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Biomedical subjects

L Vicentini

Publications and source records attributed to L Vicentini.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1999

Exhaled nitric oxide and sputum eosinophil markers of inflammation in asthmatic children.

Exhaled nitric oxide and eosinophil sputum markers are considered noninvasive ways in which to evaluate airway inflammation in asthma. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationships between these methods of evaluation in asthmatic children. In a cross-sectional study of 25 mild-moderate asthmatic children (aged 6-13 yrs, 10 patients on inhaled steroids) exhaled NO was measured along with induced sputum by inhalation of hypertonic saline solution. The sputum was processed for eosinophil count and eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) determination. Serum ECP and lung function (forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1)) were also measured. A significant correlation was observed between exhaled NO and sputum eosinophils (r = 0.438, p = 0.032) as well as between sputum eosinophils and sputum ECP (r = 0.532, p<0.01). No correlation was observed among exhaled NO and serum ECP, sputum ECP, FEV1, respectively. Furthermore no correlation was observed between sputum eosinophil (%) and serum ECP and between sputum eosinophils and FEV1. There was no correlation among the investigated parameters in children treated with inhaled steroids. In conclusion, exhaled NO and sputum eosinophil counts are concordant in evaluating the degree of airway inflammation in patients with mild-to-moderate asthma. However, the association between these two noninvasive markers becomes less in steroid treated patients.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

Mite-antigen avoidance can reduce bronchial epithelial shedding in allergic asthmatic children.

BACKGROUND: Asthma is characterized by bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR), bronchial mucosa inflammation and airway epithelial damage. OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to evaluate the effect of mite avoidance on bronchial epithelial shedding in asthmatic children sensitized to Dermatophagoides. METHODS: The percentages of airway epithelial cells and eosinophil have been counted in samples obtained by hypertonic saline-induced sputum before and after a period of antigen avoidance in an Alpine environment (1756 m). The degree of bronchial hyperresponsiveness to methacholine was also evaluated. RESULTS: After avoidance the median (lower, Q1, and upper, Q3, quartile) percentage of epithelial cells in the sputum decreased significantly from 3.50 [0.50;6.98] to 0 [0;0.5] (P=0.012) and eosinophil percentage decreased from 1 [0;5.25] to 0 [0,1.5] (P<0.05). Median (Q1,Q3) PC20 increased significantly from 2.75 [1.53;7.5] to 3.25 [1.65;15.25] mg/ mL (P=0.038). After 3 weeks of re-exposure to mite the epithelial median (Q1,Q3) percentage raised to 3.90 [1.5;6] (P = 0.027), eosinophils to 1.5 [0;3.00] (NS) and PC20 was 5.25 [1.68;14.50] (NS). CONCLUSION: Exposure to house dust mite antigen can induce airway epithelial shedding even in subjects with low eosinophil airway infiltration, thus supporting the idea that epithelial damage in asthmatics sensitized to Dermatophagoides may be due to a proteolytic activity of the mite major antigens.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

Influence of environmental concentrations of NO on the exhaled NO test.

Measurement of levels of exhaled nitric oxide (NO) has been proposed as a noninvasive method for evaluating the degree of airway inflammation in asthmatic patients. Some concern in the interpretation of results of such measurement may arise from possible interference by high environmental concentrations of NO inhaled by these patients. The aim of this study was to verify whether environmental concentrations of NO in the range from 0 to 150 ppb can influence levels of exhaled NO. We tested two groups of subjects. The first group, consisting of 16 subjects, was tested when environmental levels of NO were from 0 to 3 ppb and from 20 to 60 ppb, and exhaled NO mean ppb (+/- SEM) levels were 9.81 +/- 1.43 and 9.78 +/- 1.47 (p = ns) (mean +/- SEM), respectively. The second group, consisting of 30 subjects, was tested at ambient NO concentrations of 0 to 3 ppm, 80 to 100 ppm, and 120 to 150 ppb, and for 18 of these subjects who underwent testing under all three conditions investigated, the mean levels of exhaled NO were 9.23 +/- 1.51, 7.78 +/- 1.19, and 9.33 +/- 1.55 ppb (p = ns), respectively. The results of this study suggest that significantly different ambient levels of NO have no effect on levels of exhaled NO.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

[Surgical treatment of Crohn's disease. Indication and management in 20 patients].

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixty-seven patients with Crohn's disease underwent surgery in our department in the period 1989-1996. In this paper we evaluated only the first 20 patients. Ten were female and 10 male. There was single localization in 13 patients and multiple in 7. Surgery was limited to the macroscopically involved intestinal segment. Reconstruction of the intestinal tract has been carried out with a double layer polyglycolic acid end-to-end manual anastomosis. RESULTS: We had no operative deaths and early morbidity. In the follow-up we observed 2 anastomotic recurrences respectively three and five years after the operation; none of them required surgical treatment. One patient of 20 had a colocutaneous fistula four months after operation because of the relapse of the disease at preanastomotic level. CONCLUSIONS: The results obtained in our limited experience allow us to affirm that, when elective surgery is possible, the most reliable surgical behaviour is a limited resection of the diseased segment. Quality of life improved after surgery in all patients.

English Abstract↗
PubMed1998

[Pancreatic duct antibodies and subclinical insufficiency of the exocrine pancreas in Sjögren's syndrome].

In previous studies we reported evidence of subclinical exocrine pancreatic insufficiency in primary or secondary Sjögren's syndrome (SSI, SSII) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). In present study we evaluated the occurrence of pancreatic duct antibodies (PDA), and their relationship to exocrine pancreatic function in 36 women. Of these patients, 12 were classified as SSI, 12 as SSII, and 12 as RA. Exocrine pancreatic function was evaluated using the Secretin-Caerulein test (S.Cae test). The indirect immunofluorescent technique was used to evaluate patient sera for PDA. S.Cae test results, compared to controls, showed a statistically significant decrease in duodenal juice volumes, bicarbonates and enzymes in 58.3% of SSI, in 58.3% of SSI and in 30% of RA, according to our previous trials. PDA were found in two patients, the former with SSI and the latter with SSII, both asymptomatic with regard to pancreatic diseases but with impaired exocrine pancreatic function as evaluated by S.Cae test. We discuss the possible causes of these results.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

The effect of cetirizine on the integrin-dependent respiratory burst of normodense eosinophils.

It has been proposed that cetirizine inhibits eosinophil migration and adherence. We evaluated the possible effect of cetirizine on integrin-induced eosinophil proinflammatory activation. Normodense eosinophils were triggered with monoclonal antibodies to integrins in the presence of different concentrations of certirizine. Proinflammatory activation was measured by evaluation of O2- production. Only at high concentrations (250 micrograms/ml) and in the first 15 min did certirizine significantly inhibit (p < 0.02) the eosinophil respiratory burst. No effect was shown for lower concentrations (50 and 100 micrograms/ml) or after 15 min. These data suggest that, only at very high concentrations, cetirizine may induce a transient inhibition of the integrin-induced eosinophil respiratory burst.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗
PubMed1994

Adverse food reactions in patients with grass pollen allergic respiratory disease.

The purpose of this study was to assess the frequency of reported food-induced symptoms, and of food allergy or intolerance in 169 allergic patients monosensitized to grass pollen and in a control group of 50 patients who were monosensitized to Dermatophagoides. This study clearly demonstrates that patients with grass pollen-allergic respiratory disease report adverse food reactions more frequently than patients allergic to Dermatophagoides. This increased incidence is due to a high percentage of adverse reactions to some vegetable foods, especially peanut, garlic, tomato, onion; and fruits, such as peach; and animal foods, such as egg (white) and pork. By separating the food-allergic patients from the food-intolerant patients, the number of subjects with food intolerance was higher than that of the patients with food allergy. Crossreactivity between pollen allergens and fruits and vegetable allergens may explain the association between pollen allergy and food allergy, but not the higher incidence of food intolerance. An increased intestinal permeability to macromolecules may be hypothesized as part of a primary defect in permeability in "atopic (pollen allergic?) constitution."

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

T-cell phenotypic profiles in the cerebrospinal fluid and peripheral blood of multiple sclerosis patients.

Thirty-nine patients with clinically definite multiple sclerosis (MS) entered the study. Of 28 subjects with a relapsing-remitting course, 19 were classified in acute relapse, 9 in remission; 11 patients had a progressive course without remissions. Furthermore, 6 subjects with inflammatory neurological disease (IND), and 10 with non-inflammatory and non-neoplastic neurological disease (NIND) were investigated. We simultaneously studied cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and peripheral blood (PB) T-, B- and NK-cell subsets, as defined by following monoclonal antibodies: anti-CD3, -CD4, -CD8, -CD19, -CD16, -HLA-DR and -IL-2-R. We found a significant increase of CD4+ T-cells compared with controls in CSF, with respect to PB, of MS patients, particularly in acute relapse. An increase of HLA-DR+ cell percentages in the CSF than in the PB in all MS groups, especially in attacks of MS but also in remission, was also observed, with a positive correlation between CD4+ T-cell and DR+ cell percentages both in the CSF as well as in the PB of relapsing MS patients. These findings, together with the increase of IL-2-R+ cells in the PB, particularly in relapsing MS, give further support for the presence of a systemic T-cell activation in MS.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Comparative evaluation of RAST and MAST-CLA for six allergens for the diagnosis of inhalant allergic disease in 232 patients.

The aim of this study was to compare a recent multiple allergosorbent chemiluminescent assay (MAST-CLA) with the RAST for the diagnosis of inhalant allergic disease in 232 patients with rhinitis and/or bronchial asthma. As judged by concordance of clinical history, skin prick tests to a range of six allergens common to our geographic area, and by nasal provocation tests, 70 patients were non-allergic and 162 allergic: 70 to grasses, 46 to mites, four to mugwort, eight to pellitory, and 34 were sensitive to several allergens. In our patient sample that, among other things, comprises subjects with fairly rare monoallergies, MAST-CLA testing gave results which closely corresponded to positive RAST for the allergens studied, and demonstrated a close correlation with the diagnosis of inhalant-specific allergy. Our results showed that, for overall allergens, MAST-CLA was lightly less sensitive and more specific than RAST (the two in vitro tests gave an identical overall efficiency).

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Does intravenous streptokinase therapy facilitate the formation of anti-heart antibodies in acute myocardial infarction?

Streptokinase (SK), a nonenzymatic protein produced by group C beta haemolytic streptococci, is a potent antigen. It is used worldwide as a thrombolytic agent in the treatment of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Specific antiheart antibodies (AHA) have been found with a significantly high incidence in patients with AMI, and after streptococcal infection as a result of stimulation by constituents of the group A streptococci antigenically cross-reactive with sarcolemmal portion of the muscle fiber of the heart. Since there may be partial antigenic identity of group C streptococcal membranes with membranes isolated from group A streptococci, we have designed a prospective study to evaluate the incidence of serum AHA (and of other organ-specific and non-organ-specific antibodies) in 36 patients with AMI, 14 of whom treated with SK. AHA, of IgG class, were of the sarcolemmal-subsarcolemmal type, and did not fix complement. They were found in 4/36 patients already on admission; of the 32 patients negative, none developed AHA later, on days 7, 15 and 21 of hospitalization, also after treatment with SK (in 14 cases). There was no significant difference either within or between the two SK-treated and non-SK-treated groups also with regard to the incidence of organ-specific and non-organ-specific autoantibodies. These findings do suggest that the intravenous SK therapy does not facilitate the formation of AHA in AMI.

Antibody Formation↗
PubMed1989

Correlation of MAST chemiluminescent assay (CLA) with RAST and skin prick tests for diagnosis of inhalant allergic disease.

The purpose of this study was to compare the new multiple allergosorbent chemiluminescent assay (MAST CLA) system with the RAST and skin prick tests as an adjunct to the diagnosis of inhalant allergies. In this report, MAST CLA and RAST have given similar results, but no technique is as sensitive as skin tests for allergen-specific diagnosis of inhalant allergic disease.

Adolescent↗