Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

G Barbieri

Publications and source records attributed to G Barbieri.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1994

Congenital renal damage associated with primary vesicoureteral reflux detected prenatally in male infants.

To assess the course of vesicoureteral reflux, we performed cystography, renal scintigraphy, and urography in all neonates with the prenatal diagnosis of renal pelvic dilation and revealed the presence of primary reflux (grades I to V) in 27 cases. Higher grades of reflux were associated with congenital renal damage, as shown by reduced tracer uptake during scintigraphy. Reflux was diagnosed more frequently in male infants (male/female ratio, 6:1), in many of whom bladder abnormalities were found by cystography. In another group of seven infants, in whom the reflux was associated with other urologic abnormalities, there was no sex prevalence. We conclude that severe primary reflux associated with hydronephrosis usually affects male infants and may be due to abnormal embryologic development of the male urethra, and that the kidney damage is primary and not the result of urinary tract infections. This pattern differs from that of vesicoureteric reflux diagnosed at an older age, which is observed most commonly in female patients.

Female↗
PubMed1994

Mild fetal hydronephrosis indicating vesicoureteric reflux.

The management of neonates with mild hydronephrosis diagnosed antenatally is still debated. Although some of these infants are normal, it is recognised that others will have mild obstruction of the ureteropelvic junction or vesicoureteric reflux (VUR). A prospective study was performed in all newborn infants with an antenatal diagnosis of mild hydronephrosis (47 babies, 62 kidneys) born over a two year period in order to assess the frequency of VUR. Voiding cystography in 14 patients with 21 renal units showed VUR. Two patients underwent surgery and the VUR resolved; the other 12 received medical treatment. Repeat cystography was scheduled for 12-18 months later, when a high rate of spontaneous cure was observed. The remaining patients were monitored by ultrasonography but only in one case did hydronephrosis deteriorate because of the presence of severe ureteropelvic junction obstruction. It is concluded that mild dilatation of the pelvis might be an expression of a potentially severe malformation such as VUR, and a careful follow up of these cases is mandatory.

Female↗
PubMed1994

[Comparative evaluation of fluconazole 50 mg and 100 mg versus itraconazole 100 mg in the treatment of dermatomycoses].

In the above double-blind multicenter study the efficacy and tolerability of 50 and 100 mg doses of fluconazole were compared with 100 mg itraconazole in 178 patients with T. corporis, T. cruris, and T. pedis infections. All patients were submitted to clinical and mycological examination before starting, at weekly intervals during treatment, and 4 and 8 weeks after its conclusion. Duration of the three therapeutic regimes was 15 days for T. corporis and T. cruris, and 30 days for T. pedis infection. The percentage of symptomatic cure was 85% and 86.5%, respectively for 50 and 100 mg fluconazole, and 83% for itraconazole. Mycologic cure was achieved in 81.4% of patients treated with 50 mg fluconazole, 83.3% in those treated with 100 mg fluconazole, and 67.9% in those treated with 100 mg itraconazole. None of the groups showed changes in laboratory parameters. It is concluded that all three treatment schemes had high antimycotic activity, but fluconazole both 50 and 100 mg daily was superior. Both drugs were well tolerated and compliance was good.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

The protein tyrosine kinase JAK1 complements defects in interferon-alpha/beta and -gamma signal transduction.

We have produced a cell line which lacks the protein tyrosine kinase JAK1 and is completely defective in interferon response. Complementation of this mutant with JAK1 restored the response, establishing the requirement for JAK1 in both the interferon-alpha/beta and -gamma signal transduction pathways. The reciprocal interdependence between JAK1 and Tyk2 activities in the interferon-alpha pathway, and between JAK1 and JAK2 in the interferon-gamma pathway, may reflect a requirement for these kinases in the correct assembly of interferon receptor complexes.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Structural features of the human gene for muscle-specific enolase. Differential splicing in the 5'-untranslated sequence generates two forms of mRNA.

We report here the isolation and characterization of the human gene for the beta or muscle-specific isoform of the glycolytic enzyme enolase. The nucleotide sequence analysis revealed structural features, such as organization as 11 coding exons, the first exon consisting of an untranslated sequence and hence resembling sequences of the other two members of the gene family, the alpha and gamma enolase genes. The beta enolase locus spans about 6 kbp genomic DNA. Sequences matching the consensus sequence for muscle-specific regulatory factors are present in the 5'-flanking region and within the first intron. A combination of primer extension, S1 nuclease protection and RNA-sequencing experiments indicates that the gene has a unique transcriptional start site, 26 bp downstream of a TATA-like box; the differential usage of two donor sites within the untranslated exon I generates two alternatively spliced transcripts. The existence of the two mRNA, differing from one another in the presence or absence of a 42-nucleotide fragment in the leader sequence, was confirmed by cloning the corresponding cDNA using the rapid amplification of cDNA ends strategy. Secondary-structure predictions indicated that the leader sequences of the spliced forms could form hairpin structures with different free energies of formation, suggesting translational control.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1991

Developmental changes of neuron-specific enolase mRNA in primary cultures of rat neurons.

1. The level of mRNAs for neuron-specific enolase (NSE) and nonneuronal enolase (NNE) was studied in developing rat brain and in pure neuronal cultures of corresponding ages treated or not treated with triiodothyronine (T3). 2. In brain cortices both messages are already detectable at the earliest age (embryonal day 16; E16). During development the mRNA for NNE remains at a steady level, with a transient decline at postnatal day 5 (P5). 3. On the other hand, NSE mRNA follows a biphasic curve: the signal increases threefold from E-16 to P0 and threefold from P5 to P18, with a plateau between P0 and P5. 4. In neuronal cultures the NNE message is present at a constant level until day 10 and declines sharply thereafter, while in T3-treated cultures it reaches a minimum beforehand. 5. The NSE mRNA, on the other hand, increases continuously throughout the whole culture life span, and a slightly higher level is observed in T3-treated cells during the first ten days.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Structure of the human gene for alpha-enolase.

In mammals there are at least three isoforms of the glycolytic enzyme enolase encoded by three similar genes: alpha, beta and gamma. In this report we describe the isolation and characterization of the human alpha-enolase locus. The gene appears to exist as a single copy in the haploid genome and is composed of 12 exons distributed over more than 18,000 bases. The structure of this gene has a high degree of similarity to that of the human and rat gamma-enolase genes, with identical positions for all the intron regions. Primer extension and S1 nuclease protection experiments indicate that transcription is initiated at multiple sites. The putative promoter region, like that of other house-keeping genes, lacks canonical TATA and CAAT boxes, is extremely G + C-rich and contains several potential SP1 binding sites. Furthermore, various sequences similar to known regulatory elements were detected.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1990

The gene for the muscle-specific enolase is on the short arm of human chromosome 17.

The human gene encoding the muscle-specific beta-enolase has been isolated. The beta-enolase gene was mapped to chromosome 17 by analysis of a panel of rodent-human somatic cell hybrids. The gene was further localized to the short arm and tentatively to the region 17pter-p11 by analysis of cell hybrids and transfectant cell lines carrying different portions of chromosome 17.

Blotting, Southern↗
PubMed1990

Differential expression of muscle-specific enolase in embryonic and fetal myogenic cells during mouse development.

Three isoforms of the glycolytic enzyme enolase are present in mammals and birds. During development, a switch from the alpha to the beta form takes place in skeletal muscle. In order to investigate the molecular basis of this developmental transition of enolase isoforms, we extracted total RNA from limbs of mouse embryos of different ages, and from cultures of embryonic and fetal myogenic cells. The beta message was detected in limbs from 16-day-old fetuses by Northern-blot analysis and its level was found to increase in newborn and adult muscle; no significant amount of beta mRNA was present in samples from earlier developmental stages, which did however express high levels of the muscle-specific actin mRNA. Analysis of RNA extracted from embryonic and fetal myoblasts differentiated in culture revealed that the level of beta mRNA is about 9-fold higher in fetal myotubes than in embryonic myotubes, although the level of muscle actin is comparable in both types of myotubes. These results were confirmed by S1 nuclease protection experiments. Our data show that the appearance of beta enolase transcripts temporally correlates with the formation of the second generation of muscle fibers and suggest that the developmental transition from alpha to beta enolase is linked to a developmental program which takes place in fetal but not in embryonic muscle.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Studies on lymphokine production in lepromatous leprosy patients.

In order to evaluate whether lymphokine (LK) release is impaired in patients with lepromatous leprosy (LL), the production of two LKs, namely leukocyte inhibitory factor (LIF) and interleukin-2 (IL-2) from peripheral blood mononuclear cells of LL individuals was investigated. Results show that in eight patients CD4+ cells exhibit a reduced release of LIF, while CD8+ lymphocytes are still able to secrete this LK. In the remaining three patients both CD4+ and CD8+ cells produced LIF as do normal lymphocyte subpopulations. As far as IL-2 release is concerned, all patients fail to produce the above LK either using purified CD4+ or CD8+ lymphocytes. These data emphasize additional defects in immune responsiveness in leprosy.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Cloning, expression and sequence homologies of cDNA for human gamma enolase.

The nucleotide sequence of the human gamma-enolase mRNA was determined from recombinant cDNA clones. The sequence spans 2273 bp and includes the complete coding region of 1299 bp, a 5'-noncoding region of 74 bp and a 897-bp-long 3'-noncoding region containing a variant polyadenylation signal (ATTAAA). The deduced amino acid (aa) sequence is 433 aa long and shows a 97% similarity with rat gamma-enolase. Both the 5'- and 3'-untranslated regions are similar (82% and 68%, respectively) to the analogous regions of the rat gamma-enolase gene, suggesting that a strong selective pressure operates on noncoding segments of gamma-enolase mRNAs. The size of the gamma-enolase mRNA expressed in human brain is 2.4 kb. A crosshybridizing 1.5-kb message is detected in human skeletal muscle which may be derived from the beta-enolase-coding gene.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1987

Effects of a synthetic extract (thymopentin) on the immune system of lepromatous leprosy patients.

Twenty three patients with lepromatous leprosy (LL) not in reactional phase and bacteriologically negative were evaluated for their immune status (T cell frequency and interferon gamma production). In six patients with deficits of both immune parameters, a synthetic thymic extract (TP-5) was administered. At the end of the treatment, a full recovery of immune dysfunction was observed. In the light of these results, the efficacy of TP-5 as an immunomodulating agent in LL patients is discussed.

Adjuvants, Immunologic↗
PubMed1985

Hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis of heroin addicts.

The hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis of heroin addicts was investigated by evaluating plasma cortisol levels throughout the day in 37 heroin abusers (HA), 17 of whom showed detectable morphine levels, indicating heroin administration in the previous hours and in 12 controls. All HA showed lower cortisol levels in basal condition (100.7 +/- 61.7 ng/ml, M +/- S.D.) compared to the control group (159.7 +/- 40.6, P less than 0.05). Moreover all HA (65.1 +/- 28.9%), and in particular those taking heroin during the study (39.1 +/- 41.4%), show a reduced cortisol decrease in the evening, which was significantly lower than in controls (85.3 +/- 10.1%; P less than 0.01). As far as the acute effects of opiates are concerned morphine (0.1 mg/kg) significantly reduced plasma cortisol levels within 60 min in a group of 8 healthy subjects. The same pattern was displayed by only 3/8 HA whose morphine levels were higher than 1 ng/ml, i.e. in those reaching the highest plasma morphine concentrations. These data indicate that chronic opiate abuse leads to a hypoadrenalism which could be the result of morphine-induced changes at the hypothalamic level.

Adolescent↗