Vigorous exercise acutely changes platelet and B-lymphocyte CD39 expression.

CD39/ATP diphosphohydrolase is expressed on B lymphocytes, cytotoxic T lymphocytes, monocytes, platelets, and endothelial cells, and it has a critical role in the inhibition of platelet responsiveness. To determine whether strenuous exercise could acutely change expression of CD39 in platelets and lymphocytes, eight healthy sedentary men, 34 yr old (SD 7), and eight physically active men, 34 yr old (SD 6), performed graded upright cycle ergometry to volitional exhaustion. Blood samples collected both at baseline and after exercise test were employed to measure CD39 expression in platelets and lymphocytes.

Acute hyperglycemia alters von Willebrand factor but not the fibrinolytic system in elderly subjects with normal or impaired glucose tolerance.

To assess whether acute hyperglycemia affects fibrinolytic balance in elderly subjects with normal glucose tolerance (NGT) or impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), 40 non-obese elderly subjects (20 NGT, age 68 +/- 8 years; and 20 IGT, age 69 +/- 11 years) were studied. On two experimental days, randomly allocated and spaced 1 week apart, plasma concentrations of glucose, insulin, fibrinogen, tissue plasminogen activator, plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 and von Willebrand factor (vWF) were measured in each subject at baseline (0) and 30, 60, 90, 120 min after the ingestion of 75 g glucose or a similarly sweet dose of aspartame (250 mg) (control test). In both NGT and IGT elderly subjects, tissue plasminogen activator, plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 and fibrinogen plasma levels did not significantly change after both oral aspartame and glucose load.

A 69-year-old woman with persistent iron deficiency anemia.

In women, iron deficiency anemia-a result of chronic iron loss-is most common during the reproductive years because of physiologic demands such as menstrual blood losses and pregnancy. In other cases, iron deficiency anemia is generally attributed to occult gastrointestinal bleeding. Common causes of chronic gastrointestinal blood loss include erosive esophagitis, gastric and duodenal ulcers, vascular ectasias, colon adenomas, and cancers.

Urinary incontinence in the elderly: relation to cognitive and motor function.

Urinary incontinence is a common problem in older subjects, very often wrongfully accepted as a normal part of the aging process. A total of 520 subjects (208 males and 312 females; mean age 74.8 +/- 11.

Ozonized autohaemotransfusion and fibrinolytic balance in peripheral arterial occlusive disease.

The acute effects of a major ozonized autohaemotransfusion on blood fibrinolytic capacity were evaluated in 20 subjects affected by peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD). The parameters examined were tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA) and plasminogen activator inhibitor type-1 (PAI-1). In subjects not previously submitted to autohaemotransfusion ('unaccustomed' subjects), whether they were PAOD patients or healthy volunteers, the PAI-1/t-PA ratio in the blood samples taken 15 min before the autohaemotransfusion was higher (P < or = 0.