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Biomedical subjects

M Lenzi

Publications and source records attributed to M Lenzi.

119 records · Page 7Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Prostanoids in peritoneal fluid of infertile women with pelvic endometriosis and PID.

Peritoneal fluid collected at celioscopy in infertile subjects was assayed for steroids and several prostanoids (PGE2, PGF2, TXB2, LTB4) as part of a study into pathophysiology of the female reproductive tract. Prostaglandins, produced massively in the pelvis, might interfere with fertility through various mechanisms (alterations in the egg implantation, follicle genesis, luteinization as well as tubal disorders). Our study of 54 patients showed a marked increase only of TXB2 out of the prostanoids assayed in overall endometriosis. In pelvic flogosis peritoneal LTB4 (and TXB2) were considerably increased if related to controls. This would suggest their role in the ethiopathogenesis of unexplained infertility (in relation to these pathologic patterns).

Ascitic Fluid↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Clinical subsets of scleroderma: relevance of fluorescent and precipitating antinuclear antibodies.

Sera from 7 patients with localized and 35 with systemic scleroderma were studied for the presence of fluorescent antinuclear antibodies (FANA) (by indirect immunofluorescence on HEp-2 cells) and antibodies to extractable nuclear antigens (anti-ENA) (by immunodiffusion - ID - and counterimmunoelectrophoresis - CIE). In localized disease, antinuclear autoimmunity was limited to 1 FANA positive serum (14%); in systemic disease, the prevalence of FANA was 94% and that of anti-ENA ranged from 29% to 49% (by ID and CIE, respectively). The commonest ENA system, Scl-70, could be easily detected by CIE, in spite of the reported basic nature of the antigen. The anticentromere antibody occurred only in patients with acrosclerosis (7/26-27%), whereas the association of nucleolar + homogeneous FANA, as well as the anti-Scl-70, were found more frequently in diffuse scleroderma (9/9-100% and 6/9-67%, respectively). The presence of the anticentromere antibody excluded that of any anti-ENA, while a close association was found between nucleolar + homogeneous FANA and the anti-Scl-70. Pulmonary involvement was significantly more frequent in nucleolar + homogeneous FANA positive patients; moreover, in two cases the same pattern proved to predict the development of diffuse scleroderma.

Antibodies, Antinuclear↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Antibodies to cardiac conducting tissue in progressive systemic sclerosis.

Cardiac conducting tissue antibodies (CCTA) were detected, using indirect immunofluorescence, in 8 (25%) out of 32 sera from patients with progressive systemic sclerosis (PSS) and in 39 (35%) out of 110 with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Conduction abnormalities, namely right bundle branch block, were present in 19 (59%) of the PSS patients and in 37 (32%) of the RA cases. No significant correlation was found between the prevalence of CCTA and conduction abnormalities in PSS patients, while this was present in RA patients (p less than 0.001). CCTA were always negative in 18 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and were found in one out of 8 cases with Sjögren's syndrome, also positive for rheumatoid factor without clinical RA. These data suggest that CCTA are evoked when involvement of cardiac conducting tissue (as in RA) or working myocardium (as in PSS) is present. Whether CCTA should be mainly regarded as an expression of the immunological derangement underlying these pathological conditions or whether they are secondary to myocardial tissue damage, must still be clarified.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Nuclear magnetic resonance and its biological problems].

Among the main reasons for the interest aroused by the production of images by nuclear magnetic resonance, the successes obtained by TC and the possibility of avoiding the use of ionizing radiations in the new procedure are well worth mentioning. This possibility had induced operators to consider the possible effects of an examination with nuclear magnetic resonance "a priori" unimportant or only noticeable as regards a subjective symptomatology of scarce importance and, at most they advise a few general precautionary measures in the selection of patients. The separate study of the effects of individual forms of energy which act in nuclear magnetic resonance has, however, shown the utility of extending research of tests in wider physiopathological fields and deepening studies of molecular biology, even though results to date appear reassuring.

Electromagnetic Fields↗