Conformationally altered p53: a novel Alzheimer's disease marker?

The identification of biological markers of Alzheimer's disease (AD) can be extremely useful to improve diagnostic accuracy and/or to monitor the efficacy of putative therapies. In this regard, peripheral cells may be of great importance, because of their easy accessibility. After subjects were grouped according to diagnosis, the expression of conformationally mutant p53 in blood cells was compared by immunoprecipitation or by a cytofluorimetric assay. In total, 104 patients with AD, 92 age-matched controls, 15 patients with Parkinson's disease and 9 with other types of dementia were analyzed. Two independent methods to evaluate the differential expression of a conformational mutant p53 were developed. Mononuclear cells were analyzed by immunoprecipitation or by flow-cytometric analysis, following incubation with a conformation-specific p53 antibody, which discriminates unfolded p53 tertiary structure. Mononuclear cells from AD patients express a higher amount of mutant-like p53 compared to non-AD subjects, thus supporting the study of conformational mutant p53 as a new putative marker to discriminate AD from non-AD patients. We also observed a strong positive correlation between the expression of p53 and the age of patients. The expression of p53 was independent from the length of illness and from the Mini Mental State Examination value.

[Lack of effect of therapy with LHRH analogs, alone or associated with flutamide, on prolactin levels in advanced prostatic carcinoma]. / Mancanza di effetti della terapia con analogo di LHRH, solo o associato a flutamide, sui livelli di PRL nel carcinoma prostatico in stadio avanzato.

Fourteen patients with advanced prostatic carcinoma have been considered. Some were treated with goserelin depot and some with goserelin depot plus flutamide; basal and stimulated PRL were studied in the two groups before and after two months treatment in order to verify a possible interference with prolactin secretion which seems to have a trophic and stimulating effect on neoplastic tissue growth. Basal PRL levels and levels after TRH infusion haven't shown significant variations between the two groups of patients. Even if relative to a short time, our results exclude PRL increase, which might be suspected with these drugs, and at last confirm the effectiveness of this treatment (LHRH analogs plus flutamide) in prostatic carcinoma.

Is it possible to recognize portal hypertension with continuous-wave Doppler ultrasonography?

Continuous-wave (CW) Doppler ultrasonography is a well-known technique in the assessment of peripheral and central circulation. The purpose of this study was to find out whether the technique can be used to demonstrate portal hypertension (PH) from liver disease through the evaluation of flow reversal in the veins of the round ligament. One hundred eight patients (50 controls and 58 with PH) underwent abdominal sonography, endoscopic examination, and CW Doppler flowmetry of the umbilical region. In 53 of 58 patients with PH, hepatofugal venous flow was found in the round ligament; this sign was absent in all of the controls. There was remarkable agreement between the results of CW Doppler examination and those of endoscopy and abdominal sonography: its sensitivity was about 91%, and we encountered no false positives. The Doppler ultrasound method is specific for diagnosing PH, simple to perform, and repeatable.

ACTH 1-17 stimulates GH pituitary secretion in humans.

Nineteen normal subjects (12 men and 7 women) were injected with 100 micrograms of ACTH 1-17. Additionally 6 male subjects were studied twice at 3-day intervals with random infusions of ACTH 1-17 and saline. A clear GH response to ACTH 1-17 infusions (GH peak higher than 5 ng/ml) was documented in 10 out of 12 males and in 6 out of 7 women. In the 6 male subjects studied twice, clear-cut GH increments were observed only after peptide administration. PRL levels decreased throughout the study period both in male and female subjects; however, when the PRL percentage decline was evaluated in the same group of subjects after saline and ACTH 1-17, the more obvious decrease of PRL levels after the peptide infusion was not statistically significant. No variation of LH, FSH and TSH levels was documented. With the exception of the specific increase of cortisol levels, no significant change in peripheral steroid pattern (Te, E2, DHEA-S) was observed. In this experiment the effect on GH secretion was quite evident in both sexes. This effect was obtained using the lowest dosage of ACTH preparation documented in the literature.

[Adaptation to hypoxia in liver cirrhosis: the role of 2,3-DPG (author's transl)]. / Meccanismi di compenso all'ipossia in corso di epatocirrosi: ruolo del 2,3-DPG.

By observing a group of 20 patients with liver cirrhosis, we have clarified some features concerning the tissue hypoxia, which is often present in such a disease. By determining the levels of the haemoglobin and of the intraerythrocytic 2,3-DPG, and by evaluating the acid-base state of such patients, we have emphasized the increased output of the 2,3-DPG as mechanism of adaptation to hypoxia associated with hepatic cirrhosis, both in subjects with anemia and alkalosis and in subjects without anemia but with alkalosis.