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Biomedical subjects

M Trevisan

Publications and source records attributed to M Trevisan.

At least 163 records · Page 9Linked to original sources

Physical activity and its relationship to blood pressure in school children.

The present report analyzes the relationship between physical activity and blood pressure in 1341 school children aged 7-14 years (girls = 598, boys = 743) participating in a screening for cardiovascular risk factors that took place in the suburban area of Naples. During the baseline examination, systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure, height, weight, and resting pulse rate (PR) were measured. The Harvard-Modified Step Test was also performed in order to score both a crude recovery index (RI) and an index corrected for the initial resting pulse rate (RI-PR) used as measures of the level of habitual physical activity. Significant differences have been found between the quartiles of distribution of both the crude recovery index and the corrected index in girls and boys with regard to systolic blood pressure but not diastolic. In both sexes, better responders to the Harvard-Modified Step Test showed on the average lower systolic blood pressure than poorer responders. In boys, the inverse association between systolic blood pressure and the recovery index was independent of the effect of age, body mass index, height, and resting pulse rate, while in girls the same association did not reach statistical significance. Our results support the hypothesis that systolic blood pressure is independently related to the level of habitual physical activity in children.

Adolescent↗

Alcohol consumption, drinking pattern and blood pressure: analysis of data from the Italian National Research Council Study.

The present analyses addressed the relationship between alcohol consumption, drinking patterns and hypertension in 6699 Italian men and women participating in a national project on arteriosclerosis risk factors. The results of the analyses are consistent with an association between heavy alcohol consumption and systolic blood pressure in both males and females. Higher diastolic blood pressure was associated with heavy alcohol consumption in men but not in women. Drinkers of wine both with and without meals have a higher prevalence of hypertension than abstainers in both sexes. We conclude that heavy alcohol consumption is associated with higher blood pressure values, and that the pattern of drinking could be an important determinant in the association between alcohol and hypertension.

Adult↗

Outward Na-K-Cl cotransport in human red blood cells: a methodological evaluation of method for epidemiologic investigations.

The present report evaluates a method for the determination of the maximal velocity of the outward sodium, potassium, chlorine (Na-K-Cl) cotransport in erythrocytes. The loading procedure was carried out using the ionophore nystatin. The technical error for this assay, based on concurrent analysis of randomized blind duplicate samples, was 8.04% of the sample mean and 27.5% of the sample standard deviation. The assay was stable over time and reproducible. Fasting was not necessary. The ratio of intra- to interindividual variances was small. The cells can be safely preserved in an appropriate preservation solution without modification of the ion transport assay. The assay appears to be adequate for use in large-scale field trials.

Chlorides↗

Epidemiological studies of sodium transport and hypertension.

Red blood cell membrane cation transport was measured in five population-based surveys and two randomized, controlled, dietary intervention studies to examine its associations with demographic, biological, and dietary variables in free-living individuals. A total of 508 individuals, 255 with high blood pressure, were studied. Both sexes, blacks and whites, and several age groups were represented. The intervention studies included short-term dietary sodium restriction in normotensive adolescents, and a 4-year multifactorial trial on weight, sodium, and alcohol in hypertensive adults. The findings from these surveys and intervention studies are summarized in this report. Sodium-stimulated lithium countertransport was significantly related to diastolic blood pressure in white adults (r = 0.28, p less than 0.001), and to systolic blood pressure in black children (r = 0.50, p less than 0.005) and white adolescents (r = 0.31, p less than 0.05). Lithium countertransport was related to sex and race, but not age. Body mass index had an independent relationship with lithium countertransport in some age groups. Lithium countertransport was lower in normotensive adults than in both younger and older hypertensive adults. Lithium countertransport did not differ significantly between subjects with hypertension treated with antihypertensive medications and those with untreated hypertension. Short-term dietary sodium restriction did not influence lithium countertransport in normotensive adolescents. Long-term dietary intervention was associated with low lithium countertransport in hypertensive adults able to maintain blood pressure control without medication. These findings indicate that lithium countertransport is related to blood pressure and hypertension among free-living individuals.

Adolescent↗

Intraerythrocytic cation metabolism in children with uremia undergoing hemodialysis.

Erythrocytes from children with uremia who are undergoing hemodialysis show normal maximal velocity of NA+-Li+ countertransport and Na+/K+/Cl- cotransport and normal intracellular sodium content. These aspects of intracellular sodium metabolism are not affected by dialysis. The normality of intraerythrocytic cation metabolism in children with uremia is associated with anemia, increased systolic and diastolic blood pressure, reduced body mass index, retention of solutes (urea, creatinine, potassium), a low triiodothyronine and thyroxine syndrome, and high parathormone levels.

Adolescent↗

Body fat distribution and cardiovascular risk in middle-aged people in southern Italy.

Skinfold thickness, % body fat content, body mass index, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, plasma glucose, serum cholesterol and triglycerides have been measured in 132 middle-aged men (mean age 39.8 +/- 9.9, range 20-59 yr) and in 114 middle-aged women (mean age 39.1 +/- 9.3, range 20-59 yr). Anthropometric data were related to blood pressure and biochemical parameters by using a straight-line regression analysis. Body mass index, % body fat content, subscapular and suprailiac skinfold thickness, consideral as indicative of splanchnic fat distribution, were positively correlated to blood pressure, plasma glucose, cholesterol and triglycerides. Triceps skinfold thickness, an index of peripheral fat distribution, showed weaker or no correlation with these parameters. These preliminary observations in the Neapolitan area support the hypothesis that, in addition to body mass index and % body fat content, preferential splanchnic fat distribution is associated with cardiovascular risk factors.

Adipose Tissue↗

Intracellular ion metabolism in erythrocytes and uraemia: the effect of different dialysis treatments.

The present report focuses on some aspects of the intra-erythrocytic cation metabolism (e.g. the maximal velocity of the Na+-Li+ countertransport and Na+/K+/Cl- cotransport) in uraemic patients on different dialysis treatments. Patients undergoing dialysis treatment [continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) or haemodialysis (HD)] overall showed higher Na+-Li+ countertransport than controls. With regard to Na+/K+/Cl- cotransport, CAPD patients and controls did not differ and both showed, on average, higher values than HD patients. A subgroup of HD patients was studied before and after dialysis. No significant overall changes were detected as a result of the dialysis process with regard to Na+/K+/Cl- cotransport. Na+-Li+ countertransport was significantly reduced by dialysis and a distinctly different response to dialysis was evident according to predialysis values. Patients with high values of Na+-Li+ countertransport showed a significant reduction in this parameter while patients with normal values showed no effect. No distinct association was detected between alteration in either Na+-Li+ countertransport or Na+/K+/Cl- cotransport and the clinical characteristics of the patients. It is concluded that uraemia and/or dialysis influences the maximal velocity of the parameters under investigation. The effect on Na+-Li+ countertransport seems to be similar for both CAPD and HD, while Na+/K+/Cl- cotransport is not altered in CAPD patients.

Biological Transport↗

Menstrual pattern and ovarian function in women with hyperprolactinemia.

Prolactin (PRL) and progesterone were systematically measured in all women presenting with amenorrhea, oligomenorrhea or galactorrhea at the Infertility Clinic of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, State University of Campinas, Brazil, during a period of 34 months. The same hormonal assays were done to all infertile patients presenting for the first time during the last 6 months of the same period, for a total of 190 subjects. Fifty-five patients with amenorrhea, 38 with oligomenorrhea and 97 with normal cycles, 20 of whom had galactorrhea, were included in the study. Fifty-five percent of amenorrheic patients, 37% of oligomenorrheic and 9% of those with normal menses had elevated PRL. The mean PRL was higher the greater the menstrual disturbance but was not influenced by presence or absence of galactorrhea. Short luteal phase was the ovarian function condition most frequently associated with high PRL among women with normal menses.

Female↗

Pathophysiological interrelations of obesity, impaired glucose tolerance, and arterial hypertension.

There is a large amount of epidemiological and clinical evidence for associations among obesity, impaired glucose tolerance, and arterial hypertension; nevertheless, the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying these associations have not yet been elucidated. In this article, some working hypotheses are discussed, and original data are presented from two studies focusing on these pathophysiological interrelations. A case-control study of obese normotensive and hypertensive patients, matched for sex, age, and degree of overweight, has shown that obese patients with associated arterial hypertension have higher fasting serum insulin levels and reduced glucose tolerance compared with their normotensive peers. A second study compared subjects with impaired glucose tolerance with a control group of clinically healthy individuals of comparable sex, age, and body mass index, and it revealed that impaired glucose tolerance is associated with significantly higher blood pressure levels, independent of body weight. The results of the two studies together suggest that the association between hypertension and impaired glucose tolerance is independent of overweight; they also give some support to the hypothesis that hyperinsulinemia may contribute to the development of high blood pressure in obese patients.

Adult↗

[Tracking of blood cholesterol and arterial pressure in adolescence].

Early identification of atherosclerosis precursors and assessment of secular trends are key factors in organizing primary prevention programs. Tracking phenomenon for serum cholesterol and blood pressure has been evaluated at two years' interval in a group of students of both sexes, aged 11-15 years, in the municipality of Mugnano, near Naples. Serum cholesterol has been followed in 77 students and blood pressure--systolic and diastolic--in 160. Forty-three % serum cholesterol levels, 44% of systolic blood pressure measurements, and 25% of diastolic blood pressure values, that were in the upper quintile at the first visit, were found in the upper quintile again at the second visit. Our results point out that: there is a chance to identify "high" values, that may persist over time, especially for serum cholesterol and systolic blood pressure; great caution must be exercised in taking isolated measurements of serum cholesterol, systolic and particularly diastolic blood pressure at a young age as indicators in implementing prevention programs.

Adolescent↗

Sex and race differences in sodium-lithium countertransport and red cell sodium concentration.

A total of 417 individuals from all four major sex-race groups were examined for the rate of sodium flux via the countertransport pathway and the sodium concentration within red cells. The age span was from early adolescence to retirement. Males of both races had sizable higher countertransport rates than did women (p less than 0.01), and a slight increase in sodium concentration (p greater than 0.05). Contrariwise, while whites or both sexes had higher countertransport than their black counterparts, sodium concentration was higher in blacks than whites (p less than 0.01). This pattern is not consistent with a direct relationship between both countertransport or sodium concentration and blood pressure which applies across both racial groups. Sex-race differences must be taken into account in any group comparisons of these variables.

Adolescent↗

Blood pressure and sodium-lithium countertransport: findings in population-based surveys.

A total of 448 individuals ranging in age from 11 to 72 years were studied in a series of seven population-based surveys. Although the relationship was positive in all surveys, a significant correlation was noted between sodium-lithium countertransport and blood pressure in only three of the seven. Hypertensives as a group had significantly higher levels of countertransport than did those with a normal blood pressure. In stepwise regression analysis, however, entering weight into the equation eliminated a significant predictive effect of countertransport. Red cell sodium concentration and membrane leak did not bear any significant relationship to blood pressure. The association between countertransport and blood pressure appears to be weaker in the general population than previously reported for case-control studies.

Adolescent↗

Effect of phototherapy on the physiologic cholestasis of the neonate.

Phototherapy (PT) has been reported to increase bile acid excretion in the bile of adults with liver cirrhosis. We investigated the effect of PT on the levels of serum total bile acids (STBA), conjugated cholic acid (CCA), conjugated chenodeoxycholic acid (CCDCA), conjugated lithocholic acid (CLCA), and sulfolithocholylglycine (SLCG) in 13 neonates with unconjugated nonhemolytic hyperbilirubinemia before and after 12 h of PT. The treatment produced a statistically significant (p less than 0.02) reduction in both STBA and CCA levels, whereas no effect on the other fractions was observed. The percentage of reduction was the same for STBA and CCA concentrations, indicating that the effect is related to a specific reduction in CCA levels. The magnitude of the expected decrease in the level of serum bilirubin is not correlated with that in bile acids in individual cases. The data are interpreted as suggesting that PT can affect the metabolism of bile acids by decreasing STBA and CCA levels in neonates through an increase in their biliary excretion associated with the reduced intestinal absorption of CCA occurring in newborns.

Bile Acids and Salts↗

Family history of hypertension and rates of sodium transport: absence of an association in population-based studies.

In a series of population-based studies, the relationship between a family history of hypertension and sodium transport was examined. In the total sample of 417 individuals, and in each sex-race-specific sub-sample, no significant differences were noted in red cell sodium-lithium countertransport, sodium concentration, or passive leak. A higher proportion of hypertensives was not found in the group with a positive family history, and blood pressures were only slightly higher in those--compared to those without--a positive family history. If family history of hypertension is associated with levels of countertransport, it would appear that the relationship is weak in the general population.

Adolescent↗

Neutrophil chemotaxis in patients with acne receiving oral tetracycline therapy.

The effect of zymosan-activated serum samples, obtained from patients with acne who were receiving oral tetracycline hydrochloride therapy, on the chemotaxis and random migration of autologous polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNLs) and PMNLs from control donors was assayed in a Sykes-Moore chamber by a double-filter technique. Cells incubated with autologous serum specimens from these patients demonstrated significant suppression of both random migration and chemotaxis, with the greatest effect seen at a dosage of 1 g daily and a significant effect found at all dosage levels. When zymosan-activated serum samples from these patients were assayed with control donor PMNLs, similar inhibitory effects were shown. Assays of control sera and PMNLs from tetracycline-treated patients with acne showed the least degree of inhibition of chemotaxis. Although the mechanism of action is unclear, tetracycline appears to have a direct effect on neutrophil movement.

Acne Vulgaris↗

A randomized trial on the effect of decreased dietary sodium intake on blood pressure in adolescents.

A randomized crossover trial on the effect of salt restriction on blood pressure was carried out involving 124 adolescents (mean age 16 years). Dietary sodium was reduced from approximately 110 to 45 mEq/24 h for a period of 24 days. Blood pressure was non-significantly lower at the end of the experimental diet for all participants. A slight (0.7 kg), yet statistically significant fall in weight was observed (P less than 0.05). Subgroup analysis demonstrated that participants whose body mass index was below the median had a statistically significant fall in systolic blood pressure (P less than 0.05); fall in weight and increase in heart rate were also more pronounced in the less obese individuals. It would appear that moderate sodium reduction does not have an overall short-term effect on blood pressure in normotensive adolescents. However, body size as reflected in body mass index may influence blood pressure response to sodium reduction.

Adolescent↗

Seventh-Day Adventist adolescents--life-style patterns and cardiovascular risk factors.

The life-style of adolescents attending a Seventh-Day Adventist boarding school was evaluated as it related to cardiovascular risk factors. The diet contained 34% calories as fat, with 11% derived from saturated fat. Total serum cholesterol levels were low (mean, standard deviation=138+/-15 mg per dl), and apolipoprotein B level was low as well (46+/-9 mg per dl). The high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level was within the usual range (52.4+/-13.3 mg per dl). Mean blood pressures were also low (systolic, 104.1+/-9.6 mm of mercury; diastolic, 65.7+/-9.7 mm of mercury). There was no self-reported use of cigarettes. If this life-style were to continue through adulthood, the incidence of premature atherosclerotic disease, particularly coronary artery disease, for this group might well be reduced, compared with other North Americans, as suggested by findings from previous studies of adult Seventh-Day Adventists.

Adolescent↗