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Biomedical subjects

G Graziani

Publications and source records attributed to G Graziani.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
PubMed1987

Benefits and risks of protracted treatment with human recombinant erythropoietin in patients having haemodialysis.

Fourteen patients with uraemic anaemia and having regular haemodialysis were given human recombinant erythropoietin in increasing doses, beginning with 24 U/kg thrice weekly. One patient was dropped from the study because of recurrent thrombosis of vascular access sites. In the other 13 patients, followed up for a mean of 9.1 months (range 8-11), haemoglobin concentrations increased from 62 (SD 8) to 105 (9) g/l. No antierythropoietin antibodies were detected during the study. The correction of anaemia was associated with a tendency to hyperkalaemia and a mild increase of unconjugated bilirubinaemia. In eight previously hypertensive patients antihypertensive treatment had to be reinforced, but in normotensive patients blood pressure did not change. Thrombosis of arteriovenous fistulas occurred in two patients and a cerebral ischaemic lesion in one. Protracted treatment with human recombinant erythropoietin evidently can maintain normal haemoglobin concentrations in uraemic patients over time. Full correction of anaemia, however, may trigger some vascular problems, particularly in hypertensive patients and those with a tendency to thromboembolism.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Kelfiprim versus co-trimoxazole in recurrent and persistent urinary tract infections: multicenter double-blind trial.

Kelfiprim (KP) is a new bactericidal agent containing trimethoprim (T) and sulfametopyrazine (S), a long-acting sulfonamide (ratio 5:4). The posology is one capsule (T 250 mg + S 200 mg) daily, after a loading dose of two capsules on the first day. To evaluate the clinical value of Kelfiprim (KP) vs co-trimoxazole (CO) in urinary tract infection (UTI) a controlled multicenter double-blind trial (MDBT) was carried out in 76 patients suffering from persistent and recurrent UTIs. About 90 per cent response rate (sterile urine at the end of treatment) was obtained for KP and about 85 per cent for CO in recurrent UTI. In persistent UTI the rate of recovery was 66.8 per cent and 53 per cent for KP and CO, respectively. Safety of treatments was excellent in 97 per cent of patients treated with Kelfiprim and 87 per cent treated with co-trimoxazole. Two patients, one in each group, were dropped from the study because of adverse reactions.

Anti-Infective Agents, Urinary↗
PubMed1987

Extrarenal synthesis of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D: sensitivity to glucocorticoid treatment.

The response of circulating 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D [1,25-(OH)2D] to challenge with vitamin D treatment both before and after 7-10 days of prednisone therapy (25 mg/day) was investigated in five anephric subjects, six patients with chronic renal failure (CRF), two patients with vitamin D intoxication and four patients with hypoparathyroidism. In anephric subjects serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25-(OH)D] rose from 58 +/- 48 (SD) to 377 +/- 221 (SD) nmol/l after administration of 150 micrograms of 25-(OH)D3 for 1 month. Serum 1,25-(OH)2D, which was barely detectable in only two out of five patients under basal conditions, rose to 30 +/- 21 pmol/l after 2 weeks of therapy with 25-(OH)D3, but fell to 10 +/- 5 pmol/l during prednisone treatment. In CRF patients circulating 1,25-(OH)2D rose from 37 +/- 24 to 58 +/- 24 pmol/l during 25-(OH)D3 therapy, but fell to 41 +/- 31 pmol/l during prednisone treatment. In two patients with rheumatoid arthritis, hypercalcaemia due to vitamin D intoxication was associated with raised levels of 1,25-(OH)2D (288 and 317 pmol/l). Administration of prednisone resulted in suppression of 1,25-(OH)2D levels (132 and 96 pmol/l respectively) and reduction of serum calcium to within the normal range. In the hypoparathyroid patients prednisone therapy did not affect circulating 25-(OH)D levels but serum 1,25-(OH)2D fell from 192 +/- 42 to 117 +/- 23 pmol/l and serum calcium from 2.41 +/- 0.21 to 2.20 +/- 0.05 mmol/l.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Calcifediol↗
PubMed1987

Increased susceptibility of peripheral mononuclear cells of leukemic patients to HTLV-I infection in vitro.

Peripheral mononuclear cells (MNC) collected from 12 healthy donors and 44 leukemic patients at various stages of the disease were tested for natural killer (NK) activity and for their susceptibility to HTLV-I infection in vitro, measured in terms of percentage of p19 positive cells. MNC from leukemic donors at any stage of leukemia (ie, onset or relapse, ON/REL; complete remission or off-therapy, CR/OT donors) were highly susceptible to HTLV-I infection. This was true for acute leukemias of lymphoblastic (ALL) or nonlymphoblastic (ANLL) type. MNC of ON/REL patients were more susceptible to HTLV-I than those of CR/OT donors. In addition, leukemic blasts were more rapidly infected (ie, within five to seven days) than the HTLV-I-susceptible normal cord-blood lymphocytes. However, the presence of circulating blasts was not essential to virus susceptibility, since CR/OT MNC, presumably free of leukemic blasts, were still more susceptible to HTLV-I than normal cells. Basal NK function of MNC from leukemic patients was significantly lower than that detectable in healthy controls. However, no correlation was found between susceptibility to HTLV-I infection and NK activity.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

4-Demethoxydaunorubicin (IMI-30) in refractory epithelial ovarian cancer: a pilot study.

Fifteen patients with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer were treated with 4-demethoxydaunorubicin (IMI-30) after platinum failure. A total of 33 courses of IMI-30 15 mg/m2, per os, daily for 3 consecutive days every 3 weeks were performed. Three patients experienced severe hematologic toxicity (WHO grade greater than or equal to 3), while gastroenteric toxicity was acceptable and no cardiotoxicity was observed. One minor response, 4 stabilization of disease and 7 progression were observed in 12 evaluable patients. In conclusion, IMI-30, at this scheduling, is inactive in our small series of heavily pretreated epithelial ovarian cancer patients.

Aged↗
PubMed1986

Humoral and renal effects of ibopamine in normal subjects.

The acute effects of 50 mg of ibopamine (SB-7505), the 3,4-diisobutyryl ester of N-methyldopamine, were investigated after oral administration to 10 adult subjects without evidence of renal, hepatic or cardiovascular disease. Blood pressure and heart rate did not change while diuresis and urinary electrolyte excretion increased significantly during the 240 min of the study. Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) was also increased at 80 min after ibopamine, whereas plasma aldosterone and prolactin were slightly decreased. In contrast to dopamine, ibopamine did not stimulate plasma renin activity. These results are attributable to the ability of ibopamine to be rapidly deesterified to N-methyldopamine (epinine) which has been previously shown to exert peripheral effects similar to those of dopamine. Therefore, the increased GFR can be ascribed to an enhanced renal blood flow. On the contrary, taking into account the significant increase of the fractional excretion of sodium (FeNa) the rise in sodium excretion seems to be the consequence of a direct tubular effect of epinine, even though the slight decrease in peripheral aldosterone concentration would have been a contributing factor. Urinary flow rate might be enhanced by the high sodium delivery to the distal nephron, rather than by a postulated dopaminergic inhibition of arginine-vasopressin release.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Relationship between plasma and brain concentrations of Denzimol and its anticonvulsant and neurotoxic effects in the rat.

The relationship between plasma, brain and cerebellum concentrations of Denzimol a new anticonvulsant agent, and its anticonvulsant and neurotoxic effects were studied in the rat. Sixty minutes after oral administration, a high brain/plasma concentration ratio of 10:1 was found. Mean plasma, brain and cerebellum half-lives of the drug were 8.4, 7.1 and 9.2 hr, respectively. The anticonvulsant activity of the drug was examined by maximal electroshok seizures (MES). Neurotoxicity was determined both by the rotarod performance test and by behavioural observation. Denzimol was effective against MES, in the ranges of 0.8-5 micrograms/ml and 10-50 micrograms/ml for plasma and brain concentrations, respectively, without causing clear signs of neurological toxicity. It is concluded that the anticonvulsant and neurotoxic effects of denzimol are correlated to its plasma and brain concentrations.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Decline of natural cytotoxicity of human lymphocytes following infection with human T-cell leukemia/lymphoma virus (HTLV).

Cell-mediated natural cytotoxicity (CMNC) of fresh or long-term cultured lymphocytes collected from HTLV-positive patients or infected in vitro with the virus, was tested against K562 target cells. Severe depression of reactivity was found in fresh lymphocytes of three patients with advanced disease, in 12 in vitro established T-cell malignant lines, and two HTLV-infected cord blood (C5/MJ and C91/PL) lines. Moreover, all (eight) HTLV-1 infected cell lines listed showed a significant inhibition of CMNC of peripheral blood lymphocytes of healthy donors. Whether virus infection promotes the outgrowth of pre-existing suppressor cells and/or produce changes of the T-lymphocyte function is unknown.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Skeletal muscle water and electrolytes in chronic renal failure. Effects of long-term regular dialysis treatment.

Skeletal muscle water, Cl, Na and K were studied in 24 patients with predialysis chronic renal failure (CRF) and in 16 patients under regular dialysis treatment (RDT) for 8-16 years; 35 healthy controls were also examined. Total Cl, Na and water (Clm, Nam, TW) were high in both CRF and RDT groups (p less than 0.001); high TW in CRF was due to both extra (ECW) and intracellular (ICW) fractions, which were calculated from Cl space; in RDT only ECW was increased and ICW was normal. Muscle K was diminished in CRF, in reference to both muscle fat free dry solids and ICW, and it was slightly but significantly higher than normal in RDT. The findings demonstrate that high cell volume and low intracellular K observed in CRF are fully corrected by long-term hemodialysis, probably because these abnormalities are mainly related to cell function disturbances due to uremic state. On the contrary, the persistence of high total Cl, Na and muscle ECW seems to be an expression of expanded extracellular fluid volume.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Cutaneous abnormalities in uremic patients.

94 uremic patients, 68 on regular hemodialysis treatment (RHT) and 26 on chronic ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD), were followed for up to 20 months in search of dermatological manifestations. 79% of RHT and 76% of CAPD patients had some kind of cutaneous lesion. The most characteristic features of cutaneous involvement in RHT and CAPD patients were: cutaneous xerosis, pruritus, infectious manifestations and disorders of pigmentation. In 4 RHT patients, precancerous and cancerous manifestations were also observed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

High fluid intake or pharmacological therapy in recurrent stone former patients?

In order to evaluate whether therapy can reduce relapses of urinary stone formation, we have retrospectively analysed the long-term follow-up of 55 recurrent stone former patients either treated with high fluid intake and moderate low calcium and low oxalate diet alone (Group A 18 patients), or with the same dietetic advice plus hydrocholorothiazide, amiloride and allopurinol (Group B 37 patients). In group A, stone recurrence was completely abolished in 14 patients without hypercalciuria and hyperuricuria, but not in the four patients with hypercalciuria and hyperuricuria. In group B, no relapses were observed in 19 hypercalciuric and hyperuricuric patients during a cumulative follow-up of 91 years. Even if the other 18 patients had relapses during a cumulative follow-up of 89 years, they showed a significant decrease in stone/patient and stone/year rates. It is concluded that high fluid intake and diet can actually prevent stone recurrence in patients without hypercalciuria and hyperuricuria, but in hypercalciuric and hyperuricuric patients treatment with diuretic and allopurinol is better.

Allopurinol↗
PubMed1985

Mechanism of flavoxate antispasmodic activity comparative in vitro studies.

In order to clarify the pharmacological activity of flavoxate, its effect on the tone and spontaneous activity of the guinea-pig isolated ureter and of the muscle strip from rat urinary bladder were studied. Flavoxate, as well as papaverine, reduced all three parameters considered on the guinea-pig isolated ureter, namely: peristaltic motility, endoluminal pressure and longitudinal muscle contractility. In the same test, verapamil (a calcium antagonist), emepronium and atropine (both anticholinergic drugs) were used for comparison. Using strips of rat urinary bladder depolarized by KCl, flavoxate, papaverine and verapamil displayed a relaxant activity, while anticholinergic compounds such as atropine, hyoscine and emepronium failed to relax this tissue. In another series of experiments the effects of flavoxate and anticholinergic drugs on the contraction elicited by vagal electrical stimulation of the guinea-pig isolated stomach in toto were assayed. The results obtained suggest that the action of flavoxate is due to direct smooth muscle relaxation and does not involve anticholinergic activity.

Anesthetics, Local↗