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Biomedical subjects

M Elia

Publications and source records attributed to M Elia.

280 records · Page 16Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

[Gastrointestinal stromal tumors: our experience].

The authors report their experience on the treatment of GIST. They point out the importance of classification of the disease in low, medium and high risk neoplasms based on the characteristic of the tumour: site, volume and mytotic index as the Consensus Conference of Bethesda recently established. Surgical procedure remains the most important treatment in localized disease, while patients with advanced disease can benefit from imatinib, a chemotherapeutic agent recently introduced, as an adjuvant therapy.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Independent effects of protein and energy deficiency on acute-phase protein response in rats.

The effect of restricting either protein intake alone or all dietary constituents on the acute-phase protein response was assessed during a 3-wk period after a standardized "injury" (i.e., subcutaneous injection of turpentine 0.5 ml/kg body wt) to rats. Sequential measurements were made of the circulating concentrations of alpha 2-macroglobulin (alpha 2-M), albumin, and total protein. Results were compared with those obtained from normally fed rats that were also injected with turpentine and with saline-injected rats (controls) receiving each dietary regimen. Turpentine-treated rats showed a decrease in albumin concentration by approximately 10 g/L within 2-4 days. In the protein-deficient rats, recovery to preinjection levels had not occurred by 3 wk, but in the other groups, it was complete by 7-9 days. The protein-deficient animals also showed an attenuated response in alpha 2-M and total protein and delay in their recovery toward normal. Maximal alpha 2-M and total-protein responses in this group of animals was only 44 and 39%, respectively, of those found in the control group. We conclude that protein deficiency attenuates the magnitude and alters the time profile of the positive (alpha 2-M and total protein) and negative (albumin) acute-phase protein responses to injury, independent of the severity of the stimulus.

Acute-Phase Proteins↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Adult onset of subacute sclerosing panencephalitis: a case report.

A new case of subacute sclerosing panencephalitis with onset in adult life is reported. Clinical picture was characterized by a maculopathy, followed two years after by behavioural disturbances, psychomotor impairment, pyramidal signs and left-side myelonic jerks synchronously with the typical periodic R-complex in the EEG. CT-scan and MRI showed a wide demyelinative lesion in the right temporo-occipital area of the brain. Elevated antibody titers to measles virus in serum and CSF were present. Death occurred within 6 months while in coma. The neuropathologic findings confirmed the diagnosis of SSPE revealing widespread inflammatory lesions in the grey and white matter areas of demyelinization more evident in the right temporo-occipital regions and several Cowdry type A inclusions in glial cells and neurons.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The use of a constant infusion of [3H]phenylalanine to measure the effects of glutamine infusions on muscle protein synthesis in rats given turpentine.

Skeletal muscle protein fractional synthetic rate (MPFSR) was measured in rats with a constant infusion of [3H]phenylalanine to study the relationship between the rate of muscle protein synthesis in skeletal muscle and the intracellular glutamine concentration. The values for MPFSR (percentage per day) achieved in this study were in good agreement with those we have already reported with a flooding dose of [3H]phenylalanine to measure MPFSR. This was the case both for control rats and for those that had been injected with turpentine (constant infusion 12.82 +/- 0.43% in saline-injected rats, 6.58 +/- 0.34% in rats injected with turpentine; flooding dose 12.88 +/- 0.73% in saline-injected rats, 7.04 +/- 0.67% in rats injected with turpentine). Therefore, there was no evidence for a stimulating effect of a flooding dose of phenylalanine on MPFSR, an effect that could have invalidated the conclusions drawn in our previous investigation. In this study, turpentine reduced the MPFSR by a mean of 49% (p < 0.001). This reduction in MPFSR was associated with a 39% reduction in the mean intramuscular glutamine concentration (p < 0.001). This reduction in MPFSR was associated with a 39% reduction in the mean intramuscular glutamine concentration (p < 0.001). The reduction in intramuscular glutamine concentration was completely reversed by 5-h intravenous infusions of 0.22 M glutamine solutions, but there was no accompanying increase in the MPFSR. The results of this study therefore provide no evidence to support the proposal that an acute change in intramuscular glutamine concentration is a major factor in controlling the rate of protein synthesis in skeletal muscle.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Management of artificial nutrition in East Anglia: a community study.

In the Cambridge health district the growth of artificial nutritional support was prospectively assessed over a five-year period (1988-93). The aim of this study was to investigate the variation in the prevalence of enteral tube feeding (ETF) and parenteral nutrition (PN) in hospital and at home and to assess the organisation. There was a fourfold variability in the prevalence of artificial nutritional support in the eight districts. The prevalence of home artificial nutrition doubled between 1988 and 1993, whilst that in hospital increased to a smaller extent (31%). Overall standards of care are not keeping pace with the demand for artificial nutritional support. Only half the districts had nutrition teams, and only one had a specialist nutrition sister. Policies about ETF and PN in hospital and at home were judged to be variable in quality. About one in five patients (or carers) at home experienced problems related to organisation of nutrition support services. General practitioners were also frequently uncertain about their role in managing patients on artificial nutrition at home. Home ETF is a rapidly growing form of home care therapy in East Anglia; in 1992-93 it was quantitatively as important as ETF in hospital. Improvements in organisation are recommended.

Enteral Nutrition↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Spike morphology in PTZ-induced generalized and cobalt-induced partial experimental epilepsy.

Interictal epileptiform EEG activity was recorded in 10 rats with pentylenetetrazol-induced generalized seizures and in 10 rats with cobalt-induced partial epilepsy. Thirty spikes were averaged for each rat, and morphological parameters of the average waveform (such as amplitude, duration, and 1st derivative of the rising and falling spike deflections, and sharpness at peak) were measured. Pentylenetetrazol rats showed significantly higher and longer spikes than cobalt animals with a faster 1st derivative of both deflections; sharpness at peak was also higher in this group. The second spike deflection was higher and longer than the first in both groups of animals. The conclusion is that morphological spike parameters, when studied in groups of animals not treated with antiepileptic drugs, show significant differences between different experimental groups, probably reflecting a different cortical involvement and/or different epileptogenic mechanisms. The study of spike morphology can be extended to human epilepsy if etiopathogenetically homogeneous and untreated groups of patients are considered.

Action Potentials↗