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Biomedical subjects

F Morales

Publications and source records attributed to F Morales.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed2001

[Peripheral neuropathy associated with intestinal inflammatory disease].

The association of outlying peripheral neuropathy and inflammatory bowel disease is a rare fact leaving aside factors like the deficit of intestinal absorption of vitamins or the neurotoxicity of drugs employed for the treatment of the inflammatory bowel disease. We presented a series of four patients with this association, to whom a retrospective study was carried out. In all cases polineuropathy followed a course parallel to the inflammatory bowel disease, being acute and reversible in two cases. The polyneuropathy could be attributed to a deficit of vitamin B12 in one case and to metronidazole neurotoxicity in the other; in the remaining two cases the polineuropathy was chronic and no etiological factor could be found except for the own activity of the inflammatory bowel disease. We think that the neuropathy can represent a rare extraintestinal manifestation of the illness with a common autoimmune pathogenic mechanism. In one of our cases, the nerve biopsy demonstrated an axonal neuropathy with an alteration of the epineural vessels which showed a healed aspect.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

[Sjögren's syndrome and multiple sclerosis].

INTRODUCTION: Multiple sclerosis (MS) usually follows a relapsing-remitting course and attacks multiple areas of the central nervous system (CNS). Certain rheumatic diseases, including Sjögren's syndrome (SS), can present with a similar clinical picture. RESULTS: Two patients out 67 of 100 with MS exhibited xerophthalmia and xerostomia and positive Ro antibodies, thus fulfilling 55 diagnostic criteria. Case 1. A 62-year-old woman developed several episodes of numbress and weakness in her left extremity and ataxia. MRI demonstrated a high-intensity areas in periventricular white matter. Initial laboratory studies failure to demonstrate antinuclear antibodies. Xerostomia and xerophthalmia were apparent. Follow-up laboratory examinations showed elevated ANA, Anti-SSA and anti-SSB. Case 2. A 58-year-old woman was diagnosed as having MS at the age of 53 years. Several high-signal foci on MRI were demonstrated in the white matter. Initial serum findings including autoantibodies were unremarkable. Sicca syndrome was present. Laboratory investigations included elevated anti-SSA, anti-SSARo52 and ANA while anti-SSB was within normal limits. DISCUSSION: Primary SS is a chronic autoimmune inflammatory disease of unknown etiology. The CNS symptoms are present in 20-25% of the patients with SS. Some patients have a relapsing-remitting course mimicking MS. Focal brain lesions in SS can occur in the cerebral white matter. The features of our patients sufficiently mimicked those of MS and this disorder was the diagnosis in each patient at the time of initial evaluation. SS should be considered in th

Antibodies, Antinuclear↗
PubMed2000

Transdermal glyceryl trinitrate in the management of primary dysmenorrhea.

OBJECTIVE: Increased intra-uterine pressure due to exaggerated myometrial contractions is an important factor in the pathogenesis of dysmenorrhea, its treatment being associated with uterine muscle relaxation. Diminished synthesis of endogenous nitric oxide has been shown to induce myometrial contractions and, conversely, the administration of exogenous nitric oxide has successfully resulted in uterine relaxation in a variety of obstetrical/gynecological disorders. The objective of this study was to determine the role of transdermal glyceryl trinitrate, as a source of exogenous nitric oxide, in the management of primary dysmenorrhea. METHOD: This was a multi-national, double-blind, randomized and cross-over study in patients with primary dysmenorrhea. Eighty-eight patients from six countries were evaluated during three menstrual cycles while receiving glyceryl trinitrate patches, 0.1 mg/h (x) or matching placebo patches. Pain intensity scores assessed on a visual analog scale and the time-weighted sum of the pain intensity differences (SPID) were evaluated during days 1, 2 and 3 of each cycle using an analysis of variance (ANOVA) model. Overall assessment of efficacy and the incidence of adverse events were analyzed by the Stuart-Maxwell or the McNemar tests as appropriate. RESULTS: Efficacy was determined for the first day of each cycle, all days/all cycles and for patients who completed at least one cycle in each treatment modality. In all three analyses, SPIDs were statistically superior (P<0.01) for the glyceryl trinitrate patches. Pain intensity differences from hours 1 to 6 also showed statistically significant differences in favor of the active treatment. In the overall assessment of efficacy, glyceryl trinitrate patches were statistically superior as well. The incidence of headache was 26% for the active drug and 6.1% for placebo (P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The data indicate that transdermal glyceryl trinitrate, as a source of exogenous nitric oxide, is useful as a modulator of uterine contractility representing, therefore, a new and mechanistically different therapeutic alternative for the management of primary dysmenorrhea.

Administration, Cutaneous↗
PubMed2000

Photosystem II efficiency and mechanisms of energy dissipation in iron-deficient, field-grown pear trees (Pyrus communis L.).

The dark-adapted Photosystem II efficiency of field-grown pear leaves, estimated by the variable to maximum chlorophyll fluorescence ratio, was little affected by moderate and severe iron deficiency. Only extremely iron-deficient leaves showed a decreased Photosystem II efficiency after dark adaptation. Midday depressions in Photosystem II efficiency were still found after short-term dark-adaptation in iron-deficient leaves, indicating that Photosystem II down-regulation occurred when the leaves were illuminated by excessive irradiance. The actual Photosystem II efficiency at steady-state photosynthesis was decreased by iron deficiency both early in the morning and at midday, due to closure of Photosystem II reaction centers and decreases of the intrinsic Photosystem II efficiency. Iron deficiency decreased the amount of light in excess of that which can be used in photosynthesis not only by decreasing absorptance, but also by increasing the relative amount of light dissipated thermally by the Photosystem II antenna. When compared to the controls, iron-deficient pear leaves dissipated thermally up to 20% more of the light absorbed by the Photosystem II, both early in the morning and at midday. At low light iron-deficient leaves with high violaxanthin cycle pigments to chlorophyll ratios had increases in pigment de-epoxidation, non-photochemical quenching and thermal dissipation. Our data suggest that DeltapH could be the major factor controlling thermal energy dissipation, and that large (more than 10-fold) changes in the zeaxanthin plus antheraxanthin to chlorophyll molar ratio caused by iron deficiency were associated only to moderate increases in the extent of photoprotection.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2000

Iron deficiency decreases the Fe(III)-chelate reducing activity of leaf protoplasts.

The ferric-chelate reductase (FC-R) activity of mesophyll protoplasts isolated from Fe-sufficient (control) and Fe-deficient sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) leaves has been characterized. Measurements were made in an ionic environment similar to that in the apoplastic space of the sugar beet mesophyll cells. The FC-R activity of Fe-sufficient and Fe-deficient protoplasts was dependent on light. Fe deficiency decreased markedly the FC-R activity per protoplast surface unit. The optimal pH for the activity of the FC-R in mesophyll protoplasts was in the range 5.5 to 6.0, typical of the apoplastic space. Beyond pH 6.0, the activity of the FC-R in mesophyll protoplasts decreased markedly in both Fe-sufficient and Fe-deficient protoplasts. These data suggest that both the intrinsic decrease in FC-R activity per protoplast surface and a possible shift in the pH of the apoplastic space could lead to the accumulation of physiologically inactive Fe pools in chlorotic leaves.

FMN Reductase↗
PubMed2000

Effects of iron deficiency on the composition of the leaf apoplastic fluid and xylem sap in sugar beet. Implications for iron and carbon transport.

The effects of iron deficiency on the composition of the xylem sap and leaf apoplastic fluid have been characterized in sugar beet (Beta vulgaris Monohil hybrid). pH was estimated from direct measurements in apoplastic fluid and xylem sap obtained by centrifugation and by fluorescence of leaves incubated with 5-carboxyfluorescein and fluorescein isothiocyanate-dextran. Iron deficiency caused a slight decrease in the pH of the leaf apoplast (from 6.3 down to 5.9) and xylem sap (from 6.0 down to 5.7) of sugar beet. Major organic acids found in leaf apoplastic fluid and xylem sap were malate and citrate. Total organic acid concentration in control plants was 4.3 mM in apoplastic fluid and 9.4 mM in xylem sap and increased to 12.2 and 50.4 mM, respectively, in iron-deficient plants. Inorganic cation and anion concentrations also changed with iron deficiency both in apoplastic fluid and xylem sap. Iron decreased with iron deficiency from 5.5 to 2.5 microM in apoplastic fluid and xylem sap. Major predicted iron species in both compartments were [FeCitOH](-1) in the controls and [FeCit(2)](-3) in the iron-deficient plants. Data suggest the existence of an influx of organic acids from the roots to the leaves via xylem, probably associated to an anaplerotic carbon dioxide fixation by roots.

Amino Acids↗
PubMed2000

Responses of sugar beet roots to iron deficiency. Changes in carbon assimilation and oxygen use.

Different root parts with or without increased iron-reducing activities have been studied in iron-deficient and iron-sufficient control sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L. Monohil hybrid). The distal root parts of iron-deficient plants, 0 to 5 mm from the root apex, were capable to reduce Fe(III)-chelates and contained concentrations of flavins near 700 microM, two characteristics absent in the 5 to 10 mm sections of iron-deficient plants and the whole root of iron-sufficient plants. Flavin-containing root tips had large pools of carboxylic acids and high activities of enzymes involved in organic acid metabolism. In iron-deficient yellow root tips there was a large increase in carbon fixation associated to an increase in phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase activity. Part of this carbon was used, through an increase in mitochondrial activity, to increase the capacity to produce reducing power, whereas another part was exported via xylem. Root respiration was increased by iron deficiency. In sugar beet iron-deficient roots flavins would provide a suitable link between the increased capacity to produce reduced nucleotides and the plasma membrane associated ferric chelate reductase enzyme(s). Iron-deficient roots had a large oxygen consumption rate in the presence of cyanide and hydroxisalycilic acid, suggesting that the ferric chelate reductase enzyme is able to reduce oxygen in the absence of Fe(III)-chelates.

Anions↗
PubMed2000

[Peripheral nervous system neurotoxicity secondary to chemotherapy treatment] .

Peripheral neurotoxicity is a crucial side effect of chemotherapeutic agents. It is the only situation where there is no preventive treatment. Neuromuscular toxicity has become the major dose limiting side effect for many chemotherapeutic agents. The iatrogenic toxic neuropathy is a growing neurologic problem, as cancer patients are beign treated with increasing doses of chemotherapy drugs. Major advances in cancer treatment have resulted from the use of drug combinations; for some combinations this raises the possibility of sinergistic neurotoxicity. The following report reviews the SNP toxicities encountered with cisplatin, vincristine, taxanes and others, and methods to minimize the deleterious effect of chemotherapeutic agents.

Anti-HIV Agents↗
PubMed1999

Proportion of S-phase tumor cells measured by flow cytometry is an independent prognostic factor in meningioma tumors.

Meningiomas are tumors in arachnoid cells which represent up to one fifth of all intracranial tumors and up to a quarter of spinal neoplasias. Although meningiomas have classically been considered to be benign tumors, it has also been well-established that they show a heterogeneous clinical outcome. To the best of our knowledge no study has yet been performed in which the independent prognostic value of both DNA ploidy and cell cycle has been simultaneously assessed in a large series of meningioma tumors. The aim of the present study was to prospectively explore the prognostic value of DNA ploidy status and the proliferative rate of tumor cells in a series of 105 consecutive meningioma patients studied at diagnosis. Both the presence of DNA aneuploidy and the proportion of S-phase tumor cells were analyzed in all cases in fresh tumors obtained during diagnostic surgery. From the technical point of view, we followed the recommendations of the Consensus Conference on Flow Cytometry DNA Analysis held in October 1992. Our results show that meningioma tumors display a relatively low incidence of DNA aneuploidy (14%), and they usually show a low proliferative rate (mean percentage of S-phase cells of 1.3 +/- 0.3%). The presence of DNA aneuploidy was associated with a higher incidence of aggressive histopathologic subtypes (P = 0.045), a greater age (P = 0.009), location at the cerebral convexity (P = 0.004), and a greater proportion of S-phase cells (P = 0.005). In contrast, no significant association between the DNA ploidy status of meningioma patients and their disease-free survival was found (P = 0. 1). Regarding the proliferative activity of neoplastic cells, we found that a high proportion of S-phase cells (>1.8%) was associated with a significantly lower mean age (P = 0.007), aggressive histopathologic subtypes (P = 0.03), a higher incidence of DNA aneuploidy (P = 0.004), and a significantly shorter disease-free survival (P < 0.004). Multivariate analysis of prognostic factors showed that the proportion of S-phase tumor cells was the most powerful independent prognostic factor in meningioma patients (P = 0.02). In summary, we conclude that the proportion of S-phase tumor cells represents the individual parameter with the highest value for predicting disease-free survival in meningioma patients.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

[Spanish study of quality of life in migraine (II). Profile of medication consumption and subjective efficacy].

OBJECTIVES: The response to the different antimigraine medications is variable. In this study we have analysed the profile of prescription of these antimigraine medications, both preventive and symptomatic, by a group of spanish neurologists and examined the subjective efficacy of these compounds. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Neurologists from 7 hospitals in different spanish regions interviewed 305 patients (at least 40 per hospital) who met migraine diagnostic criteria. They used an ad hoc questionnaire in which the antimigraine medications, both symptomatic and preventive, taken by the patients, as well as their subjective response were registered. Patients with transformed migraine or tension-type headache more than 2 days per week were excluded. RESULTS: Analgesics, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, ergotics and sumatriptan had been taken by 99, 69, 54 and 40% of the 305 interviewed patients, respectively. A subjective good response was refered to by 9% of patients who had taken analgesics, 23% of patients who had taken non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, 39% of those who had taken ergotics and 63% of patients with sumatriptan. The current symptomatic treatment was: analgesics 34% of cases, non-steroidal anti-inflamatory drugs 26%, ergotics 13% and sumatriptan 63%. Regarding preventive treatments, 108 patients (35%) had been treated with calcium-antagonists, 87 (29%) with beta-blockers, 55 (18%) with amitriptyline and only 7 (2.2%) with valproic acid. The percentages of good responses to these drugs were: 55% for beta-blockers, 42% for calcium-antagonists and 31% for amitriptyline. CONCLUSIONS: Our data confirm that analgesics are not efficacious in the majority of migraine patients and that the advent of sumatriptan has clearly improved the quality of migrane symptomatic treatment, even though about one-third of migraine patients do not respond to this drug. This study confirm that calcium-antagonists are the antimigraine preventive treatment most frequently prescribed in our country, even though their subjective efficacy is lower than that of beta-blockers.

Analgesics, Non-Narcotic↗
PubMed1999

[Application of advanced oxidant systems in the treatment of residual waters in the petroleum industry (Fenton system)].

Typical contaminants from the oil industry were treated with the Fenton system (H2O2/Fe2+) under normal conditions of pressure and temperature. The treated contaminants, in harzadous concentrations, were the following: m-cresol, 2-chlorophenol, and methyl-tertbutyl -ether (MTBE). Additionally, waters contaminated with reformulated gasoline were also treated and the degradation of MTBE and volatile aromatics (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene) was followed. The system efficiency, in the contaminated water treatment of two different samples were also tested. One of the samples came from oil production operations and the other from a petrochemical plants complex. In all cases an advanced mineralization of the contaminants was observed in relatively short periods of time. The rate constants, at room temperature, for degradation of m-cresol, 2-chlorophenol and MTBE were measured.

Ferrous Compounds↗
PubMed1998

Prevalence of multiple sclerosis in the sanitary district of Calatayud, Northern Spain: is Spain a zone of high risk for this disease?

UNLABELLED: We undertook an epidemiologic study to ascertain the prevalence of multiple sclerosis (MS) in the Sanitary District of Calatayud, in the north-east of Spain. METHODS: The study was performed from October 1990 to July 1996. The total number of residents in the area was 58,591. An extensive search was carried out to identify all cases of known or suspected MS through general practitioners and specialists, sanitary authorities in the area, the reference hospital, the Spanish Multiple Sclerosis Society, the newspaper and radio. RESULTS: April 1, 1995 was chosen as prevalence day. The crude prevalence rate for the area was 58 per 100,000 (95% CI: 39-78). The approximate annual incidence rate was 2.6/100,000 (1980-1989). CONCLUSIONS: This study and others conducted recently in Spain show that MS is more prevalent than was previously thought and afflicts at least 53-65 per 100,000 population.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Reversible peripheral neuropathy induced by a single administration of high-dose paclitaxel.

Peripheral neuropathy (PN) is the main side effect with cycles of paclitaxel at standard doses (175 mg/m2 for 21 days). Administration of a single high-dose paclitaxel (HDP) is a novel approach for the treatment of cancer. We have prospectively measured neurotoxicity induced by HDP during a phase I trial. Nineteen patients were treated with escalating doses of paclitaxel by 24-hour infusion. In our study, PN induced by HDP was moderate, reversible, and not dose limiting. Severe PN was seen in patients who had received previous neurotoxic chemotherapy, and caution on the administration of HDP in this setting is warranted.

Adult↗