[Application to an automatic system of a direct method for determining atypical variants of cholinesterase using succinyldithiocholine as substrate]. / Applicazione a sistema automatico di un metodo diretto per la determinazione delle varianti atipiche della colinesterasi con succinilditiocolina come substrato.

The determination of human serum cholinesterase (EC 3.1.1.8) is frequently requested to detect patients with atypical forms of the enzyme which reacts abnormally with succinylcholine (suxamethonium), employed as a neuromuscular blocking agent. Usually, for biochemical identification of succinylcholine sensitive individuals the standard reaction is run with and without the inhibitors, notably dibucaine. A new test for direct determination of succinylcholine sensitive individuals which use a substrate analogue of succinylcholine was applied to a automated instrument. The linearity, precision, recovery, interference and correlation of the method have been evaluated. We have estimated the reference intervals for a population of 364 healthy subjects subdivided for sex, three atypical homozygotes and two atypical heterozygotes. On the basis of analytical performance we can conclude that this test may offer a further parameter for preoperative screening of individuals with an abnormal response to the muscle relaxant succinylcholine, thus avoiding the determination of genotype by measurement of dibucaine number.

[Study of several proteins of the acute phase of surgical intervention]. / Indagine su alcune proteine della fase acuta nell'intervento chirurgico.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the behaviour of some proteins of acute phase (C reactive protein, alpha 1 acid glycoprotein, fibrinogen) in patients undergoing surgical operation. C reactive protein seems to be the most responsive to surgical trauma; alpha 1 acid glycoprotein reveals complications post-operation.

[The serum fructosamine test in the control plan of glucose homeostasis]. / Il test della fruttosamina sierica nello schema di controllo dell'omeostasi glicidica.

A new method to measure serum glycosylated proteins as index of diabetic control is evaluated. Precision, recovery and interference tests have been evaluated. A good correlation of fructosamine values with glycosylated haemoglobin and glucose in normal and diabetic patients was found. The analytical performance and its simple application to automated instruments make this test suitable for monitoring diabetes mellitus and for assessing intermediate-term control of blood glucose.