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Biomedical subjects

P Cugini

Publications and source records attributed to P Cugini.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources
PubMed1989

Circadian rhythmicity of plasma amino acid variations in healthy subjects.

The circadian periodicity of plasma amino acids (AA) was explored using Cosinor analysis. Six healthy subjects eating a standard diet (30 Kcal and 1 g of protein/Kg of body weight) were studied. Plasma samples for AA determination were taken at 07:00, 11:00, 15:00, 17:00, 21:00 and 24:00. The majority of AA showed an increment in the evening samples. This 24-h variability led to a circadian rhythmicity for all AA, except for taurine, threonine, glutamate, alanine, cystine, and total tryptophan. On average, the fluctuation was approximately 15% of the mesor and the acrophase timing was between 17:00 and 22:00.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

[Cutaneo-cerebral bullous syndrome in patients with type II diabetes mellitus].

This study deals with a case of non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus complicated by a diffuse giant vesicular dermatosis in combination with an irreversible coma caused by encephalopathy with hypodense areas on the CT scan. The coma, unlike the known diabetic comas and unrelated to infectious, toxic and cerebrovascular noxae, was interpreted as due to bullous lesions of the brain comparable to the cutaneous vesicles.

Brain Diseases↗
PubMed1988

Stepwise multivariate discriminant analysis (SMDA) for paired and unpaired biomedical data using microcomputers.

It may be necessary in biostatistics to discriminate between individuals and groups. The discriminant analysis is used for this purpose. The discriminant procedure has been programmed for microcomputers. The program has been written in a generic BASIC in order to make the procedure user-friendly. To have such a software package implemented on a personal computer may greatly facilitate the use of this complex analysis in biomedicine.

Computers↗
PubMed1988

Blood pressure monitoring from a biostatistical and clinical viewpoint for predicting fetal distress in preeclamptic pregnancy.

With technological progress, blood pressure monitoring has become a procedure largely applied in medical practice but not adequately systematized under a biostatistical viewpoint. This paper shows the complexity and importance of the biomathematical approach and its clinical implications in preeclamptic pregnancy. Data series were analyzed by means of noninferential and inferential procedures of biostatistics. A progressive gain of information is obtained, the inferential procedures showing an analytical resolution able to discriminate fetal distress in preeclamptic pregnancy.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Increased serum aldosterone in diabetic pregnancy.

Serum levels of aldosterone and cortisol were measured by radioimmunoassay in 15 patients with gestational diabetes, in 18 patients with Type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes, in 36 pregnant control women and in 10 non-pregnant control women. All subjects, on habitual sodium and potassium intake, were sampled in a supine position at 09.00 hours. Pregnant women were examined twice, during gestational week 32-34 and at delivery. Serum levels of aldosterone and cortisol were also measured in the umbilical cord blood of newborn babies of these diabetic and non-diabetic mothers. Serum levels of aldosterone in both gestational and Type 1 pregnant diabetic women were found to be consistently above the reference values of non-diabetic pregnant women. Abnormal serum levels of aldosterone were also observed in newborn infants of diabetic mothers. In contrast, serum levels of cortisol were not increased.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

The gerontological decline of the renin-aldosterone system: a chronobiological approach extended to essential hypertension.

The circadian (about 24-hr) oscillating function of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) was investigated as a function of age in clinically healthy participants and in essential hypertensive patients. A peculiar age-related decline in the RAAS circadian mesor (rhythm-adjusted mean) and amplitude (variability from mesor) was found in the essential hypertensive patients. This finding suggests a nonphysiologic evolution in the tonic (24-hr mean level) as well as phasic (oscillating amplitude) circadian activity of the RAAS with increasing age. A relative hyperreninemic aldosteronism characterized the aged essential hypertensive patients.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Discrimination and spectral resolution of ultradian and circadian periodicities for 24-hour blood pressure patterns on sodium manipulation in normotensive humans.

The effects of a severe (10-20 mEq/24-h) but short-term (7-days) restriction in dietary sodium on 24-h blood pressure (BP) patterns were investigated in 20 normotensive volunteers (10 men, 10 women; 20-25 years old) by means of non-invasive automatic sphygmomanometric monitoring (recordings at 1-h interval) at home, with subjects in bedrest. Statistical methods used include bivariate Gaussian distribution analysis for systolic and diastolic BP bivariate discriminant analysis, periodic regression analysis with a 24-h period (cosinor method) and spectral analysis of time series. Casual BP measurements were unable to detect the tensinogenic effects, while the bivariate Gaussian analysis documented a total rearrangement in the pattern distribution to show discriminated values of BP after sodium restriction. A significant decrease (p less than 0.01) in the 24-h mean level (mesor) for systolic BP was observed. An increase in the extent of fluctuation (amplitude) for the circadian components was documented by the spectral analysis, mainly in diastolic BP patterns. Such a phenomenon of 'amplitude magnification' was not accompanied by a change in the repartition of the ultradian and circadian harmonic components. The extensive changes in the time structure support the hypothesis of an interaction of sodium regimen with the centrally-located oscillators which physiologically organize the circadian rhythmicity of BP.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Effects of a mild and prolonged restriction in sodium or food intake on the circadian rhythm of aldosterone and related variables.

The effect of a mild reduction in dietary sodium intake (-30 mEq/24 hr) and body weight (-2 kg/2 months) on circadian rhythms of urinary aldosterone (UA), sodium (UNa), potassium (UK), creatinine (UC) and volume (UV) have been investigated in nine clinically healthy subjects. The mild reduction in dietary sodium is associated with: (1) a decrease in the 24-hr excretion rate of UNa, UK and UV, and an increased mesor of UA and UC; (2) a lowered extent of the circadian variation for UNa, UK, UV and a greater amplitude for UA and UC (3) a later crest in the temporal phase for UK, UA, UC, an earlier phasic wave for UNa. The mild reduction in calorie intake resulting in a body weight loss is associated with a more pronounced decrease in the 24-hr excretion rate of UNa and UK, and in the extent of circadian fluctuation for UNa. Peculiar events are: (1) the decreased 24-hr excretion rate for UA, and the increased mesor for UV; (2) the extent variability increased for UV, decreased for UC. Such effect may have a practical resonance for heuristic physiology since the role of dietary sodium and food intake has been better clarified. Dietary sodium and food can be regarded as 'chronomodulatory agents' for the adrenal cortex since their adrenotropic influence is extended to the tonic as well as phasic secretion of aldosterone.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Internal desynchronization between circadian rhythms of plasma aldosterone and erythrocyte membrane-bound Na/K-ATPase.

Normal-renin essential mesor hypertensives are characterized by a consistent increase in erythrocyte membrane-bound Na/K-ATPase activity. Low-renin essential hypertensives exhibit, in contrast, a lower activity in Na/K-ATPase of cell membranes. This study documents a third disorder characterized by a temporal shift in the rhythmic activity of the erythrocyte membrane-bound Na/K-ATPase in normal-renin hypertensives. The disorder causes the synchronism with the aldosterone circadian rhythm to be invariably lost. The uncoupling phenomenon could be invoked to explain the inversion in the day-night sodium excretion rate found in essential hypertensives. In addition, it suggests that the circadian rhythm in Na/K-ATPase is under the control of cycling factors other than aldosterone.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Peptic disease and 24-hr patterns of serum gastrin and pepsinogen.

The present study explored the 24-hr variations in serum gastrin and pepsinogen in clinically healthy subjects and in patients with gastric ulcer, duodenal ulcer, and erosive gastroduodenopathy. Time-qualified data were analyzed by means of cosinor procedures. Significant changes in rhythmometric properties were documented in patients with peptic disease when compared to clinically healthy subjects. In essence, it was discovered that gastric ulcer patients exhibit a higher mesor and amplitude for both gastrin and pepsinogen, whereas duodenal ulcer patients and those with erosive gastroduodenopathy show only a significant increase in the pepsinogen mesor. These characteristics are so specific in the groups investigated that one can hypothesize that the disorders in the circadian rhythmicity of gastrin and pepsinogen have a role in determining the clinical manifestations of peptic disease.

Circadian Rhythm↗
PubMed1987

Occurrence of a circadian rhythmicity for blood pressure in patients with circulatory shock.

Ten patients hemodynamically in shock were monitored for blood pressure along the 24-hr span while under antishock therapy. Time-qualified data were analyzed by means of the cosinor procedure. The fit of a 24-hr cosine function was able to reject the null hypothesis of amplitude = O in the majority of patients under intensive care. The blood pressure circadian rhythm was found to be independent of whether the patient was responsive or refractory to therapy. This phenomenon demonstrates that the maintenance of a blood pressure circadian rhythm is a characteristic intrinsic to hemodynamic shock even if blood pressure falls to very low values along the time scale.

Adult↗