Search results for "LCA"
showing 10 items of 1995 documents
Relationship between lanthanide contents in aquatic turtles and environmental exposures
2013
International audience; Trace elements released in the environment during agricultural practices can be incorporated and accumulated in biological fluids and tissues of living organisms. The assessment of these exposures were carried out investigating lanthanide distributions in blood and exoskeleton samples collected from Emys trinacris turtle specimens coming from sites with anthropogenic discharge in western and south Sicily, along migration paths of many bird species from Africa to Europe. The data show a significant (Rxy = 0.72; Rxy > 0.67; α = 0.025) linear relationship between the size of turtle specimens and the lanthanide contents in blood lower than 0.4 μg L−1 whereas this relatio…
Metals and metalloids in hair samples of children living near the abandoned mine sites of Sulcis-Inglesiente (Sardinia, Italy)
2014
International audience; The Sulcis-Iglesiente district (SW Sardinia, Italy) is one of the oldest and most important polymetallic mining areas in Italy. Large outcrops of sulfide and oxide ores, as well as the products of the long-lasting mining activity, are present throughout the district releasing significant quantities of metals and metalloids into the surrounding environment. Here are reported concentrations of 21 elements determined in scalp hair samples from children (aged 11-13 years) living in different geochemical environments of southwestern Sardinia: Iglesias, hosting several abandoned mines, and the island of Sant׳Antioco, not affected by significant base metal mineralization ev…
Genetic determinants of heel bone properties: genome-wide association meta-analysis and replication in the GEFOS/GENOMOS consortium
2014
Quantitative ultrasound of the heel captures heel bone properties that independently predict fracture risk and, with bone mineral density (BMD) assessed by X-ray (DXA), may be convenient alternatives for evaluating osteoporosis and fracture risk. We performed a meta-analysis of genome-wide association (GWA) studies to assess the genetic determinants of heel broadband ultrasound attenuation (BUA; n = 14 260), velocity of sound (VOS; n = 15 514) and BMD (n = 4566) in 13 discovery cohorts. Independent replication involved seven cohorts with GWA data (in silico n = 11 452) and new genotyping in 15 cohorts (de novo n = 24 902). In combined random effects, meta-analysis of the discovery and repli…
Effect of cholinergic stimulation in early Alzheimer's disease - functional imaging during a recognition memory task.
2011
Treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD) with acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AChEI) enhances cholinergic activity and alleviates clinical symptoms. In the present functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, we investigated the effect of the AChEI rivastigmine on cognitive function and brain activation patterns during a face recognition memory task. Twenty patients with newly-diagnosed mild AD were administered a single oral dose of placebo, a single dose of rivastigmine (acute), and twice-daily treatment with rivastigmine for 4 weeks (chronic). After each treatment, the patients underwent a facial recognition task during fMRI. The prefrontal areas known to be involved in face recogni…
Pharmacological treatment of patients with chronic critical limb ischemia: L-propionyl-carnitine enhances the short-term effects of PGE-1.
2009
Purpose. To evaluate the therapeutic effects of L-propionyl-carnitine (LPC) in patients with critical limb ischemia (CLI), as defined by the TASC guidelines. Methods. The study, double-blinded, randomised, assessed intravenous infusion of LPC 1.2 g/day in combination with PGE-1, 60 mg/day (LPC group: 37 patients), or PGE-1 only (control group: 38 patients) in a total of 75 patients suffering from CLI. Treatment duration was 20 days. We evaluated rest pain, maximum walking distance (MWD) and skin ulcer size. Results. In both groups we observed a significant reduction in pain score and ulcer size and an increase in MWD. In the patients treated with the combination, the improvement was greater…
Randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial of acetyl-L-carnitine for ALS.
2013
Our objective was to assess the effects of acetyl-L-carnitine (ALC) with riluzole on disability and mortality of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Definite/probable ALS patients, 40-70 years of age, duration 6-24 months, self-sufficient (i.e. able to swallow, cut food/handle utensils, and walk), and with forced vital capacity (FVC) > 80% entered a pilot double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel group trial and were followed for 48 weeks. ALC or placebo 3 g/day was added to riluzole 100 mg/day. Primary endpoint: number of patients no longer self-sufficient. Secondary endpoints: changes in ALSFRS-R, MRC, FVC and McGill Quality of Life (QoL) scores. Analysis was made in the intention-to-tr…
Prenatal exposure to perfluoroalkyl substances and cardiometabolic risk in children from the spanish INMA birth cohort study
2017
BACKGROUND: Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) may affect body mass index (BMI) and other components of cardiometabolic (CM) risk during childhood, hut evidence is scarce and inconsistent. OBJECTIVES: We estimated associations between prenatal PFAS exposures and outcomes relevant to cardiometabolic risk, including a composite CM risk score. METHODS: We measured perfluorohexanesulfonic acid (PFHxS), perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), and perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) in maternal plasma (first trimester). We assessed weight gain from birth until 6 mo. At 4 and 7 y, we calculated the age- and sex-specific z-scores for BMI, waist circumference (WC), and blood pres…
Occurrence and regional distribution of calcareous concretions in the rat pineal gland.
1978
Serial sections of 90 Sprague-Dawley rat brains with the pineal in situ were scanned to determine the occurrence and regional distribution of calcareous concretions within the pineal gland and its surrounding leptomeningeal tissue. In 90% of the cases examined concretions were found in varying number and appearance, predominantly lying in the dorsal region of the pineal gland and in the distal portion of the pineal stalk. Discussing the hypothesis advanced by Lukaszyk and Reiter (1975) that the origin of pineal concretions may be related to a neurosecretory process involving a pineal carrier protein, called neuroepiphysin, it is thought that, in view of the intra- and extra-pineal occurrenc…
Effects of training on regional substrate oxidation in the hearts of ageing rats.
1989
23-month-old male rats were trained by running for 20 weeks. The oxidation rates of succinate, glutamate+malate, palmitoylcarnitine, and pyruvate and the activities of lactate dehydrogenase, citrate synthase, isocitrate dehydrogenase and cytochrome oxidase were measured in the subendocardium and subepicardium and in the right ventricle. Regional differences of substrate oxidation rates in the myocardium of old sedentary or trained rats were less than in young rats, suggesting that regional differences in the cardiac work load disappear during ageing. Training did not improve oxidation rates, in contradiction to some previous results.
Bone density of the calcaneus and fractures in 75- and 80-year-old men and women
1994
Bone mineral density of the calcaneus in relation to fractures was studied both retrospectively and prospectively among the 75- and 80-year-old men and women resident in the city of Jyväskylä, Finland, in 1989 and 1990, respectively. The bone measurements were performed at the calcaneus by 125I-photon absorption. Retrospective fracture (RF) history after age 50 was collected by questionnaire and interview, and reported fractures were checked from medical records. In the retrospective study, in the 75-year-olds a fracture was found in 22% (n = 22) of men and in 45% (n = 84) of women. The corresponding figures for the 80-year-olds were 16% (n = 9) and 35% (n = 48). Over half of the fractures …