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Biomedical subjects

S Todesco

Publications and source records attributed to S Todesco.

At least 181 records · Page 10Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Anti-inflammatory effect of mud-bath applications on adjuvant arthritis in rats.

OBJECTIVE: The real effects of mud-bath applications on the inflammatory process are still not clarified. We studied these effects on rat adjuvant-induced arthritis. METHODS: Arthritis was induced in 30 rats by subplantar injection of Freund's complete adjuvant (FCA) into the right hind paw. Ten days after FCA injection, the rats were randomized in 3 groups of 10 each: the first one was submitted to a cycle of mud-bath applications, the second one was treated with indomethacin, the third one received only saline per os (control group). The paw volume, measured by plethysmometry, and the serum levels of TNFalpha and IL-1beta were considered as evaluation parameters. RESULTS: FCA injection caused a progressive enhancement of paw volume and a rapid increase of TNFalpha and IL-1beta serum levels. After the randomization, mud-bath applications reduced inflammation and at the end of the treatment the paw volume and the TNFa and IL-1beta serum levels were significantly tapered in comparison to the controls (p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: The results of the study suggest an anti-inflammatory effect of mud-bath applications on adjuvant arthritis in rats. These results could explain the beneficial effects of thermal treatments observed in some inflammatory rheumatic diseases.

Acute Disease↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Intra-articular treatment with the TNF-alpha antagonist, etanercept, in severe diffuse pigmented villonodular synovitis of the knee].

Pigmented villonodular synovitis (PVNS) is a rare pre-malignant disease that require aggressive treatment as surgical synovectomy, eventually followed by radiosynovectomy. Nevertheless, the disease often reoccurs after these treatments. To determine the safety and efficacy of intra-articular (IA) TNFalpha blockade with etanercept (ETN), before extended arthroscopic synovectomy, in severe PVNS of the knee, two patients, (a 26-year-old man with B27+ undifferentiated spondylarthropathy and a 32-year-old femal with seronegative oligoarthritis), affected by diffuse knee PVNS (diagnosis made by histological examination), resistant to IA corticosteroid injections and to repeated arthroscopic synovectomy, were submitted, after protocol approval by human research committee and patient's written informed consent to intra-articular etanercept (IA-ETN) treatment with a different dosage schedule: 12.5 mg weekly IA-ETN injection for 4 weeks, followed by extended arthroscopic synovectomy and of 25 mg IA-ETN injection for 4 weeks, respectively. Previous DMARDs treatment was continued in stable appropriate doses. Any adverse events were recorded throughout the study. The following parameters were considered as clinical endpoints: 1) Knee Joint Index (KJI: range 0-14); 2) Thompson index (THI: range 0-9) At the study entry and at the end of follow-up, high frequency ultrasound grey scale synovial thickening (US-ST) was also assessed. No adverse events were observed due to IA-ETN and to arthroscopic synovectomy. Marked improvement of knee disease activity over time and sustained functional recover was obtained. US-ST evaluation before treatment initiation and at the end of follow-up confirmed the regression of knee joint synovial proliferation.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Clinical value of a peculiar nuclear fluorescence staining in systemic sclerosis.

Using unfixed rat liver sections as substrate for the detection of antinuclear antibodies, distinct nuclear staining was observed in the sera of patients with systemic sclerosis. Its reaction differed from previously described fluorescence patterns and was characterized by numerous fine speckles throughout the nucleus associated with one or more coarse lines. These lines were more evident in diluted sera, when fine speckled fluorescence faded. This picture "fine speckles with lines" (FLS) was defined. The FLS pattern was present in 35% of 91 patients with systemic sclerosis, while it was absent in 517 patients with rheumatic and non-rheumatic disorders and in 100 matched healthy subjects. Moreover, the FSL pattern was significantly associated with the diffuse subset of systemic sclerosis (50% of cases) and was related to the presence of anti-Scl-70 antibody. These results indicate that this fluorescent pattern of antinuclear antibodies may be considered a simple and very useful aid in the diagnosis and prognosis of systemic sclerosis.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The influence of intra-articular hyaluronic acid on PGE2 and cAMP of synovial fluid.

Prostaglandin (PG)E2, cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP), white blood cells (WBC), total protein (TP), total complement activity (CH50) and beta-2-microglobulin (beta-2-m) were measured at baseline and after eight days in the synovial fluid (SF) of 16 patients affected with knee-joint effusion due to various arthropathies. The volume of SF was also calculated. Eight patients--4 with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), 2 with recurrent monoarthritis (RM) and 2 with osteoarthritis (OA) were randomly allocated to the treatment with intra-articular injection of Hyalgan (HA, Na-hyaluronate, 20 mg/2 ml), while eight patients having similar arthropathies--4 RA, 2 RM and 2 OA--were not treated (control group). In the patients treated with HA a significant reduction of SF volume (from 28.5 +/- 5.1 ml to 20.5 +/- 4.0 ml; p less than 0.02) and PGE2 (from 96.1 +/- 22.7 pg/ml to 66.2 +/- 14.5 pg/ml; p less than 0.05) was found, whereas cAMP concentration was significantly increased (from 4.5 +/- 0.7 pmol/ml to 7.2 +/- 1.2 pmol/ml; p less than 0.05). No significant variations were observed in the control group. Moreover, no differences in WBC count, TP and beta-2-m and CH50 were found in either group. These data could suggest an anti-inflammatory effect of HA that appears to be mediated by PG-inhibition as well as cAMP stimulation.

Cyclic AMP↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Radiological lesions of the hands in rheumatoid arthritis with rheumatoid factors and antinuclear antibodies].

Hand radiograms of 119 consecutive patients affected with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) were examined. The patients were distributed in different groups: 46 with (RF+) and 73 without (RF-) rheumatoid factor; 23 with (ANA+) and 96 without (ANA-) antinuclear antibodies. We found that RF+ group significantly differs from the RF- in order to the presence of symmetrical erosions of proximal interphalangeal joints (PIP) and the presence of monolateral erosions of metacarpophalangeal joints (MCP), particularly of the 2nd. We also observed that the frequency of MCP erosions, particularly of the 2nd was higher in ANA+ than in ANA-, and that monolateral PIP erosions were higher in ANA- than in ANA+ group. Moreover, the patients having both RF and ANA more frequently show erosions of symmetrical PIP and monolateral MCP as well as monolateral of the carp. It is therefore suggested that in RA patients having RF or ANA the articular lesions of the hand are different from those of the patients who don't show such serological markers.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Mineral metabolism and bone mineral content in rheumatoid arthritis. Effect of corticosteroids.

An evaluation of mineral metabolism was performed in 41 patients with RA and the pertinent data were compared to bone mineral content in patients either untreated or treated with different doses of corticosteroids. Our study confirms that osteoporosis is a common finding even in rheumatoid patients never treated with corticosteroids. Moreover, in patients treated with such drug the loss of bone mineral content was related to the dosage rather than to the length of treatment. In all cases no overt biochemical derangement was observed. According to our study, parathyroid hormone does not seem to influence the development of osteoporosis in rheumatoid arthritis, while a relative deficiency of calcitonin along with an inadequate vitamin D metabolism could play some role.

Adrenal Cortex Hormones↗