A novel synthetic peptide from a tomato defensin exhibits antibacterial activities against Helicobacter pylori

Defensins are a class of cysteine-rich proteins, which exert broad spectrum antimicrobial activity. In this work, we used a bioinformatic approach to identify putative defensins in the tomato genome. Fifteen proteins had a mature peptide that includes the well-conserved tetradisulfide array. We selected a representative member of the tomato defensin family; we chemically synthesized its gamma-motif and tested its antimicrobial activity. Here, we demonstrate that the synthetic peptide exhibits potent antibacterial activity against Gram-positive bacteria, such as Staphylococcus aureus A170, Staphylococcus epidermidis, and Listeria monocytogenes, and Gram-negative bacteria, including Salmonella enterica serovar Paratyphi, Escherichia coli, and Helicobacter pylori. In addition, the synthetic peptide shows minimal (<5%) hemolytic activity and absence of cytotoxic effects against THP-1 cells. Finally, SolyC exerts an anti-inflammatory activity in vitro, as it downregulates the level of the proinflammatory cytokines TNF-alpha and IFN-gamma

Impact of novel coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic in Italian pediatric emergency departments: a national survey

BACKGROUND: Coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID-19) has rapidly become a pandemic emergency, distressing health systems in each affected country. Preparation strategies for managing this pandemic have been keys to face the COVID-19 surge all over the world and all levels of care.MATERIALS AND METHODS: During the epidemic, the Italian society of pediatric emergency-urgency (SIMEUP) promoted a national survey aiming to evaluate preparedness and response of pediatric emergency departments (PED) critical in ensuring optimal management of COVID-19 cases.RESULTS: Our results suggest that Italian PED have promptly set a proactive approach to the present emergency. 98.9% of the hospitals have defined special pathways and assistive protocols concerning the management of pediatric COVID-19 cases. The highest percentage of application of the measures for preventive and protective for COVID-19 concerned the use of personal protective equipments.CONCLUSIONS: Results show that the following measures for pediatric patients, admitted in PED, have been promptly implemented throughout the whole country: eg. use of protective devices, pre-triage of patients accessing the hospital. Despite COVID-19 being a new threat, we have shown that by developing an easy-to-follow decision algorithm and clear plans for the interventional platform teams, we can ensure optimal health care workers and patients' safety

PediaVirus chatline: all together against COVID-19

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Inter-society consensus for the use of inhaled corticosteroids in infants, children and adolescents with airway diseases

Background: In 2019, a multidisciplinary panel of experts from eight Italian scientific paediatric societies developed a consensus document for the use of inhaled corticosteroids in the management and prevention of the most common paediatric airways disorders. The aim is to provide healthcare providers with a multidisciplinary document including indications useful in the clinical practice. The consensus document was intended to be addressed to paediatricians who work in the Paediatric Divisions, the Primary Care Services and the Emergency Departments, as well as to Residents or PhD students, paediatric nurses and specialists or consultants in paediatric pulmonology, allergy, infectious diseases, and ear, nose, and throat medicine. Methods: Clinical questions identifying Population, Intervention(s), Comparison and Outcome(s) were addressed by methodologists and a general agreement on the topics and the strength of the recommendations (according to the GRADE system) was obtained following the Delphi method. The literature selection included secondary sources such as evidence-based guidelines and systematic reviews and was integrated with primary studies subsequently published. Results: The expert panel provided a number of recommendations on the use of inhaled corticosteroids in preschool wheezing, bronchial asthma, allergic and non-allergic rhinitis, acute and chronic rhinosinusitis, adenoid hypertrophy, laryngitis and laryngospasm. Conclusions: We provided a multidisciplinary update on the current recommendations for the management and prevention of the most common paediatric airways disorders requiring inhaled corticosteroids, in order to share useful indications, identify gaps in knowledge and drive future research

Successful treatment with the monoclonal antibody rituximab in two children with refractory autoimmune thrombocytopenia

Abstract Rituximab is a chimeric monoclonal antibody directed against normal and malignant mature B-lymphocytes and results in prolonged and severe B-cell depletion. Recently, rituximab has been successfully used in adult and paediatric disorders of B-lymphocytes such as autoimmune haemolytic anaemia and Werlhof disease. We report on two children with chronic immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) refractory to steroids and immunoglobulins who achieved complete normalisation of their platelet counts after treatment with rituximab, 375 mg/m(2) given weekly in four doses. In both cases the B-lymphocyte count dropped to zero after the second dose of rituximab and an unsupported platelet count >100x10(9)/l was achieved during treatment. Six and 12 months after treatment, both patients remain well with normal platelet counts. Conclusion: this report supports the concept that rituximab may also be a valuable therapeutic option in children with chronic immune thrombocytopenic purpura refractory to standard treatment. Controlled clinical trials are needed to evaluate the efficacy and long-term side-effects of rituximab in this group of patients

Primary intramedullary spinal cord tumors in children: a single centre experience

Background Primary spinal cord tumors are rare, accounting for 4 % to 8 % of all Central Nervous System (CNS) neoplasms in the pediatric population. Most of them are low grade tumors and prognosis is related to the extent of surgical resection. Objective The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical outcome of a small group of patients with intramedullary spinal tumors. Methods We retrospectively analyzed clinical and histopathological features, treatment modalities, survival rates of children aged 0\u201314 years with a diagnosis of spinal tumor treated at our department during the last 15 years. Results A total of 93 patients with a CNS tumor were included. Four of them (4.3%) had a spinal localization: 2 males and 2 girls, 3/4 (75%) 5 years of age at diagnosis (mean age 4.4 \ub1 3.6 years). Three (75 %) had cervical localization, one (25 %) was localized in the lumbosacral tract. All cases underwent surgery: 2 biopsies (50 %), 1 partial resection (25 %) and 1 total resection (25 %). All of them were low-grade gliomas: 2 (50 %) pilocytic astrocytomas, 1 (25 %) glioneuronal tumor and 1 ependymoma. All of the children with subtotal resection (biopsy and partial resection) underwent subsequent therapies: 2 were treated with radiotherapy (RT) and chemotherapy (CT), 1 is under medical treatment (SIOP-LGG 2004 protocol). Regimens of CT included Carboplatin-Vincristin in pilocytic astrocytomas, and Cisplatin-Temozolomide in glioneuronal tumor. At current time, all these patients had stable disease. Conclusion Our data support the evidence that the majority of intramedullary tumors are histologically benign and radical resection results in long-term survival. When total surgical resection is not achievable, excellent results in survival rates could be obtained with a multimodal treatment combining RT and CT