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Biomedical subjects

P Russo

Publications and source records attributed to P Russo.

At least 451 records · Page 25Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Serum neopterin levels in liver cirrhosis.

Neopterin is a pyrazino-pyrimidine compound which is biosynthesized by macrophages. Increased concentrations of neopterin have been reported in conditions causing a stimulation of cellular immunity, such as viral and other infections, graft versus host disease, autoimmune disease and different malignancies. Recently, urinary neopterin levels have been found increased in patients with acute viral hepatitis and NANB chronic hepatitis. In the present study, neopterin serum levels have been measured in 23 cirrhotic patients (6 HBV related, and 17 cryptogenetic cirrhosis, 7 of them occurring in alcoholic subjects) and in 24 normal subjects. Mean values of serum neopterin were significantly increased in cirrhotics (3.92 +/- 3.28 ng/ml versus 1.24 +/- 0.51 ng/ml in controls, p less than 0.01). Serum neopterin values were not found to be significantly different in cirrhotics assessed in three different clinical classes according to Child's classification and in cirrhotics with and without serological findings of active disease. In fact, in cirrhotic patients, serum neopterin levels did not correlate with the values of serum AST, ALT, ALP, GGT and gamma-globulin. These data show that increased levels of serum neopterin occur in cirrhotic patients, but there is no relation between serum neopterin values and the activity or the clinical severity of the disease. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that activated macrophages are involved in all stages of liver cirrhosis irrespective of its aetiology.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Major discrepancies between results obtained with two different methods for evaluating DNA damage: alkaline elution and alkaline unwinding. Possible explanations.

The fluorometric assay of DNA alkaline unwinding, developed by Birnboim and Jevcak (Cancer Res 41: 1889-1892, 1981) was applied to rat liver DNA, after treatment in vivo. N-nitrosodimethylamine, for which DNA damage in rat liver has been extensively investigated, was tested as a standard compound. The results were in complete agreement (both in terms of damage and repair) with data from the literature and with our own results obtained with other methods of detecting DNA alkaline fragmentation. Sensitivity was also of the same order of that of usual methods, with the effect of 0.3 mg/Kg of N-nitrosodimethylamine being detectable. Other DNA damaging carcinogens such as 1,2-dimethylhydrazine, 2-naphthylamine and dacarbazine were also correctly detected. Compounds like nitrofurantoin, benzoin and caprolactam, which appeared clearly positive with the alkaline elution technique, but for which genotoxicity and carcinogenicity are doubtful (nitrofurantoin) or most likely negative (benzoin and caprolactam), gave negative results with this method. This is also in agreement with previous results, observed using a different approach to measuring DNA unwinding. On the basis of these and other observations, we suggest that, under certain conditions, the alkaline elution technique is perhaps not only sensitive to DNA breaks but also to changes in chromatin conformation. Unwinding methods could be more specific in the detection of DNA fragmentations.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Doxorubicin cytotoxicity to P388 lymphocytic leukemia as determined by alkaline elution and established assays.

Very large variations exist in the response of individual tumors to antineoplastic agents, even when the tumors are apparently very similar from the point of view of stage and histological classification. It has been recognized for a long time that methods capable of revealing the specific chemosensitivity of individual tumors could be useful for an individual optimization of a chemotherapeutic protocol. The Tumor Colony Forming Assay (TCFA) and the Biochemical Antimetabolic Assay (BAA) have been proposed for this purpose. Their main limitation is a consequence of the fact that the capability of in vitro growth is required from cells of a tumor grown in vivo. This is often lacking or very poor in the first in vitro passages. In this work we have investigated the possibility of using a sensitive method for evaluating DNA damage, the Alkaline Elution technique (AE). Cells treated in vivo can be easily tested directly for DNA damage. No cell proliferation in vitro is required. It is not required that the measured effect is the specific cause of cell death. A P388 Doxorubicin sensitive line and a resistant subline were tested. Correct correlations between DNA damage and chemosensitivity were obtained working both in vivo and in vitro. This test could be useful for assessing the chemosensitivity in vivo of alkylating and intercalating agents.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Prognostic evaluation of the cardiopathy in Duchenne's muscular dystrophy].

As it has now been ascertained that there is cardiac damage during the course of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), the authors have aimed at evaluating the relationship existing between the development of heart damage with respect to the advancement of age, and, at finding a sure prognostic index of the illness, easily acquired by using non-invasive techniques. Whilst the parameters which show the behaviour of the pumping function of the left ventricle (EF, Delta D%) did not demonstrate a clear correlation regarding their alteration in relation to age, the relationship PEP/LVET showed an accuracy of 92% predicting the terms of survival of patients suffering from DMD.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Thyroxine effects on polyamine metabolism in rat cerebellum and brain cortex during postnatal development.

Polyamine content, ODC and SAMDC activities have been assayed in cerebellum and brain cortex of hyperthyroid rats during postnatal development. Daily thyroxine treatment induced ODC and SAMDC biosynthesis in early periods of postnatal life in both cerebellum and brain cortex. In addition, in comparison to controls an increase in spermidine and spermine content was shown to occur in hyperthyroid rats. A functional correlation between polyamine content and nucleic acids could explain a correlation between polyamine biosynthesis and morphofunctional maturative processes in the brain.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Sensitization of human glioblastoma T98G cells to VP16 and VM26 by human tumor necrosis factor.

The effect of Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF) on VP16 or VM26 cytotoxicity was studied in a human glioblastoma cell line T98G, which expresses TNF-receptors. Although T98G cells did not produce TNF endogenously they were resistant to the cytolytic effect of TNF. T98G cells were also moderately sensitive to the action of VP16 or VM26. TNF given at 1000 U/ml was able to increase the cell drug-sensitivity significantly. This effect was due to an increase in the VP 16-induced cleavable-complexes by TNF. These findings suggest that TNF specifically sensitizes human glioma T98G cells to the effects of VP 16 of VM26.

DNA Damage↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Effect of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor on growth of a xenotransplanted human ovarian cancer cell line IGROV-1 in nude mice.

The clonal growth of cell lines derived from human ovarian tumours can be stimulated by GM-CSF in vitro. Among these cell lines one of the most responsive is the IGROV-1 cell line. This report describes the influence of GM-CSF on the in vivo growth of IGROV-1 cell xenografts in nude mice. Beginning one day after transplantation of the tumour, the cytokine was administered daily for 31 consecutive days as i.m. injections distant from the tumour lesion at doses of 0.1 microgram/kg and 1 microgram/kg. GM-CSF caused no significant effects on the growth modulation of the ovarian cancer cells in vivo.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Intraperitoneal infusion of recombinant human tumor necrosis factor and mitoxantrone in neoplastic ascites: a feasibility study.

In cancers limited to the abdominal cavity the intraperitoneal administration of antineoplastic drugs could be the treatment of choice because of both the limited systemic toxicity and the pharmacokinetic advantage. Preclinical studies suggest that the combination of Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF) and mitoxantrone have a synergistic effect. On this basis, we conducted a study to verify the feasibility of the intraperitoneal administration of these drugs in patients with malignant ascites. Cohorts of three patients were treated with a fixed dose of mitoxantrone (6 mg/m2) and escalating doses of TNF (from 60 up to 200 mcg/m2), intraperitoneally, given for two hours once a week for at least four weeks. Seventeen patients with malignant ascites entered into the study. All but two patients received the planned four cycles. Sixty-six cycles were given. The most common side effects were fever (21-44% of cycles), chills (8-44%), fatigue (19-33%), loss of appetite (17-57%), malaise (25-43%), myalgia (33%), pain injection (25-83%), nausea/vomiting (33-64%). Severe fatigue, malaise and anorexia were observed only at doses of 200 mcg/m2 of TNF. Weekly intraperitoneal administration of mitoxantrone (6 mg/m2) and TNF (200 mcg/m2) is a feasible regimen with acceptable toxicity. The activity of this combination should be studied in properly designed phase II trials.

Aged↗