefore, several factors such as the entity of intrinsic activation, the quantity and quality of stimuli, as well as many physiological and/or pathological conditions can determine whether the response of polymorphonuclear leukocytes is more protective or destructive of the parodontium.
Candidal infection and leukoplakia are quite common in denture wearers. The clinical pictures, that the dentist can deal with, are described and particularly the mixed candidosis-leukoplakia forms. Here a candidal infection comes on top of a hyperplastic lesion. Therapeutic recommendations from the literature are reported.
The reliability of a new Non-Stress Test reading protocol is assessed. The protocol provides for an assessment time of between 20 and 60 minutes and considers deceleration as an additional parameter to the ones commonly used. The results confirm the importance of both these factors in reducing the number of false positives.
This study was designed to investigate the toxicity of both MPTP and MPP+ using some simple cell systems, such as PC12 and C6 cultures, as models. Exposure of PC12 cells to 0.5 mM MPTP for 72 h resulted in a 50% cell loss with respect to the control cells, and clorgyline, a MAO-A inhibitor, antagonized this toxic effect. Higher concentrations of MPTP demonstrated only a weak cytostatic effect on C6 cells. Moreover, MPP+ showed a toxic effect which was 100 times more evident than MPTP toxicity in the PC12. We found a single, saturable class of [3H]MPP+ binding sites with a relatively high affinity both in PC12 and C6 cell lines. Moreover, the most susceptible cell line towards the toxic effects of both MPTP and MPP+, i.e. PC12, has the higher number of MPP+ binding sites. Our results suggest that MPTP can be toxic not only via MAO-B, but also via MAO-A activity and we propose PC12 as a model to study the intracellular mechanisms of MPTP and MPP+ toxicity.
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In order to identify putative control signals of gene expression, 634 mammalian DNA sequences spanning 1.8 x 10(6) base-pairs were analysed and the frequencies of 1024 oligonucleotides five bases long (5-tuples) were determined. We defined as rare those 5-tuples having an observed frequency less than 50% of that expected by chance on the basis of base composition, and which had a reduction in frequency not attributable to CpG suppression or to coding constraints. Very few rare 5-tuples were identified; in addition, three oligonucleotides, reverse complements of rare 5-tuples, were found to have a frequency ranging between 0.582 and 0.671. The frequency of most of the rare 5-tuples was higher in 5' promoter regions as compared to exonic segments, so imitating the distribution pattern of known signals. Some of the rare 5-tuples identified by this strategy belonged to a portion of the nine base-pair binding site in promoters, which is also known as the octamer motif. In addition, three of the rare oligonucleotides were found to be located within other regulatory elements, previously identified by techniques of molecular biology. Two rare 5-tuples were found within sites of interaction between DNA and proteins, one of them being a transcriptional factor. The available data about known control sequences involved in gene expression in mammals therefore provide evidence for a role in gene regulation of the rare oligonucleotide selected.
Bronchial reactivity was studied via carbachol testing in 46 patients affected by type 1 diabetes mellitus and in 30 control subjects and via exercise testing in 55 diabetic patients and 60 control subjects. In all subjects, reactivity to skin allergen tests, the existence of atopic illnesses, and family history for these diseases were evaluated. Diabetic patients were less affected by asthma than control subjects, although their family history of atopy is greater. Bronchial reactivity, as expressed by the results of carbachol testing, was lower in diabetic patients than in control subjects. Furthermore, the duration of disease in diabetic patients was positively correlated with the results of carbachol testing. Reduced bronchial reactivity might be an indication of initial damage to the autonomic nervous system, which would thus appear to be both a complication and a protective factor.
Human coagulation factor XII (fXII), a serine protease synthesized in liver and active in plasma, is involved in a wide variety of functions, including blood coagulation, fibrinolysis, bradykinin and complement activation. A complementary DNA (597 bp) encoding amino acid -16 to amino acid 183 of fXII protein was used to determine the chromosomal location of the fXII gene. DNAs from hamster-human somatic cell hybrids were digested with restriction enzymes and hybridized with the fXII cDNA. By the Southern method it was shown that restriction fragments able to hybridize to fXII cDNA are present only in DNA extracted from clones retaining human chromosome 5.