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Biomedical subjects

L Cavallo

Publications and source records attributed to L Cavallo.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1988

Insulin dependent diabetes in thalassaemia.

Diabetes mellitus was observed in 29 of 448 patients with thalassaemia major attending seven Italian centres. Twelve patients, at onset of clinical diabetes, presented with an asymptomatic glycosuria, 13 with ketosis, and four with ketoacidosis. All were diagnosed after 1979, at a mean age of 17 years. Mean age at diagnosis of diabetes was lower in patients born in the last two decades. In these patients transfusions were started at a younger age and pre-transfusion haemoglobin concentration, serum ferritin concentration, incidence of liver disease, and the presence of a family history of diabetes were higher than in patients born previously. Although 27 (93%) cases had iron chelating treatment the mean serum ferritin concentration was 5600 micrograms/l; 25 (92%) of these patients had signs of liver impairment. The determination of C peptide in 10 patients showed a wide variation in pancreatic beta cell function, and insulin requirements ranged between 0.15 and 1.72 U/kg body weight. Metabolic control was generally poor. The onset of diabetes mellitus was followed in most patients by the appearance of other endocrine or cardiac complications, or both. Fourteen patients died within three years of presenting with overt diabetes. Haemosiderosis, liver infections, and genetic factors seemed to be crucial in diabetes development. Thalassaemic patients developing clinical diabetes mellitus are at high risk for other complications and should be strictly monitored, especially for thyroid impairment.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1987

Growth hormone-releasing hormone. Studies in cord blood from term human newborns.

Plasma growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) was measured by radioimmunoassay in the cord blood from 32 healthy human newborns after 38-41 weeks of gestation. All were born by uncomplicated vaginal delivery. The GHRH levels in cord blood were 78.33 +/- 8.35 pg/ml at 40 weeks of gestation, approximately threefold higher than the levels at 38 weeks of gestation (27.00 +/- 2.55 pg/ml). No significant differences were found between girls and boys. The rise of plasma GHRH levels in cord blood of the full-term newborns between 38 and 40 weeks of gestation suggests a role of this peptide in the neonatal growth regulation.

Female↗
PubMed1987

Neonatal diabetes mellitus: evaluation of pancreatic beta-cell function in two cases.

Two cases of neonatal diabetes mellitus, a transient form and a permanent form, are described. Comparing their clinical presentations and courses, we exclude the possibility of an early differential diagnosis based on clinical or laboratory data. We hypothesize that only repeated dynamic evaluations of pancreatic beta-cell function could be useful to differentiate the two forms.

Blood Glucose↗
PubMed1986

Congenital cataract and evolutive myopia. Relationship with hypophyseal-adrenal cortical axis function.

To see whether or not reduced light input in children with congenital cataract produces degenerative myopia and whether it is associated with an impairment of the hypophyseal-adrenal cortical axis, the authors studied biometric values and circadian rhythm and cortisol reserve in nine children with monolateral and ten children with bilateral cataract. 38.75% of patients had: refractions less than 10D, increased antero-posterior diameter of the eyeball, varying degrees of myopic chorioretinitis, showing that the lack of light input induces degenerative myopia only in a group of patients who are probably genetically predisposed. The negative correlation between cortisol reserve and ocular lesions seems to reveal a precocious negative effect of the lack of light input on the development of the hypothalamic-hypophyseal-adrenal cortical axis. The alteration of the circadian cortisol rhythm and the reduction of the cortisol reserve found exclusively in children with monolateral cataract must be studied further to be explained. The slight increase in plasma cortisol levels earlier described in adults with acquired degenerative myopia was not found in children with congenital cataract. This difference could be due to: special endocrine characteristics in children with congenital cataract, endocrine differences between childhood and adulthood, differing influences of hormonal factors on myopia, or vice versa, in childhood and adulthood.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

Effects of chronic anticonvulsant monotherapy on endocrine system in prepubertal children with convulsive disorders. Preliminary data.

Effects of phenobarbital (PB), carbamazepine (CBZ) and sodium valproate (VPA) monotherapy on endocrine functions were investigated in 7 clinically prepubertal children aged 5-10 8/12 years. The following meaning results were observed: normal PRL release, low basal T4 levels in PB-, CBZ-treated children and normal T4 basal level in the VPA-treated child; normal T3, rT3, TBG and TSH basal values and normal TSH release in all treated children, normal FSH release in PB-, CBZ- and VPA-treated females, high LH levels before and after LHRH injection in CBZ- and PB-treated females; normal levels in the VPA-treated one, normal basal FSH levels and increased releases in PB- and CBZ-treated males, high LH levels before and after LHRH injection in PB- and CBZ-treated males, normal basal and peak levels of GH.

Anticonvulsants↗
PubMed1985

Effects of anticonvulsant monotherapy in pregnancy on the newborn endocrine system. Preliminary data.

Pituitary-thyroid axis function and gonadotropin secretion were evaluated by a combined TRH and LHRH test in 4 newborn female infants appropriate for gestational age of mothers treated by AEDs throughout pregnancy. We found: high basal FSH levels with normal FSH reserve, normal LH-HCG levels both before and after LHRH stimulation, normal TSH and T4 levels both before and after TRH stimulation, high T3 basal values with a normal increase after TRH and low rT3 basal values. It is suggested an AED increased T4 deiodination towards T3 in the newborn liver without a marked impairment of the endocrine functions of the fetus.

Anticonvulsants↗
PubMed1984

Endocrine involvement in children with beta-thalassaemia major. Transverse and longitudinal studies. I. Pituitary-thyroidal axis function and its correlation with serum ferritin levels.

Thyroid function was investigated by a TRH test in 24 clinically prepubertal children, 3-15 years old with beta-thalassaemia major; in 7 of them the test was repeated once and in 2 twice at intervals of at least 12 months. Basal T4, T3, TBG and TSH levels and the TSH levels during a TRH test were determined and correlated with age and serum ferritin levels. Basal serum T4, T3 and TBG levels were lower and serum TSH levels were higher during the test and in the basal state in thalassaemia major children than in control children. These results show a compensated sub-clinical primary hypothyroidism. The transversal study did not show any significant correlation between the hormonal parameters studied and chronological age or serum ferritin levels. In contrast, the longitudinal study showed a significant correlation between pituitary-thyroidal axis function and siderosis (positive correlations between the variations of TSH levels as delta, peak, 30 and 45 min values and the variations of serum ferritin levels). The thyroid impairment seems not to be correlated with serum ferritin levels in the transversal study because of the presence of an individual different sensitivity of the gland to the iron overload. The ferritin dependence of this impairment is shown only by longitudinal studies where individual differences in sensitivity of the gland are absent.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adolescent↗
PubMed1981

Endocrine function in four anencephalic infants.

Endocrine studies of 4 anencephalic infants were carried out. No hypothalamic or hypophyseal structures could be found in any of them macroscopically, but we cannot say that there were no functioning pituitary cells which might have been seen microscopically. A combined LH-RH and TRH test was performed in the 6th h of life, followed by an intravenous glucose tolerance test 1 h later. Our data suggest that: (1) adenohypophyseal tissue, present in anencephaly even in the absence of a hypothalamus, is able to synthesize PRL and TSH autonomously and, under specific stimulation, PRL, TSH, and ACTH can be released while FSH and LH-HCG are not, hGH secretion is doubtful; (2) the circulating hGH and TSH surges that normally occur after delivery are hypothalamus-dependent and do not occur in anencephalics; (3) the thyroid and adrenals are able to synthesize hormones when specifically stimulated, even in the absence of the hypothalamus, and (4) beta-pancreatic function is not markedly impaired in anencephaly.

Anencephaly↗
PubMed1981

Delayed decrease in serum ferritin in polytransfused children with thalassemia major after continuous subcutaneous infusions of desferrioxamine.

A longitudinal study has been conducted on serum ferritin concentrations in children with thalassemia major treated with desferrioxamine (DFO), both intramuscularly and by continuous subcutaneous infusion, in order to evaluate the time interval after which iron chelation becomes effective. In a first group of 19 children, treated intramuscularly with DFO at a dose of 20 mg/kg for 20 days a month, ferritin levels were followed for 739 days and a progressive increase with a significant linear correlation with time was seen. The daily increase was calculated to be 8.53 +/- 1.95 ng/ml. In the second group of 12 children treated with DFO by continuous subcutaneous infusion (greater than or equal to 20 mg/kg/day for 6 days a week), the increase in ferritin was markedly lower, the mean daily value being 4.77 +/- 3.30 ng/ml. Only after the first 360 days of treatment did the serum ferritin decrease, by 1.95 +/- 3.32 ng/ml/day, in spite of a mean daily iron contribution from blood transfusions of 7.09 +/- 2.69 mg/day. These changes in serum ferritin led us to conclude that one can only expect to obtain a decrease in the body's iron overload after more than a year of treatment with subcutaneous DFO.

Blood Transfusion↗
PubMed1980

Serum levels of thyrotropin, thyroxine, 3,3',5-triiodothyronine and 3,3',5'-triiodothyronine (reverse T3) in the first six days of life.

Serum concentrations of thyrotropin (TSH), thyroxine (T4), 3,3',5-triiodothyronine (T3), and 3,3',5'-triiodothyronine (rT3) were determined in blood samples from 140 full-term healthy newborns, 110 appropriate weight and 30 large-for-gestational age, aged 1 to 6 days, delivered vaginally and breast-fed. Serum TSH levels decreased progressively from the 1st to the 4th day; serum T4 levels increased, with a peak on the 2nd day, and then progressively decreased until the 6th day; serum T3 levels increased to a maximum value on the 2nd day and then decreased to a minimum on the 5th day; serum rT3 levels increased during the 1st day and the level remained constant from the 2nd to the 4th day and later decreased slightly. The decrease of T3 was more pronounced than that of T4, while rT3 remained at high levels until the 4th day. Dividing the data into narrower intervals of time, it was possible to show that the maximum value of TSH was followed first by a net increase in serum T3, then in T4, and lastly in rT3 ant T3 levels. These data indicate that the rapid increase after birth of serum T3 levels is prevalently TSH-dependent; the following increase in serum levels of T3 and the increase in rT3 are prevalently T4-dependent. This study provides data concerning physiological changes in TSH and thyroid hormones in serum from a large number of infants, during the first week of life. They should be useful for the understanding of thyroid function in early postnatal life.

Age Factors↗