Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to F Savoldi.
The short and long-term effects of Lithium carbonate in 90 patients with episodic (68 cases) and chronic (22 cases) cluster headache are reported. The results are discussed in particular in relation to the response of the episodic forms, the development of tolerance, the ability of the substance to modify the natural history of the disease, and the side-effects from long-term treatment.
Modulation mechanisms of nociception have several neurotransmission interactions that are impaired in the disorder of painful perceptions. Neurotransmission changes may show up in several ways on the clinical level. They also have endocrinological correlations, since the neurotransmission systems implicated in the nociception disorders share transmitters with the regulation system operating at the pituitary level. In this sense, nocipathies exhibit analogies and may be compared to disorders of motricity and behaviour that also show endocrine changes that may be likewise explained. Though specifically different in each instance, the neurotransmission alteration that is a common denominator of these disorders allows comparisons, especially in those situations, such as the nocipathic and behavioural ones, where correlations are relevant on clinical and interpretative grounds.
One hundred and sixty-seven subjects (91 females and 76 males) aged 18 to 55 and suffering from recurrent headache, daily headache, and cluster headache, were studied. In order to collect detailed information about their clinical as well as social and environmental conditions, a multi-page card was used which had been specially prepared for this purpose. The patients' personality patterns were assessed by the following methods: MMPI (the Hs, Hy, D, and Ma scales, in particular); EPQ (Eysenck Personality Questionnaire); and AS IPAT (Cattel's Anxiety Scale). The statistical analysis of the data obtained made it possible to define the personality patterns of both male and female subjects and then to differentiate between them in relation to the various types of headache. Furthermore, possible relationships between personality traits and headache suffering were investigated. If the personality patterns of females seem to have existed prior to the disease, those of males raise some questions. In cluster patients, in particular, the age of onset seems to be related to certain personality traits; in patients with daily headache, by contrast the association between the duration and severity of the disorder appears to play a major trigger role. Some of these correlations do not have a linear character and suggest new working hypotheses that go beyond the limits of standard correlations.
The intravenous administration of the bicyclic antidepressant viloxazine, 0.5-2 mg/kg in rabbits, caused changes in the EEG profile with increased synchronous activity and shorter duration of the hippocampal afterdischarge following electrical stimulation. In animals exhibiting spontaneous epileptiform discharges, the injection of 1-2 mg/kg viloxazine was associated with disappearance of the paroxysmal EEG pattern that was substituted by a synchronous low frequency activity. This study also provided evidence of non-interactive effects of viloxazine (1-2 mg/kg i.v.) and alcohol (0.6 g/kg i.v.) on the EEG of normal rabbits.
Noradrenaline levels and platelet and free serotonin concentrations were studied in depressed women in-patients (n=78) before and during amitriptyline (n=41) or lithium treatment (n=37). Pronounced monthly differences in platelet serotonin level have been shown in these subjects before treatment. In all clinical subgroups (neurotic, involutional, manic-depressive patients) a significant fall in platelet serotonin level was observed with amitriptyline medication while an increase was noted with lithium. No significant correlations between serotonin concentrations and clinical outcome were found. Amitriptyline treatment also produced a decrease in peripheral noradrenaline concentration in all subgroups, while an increase was observed with lithium. Some correlations between noradrenaline level and degree of depression were noted in patients treated with amitriptyline or lithium. A more extended analysis of blood amine levels could supply meaningful information on the peripheral action of antidepressive drugs on noradrenaline and serotonin concentrations in depression.
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Twenty chronic post-traumatic headache subjects (16 men and 4 women) were considered, together with age and sex matched normal controls. Pituitary function was challenged by means of luteinising hormone releasing hormone (100 microg, i.v.), thyrotropin (TSH) releasing hormone (200 microg, i.v.) and regular insulin (.1 U/kg, i.v.). The responses of gonadotropins, TSH, somatotropin (STH) and prolactin (PRL) were studied in the group as a whole and in clinical subgroups. No differences were found in the baseline levels of the hormones. No significant changes were observed in the responses of gonadotropins and STH. A decreased response was found for TSH and, in the female series, an enhanced response of PRL was observed. Patients complaining for a decreased libido showed a larger PRL response. The smaller response of TSH exhibits a straight inverse relationship to the clinical severity. The periodicity of PRL secretion studied in male patients with a harmonic analysis according to the Fourier's theorem showed the preservation of the physiological sleep-entrained night surge. The per cent incidence of the harmonics with a period shorter than 24 hours decreases according to the clinical severity, at variance to the finding in normal controls. The only persisting harmonic is the one with a 24 hour period. In the absence of major post-traumatic endocrine syndromes, post-traumatic headache subjects show changes of the neuroendocrine regulation of pituitary secretion. The findings are consistent with the hypothesis of an hyperactivity of serotoninergic neurotransmission.
Alcohol addiction may induce its dependence through a mechanism involving opiate receptors and opioid peptides. For these reasons, we measured ACTH, beta-lipotropin, and beta-endorphin in the plasma and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of 29 alcohol addicts and compared these values with those found in 8 normal volunteers. Although no significant differences existed in peripheral concentrations of the 3 peptides, alcohol addicts had beta-endorphin levels in CSF (mean +/- SE, 29.4 +/- 4.5 fmol/ml) that were 3-fold lower than those of the controls (98.4 +/- 10.5 fmol/ml; P less than 0.001) and ACTH levels 4 times higher than control values (30.0 +/- 1.8 vs. 7.4 +/- 1.1 fmol/ml in controls; P less than 0.001), while no difference was found in beta-lipotropin levels. These results suggest that alcohol addiction is associated with a marked alteration in the CSF content of proopiocortin-related peptides which may play a role in the alcohol-seeking behavior typical of the syndrome.
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Rabbits treated with a single IV dose of ethanol, 0.6 g/kg, exhibited rapid EEG synchronization and behavioral changes that were reversed and, in part, prevented by the opiate antagonist, naloxone, 40 micrograms/kg. The continuous intracerebroventricular infusion of acetaldehyde, 10 or 120 micrograms/min. caused biphasic changes with EEG activation and severe bradycardia followed by overt synchrony during the post-infusion period. The results of the present study provide further evidence for the ability of naloxone to counteract some acute effects of ethanol. Moreover, they do not support a role of acetaldehyde itself as mediator of EEG changes associated with mild alcohol intoxication.
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Eleven patients affected by common migraine (CM), eleven affected by daily chronic headache (DCH), and eight healthy volunteers were studied. Plasma levels of beta-endorphin (beta EP), beta-lipotropin (beta LPH). ACTH and cortisol were measured in basal conditions and after traditional Chinese acupuncture (TCA). Basal beta LPH and beta EP plasma levels (pg/ml) in the DCH patients (57.6 +/- 9.5 and 16.8 +/- 2.5, respectively; M +/- SE) were lower than those found in the controls (83.6 +/- 13.7 and 26.0 +/- 6.1; p less than 0.001), while those found in the CM cases showed inter-mediate values (75.3 +/- 12.0 and 24.4 +/- 5.8). ACTH and cortisol concentrations in both the CM and DCH patients were in the same range as those of the control group. TCA caused an increase in beta LPH and beta EP plasma concentrations in the control group (beta LPH: 117 +/- 16.9; beta EP: 44.1 +/- 6.7). Opioid plasma levels, however, remained unmodified after TCA in both the CM and DCH groups. ACTH plasma levels remained stable after TCA in all three subject groups. Patients suffering from primary headache are characterized by low beta LPH and beta EP plasma levels and by a poor reactivity of circulating opioids to non-stressful stimuli.
This study was meant to investigate the action of lisuride hydrogen maleate on somatic and visceral behaviour, and on cerebral electrical activity. With regard to the cortical and deep components of electrical activity, we recorded arousal and, at times, the onset of epileptic activity, mainly from the rhinencephalic area and sometimes spreading to other cerebral structures. We also report the results obtained in rabbits treated acutely and chronically by us with neuroleptics.
The effects of two short chain ACTH analogues, tetracosactide 1-24, eptadecapeptide 1-17, on EEG, behaviour and temperature of the rabbit are studied. The behaviour and temperature effects of two compounds are quite similar. The EEG synchronizing action is more evident when tetracosactide 1-24 is administered. This fact suggests that the aminoacids 18-24 might be important in affecting electric cerebral activity.
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The behavioral and eeg changes induced by i.c.v. administration of FK 33-824, an active synthetic met-enkephalin analogue, were studied. The Monnier and Gangloff stereotaxic method was used in order to record cortical and deep structures. The effects of an opiate antagonist (naloxone) were examined. The aim of this research was to verify two hypotheses: whether or not there were any relationships between sedation state and eeg findings, and if any interactions could be detected between FK 33-824 and serotoninergic mechanisms.