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Biomedical subjects

L A Scuro

Publications and source records attributed to L A Scuro.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

Urinary PABA recovery after oral N-benzoyl-L-tyrosyl-PABA administration combined with various exocrine pancreatic stimulants.

Eleven healthy volunteers (C) and nine patients affected by chronic relapsing pancreatitis (CP) were administered N-Benzoyl-L-Tyrosyl-PABA orally, at a dose of 150 mg combined, on different days, with: 1) water alone (schedule a); 2) Lundh meal (schedule b); 3) Secretin-Caerulein by i.v. infusion (0.5 CU/kg/hr and 75 ng/kg/hr respectively) (schedule c); 4) Caerulein by i.m. injection (300 ng/kg) (schedule d). The mean urinary PABA recovery in CP was lower than in C with all the schedules, but this was statistically significant only with schedules a and c (P less than 0.02 and P less than 0.05 respectively). With respect to b, c, and d, the mean urinary PABA recovery seemed to increase both in C and in CP as compared with schedule a, but only in the CP group with schedule b was the increase statistically significant (P less than 0.05). The present data show that the exocrine pancreatic stimulants do not improve the reliability of the PABA test.

4-Aminobenzoic Acid↗

Hereditary pancreatitis: morphological pictures (ERCP) in the youngest member of a family.

Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) pictures of the pancreatic duct and of the biliary tract are described in the youngest member of a family with hereditary pancreatitis. The endoscopic changes are very similar to those usually observed in patients affected by chronic relapsing pancreatitis. Morphological changes were particularly marked in the body and tail of the pancreas. However, no abnormal changes were observed in the biliary tract.

Child↗

Serum prolactin response to acute and chronic cimetidine administration in man.

UNLABELLED: The effects of cimetidine administration on the serum prolactin (PRL) response has been studied in twenty healthy volunteers and 46 duodenal ulcer patients. Cimetidine acute administration in two different doses (200 or 400 mg i.v.) induced a similar conspicuous rise of PRL while CB154, a dopaminergic drug, inhibited said increase. No high PRL level was observed when the drug was administered per os in a single acute dose (800 mg), nor in the chronic short-term treatment (1 g/die/28 days) for duodenal ulcer. CONCLUSIONS: 1. Cimetidine has no antidopaminergic activity or this hypothetic action is very slight; 2. serum PRL increase after the drug is probably ascribable to the H2-receptor blocking, 3. this effect is observable only with the bolus i.v. of cimetidine, but not during or after acute and chronic oral administration.

Administration, Oral↗

[Behavior of adipose tissue cellularity in gross obesity].

Adipose tissue cellularity was studied in relation to the degree of obesity. It was found that mild obesity is essentially linked to a simple increase in adipocyte size, whereas gross obesity involves considerable hyperplasia of adipose tissue with at least twice the normal number of adipocytes. Prognostic and therapeutic conclusions are drawn from these personal data.

Adipose Tissue↗

Urinary kallikrein excretion and plasma renin activity in patients with essential hypertension and primary aldosteronism.

1. The 24 h urinary excretion of kallikrein has been studied in 40 normotensive control subjects and in 74 age-matched patients with essential hypertension under similar conditions. By use of the renin-sodium index, hypertensive patients were divided into two subgroup: low-renin hypertension and normal-renin hypertension patients. Urinary kallikrein determinations were also obtained from six hypertensive patients with primary aldosteronism. 2. Urinary kallikrein was significantly lower both in patients with normal-renin and low-renin essential hypertension. Urinary kallikrein excretion was very high in the patients with primary aldosteronism. 3. In nine hypertensive patients beta-adreno-receptor-blocking therapy caused a significant decrease of plasma renin activity, but had no significant effect on urinary kallikrein excretion. 4. The results support the concept that low urinary kallikrein is likely to be a marker of essential hypertension. Under certain conditions its excretion is positively related to mineralocorticoid hormone concentrations but it is not primarily related to the renin-angiotensin system.

Adult↗

Failure of somatostatin to diagnose organic hyperinsulinism.

In four patients with organic hyperinsulinism (two with surgically proven beta-cell adenomas of the body of the pancreas) a standard tolbutamide test during continuous somatostatin infusion (5 microgram/min) was carried out. Tolbutamide induced insulin release was completely inhibited by somatostatin as in normal subjects. These results suggest that the inhibition test with somatostatin does not seem to be a better or safer way of diagnosing insulin producing tumours.

Adult↗

Discriminant analysis in the differential diagnosis of hypercalcaemia.

Linear discriminant analysis, a multivariate statistical procedure, applied to serum calcium, phosphate, alkaline phosphatase, bicarbonate, chloride, creatinine and tubular reabsorption of phosphate, proved to be effective in distinguishing patients with Primary Hyperparathyroidism from other hypercalcaemic patients in eithy-four retrospective cases. The application of the model to thirty-four prospective cases enabled us to separate correctly, hyperparathyroid patients from non-parathyroid hypercalcaemic patients.

Diagnosis, Differential↗

The role of caerulein in tests of exocrine pancreatic function.

Secretin (1 CU/Kg) plus Caerulein (100 ng/Kg) or Cholecystokinin (1 or 2 IvyU/Kg) were given by rapid intravenous injection (Schedule 1) or by continuous infusion (Schedule 2) to 63 control subjects (C) and 69 patients affected by chronic pancreatitis (CP). Duodenal juice was collected for two and four 30-minute periods in schedule 1 and schedule 2, respectively. Volume, bicarbonate, and enzyme content were measured. Secretin-Daerulein, by rapid intravenous injection, showed a strong overlapping between C and CP values and led to some side-effects. Secretin-Caerulein by continuous intravenous infusion gave almost identical results as the Secretin-Cholecystokinin.

Adolescent↗

Effect of histamine-H2-receptor antagonists on the exocrine pancreatic secretion.

Pancreatic exocrine secretion has been studied in 10 patients with documented duodenal ulcer before and after 4 weeks of cimetidine treatment (1 g/die). This chronic 'short term' cimetidine administration did not result in any substantial modification of exo-pancreatic response stimulated by Secretin and Caerulein. From this point of view the drug could be employed in the treatment of pancreatic insufficiency in order to obtain a better utilization of pancreatic enzyme supplement. It is, however, questionable if such a 'long-term' therapy may be responsible for the appearance or the relapse of a peptic ulcer.

Adult↗

Serum fasting gastrin levels after short-term treatment with cimetidine in patients with duodenal ulcer.

The behaviour of serum gastrin fasting levels was studied in 39 randomized patients with proven duodenal ulcer, 21 receiving cimetidine (1 g/day) and 18 placebo for 28 days. No significant variations of gastrin fasting values were found, but in four patients given cimetidine a relevant increase was observed at the end of the treatment. One out of 6 patients, previously treated with placebo, showed a marked increase of fasting gastrin levels after a second trial of cimetidine. No increase of G-17 was observed in the patients showing fasting hypergastrinemia after cimetidine. The present study seems to confirm some previous observations and it seems to suggest the possibility that in some patients cimetidine could induce hypergastrinemia.

Cimetidine↗

Chronic pancreatitis in north-east Italy: a clinical and pathological study.

The clinical and pathological features of 132 patients of North-Eastern Italy with proven chronic pancreatitis (presence of radiological pancreatic calcification and/or surgical and histological data) have been studied. The disease appeared to be associated with chronic and regular alcoholic habits in most cases. Histo-pathological examinations showed calcifying pancreatitis also in patients without radiological pancreatic calcification. Chronic pancreatitis in North-Eastern Italy seems to be similar to that described in France, except for a high frequency of associated gallstones.

Adult↗

Glucose tolerance in jejunoileal bypass for morbid obesity: a fifteen month follow-up.

Twelve patients with body weight varying from 106 to 163 Kg, underwent jejunoileal bypass operations; their oral glucose tolerance tests (oGTT) were evaluated before the operation and one, five, and fifteen months afterwards. The lowering of the glycemic curve and the decrease of the insulinemia values during oGTT have been studied in relation to intestinal absorption deficit and weight loss. It is concluded that weight loss was the main factor determining the improvement of glucose metabolism.

Adult↗

Urinary kallikrein excretion in Bartter's syndrome.

Urinary excretion of kallikrein has been studied in a patient with hypokalemic alkalosis, hyperplasia of the renal juxtaglomerular apparatus and hyperreninemia, secondary aldosteronism and resistance to the pressor effect of angiotensin II (Bartter's syndrome). Urinary kallikrein was found exceedingly high in several determination, whereas it was low in patients with essential hypertension and high in patients with primary aldosteronism. Urinary kallikrein decreased after spironolactone therapy. The rise of kallikrein excretion (which is not related to plasma renin) in this case is probably caused by a direct action of the chronic excess of plasma aldosterone; it could not be accounted for as secondary to natriuresis.

Adult↗

[Serum calcium evaluation and incidence of primary hyperparathyroidism in hospitalized patients (author's transl)].

Automated laboratory procedures have made possible to "screen" a large population for specific biochemical abnormalities. Primitive hyperparathyroidism is for several respects an excellent disease model for testing "mass screening". Il is often asymptomatic, not uncommon, and is manifested by abnormalities in the levels of serum calcium and inorganic phosphorus, that can be detected cheaply with automated equipment. A computer program has been developed to screen patients with hypercalcaemia. During a period of 18 months 22720 hospitalized patients were investigated by the evaluation of serum calcium, and 80 hypercalcaemic patients were found. The diagnosis of primary hyperparathyroidism was established in 24 patients (in 19 histologically confirmed) so that the incidence of primary hyperparathyroidism (1,05%) compares favorably with that reported from some foreign Authors.

Adult↗