[Cytomegalovirus and herpes simplex virus antibodies in patients with idiopathic ulcerative rectocolitis]. / Anticorpi per il virus citomegalico e per quello dell'herpes simplex in pazienti con rettocolite ulcerosa idiopatica.

The total and fractioned titres of circulating anticytomegalovirus (CMV) and antiherpesvirus (HSV) antibodies were evaluated in 63 idiopathic ulcerative proctocolitis patients in follow-up. The population was disaggregated applying criteria related to the stage of the disease: duration, extension, number of observed relapses over the follow-up. It was noted that just the anti-HSV antibodies were correlated in a statistically significant way to the extension (p less than 0.025) and duration (p less than 0.025) of the disease. We believe that this behaviour is a manifestation of the disease and that the antiHSV titration may be included in a score of evaluation during the follow-up.

Short- and long-term treatment with rosaprostol of patients with gastritis.

Therapy with rosaprostol was applied in 25 patients with gastritis, namely 11 cases for about 30 days and 14 for 60 days, without further gastro-protective treatments. The drug induced an early complete disappearance of subjective and objective symptoms, already at the end of the first ten days of treatment, whereas the endoscopic and the histological findings revealed a highly significant improvement at the end of the treatment, with normalization in nearly all the cases. The drug was well tolerated, and did not induce diarrhoea nor change haemodynamic parameters. These highly significant results emphasize the efficacy and safety of the drug.

[Dissolution of gallstones based on 6 months treatment with a single daily dose of ursodeoxycholic acid]. / Dissolution de lithiase vésiculaire après 6 mois de traitement par dose journalière unique d'acide ursodésoxycholique.

51 patients with radiolucent gallstones of diameter less than or equal to 15 mm were treated for 6 months with a new form of ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) in a single dose of 450 mg at bedtime. This new form has 3 components with fractionate liberation. The rate of partial and complete dissolution after 6 months was 63.4%, reaching 85% for gallstones of less than 5 mm diameter. The results show that a single dose of 450 mg UDCA at bedtime is as effective as UDCA at mealtimes in the dissolution of radiolucent gallstones. Administration of the drug once a day should be more acceptable to patients.

Comparison between neomycin and lactulose in 173 patients with hepatic encephalopathy: a randomized clinical study.

A randomized study was performed in order to compare the course of hepatic encephalopathy in patients treated with neomycin plus magnesium sulfate or with lactulose. Admission criteria were: morphological diagnosis of cirrhosis and absence of comorbidity, of contraindications to drugs, or of previous treatments which could influence the outcome. The treatment groups were similar in terms of clinical characteristics, fatalities, recovery rate from grade 1 encephalopathy, and disappearance rate of neuropsychiatric signs. Transitions from severe to grade 1 or 0 encephalopathy showed a 0.17 (NS) difference in favor of neomycin. Early therapy and evidence of precipitating factors showed a favorable prognostic significance. Ascites, hyperbilirubinemia, poor nutritional state, and hypoprothrombinemia showed bad prognostic significance. This is the first large-scale investigation on hepatic encephalopathy. It demonstrated a similar effectiveness of the two drugs in grade 1 encephalopathy and provides a basis for drug selection in the current management of the syndrome.

[Biliary ileus: reflections on one clinical case (author's transl)]. / Ileo biliare: considerazioni su di un caso clinico.

The authors describe one case of biliary ileus occurring in the form of stepwise intestinal obstruction, successfully treated by surgery designed to resolve the obstruction and at the same time repair the biliodigestive fistula. Because of the high postoperative morbidity and mortality in emergency cases, this operation should be reserved in the authors' opinion to patients in satisfactory humoral balance and in the absence of general contraindictions.

[Influence of cholestasis on enzymatic induction with phenobarbital and other enzymatic aspects: experimental studies on guinea pigs]. / Influenze della colostasi sul'induzione da fenobarbital e su altri aspetti enzimatici: osservazioni sperimentali sulla cavia

Investigations in guinea pigs to evaluate interferences between cholestasis and enzymatic induction by phenobarbital, and influences that both experimental conditions exert on the levels of gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase in microsomes and other subcellular fractions, have shown that: 1) cholestasis inhibits inductions of cytochrome P-450 from phenobarbital; 2) gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase is not an inducible enzyme in guinea pig; 3) rises or ferum gamma-glutanyl transpeptidase produced either by cholestasis or phenobarbital administration, are not related to an increased enzymatic synthesis in the various subcellular fractions of liver cell.