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Biomedical subjects

L A Scuro

Publications and source records attributed to L A Scuro.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1988

Exocrine pancreatic function in chronic urticaria patients is normal.

25 patients with chronic urticaria suspected to be of 'alimentary origin', were studied for a quantitative or qualitative deficiency of pancreatic enzyme secretion. All showed a normal fecal chymotrypsin excretion and 23/25 a normal bentiromide (PABA) and pancreolauryl test. In 2 females the urinary PABA and pancreolauryl tests were borderline pathological. This does not support the hypothesis that a pancreatic deficiency (of the kind which could be identified with the methods used) is associated with chronic urticaria in patients in whom improvement of urticaria occurs under a hydric or low antigenic diet.

4-Aminobenzoic Acid↗
PubMed1988

Fractional urinary clearance of immunoreactive lipase in chronic pancreatic disease.

Using an immunoenzymatic method, we studied lipase in the serum and urine of 23 controls, 22 chronic pancreatitis patients in symptomatic remission, and in 9 patients with proven pancreatic cancer. Serum and urine lipase and its fractional urinary clearance were compared with those of amylase and immunoreactive trypsin. Lipase immunoreactivity was detectable in the urine of 81.5% of the studied subjects (controls: 82%, chronic pancreatitis: 86%, pancreatic cancer: 66%); its output was higher than the upper limit of controls in 31.8% of chronic pancreatitis and in only 1 of pancreatic cancer, and it was significantly correlated with the urinary output of trypsin (r = 0.487, P less than 0.001), but not with that of amylase. A significant correlation was found between urinary output and serum levels for lipase, but not for trypsin or amylase. Fractional clearance of lipase was of the same magnitude as that of trypsin but only 0.1% that of amylase. 19% of chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer showed a fractional clearance of lipase above the upper limit of controls, compared with 45% for trypsin and 3.2% for amylase. No difference in urinary clearance of the three enzymes was found between chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer. In conclusion, although of no diagnostic relevance in pain-free patients with chronic pancreatic disease, this measurement can provide information on the mechanisms of renal excretion of pancreatic enzymes.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

HLA molecule expression on chronic pancreatitis specimens: is there a role for autoimmunity? A preliminary study.

This study was prospectively carried out in order to clarify if an aberrant expression of HLA-DR molecules could take part in the pathogenesis of chronic pancreatitis. Pancreatic specimens from 12 chronic pancreatitis patients and nine controls were examined. Strong HLA-DR expression was observed in 6/12 chronic pancreatitis patients and in 1/9 controls. Moreover, lymphocytic foci with large numbers of activated cells were found only in chronic pancreatitis. The four HLA-DR - patients had a marked increase of fibrous tissue with small portions of acinar tissue, whereas the six patients with strong positivity had the greatest dilatation and hyperplasia of the ducts. These findings are similar to those observed in immune diseases, such as thyroiditis and primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), and suggest that autoimmune phenomena are involved in chronic pancreatitis.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Prospective evaluation of the diagnostic efficacy of CA 19-9 assay as a marker for gastrointestinal cancers.

Levels of a new carbohydrate antigen, CA 19-9, which is a monosialoganglioside identified by a monoclonal antibody raised against colorectal carcinoma cells, were compared to conventional CEA assays in 615 sera from healthy controls, patients with benign gastrointestinal disorders, and patients with cancers of gastrointestinal or extragastrointestinal origin. Whereas CEA levels were higher in smokers, CA 19-9 values were independent of the smoking history. CA 19-9 was undetectable in lymphoma and myeloma patients, but some patients with extraintestinal epithelial cancers expressed this antigen in serum. For benign and malignant gastrointestinal diseases, CA 19-9 displayed higher sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values than CEA. CA 19-9 was elevated as frequently as CEA in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer, but in patients with localized disease, CA 19-9 was elevated more often than was CEA. In colorectal cancer, patients with and without metastases were detected at similar rates by both assays. It is concluded that CA 19-9 is a marker of epithelial cancers, does not vary with the smoking status, and is superior to CEA in detecting gastrointestinal malignancies, especially those arising from the pancreatic gland.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗
PubMed1985

Plasma levels of lactoferrin in children suffering from cystic fibrosis.

Plasma levels of lactoferrin (LF) have been found to be increased in a few patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). This study was aimed at investigating plasma LF levels in children with CF (26 cases) and in controls (C) (19 cases). Plasma LF was measured by a radioimmunoassay method. Plasma LF levels were not significantly different in CF and in C, even though 10 CF patients showed LF levels above the mean + 2 SD value of the controls. Neither the duration of the disease nor the age of the controls was correlated with LF or with the exocrine pancreatic capacity. A significant relationship between the presence of an acute lung inflammation and LF levels was found. This study shows that LF is increased in CF only in the presence of an acute inflammatory state. Further studies are necessary to establish the usefulness of an LF assay as an index of the presence of an acute inflammatory process.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

Association of chronic alcoholic liver and pancreatic disease: a prospective study.

Seventy-two chronic alcoholics, 40 (all males) with chronic pancreatitis and 32 (23 males and nine females) with liver cirrhosis, were submitted to liver biopsy, endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography and secretin-caerulein test in order to assess a possible liver involvement in chronic pancreatitis and viceversa, and to evaluate the existence of any relationship between the diseases of these two organs. Chronic pancreatitis patients were younger than cirrhotic patients and drank more than the cirrhotic females. Twenty-nine of the 40 patients had abnormal liver histology, five had micronodular cirrhosis and were older than the others. No relationship was found between the degree of pancreatic impairment and the type of liver injury. Five liver cirrhosis patients had an endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography picture consistent with chronic pancreatitis; two were females with an alcohol intake lower than the one of the other females. In conclusion the association of chronic pancreatitis and liver cirrhosis was observed in a minority of cases, with the same percentage in the two groups, even if the cirrhotic subjects were older than the pancreatitics. Therefore we can postulate that different factors have roles in the pathogenesis of alcoholic cirrhosis and of chronic alcoholic pancreatitis. The association of the two diseases in two women with a relatively low alcohol intake supports this hypothesis.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Increased sodium-lithium countertransport in red cells of patients with Bartter's syndrome.

Erythrocyte sodium-lithium countertransport was evaluated in three adult patients with Bartter's syndrome, diagnosed on clinical and histopathological basis and on laboratory tests. As compared with age-matched control subjects, lithium effluxes to both sodium medium and to sodium-free medium were high in two patients and Na+-Li+ countertransport was significantly greater in all three patients. The relationship between increased Na+-Li+ countertransport and the proposed primary disorder of Bartter's syndrome (i.e., a primary tubular defect of chloride reabsorption) is not apparent. However, this finding favours the hypothesis of a generalized cellular membrane dysfunction of ion transport in Bartter's syndrome.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Response of Paget's disease to human calcitonin in patients resistant to porcine calcitonin.

Eleven patients with Paget's disease of bone, treated intermittently for 2-4 years with porcine calcitonin (pCT) and clinically resistant to pCT [no modifications of serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and urinary hydroxyproline ( uHOP ) during pCT administration] were treated with 0.5-0.25 mg/day of human calcitonin (hCT) for 3-6 months. Nine of our patients showed biochemical improvement during the first 2 months of treatment, with reduction in ALP and uHOP . In one patient with slightly increased ALP and uHOP , and in another one during the second treatment course, hCT treatment did not modify the biochemical indices of bone disease. However all patients, including those with biochemical resistance, experienced a remarkable diminution of bone pain, which had not been observed during previous pCT treatment courses. Therefore, hCT appears to be indicated for therapeutic use in patients who are resistant to foreign calcitonins.

Aged↗
PubMed1984

Carbenoxolone and prostaglandin E2 and F2 alpha gastric juice levels in man.

The purpose of the present study is to evaluate the effect of carbenoxolone after a non-oral administration on the levels of prostaglandins E2 and F2 alpha in gastric juice. The gastric secretion of 6 healthy volunteers (in basal conditions and after administration of a stimulus of 6 micrograms/kg weight of pentagastrin i.m.) was studied before and after seven days of treatment with 150 mg b.i.d. of carbenoxolone suppository. Concentration and output of prostaglandins E2 and F2 alpha (measured by radioimmunoassay), hydrochloric acid, pepsin and N-acetylneuraminic acid in gastric juice were determined. Compared to control values, no statistically significant difference in acid, pepsin or prostaglandin F2 alpha content, or in gastric juice volume, was observed after treatment. However a significant increase was observed in the concentration and output of prostaglandin E2 after administration of pentagastrin. The concentration and output of N-acetyl-neuraminic acid increased significantly only in basal conditions in carbenoxolone-treated subjects. The present study suggests that the cytoprotective action of carbenoxolone on gastric mucosa in man could be due to an increased prostaglandin E2 activity. This effect is observed after rectal administration, therefore suggesting that carbenoxolone also has a systemic action.

Carbenoxolone↗
PubMed1984

Is the 14C-triolein breath test useful in the assessment of malabsorption in clinical practice?

A 14C-triolein breath test was carried out on 49 subjects suffering from chronic pancreatitis or from other digestive diseases, and its results were compared with the daily fecal fat excretion. The 14CO2 peak excretion was abnormal in all the subjects with a fecal fat excretion above 14 g/day, whereas individual values of 14CO2 peak excretion in subjects without steatorrhea and with a fecal fat excretion ranging from 7.1 to 14 g overlapped. The lowest value observed in patients not suffering from steatorrhea was chosen as the lower normal limit of 14CO2 peak excretion. A test sensitivity as high as 64% was attained. The correlation between fecal fat and 14CO2 peak excretion was highly significant (r = 0.802; p less than 0.0001), and it followed a negative exponential function. Therefore, small variations in the 14CO2 peak excretion can be associated with a wide range of fecal fat excretion. Well-compensated diabetes secondary to pancreatitis did not interfere with the results of the test. In conclusion, in our experience this test proved to be a qualitative diagnostic tool with a low sensitivity.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

Long-term outcome of acute necrohemorrhagic pancreatitis. A 4-year follow-up.

This long-term follow-up of 27 patients treated with conservative surgery for necrohemorrhagic pancreatitis (NHP) showed that an almost complete recovery of the exocrine function is achieved within 4 years after discharge, while about half of the patients presented still abnormal endocrine function. The morphological sequelae, pointed out by endoscopic retrograde pancreatography in almost 50% of the cases, remained unchanged during the follow-up period. Therefore, these data seem to exclude an evolution of NHP towards chronic pancreatitis.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1983

Lactoferrin concentration in the parotid saliva of patients with chronic pancreatitis.

Lactoferrin is present in pancreatic juice, and greatly increased concentrations are found in the pancreatic juice of patients with chronic pancreatitis. It is not known whether these high levels of lactoferrin represent a genetically determined defect predisposing to the later development of chronic pancreatitis or are simply a consequence of the disease. In view of the morphological and functional similarities between the pancreatic and parotid glands, we have measured the immunoreactive lactoferrin concentration in pure parotid saliva of 30 patients with chronic calcific pancreatitis, 26 controls, 5 patients with proven pancreatic cancer, 2 patients with Sjögren's disease and 2 patients with chronic recurrent parotitis. No difference in the lactoferrin concentration was detected between control subjects and patients with chronic pancreatitis or pancreatic cancer. Raised levels were found in the 4 patients with parotid gland disease. These findings suggest that increased lactoferrin secretion is confined to the exocrine pancreas in patients with chronic pancreatitis and is thus probably a phenomenon secondary to the disease.

Calcinosis↗
PubMed1983

Evolution of pain in chronic relapsing pancreatitis: a study of operated and nonoperated patients.

A group of 191 patients with chronic relapsing pancreatitis was followed for about 10 years. Ninety-three of them were selected for surgery because of incapacitating painful relapses or persistent pain and were submitted to side-to-side pancreaticojejunostomy. Ninety-eight were selected for medical management. Seventeen patients died during the follow-up. The cumulative probability of pain relief, 10 years after clinical onset of the disease was 62.9% in the patients who had been submitted to surgery and 42.8% in the nonoperated patients. In the operated group, no case of further relapse was observed after a 3-year pain-free interval, but in the nonoperated group some patients complained of further painful relapses. Complete and lasting alcohol withdrawal and/or steatorrhea were significantly associated with a more favorable result in the patients who had been submitted to surgery. However, the relationship between alcohol consumption, exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, and pain behavior did not reach statistical significance in the nonoperated patients. In patients selected for and submitted to surgery, whose disease before surgery was severe because of a high frequency of painful relapses, the chance of pain relief was similar to, and to some extent higher than, that observed in patients not selected for surgery and suffering from a mild or moderate disease. Alcohol withdrawal and exocrine pancreatic insufficiency have been confirmed as being adjunctive factors toward lessening pain in patients who had been submitted to pancreaticojejunostomy.

Adult↗