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Biomedical subjects

G Palumbo

Publications and source records attributed to G Palumbo.

At least 181 records · Page 10Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Extramedullary blast crisis in chronic myeloid leukemia.

Among 235 patients with CML we reviewed 91 patients with BC diagnosed between 1980 and 1995; 15 of the 91 (16%) developed extramedullary disease (EMD). The sites involved were the lymph nodes (13/15), CNS (1/15) and suborbital mass (1/15). The appearance of EMD was associated with chronic phase (CP) features in the bone marrow in 3/15 cases, with accelerated phase (AP) in 3/15 and with BC in 9/15. 11/15 (73%) cases of EMD were classified as myeloid (My-EMD) and 4/15 as lymphoid-type (Ly-EMD): three B-phenotype and one T-phenotype. All Ly-EMD cases were treated with vincristine, daunorubicin and prednisone and obtained complete remission (CR). Cases of My-EMD were treated with daunorubicin and cytosine arabinoside, of which only 1/11 achieved CR. We suggest that in EMD also, the type, lymphoid or myeloid, of BC has a bearing on treatment response and prognosis: Ly-EMD is more responsive to treatment and has longer survival than My-EMD.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Increased low-density lipoprotein peroxidation in elderly men.

BACKGROUND: Oxidative modification of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) appears to play a pivotal role in atherogenesis. The specific role played by LDL peroxidation in aging is not known. Since estrogens may protect LDL from peroxidation in vitro and in vivo, we chose to investigate only men of various ages. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether LDL from healthy elderly men was differently susceptible to peroxidation than LDL of young and adult men. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: LDL was isolated from 15 normolipidemic young (aged 19-23 years), 17 adult (aged 35-55 years), and 16 elderly (aged 77-90 years) healthy men. None of the men included in the study was a smoker or a hypertensive. LDL peroxidation was achieved by exposure to 5 mumol/l copper sulfate for 18 h at 37 degrees C, and some markers of lipid peroxidation (estimating various levels of peroxidation) were evaluated. RESULTS: The levels of lipid peroxides in LDL from our elderly men were already higher under basal conditions than were those both of adult and of young men. LDL from elderly men was more susceptible to peroxidation than was that of adult and young men. Furthermore, the lag time correlated inversely to age (r = -0.68, P < 0.01), whereas lipid peroxide and malonyldialdehyde levels correlated highly to age (r = 0.79 and r = 0.77, P < 0.0002 and P < 0.0012, respectively). With aging the vitamin E content in LDL decreased whereas the arachidonic fatty acid content increased. More importantly, the relationship between the vitamin E content and the lag time made evident the parallel increase in lag time and in vitamin E level with aging. The vitamin E concentration also correlated inversely to levels of thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances in LDL from elderly patients (r = -0.61, P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The present study shows that LDL peroxidation increases with age. This phenomenon may favor the progression of atherosclerosis in elderly men.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Pharmacokinetic of intraarterial mitomycin C with extra corporeal detoxification in humans.

PURPOSE: A study has been performed in 15 patients with liver metastases from colorectal cancer to evaluate the pharmacokinetic of mitomycin C and the effectiveness of drug removal techniques during high-dose locoregional chemotherapy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Haemofiltration and/or haemodialysis of post-hepatic venous blood were performed during 22 intra-arterial infusions of mitomycin C by the use of a double lumen catheter surgically introduced in the inferior vena cava. Mitomycin C levels were measured by high performance liquid chromatography in the extracorporeal circuit blood, in the peripheral venous blood and ultrafiltrate. RESULTS: The mean reduction of mitomycin C bioavailability in the extracorporeal circuit blood was 42.3 per cent using haemofiltration, 58.9 per cent using haemofiltration plus haemodialysis and 59.3 per cent with haemodialysis alone. The resulting mean mitomycin C plasmatic half-life was 40.2 minutes using haemofiltration, 24.9 minutes using haemofiltration plus haemodialysis and 24.1 minutes using haemodialysis alone. CONCLUSIONS: The detoxification of posthepatic venous blood during intra-arterial hepatic chemotherapy is an effective method to increase mitomycin C concentrations and oncological response and limit extra hepatic toxicity.

Antibiotics, Antineoplastic↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Education of the hypertensive patient: are educational booklets useful?].

A good level of knowledge about hypertension can improve patients' compliance to treatment so achieve better therapeutic results. The aim of our study was to evaluate the degree of knowledge about their disease in hypertensives followed in a hospital out-patient unit; and whether an informative booklet could increase this awareness. The patients were presented a questionnaire on the following items: 1. their interest in health news as presented by the mass-media and their judgement on physicians' willingness to provide information about hypertension; 2. the health hazards of being hypertensive; 3. the importance of a family history of hypertension; 4. life style and blood pressure; 5. the reasons for treating hypertension and the length of treatment. Upon completion of the questionnaire, the patients were handed out a booklet in which these same topics were analyzed. At the next follow-up visit, they were invited to answer a set of questions quite similar to the first ones, but presented in a different verbal form. 200 patients completed the first questionnaire; 159, both of them. Basically, they show a high degree of correct knowledge about their disease, giving between 77% and 94% of correct answers to the different questions. After the booklet, for most of the questions the percentage of correct answers remains the same; when it does change, this is usually for the worse. Simply handing out a booklet doesn't help patients to better understand their disease. On the contrary it may have an opposite effect, inducing some degree of confusion.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Researches on psychotropic agents. IV. Synthesis and neuropsychopharmacological effects of 1,3,4,14 b-tetrahydro-10-methyl-2H,10H- pyrazino[2,1-d] pyrrolo[1,2-b][1,2,5]benzotriazepine and its derivatives.

The synthesis and neuropsychopharmacological properties of new 1,3,4,14b-tetrahydro-2H,10H-pyrazino [2,1-d] pyrrolo [1,2-b] [1,2,5] benzotriazepine derivatives related to antidepressant agent aptazepine are reported. The new derivatives displayed sedative-miorelaxant activity in mice, but no significant antagonist effect on clonidine blockade of phenylquinone-induced abdominal constriction. Among test compounds 4a, 4l and 4n showed high antinociceptive effect on the hot-plate test and compound 4e protected from death and convulsion all the electroshocked animals.

Analgesics↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Patient's consent to central venous catheterization].

The need to obtain a patient's consent for his health care is a principle set out in the Italian Constitution, which safeguards a person's right to health. Articles 13 and 32.2 confirm a person's freedom and the right to make free decisions about one's medical treatment. Nobody must be obliged to any medical procedure, unless as by law enacted. The obligation to inform patients is important during the contractual phase: consent is an essential element in the professional contract governing the relationship between a physician and a patient. The former is obligated to inform the latter about his medical intervention clearly and precisely, to enable the patient to decide freely whether to undergo a medical procedure. At this point, it is also essential to obtain a patient's consent for those treatments that although they are carried out in a correct and careful way, could damage a person's physical integrity. The failure to obtain consent could give rise to a burden of responsibility on behalf of the clinician. A central venous catheterization in hemodialysis (HD) is a common procedure performed during routine nephrological treatments. Our signed informed consent form prior to introducing a central venous catheter is thought to satisfy requirements provided for in current regulations to give correct information.

Catheterization, Central Venous↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Grapefruit juice: potential drug interaction].

More than a decade has passed since it was unintentionally discovered that grapefruit juice interacts with certain drugs. The coadministration of these drugs with grapefruit juice can markedly elevate drug bioavailability, and can alter pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic parameters of the drug. The predominant mechanism for this interaction is the inhibition of cytochrome P-450 3A4 in the small intestine, resulting in a significant reduction of drug presystemic metabolism. An additional mechanism is the inhibition of P-glycoprotein, a transporter that carries drug from the enterocyte back to the gut lumen, resulting in a further increase in the fraction of drug absorbed. Some calcium channel antagonists, benzodiazepines, HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors and cyclosporine are the most affected drugs. A single exposure to one glass of the grapefruit juice can usually produce the maximal magnitude of the interaction. The data available so far, concerning this interaction and its clinical implications, are reviewed in this article. It is likely that more information regarding this interaction will accumulate in the future, and awareness of such is necessary for achieving optimal drug therapy.

ATP Binding Cassette Transporter, Subfamily B, Mem↗
PubMedDate not supplied

HLA B51 antigen associated with neutrophil hyper-reactivity.

HLA B51 specificity is strongly associated with Behcet's disease (BD) (for references see Baricordi et al., 1986), a multisystem vasculitis of unknown aetiology, for which an immunological pathogenesis has been proposed (O'Duffy et al., 1983; O'Duffy et al., 1990). Neutrophil abnormalities observed in BD patients even during clinical remission suggest prominent involvement of these phagocytic cells in the pathogenesis of the disease (Niwa et al., 1982). In order to clarify how HLA B51 antigen might confer susceptibility to BD, we have investigated neutrophil function in 13 B51-positive and 13 B51-negative healthy subjects. Lymphocyte spontaneous proliferation and circulating immune complexes were also evaluated. Whereas neutrophils from B51-positive subjects showed an increase in the chemotactic response toward casein (P = 0.003) and LPS (P = 0.033) and also in the PMA-induced superoxide production (P = 0.008) no evidence of enhanced lymphocyte activation emerged. These results suggest that the HLA region can exert a regulatory control on PMN functions.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Ovarian hyperstimulation: diagnosis and therapy.

The administration of exogenous gonadotropins to induce ovulation is often associated with ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome. The authors discussed the pathophysiological mechanisms involved in such syndrome to suggest a treatment of choice. Moreover the authors reported their related clinical experience carried out on 9 patients suffering from such syndrome. All the patients studied improved 6-19 days after admission and start of treatment (mean 9.5 +/- 4.7 days). The patients were free from pain and general disorders at discharge and at follow up echographic examination revealed a significant reduction in the volume of the ovary.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

C. trachomatis detection in infertile women by using a tubal cytobrush during laparoscopy.

The significant role played by C. trachomatis infection in tubal infertility has been emphasized by several serological studies, even if many problems related to the aetiologic diagnosis are still unsolved. For several months our routine screening of infertile women has included a non traumatic technique for tubal cell removal during laparoscopy by using a flexible "Fallopian tube brush". The method is suitable both for C. trachomatis isolation on MC Coy cell culture and rapid (4 hrs.), direct detection of C.t. antigens by immunofluorescent test; it rarely provokes bleeding, nor does it cause formation of adherences as later observed in patients who underwent further laparoscopy during GIFT/ZIFT. In addition, it furnished a mean of 50,000 cells/ml and finally removed samples not only from the tubal ostium, but also from the endosalpingeal lumen.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Nifedipine and kidney tubular function].

Aim of the study was to evaluate the influence of nifedipine on the proximal tubular handling of sodium, as judged by variations in the fractional excretion of lithium, which is a simple and reliable indicator of sodium and water reabsorption at this site. Lithium clearance was determined in 17 in-hospital essential hypertensives who took 16 mmol of lithium per os at 10 p.m. The following morning, urine was collected from 7 to 11 a.m. to determine sodium, potassium, lithium and creatinine concentration. The same analyses were performed in a sample of venous blood drawn at midpoint of the urine collection (9 a.m.). The test took place in basal conditions and was repeated 48 hours later when the patients assumed nifedipine, 10 mg per os, at the beginning of the urine collection (7 a.m.). Compared to basal values, nifedipine increased urinary sodium excretion (mean basal: 33.65 +/- 19.44 mEq/4 h; after nifedipine: 46.99 +/- 19.22) with no change in the fractional excretion of lithium. We conclude that the acute natriuretic effect of this calcium antagonist does not depend on variations in proximal tubular handling of sodium.

Female↗