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Biomedical subjects

M Moretti

Publications and source records attributed to M Moretti.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1989

Low bedtime doses of H2-receptor antagonists for acute treatment of duodenal ulcer.

Twenty-four-hour intragastric acidity was measured continuously over five separate occasions in 15 patients with healed duodenal ulcers. They were randomized to receive either placebo, cimetidine 800 mg, ranitidine 150 mg, famotidine 20 mg, or nizatidine 150 mg, given at 2200 hr in double-blind fashion. All H2-receptor blockers were more effective than placebo in suppressing both circadian (P less than 0.05-P less than 0.01) and nocturnal (P less than 0.002) gastric acidity, while there was no significant differences between the effects of the four active drugs in the same time periods. The percentage of nocturnal acid inhibition (2300-0800 hr) over placebo in terms of H+ values was virtually 100% with all active treatments. The effect on daytime (0800-1700 hr) and evening (1700-2300 hr) acidity of both placebo and the four H2-receptor antagonists was similar. Therefore, in the above doses H2-receptor blockers guarantee overnight anacidity to a similar degree and cause the physiological buffering of daily meals on gastric acidity to be fully exploited. Furthermore, the reducing effect of daily meals on drug action can be prevented. Since strong acid suppression strictly confined to the nocturnal period has been shown to be closely correlated with the highest ulcer healing rates, it is suggested that single low bedtime doses of H2-receptor antagonist should be evaluated in the acute treatment of duodenal ulcer.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Conjugate lateral eye movements: a second look.

It has been suggested that conjugate lateral eye movements (CLEM) are related to cerebral lateralization. Two types of research have developed: studies examining individual differences (hemisphericity) and studies examining the type of questions used to elicit eye movements (hemispheric specialization). In a 1978 review, Ehrlichman and Weinberger questioned the notion that CLEM is related to cerebral lateralization, particularly with regard to individual differences. However, since their review, a substantial number of studies have been published which are pertinent to the validity of CLEM. The following paper reviewed the validity of CLEM through three avenues, neurophysiological evidence, relationships with other measures of laterality and relation to spatial and verbal stimuli. Overall, it was concluded that there is sufficient evidence to support the CLEM model. Converging evidence from studies on EEG, electrical stimulation, ablation, brain damage, sodium amytal testing, blood flow, positron emission tomography, dichotic listening, and visual half fields was found to be, for the most part, supportive. The results for verbal and spatial task performance were mixed. Studies examining verbal abilities or a verbal to spatial comparison were generally supportive. The findings for spatial abilities alone were more equivocal. Evidence on question-type was found to be weak but positive, with about half the studies showing the predicted asymmetry and the other half reporting nonsignificant results. The implications of an interaction between hemisphericity or characteristic arousal and hemispheric specialization were also discussed.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Gastric aspiration versus antimony and glass pH electrodes. A simultaneous comparative in vivo study.

To carry out a simultaneous comparison of the 24-h in vivo performance of antimony and glass electrodes and the findings of intermittent gastric aspiration, a triple-probe system with closely adjacent tips was positioned in the gastric corpus of 10 subjects representing different clinical and pharmacologic conditions. We showed that pH values measured with the antimony and the glass units were well correlated to those assessed in gastric aspirates (rs = 0.87; b = 1.079; a = -0.33; and rs = 0.85; b = 1.121; a = -0.38, respectively). A proportional correlation (rs = 0.86; b = 0.97; a = 0.02) was also found between the two intraluminal pH measurements. With regard to the error frequency distributions obtained by comparing the three measuring systems two at a time, the pH pairs differed by no more than 1 pH unit in most cases (greater than 90%). It can be concluded that antimony and glass pH electrodes can be used interchangeably in 24-h intragastric acidity studies in man.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Clinical relevance of sampling rate in the characterization and analysis of 24-hour gastric acidity. A report on 413 cases.

Four hundred and thirteen continuous, high-frequency-sampled gastric pH-metries were subdivided into six groups (normal subjects and patients with duodenal ulcer, gastric ulcer, chronic gastritis, prior cholecystectomy, or antisecretory treatment). The frequency distribution of those pH fluctuations that were greater than the quantitation error of instruments did not differ significantly (p greater than 0.30) between groups. Five per cent of these real pH fluctuations lasted less than 3 min. As the sampling rate increased from 1 to 60 min, the percentage of subjects whose 24-h median of pHs differed by no more than +/- 10% from that calculated on the raw high-frequency-acquired data progressively decreased (99.8%-42%). This error propagation was more marked in the case of [H+] integrals (99%-10%). A sampling rate equal to or faster than 1 min is necessary to provide a proper representation of the circadian pH pattern and to calculate accurate acidity indexes, regardless of the physiologic or pharmacologic nature of the profile.

Cholecystectomy↗
PubMed1988

Epidemiological and genetic study of 200 cases of oral cleft in the Emilia Romagna region of northern Italy.

Epidemiological and genetic variables in clefts were analyzed during the years 1978-1986 in a case-control study of congenital malformations in the Emilia Romagna region of northern Italy. Among 150,168 newborns, 200 cases of cleft were detected, yielding a prevalence of 1.33 per 1,000. These clefts consisted of 112 (0.075%) cases of cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CL +/- P) and 88 cases (0.058%) of cleft palate (CP). Coexisting abnormalities were found in 32% of cases. The heritability coefficient of CL +/- P was 0.84. No cluster in time or space could be demonstrated. Epilepsy was the only maternal risk factor found to be correlated with clefts. A predominance of males was found among CL +/- P cases.

Cleft Lip↗
PubMed1988

Cell-specific localization of the alpha-subunit of calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II in Purkinje cells in rodent cerebellum.

Brain calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase type II, a multimeric 600-650 kDa enzyme composed of alpha- (50 kDa) and beta/beta' (60 and 58 kDa) subunits, may be formed by alpha- and beta-subunits combining in variable proportions in different types of neurons. This study presents evidence, using cerebella from mutant mice, that the alpha-subunit displays a restricted localization in the rodent cerebellum, being detectable only in Purkinje cells. Immunocytochemical analysis of normal rat cerebellum with an antibody selective for the alpha-subunit confirmed that this subunit was detectable only in Purkinje cells. In contrast, the beta/beta'-subunits appeared to be present in all types of cerebellar mutants examined. These results indicate that different cells of the cerebellum express distinct isozymic forms of the multifunctional calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase type II. It appears that Purkinje cells primarily contain an isoenzyme formed by both alpha- and beta/beta'-subunits, and that non-Purkinje cells contain an isoenzyme formed primarily by beta/beta'-subunits.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

Clinical study on bronchodilation induced by a metered aerosol of fenoterol in combination with ipratropium bromide.

The response to an aerosol preparation containing 100 micrograms fenoterol and 40 micrograms ipratropium bromide per puff (Duovent) was compared with a placebo in 18 asthmatic patients in a double-blind cross-over fashion. We measured changes in lung function tests and pulse rate. Duovent induced a significant improvement in lung tests with statistical relevance for VEMS and Raw in comparison with placebo. The combination of fenoterol and ipratropium bromide also provided a long-lasting bronchodilatation without side effects.

Aerosols↗