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Biomedical subjects

V Bonifati

Publications and source records attributed to V Bonifati.

67 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1994

Parkinsonism after chronic exposure to the fungicide maneb (manganese ethylene-bis-dithiocarbamate).

Permanent parkinsonism was observed in a man with chronic exposure to the fungicide maneb (manganese ethylene-bis-dithiocarbamate). Symptoms developed at 37 years of age, two years after exposure had ceased. To our knowledge, this is the second report on parkinsonism associated with exposure to maneb. Manganese is a well-known parkinsonigen toxin in humans. More recently, it has been shown that dithiocarbamates can also induce extrapyramidal syndromes. The biochemical effects of manganese and dithiocarbamates are reviewed and their possible neurotoxic mechanisms are discussed. Both of these components may have played a role in this case.

Humans↗
PubMed1993

Mortality rates for parkinsonism in Italy (1969 to 1987).

Parkinsonism death rates in Italy were analysed for the period 1969-1987. Crude death rates increased markedly in the above period for both sexes. Age-specific rates underwent important changes during these twenty years. In the years 1969-71 the age-specific death rates reach their maximum values at ages 80-84, after which they decline. In the years 1983-87 the rates continue to increase until the 80-84 age group, when they reach a plateau. Moreover, in the more recent years the age-specific rates for ages < 70-75 are lower, whereas those for the older ages are approximately twice as high as the values in the earlier years. The age-adjusted death rates (1981 Italian population) increased slightly in the period studied for both sexes. Rates for males exceed those for females in all the previous analyses. Minor differences appeared in death distribution between the five large areas Italy was divided into. The observed changes in death rates are likely to reflect: changes in age composition of the population over time, greater attention to parkinsonian patients and especially increased duration of this disease following the discovery of its neurochemical basis and effective medical treatment.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Mortality rates for Parkinson's disease and parkinsonism in Italy (1969-1987).

The mortality rates (MRs) for Parkinson's disease (PD) and parkinsonism were analyzed for the period 1969-1987 in Italy, considering the population aged greater than or equal to 25. MRs were then age-adjusted taking the 1981 Italian population as standard. We found an increase in MRs for PD during the period studied. The Italian average annual age-adjusted MR was 5.73, ranging from 4.76 (1969) to 6.81 (1985). Moreover we noticed some interesting differences in the geographic distribution of MRs between the five big areas Italy was divided into. We also found that, while the MR for the ages 65-79 years was quite constant in the period studied, there was a marked increase in the MR for ages greater than 79 years from 1980 onwards. The geographic differences we found in MRs deserve to be analyzed in further epidemiological studies.

Aged↗
PubMed1992

TRH test and the continuous dopaminergic stimulation in complicated Parkinson's disease.

Marked, disabling fluctuations in motor performance (on-off phenomena) appear after chronic L-Dopa therapy in Parkinson's disease (PD). Intravenous infusion of L-Dopa greatly reduces these motor fluctuations, but it is not reliable as a chronic treatment. Therefore, infusion of the potent, water-soluble dopaminergic agonist lisuride has been tested. However, many patients did not respond to infusion of lisuride alone, and no clinical parameter is known to correlate with the lacking response. In order to study this problem, we performed the TRH test (200 micrograms i.v.) in 8 PD patients with severe motor fluctuations; before and during lisuride subcutaneous infusion, we measured PRL and TSH responses to TRH. Both PRL and TSH receive an inhibitory control from dopaminergic receptors on pituitary cells, whereas they are stimulated by TRH. The TRH test, given during lisuride infusion, allows an indirect evaluation of the 'brake function' of the dopaminergic system on anterior pituitary, i.e. of dopaminergic receptor sensitivity in vivo. In our study, TRH induced a significant TSH rise in all PD patients, before and during lisuride infusion. Moreover, the lisuride responders (i.e. patients showing constant 'on' period during lisuride infusion, 4 patients) showed a significant lower TSH response as compared to nonresponders. PRL levels followed the same trend without reaching statistical significance. These data are compatible with the presence, in the two groups, of a different pituitary dopaminergic sensitivity which would suggest the presence of pharmacodynamic factors associated with the lacking response to intravenous lisuride infusion.

Antiparkinson Agents↗
PubMed1992

Rehabilitation and Parkinson's disease.

In this study we evaluated the efficacy of physical therapy together with drug therapy in a group of parkinsonian patients, compared with a group of patients treated using drug therapy only. The physical therapy program lasted four months and included passive and active mobilization exercises, adopted for postural control and equilibrium, walking and prevention of contractures and ankylosis. The assessment was accomplished by means of clinical rating scales and motor performance tests. Patients treated by means of physiotherapy showed an improvement at the end of the study in both clinical scales and motor performance tests. This improvement was noted in both patients with less severe and more severe symptoms as well as in those with shorter and longer disease duration. It is not easy to assess the role played by physical therapy due to the difficulty of an objective evaluation; our results, however, show an improvement in the functional performance of patients and suggest the usefulness of physical therapy associated with drug therapy in a comprehensive treatment for Parkinson's disease.

Aged↗
PubMed1991

Cardiovascular reflexes and autonomic dysfunction in Parkinson's disease.

Cardiovascular reflexes were analysed in a group of 20 patients suffering from Parkinson's disease and in 12 age-matched healthy subjects, in order to ascertain the incidence and degree of autonomic dysfunction. The following were measured: heart rate variation during normal breathing, postural change (30/15 ratio) and during the Valsalva manoeuvre: blood pressure variation after standing. These measurements were taken at least 12 h after therapy had been withdrawn and were repeated after therapy had been resumed. Significant changes in the different heart rate variation indices were found in the parkinsonian patients which correlated with the duration and severity of the extrapyramidal symptomatology. After standing the patients showed a significant drop in blood pressure, when compared respectively with their base values and with the response in controls. Anticholinergic drugs had no significant effect on the heart rate variation indices, whereas antiparkinsonian therapy seems to have contributed to the drop in blood pressure after standing.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Relations between on-off phenomena and cognitive functions in Parkinson disease.

10 patients with Parkinson disease on long term levodopa therapy and with fluctuations in motor performance unrelated to drug administration (on-off phenomena) were assessed on the following neuropsychological tests during the on and off phases: tests of attention (Toulouse-Pieron), memory (Digit Span, Rey forms 1 and 2), psychomotor capacity (maze test, single and multiple choice reaction times) and mood (Maudley Adjective Check List). The extrapyramidal symptoms were assessed on the Webster Rating Scale. We found no significant differences in attention, cognitive performance or mood between the on and off phases despite large fluctuations in motor performance.

Affect↗
PubMed1991

Hypothalamo-pituitary function and dopamine dependence in untreated parkinsonian patients.

Altered prolactin and thyrotropin responses to the TRH test in parkinsonian patients are held to indicate an impairment of the tubero-infundibular dopaminergic axis (TIDA). We correlated the plasmatic prolactin (PRL), thyrotropin (TSH) and somatotropin (GH) responses to TRH and bromocriptine + TRH of 12 parkinsonian patients, who had never received anti-parkinsonian drugs, with the severity, the duration, the age of onset and the dopamine-dependence of the motor symptomatology as indicated by the therapeutic response to a six-month oral treatment with bromocriptine. Patients with basal motor impairment over 9 on the Webster Rating Scale (WRS), those with duration of the disease over 24 months and those with onset earlier than 55 years of age showed lower PRL responses than the respectively matched subgroups. Patients showing a therapeutic motor improvement over 50% on the WRS (dopamine-dependent or "responder") showed lower PRL and TSH and higher GH responses than the non-responders. These findings suggest that the TIDA impairment described in Parkinson's disease develops along with the progressive course of the extrapyramidal involvement and is strictly correlated with the dopamine-dependence of the motor impairment.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Hallucinations in Parkinson disease: neuropsychological study.

Hallucinations occur fairly frequently in the course of the pharmacological treatment of Parkinson disease. Our aim in this study was to assess first the relation between hallucinations and mental deterioration and second the correlation between the perception disorder and the profile on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). Of 304 parkinsonian subjects followed as outpatients at our center 27 (8.88%) had had hallucinations and 17 of these presented marked cognitive deficits (Mini Mental State less than 18) (62.9%) compared with 32 of the other 277 patients (11.5%) (X2 = 55.16, p less than 0.0001). A group of 9 patients who had had hallucinations and 10 controls who had not, all free from marked cognitive deficits, were assessed on the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery (LNNB) and on the MMPI. The two groups did not differ significantly in respect of the LNNB but did in respect of the MMPI scales. On this evidence the frequency of mental deterioration is significantly higher in patients who have hallucinated. We discuss the meaning of the MMPI differences both from the biochemical angle and from that of personality factors. These data suggest that the MMPI might be useful for predicting hallucinations in undeteriorated parkinsonian patients on pharmacological therapy.

Aged↗
PubMed1987

Enzyme histochemistry of monoamine oxidase in the heart of aged rats.

The distribution of monoamine oxidase types A and B in the heart of young (3-month-old) and aged (26-month) Wistar rats was studied by histochemical methods. In young rats, MAO activity was higher in the left ventricle than in the right. Enzyme reactivity was present within both muscle cells and the blood vessel wall. Histochemical staining was abolished by clorgyline administration. In the heart of aged rats, we observed a very remarkable increase of clorgyline sensitive MAO activity primarily at the level of myocardial cells. The right ventricle showed the highest increase of MAO reactivity.

Aging↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Relationship between exposure to environmental toxins and motor neuron disease: a case report].

A case is reported of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis with occupational exposure to solvents and metals. The environmental toxin theory of motorneuron disease, including aspects of epidemiological, clinical, experimental and individual susceptibility is discussed. An overall evaluation of animal and human data was made using a methodological approach developed by the International Agency for Research on Cancer and a Scandinavian group of experts. It is concluded that there is a probable linkage between metals/solvents exposure and motorneuron disease.

Aged↗