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Biomedical subjects

R Moratti

Publications and source records attributed to R Moratti.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1994

Clinical evaluation of a new rapid assay for serum lipase determination.

We evaluated a new continuous colorimetric method for serum lipase determination based on the use of a 1,2-diglyceride as substrate and a specific 2-monoglyceride lipase. This test was compared with a turbidimetric assay and also with serum alpha-amylase and pancreatic isoamylase determinations. We studied 32 patients with acute pancreatitis, 27 with chronic pancreatitis in acute painful relapse, 19 with pancreatic cancer, 44 with other digestive diseases, 53 with end-stage renal disease, and 102 healthy controls. The results of the new test were closely correlated with those of the turbidimetric method (r = 0.96). Sensitivity of the new method was elevated (100%): it was the same as that of the turbidimetric method, but slightly higher than that of alpha-amylase and pancreatic isoamylase determinations (93.7 and 96.9%, respectively). Specificity was 95.5%, i.e. higher than that observed using the other tests (86.4, 84.1 and 88.6% for lipase turbidimetric assay, amylase, and pancreatic isoamylase determinations, respectively). The results demonstrate that this new lipase assay is a sensitive, specific test for the diagnosis of acute pancreatitis.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1992

Clinical validity of a continuous colorimetric method for serum lipase.

The clinical validity of a continuous colorimetric method for measuring pancreatic lipase was assessed. 1,2-Diacylglycerol containing long-chain fatty acid residues was used as substrate, and the method was adapted to a discrete analyser. The dynamic range was ascertained up to at least 30-fold the upper reference limit. Precision tests on three control sera yielded overall CVs of 4.6% (mean value 21 U/l), 2.4% (115 U/l), and 1.0% (386 U/l), respectively. Using serum samples from normal subjects and patients with pancreatic and non-pancreatic disorders, the present method was compared with a turbidimetric method (r = 0.997; n = 281) and a homogeneous enzyme immunoassay (r = 0.987; n = 93). The reference interval established on 121 healthy subjects was 8-57 U/l (central 95th percentile, median 22 U/l). The sensitivity of this lipase assay in the diagnosis of acute pancreatitis (100%, median 5.6-fold the upper reference limit) was equal to that of the pancreatic isoamylase assay, and higher than that of the total alpha-amylase assay (88.2%); the specificity for acute pancreatitis with respect to a group of patients with acute and chronic non-pancreatic abdominal diseases (91%) was higher than that of both pancreatic isoamylase (76%) and total alpha-amylase (71%).

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1992

[Plasma-erythrocyte viscosity and evaluation of several pro- and anti-aggregating factors in NIDDM patients in metabolic decompensation state].

In NIDDM diabetic subjects, the microcirculatory damage shows a double aspect: an alteration of the vascular wall, particularly of the arteriolar capillary, and a hemorheological alteration at the level of the capillary district. In the microcirculation, because of the low velocity of the flow and the inverse relationship between capillary size and RBC diameter, the viscosity has an important role with its components: RBC viscosity and deformability. Even the erythrocyte aggregation has a key role as resultant of the attracting and repulsing forces, among which the plasma-RBC viscosity and the deformability play opposite role. Our method allows to evaluate the erythrocyte, the whole blood, the plasma and the plasma-RBC viscosity, and the deformability. Studies from this laboratory in NIDDM subjects show an increase in the blood viscosity, a decrease in the erythrocyte deformability and plasma-RBC viscosity. It is suggested that in microcirculatory district the flow reductions are particularly of hemorheological type and that the sludged blood is an "optical" phenomenon with poor meaning. We consider some hematological parameters, namely the Hgb A1c %, Hgb concentration, RBC count, MCV, etcetera.

Aged↗
PubMed1992

[Relations between plasma-erythrocyte viscosity factors and ESR].

The ESR is usually put in relationship: to the real density of the RBCs (erythrocytes) (difference between the RBC specific gravity and the plasma one), and to the resistance that the RBCs meet moving in a medium, which is due to the plasma viscosity and to the total external RBC surface. When the RBCs take shape of aggregates, their external surface is decreased and ESR increases. The most important plasma factor causing changes in ESR is the fibrinogen level followed by the plasma globulins and by the products arising from the tissue damage. The resistance that the RBCs meet moving in the plasma is well expressed by the measurement of the plasma-RBC viscosity considering that is inclusive of both factors that are the plasma viscosity and the external RBC surface. The plasma-RBC viscosity is the resultant of several factors: Fa = Fb - Fe - Fs - Fm, were: Fa is the resultant, Fb the attracting forces due to the proteic macromolecules, Fe the repulsing forces due the negative charges. Fs the repulsing forces due to the shear-stress, Fm the force which opposes itself against the surface tension of the aggregation; it depends on the RBC morphology and on the RBC rigidity. The ESR has been recently used like an index of the RBC aggregation. The Authors study the relationship between several hemorheological parameters and the ESR in infective and inflammatory processes.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Blood Sedimentation↗
PubMed1989

Regional assignment of the loci for adenylate kinase to 9q32 and for alpha 1-acid glycoprotein to 9q31-q32. A locus for Goltz syndrome in region 9q32-qter?

Normal levels of adenylate kinase (AK-1) and of alpha 1-acid glycoprotein (ORM1) were found in a girl with a deletion 9q32-qter secondary to a maternal translocation (4q35; 9q32), thus excluding these loci from the deleted region. These results, and comparison with other informative data, map the locus for AK-1 to 9q32 and that for ORM1 to region 9q31-q32. The girl has several signs of the Goltz syndrome (Focal dermal hypoplasia), which is listed in the McKusick catalog (no. 30560) as an X-linked dominant condition. Our finding indicates that the locus for Golz syndrome is autosomal and in region 9q32-qter or that there are two such conditions, one autosomal and one X-linked.

Adenylate Kinase↗
PubMed1988

Detection of malignant pleural effusions by tumor marker evaluation.

Cytologic examination and determination of tumor markers (PHI, LDH, alpha-1-glycoprotein, alpha-2-HS-glycoprotein, beta 2-microglobulin, ferritin [corrected], sialic acid, IgE, fetoprotein, CEA, beta HCG and beta 1-SP-glycoprotein) were carried out in pleural fluid samples obtained from 70 patients with suspected neoplasia. Tumor markers were also determined in sera. The protein content of all pleural effusions was greater than or equal to 3 g/dl. Patients were grouped according to diagnosis as follows: (a) 42 with neoplastic diseases (7 mesotheliomas and 19 lung, 4 ovarian, 3 breast and 8 miscellaneous cancers), (b) 22 with benign inflammations and (c) 6 with congestive effusions. Of the parameters examined, only CEA and beta-HCG [corrected] gave information that the effusion was probably malignant. Using 6 ng/ml as cut-off for CEA and 10 mIU/ml for beta HCG, the sensitivity was 57.1% and 45.2%, respectively, specificity was 92.8% for both parameters and test efficiency 0.75 and 0.69, respectively. When CEA and beta HCG were considered together sensitivity increased to 73.8% and efficiency to 0.78. CEA and/or beta HCG were positive in the pleural effusions of 19 of the 20 malignant pleural effusions, all with a negative cytologic examination, which subsequently became positive in 8. Because of their high specificity, these two parameters are a useful tool and can be routinely measured to evaluate pleural effusions of dubious origin, even if CEA and beta HCG cannot, on [corrected] their own, define the primary malignancy.

Biomarkers, Tumor↗
PubMed1988

Beta-2-microglobulin as a tumor marker in solid malignancies.

Beta-2-microglobulin (beta 2-MG) and CEA were measured in the sera of 186 cancer patients divided into two groups: at diagnosis (D) and at follow-up (F). Four groups of patients at diagnosis (D-I, D-II, D-III and D-IV according to TNM classification) and two at follow-up (in remission, F-RS, and in relapse, F-RP) were considered. All patients had normal serum creatinine and urea concentrations. beta 2-MG values in D-I were significantly (p less than 0.01) lower than those for D-II and D-III, while in D-IV they overlapped those of group D-I. No significant difference was observed between F-RS and F-RP patients. Patients with serum CEA concentration greater than 100 ng/ml revealed beta 2-MG values close to those of groups D-I and D-IV. In 10% of patients in stage IV or with CEA greater than 100 ng/ml beta 2-MG was lower than the mean value of the healthy population. From data beta 2-MG is probably produced by an aspecific reaction to the tumor and the decrease in advanced stages could express a decreased immunologic response. On the other hand, high serum beta 2-MG in the initial stages of the neoplasia may reflect an elevated cell turnover, while low beta 2-MG during the final stages may be due to a weak expression of the protein by highly undifferentiated cells.

Biomarkers, Tumor↗
PubMed1987

Variations in alpha-2-HS glycoprotein level in neoplastic disease with and without involvement of bone.

Variations in the serum level of alpha-HS-glycoprotein may be observed in all pathological conditions which induce changes in bone turn-over, as well as in inflammatory and neoplastic diseases. This study includes 162 patients divided into four groups according to the TNM classification (tumour, lymph node metastasis). The first consisted of patients with neoplasms at TNM stages 1 and 2 with no bone metastases; the second of similar patients at TNM stages 3 and 4. The third group were patients with primary or secondary neoplasms of bone, and the fourth were patients with viral or bacterial diseases. The levels of alpha-2-HS-glycoprotein serum were determined for all the groups and these were compared with AAG (alpha-1-glycoprotein) and CEA (carcinoembryonic antigen). There were no significant differences in the levels of alpha-2-HS-glycoprotein for the first group as compared with normal controls, while in the other groups the differences were significant. The levels of alpha-2-HS-glycoprotein were diminished when the levels of CEA and AAG were both high, but increased when only one of these other parameters was high.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Fecal chymotrypsin: a new diagnostic test for exocrine pancreatic insufficiency in children with cystic fibrosis.

The purpose of this report is to evaluate whether a new, simple, non-invasive method for chymotrypsin measurement in stools is useful for the diagnosis of exocrine pancreatic insufficiency in cystic fibrosis (CF). A hundred children aged from 2 months to 12 years were tested: 50 children had been admitted for chronic diarrhoea, 15 for cystic fibrosis and 40 acted as controls. Chymotrypsin in stools was assayed using a kinetic measurement with Succ-Ala-Ala-Pro-Phe-pNa as substrate in a simple photometric assay. In 13 of 15 children with cystic fibrosis, stool enzyme levels were always remarkably low, while all control subjects and all children not presenting cystic fibrosis had normal stool levels of chymotrypsin. Our data suggest that stool chymotrypsin measurement is a simple and reliable "tubeless" test for the evaluation of exocrine pancreatic insufficiency in children with cystic fibrosis.

Child↗