Search results for "CALCIUM"
showing 10 items of 1740 documents
Central action of cinnarizine and flunarizine: A saccadic eye movement study
1994
The mechanism of action of flunarizine (FZ) and cinnarizine (CZ) on the CNS is not fully understood. Computer analysis of saccadic eye movements (SEM) provides a sensitive and objective method for evaluating drug effect on the function of specific brain structures. This study aimed to assess the effect of a single oral dose of FZ (20 mg) and CZ (150 mg) on CNS function by means of computer analysis of SEM. Ten healthy volunteers were studied according to a double-blind, cross-over, placebo-controlled design. Peak saccadic velocity (PSV), which is related to the function of a specific group of burst neurons located in the brain stem, was significantly reduced by FZ. No significant effect of …
Identification and expansion of human osteosarcoma-cancer-stem cells by long-term 3-aminobenzamide treatment
2009
A novel cancer stem-like cell line (3AB-OS), expressing a number of pluripotent stem cell markers, was irreversibly selected from human osteosarcoma MG-63 cells by long-term treatment (100 days) with 3-aminobenzamide (3AB). 3AB-OS cells are a heterogeneous and stable cell population composed by three types of fibroblastoid cells, spindle-shaped, polygonal-shaped, and rounded-shaped. With respect to MG-63 cells, 3AB-OS cells are extremely smaller, possess a much greater capacity to form spheres, a stronger self-renewal ability and much higher levels of cell cycle markers which account for G1-S/G2-M phases progression. Differently from MG-63 cells, 3AB-OS cells can be reseeded unlimitedly wit…
Hawthorn extract inhibits human isolated neutrophil functions.
2008
Hawthorn extract is a popular herbal medicine given as adjunctive treatment for chronic heart failure. In contrast to the cardiac properties of hawthorn extract, its anti-inflammatory effect has been scarcely investigated. This study examines the effects of a dry extract of leaves and flowers of Crataegus laevigata on various functional outputs of human neutrophils in vitro. Incubation of human neutrophils obtained from peripheral blood of healthy donors with C. laevigata extract (0.75-250 microg/ml) inhibited N-formyl-Met-Leu-Phe (FMLP)-induced superoxide anion generation, elastase release and chemotactic migration with potency values of 43.6, 21.9, and 31.6 microg/ml, respectively. By con…
Evidence that the interaction between circulating IgA and fibronectin is a normal process enhanced in primary IgA nephropathy
1991
A solid-phase ELISA was set up to measure the direct binding capacity (BC) of different, commercially available, purified human IgA preparations to plates coated with human fibronectin (FN). It was found that secretory, polymeric, and, to a much lesser extent, monomeric IgA exhibited elevated FN-BC as compared to their BC to plates coated with bovine serum albumin. This binding was specific since not observed with human IgG or IgM antibodies. In addition, we noted that this interaction was dose dependent, Ca2+ dependent, saturable, and not covalent, was inhibited by soluble FN, but not by a prior incubation of FN-coated plates with anti-human fibronectin antibodies, and appeared to involve …
A semi-automatic approach for epicardial adipose tissue segmentation and quantification on cardiac CT scans
2019
Abstract Many studies have shown that epicardial fat is associated with a higher risk of heart diseases. Accurate epicardial adipose tissue quantification is still an open research issue. Considering that manual approaches are generally user-dependent and time-consuming, computer-assisted tools can considerably improve the result repeatability as well as reduce the time required for performing an accurate segmentation. Unfortunately, fully automatic strategies might not always identify the Region of Interest (ROI) correctly. Moreover, they could require user interaction for handling unexpected events. This paper proposes a semi-automatic method for Epicardial Fat Volume (EFV) segmentation a…
Histological Features of Cerebellar Neuropathology in Patients With Alcoholic and Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis
2018
Alcoholic steatohepatitis (ASH) and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) affect 29 million people in the European Union. Patients with ASH and NASH may exhibit cognitive impairment, reducing their quality of life. Steatohepatitis induces cerebral alterations. It is not known if histological analysis could allow distinguishing ASH, NASH, and/or cirrhosis neuropathology and other entities. The aim of this work was to analyze a set of histopathological features characterizing the brain lesions due to ASH, NASH, and cirrhosis. We performed a histological study using hematoxylin and eosin staining and immunohistochemical techniques in cerebellum of 31 subjects who died with healthy liver (n = 6),…
Autoantibodies against the calcium-sensing receptor and cytokines in autoimmune polyglandular syndromes types 2, 3 and 4
2017
OBJECTIVE: The frequency of autoimmunity against the parathyroid glands in patients with polyglandular autoimmunity that is not due to autoimmune polyendocrine syndrome type 1 (APS1) is unclear. To investigate this, the current study aimed to determine the prevalence of autoantibodies against parathyroid autoantigens the calcium-sensing receptor (CaSR) and NACHT leucine-rich-repeat protein 5 (NALP5) in a large group of patients with non-APS1 polyendocrine autoimmunity. Possible occult APS1 was investigated by cytokine autoantibody measurement and AIRE gene analysis. DESIGN, SUBJECTS, AND MEASUREMENTS: Subjects were 178 patients with APS2, 3 or 4, and 80 healthy blood donors. Autoantibodies …
Prospective assessment of post-extraction gingival closure with bone substitute and calcium sulphate
2009
Introduction: The closure of post extraction gingival defects has not been studied in depth, although their achievement is of great importance in certain situations, such as prior to radiotherapy treatment in patients with oral cancer. The aim of this study is to assess the influence of bone substitutes on the time of closure of post extraction gingival defects. Materials and Methods: 22 patients underwent two symmetrical dental extractions. Using a split mouth model, with random assignment to one or other group, one was considered a control group (no filling with any type of material post extraction), whereas the other was considered the experimental group (filling with bone substitute and…
Poorly differentiated synovial sarcoma: A case report
2001
Poorly differentiated synovial sarcoma is a rare soft tissue tumor. We studied a case arising in the pleural cavity of a young subject, characterised by the presence of spindle cell, small cell, and large epithelioid cell areas. We performed stains for mucosubstances and analysed the expression of cytokeratins 5/6, 7, 8, 18, 19, CEA, CD34, Ber-Ep4 and calretinin to characterize the phenotype of this neoplasm. We furthermore assessed immunohistochemically the presence of p53, Bcl-2, Bax and caspase 3, four apoptotic markers, to evaluate a relationship between apoptotic activity and the behaviour of this tumor. Our findings showed a strong presence of calretinin, p53 and Bcl-2 in all three ar…
Cyclosporin- and nifedipine-induced gingival overgrowth in renal transplant patients: correlations with periodontal and pharmacological parameters, a…
1996
The factors associated with cyclosporin A (CsA)- and nifedipine (Nif)-induced gingival overgrowth were investigated in 113 renal transplant recipients receiving CsA alone (Group 1) [n = 61], CsA and Nif (Group 2) [n = 28], or azathioprine (Aza) (Control Group) [n = 24]. Periodontal and pharmacological parameters were assessed for each patient. The patients with a gingival overgrowth index (GOI) score1 were considered responders (R); those with a score/= 1 were non-responders (NR). Gingival overgrowth occurred in 33.7% of the patients in Groups 1 and 2; 60% of the responders were receiving CsA+Nif. In R, no relationship was found between the GOI and the periodontal and pharmacological parame…