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Biomedical subjects

P Gallo

Publications and source records attributed to P Gallo.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed2000

Diagnostic accuracy of transthoracic and multiplane transesophageal echocardiography for valvular perforation in acute infective endocarditis: correlation with anatomic findings.

We evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of transthoracic and multiplane transesophageal echocardiography (TTE and TEE, respectively) for assessing valvular perforation during active infective endocarditis by correlating the results of TTE and TEE with anatomic findings of 88 valves examined at surgery or autopsy. Compared with TEE, TTE has a low diagnostic sensitivity in the detection of this complication and, in the presence of hemodynamic instability, multiplane TEE should be performed directly.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Myocyte transdifferentiation: a possible pathogenetic mechanism for arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy.

Adipose substitution of ventricular myocardium is characteristic of arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy, but is also found in other heart conditions. It is thought to be a consequence of myocyte loss due to myocarditis or other noxious stimuli. We describe a unique case of cardiomyopathy with a morphologic pattern suggestive of transdifferentiation from myocytes to mature adipocytes. Gross, histologic, and ultrastructural examination were performed on the heart of a female transplant patient with a clinical diagnosis of familial dilated cardiomyopathy. Gross examination showed fibroadipose substitution of the left ventricle and adipose replacement of the right. Histology, immunohistochemistry, and ultrastructure were highly suggestive of transdifferentiation from cardiac muscle to adipose tissue. Myocyte transdifferentiation could represent an alternative pathogenetic pathway to the myocyte-loss and adipose-replacement mechanism in arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy, or it could be the basis of a new type of familial cardiomyopathy.

Adipocytes↗
PubMed2000

Is apoptosis a diagnostic marker of acute myocardial infarction?

OBJECTIVE: To investigate and quantify the presence of apoptosis in early myocardial ischemia in humans. METHODS: Histologic sections from the left and right ventricles of 16 hearts with impending myocardial infarction were stained with terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated deoxyuridine 5-triphosphate nick end labeling (TUNEL) method and with antibodies to p53, bcl-2, cpp32, FAS, FAS-L, and bax. DNA electrophoretic analysis was also performed. RESULTS: According to the inclusion criteria, all 16 cases showed morphologic changes consistent with ischemia and/or reperfusion. TUNEL results were positive in 14 of the 16 ischemic areas. Unexpectedly, they were also positive in "remote from ischemia" myocardium of both the left and right ventricles. DNA electrophoretic analysis confirmed the results of TUNEL. Immunohistochemistry was uniformly negative, probably because of autolysis phenomena. CONCLUSIONS: We showed that apoptosis precedes necrosis in humans, but the detection of apoptosis cannot be used as a diagnostic tool, since it can also be triggered by nonischemic events.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed2000

Interleukin-1 receptor antagonist, soluble tumor necrosis factor-alpha receptor type I and II, and soluble E-selectin serum levels in multiple sclerosis patients receiving weekly intramuscular injections of interferon-beta1a.

BACKGROUND: interferon beta (IFN-beta) reduces relapse rate and disease progression in patients with the relapsing-remitting form of multiple sclerosis (RRMS). IFN-beta may act by upregulating the expression of anti-inflammatory components of the immune system. OBJECTIVES: To determine whether weekly intramuscular (i.m.) injection of IFN-beta1a had a short- or long-term effect on the expression of naturally occurring soluble factors that play an immunosuppressive role within the cytokine network. MATERIALS AND METHODS: serum levels of interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra), soluble tumor necrosis factor alpha receptor type I and type II (sTNF-alphaRI and sTNF-alphaRII), and soluble E-selectin (sE-Sel) were followed over time in ten patients with RRMS who were treated with weekly i.m. injections of 30 mg (= 6 MU) of IFN-beta1a. Patient sera were sampled before, and 24, 48, 72, 96, and 168 hours after the first IFN-beta1a injection (short-term), and then at 1, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months after therapy initiation (long-term); highly sensitive, commercially available ELISA tests were used. RESULTS: serum levels of IL-1Ra, sTNF-alphaRI and sTNF-alphaRII, but not sE-Sel were significantly increased in both short- and long-term follow-up. Interestingly, IL-1Ra, sTNF-alphaRI and sTNF-alphaRII behaviors were completely different, suggesting that these naturally occurring immunoregulatory factors were differentially affected by IFN-beta1a. CONCLUSION: our study demonstrates that weekly i.m. injection of 30 mg of IFN-beta1a induces the expression of soluble mediators that may suppress the activities of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-1 and TNF-alpha.

Adjuvants, Immunologic↗
PubMed2000

Immigration and health: the Italian National Focal Point experience.

This report is a description of the situation of migrant populations in Italy. It was written by a committed team of experts from public institutions, non-governmental organisations (NGO) and volunteer associations that for three years have been part of the Italian National Focal Point (NFP) within the European Project "AIDS & Mobility", which is being co-ordinated by the Netherlands Institute for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention (the Netherlands) and financed by the European Commission DG/V. This year the Italian National Focal Point, co-ordinated by the Telefono Verde AIDS of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità, has produced a second report (the first one was published in 1998) on health issues related to migrant populations. Besides providing an updated picture on the presence of foreigners in Italy, such report illustrates the present legislative situation within the sanitary area and some interventions regarding prevention, treatment and rehabilitation provided by each structure in the Italian NFP to foreign citizens. The initiatives carried out during the year 1999 by public institutions, NGO and volunteer associations are also reported in order to detect the psycho-social-sanitary needs of immigrants and target prevention programmes to their particular and specific needs.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1999

The CDK9-associated cyclins T1 and T2 exert opposite effects on HIV-1 Tat activity.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the functional interaction between HIV-1 Tat protein and the cyclin T1 and T2 proteins which, in association with cyclin dependent kinase (CDK)9, are the regulatory subunits of the TAK/P-TEFb cellular complex strictly required for Tat transactivation. DESIGN: HIV-1 long terminal repeat (LTR) reporter plasmid was co-transfected into human and rodent cells with expression vectors encoding Tat and vectors encoding the cyclins T1, T2a and T2b, respectively. METHODS: Tat-mediated transactivation of HIV-1 LTR-driven transcription was compared in the presence or absence of different cyclins T (T1, T2a and T2b), upon co-transfections into human and rodent cell lines. Protein interactions were analysed by in vitro binding assays. RESULTS: It was found that Tat function in rodent cells is enhanced by co-expression of cyclin T1 but not cyclin T2. The N-terminal region (amino acids 1-290) of cyclin T1 is sufficient for this function and for binding to Tat and CDK9. Cyclin T2 binds to CDK9 but not to Tat. Moreover, enforced expression of cyclin T2 inhibits cyclin T1-mediated enhancement of Tat in rodent cells and it represses Tat activity in human cells. CONCLUSION: Efficient Tat transactivation in rodent cells occurs in the presence of human cyclin T1 but not in the presence of cyclin T2; overexpression of cyclin T2 inhibits Tat function in both rodent and human cells.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

Cross-sectional imaging in a case of adventitial cystic disease of the popliteal artery.

Adventitial cystic disease of the popliteal artery is an unusual condition of uncertain etiology, in which a mucin-containing cyst forms in the wall of the artery and produces lower extremity claudication, typically in young and middle-aged men. A diagnosis of adventitial cystic disease of the popliteal artery was made preoperatively in a 47-year-old man by means of several imaging modalities, including angiography, magnetic resonance imaging, and ultrasound. The pathological findings confirmed the suggested diagnosis.

Angiography↗
PubMed1999

Maternally inherited cardiomyopathy: clinical and molecular characterization of a large kindred harboring the A4300G point mutation in mitochondrial deoxyribonucleic acid.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to describe the clinical and molecular features of a large family with maternally inherited cardiomyopathy (MICM). BACKGROUND: Recently, several mitochondrial deoxyribonucleic acid (mtDNA) point mutations have been associated with MICM. However, the distinctive clinical and morphologic features of MICM are not fully appreciated. This is partially due to the small size of the reported pedigrees, often lacking detailed clinical and laboratory information. METHODS: Clinical and genetic analysis of the family was carried out. RESULTS: Echocardiography showed mostly symmetrical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in 10 family members. The illness had an unfavorable course. Progressive heart failure occurred in three subjects, who eventually died; one individual underwent heart transplantation. Electrocardiographic or echocardiographic signs of cardiac hypertrophy in the absence of significant clinical complaints were observed in five subjects. Neurologic examination was normal. The mutation was detected in blood from all available subjects. Abundance of mutated molecules ranged between 13% and 100% of total mtDNA genomes. The severity of the disease could not be foreseen by the proportion of mutation in blood. CONCLUSIONS: This report contributes a better description of the clinical aspects of MICM and provides important clues to distinguish it from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. We suggest that mtDNA mutations, particularly in the transfer ribonucleic acid for isoleucin, should be systematically searched in patients with MICM. The identification of an underlying maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA defect in familial cases of cardiomyopathy may considerably influence the management and genetic counseling of affected patients.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

Model for single-particle dynamics in supercooled water.

We analyze a set of 10 M-step molecular dynamics (MD) data of low-temperature SPC/E model water with a phenomenological analytical model. The motivation is twofold: to extract various k-dependent physical parameters associated with the single-particle or the self-intermediate scattering functions (SISFs) of water at a deeply supercooled temperature and to apply this analytical model to analyses of new high resolution quasielastic neutron scattering data presented elsewhere. The SISF of the center of mass computed from the MD data show clearly time-separated two-step relaxations with a well defined plateau in between. We model the short time relaxation of the test particle as a particle trapped in a harmonical potential well with the vibrational frequency distribution function having a two-peak structure known from previous inelastic neutron scattering experiments. For the long time part of the relaxation, we take the alpha relaxation suggested by mode-coupling theory. The model fits the low-temperature SISF over the entire time range from 1 fs to 10 ns, allowing us to extract peak positions of the vibrational density of states, the structural relaxation rate 1/tau of the cage (the potential well) and the stretch exponent beta. The structural relaxation rate has a power law dependence on the magnitude of the wave vector transfer k and the stretch exponent varies from 0.55 at large k to unity at small k.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1999

[Septic thrombosis of cavernous sinus: report of 6 cases].

The cavernous sinus is most frequently involved by septic thrombosis. The common sites of primary infection are the medial face, orbits, tonsils, soft palate, sphenoid and ethmoid sinuses. The usual clinical presentation begins with fever and periorbital edema followed by headache, ptosis and ocular muscles palsy. The diagnosis is usually made on clinical grounds. Treatment consists of eradication of the primary source of infection and the administration of antibiotics and anticoagulants. We report six cases of septic thrombosis of cavernous sinus.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

Inflammatory aneurysm of the abdominal aorta. A prospective clinical study.

OBJECTIVE: This study was undertaken to investigate a consecutive series of abdominal aortic aneurysm studied with histology to highlight the etiology, the incidence, the value of preoperative studies and intraoperative findings. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Prospective study. SETTING: University hospital. PATIENTS: Between 1992 and 1994, 102 patients underwent elective surgical repair of an abdominal aortic aneurysm. The patients were prospectively divided as having an inflammatory aneurysm (IA) or an atherosclerotic aneurysm (AA) on the basis of preoperative and intraoperative findings. Further histological evaluation assigned the patients to one of the two groups. RESULTS: The incidence of IA was 15%. Overall, symptoms, CT scan studies, aneurysmal wall thickness, white glistening perianeurysmal fibrosis, bleeding from the aneurysmal wall and adhesion to the duodenum diagnosed 11 (73%) cases of IA. Histology showed that a granulomatous reaction against some components of the atherosclerotic plaques resulting in an auto-allergic response to this component could initiate the inflammatory process thus resulting in a progressive adventitial and peri-adventitial fibrosis with inflammation, lymphadenitis and lymphatic dilatation. CONCLUSIONS: Preoperative and intraoperative findings underestimate the incidence of IA. Aortic resection can prevent the progression of the inflammatory process and the complications usually observed when the exposure to the allergen determines an involvement of the periaortic structures.

Aged↗
PubMed1999

The epulis vascularity. A morphometric study.

BACKGROUND: A computerised morphometric analysis of some vascularisation aspects of epulides is presented. The aim of this study is to evaluate the correlation between morphometric aspects and histological classification of epulides and to investigate its usefulness for the histopathologic diagnosis. METHODS: The study was carried out on epulides from 72 patients (30 males, 42 females, age-range 16-60). Epulides were fixed in alcohol, paraffin embedded, and stained with haematoxyilin eosin, thereafter epulides were histopathologically classified as granulomatous epulides, fibrous epulides and giant cell epulides. Images of histological samples were then digitised, and by an image analysis system some morphometric vessels characteristics were evaluated: percent image area occupied by vessels, vessels number, mean vessels area and standard deviation of vessels area. Finally, the correlation between morphometric data and the histological classification of epulides was evaluated. RESULTS: The statistic evaluation of morphometric data allowed to classify epulides in six groups characterised by a various degree of vascularisation, these groups showed a good correlation with histopathological classification. CONCLUSIONS: The morphometric analysis of vessels is a powerful aid for the histopathologic diagnosis and for a better knowledge of the etiopathogenetic factors of epulides.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

Rupture of Dacron aorto-femoral graft. Case report.

A 74-year-old patient was admitted to our department in a serious general condition due to massive bleeding. He had been treated 10 years previously in another hospital with an aorto-bifemoral bypass for obstructive disease using a knitted-Dacron graft. A large pulsating mass was present in the right iliac fossa as well as enormous pulsating enlargement of the scrotum. Echo color-Doppler investigation detected dilation up to 5 cm in diameter of the right branch of the graft and a large perigraft hematoma communicating with a similar mass in the scrotum. The patient was submitted to emergency surgery and a large rupture of the graft was found. The dilated segment was resected and replaced by a new 8 mm Dacron graft. Postoperative course was uneventful.

Aged↗
PubMed1998

Time-course of interleukin-2 receptor expression in interferon beta-treated multiple sclerosis patients.

The time-course of CD25 (the 55-kD/alpha subunit of the interleukin-2 (IL-2) receptor) expression on CD4+ T lymphocytes, and serum levels of soluble IL-2 receptors (sIL-2R) and IL-2 were evaluated in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients treated with interferon beta-1b (IFNbeta1b). Peripheral blood samples were collected before therapy (T0), and 1 (T1), 2 (T2), 3 (T3), 6 (T4), and 12 (T5) months after therapy initiation. While at T1 and T2, half the patients showed an increased number of circulating CD4+ CD25+ lymphocytes and an up-regulation of CD25 expression, at T3 this T-cell subset was significantly reduced in all the patients. From T4 to T5, however, the progressive return to pretreatment values was observed. Serum sIL-2R levels were not significantly affected by IFNbeta1b at any time point. IL-2 was detected in only a few patients at T0, and never at T1 to T5. The transient up-regulation of CD25+ expression that occurred in about 50% of the patients may explain the unchanged relapse rate observed during the first 2 to 3 months after starting IFNbeta1b therapy. Our study demonstrates that IFNbeta1b down-regulates CD25 expression in vivo. This effect, however, was observed only after 3 months of therapy, and was followed by the return to pretreatment values after 6 to 12 months. Taken all together, our findings suggest that IFNbeta1b only transiently affects CD25 expression in vivo, and that this effect cannot account for the reported long-lasting beneficial action of IFNbeta1b on RRMS.

Adjuvants, Immunologic↗
PubMed1998

Lymphoproliferative disease in human peripheral blood mononuclear cell-injected SCID mice. IV. Differential activation of human Th1 and Th2 lymphocytes and influence of the atopic status on lymphoma development.

Intraperitoneal transfer of PBMC from EBV+ donors into SCID mice leads to high human Ig levels in mouse serum and B cell lymphoproliferative disease. As these events depend on the activation of coinjected human T cells, we addressed the behavior of the Th1 and Th2 subsets in this model. Production of IFN-gamma, but not of Th2 cytokines such as IL-4, was detected in culture supernatants of PBMC stimulated in vitro with mouse splenocytes. Moreover, anti-CD3 stimulation of the human cells recovered from mice brought about IFN-gamma, but not IL-4, synthesis; on the other hand, PCR and in situ hybridization analysis of ex vivo-recovered cells disclosed the presence of mRNA for both cytokines following in vitro restimulation, thus suggesting posttranscriptional regulation of IL-4 gene expression. When SCID mice were inoculated with PBMC from atopic donors, whose Th1/Th2 profile displays an imbalance toward Th2 cells, tumor development rates were lower, and tumor latency was higher, compared with those in mice injected with PBMC from normal donors. Isotypic analysis of human Ig in mouse serum showed the exclusive presence of IFN-gamma-driven IgG subclasses; in addition, human IgE were low or undetectable in most cases. These findings indicate that following transfer into SCID mice, human Th1 lymphocytes undergo preferential activation, whereas Th2 function is down-regulated. Th1 lymphocytes probably are a major component in promoting EBV+ B cell expansion and tumor development; the individual Th1/Th2 profile could in part account for the as yet unexplained donor variability in tumor generation in this experimental model.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Neuromuscular relaxants in non-cardiac surgery after cardiomyoplasty.

PURPOSE: Dynamic cardiomyoplasty is a therapeutic alternative to heart transplantation in irreversible cardiac insufficiency. Little information exists about the use of muscle relaxants in patients with cardiomyoplasty. In particular, it is not clear if the muscle flap is responsive to neuromuscular blockers. The purpose of this report is to describe the safe use of vecuronium in a patient with cardiomyoplasty. CLINICAL FEATURES: A 59-yr-old man, after cardiomyoplasty for dilated cardiomyopathy two years earlier, underwent general anaesthesia with fentanyl, propofol and vecuronium during surgery for intestinal ischaemia. Intraoperative transthoracic echocardiography showed that vecuronium did not affect muscle flap motion. Two days after surgery he died in septic shock. Post-mortem histological and immunohistochemical examination showed nervous degeneration of the flap probably as a result of the chronic low frequency pacing. There was also an increase in extrajunctional receptors and an alteration in junctional receptors, as demonstrated by the negative reaction to anti-synaptophysin antibodies, used to identify the neuromuscular plate. CONCLUSION: In patients undergoing non-cardiac surgery after previous cardiomyoplasty, muscle relaxants, such as vecuronium, may be used safely. Depolarising agents, such as succinylcholine, should probably be avoided because of the possible exaggerated actions on extrajunctional receptors.

Cardiomyoplasty↗