[Arterial hypertension in pregnancy: evaluation of renal damage through the study of NAG urinary activity]. / Ipertensione arteriosa in gravidanza: valutazione del danno renale attraverso lo studio dell'attività NAG-urinaria.

NAG-urinary activity was assessed in order to study the renal effects of arterial hypertension in pregnant women. The results obtained showed that there were no significant differences between mean levels of enzymuria in control subjects and normotensive pregnant women. On the contrary, significant differences were found between these two groups and hypertensive pregnant women (above all if arterial hypertension predated pregnancy). The paper stresses the usefulness of this method, which is reliable and non-invasive, for an accurate assessment of the extent of renal damage caused by arterial hypertension during the course of pregnancy.

[A comparison between the urinary and serum NAG activity in subjects with chronic nephropathies and essential arterial hypertension]. / Confronto tra le attività urinaria e sierica del NAG in soggetti affetti da nefropatie croniche e da ipertensione arteriosa essenziale.

Various substances can interfere with the urinary activity of N-acetyl-beta-D-glycosaminidase (NAG), particularly certain bacteria that exert inhibitory or enhancing effects on the enzyme. Clearly, all this constitutes a limitation on the use of the technique. For these reasons, in patients suffering from interstitial and glomerular nephropathies and essential arterial hypertension a comparative study was carried out between the activity of urinary and serum NAG to establish if the latter produces more reliable results than the former. The results of urinary NAG activity confirm that there is no significant difference between healthy subjects and those with essential arterial hypertension; on the other hand, nephropathic patients present significantly higher urinary enzyme activity than healthy controls. On the other hand, evaluation of serum NAG does not seem to provide any practical aid as it does not highlight any difference between measurements carried out in healthy subjects and those carried out in hypertensive patients or those suffering from interstitial or glomerular nephropathy.

[Urinary NAG activity and diabetic microangiopathy]. / Attività NAG-urinaria e microangiopatia diabetica.

The behaviour of urinary NAG was monitored in diabetic patients some of whom presented more or less severe vascular alterations. The results showed a relationship between urinary NAG levels and the severity of the vascular condition (in fact the greatest NAG activity was found in patients with overt kidney damage). NAG may therefore reveal the existence of a vascular nephropathy that is still too slight to be identified by the standard non-invasive clinical examinations.

[Changes in urinary NAG activity in patients with climacteric syndrome treated with estrogens]. / Variazioni dell'attività NAG-urinaria in pazienti con sindrome climaterica trattate con estrogeni.

The behaviour of urinary NAG activity was studied in patients during menopause, some of whom were given estrogen therapy due to severe vasomotor symptoms (hot flushes etc.). One group of these patients revealed slightly higher than normal blood pressure. A second group had slight arterial hypertension and pancreatic diabetes. The third group consisted of apparently healthy menopausal women. The significant increase in enzymuria in the first two groups suggests that blood pressure should be carefully checked before starting estrogen therapy. Furthermore this treatment should be given very cautiously and under constant surveillance in the presence of slight hypertension. In patients with diabetes or more severe hypertension, estrogens should never be given.

[Effect of antibiotic chemotherapy on urinary N-acetyl-B-D-glucosaminidase activity in patients with chronic pyelonephritis]. / Effetti della terapia chemio-antibiotica sull'attività NAG-urinaria in pazienti affetti da pielonefrite cronica.

The behaviour of N-acetyl-B-D-Glucosaminidase (NAG) was studied in the urine of patients with chronic pyelonephritis under pharmacological treatment for renewed attacks of acute renal inflammation. It was noted that by the end of target chemo-antibiotic treatment all patients presented a reduction in the inflammation and hence the tubular distress. Once treatment was suspended several patients showed an increase tendency in the activity of the enzyme followed by the reappearance of significant bacteriuria and/or leukocyturia. The acute attack of renal inflammation would not have been recognised if the enzymuria technique had been used to monitor the patients.

[Partial and multiple correlations between 4 types of enzymuria in 2 groups of chronic nephropathic patients]. / Aspetti di correlazione parziale e multipla tra quattro enzimurie in due gruppi di nefropatici cronici.

The urinary activity of four enzymes (NAG, GLU, GRS and GAL) was studied in two groups of patients suffering respectively from interstitial nephritis and chronic glomerulonephritis with the aim of further investigating enzyme variability through the theory of partial and multiple correlation. This study permitted the effects of two enzymes on the known correlations between the remaining two enzyme types to be studied. It was established that very stable relationships exist between each enzyme and the group composed of the remaining three. In particular, in patients with interstizial nephritis, correlations with GAL were all highly significant even if the effect of the other two enzymes was ignored. Similarly, correlations with GRS were strongly significant in patients with chronic glomerulonephritis. In the two groups studied, each enzyme appears to have a highly stable relationship with the other three. Accurate estimates may probably be achieved for GAL and GRS in both groups and for NAG in the glomerulonephritis sufferers. This is further evidence that the enzyme procedure may be used to differentiate between interstitial and glomerular nephritis.

[Behavior of 4 urinary enzymes in healthy subjects in relation to age, sex, body weight and height]. / Il comportamento di 4 enzimurie nei soggetti sani secondo l'età, il sesso, il peso corporeo e la statura.

105 healthy subjects were studied in order to verify results obtained on a smaller sample and revealed some correlations between NAG and GLU and age. It was also found that in male subjects, GAL tended to vary in relation to body weight and in females in relation to age.

[Normal values of the urinary activity of 4 enzymes]. / I valori normali dell'attività urinaria di 4 enzimi.

The urinary activity of 4 enzymes (NAG, GLU, GAL, GRS) was investigated in 105 healthy subjects in order to evaluate the variability of standard levels and establish the degree of such variations in relation to sex, age, weight and height. The results obtained demonstrate that these enzymurias do vary in relation to the parameters examined. Age and sex produced the most pronounced variations though height and body weight also appeared to have some influence. The study of variations in standard levels is of value in the interpretation of pathological enzymurias.

[Enzymuria in chronic nephropathies. Diagnosis by the urinary enzyme method in chronic nephropathies]. / Aspetti delle enzimurie nelle nefropatie croniche. La diagnosi col metodo delle enzimurie nelle nefropatie croniche.

A simple empirical method based on linear relation-ships between certain types of enzymuria (NAG, LDH, GRS, Isoenzymes I and V of total dehydrogenase lactate) has been used in a series of 80 patients presenting chronic nephropathy [40 interstitial nephropathy (IN) and 40 glomerulonephritis (GN)]. Diagnosis made on the basis of the results obtained in each case was identical to that based on clinical findings (in the absence of enzymuria determinations). This method, if confirmed on a larger number of statistically significant data, might be useful to obtain a differential diagnosis between I.N. and G.N. only assaying these few enzymurias. Prefixed relationships could be employed on a larger group of patients with other diseases studied for comparative purposes. Furthermore, this method appears to be fast and unexpensive.

The degree of acetylation of chitins by gas chromatography and infrared spectroscopy.

Gas chromatography of a number of amines, alcohols and sulfur derivatives was carried out on chitin and partially deacetylated chitins as well as on chitosan. The retention time of methanol is proportional to the degree of acetylation, and therefore a method is proposed for the gas-chromatographic determination of the degree of acetylation of chitin/chitosan. The analysis of the infrared spectra of chitin/chitosan also permits one to determine the degree of acetylation by using the ratio of the bands 1550 and 2878 cm-1.