[Role of pulsed Doppler of the inferior thyroid artery in patients without hyperthyroidism]. / Contributo alla comprensione del ruolo del Doppler pulsato dell'arteria tiroidea inferiore nei pazienti non ipertiroidei.

The authors present their statistical results in terms of maximum velocity and resistive Index of the inferior thyroid artery in a group of 200 patients, all with different diseases of the gland, but without hyperthyroidism. Measurements were taken in the first tract of the inferior thyroid artery, deep and posterior to the common carotid, without encountering any significant difficulties in 83% of cases, the determinations taking less than one minute; in some patients stretching or rotation of the neck was necessary in order to obtain a good result. The maximum systolic velocities were in agreement with those reported in the literature, but statistical analysis showed a significant correlation between systolic peak and certain groups or types of disease and, albeit less reliably, between the Resistive Index and type of disease. The section of the individual vessels showed no statistically significant variations. The results indicate a possible correlation between peak systolic velocity and Reistive Index in patients without hyperthyroidism, and therefore it may now be useful to study the relationship between these two parameters also in patients with normal serum levels of thyroid hormones.

Olive oil isochromans inhibit human platelet reactivity.

The effects of certain polyphenolic compounds in red wine, such as resveratrol and quercetin, have been widely investigated to determine the relationship between dietary phenolic compounds and the decreased risk of cardiovascular diseases. However, the effects of polyphenolic compounds contained in other foods, such as olive oil, have received less attention and little information exists regarding the biological activities of the phenol fraction in olive oil. The aim of this study was to evaluate the antiplatelet activity and antioxidant power of two isochromans [1-(3'-methoxy-4'-hydroxy-phenyl)-6,7-dihydroxy-isochroman (encoded L116) and 1-phenyl-6,7-dihydroxy-isochroman (encoded L137)] recently discovered in olive oil and synthesized in our laboratory from hydroxytyrosol. These compounds were effective free radical scavengers and inhibited platelet aggregation and thromboxane release evoked by agonists that induce reactive oxygen species-mediated platelet activation including sodium arachidonate and collagen, but not ADP. Release of tritiated arachidonic acid from platelets was also impaired by L116 and L137. These results indicate that other Mediterranean diet nutraceuticals also exhibit antioxidant activity that could be beneficial in the prevention of vascular diseases.

Testosterone and cocaine: vascular toxicity of their concomitant abuse.

Over the last few years, several studies have described an increase in the use of anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS). More important, frequency of AAS use was significantly associated with frequency of psychotropic drug use, such as cocaine. Since information is not available on the effects of their concomitant abuse, and taking into account that cocaine and testosterone, when singly abused, are known to induce severe adverse effects on vascular system, our purpose was to evaluate in vitro the combined effect of these drugs on platelet and endothelial functions. Results show that testosterone, at concentrations not exerting any appreciably acute effects on their own, is capable of potentiating the cocaine effect on endothelial and platelet functions, indicating that concomitant use of testosterone and cocaine could result in enhancement of the thrombotic risk ascribed to these drugs.