Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to G Sozzi.
Following ingestion of marine fish in Thailand this patient complained of gastrointestinal and neurological disturbances, marked by severe, mainly motor, demyelinating polyneuropathy, which worsened on her return to Italy a few days later. The clinical pattern, electromyography, cerebrospinal fluid test and sural nerve biopsy by electronmicroscopy permitted the diagnosis of polyneuropathy secondary to ciguatoxin poisoning.
Direct preparations of five primary and metastatic neuroendocrine Merkel cell carcinomas of the skin were analyzed using a G-banding technique. A recurrent structural abnormality was a rearranged chromosome #1 with involvement of p and q arms. In two cases this rearrangement appeared as a unique structural cytogenetic change. Evidence for clonal origin and karyotypic stability of this tumor was suggested by the occurrence of the same karyotypic changes in two metachronous metastases and in primary and metastatic tumor specimens of two different patients. The bands involved in rearrangements could be of significance in the molecular process of the neoplastic transformation of Merkel tumor because genes relevant to the differentiation of neural crest-derived tissue have been mapped in those regions.
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A patient with well-differentiated monoblastic leukemia (ANLL FAB-M5b) is described in whom acute leukemia was diagnosed 25 months after having completed postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy for osteogenic sarcoma of the femur. All analyzed metaphases showed 48xy, dup 1(q12), +3, +9.
An infantile carcinogenesis assay was carried out with 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) injections administered intraperitoneally at 0, 1, 30 and 60 micrograms/kg b.w. doses to (C57BL/6J X C3Hf)F1 (B6C3) and to (C57BL/6J X BALB/c)F1 (B6C) mice, starting from the 10th day of life, once weekly repeated 5 times. Animals were then observed until 78 weeks of age. The induction of thymic lymphomas was related to treatment at 60 micrograms/kg dose level in both sexes of both hybrids, and at 30 micrograms/kg dose level in both sexes of B6C mice and in male but not female B6C3 mice. The incidence of hepatocellular adenomas was increased by TCDD treatment at 60 micrograms/kg dose level in B6C3 of both sexes but not in B6C mice. Hepatocellular carcinomas were seen at increased incidence at 30 and 60 micrograms/kg doses in B6C3 males but not in B6C3 females or in B6C mice of both sexes. The incidence of other tumor types was not related to treatment in both hybrids. A long-term carcinogenesis bioassay with TCDD was carried out in B6C3 mice treated by gavage at 0, 2.5 and 5.0 micrograms/kg b.w. doses from 6 weeks of age, once weekly for 52 weeks. The animals were observed until 110 weeks of age. An increased incidence of hepatocellular adenomas and carcinomas was related to treatment, at both doses and in both sexes. The incidence of other tumor types was uniformly low in treated and control groups, without any association with treatment, in both sexes.
In a patient with vagoglossopharyngeal neuralgia secondary to an intracranial tumor, accompanied by vasodepressor syncope a short course of intrathecal antimitotic therapy relieved the symptoms altogether without need either for drugs routinely effective against neuralgia or for intracranial resection of the glossopharyngeal nerve and the superior roots of the vagus.
A cytogenetic analysis of a fresh primary tumor specimen of small cell lung cancer showed a del(3)(p14p23) in the majority of metaphases. Additional clonal changes were found in the karyotype. No abnormalities for Ha-ras, Ki-ras, N-ras, myb, or myc were detected by Southern blot analysis of the tumor DNA.
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An uncultured immunoblastic lymphoma, obtained from an untreated patient, was examined from a cytogenetic, immunophenotypic, and molecular viewpoint. The B-cell lineage, immunoglobulin light-chain type, and percentage of neoplastic cells were determined immunologically. Karyotyping showed the presence of a 14q + marker and suggested that the donor chromosome was chromosome 8. Southern-blot analysis of DNA from normal and lymphoma cells, using a molecular probes sequences related to the IGHJ and IGK immunoglobulin genes, confirmed the immunophenotype. A similar analysis, using probes homologous to IGHAC and MYC genes, showed that the t(8;14) detected by cytogenetic analysis resulted in a IGHAC-MYC rearrangement.
Holter monitoring may be effected during hospitalization either for clinical research or for high-risk patients or after surgical treatments. In the other cases, if possible, it should be better to effect ambulatory electrocardiographic monitoring in patients engaged in their normal daily activity nevertheless reducing hospital costs. Last year, in our department we effected 2420 Holter monitoring, of which 44% for patients hospitalized in our department, 11% hospitalized in other divisions, 44% for ambulatory patients. Holter monitoring was effected in the 35% of patients to detect arrhythmias, in the 29% for the evaluation of the effect of antiarrhythmic therapy; the 28% of Holter monitoring was recorded for patients recovering from acute infarction. Holter monitoring, associated to the other cardiological screening tests, has a very important rule for diagnosis of arrhythmias or myocardial ischemia, prognostic evaluation of cardiopathic patients (ischemic heart disease, cardiomyopathies, valvular and congenital heart disease), verification of the effects of therapy (PTCA, surgical and antiarrhythmic treatment).
Papilledema is a rare finding in idiopathic inflammatory polyradiculoneuropathy. A case in which the papilledema arose at the beginning of the disease and had a favorable course is reported and the principal hypotheses regarding its pathogenesis are discussed.
Sister-chromatid exchange (SCE) levels were determined in bone marrow cells of DBA/2 and C57BL/6J mice at 18, 24, 30 and 48 h after treatment with 10 mg/kg cyclophosphamide (CP), 300 mg/kg urethane or 25 mg/kg N-nitroso-N-methylurea (NMU). DBA/2 mice showed higher SCE frequencies than C57BL/6J mice at all time points examined after CP and urethane treatment, whereas NMU administration resulted in similar SCE levels in both strains. After CP and urethane treatments, SCE values reached the highest level at 18 h, were similarly high at 24 and 30 h, and returned to base-line level at 48 h. In NMU-treated mice, the SCE values had the same level at 18, 24 and 30 h and returned to normal at 48 h. The results are interpreted as indicating that different metabolic capabilities are responsible for the difference in SCE response in the two strains.
The incidences of spontaneous tumors of the murine hybrids (C57BL/6J X C3Hf)F1 (B6C3F1) and (C57BL/6J X BALB/c)F1 (B6CF1) were compared in untreated mice kept until 110 weeks of age. Male B6C3F1 and B6CF1 mice had respectively 16% and 20% incidence of lymphomas, 26% and 4% of liver tumors and 12% and 22% of lung tumors. Among B6C3F1 and B6CF1 females, a 36% and 12% incidence of lymphomas, a 6% and zero incidence of liver tumors, and a 4% and 16% of lung tumors were observed. A few other tumors were seen in both hybrids. Groups of male and female mice of the 2 hybrids received 5 i.p. injections of 1000 mg/kg urethan once every other day starting at 10 days of age, and were kept under observation until 65-80 weeks of age. Treated B6C3F1 mice had an earlier mortality than B6CF1 mice due to tumor development. The statistical analysis, allowing for survival, showed a significantly higher lymphoma incidence in male and female B6C3F1 than B6CF1 mice, which had instead a higher incidence of lung tumors. Hepatocellular tumors were seen in both sexes of the 2 hybrids, with a higher frequency in B6C3F1 mice. Male mice of both hybrids had a higher incidence of liver tumors than females.
A 34-year-old woman without heart disease had an acute pulmonary edema after a grand mal seizure. Neurogenic pulmonary edema is characterized by the primary role played by the central nervous system in its pathogenesis, usually in the absence of cardiopulmonary disease. We believe that the initiating mechanism was a marked, although brief, generalized vasoconstriction, followed by a shift of blood from the peripheral vascular bed to the pulmonary vascular bed. We stress the need of treating the underlying neurologic disease as the only regional way of preventing the recurrence of pulmonary edema.
A case of sporadic, idiopathic, paroxysmal kinesigenic choreoathetosis is described. The frequent attacks triggered by the initial phase of voluntary movement responded well to treatment with diphenylhydantoin. The nosological, etiopathogenetic, clinical and therapeutic aspects of paroxysmal choreoathetosis are discussed and the literature reviewed.
The induction of sister-chromatid exchanges (SCEs) by urethane, 150 and 300 mg/kg administered i.p., was examined in bone-marrow cells of AKR, BALB/c, C3Hf, C57BL/6J and DBA/2 male mice. In all strains, the base-line level of SCE/cell was similar, ranging from 4.3 to 8.7, and the response increased with the dose of urethane. DBA/2 mice were the most susceptible to urethane at both dose levels, with 30.6 SCE/cell after treatment with 300 mg/kg, whereas the response of the other strains was from 17.4 to 21.5 SCE/cell at the same urethane dose. Pretreatment of C57BL/6J and DBA/2 mice with phenobarbital decreased the SCE frequencies induced by urethane, 300 mg/kg, to 70%, whereas a prior administration of beta-naphthoflavone reduced SCE levels in C57BL/6J but not in DBA/2 mice.
A comparative study on hepatic microsomal p-nitroanisole-O-demethylase, aminopyrine-N-demethylase, NADPH-cytochrome c reductase and cytosolic glutathione (GSH) S-transferase was performed in both sexes of C3Hf, C57BL/6J and DBA/2 mice. In control and phenobarbital (PB)-induced mice similarities in hepatic microsomal activities were found with slight variations among strains and sexes. The Ah locus nonresponsive DBA/2 mice showed uninduced microsomal activities after beta-naphthoflavone (BNF), as expected; the other two strains were induced by BNF to a similar extent. Differences in cytosolic GSH S-transferase were detected among strains and sexes; C57BL/6J mice showed the highest basal and induced levels. The males of all the three strains examined were found to have higher GSH S-transferase activity than females.
The influence of the enzymatic inducer beta-naphthoflavone (BNF) and of the inhibitors alpha-naphthoflavone (ANF) and 2-diethylaminoethyl-2,2-diphenylvalerate HCl (SKF 525-A) on the frequency of sister chromatid exchanges (SCE) induced by cyclophosphamide (CPA) was studied in vivo in C57BL/6J male mice. Neither inducer nor inhibitors substantially modified the SCE level induced by 5 or 10 mg/kg CPA. The enzymatic induction by BNF was effective as treated animals showed a reduced paralysis time by zoxazolamine whereas ANF appeared to be ineffective. The enzymatic inhibition by SKF 525-A was confirmed by a longer sleeping time in pentobarbital-treated mice and also by a longer paralysis in zoxazolamine-treated mice. The lower susceptibility to CPA-induced SCEs of C57BL/6J mice relative to DBA/2 strain observed in a previous work seems not to be simply related to Ah locus mediated metabolism.