180 research outputs found
Post-traumatic tricuspid valve insufficiency - 2 cases of delayed clinical manifestation
No full textWe present 2 cases of tricuspid insufficiency following blunt chest trauma: 1 was diagnosed 5 months after the trauma and the other; 20 years after the trauma. In both patients, the tricuspid valve was replaced with a porcine bioprosthesis, because valve repair was not considered feasible. These cases emphasize the variability of clinical presentation of post-traumatic tricuspid valve insufficiency and indicate the need for close follow-up of patients after major thoracic trauma
Lack of a relationship between circulating gamma-glutamyltransferase levels and carotid intima media thickness in hypertensive and diabetic patients
No full textMarco Nuti, Paolo Spontoni, Chrysanthos Grigoratos, Giulia Dell'Omo, Alberto Balbarini, Roberto PedrinelliDipartimento Cardio Toracico e Vascolare, Università di Pisa, Pisa, ItalyBackground: By increasing the intracellular prooxidant burden, gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT) may accelerate atherosclerotic vascular disease. That noxious influence may be reflected by circulating enzyme levels, a correlate of cardiovascular risk factors, and a predictor of incident events. To evaluate this hypothesis, we tested the association between circulating GGT and common carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT), a surrogate index of systemic atherosclerotic involvement, in a large and well-characterized group of patients at risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD).Patients: This study analyzed 548 patients with hypertension and/or diabetes and a widely prevalent history of CVD. Subjects with known hepatic disease and abnormal GGT values were excluded.Methods: CIMT (B-mode ultrasonography) values were the mean of four far-wall measurements at both common carotids. Metabolic syndrome (MetS) was diagnosed according to National Cholesterol Education Program-Adult Treatment Panel III criteria. Due to inherent sex-related differences in GGT levels, the data were analyzed separately in males and females in samples dichotomized by the median.Results: The age-adjusted CIMT values did not differ by GGT levels in males or females. In contrast, the carotid wall was consistently thicker in patients with a history of CVD and MetS independent of age and concurrent GGT values. In both sexes, GGT was associated with key components of the MetS such as triglycerides, fasting plasma glucose, and body mass index.Conclusion: The data collected in this mixed group of hypertensive and/or diabetic patients with widely prevalent history of CVD do not support the concept of a direct pathophysiological link between GGT levels within reference limits and atherosclerotic involvement.Keywords: gamma-glutamyltransferase, carotid intima-media thickness, atherosclerosis, metabolic syndrom
VALIDITY AND LIMITATIONS OF ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY FOR THE DIAGNOSIS OF DISCRETE SUB-AORTIC STENOSIS ASSOCIATED WITH MARKED LEFT-VENTRICULAR MUSCULAR HYPERTROPHY
No full textExpression, pharmacology, and functional role of somatostatin receptor subtypes 1 and 2 in human macrophages
No full textSomatostatin (SRIF)-14 is recognized as an important mediator between the nervous and the immune system, although the functional role of its receptors (sst(1)-sst(5)) is poorly understood in humans. In our study, we demonstrate that human macrophages, differentiated from PBMC-derived monocytes, express sst(1) and sst(2) mRNAs. sst(1) and sst(2) are mostly localized at the cell surface and display active binding sites. In particular, sst(1)/sst(2) activation results in a weak internalization of sst(1), and the sst(2) internalization appears more efficient. At the functional level, the activation of SRIF receptors by the multiligand analogs SOM230 and KE108, but not by SRIF-14 or cortistatin-14, reduces macrophage viability. Their effects are mimicked by the selective activation of sst(1) and sst(2) using CH-275 and SMS 201-995/L-779,976, respectively. Further, sst(1)- and sst(2)-mediated effects are reversed by the sst(1) antagonist SRA-880 or the sst(2) antagonist CYN 154806, respectively. CH-275, SMS 201-995, and L-779,976, but not SRIF-14, decrease mRNA expression and secretion of the MCP-1. In addition, SRIF-14, CH-275, SMS 201-995, and L-779,976 decrease IL-8 secretion, and they do not affect IL-8 mRNA expression. In contrast, SRIF-14 and sst(1)/sst(2) agonists do not affect the secretion of matrix metalloproteinase-9. Collectively, our results suggest that the SRIF system, through sst(1) and sst(2), exerts mainly an immunosuppressive effect in human macrophages and may, therefore, represent a therapeutic window that can be exploited for the development of new strategies in pharmacological therapy of inflammation
Ars poetica e artista nella Commedia dantesca (e dintorni)
No full textDante fa uso per primo, nella lingua italiana, del vocabolo artista con il senso davvero rivoluzionario di “creatore di un’opera d’arte”. Sullo sfondo della sua riflessione, che si riverbera in diversi luoghi del Paradiso, si può illuminare una profonda rimeditazione della categoria dell’ars poetica, sulla base di quanto la cultura medioevale aveva già elaborato, soprattutto nei commenti a Orazio e nelle poetriae mediolatine, in vista di un’interiorizzazione dell’esperienza creatrice.
Nell’apertura della Poetria nova di Geoffrey de Vinsauf (inizio del secolo XIII) si parla di un’«intrinseca linea cordis», un “disegno interiore del cuore”, che l’architetto e l’artifex tracciano prima di dare alla luce la loro opera, così come la parola del poeta deve formarsi «prius in pectore quam sit in ore», e il «pectus» viene fatto coincidere con lo spazio dell’interiorità («mentis in arcano»). Allo stesso modo un commento oraziano noto come Communiter, probabilmente composto in area tosco-emiliana tra fine Duecento e primo Trecento, nel momento in cui sostiene l’autonomia della poetica dalla retorica, definisce il poeta come artifex e opifex, e dichiara che l’opera d’arte ha origine «ex mente artificis ubi est ars intrinseca».
Al culmine di queste stazioni fondamentali prende forma l’idea che la mente del poeta sia, agostinianamente, il «locus qui non est locus» in cui si compie l’evento della creazione, in una specularità genetica fra ciò che “avviene dentro” e ciò che “si produce fuori”. Il poeta supera l’arx e dunque lo stesso statuto di artista. Egli ascolta intus, nella mente/cuore, la Voce di Amore, e compone foris la sua parola poetica come solo un creatore sa fare: «secundum quod cor dictat interius, exterius verba componit» (Lettera sull’amore dello ps.-Riccardo di San Vittore); «I’ mi son un che, quando / Amor mi spira, noto, e a quel modo / ch’e’ ditta dentro vo significando»
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