1,720,996 research outputs found
terapia con micofenolato dell'interstiziopatia polmonare associata a sclerosi sistemica - esperienza monocentrica
Full text linkBackground
Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is the most frequent type of organ involvement and the main cause of death in systemic sclerosis (SSc). The trigger of fibrosis is an immune mediated alveolitis, thus in the last years, several immunosuppressant drugs have been put to the test, mostly cyclophosphamide (CYC), azathioprine (AZA) and mycophenolate mofetil (MMF).
Therefore, also in the Rheumatology Unit of Padua University, in recent years have been treated in with immunosuppressive therapy.
Aim
The aim of our study was to evaluate the efficacy of MMF as a first-line drug on pulmonary function in SSc-related ILD patients and compare them to a historical group of SSc patients treated with CYC followed by AZA.
Moreover, it has been assessed the safety of each immunosuppressant drugs.
Methods
Eighteen patients with SSc-related ILD have been investigated and treated with MMF as first-line therapy for two years.
Fifteen patients, instead have been treated one year with CYC and for and with AZA for the second years.
The two groups of patients have been evaluated at baseline, and then after 12 and 24 months of therapy.
The evaluation parameters were: pulmonary function tests (FVC and DLCO), HRCT score and NYHA class.
The comparison between the two groups was assessed using Pearson’s chi-square test, student t test and Wilcoxon signed rank test as statistical approaches.
Results
At baseline, patients characteristics appeared homogeneous between the two groups and non-statistically significant increase of FVC was observed in both groups at month 12 and month 24.
In the group treated with MMF no patient has deteriorated in NYHA functional class, respiratory tests showed an average stability pulmonary function and no patient has progressed in the TC score.
In the control group, treated sequentially with CYC and AZA, has no been shown significant difference in NYHA class, respiratory tests, or in score TC.
Comparing the two groups, no resounding significant difference has been highlighted. for the evaluated clinical parameters, showing similar efficacy of MMF compared to a pattern of traditional immunosuppressive therapy.
In the group treated with MMF no patients reported adverse events than can cause discontinuation of treatment, while in the control group, 2 patients had to interrupt the CYC for leukopenia, and 5 had suspended AZA, 2 for hepatotoxicity and 3 for leukopenia.
The difference between the two groups respect to adverse events was statistically significant in favor of MMF (p = 0.0046).
Conclusions
The data of our study suggest that the immunosuppressive therapy with MMF administered for a period of two years has led to a stabilization of ILD in a cohort of SSc patients, as shown by respiratory test, the HRCT score, and functional class NYHA. Similar results have been observed in another group cohort of patients treated sequentially for two years with CYC and AZA.
Besides, MMF treated group presented a significant decrease of side effects, compared to the group treated with CYC and AZA
NEURAL PROGENITOR CELL DIFFERENTIATION: ROLE OF MATRIX METALLOPROTEINASES AND THEIR TISSUE INHIBITORS
No full textEGR-1 modulates neurite outgrowth and matrix metalloproteinase expression via muscarinic receptor activation
No full textLevodopa-induced dyskinesia is associated with change in striatal cyclic nucleotides levels and cGMP hydrolyzing phosphodiesterase activity
No full textAmantadine prevents levodopa-induced dyskinesia by decreasing cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase activity
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Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Zaprinast impairs spatial memory by increasing PDE5 expression in the rat hippocampus
No full textIn this work, we report the effect of post-training intraperitoneal administration of zaprinast on rat
memory retention in the Morris water maze task that revealed a significant memory impairment at
the intermediate dose of 10 mg/kg. Zaprinast is capable of inhibiting both striatal and hippocampal PDE
activity but to a different extent which is probably due to the different PDE isoforms expressed in these
areas. To assess the possible involvement of cyclic nucleotides in rat memory impairment, we compared
the effects obtained 30 min after the zaprinast injection with respect to 24 h after injection by measuring
both cyclic nucleotide levels and PDE activity. As expected, 30 min after the zaprinast administration, we
observed an increase of cyclic nucleotides, which returned to a basal level within 24 h, with the exception
of the hippocampal cGMP which was significantly decreased at the dose of 10 mg/kg of zaprinast. This
increase in the hippocampal region is the result of a cGMP-specific PDE5 induction, confirmed by sildenafil
inhibition, in agreement with literature data that demonstrate transcriptional regulation of PDE5 by
cAMP/cGMP intracellular levels. Our results highlight the possible rebound effect of PDE inhibitors
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