Showing papers by "University of Cagliari published in 1986"
TL;DR: The results provide further support for a neurotransmitter role of central NO in the control of penile erection and yawning.
184 citations
TL;DR: Low doses of opiates, alcohol, and barbiturates stimulate DA release specifically in the nucleus accumbens and this effect is related to the behavioral stimulating effects of these drugs both on a time and on a dose basis.
Abstract: Opiates, alcohol, and barbiturates are widely abused drug classes, These drugs are known to possess behavior-stimulating and reinforcing properties in animals-’ Indeed opiates, alcohol, and barbiturates produce a complex behavioral syndrome characterized by motor stimulation and depression depending on the animal species, the dose, and the time of observation after administration.e’ Brain dopamine has been related both to the reinforcing*-” and the motor ~timulating’~-” properties of opiates, alcohol, and barbiturates. This evidence, however, is essentially indirect since it is based on the interaction of opiates, alcohol, and barbiturates with drugs interfering with DA tran~rnission’~~’~ or on indirect indices of DA function like DA metabolism and synthesis,” recording of dopaminergic neuronal firing a~tivity,2’-~’ or measurement of DA release in vitro or in anesthetized animals?”6 We have recently introduced the technique of brain dialysis in awake, freely moving rats as a means to correlate behavioral activity to changes in release and metabolism of brain DA.*’*** Using this method we have studied the effect of opiates, alcohol, and barbiturates on the release and metabolism of DA in two terminal dopaminergic areas, the nucleus accumbens and the striatum and its relation to behavior. We report that low doses of opiates, alcohol, and barbiturates stimulate DA release specifically in the nucleus accumbens and this effect is related to the behavioral stimulating effects of these drugs both on a time and on a dose basis. The results suggest that specific activation of dopaminergic transmission in the limbic system is a common mechanism for the stimulant and reinforcing properties of drugs of abuse.
182 citations
TL;DR: Oxytocin-induced penile erection and yawning were prevented by atropine and morphine, but not by methylatropine or the opiate antagonist naloxone, providing further evidence that oxytocin acts as a neuropeptide in the central nervous system.
123 citations
TL;DR: The distribution of canine leishmaniasis and figures on infection frequency in countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea are given and the methods of investigation and control of canine Leishmania infantum are discussed.
Abstract: The distribution of canine leishmaniasis and figures on infection frequency in countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea are given. The clinical picture and most common laboratory findings are reviewed. Leishmania infantum is the aetiological agent of both human and canine forms of visceral leishmaniasis. The proved or suspected vectors of L. infantum are listed and mention is made of wild animals (fox, rat) as possible primary reservoirs of the parasite. Finally, the methods of investigation and control of canine leishmaniasis are discussed.
111 citations
TL;DR: The results show that in the rat substantia nigra most of the 3H-SCH 23390 binding sites have a presynaptic localization on the striato-nigral GABAergic afferent terminals and suggest that dopamine released from nigral dendrites exerts a tonic influence on these presyaptic D-1 dopamine receptors.
95 citations
TL;DR: The results argue against the view that yawning is the behavioural correlate of autoreceptor-mediated inhibition of DA transmission, and suggest that this behaviour is due to the stimulation of a special population of central postsynaptic DA receptors.
73 citations
TL;DR: A possible direct role for hyperendorphinemia in the induction of overeating in obese children and adolescents is indicated.
Abstract: To study the role of opioid peptides in human obesity, plasma beta-endorphin (beta EP), beta-lipotropin (beta LPH), and cortisol resting values, circadian rhythms, and responses to hypoglycemia were studied in 6 prepubertal and 6 pubertal obese adolescents (at least 40% above ideal body weight) and in 10 normal subjects matched for age, sex, and pubertal development. Baseline plasma beta LPH and beta EP concentrations in both obese children and adolescents were twice as high as those in normal controls, while cortisol levels were not different. Cortisol, beta EP, and beta LPH levels had a clear circadian rhythmicity in all subjects, with the exception of obese pubertal boys whose plasma beta EP concentrations were constant throughout the day. After insulin administration, the fall in blood sugar was similar in all groups. Plasma cortisol and beta EP responses were similar in both obese and normal prepubertal subjects. In obese pubertal adolescents, beta EP did not increase significantly after hypoglycemia, although it did increase in normal weight pubertal subjects. In normal prepubertal subjects, the circadian rhythms of beta EP and beta LPH secretion and release induced by hypoglycemia suggest the presence of a well developed neuroendocrine control of proopiomelanocortin-related peptide secretion. In prepubertal obese children, the increased plasma beta EP and beta LPH levels with the maintenance of their circadian rhythm and responsivity to hypoglycemia suggest overactivity of anterior pituitary secretion. In obese adolescents, in spite of the normal rhythm of beta LPH and cortisol, beta EP levels did not change throughout the day, thus suggesting beta EP secretion from nonpituitary sources in these subjects. The present study indicates a possible direct role for hyperendorphinemia in the induction of overeating in obese children and adolescents.
67 citations
TL;DR: The results indicate that D-1 receptors contribute to YWG elicited by apomorphine and contradict the idea that this effect is mediated by DA autoreceptors.
Abstract: The ability of apomorphine to induce yawning (YWG) in normal and reserpinized rats and its interaction with SCH 23390, a potent and specific D-1 receptor antagonist, was studied. Apomorphine was more potent in inducing YWG in reserpine-pretreated as compared to control rats. SCH 23390, in low doses (0.05 mg/kg SC), was able to significantly reduce the YWG evoked by apomorphine both in control and in reserpine-pretreated rats. The results indicate that D-1 receptors contribute to YWG elicited by apomorphine and contradict the idea that this effect is mediated by DA autoreceptors.
57 citations
TL;DR: The data indicate that a diminished GABAergic activity at different subunits of the GABA receptor complex resulted in an enhancement of punishment-suppressed behaviour in rats.
54 citations
TL;DR: This is the first finding of an abundant larval breeding site of P. perniciosus close to the village of Soleminis, a canine leishmaniasis focus 15 km from Cagliari, Sardinia.
Abstract: During the summer-autumn period of 1983 and 1984, 1408 specimens of Phlebotomus perniciosus, 74 of P. perfiliewi perfiliewi and 35 of Sergentomyia minuta were caught in emergence traps in a locality close to the village of Soleminis, a canine leishmaniasis focus 15 km from Cagliari, Sardinia. All the flies were collected from a breeding site inside an abandoned cement building. Male flies were highly predominant for all three species. A few larvae of P. perniciosus were also collected from the same site. This is the first finding of an abundant larval breeding site of P. perniciosus.
50 citations
TL;DR: The polymorphisms of human mitochondrial DNA were studied in about 150 Sardinians from Cagliari and 100 other Italians living in Rome, using total blood cell DNA and the following restriction enzymes.
Abstract: The polymorphisms of human mitochondrial DNA were studied in about 150 Sardinians from Cagliari and 100 other Italians living in Rome, using total blood cell DNA and the following restriction enzymes: HpaI, BamHI, HaeII, MspI, AvaII and HincII. 1. Seven different new morphs have been identified, one for HaeII, four for AvaII and two for HincII. 2. 16 and 17 mtDNA types were observed in the Sardinian and Roman samples, respectively. Of these only seven were shared by both groups. The morphs BamHI-3, MspI-4 and AvaII-9 were found associated at a frequency (10.0%) much higher than expected (0.17%). 3. Sardinians can be differentiated from the other Italians for a higher frequency of both morph AvaII-1 (P less than 0.05) and type 1 (2-1-1-1-1) (P approximately less than 0.03), and for a lower intragroup heterogeneity (0.52 v. 0.61). 4. The Italian sample on the whole can also be differentiated from the Caucasian group previously examined for a lower frequency of BamHI morph 2 (P Yates less than 0.01), a higher frequency of HaeII morph 1 (P Yates less than 0.02) and for the presence at a non-negligible incidence (5 individuals out of 229) of the new type 57-2 (2-3-1-4-13-2). The data indicate that mtDNA polymorphisms have not only proved to be a useful tool in detecting differences among major human groups but they can also differentiate populations within the same major ethnic division.
TL;DR: This is the first typing of a leishmanial organism from naturally infected P. perniciosus.
Abstract: Two promastigote-infected specimens of Phlebotomus perniciosus Newstead, 1911, were found in the province of Cagliari, Italy. The parasites from one specimen were successfully cultured in a hamster. The isolate was typed on 11 enzymes and shown to be identical with the reference strain of Leishmania infantum s.st. This is the first typing of a leishmanial organism from naturally infected P. perniciosus.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors test the hypothesis that the primary expression of the defect in X-linked Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) occurred in the myoblast, or muscle precursor cell.
Abstract: We previously proposed the hypothesis that the primary expression of the defect in X-linked Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) occurred in the myoblast, or muscle precursor cell. This was based on the observation that the number of viable myoblasts obtained per gram DMD muscle tissue was greatly reduced and those that grew in culture had decreased proliferative capacity and an aberrant distended flat morphology. Here we test that hypothesis by determining whether the expression of the myoblast defect is X-linked. Muscle cells were obtained from five doubly heterozygous carriers of two X-linked loci, DMD and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD), and compared with those from five sex- and age-matched controls heterozygous for G6PD only. A total of 1,355 individual clones were determined to be muscle and evaluated at the single cell level for proliferative capacity, morphology, and G6PD isozyme expression. The results demonstrate that the proportion of defective myoblast clones is significantly increased in DMD carriers. However, since this cellular defect does not consistently segregate with a single G6PD phenotype in the myoblast clones derived from any of the carriers, it is unlikely to be the primary expression of the DMD mutant allele.
TL;DR: In this article, polytene and mitotic chromosomes of Drosophila melanogaster were treated with either Alu I or Hae III restriction endonucleases, and DNA-specific fluorochrome ethidium bromide showed that these enzymes are capable of selectively digesting chromosomal DNA in fixed cytological preparations, as previously shown in mammalian metaphase chromosomes.
Abstract: Polytene and mitotic chromosomes of Drosophila melanogaster were treated with either Alu I or Hae III restriction endonucleases. Subsequent staining with the DNA-specific fluorochrome ethidium bromide showed that these enzymes are capable of selectively digesting chromosomal DNA in fixed cytological preparations, as previously shown in mammalian metaphase chromosomes. Alu I or Hae III digestion made possible the localization in situ of some highly repetitive DNAs in both polytene and mitotic chromosomes, while only Alu I permitted the localization of the 5S RNA genes on the polytene chromosomes of D. melanogaster.
TL;DR: Liver regeneration after partial hepatectomy was used as an experimental model for studying mammalian cell division and replication and the rate of cell proliferation was correlated with hepatic de novo synthesis of cholesterol, with the hexose monophosphate shunt pathway of glucose metabolism, and with serum lipoproteins.
TL;DR: Study of genotype‐phenotype correlations indicates that the (αNcoα) haplotype is associated with a more severe defect in the α‐globin chain output than that resulting from the (‐α) genotype, suggesting that restriction endonuclease analysis is a powerful method for the definition of the molecular heterogeneity of haemoglobin H disease.
Abstract: We investigated the molecular basis for haemoglobin H disease in 50 Sardinian patients by restriction endonuclease analysis. We found that the majority (78% of the cases) are due to gene deletion (- -/- alpha). Among those with a combination of deletion and nondeletion defects (- -/alpha alpha th), the most prevalent nondeletion lesion (70% of the nondeletion defects) was the initiation codon mutation of the alpha 2 gene (alpha Nco alpha), previously discovered in this population. Of the remaining patients with the (- -/alpha alpha th) genotype, two showed the IVS-1 splice junction lesion and one a mutation in the alpha 1 gene, removing the Nco I site within the 5' part of the alpha 1 gene, which may arise from a process of gene conversion from the initiation codon mutant of the alpha 2 gene. A single patient had the homozygous state for the initiation codon mutant of the alpha 2 gene. Study of genotype-phenotype correlations indicates that the (alpha Nco alpha) haplotype is associated with a more severe defect in the alpha-globin chain output than that resulting from the (-alpha) haplotype. We may conclude that restriction endonuclease analysis is a powerful method for the definition of the molecular heterogeneity of haemoglobin H disease.
TL;DR: The reportedly specific D-1 dopamine (DA) receptor antagonist SCH 23390 significantly reduced the hypothermia elicited by various DA receptor agonists like apomorphine, pergolide and lisuride when tested against equihypothermic doses of each agonist.
TL;DR: The enhancement of punishment suppressed behaviour, the sensitization to isoniazid-induced convulsions and the decrease in the density of low-affinity GABA receptors suggest that chronic administration of FG 7142 induces a persistent down-regulation of GABAergic transmission in the central nervous system.
TL;DR: Findings indicate that in children with constitutional growth delay oxandrolone increases the sensitivity of somatotrophs to exogenous GHRH and, likely, to the endogenously‐released neurohormone.
Abstract: SUMMARY
The effect of treatment with oxandrolone, an anabolic steroid, on GH response to GH-releasing hormone (GHRH) has been evaluated in children with constitutional growth delay. Five subjects, four males and one female, aged 11·0–17·1 years were given oxandrolone 0·1 mg/kg p.o. daily for 2 months, and underwent acute administration of GHRH (GRF 1–40, 1 μg/kg i.v.) before and after withdrawal of oxandrolone therapy. GHRH administration induced a much greater GH response, evaluated either as a peak plasma GH levels or plasma GH integrated area, after than it did before oxandrolone treatment. These findings indicate that in children with constitutional growth delay oxandrolone increases the sensitivity of somatotrophs to exogenous GHRH and, likely, to the endogenously-released neurohormone.
TL;DR: It is stressed that immunosuppression may play an important role in the pathogenesis of both diseases and the possibility of their being conditioned by common genetic HLA-associated factors of predisposition.
Abstract: We report a case of classical Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) in a patient affected by B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia for 2 years and who had not received any antiblastic treatment. At the ultrastructural analysis the leukemic cell showed rather immature features, and the immunologic phenotype (absence of detectable cytoplasmic Ig, and expression only of the DR, B2 and IgD lambda molecules on the surface membrane) proved its intermediate level of maturity, its monoclonality and relative rarity. The patient presented a complex immunologic deficiency, revealed not only by the monoclonality of the B lymphocytes and their low degree of maturity, but also by the almost total absence of T helper lymphocytes, by the high reduction in NK activity, by the very scarce proliferative response to the polyclonal mitogens PHA, ConA and PWM, and by a complete anergy to the skin test of delayed reactivity. The search for antibodies against the viruses EBV, CMV, HTLV-I and HTLV-III in the serum was negative. At the HLA typing, the patient was DR5, as are most classical KS and/or B-CLL patients. The data are discussed in relation to documented non-casual association between B-CLL and KS. We stress that immunosuppression may play an important role in the pathogenesis of both diseases and the possibility of their being conditioned by common genetic HLA-associated factors of predisposition.
TL;DR: The first four species allowed the simultaneous introduction of an electrophile in the thiomethyl group and in the ring, while the last two species undergo disubstitution as mentioned in this paper.
TL;DR: In this paper, the phase equilibria in some A I C III D 2 VI /B II D VI (A I = Cu, Ag; B II = Zn, Cd; C III = Ga, In; D VI = Se, Te) heterojunction-forming systems have been experimentally determined with particular reference to (CuInSe 2 ) 1− x −(2CdSe) x and (CuGaTe 2 ZnTe) x.
TL;DR: The preparation details and chrystallographic characteristics of BaLaFeO4 are reported in this article, where tetragonal cell dimensions (ao=3921±0002; c o =13175±0005 A ), in contrast with those elsewhere reported, well agree both with those for CaLaEOO4 and SrLaEoO4 isomorphous compounds and the ionic radii of the three alkali-earth metals, and the Mossbauer spectrum at 90°K confirms both the oxidation number for iron and the deformation of oxygen octa
TL;DR: The abdominal fat body of the cockroach Blattella germanica contains three characteristic cell types—trophocytes, bacteriocytes and urate cells—which have been investigated by electron microscopy.
Abstract: The abdominal fat body of the cockroach Blattella germanica contains three characteristic cell types—trophocytes, bacteriocytes and urate cells—which have been investigated by electron microscopy. The trophocytes are rich in lipid droplets of different sizes; glycogen, rough endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria are also abundant. In females immediately after eclosion, the trophocytes contain a greater number of lipid droplets, some of which have different electron density; glycogen and cytoplasmic organelles are clearly reduced. The bacteriocytes hold rod-like and spherical bacteroids, which are encapsulated by a vacuolar membrane; they show a thin cytoplasmic membrane and an evident cell wall surrounded by a membrane-like outer envelope. The bacteroids appear to be dividing either by transverse partition or by budding. The urate cells, adjacent to the bacteriocytes, are characterized by complex urate vacuoles delimited by a double layer-structure.
TL;DR: A new method for antenatal diagnosis of thalassemias is reported based on the analysis of the major Hb components of fetal cord blood, sampled at week 18 of pregnancy under ultrasonic guidance, by isoelectric focusing in immobilized pH gradients (IPG).
Abstract: A new method for antenatal diagnosis of thalassemias is reported based on the analysis of the major Hb components of fetal cord blood, sampled at week 18 of pregnancy under ultrasonic guidance, by isoelectric focusing in immobilized pH gradients (IPG). In an IPG gel encompassing a pH 6.7-7.6 span, HbA and HbFac are separated by a distance nine times greater than in a conventional carrier ampholyte pH 6-8 gel and three times greater than in an ampholine gel with separators (an equimolar mixture of beta-alanine and 6-amino caproic acid). Band evenness (in terms of uniform protein concentration within a zone) and straightness (in terms of parallel alignment of the bands to the electrodes), because of insensitivity of IPG gels to salt distortions, allows for accurate and reproducible quantitation of HbF, -A, and -Fac levels. The possibility of greatly overloading IPG matrices in total Hbs increases the sensitivity of the technique to the detection of only 0.5% HbA in the total Hb mixture, the lower limit of conventional IEF being only 2.5% HbA. Of 15 fetuses from couples at risk analyzed in the region of Ozieri, three were found to be homozygous beta-thalassemic, eight heterozygous, and four normal with no false-positives or -negatives.
TL;DR: It is shown that Alu I is an enzyme capable of cytologically detecting repetitive DNAs, while Eco RI is unable to do so and its activity seems to be obstructed by alcohol:acid fixation procedures.
Abstract: Mus musculus and Drosophila virilus metaphase chromosomes have been treated with Alu I or Eco RI restriction endonucleases and, to ascertain possible selective digestion, subsequently stained with the DNA-specific dye ethidium bromide. The correlation between our findings and previously known cytological and biochemical data allowed us to show that Alu I is an enzyme capable of cytologically detecting repetitive DNAs, while Eco RI is unable to do so. This would be a consequence of the fact that Alu I extensively digests and extracts all chromosomal DNA except that localized in those regions where the presence of satellite DNAs has previously demonstrated. Eco RI, on the contrary, is not capable of doing so and its activity seems to be obstructed by alcohol:acid fixation procedures.
TL;DR: In this paper, the main degradation products formed from the dicarboximidic fungicides chlozolinate, vinclozolin and procymidone in wine have been isolated and identified using spectroscopic and chromatographic methods.
Abstract: The main degradation products formed from the dicarboximidic fungicides chlozolinate, vinclozolin and procymidone in wine have been isolated and identified using spectroscopic and chromatographic methods. The fungicides were added to wine after fermentation. Chlozolinate underwent a rapid hydrolytic loss of the ethoxy-carbonyl substituent, to give an oxazolidine that underwent hydrolytic cleavage to give 3′,5′-dichloro-2-hydroxypropanilide. The oxazolidine ring of vinclozolin underwent a similar hydrolysis to give the corresponding anilide 3′,5′-dichloro-2-hydroxy-2-methylbut-3-enanilide. Both these anilides were stable in wine for 150 days. A different degradation behaviour was observed with procymidone and led to the formation of 3,5-dichloroaniline (3,5-DCA), which, in turn, broke down but the derivatives could not be isolated. After consideration of the different behaviours of the fungicides on degradation in wine and in aqueous ethanol at pH4, together with their kinetic data, breakdown pathways are proposed.
TL;DR: The data show that the oxidative deamination of dopamine is inhibited by MPTP in vitro, consistent with the hypothesis of the involvement of MAO in the neurotoxic effects of MPTP, even though further experiments are necessary to better clarify the molecular mechanism ofMPTP neurotoxicity.
TL;DR: The results suggest that type I benzodiazepine binding sites in the nigra are located on kainic acid-sensitive elements (probably intrinsic neurones) that receive an input from striatal afferents and from interneurones in the Nigra.