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Biomedical subjects

P Ferrari

Publications and source records attributed to P Ferrari.

At least 469 records · Page 26Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

[Benign psychomotor epilepsy in childhood].

The studies made in latest years proved the existence of cases of epilepsy with partial complex seizures which have a benign evolution and which are characteristic of infancy and childhood. In these subjects attacks generally have monomorphic aspect for the same patient. A characteristic kind of attack is represented by a burst of anxiety, which manifests itself in different ways according to the age of the child. The normality of evolution, familiar epileptic anamnesis, the integrity of basic EEG, rapid answer to pharmacologic treatment contribute to define the benignity of the syndrome. However in some cases benign character can be confirmed by long term observations only.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Apnea during sleep and wakefulness in term newborns].

Apneas in the different sleep states are commonly observed in the full-term healthy newborn infant. Central and short apneas prevail whilst apneas greater than 15 sec. are rare; a marked incidence of short apneas (less than 10 sec.) was observed in active sleep, even though apneas are not exclusive of active sleep. There is a strong inter-individual variability of apnea incidence. Apnea incidence in a state is not positively correlated to apnea incidence in different behavioural states: on the contrary there seems to be an opposite correlation between incidence in AS and QS. Apnea occurrence is positively correlated, in individuals, to the periodic breathing percentage. Apneas number and their duration is markedly lowered already in the second month of life. Periodic breathing must be considered a feature of immaturity. Obstructive apneas are less frequent than central apneas: their survey requires sophisticated technics with the aid of simultaneous recording of several breathing parameters. Relationship between central apneas/ obstructive apneas and mixed apneas is not known. Certainly obstructive and mixed apneas occurrence has been underestimated because of technical difficulties deriving from their survey. The meaning of an incidence of short apneas markedly higher than normal in full-term newborn infants is controversial and not clear, individuals with long apneas and subjects with short apneas in excess have been considered infants at SIDS risk. It is not clear whether periodic breathing and apneas depend on a common pathogenesis; the correlation between high incidence of periodic breathing in postnatal period and SIDS risk is still controversial. Few Authors suggest to treat newborn infants with extended apneas in sleep and considerable percentage of periodic breathing with aminophylline. The relation between gastro-oesophageal reflux and apnea has been recently evidenced. Central apneas and obstructive apneas during breast and bottle feeding have also been documented. Differently from pre-term infant apneas, bradycardia, although not exceptional, is not frequent during apneas in full-term newborn infants.

Age Factors↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Red blood cell abnormalities and spontaneous hypertension in the rat. A genetically determined link.

The significance of the erythrocyte abnormalities described in rats and humans with spontaneous hypertension is far from clear. This study, in two highly inbred strains of rats, was designed to evaluate whether these abnormalities are primary and thus genetically related to hypertension. The Milan hypertensive strain (MHS) and its normotensive control strain (MNS) were used to carry out two types of experiments. In two groups of lethally irradiated (MHS X MNS) F1 hybrids, bone marrow from MHS or MNS was transplanted. The differences in red cell function between the recipients of bone marrow from MHS and recipients of bone marrow from MNS were similar to those existing between the parental donor MHS and MNS: Na+-K+ cotransport was increased (p less than 0.02) and intracellular Na+ content (p less than 0.05) and cell volume (p less than 0.02) were decreased in MHS. The same pattern was observed when this experiment was repeated in different groups of F1 hybrids. In individuals of the segregating F2 population, obtained by crossing the (MHS X MNS) F1 hybrids, there was a positive correlation (p less than 0.001) between the red blood cell Na+-K+ cotransport and the mean blood pressure. These results indicate that the erythrocyte abnormalities may well be genetically associated with the primary cause of spontaneous hypertension in rats. Because of the many similarities demonstrated when young prehypertensive MHS or humans prone to develop hypertension are compared with their respective controls, it is possible that the findings described here in rats are relevant to human essential hypertension.

Age Factors↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Metabolism of deflazacort in the rat, dog and man.

The metabolism of [2'-14C]deflazacort, (11 beta, 16 beta)-21-(acetoxyl)-11-hydroxy-2'-methyl-5'H-pregna-1, 4-dieno[17,16-d]oxazole-3,20-dione, orally given to rats, dogs, and humans, has been studied. From the urine of the three species and from rat bile and liver preparations, five main metabolites I-V have been isolated and their structures investigated by physicochemical analysis: 1,(5 beta,11 beta,16 beta)-11,21-dihydroxy-2'-methyl-5'H-pregn-1-eno[17,16-d]oxazole-3,20-dione; II, (11 beta,16 beta)-11,21-dihydroxy-2'-methyl-5'H-pregna-1,4-dieno[17,16-d]oxazole-3,20-dione; III, (6 beta,11 beta,16 beta)-6,11,21-trihydroxy-2'-methyl-5'H-pregna-1,4-dieno[17,16-d]oxazole-3,20-dione; IV, (3 epsilon,11 beta,16 beta)-3,11,21-trihydroxy-2'-methyl-5'H-pregn-5-eno[17,16-d]oxazol-20-one. Metabolites II and III are quantitatively the most important in the urine of the rat, dog, and man; metabolite V, whose structure is uncertain, has been found in human and rat urine. In the formation of metabolites I-V the fused 2-methyloxazoline ring is unmetabolized, whereas the steroid moiety follows the general metabolic pathways reported for other related corticosteroids.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Hemicrania and food in the child].

68 children with migraine were divided into 3 groups according the result of a skin-Prick test to food antigens. In group A (positivity to one or two antigens) (mean IgE level = 315 U/ml) 94.4% of the patients recovered from migraine in a two-months period of exclusion diet. In group B (positivity to 3 or more antigens) (mean IgE level = 226 U/ml) the same regimen lead to improvement 90% of migraineurs. In group C (skin-Prick test negative) (mean IgE level = 97 U/ml) a strictly oligoantigenic diet was proposed for 20 days. This was beneficial in only 17.2% of patients. Food allergy seems to play an important role in childhood migraine. Prick test appeared a useful and simple method to screen the patients.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Rett syndrome. Review of the literature and presentation of 2 clinical cases].

In this paper we report the cases of two girls affected by a progressive encephalopathy. Both stories are similar. After a normal development in the first year of life, neurological regression occurred since the beginning of the second year. This progressive syndrome led within a few months to a loss of any verbal acquisition, loss of purposeful use of the hands, dementia, autism. Other neurological alterations occurred in the following years: piramidal signs at lower limbs, generalized and partial seizures, ataxia, gait apraxia. All laboratory findings were normal in both girls. The EEG was abnormal in both patients and the patterns were quite the same in following records of both girls. The disease occurred in our patients is quite certainly the same described by Rett for the first time in 1966.

Brain Diseases↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Metabolic fate of premazepam, a new anti-anxiety drug, in the rat and the dog.

A study of the disposition and metabolism of premazepam, 3,7-dihydro-5-phenyl-6,7-dimethyl-pyrrole[3,4-e][1,4]diazepin-2-(1 H) -one, a new anti-anxiety agent, was carried out in rats and dogs given the 14C-labeled compound iv and po. In both species, after oral administration, both total radioactivity and the unchanged drug are rapidly absorbed and peak plasma levels are reached within 0.5-1 hr in rats and 2 hr in dogs. Unchanged premazepam is cleared faster in rats than in dogs, with half-lives about 1.7 and 2.7 hr, respectively. Following oral dosage, two-thirds of the dose is eliminated in urine. From the urine of the two species, eight metabolites and unchanged premazepam were identified. N-7-Desmethyl premazepam (l) is the major metabolite in rat urine (18% of the dose) but is not present in dog urine, while 6-hydroxymethyl premazepam is the most abundant metabolite in dog urine (25% of the dose) but is absent in rat urine. Metabolites III and IV from rat and dog urine are stable derivatives of the intermediate formed by the cleavage of the imine bond of the diazepine ring. A successive hydrolysis of the amidic bond of the same intermediate originates metabolites V-VIII, which are quantitatively minor ones.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Metabolism of the neuroleptic agent zetidoline in the rat and the dog.

The metabolism of zetidoline, a new neuroleptic, in the rat and the dog has been studied. From the urine of rats and dogs given 5 mg/kg of [2-14C] zetidoline orally, unchanged drug and five metabolites were isolated and the structures of four of them assigned by physicochemical analysis. They are: metabolite B, 4'-hydroxy-3'-chlorophenyl zetidoline; metabolite D, zetidoline without the aryl group; metabolite E, the 6'-hydroxy-4'-beta-D-glucuronide of metabolite B, and metabolite F, the 4'-beta-D-glucuronide of metabolite B. The plasma levels of zetidoline and its metabolites after iv administration show that the drug is rapidly excreted and/or metabolized in both animal species. The plasma radioactivity in the dog consists mainly of the pharmacologically active (neuroleptic) metabolite B, whereas in the rat it consists of the more polar metabolites. After oral administration, elimination in both species occurs mostly via the kidneys. In the dog, within a 24-hr period, 6.2 +/- 0.4% of the dose is accounted for as unchanged zetidoline, 7.6 +/- 0.5% as metabolite B, 10.1 +/- 0.7% as the unidentified metabolite C, and 21.4 +/- 1.1% as metabolite F. In the rat, over the same period, zetidoline is present in traces, metabolite B accounts for 6.9 +/- 0.3% of the dose, metabolite D for 6.6 +/- 0.9%, metabolite E for 15.2 +/- 1.4%, and metabolite F for 31.7 +/- 2.2%.

Animals↗