Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to G Lombardo.
Prosopagnosia was due to a right occipito-temporal infarct, but clinical and computed tomographic features emphasized a previous symmetrical damage in the left side. The case reported, and especially elaboration of literature data relative to this peculiar type of visual agnosia, suggest that bilaterality of cerebral lesions in the determining factor of prosopagnosia.
Gallbladder cancer is the fifth of the digestive neoplasms. Diagnosis is often made very late sk that prognosis is really poor. We present 84 patients operated on for gallbladder cancer and 1 for carcinoid. Sixty-eight of them had a complete follow-up.
The pancreatic pseudocyst is a serious complication of acute or chronic pancreatitis. Surgical internal anastomosis can be an adequate solution to this problem. Sixty patients with pancreatic pseudocyst have been referred to our institution in the last 15 years; 47 of them were operated upon. Different techniques were employed according to differences in the pseudocyst wall status and the presence or absence of infection.
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A clinical study on 20 patients with uterine cervix Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) lesions treated with intralesional recombinant alpha 2b interferon (3 millions I.U.) three times a week for three weeks where possible, is presented. After one year from treatment, lesions were cured or stabilized in 18 Patients (90%); progression was observed in 2 patients (10%) for which reason traditional surgical therapy was performed.
The authors describe the clinical and pathologic features of uterine carcinosarcoma. In the case of a 45 year old patient the rarity of this double tumor is pointed out.
In a group of 22 patients affected by chronic obstructive bronchopathies (COBP) with respiratory insufficiency and at the same time in a group of 12 controls, were determined plasma Antithrombin (AT) III concentrations. The mean of AT III level in patients with COBP was 40.5% and was 96.8% in the controls. On the basis of these data, the authors think that in patients with COBP decrease AT III can cause the rising of bleeding complications.
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We have examined the influence of urea on the properties of the rat liver glucocorticoid receptor (GR). A 1-h incubation of hepatic cytosol with 1-3 M urea at 0 or at 23 degrees C caused a progressive decrease in the steroid binding efficiency of GR. Urea treatment of cytosol incubated with 20 nM [3H]triamcinolone acetonide caused transformation of glucocorticoid-receptor complexes (GRc) and resulted in an increase in the binding of GRc to DNA-cellulose and ATP-Sepharose. The transforming effect was maximal with 2.5 M urea at 0 degrees C for 1 h, and it caused a shift in the rate of sedimentation of the 9 S untransformed GRc to a 4 S form, similar to that observed upon incubation of the cytosol GRc at 23 degrees C. This 9 to 4 S transformation could also be observed in the presence of Na2MoO4. The Stokes radii of the GRc eluted from a Bio-Gel-A-0.5m agarose column were determined to be 5.9 and 4.9 nm in the absence and presence of 2.5 M urea. The aqueous two-phase partitioning analysis revealed a significant change in surface properties of GR following urea treatment; the observed partition coefficient values (cpm upper phase/bottom phase) were 0.022, 0.208, and 0.60 for GRc, GRc + 23 degrees C, and GRc + 2.5 M urea, respectively. Furthermore, the urea treatment rendered the GRc less negatively charged, forcing their appearance in the flow-through fractions of a DEAE-Sephacel column. These results suggest that urea is a potent in vitro modulator of the physicochemical behavior of GR, influencing both the steroid binding and the process of receptor transformation.
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Binding characteristics of synthetic steroid, mifepristone (RU38486 - also referred to as RU486), were examined in cytosol prepared from the chick oviduct and the calf uterus, and were compared with those of progesterone and synthetic progestin R5020. Unlike [3H]progesterone binding, the [3H]RU486 binding in the oviduct cytosol did not saturate at 50 nM ligand concentration. The [3H]progesterone binding could not be eliminated in the presence of excess RU486, and [3H]RU486 binding was seen to be indisplaceable upon pretreatment of the chick oviduct cytosol with a 1000-fold excess progesterone. It is apparent that the chick oviduct cytosol is endowed with two separate sets of sites which interact with progesterone and RU486 independently. Furthermore, [3H]RU486 binding in the chick oviduct cytosol remained intact when incubated for 60 min at 37 degrees C; it exhibited a single ionic form upon elution from DEAE-Sephacel and the [3H]RU486-associated radioactivity sedimented in the 4 S region both in salt-free and 0.3 M KCl-containing 5-20% sucrose gradients. In the calf uterus cytosol, both steroids exhibited comparable binding profiles. Our results provide evidence that chick oviduct possesses distinct binding sites that accept either progesterone or RU486, but not both, as is the case in the calf uterus.
A majority of the untransformed glucocorticoid-receptor complexes (GRc) from rat liver cytosol sedimented in the 9S region in 5-20% sucrose gradients containing 0.15 M KCl and 20 mM Na2MoO4. Incubation of the cytosol at 23 degrees C, or at 0 degree C with 10 mM ATP or 0.3 M KCl caused appearance of a slower migrating (4S) form which exhibited an increased affinity toward DNA-cellulose and ATP-Sepharose. Presence of 20 mM Na2MoO4 blocked this 9S to 4S transformation of GRc. A complete conversion of the 9S to the 4S form occurred upon a 2 h incubation of GRc with 10 mM ATP at 0 degree C. Other nucleoside triphosphates (GTP, CTP, and UTP), ADP and PPi (but not AMP or cAMP) were also effective in transforming the 9S form. The heat transformation occurred in a time-dependent manner and was complete within 1 h at 23 degrees C; presence of 10 mM ATP during this 23 degrees C incubation period allowed a complete 9S to 4S alteration in 10-20 min. Addition of ATP also accelerated the rate of salt activation of the GRc; a 50% conversion to the 4S form occurred in 20 min or 3 min in the absence or the presence of 10 mM ATP during the 0 degree C incubation of GRc with 0.15 M KCl. An absolute requirement of the hormone for 9S to 4S transformation of glucocorticoid receptor (GR) was evident, as no conversion of the 9S form to the 4S form could be achieved with the ligand-free GR under any of the above conditions. Incubation of cytosol preparations at 23 degrees C or at 0 degree C with KCl or ATP caused dissociation of the GRc and reduced the steroid binding capacity of GR. Although aurintricarboxylic acid, pyridoxal 5'-phosphate, Na2MoO4, Na2WO4, o-phenanthroline, Rifamycin AF/013 and heparin inhibited the ATP-Sepharose and DNA binding of the GRc, only Na2MoO4 and Na2WO4 selectively blocked the 9S to 4S conversion. We suggest that the 9S to 4S transformation in vitro of rat liver GRc represents an acquisition of DNA and ATP-Sepharose binding ability and may involve a separation of subunits from an oligomeric receptor structure.
Self-, cross- and non-pollinated styles of Petunia hybrida were treated with 3-3'-diaminobenzidine for the ultrastructural localization of peroxidase activity. Wall peroxidases were absent in cross-pollinated styles, but they were detectable as an osmiophilic deposit on the cell walls of the outer portion of the transmitting tissue in self- and non-pollinated styles. The cell layer showing peroxidase activity was thicker in the self-pollinated styles than in the non-pollinated ones. In accordance with current hypotheses on the mechanism involved in pollen incompatibility process, it is suggested: that wall peroxidases present in the cells of the outer portion of the transmitting tissue are involved in the gametophytic self-incompatibility of Petunia; that self-pollination causes an increase in the number of cells involved in the rejection process; that non-pollinated styles, which are characterized by the presence of cell wall peroxidases in the outer portion of the transmitting tissue, are 'prepared' to a certain extent for the rejection of incompatible pollen tubes. The removal of peroxidase activity thus seems to be an important step in the compatible pollination process.
A female infant with severe growth-weight retardation and with a ring chromosome 11, associated with trisomy X in 15% of metaphases, has been reported. A literature review of cases of r(11) shows that the clinical features of these patients, although showing different frequencies, are similar to those of the del(11q) syndrome. It has been suggested that the variability of the mental retardation in r(11) patients is attributable to the unstability of the ring and to the different break points in these two chromosomal rearrangements. The origin of the r(11) was also addressed by studying fragile sites of the parents at 11p15 and 11q25.
The kinetics of steroid binding to rat liver glucocorticoid receptor (GR) and receptor denaturation were dependent upon the nature of the molecule occupying GR. Both the agonist [triamcinolone acetonide (TA)] and the antagonist (Ru38486) however competed for the same saturable binding site. Despite opposing physiological action, both steroid analogues permitted receptor activation as evident by binding to DNA-cellulose and 9S to 4S shift on sucrose gradient sedimentation. It therefore seems necessary to reevaluate a current notion that antagonist action of RU38486 in rat liver is a result of impaired receptor activation.
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