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Biomedical subjects

R Pasquali

Publications and source records attributed to R Pasquali.

126 records · Page 7Linked to original sources
PubMed1981

Effect of prolonged administration of ranitidine on pituitary and thyroid hormones, and their response to specific hypothalamic-releasing factors.

We have studied, in a double blind controlled trial, 30 male patients with duodenal ulcer to evaluate the effect of prolonged oral administration of ranitidine (150 mg bd for 4 weeks), a new H2-receptor antagonist, on basal PRL, LH, FSH and TSH concentrations, on their response to specific releasing hormones, and on basal and TRH-stimulated levels of thyroid hormones. Neither the basal levels of PRL, FSH, LH and TSH, nor their response to stimulation with appropriate releasing hormone were affected by ranitidine. Basal concentrations of T4 and its levels after TRH stimulation at 40 min (but not at 20, 60 and 120 min) were lower after ranitidine treatment (P less than 0.05); basal and stimulated T3 and rT3 were unaffected. These results could suggest a possible role of histamine in thyroxine regulation but further studies are required.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

Double blind controlled trial with oxmetidine and cimetidine in the short-term treatment of duodenal ulcer.

Clinical efficacy and safety of oxmetidine (400 mg b.i.d.), a new potent specific H2-receptor antagonist, and cimetidine (1 g/day) were compared in a double-blind randomized trial of 4 weeks duration that involved 39 outpatients with endoscopically proven active duodenal ulcer. The disappearance of the ulcer crater leading to complete reepithelization of the bulbs or to the presence of erosions occurred in 17 out of 19 (89.6%) patients treated with oxmetidine, and in 13 out of 20 (65.0%) patients treated with cimetidine (n.s.). Ulcer symptoms and antacid consumption were not different in two groups. No side effects or significant haematological or biochemical abnormalities were found. Both drugs failed to evoke significant changes in the basal levels of prolactin (PRL) and gonadotropins. The higher, though not significant, percentage of healing obtained with oxmetidine had no clinical relevance and needs to be demonstrated in a larger number of patients.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

[The clofibrate-dipyridamole combination in the treatment of athero-arteriosclerotic vasculopathy].

A group of patients with athero-arteriosclerotic vascular disease (coronary heart disease and atherosclerosis of the extremities) have been subjected to platelet antiaggregating-antidyslipidaemic treatment with a chlofibrate-dipyridamol association; a control series was treated with chlofibrate alone. Frequency of angina pectoris, pain intensity and trinitrine consumption ware evaluated in patients with coronary heart disease, claudicometry, oscillometry and thermometry in patients with atherosclerosis of the extremities. The following laboratory parameters were also analysed: cholesterolaemia, triglyceridaemia, prothrombin activity, fibrinogenaemia, uricaemia and tolerance of oral glucose loading. Analysis of the results has shown that the association improved the parameters considered in statistically significant fashion; chlofibrate alone led to significant modifications of coronaropathic group parameters (with the exception of pain intensity) whereas it did not lead to significant changes in parameters evaluated for atherosclerosis of the extremities. All laboratory parameters were modified favourably by the association to a statistically greater extent than by chlofibrate alone. Both the association and chlofibrate were well tolerated.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Clinical application of the 24-H urinary C-peptide excretion rate and its relationship to metabolic control in diabetics.

In this study, we evaluated in normal subjects, insulin-dependent (IDD) and non-insulin-dependent (NIDD) diabetics, the diurnal urinary C-peptide excretion rate (CPR-U) and its relationship to serum C-peptide concentration and glucose:C-peptide molar ratio, and to the common parameters of metabolic control. The CPR-U (and CPR-U/g creatinine) were significantly lower in IDD and higher in NIDD compared to control subjects. Moreover, a good and significant correlation with serum C-peptide concentrations and the glucose:C-peptide ratio in diabetic subjects as well as in controls and diabetics considered together was found. A slight but significant correlation was present in diabetic subjects between CPR-U and body mass index (r = 0.45), 24-h glycosuria (r = 0.36), HbA1 levels (r = 0.31), post-prandial glucose concentrations (r = 0.26) and per cent glucose variation after each meal (r = 0.34). No differences were found in CPR-U and the degree of metabolic control between obese and non-obese NIDD. In conclusion, CPR-U may be a useful and simple method of defining the secretory activity of the B-cell. Metabolic control in diabetics is slightly correlated to the degree of B-cell function as evaluated by the diurnal excretion rate of C-peptide in urine.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Effect of dietary carbohydrates during hypocaloric treatment of obesity on peripheral thyroid hormone metabolism.

The effect of different hypocaloric carbohydrate (CHO) intakes was evaluated in 8 groups of obese patients in order to assess the role of the CHO and the other dietary sources in modulating the peripheral thyroid hormone metabolism. These changes were independent of those of bw. Serum T3 concentrations appear to be more easily affected than those of reverse T3 by dietary manipulation and CHO content of the diet. A fall in T3 levels during the entire period of study with respect to the basal levels occurred only when the CHO of the diet was 120 g/day or less, independent of caloric intake (360, 645 or 1200 calories). Moreover, reverse T3 concentrations were found increased during the entire period of study when total CHO were very low (40 to 50 g/day) while they demonstrated only a transient increase when CHO were at least 105 g/day (with 645 or more total calories). Indeed, our data indicate that a threshold may exist in dietary CHO, independent of caloric intake, below which modifications occur in thyroid hormone concentrations. From these results it appears that the CHO content of the diet is more important than non-CHO sources in modulating peripheral thyroid hormone metabolism and that the influence of total calories is perhaps as pronounced as that of CHO when a "permissive" amount of CHO is ingested.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Lack of mutations of type 1 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase gene in patients with abdominal obesity.

There is increasing evidence that in human obesity, particularly the abdominal phenotype, the activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is disregulated. At least two distinct alterations have been reported: one is characterized by several neuroendocrine abnormalities and hyperresponsiveness of the HPA axis to different neuropeptides, the other is characterized by elevated cortisol traffic and probably by supranormal cortisol production. The 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (11beta-HSD) enzymes interconvert cortisol and cortisone in human. Two different isoforms have been identified. A possible modification of the activity of the enzyme 11beta-HSD1 in subjects with abdominal obesity has been described in the literature. We decided to test the hypothesis that mutated isoforms of type 11beta-HSD1 protein could be responsible for alterations of cortisol metabolism in patients with abdominal obesity. A mutational screening of the whole coding sequence and exon-flanking regions of the 11B-HSD1 gene has been performed in 8 patients. The main results of our study are the exclusion of a common association of 11beta-HSD1 mutations to obesity and the identification of two novel allelic variants for the gene 11beta-HSD1 in the Italian population, not previously described in any database.

11-beta-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenases↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Obesity and adipose tissue distribution in men: relation to sex steroids and insulin].

The aim of this study was to assess the correlation between the distribution of adipose tissue, sexual hormones and hyperinsulinemia in male obesity. Fifty-two obese males, aged 40.0 +/- 10.9 years old and with a body mass index (BMI) of 35.0 +/- 6.1 (m +/- SD), not suffering from diabetes or any other endocrine disease, were included in the study. A group of 20 subjects aged 30.5 +/- 7.9 (p less than 0.005 vs obese subjects) and with a BMI of 23.0 +/- 2.0 were used as controls. Body fat distribution was assessed using the waist/hip ratio (w/h ratio): 0.985 +/- 0.052 in obese subjects and 0.913 +/- 0.061 in controls (p less than 0.005). In comparison to control subjects, significantly lower levels of total (T) (357 +/- 132 vs 498 +/- 142 ng/dl; p less than 0.005) and free testosterone (FT) (14.2 +/- 2.9 vs 17.1 +/- 2.6 pg/ml; p less than 0.05) were found in the obese group, as well sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) (41.7 +/- 31.9 vs 66.2 +/- 18.6 nmol/l; p less than 0.001). None of the other steroids (androstenedione, dehydroepiandrosterone-sulphate, estrone, 17 beta-estradiol, dihydrotestosterone) or FSH and LH gonadotropins assayed differed between the two groups. Significantly higher levels of insulin and C-peptide, both fasting and after a oral glucose tolerance test, were also found in obese subjects.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adipose Tissue↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Benfluorex action on metabolic control and insulin sensitivity in type 2 non-insulin dependent diabetics.

In this study, 16 overweight or obese NIDDM patients with a long period of stable weight and dietary surveillance were treated with 150 mg t.i.d. of Benfluorex per os for 3 months. A significant improvement occurred in the fasting and post-meal glucose levels and in the HbA1C values, regardless of weight changes that occurred throughout the study. No significant changes were found in the fasting or meal-stimulated insulin (IRI) levels and in the glucose:IRI molar ratios. On the contrary, there were no significant variations in C-peptide levels while the glucose:CPR ratio appeared to decrease while on Benfluorex. In basal conditions, 11 patients presented insulin insensitivity (as measured by the glucose-insulin-somatostatin technique) which was unaffected by the pharmacological treatment. Benfluorex may therefore ameliorate metabolic control in overweight or obese NIDDM patients, but our data do not clarify whether its effects are mediated by an improvement in the action of insulin in peripheral tissues.

Aged↗