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Biomedical subjects

P Nencini

Publications and source records attributed to P Nencini.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1997

The rules of drug taking: wine and poppy derivatives in the ancient world. II. Wine-induced loss of control and vigilance.

The loss of control, the misjudgment of events, and the lack of vigilance were among the effects of drunkenness that the Ancients perceived as being particularly harmful. The sexual behavior was mainly affected by the loss of control: rape, incest, and fulfillment of a tragic oracle were examples of the ruinous outcome of drunkenness. Excessive drinking, besides the intervention of a good, was considered responsible for a temporary loss of judgment, which could be fatal for the drinker. Finally, several mythological examples were provided to support the view that drunk people were harmless in front of the enemy.

Alcoholic Intoxication↗
PubMed1997

The rules of drug taking: wine and poppy derivatives in the ancient world. V. Sobriety or postponement of drunkenness?

In spite of declared intentions to maintain control of drinking, we have cues that during the symposium enough wine was ingested to get intoxicated. Hence, it was widely debated how much wine could be safety drunk, and the conclusion was that it was a matter of individual endurance. Apparently, elders were less prone to wine-induced loss of rationality and control. In conclusion, the Ancients were aware of potential dangers of wine and that its consumption needed rules, but apparently these rules existed for being broken.

Alcohol Drinking↗
PubMed1997

The rules of drug taking: wine and poppy derivatives in the Ancient World. IX. Conclusions.

Evidence of a ritual use of poppies becomes more and more rare during the late Roman age, until only the medical usage of poppies seems to survive. In the meantime, a complete lack of evidence of a hedonic use of opium persists. As a whole, this study shows a remarkable continuity in the modalities of wine and poppy derivative use from the Ancient World to the present, particularly in that the hedonic use of psychoactive drugs remained restricted to alcoholic beverages. This observation challenges the opinion that drug-taking behavior is under the control of transient cultural contingencies. In addition, it imputes that the attribution of any documented prehistoric or historical nonmedical use of psychotropic drugs for the aim of experimenting with their pleasant effects is a stereotype.

Culture↗
PubMed1997

The rules of drug taking: wine and poppy derivatives in the ancient world. IV. The rules of temperance.

Drinking in moderation was considered fully appropriate for Greek citizens and, accordingly, wine played a central role in the symposium, where adult men met to enjoy poems, music, conversation, and sex. To reach the goal of remaining "euphoric" without getting intoxicated, wine was drunk diluted. Usually, three parts of water were added to one part of wine. Since drinking diluted wine produces a slow rise of alcoholemia, the pharmacological rationale of this habit seems to stand on two factors: 1) feeling relaxed and euphoric are mainly perceived during the rise of alcoholemia: 2) alcohol intake can be titrated as long as intoxication is not reached.

Alcohol Drinking↗
PubMed1997

The rules of drug taking: wine and poppy derivatives in the ancient world. VI. Poppies as a source of food and drug.

Poppies were widely used during antiquity as a source of food, therapeutics, and poisons. It is likely that the alimentary value of poppy seeds was known in the Neolithic age, and there is some evidence that the neuropsychopharmacological effects of poppy juice were exploited during the Minoan civilization in the eastern Mediterranean basin. The Minoan civilization dates the attribution to poppies of symbolic meanings connected with rites of agricultural fertility. The persistence throughout antiquity of this symbolism is testified by literary and iconographic evidence of the attribution of poppies to goddesses of fertility, such as Demeter, Aphrodite, and Ceres.

Ceremonial Behavior↗
PubMed1997

The rules of drug taking: wine and poppy derivatives in the ancient world. VII. A ritual use of poppy derivatives?

Besides fertility, poppies have been used to symbolize sleep, night, and death. Consistent with the agrarian origin of their ritual use, poppies also became a symbol of reincarnation. Several literary and iconographic sources, in particular of the early Roman imperial age, are here interpreted as evidence that poppy derivatives were ingested during mystery rites. The reversible narcotic effects of poppy derivatives should have allowed a "realistic" representation of death and reincarnation, as intended by the Orphic belief of the transmigration of souls.

Funeral Rites↗
PubMed1997

The rules of drug taking: wine and poppy derivatives in the ancient world. III. Wine as an instrument of aggressive behavior and of ritual madness.

Wine-induced facilitation of aggressive behavior was well known by the Ancients but, being considered a sign of cowardice, its exploitation on the battlefield was attributed to barbarians only. Aspects of drinking behavior considered particularly negative, such as drinking undiluted wine or getting drunk, were also attributed to barbarians. Drunkenness was, however, condoned during Dionysian feasts, when wine became, along with dance, the instrument of enthusiasm, the possession by the god. Similarities between Dionysian feasts and Sciamanic rites are discussed.

Aggression↗
PubMed1997

The rules of drug taking: wine and poppy derivatives in the Ancient World. VIII. Lack of evidence of opium addiction.

The widespread therapeutic use of opium and its probable ritual use is faced with the absence of any explicit description of cases of opium dependence. It is possible that this was due to a lack of diagnostic capability. However, even the attempt to uncover cases of opium dependence by systematically analyzing the literary passages in which poppies, opium, and meconium are quoted are unsuccessful. The only two cases of suspected opium addiction that can be selected in this way are those of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius and Ovid. The most parsimonious interpretation is the lack of an hedonic use of poppy derivatives, being that this kind of use is the most frequently connected with the development of addiction.

Ancient Lands↗
PubMed1996

Tolerance does not develop to the suppressant effects of (-)-norpseudoephedrine on ingestive behavior in the rat.

-(-)-Norpseudoephedrine (NPE), the enantiomer of cathine and a structural analog of phenylpropanolamine, shows anorectic and antidipsic effects that have been referred to its structural analogies with amphetamine. When amphetamine is chronically administered to rats, its anorectic effects fade out, water intake is progressively increased, and the diuretic response to the drug remains stable. Our previous studies show that chronic administration of NPE does not produce the typical amphetamine hyperdipsic response. In the present study, designed to obtain a more detailed picture of the ingestive and diuretic effects of chronic exposure to NPE, we evaluated the effects of 11 daily administrations of three doses of NPE (17, 32, and 56 mg/kg IP) on food and water intake, as well as on diuresis, in rats maintained in conditions of free access to food and water. Results show that all three doses inhibited food intake at 2 h, whereas only the highest dose inhibited food intake at 5 h. No differences between groups were detected at 24 h. These responses remained unchanged throughout the 11 days of treatment, and substitution of NPE with a solvent injection caused no rebound feeding. NPE treatment did not modify the ingestive response to a challenge injection of amphetamine, 0.56 and 1.0 mg/kg IP, given 1 day apart. Although NPE inhibited water intake throughout the experiment, it did so significantly only during the first 2 h postinjection. Urine output in the NPE-treated groups increased significantly on the first day only. These findings make it unlikely that the anorectic effects of NPE depend on an amphetamine-like mechanism of action. In addition, the short-lasting anorectic and antidipsic effects of NPE and the lack of tolerance to them raise the possibility of a therapeutic use of this drug as an adjuvant in the therapy of eating disorders characterized by binge episodes.

Amphetamine↗
PubMed1995

Prevalence and outcome of symptomatic carotid lesions in young adults. National Research Council Study Group.

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the prevalence and outcome of symptomatic internal carotid artery lesions in young adults. DESIGN: Multicentre hospital based observational study with five year follow up. SETTING: Seven neurological departments in northern and central Italy. SUBJECTS: 240 patients (115 men) aged 15-44 with a recent transient ischaemic attack or stroke in the carotid territory. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: (a) Prevalence of symptomatic internal carotid artery stenosis or occlusion detected by continuous wave Doppler ultrasonography at entry; (b) incidence rates of cerebral, cardiac, and non-vascular death; non-fatal stroke; and non-fatal myocardial infarction. RESULTS: Carotid stenoses of 50-99% and occlusions were found in 38 patients (15.8%). Both conditions were significantly more frequent in patients aged over 35 and in those with hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and stroke at entry. The standardised mortality ratio at five years was 10.5 (95% confidence interval 5.0 to 19.3). Survival of patients with stenoses of 0-49% and occlusions was significantly better than that of patients with stenoses of 50-99%. Carotid stenosis of 50-99% was an independent predictor of death (hazard ratio 7.9; 95% confidence interval 2.2 to 29) and non-fatal stroke (hazard ratio 7.4; 1.5 to 37.4). CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of carotid stenosis or occlusion in young adults after a cerebrovascular event is low. Though patients with high grade symptomatic carotid stenosis are at risk of non-fetal and fetal events, patients with internal artery occlusion apparently have a benign prognosis.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

Environment-specific reinstatement of amphetamine-mediated hyperdipsia by morphine and (-)-norpseudoephedrine.

In a study designed to determine whether environmental and pharmacological stimuli have the ability to take control of amphetamine-mediated hyperdipsia, rats were injected with d,l-amphetamine (AMPH; 4 mg/kg, IP) alone or in combination with (-)-norpseudoephedrine (NPE; 10 mg/kg, IP) and then returned to the home cage or transferred to a distinct environment (test cage). Water intake was measured hourly for 3 h, in the absence of food. AMPH treatment lasted for 10 days, followed by a 6-day extinction phase during which AMPH, but not NPE, injections were discontinued. Subsequently, all animals received challenge injections: NPE (10 mg/kg) on day 17; AMPH (4 mg/kg) on day 19; and morphine (MOR; 1 mg/kg) on day 21. AMPH-mediated hyperdipsia developed in 50% of animals and had an early onset in the home cage. NPE prevented the AMPH effects. Discontinuation of AMPH treatment promptly normalized drinking in the home cage but increased it further in the test cage. Within 6 days of AMPH discontinuation, hyperdipsia completely disappeared. It was reinstated, in the test cage alone, by a challenge injection of NPE or MOR. We suggest that hyperdipsia is a primary AMPH effect, which in some way is counter-acted by a distinct environment. This appears to elicit a compensatory mechanism that is revealed in the absence of AMPH and is reinstated in a nonspecific way by pharmacological stimuli.

Amphetamine↗
PubMed1994

The role of opioid mechanisms in the anorectic effects of stimulants: U50,488H enhances amphetamine inhibition of free feeding in rats.

The influences of the kappa-opiate agonist U50,488H (U50; 4 mg/kg IP), the neuroleptic haloperidol (HAL; 0.3 mg/kg IP), and MK-801 (0.2 mg/kg IP), a noncompetitive antagonist for NMDA receptors, were compared on the effects of nine days of d-amphetamine (AMPH) treatment (3 mg/kg IP) on food and water intake and urine output. AMPH prevented feeding stimulation produced by U50 during the first 2 h, whereas U50 inhibited the hyperphagic phase that rats showed between 2 and 5 h after AMPH administration. Tolerance did not develop to the first 2-h suppression of feeding; in contrast, the late hyperphagic phase slowly recovered across the nine days of treatment. Combined administration of the two drugs barely affected water intake but considerably increased urine output. Unlike U50, HAL left the late hyperphagic response to AMPH unchanged and delayed the development of hyperdipsia. In our study MK-801 had one effect only: It significantly reduced amphetamine diuresis. These results suggest that by inhibiting the late hyperphagic response U50 enhances the anorectic effects of AMPH, but that dopamine probably has no direct role in this interaction.

3,4-Dichloro-N-methyl-N-(2-(1-pyrrolidinyl)-cycloh↗
PubMed1994

Physiological and environmental aspects of drinking stimulated by chronic exposure to amphetamine in rats.

1. To examine whether the hyperdipsic response to chronic administration of d,l-amphetamine (AMPH) is associated with modification of salt appetite, rats were allowed to choose between tap water and a 1.7% NaCl solution. 2. Under AMPH rats preferred water to saline throughout the experiment. 3. By testing rats in a distinct test cage environmental influences on AMPH-mediated hyperdipsia were also evaluated. 4. In the test cage hyperdipsia was suppressed, but preference for tap water was preserved. 5. Finally, the role of alpha 2-adrenoceptors in the drinking response to AMPH was evaluated by studying the effects of clonidine and yohimbine on water intake. 6. We conclude that AMPH-induced preference for tap water over saline is unrelated to hyperdipsia but, being also induced by yohimbine, it may depend on noradrenergic mechanisms.

Amphetamine↗
PubMed1994

Cross-national interrater agreement on the clinical diagnostic criteria for dementia. WHO-PRA Age-Associated Dementia Working Group, WHO-Program for Research on Aging, Health of Elderly Program.

We assessed the interobserver agreement on the clinical diagnosis of dementia syndrome and dementia subtypes as part of a cross-national project on the prevalence of dementia. Fourteen clinicians from the participating countries (Canada, Chile, Malta, Nigeria, Spain, and the United States) independently assessed the diagnosis of 51 patients whose clinical information was in standard records written in English. We used the DSM-III-R and ICD-10 criteria for dementia syndrome, the NINCDS-ADRDA criteria for Alzheimer's disease (AD), and the ICD-10 criteria for other dementing diseases, and measured interobserver agreement. We found comparable levels of agreement on the diagnosis of dementia using the DSM-III-R (kappa = 0.67) as well as the ICD-10 criteria (kappa = 0.69). Cognitive impairment without dementia was a major source of disagreement (kappa = 0.10). The kappa values were 0.58 for probable AD, 0.12 for possible AD, and rose to 0.72 when the two categories were merged. The interrater reproducibility of the diagnosis of vascular dementia was 0.66 in terms of kappa index; the diagnoses of other dementing disorders as a whole reached a kappa value of 0.40. This study suggests that clinicians from different cultures and medical traditions can use the DSM-III-R and the ICD-10 criteria for dementia effectively and thus reliably identify dementia cases in cross-national research. The interrater agreement on the diagnosis of dementia might be improved if clear-cut guidelines in the definition of cognitive impairment are provided. To improve the reliability of AD diagnosis in epidemiologic studies, we suggest that the NINCDS-ADRDA "probable" and "possible" categories be merged.

Aged↗
PubMed1993

Dementia with leucoaraiosis and dural arteriovenous malformation: clinical and PET case study.

A case of rapidly progressive dementia with diffuse leucoaraiosis on CT was attributable to a supratentorial dural arteriovenous malformation. Positron emission tomography (PET) showed low cerebral blood flow and high oxygen extraction ratio throughout the cerebral hemispheres indicating a state of chronic haemodynamic compromise which could predispose to the development of a vascular dementia. CT images of dilated intracerebral veins suggested that a venous drainage overload rather than a vascular steal phenomenon might be involved in the pathophysiology of the dementia of vascular origin.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Lupus anticoagulant and anticardiolipin antibodies in young adults with cerebral ischemia.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Our study evaluates in an unselected young population with cerebral ischemia the frequency of antiphospholipid antibodies; the relationship of antiphospholipid antibodies to conventional risk factors for and pathological mechanisms of cerebral ischemia; and the risk of recurrence of cerebral ischemia or systemic thrombotic events in patients with antiphospholipid antibodies compared with those without. METHODS: We prospectively tested for antiphospholipid antibodies in 55 of 59 young (aged 15-44 years) adults consecutively examined for ischemic stroke (n = 44) or transient ischemic attack (n = 11). These patients underwent a complete clinical and laboratory assessment for cerebral ischemia and had a 3-year mean follow-up. RESULTS: Ten patients (18%), all with stroke, had antiphospholipid antibodies. Antiphospholipid antibodies were significantly more frequent in women than in men (Fisher's test, p = 0.014). Two patients with antiphospholipid antibodies had a new diagnosis of systemic lupus erythematosus. On angiography, none of the patients with antiphospholipid antibodies had extracranial lesions. Patients with antiphospholipid antibodies had significantly more prior cerebral events (Fisher's test, p = 0.014), and, by survival analysis, higher probability of cerebral ischemic or systemic thrombotic events during follow-up than patients without (log rank test, p less than 0.005). CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that the prevalence of antiphospholipid antibodies is rather high in young adults with cerebral ischemia; that patients with cerebral ischemia and antiphospholipid antibodies may have unrecognized systemic lupus erythematosus; and that, among young patients with cerebral ischemia, patients with antiphospholipid antibodies constitute a subgroup at high risk of cerebral ischemic or systemic thrombotic recurrence. Prevention in this latter group may require close follow-up and treatment.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Dapiprazol prevents U50,488H-mediated suppression of preparatory components of drinking behavior in rats.

In a previous study, we found that the kappa opioid agonist U50,488H (U50) suppresses both appetitive and consummatory components of drinking behavior in rats trained to negotiate water in a straight runway. U50 also activates diuresis. Kappa opioid mechanisms could therefore play a dissipative role in the body's water balance. Since naloxone inhibits diuresis, but not hypodipsia produced by U50, these effects are probably mediated also by nonopioid mechanisms. In rats trained to negotiate water in a straight runway, we have studied the influence on the hypodipsic effects of U50 of the selective alpha-1 adrenoceptor antagonist dapiprazol (DAP), which we found to inhibit U50-mediated diuresis. When given alone, DAP (3 and 6 mg/kg IP) influenced neither running for water nor water intake; neither did it prevent the suppression of water intake produced by U50 (8 mg/kg IP) across the test. However, it did antagonize the U50-mediated slowing of running for water. Alpha-1 adrenoceptors thus appear to play a role in U50's effects on diuresis and the appetitive, but not consummatory, aspects of drinking.

3,4-Dichloro-N-methyl-N-(2-(1-pyrrolidinyl)-cycloh↗