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Biomedical subjects

L De Cecco

Publications and source records attributed to L De Cecco.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Endocrine, metabolic, and clinical effects of gestrinone in women with endometriosis.

The effect of oral gestrinone, 2.5 mg twice weekly for 6 months, was studied in 11 women with mild or moderate endometriosis laparoscopically confirmed. The mean laparoscopic score decreased from 17.18 to 9.09 (P greater than 0.005). Painful symptoms were relieved in all patients within 2 months from start of therapy. Gonadotropins, prolactin (PRL) 17 beta-estradiol (17 beta-E2), estrone (E1), progesterone (P), androstenedione (A), and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S) remained in the follicular phase range. Total testosterone (TT) and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) decreased, whereas free testosterone (FT) slightly increased. Metabolic studies showed a decrease of total triglycerides, very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) triglycerides, and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and VLDL cholesterol, parallel to the decrease of associated apoproteins. Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and apoprotein B increased during therapy. The results suggest that gestrinone possesses antiestrogenic, androgenic, and progestigenic effects at therapeutic dosages both by acting on central and peripheral steroid receptors. For its efficacy and good tolerance, gestrinone may be considered an option for treating endometriosis.

Adult↗

Suppression of puerperal lactation by terguride. A double-blind study.

Clinical efficacy, prolactin (PRL)-lowering effect and tolerance of terguride (an 8-alpha-ergoline derived from Lisuride which acts as a partial dopaminergic agonist) were investigated in a double-blind study on inhibition of puerperal lactation using three different daily doses of the drug (0.25, 0.5 and 1.0 mg). With 0.5 and 1.0 daily therapeutical regimens PRL levels were suppressed in a dose-dependent manner and lactation was prevented. Terguride was highly well tolerated.

Clinical Trials as Topic↗

Use of combined exogenous gonadotropins and pulsatile gonadotropin-releasing hormone in patients with polycystic ovarian disease: a new approach to induction of ovulation.

A combined regimen based on exogenous gonadotropins followed by pulsatile gonadotropin-releasing hormone was attempted in order to induce ovulation in a group of patients with polycystic ovarian disease. The women were selected on the basis of previous unsuccessful treatment with clomiphene citrate, gonadotropin and pulsatile gonadotropin-releasing hormone used separately. At our first attempt at application of this new approach, in all patients follicular growth was recorded and ovulation was induced with exogenous chorionic gonadotropin, without hyperstimulation. Two clinical pregnancies were established. Retrospective hormonal evaluation showed the presence of two premature luteinizations. Pulsatile gonadotropin-releasing hormone administration following follicular recruitment with exogenous gonadotropin may therefore be considered an effective therapy for polycystic ovarian patients resistant to conventional treatment.

Adult↗

Fenticonazole tissue levels after the application of 3 different dosage forms of vaginal ovules.

Fenticonazole vaginal ovules of 200 mg, 600 mg and 1,000 mg were administered to 42 women prior to gynecological surgery. Tissue concentrations in the vaginal mucosa were determined after 3 h and 12 h in biopsy specimens taken from the same position in the posterior fornix. Tissue concentrations were higher at 3 h in comparison to 12 h with all 3 doses. There was no statistical difference between the concentrations yielded by the 3 different ovules at 3 h, while after 12 h the concentrations were dose-dependent and significantly higher after 1,000 mg in comparison to 200 mg, but not to 600 mg.

Administration, Intravaginal↗

Urinary tract infections in pregnancy: Monuril single-dose treatment versus traditional therapy.

Today, it is widely accepted that a short-course or single-dose treatment with antimicrobial agents in pregnancy is the optimal therapy to minimize the risk of toxicity both for the mother and the fetus. A randomized trial comparing single-dose (3 g) treatment with fosfomycin trometamol (FT) versus pipemidic acid (200-gram doses b.i.d. for 7 days) in bacteriuric pregnant women is presented. The preliminary results show that single-dose FT has the same cure effect as conventional therapy with pipemidic acid.

Bacteriuria↗

Effects of three low-dose oral contraceptive formulations on lipid metabolism.

Three oral contraceptive preparations were studied in 60 healthy women. This randomized, comparative, baseline controlled study was designed to investigate the effects of the preparations on plasma lipids and lipoproteins. The following formulations were studied: a monophasic preparation containing ethinylestradiol and desogestrel (M-DSG) and two triphasic formulations containing ethinylestradiol and gestodene or levonorgestrel respectively (T-GSD and T-LNG). These preparations were studied for six treatment cycles. Total cholesterol and apoprotein B did not change in any group. Low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol was significantly decreased in the groups of women treated with M-DSG and T-GSD respectively. No changes were observed in the T-LNG group. With M-DSG, significant increases were observed in high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and HDL3 cholesterol, whilst HDL2 cholesterol did not change. With both T-GSD and T-LNG, no changes were observed in HDL cholesterol, whilst a significant increase in HDL3 cholesterol together with a trend to decrease in HDL2 cholesterol were observed. Apolipoprotein AI increased with the following ranking M-DSG greater than T-GSD greater than T-LNG. The LDL/HDL cholesterol ratio significantly decreased with both M-DSG and T-GSD. In the T-LNG group there was no change in this ratio. Triglycerides increased to the same extent in all treatment groups. As far as concerns the risk of arterial diseases, these three oral contraceptive formulations mostly induced negligible and/or partly favorable changes in plasma lipids and lipoproteins; however, the lipoprotein pattern during M-DSG treatment resulted better than during T-GSD, and the latter turned out to be better than during T-LNG.

Adolescent↗

Circatrigintan rectal temperature and endocrine rhythms of clinically healthy, menstrually cycling women.

Rectal temperatures were measured automatically every 10 min for part or most of two menstrual cycles in ten clinically healthy young women, 20-30 years of age, with a wearable instrument, the Polychronor. Occasional malfunction of the instrumentation resulted in corresponding gaps in the series. Data were examined by chronograms, plexograms, and chronobiologic serial sections computed with the fit of a 24-hr period, population-mean cosinor, and linear-nonlinear least-squares analyses. Single cosinor-derived circadian parameters were next fitted with a cosine curve of a period equal to the number of days of the corresponding intermenstruum. Second-order infradian inferential statistics were calculated next; the first day of menstruation was used as acrophase reference. A population-mean cosinor at the intermenstrual period yields a temperature acrophase of -279 degrees, with the 95% confidence interval extending from -254 degrees to -312 degrees. Since the intermenstruum differs in different subjects and/or in different menstrual cycles of a given woman, this acrophase corresponds to different time intervals from the first day of menstruation in different cases. This acrophase thus indicates the relative timing within the menstrual cycle of overall high rectal temperatures. On four subjects in four stages of their menstrual cycle, plasma was also obtained at 2-hr intervals around the clock. Ten hormones were determined. The sparse endocrine sampling along the menstrual cycle notwithstanding, a circatrigintan rhythm in all hormones investigated was demonstrated for a woman 26 years of age. At the period corresponding to the intermenstrual interval, the acrophases for T3, cortisol, FSH, testosterone, DHEA-S, T4, and LH occurred before the circatrigintan rectal temperature acrophase, whereas the acrophases for prolactin, estradiol, and progesterone occurred near or shortly after the rectal temperature acrophase. Whereas earlier circatrigintan mapping of adult women had been summarized on a group basis, this study allows individualized circatrigintan rhythm assessment. Circatrigintan, like circadian and circannual, acrophase and amplitude relations do not necessarily imply causal relations, yet they are an indispensable quantitative reference standard for the study of basic mechanisms and for diagnosis and intervention, including endeavors in planned parenthood that might take into account the organism's dynamics with multiple frequencies.

Adult↗

Effect of terguride on prolactin levels in normal, puerperal and hyperprolactinaemic women.

Terguride, is an 8 - alpha - ergoline derived from lisuride, acts as a partial dopamine (DA) agonist. The effect and tolerance of terguride has been investigated by an acute administration of 0.2 mg p.o. to 8 normal women, 8 patients with hyperprolactinaemia and 8 women with puerperal hyperprolactinaemia. Prolactin (PRL) levels were markedly suppressed in all subjects, with no significant differences between the groups. Treatment for 5 days with terguride 0.4 mg/day or 0.8 mg/day was studied as an inhibitor of lactation. PRL levels were suppressed in a dose-related manner. No untoward side-effects were noted.

Adult↗

[Effect of veralipride on LH, FSH, and PRL levels and on the climacteric syndrome].

21 women with menopausal disorders were given veralipride, which is a benzamide derivative having a central anti-dopaminergic action. The LH, FSH and PRL plasma levels were controlled before and after treatment. Treatment, using veralipride at a daily dose of 100 mg for 20 days, improved the climacteric syndrome, and, in particular, the sudden hot flushes. The FSH plasma levels remained unchanged, the LH levels were reduced, although they remained high, and the PRL levels increased during the course of the treatment.

Adult↗

The use of sulprostone to induce abortion in the second trimester.

We have used a derivative of PGE2, sulprostone, to induce abortion in the second trimester of pregnancy in 26 women. 500 micrograms of sulprostone were administered i.m. every four or six hours and clinical rating of the efficiency of the treatment was done using a scale ranging from 20 to 100. FSH, prolactin, 17-beta-estradiol, progesterone, hPL and beta-hCG plasma levels were monitored during treatment. The drug was effective in 20 cases (79.9%) while in three cases additional administration of oxytocin was necessary and in three cases no effect was seen. Treatment was interrupted, due to the appearance of unpleasant side effects, in only one case. No specific variation in hormone levels was seen. In three cases in which only two doses of the drug were sufficient to induce abortion, hormone levels dropped more rapidly and to a greater extent than in the remaining cases. A correlation exist between the rate of decrease in progesterone and 17-beta-estradiol plasma levels and the time required for the treatment to induce abortion.

Abortion, Induced↗

Effectiveness of norethisterone enantate in the treatment of the climacteic syndrome.

The Authors have studied the effects of Norethisterone enantate given i.m. every one or two months to 75 patients complaining of climacteric syndrome either spontaneous or induced surgically. An overall evaluation of the effectiveness of the treatment allowed the conclusion that with both timing of administration it is possible to obtain in the majority of patients (80%) a very good control of the climacteric symptoms with negligible side effects. A more careful clinical and laboratory evaluation has shown a fast regression of the symptoms already after one month of drug administration. Therefore norethisterone enantate may be considered an effective therapeutic alternative to estrogens and androgens in the management of the climacteric syndrome.

Adult↗

Effects of lisuride and bromocriptine on inhibition of lactation and on serum prolactin levels: comparative double-blind study.

The effects of lisuride (Schering) and bromocriptine (Parlodel, Sandoz), two dopaminergic drugs, on the inhibition of puerperal lactation were compared in a double-blind study. At the dosages selected, lisuride was as effective as bromocriptine for the inhibition of lactation but bromocriptine was more effective in lowering serum prolactin levels.

Bromocriptine↗

Effect of lisuride on inhibition of lactation and serum prolactin.

Lisuride, a new semisynthetic ergot derivative, was given to 53 women to inhibit lactation; 26 women had 300 micrograms daily and 27 had 600 micrograms daily for seven days. Eight lactating women acted as controls. Lisuride effectively inhibited lactation and also suppressed the serum prolactin levels; the latter effect was dose related. Lisuride produced no untoward side effects.

Chemical Phenomena↗

Trazodone intravenously administered and plasma prolactin levels.

Plasma prolactin levels during intravenous Trazodone infusion have been evaluated. Although the modifications were not statistically significant, a slight decrease of plasma prolactin levels was noted. This result suggests that Trazodone has no remarkable effect on hypothalamic function.

Adult↗

Estradiol and estetrol plasma levels before and after intravenous administration of dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate in normal and pathologic pregnancies.

Intravenous injections of 50 mg dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) were given to 7 women with normal pregnancies and 5 with pathologic pregnancies and the serum levels of 17 beta-estradiol and estetrol were assayed before and at 15 or 30-minute intervals for three hours after the injection. All tests were carried out during the 25th to 36th week of amenorrhea. Serum estradiol rose rapidly in normal subjects and remained high to the end of the test. In patients with gestational pathology the estradiol pattern was not significantly different from that of the controls. Esterol plasma levels showed a biphasic pattern with an initial rise at 30 min. and a second rise at 90 min. in normal pregnancies, whereas in pathologic pregnancies this response was either lacking completely or was markedly reduced compared to the controls.

Dehydroepiandrosterone↗