48 research outputs found

    Multimodal, open-source big data analysis in asthma: A novel approach to inform public health programming

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    Asthma is a chronic respiratory disease affecting over 358 million people worldwide; for this reason analysing big data on asthma from different countries could give a more detailed picture of current disease burden. We aim to investigate the correlations between asthma and key socio-demographic parameters from different world databases. We found a direct correlation with the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and its nominal counterpart, with wealthiest countries seen to have the highest prevalence of asthma, as also confirmed by a similar correlation with the human development index (HDI). A positive correlation was also seen between asthma prevalence and a number of socio-cultural data being representative of a good life quality index and prevalent in more developed and wealthier countries. Concerning medical data, an inverse relationship was seen between asthma prevalence and helminthiasis. Those data indicate a higher prevalence for asthma in more developed countries, where socio-economic status is higher and also the access to medical care is more ubiquitous. The approach used in our study highlighted the role of medical literacy and access to healthcare facilities in the correct diagnosis of asthma and vice versa. Our data appear to be suitable in terms of a health programming approach because of the high burden of disease worldwide

    Il-33/il-31 axis in immune-mediated and allergic diseases

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    Several allergic and immunologic diseases including asthma, food allergy (FA), chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU), atopic dermatitis (AD), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), systemic sclerosis (SSc), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and Beh\ue7et\u2019s disease (BD) are characterized by the involvement of Th2 immunity. Several mediators lead to immunoglobulin (Ig)E production, thus including key cytokines such as interleukin (IL)-4, IL-5, and IL-13. Among them, IL-31 and IL-33 have been recently studied as novel biomarkers and future therapeutic targets for allergic and immunological disorders. IL-31 is a proinflammatory cytokine\u2014it regulates cell proliferation and is involved in tissue remodeling. IL-33, acting through its receptor suppression of tumorigenity (ST2L), is an alarmin cytokine from the IL-1 family, whose expression is mediated by tissue damage. The latter has a pleiotropic effect, as it may modulate specific and innate immune cells functions. To date, several researchers have investigated the involvement of IL-31 and IL-33 in several allergic and immune-mediated diseases. Further studies are needed to understand the future applications of these molecules as novel therapeutic agents. This paper aims to give the readers a complete and updated review of IL-31 and IL-33 involvement among the most common autoimmune and allergic disorders

    Sympathetic arousal in children with oppositional defiant disorder and its relation to emotional dysregulation

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    Background: Emotional dysregulation (ED) is a trans-nosographical condition characterized by mood instability, severe irritability, aggression, temper outburst, and hyper-arousal. Pathophysiology of emotional dysregulation and its potential biomarkers are an emerging field of interest. A Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL) profile, defined as Dysregulation Profile (DP), has been correlated to ED in youth. We examined the association between the CBCL-DP and indices of sympathetic arousal in children with Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) and healthy controls. Method: The current study sought to compare the arousal level measured via electrodermal activity in response to emotional stimuli in three non-overlapping groups of children: (1) ODD+CBCL-DP (n = 28), (2) ODD without CBCL-DP (n = 35), and (3) typically developing controls (n = 25). Results: Analyses revealed a distinct electrodermal activity profile in the three groups. Specifically, children with ODD+CBCL-DP presented higher levels of sympathetic arousal for anger and sadness stimuli compared to the other two groups. Limitations: The relatively small sample and the lack of assessing causality limit the generalizability of this study which results need to be replicated in larger, different samples. Conclusion: The CBCL-DP was associated to higher levels of arousal for negative emotions, consistently with previous reports in individuals with depression and anxiety. Further work may identify potential longitudinal relationships between this profile and clinical outcomes

    Brain hemodynamic intermediate phenotype links Vitamin B12 to cognitive profile of healthy and mild cognitive impaired subjects

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    Vitamin B12, folate, and homocysteine are implicated in pivotal neurodegenerative mechanisms and partake in elders' mental decline. Findings on the association between vitamin-related biochemistry and cognitive abilities suggest that the structural and functional properties of the brain may represent an intermediate biomarker linking vitamin concentrations to cognition. Despite this, no previous study directly investigated whether vitamin B12, folate, and homocysteine levels are sufficient to explain individual neuropsychological profiles or, alternatively, whether the activity of brain regions modulated by these compounds better predicts cognition in elders. Here, we measured the relationship between vitamin blood concentrations, scores at seventeen neuropsychological tests, and brain activity of sixty-five elders spanning from normal to Mild Cognitive Impairment. We then evaluated whether task-related brain responses represent an intermediate phenotype, providing a better prediction of subjects' neuropsychological scores, as compared to the one obtained considering blood biochemistry only. We found that the hemodynamic activity of the right dorsal anterior cingulate cortex was positively associated (p value < 0 05 cluster corrected) with vitamin B12 concentrations, suggesting that elders with higher B12 levels had a more pronounced recruitment of this salience network region. Crucially, the activity of this area significantly predicted subjects' visual search and attention abilities (p value = 0 0023), whereas B12 levels per se failed to do so. Our results demonstrate that the relationship between blood biochemistry and elders' cognitive abilities is revealed when brain activity is included into the equation, thus highlighting the role of brain imaging as intermediate phenotype.Vitamin B12, folate, and homocysteine are implicated in pivotal neurodegenerative mechanisms and partake in elders' mental decline. Findings on the association between vitamin-related biochemistry and cognitive abilities suggest that the structural and functional properties of the brain may represent an intermediate biomarker linking vitamin concentrations to cognition. Despite this, no previous study directly investigated whether vitamin B12, folate, and homocysteine levels are sufficient to explain individual neuropsychological profiles or, alternatively, whether the activity of brain regions modulated by these compounds better predicts cognition in elders. Here, we measured the relationship between vitamin blood concentrations, scores at seventeen neuropsychological tests, and brain activity of sixty-five elders spanning from normal to Mild Cognitive Impairment. We then evaluated whether task-related brain responses represent an intermediate phenotype, providing a better prediction of subjects' neuropsychological scores, as compared to the one obtained considering blood biochemistry only. We found that the hemodynamic activity of the right dorsal anterior cingulate cortex was positively associated (p value < 0 05 cluster corrected) with vitamin B12 concentrations, suggesting that elders with higher B12 levels had a more pronounced recruitment of this salience network region. Crucially, the activity of this area significantly predicted subjects' visual search and attention abilities (p value = 0 0023), whereas B12 levels per se failed to do so. Our results demonstrate that the relationship between blood biochemistry and elders' cognitive abilities is revealed when brain activity is included into the equation, thus highlighting the role of brain imaging as intermediate phenotype

    Randomized trial on the effects of a combined physical/cognitive training in aged MCI subjects: the Train the Brain study

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    Age-related cognitive impairment and dementia are an increasing societal burden. Epidemiological studies indicate that lifestyle factors, e.g. physical, cognitive and social activities, correlate with reduced dementia risk; moreover, positive effects on cognition of physical/cognitive training have been found in cognitively unimpaired elders. Less is known about effectiveness and action mechanisms of physical/cognitive training in elders already suffering from Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), a population at high risk for dementia. We assessed in 113 MCI subjects aged 65-89 years, the efficacy of combined physical-cognitive training on cognitive decline, Gray Matter (GM) volume loss and Cerebral Blood Flow (CBF) in hippocampus and parahippocampal areas, and on brain-blood-oxygenation-level-dependent (BOLD) activity elicited by a cognitive task, measured by ADAS-Cog scale, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Arterial Spin Labeling (ASL) and fMRI, respectively, before and after 7 months of training vs. usual life. Cognitive status significantly decreased in MCI-no training and significantly increased in MCI-training subjects; training increased parahippocampal CBF, but no effect on GM volume loss was evident; BOLD activity increase, indicative of neural efficiency decline, was found only in MCI-no training subjects. These results show that a non pharmacological, multicomponent intervention improves cognitive status and indicators of brain health in MCI subjects

    Success stories from consumer technology-helping and saving lives

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    Consumer technology (CT) has a broad amount of fields of application, among which one of the most important ones is represented by healthcare and well-being. Thanks to the quick technological development of ICT, CT have become widespread throughout the citizenship, allowing one to easily self-monitor his/her physiological parameters, checking for eventually dangerous values that could require the assistance from a medical doctor or caregiver. This panel session aims at presenting some CT solutions supporting healthcare during the life cycle of an individual, from early days until later life, providing hints about some of the possible conditions representing the major threats to healthy life throughout the years. © 2021 IEEE

    Mast Cells and Vitamin D Status: A Clinical and Biological Link in the Onset of Allergy and Bone Diseases

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    The immune system is made up by an extremely composite group of cells, whose regulated and harmonious activity is fundamental to maintain health. The mast cells are an essential effector of inflammatory response which is characterized by a massive release of mediators accumulated in cytoplasmic secretory granules. However, beyond the effects on immune response, mast cells can modify bone metabolism and are capable of intervening in the genesis of pathologies such as osteoporosis and osteopenia. Vitamin D is recognized to induce changes in bone metabolism, but it is also able to influence immune response, suppressing mast cell activation and IgE synthesis from B cells and increasing the number of dendritic cells and IL-10-generating regulatory T cells. Vitamin D deficit has been reported to worsen sensitization and allergic manifestations in several different experimental models. However, in clinical situations, contradictory findings have been described concerning the correlation between allergy and vitamin D deficit. The aim of this review was to analyze the close relationships between mast cells and vitamin D, which contribute, through the activation of different molecular or cellular activation pathways, to the determination of bone pathologies and the onset of allergic diseases

    The potential role of cytokine storm pathway in the clinical course of viral respiratory pandemic

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    The “cytokine storm” (CS) consists of a spectrum of different immune dysregulation disorders characterized by constitutional symptoms, systemic inflammation and multiorgan dysfunction triggered by an uncontrolled immune response. Particularly in respiratory virus infections, the cy-tokine storm plays a primary role in the pathogenesis of respiratory disease and the clinical outcome of respiratory diseases, leading to complications such as alveolar edema and hypoxia. In this review, we wanted to analyze the different pathogenetic mechanisms involved in the various respiratory viral pandemics (COVID-19; SARS; MERS; H1N1 influenza A and Spanish flu) which have affected humans in this and last century, with particular attention to the phenomenon of the “cytokine storm” which determines the clinical severity of the respiratory disease and consequently its lethality
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