Oligo-antigenic diet in the treatment of chronic anal fissures. Evidence for a relationship between food hypersensitivity and anal fissures.

Objectives: Patients with chronic constipation due to food hypersensitivity (FH) had an elevated anal sphincter resting pressure. No studies have investigated a possible role of FH in anal fissures (AFs). We aimed to evaluate (1) the effectiveness of diet in curing AFs and to evaluate (2) the clinical effects of a double-blind placebo-controlled (DBPC) challenge, using cow's milk protein or wheat.

Prevalence of antibodies anti-Bartonella henselae in western Sicily: children, blood donors, and cats.

To evaluate seroprevalence of B. henselae infection both in Sicilian children and healthy blood donors. Furthermore, circulation of Bartonella in the natural reservoir was also studied.

Circulating levels of adipose products and differences in fat distribution in the ovulatory and anovulatory phenotypes of polycystic ovary syndrome.

Central fat distribution is increased in anovulatory women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) compared with ovulatory PCOS and matched controls. Among secreted adipocytokines, this is reflected mainly in lower levels of adiponectin.

Influence of sociocultural factors on the ovulatory status of polycystic ovary syndrome.

Objective: To evaluate the role of social and cultural differences inside the same ethnic group on the ovulatory status of women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

Design: To correlate social and cultural status with the phenotypic expression (body weight and ovulation) and with androgen and insulin levels of PCOS.

Setting: University department of medicine.

Fever of unknown origin in a Mediterranean survey from a division of internal medicine: report of 91 cases during a 12-year-period (1991-2002).

Despite the availability of all advanced diagnostic tools, fever of unknown origin (FUO) remains a diagnostic challenge for physicians. The objective was to define, through a retrospective study, the categories of the diseases of Sicilian patients admitted at the Department of Clinical Medicine and Emerging Diseases, University of Palermo, Italy, for classical FUO. Using the registration system for patients admitted from 1991 to 2002, 508 charts of patients admitted because of fever were reviewed.

Leukotriene receptor antagonists in monotherapy or in combination with antihistamines in the treatment of chronic urticaria: a systematic review.

In vitro and in vivo clinical and experimental data have suggested that leukotrienes play a key role in inflammatory reactions of the skin. Antileukotriene drugs, ie, leukotriene receptor antagonists and synthesis inhibitors, are a class of anti-inflammatory drugs that have shown clinical efficacy in the management of asthma and in rhinitis with asthma. We searched MEDLINE database and carried out a manual search on journals specializing in allergy and dermatology for the use of antileukotriene drugs in urticaria.

Similarity and differences in elderly patients with fixed airflow obstruction by asthma and by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Background: Epidemiologic studies have demonstrated that elderly patients with fixed airflow obstruction can be affected by asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Methods: We studied 49 consecutive elderly outpatients, presenting fixed airflow obstruction, by clinical history (smoking), pulmonary function tests, blood gas analysis, and induced sputum.

Results: The age was not different in patients with COPD (n=28) and asthma (n=21) (70.

MMP-2, MMP-9 and activin A blood levels in patients with breast cancer or prostate cancer metastatic to the bone.

Background: The clinical significance of the circulating levels of activin A and matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) and -9 (MMP-9) was investigated in patients with breast cancer (BC) or prostate cancer (PC) with (M1) or without (M0) bone metastasis.

Patients And Methods: MMP-2, MMP-9 and activin A blood concentrations were measured by enzyme immunoassays in 79 cancer patients and in 57 healthy blood donors (HS) who served as a control group. The diagnostic accuracy of these molecules to discriminate between M0 and M1 patients was evaluated by the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) and compared to that of tumor markers CA15.

Abdominal fat quantity and distribution in women with polycystic ovary syndrome and extent of its relation to insulin resistance.

Context: Increased abdominal fat has been linked to insulin resistance and increased cardiovascular risk. Because many patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) present abdominal obesity, it may be the cause of insulin resistance in this disorder.

Setting: Fat quantity and distribution were evaluated by dual x-ray absorptiometry at the Departments of Clinical Medicine at the University of Palermo and the University of Naples, Italy.

Relationship between human leucocyte antigen class I and class II and chronic idiopathic urticaria associated with aspirin and/or NSAIDs hypersensitivity.

Background: HLA genes play a role in the predisposition of several diseases. The aim was to analyze the prevalence of HLA class I phenotypes and HLA-DRB1* genotype in patients with CIU associated with ASA and NSAIDs hypersensitivity (AICU).

Methods: 69 patients with AICU, and 200 healthy subjects.

The characteristics of different diagnostic tests in adult mild asthmatic patients: comparison with patients with asthma-like symptoms by gastro-oesophageal reflux.

Background: Diagnosing asthma cannot be always easy. It is important to consider the validity of the diagnostic tests, and/or how much more commonly they are positive in patients with asthma compared to healthy subjects and, particularly, to patients with asthma-like symptoms.

Objective: To evaluate the validity of diagnostic tests for asthma, in terms of sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, in patients with bronchial asthma compared to patients affected by gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GERD) with asthma-like symptoms, and healthy control subjects without asthma and gastro-oesophageal reflux (GER).

Tacrolimus ointment in nickel sulphate-induced steroid-resistant allergic contact dermatitis.

Tacrolimus ointment is a topical immunomodulator. Currently, there is available evidence regarding the potential use of topical tacrolimus in a range of dermatological disorders. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of tacrolimus ointment 0.

Activin A circulating levels in patients with bone metastasis from breast or prostate cancer.

Recent studies have highlighted that Activin A, a member of the transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) superfamily, may be involved in the regulation of osteoblastic activity and in osteoclast differentiation. Therefore, we have investigated the clinical significance of its circulating levels in patients with bone metastasis. Activin A serum concentrations were determined, by a commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit, in 72 patients with breast cancer (BC) or prostatic cancer (PC) with (BM+) or without (BM-) bone metastases, in 15 female patients with age-related osteoporosis (OP), in 20 patients with benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH) and in 48 registered healthy blood donors (HS) of both sex (25 female and 23 male).

Food-additive-induced urticaria: a survey of 838 patients with recurrent chronic idiopathic urticaria.

Background: Recurrent chronic idiopathic urticaria (RCIU) is a common skin condition that affects 0.1-3% of the population in the USA and Europe and accounts for nearly 75% of all 'ordinary' chronic urticaria (CU) cases.

Methods: We studied 838 consecutive patients with RCIU referred to hospital between 1998 and 2003.

Diagnostic accuracy of fecal calprotectin assay in distinguishing organic causes of chronic diarrhea from irritable bowel syndrome: a prospective study in adults and children.

Background: Fecal calprotectin (FC) has been proposed as a marker of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), but few studies have evaluated its usefulness in patients with chronic diarrhea of various causes. We evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of a FC assay in identifying "organic" causes of chronic diarrhea in consecutive adults and children.

Methods: We consecutively enrolled 70 adult patients (30 males, 40 females; median age, 35 years) and 50 children (20 males, 30 females; median age, 3.